Thank you ayilar, I appreciate the help.
Hello from the Dark Side (DRK SD 73)
- Thread starter 73 New Yorker
- Start date
A few repairs/upgrades I made this winter.
I broke the up & back seat switch last summer. Luckily, I broke it while the seat was adjusted for me. Bought a nice replacement from Murray Park.
Finally found a replacement windshield bottle, complete with working pump, thank you JP!
I saw @SGVert’s Magnum 500 wheels at the 2022 CATL Drive and knew I had to get a set.
Probably the best news of all is that DRK SD 73 will be spending time at the MOPAR spa later this year to have heat and AC units replaced.
Thank you to everybody for all the help and support. Hope to see everyone at Volo.
I broke the up & back seat switch last summer. Luckily, I broke it while the seat was adjusted for me. Bought a nice replacement from Murray Park.
Finally found a replacement windshield bottle, complete with working pump, thank you JP!
I saw @SGVert’s Magnum 500 wheels at the 2022 CATL Drive and knew I had to get a set.
Probably the best news of all is that DRK SD 73 will be spending time at the MOPAR spa later this year to have heat and AC units replaced.
Thank you to everybody for all the help and support. Hope to see everyone at Volo.
Could you tell us what specifically is much better with the Borgeson steering gear box in terms of driving feel? Also, I have heard others in the past complain that they make a fair amount of noise when turning the steering wheel. Could you tell us whether you can hear steering noise from your box and how bad it is if there is anything you can hear inside your New Yorker? I have been thinking about trying one myself.
The worst part of any C body in my view is the lousy steering feel with the original boxes. Even going to firmer stages of steering effort, the on center precision is still anything other than vague. Putting maximum caster in the suspension alignment helps but not enough.
I guess rack and pinion such as on newer cars has spoiled me for anything else. Just night and day. Thanks.
I haven't heard any noise since installing the Borgeson steering box and pump. And yes even with the new steering box and several new suspension parts the car still has a light touch in the steering. I agree that the modern car steering systems have spoiled us.
What I have learned in the last eight months of owning this car is to do things at a slower/methodical pace rather than just throwing parts at it. If I could go back I would have tried replacing one or two pieces at a time rather than buying a dozen at a time. Rag joint, ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks and a good front end alignment would be where I would start next time.
However the combination of everything that was done to the car got me from - constantly having to steer with both hands just to keep it on the road and not going faster than 50 mph - to steering with two fingers and feeling comfortable cruising at 75 miles an hour on the highway. In my opinion that is a night and day difference.
Hope that helps.
What I have learned in the last eight months of owning this car is to do things at a slower/methodical pace rather than just throwing parts at it. If I could go back I would have tried replacing one or two pieces at a time rather than buying a dozen at a time. Rag joint, ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks and a good front end alignment would be where I would start next time.
However the combination of everything that was done to the car got me from - constantly having to steer with both hands just to keep it on the road and not going faster than 50 mph - to steering with two fingers and feeling comfortable cruising at 75 miles an hour on the highway. In my opinion that is a night and day difference.
Hope that helps.
Yes, that does help a lot.
I feel a lot of us are sending out our steering boxes to be rebuilt maybe for leaks and an update for firmer feel in a quest for better steering precision on center especially plus the feedback that goes into that equation. The firmer feel helps some but even with all new suspension components and the alignment specs pushed to yield the best tracking, constant corrections are still much more necessary than optimal and takes a lot of the enjoyment out of driving these cars especially on crowded highways that also have a lot of big rigs taking up all of their lanes with little room for error and also putting up with the head wind components that they generate as these tall "bricks" go down the highway at relatively high speeds as well.
My newest vehicle is my 1997 Chrysler Concorde and driving it is a supreme pleasure as it seems to anticipate where I want to go driving down the road and I am completely relaxed. The precision and feedback couldn't be any better.
SGVert
Member
Car looks great with the Magnums! The pinstripe really accents the lower moldings as well. Makes it look even longer than it is!
I think you may not be hearing steering box noise, is because the C-body rag joint in the column will kill the vibration noise from box. I installed two of the Borgeson boxes in customers B-body cars, and had to remove them because owners could not put up with the noise. If I needed a steering box in my C-body, I would do the Borgeson box.
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I am going to continue using this thread to talk about the updates to DRK SD 73. Today I dropped the car off at the @david hill spa.
The list of projects include -
1 Rebuilding heater box/gaskets/new heater core
2 Air conditioning/drier
/compressor/evaporator/hoses/
fittings
3 Align doors/glass/install bottom seals
The list of projects include -
1 Rebuilding heater box/gaskets/new heater core
2 Air conditioning/drier
/compressor/evaporator/hoses/
fittings
3 Align doors/glass/install bottom seals
And as an added bonus to the day’s events thanks to an extremely generous offer by ayilar “buttercup” will be spending a little time at my place
Very cool on both counts. How is the drive between the two New Yorkers?
I'll start by saying I think there has been comparable work done on the front suspension of both cars. However one significant difference is buttercups work went all the way back to the bushings, DRK SD did not (rookie mistake). The noticeable difference in the ride was almost immediate.
You can feel a bump on the road in buttercup but after that it's smooth again. DRK SD tends to shutter a bit after the initial bump (bad bushings = metal on metal?). Also buttercup has a new @david hill custom sway bar, DRK SD's is shot.
I could tell my after market intake and carb gave me a little edge in acceleration but buttercup's acceleration is smooth and steady (credit @david hill again for that).
I think there was a slight difference in the seat height/padding of the front seat - buttercups seat was firmer and it's armrest seems to sit slightly lower and flatter, which I prefer.
Also buttercup has Hankook tires, DRK SD has Nexen. I would very interested to hear from anyone who has run both of those tires and which one you prefer.
Just my opinion but 69-72 were the best looking New Yorkers, it's all about that front end (says the guy who owns a 73).
If I discover anything else I will post here.
Great comparison. Not often you get to jump into another C-body of close age for a side by side.
That was exactly the idea here: offer @73 New Yorker a chance for a direct comparison with a car he'd be familiar driving. Our cars are old and few of them remain, so having a chance to drive two of them back-to-back (as happened today) is very rare.
I have seen how @73 New Yorker treats his NYB, he and I caravanned together for several hundred miles at last year's CATL, and so it was easy to trust him with Buttercup.
Here is the first update on the 1973 Chrysler New Yorker. Power window oper. on both drivers and passenger door was first on the list. As seen below the pucks inside he paas. window mtr. had turned to mush. The drivers door was more interesting as it revealed one broken tooth on the window mtr. Will be Wed. or Thurs. before I get a replacement gear from Dorman. After reassembly the pass. window oper. is silky smooth.
Now moving on to both door window adjustments Upon furtherer inspection some door adjustments were necessary to get the proper base line for window adjustments. See photos. Once done realignment of the door glass was done the photos show near perfect alignment.
Last to be installed were the door seals. Randy had acquired a very good used pair. With fresh plastic clips the install was flawless. See photos
last photo
After two days of driving buttercup I've decided to make a change in plans. My decision is based on the difference in "drive feel" between buttercup & DRK SD. I've spoken to @davidhill and we have decided to put the AC work on hold for now and focus on the front end suspension and rebuilding the heater box. After driving a stock suspension car for two days I'm convinced that purchasing and aftermarket steering box was in my case unnecessary.
As I mentioned yesterday the extent of my repairs did not include control arm bushings and now it appears my choice in shocks might not have the best choice for the car. Even with the aftermarket steering box DRK SD steering feel is about 85% of buttercup's. Buttercup smooths out the bumps much better, is easier to turn the wheel at starting speeds (left turn at stop lights) and has better feel at higher speeds (75-80), just all around better performance with stock parts!
I'm taking the time to post this to hopefully help the next guy. In a nutshell - stick with stock parts whenever possible but don't expect those stock parts to give you the same driving reality as a car made in 2023. I know that's obvious to you experienced guys but that's exactly what I lacked a year ago - experience.
In a phone call today @davidhill mentioned a questionable amount of play in the steering wheel while driving straight. Hopefully adjustments can be made to the steering box to correct this situation. At his point I'd rather not have to pull this steering box after only one year of use. To be continued...
As I mentioned yesterday the extent of my repairs did not include control arm bushings and now it appears my choice in shocks might not have the best choice for the car. Even with the aftermarket steering box DRK SD steering feel is about 85% of buttercup's. Buttercup smooths out the bumps much better, is easier to turn the wheel at starting speeds (left turn at stop lights) and has better feel at higher speeds (75-80), just all around better performance with stock parts!
I'm taking the time to post this to hopefully help the next guy. In a nutshell - stick with stock parts whenever possible but don't expect those stock parts to give you the same driving reality as a car made in 2023. I know that's obvious to you experienced guys but that's exactly what I lacked a year ago - experience.
In a phone call today @davidhill mentioned a questionable amount of play in the steering wheel while driving straight. Hopefully adjustments can be made to the steering box to correct this situation. At his point I'd rather not have to pull this steering box after only one year of use. To be continued...
After a good rebuild of the front end, Alignment can also make a great difference in road feel. -.25 to -.5 deg neg camber at most, as much pos caster as can be set +2.5/+3 deg, 1/16 to 1/8 Toe in.
I just had firm feel make a front sway bar for Tux. I sent a stock bar to Firm Feel for a template. I will let you know how it feels.
I want the ride, but want to help with the sway on sudden lane changes or corners.
I just had firm feel make a front sway bar for Tux. I sent a stock bar to Firm Feel for a template. I will let you know how it feels.
I want the ride, but want to help with the sway on sudden lane changes or corners.
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