MacLebaron
Well-Known Member
Coming right along and looking good!
Medina, a 1971 T-code Monaco
- Thread starter ayilar
- Start date
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Old Man with a Hat
Dayum Michel! You guys are on fire. Your car is gonna drive and run really nice. While yer at it, are you going to replace the fan clutch? If its fifty years old, this would be a really good time to do it while everything is off the front of the engine.
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
I don't know how I missed this thread for so long, great looking car. Looks like your getting things worked out with Wyatt's help.
Finally got to drive Medina today for almost two hours, for the first time since Volo. What a difference Wyatt’s work has wrought — she is again quiet and at the same time powerful. The ride is smooth and composed. Love it!
Here she is on Friday evening, ready to be fed 93 ahead of the CATL this Saturday.
Here she is on Friday evening, ready to be fed 93 ahead of the CATL this Saturday.
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Way to go Wyatt - that has been a lot of work!
Following the CATL and @sixpkrt’ s CBCBQ, Medina has put on more than 500 miles through Lincoln’s great state. Here are pictures I took last night (when I stopped for dinner) and today (at picnic time) during a drive through the cornfields of Central Illinois.
Pretty obvious is the fact that the Waldron exhaust is too long by almost 2 inches. It’ll have to be scalloped down to the proper length.
Pretty obvious is the fact that the Waldron exhaust is too long by almost 2 inches. It’ll have to be scalloped down to the proper length.
One of my favorite vehicle models! Glad you are enjoying it.
fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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cm23uoc
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Michel,
best picture of it since I know about Medina
What I actually read is this: Remove the Bumble Bee stripe.
What I actually read is this: Remove the Bumble Bee stripe.
On this forum, that goes without saying.......................
@fc7_plumcrazy: seriously, I took and posted that photo just for you!
This said, I won’t be fixing the cosmetics till I have all the mechanicals sorted out. The car is much smoother than it used to be, but is still not 100 percent in either Wyatt’s or my book. For the time being, I’m troubleshooting while using the car as my DD in the beautiful fall weather. For example, tonight I had a chance to check the wipers for the first time as the supposedly dry weather turned into a quick sprinkle.
This said, I won’t be fixing the cosmetics till I have all the mechanicals sorted out. The car is much smoother than it used to be, but is still not 100 percent in either Wyatt’s or my book. For the time being, I’m troubleshooting while using the car as my DD in the beautiful fall weather. For example, tonight I had a chance to check the wipers for the first time as the supposedly dry weather turned into a quick sprinkle.
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Well, time for an update and for a couple of pics, before Medina gets winterized and goes into hibernation.
I drove her almost 500 miles in the past couple of days and visited @david hill in Indianapolis and then @71Polara383 in Rockford. A key objective was to utilize a couple of work-related road trips to troubleshoot the vibrations that my last post alluded to. Yes, folks, fuselage C-bodies are still reliable daily drivers! Wyatt drove Medina another 80 miles today, as well. Along the way, a certain someone took a photo of the odometer at the 77,777 mark (the speedometer needle wiggles quite a bit, which is why the speed in the photo taken looks slightly higher than the 70mph speed limit at the location where the photo was taken -- the speedometer cable is on Wyatt's list of things he wants to do before we put her away for the winter).
1. The transmission does not seem to be guilty of any vibrations. It shifts as it should (though a RMS leak needs fixing). Rather:
a. David confirmed that the vibrations at idle were being transmitted by the Schumacher mounts. I now have concluded, based on 1k miles of driving in the space of 6 months, that the Schumies are indeed harsher than the original mounts. I understand the need to have mounts that do not fail, but there is -- as several people have pointed out -- a trade-off. The engine will come out in April for some tidying up, and I will put in the Mity Mounts at that time. Hopefully, they'll be smoother.
b. David traced, to two ever-so-slightly bent rear wheels, the vibrations that I had been feeling in the seat of my pants (i.e., in my tummy) when driving with fast traffic on the highway. I simply had not thought about bent wheels as possible culprits, and I had assumed away the possibility of unbalanced wheels because (i) they were allegedly balanced a few months ago when I replaced the tires and (ii) the vibrations come and go and only happen at a specific speed on the highway -- not at lower speeds, not at higher speeds. Wyatt suggested that now might be a good time to put on road wheels -- but I'd rather stick to the wheels and covers that I have on the car right now, as (a) they are original — that's what the car came with, (b) these wheel covers are unique to the senior fusie Dodges, and (iii, most importantly) I really like them. If anyone has two straight 15-inch steel wheels for my car, please PM me.
2. The cruise control works perfectly. The cruise always worked, as I noted before, but the "speed increase" button was rather sticky when I bought the car. After I spent some time last month to thoroughly clean the steering wheel and the stalks, it is now moving smoothly and quickly. That's a bonus of cleaning the interior: funny how the simplest solutions sometimes work (the wheels and stalks are also much more pleasant to use in their clean state).
3. Wyatt's work on the window tracks, stops, and windshield has eliminated 98% of the wind infiltrations into the cabin. Medina is much quieter underway as a result. Of course, the law of unintended consequences applies: I now hear much more of the tires' rumbling on the Illinois and Indiana concrete (the car remains refreshingly quiet on asphalt road portions) as well as the speedometer (the bouncing around is accompanied by some crickety shimmying) and a newly-developed metal squeak from the glove box lid. Wyatt will be fixing the cable and the box as soon as the rain stops (he got Medina back under cover right in the nick of time today).
4. I had considered keeping the rear air shocks, as they were only six months old when I bought the car earlier this year, but after this 500-mile trip I have decided that they'll be going. @saforwardlook recently asked me why I like the KYBs so much: they are much smoother than what's on Medina now and they are also less skittish -- IMO, the KYBs allow for more deliberate and precise steering than the air shocks.
5. Wyatt changed the front brake pads, the master cylinder, and all the brake lines a couple of months back, but we decided at the time to leave the rear drums unchanged. Well, David found that the passenger side drum was cast improperly (not centered), so it'll be going after the winter-- and I'll take this opportunity to change both drums (not just the RHS), the shoes, and also the rear axle bearings while we are at it.
That's it for now, folks. Comments and suggestions welcome! Here is Medina parked in Indiana next to David's beautiful 300 (that photo should please @fc7_plumcrazy), and then in Northern Illinois late last night (that one won’t...).
I drove her almost 500 miles in the past couple of days and visited @david hill in Indianapolis and then @71Polara383 in Rockford. A key objective was to utilize a couple of work-related road trips to troubleshoot the vibrations that my last post alluded to. Yes, folks, fuselage C-bodies are still reliable daily drivers! Wyatt drove Medina another 80 miles today, as well. Along the way, a certain someone took a photo of the odometer at the 77,777 mark (the speedometer needle wiggles quite a bit, which is why the speed in the photo taken looks slightly higher than the 70mph speed limit at the location where the photo was taken -- the speedometer cable is on Wyatt's list of things he wants to do before we put her away for the winter).
1. The transmission does not seem to be guilty of any vibrations. It shifts as it should (though a RMS leak needs fixing). Rather:
a. David confirmed that the vibrations at idle were being transmitted by the Schumacher mounts. I now have concluded, based on 1k miles of driving in the space of 6 months, that the Schumies are indeed harsher than the original mounts. I understand the need to have mounts that do not fail, but there is -- as several people have pointed out -- a trade-off. The engine will come out in April for some tidying up, and I will put in the Mity Mounts at that time. Hopefully, they'll be smoother.
b. David traced, to two ever-so-slightly bent rear wheels, the vibrations that I had been feeling in the seat of my pants (i.e., in my tummy) when driving with fast traffic on the highway. I simply had not thought about bent wheels as possible culprits, and I had assumed away the possibility of unbalanced wheels because (i) they were allegedly balanced a few months ago when I replaced the tires and (ii) the vibrations come and go and only happen at a specific speed on the highway -- not at lower speeds, not at higher speeds. Wyatt suggested that now might be a good time to put on road wheels -- but I'd rather stick to the wheels and covers that I have on the car right now, as (a) they are original — that's what the car came with, (b) these wheel covers are unique to the senior fusie Dodges, and (iii, most importantly) I really like them. If anyone has two straight 15-inch steel wheels for my car, please PM me.
2. The cruise control works perfectly. The cruise always worked, as I noted before, but the "speed increase" button was rather sticky when I bought the car. After I spent some time last month to thoroughly clean the steering wheel and the stalks, it is now moving smoothly and quickly. That's a bonus of cleaning the interior: funny how the simplest solutions sometimes work (the wheels and stalks are also much more pleasant to use in their clean state).
3. Wyatt's work on the window tracks, stops, and windshield has eliminated 98% of the wind infiltrations into the cabin. Medina is much quieter underway as a result. Of course, the law of unintended consequences applies: I now hear much more of the tires' rumbling on the Illinois and Indiana concrete (the car remains refreshingly quiet on asphalt road portions) as well as the speedometer (the bouncing around is accompanied by some crickety shimmying) and a newly-developed metal squeak from the glove box lid. Wyatt will be fixing the cable and the box as soon as the rain stops (he got Medina back under cover right in the nick of time today).
4. I had considered keeping the rear air shocks, as they were only six months old when I bought the car earlier this year, but after this 500-mile trip I have decided that they'll be going. @saforwardlook recently asked me why I like the KYBs so much: they are much smoother than what's on Medina now and they are also less skittish -- IMO, the KYBs allow for more deliberate and precise steering than the air shocks.
5. Wyatt changed the front brake pads, the master cylinder, and all the brake lines a couple of months back, but we decided at the time to leave the rear drums unchanged. Well, David found that the passenger side drum was cast improperly (not centered), so it'll be going after the winter-- and I'll take this opportunity to change both drums (not just the RHS), the shoes, and also the rear axle bearings while we are at it.
That's it for now, folks. Comments and suggestions welcome! Here is Medina parked in Indiana next to David's beautiful 300 (that photo should please @fc7_plumcrazy), and then in Northern Illinois late last night (that one won’t...).
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I just realized that I never posted photos of the new Waldron exhaust, which @71Polara383 installed before the CATL. As I may have mentioned before, the previous owner had installed duals to get "a cool sound." While the rumble was great, I wanted something more subdued for Medina as I want to be driving the car for long-distance tours. Not one to let good things go to waste, Wyatt used Medina's dual to replace a crumbling exhaust on the Monacucamonga; the dual fits that car's "rough and tumble" persona to a T.
Here are photos of the dual on Medina prior to replacement, and of the Waldron exhaust before and after installation. As you can see from the last picture (yes, it is @sixpkrt's 300 in the background), the tip is NOT what I was expecting: the angle is too sharp, and the pipe drops too far (i.e., it is too long) after the downward bend. I have notified Waldron, and am waiting to hear back.
There was another issue, which Wyatt plans to remedy before Medina goes into storage. He noticed that one of the exhaust hangers looked like a messed-up original (I am paraphrasing), and @david hill indeed traced a rattle to that very hanger (I am posting David's photo). I had recently bought a couple of NOS ones from @marty mopar (Arizona Parts; picture attached) in anticipation that the hanger was the culprit. I was right and Wyatt will be replacing the messed up hanger but, for a proper fix, we still need the exhaust hanger bracket (P/N 3466987): @GG-1 posted last fall what it looks like. I have been looking for that bracket (also called a clamp by some) for a few months but have not been lucky, so if anyone has one lying around, I am interested.
Duals before removal:
Waldron exhaust before installation:
New pipe installed:
Exhaust tip not looking right:
Messed-up hanger:
Arizona Parts NOS (two):
Here are photos of the dual on Medina prior to replacement, and of the Waldron exhaust before and after installation. As you can see from the last picture (yes, it is @sixpkrt's 300 in the background), the tip is NOT what I was expecting: the angle is too sharp, and the pipe drops too far (i.e., it is too long) after the downward bend. I have notified Waldron, and am waiting to hear back.
There was another issue, which Wyatt plans to remedy before Medina goes into storage. He noticed that one of the exhaust hangers looked like a messed-up original (I am paraphrasing), and @david hill indeed traced a rattle to that very hanger (I am posting David's photo). I had recently bought a couple of NOS ones from @marty mopar (Arizona Parts; picture attached) in anticipation that the hanger was the culprit. I was right and Wyatt will be replacing the messed up hanger but, for a proper fix, we still need the exhaust hanger bracket (P/N 3466987): @GG-1 posted last fall what it looks like. I have been looking for that bracket (also called a clamp by some) for a few months but have not been lucky, so if anyone has one lying around, I am interested.
Duals before removal:
Waldron exhaust before installation:
New pipe installed:
Exhaust tip not looking right:
Messed-up hanger:
Arizona Parts NOS (two):
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65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
The exhaust tip is not right, bad angle and too long.
Today, Nov. 16, is Medina’s 49th birthday. Here is what I got her as a present: a NOS exhaust hanger, complete with the bracket and bolts/washers.
This is the front tailpipe hanger [right over the rear axle] for fuselage C-body BB Dodge and Chrysler models with single exhaust. For 1969 to 1971, it is P/N 2823933; for 1971 to 1973, the P/N is 3466646 -- I am not sure of any difference between the two. @71Polara383, who has seen both parts, cannot see any obvious difference either.
The two 3466646 hangers I bought a few weeks ago are correct and in very good NOS condition (one is available, if anyone is interested; I am keeping a spare) but they lacked the bracket or clamp (P/N 3466987), the two bolts, and the two lock washers meant to fasten the tailpipe to the hanger. After searching far and wide for the bracket, I gave up and paid the price for the complete setup. The yellow paint is from the factory.
This is the front tailpipe hanger [right over the rear axle] for fuselage C-body BB Dodge and Chrysler models with single exhaust. For 1969 to 1971, it is P/N 2823933; for 1971 to 1973, the P/N is 3466646 -- I am not sure of any difference between the two. @71Polara383, who has seen both parts, cannot see any obvious difference either.
The two 3466646 hangers I bought a few weeks ago are correct and in very good NOS condition (one is available, if anyone is interested; I am keeping a spare) but they lacked the bracket or clamp (P/N 3466987), the two bolts, and the two lock washers meant to fasten the tailpipe to the hanger. After searching far and wide for the bracket, I gave up and paid the price for the complete setup. The yellow paint is from the factory.
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Well, it is going to be time for Medina to get ready for the driving season. She came out of storage for the first time today.
On the "to do" list are (i) correcting the exhaust tip (Waldron came through and sent me the correct last piece for free after I sent them the above pic -- kudos to them), (ii) installing new rear shocks (KYB KG5512 from Summit, to replace the air shocks that the previous owner had installed back in 2018), (iii) fixing the speedometer needle wobble at highway speeds (hopefully, it's just a matter of lubricating the cable), (iv) replacing a gasket that leaks when the car is moving (not when standing, which was a good thing during storage) and... (v) redoing the front seats. @sixpkrt has recommended an upholsterer and I decided to bite the bullet, as I intend to put quite a few miles on her later this year (virus situation permitting).
I not only want to replace the seat covers with the correct material but also to install new foam (and possibly new springs). Any suggestions about springs and foam would be most welcome.
Here is Medina today, saying hello for the first time to her 1970 cousin Snow White. The photo is courtesy @71Polara383
On the "to do" list are (i) correcting the exhaust tip (Waldron came through and sent me the correct last piece for free after I sent them the above pic -- kudos to them), (ii) installing new rear shocks (KYB KG5512 from Summit, to replace the air shocks that the previous owner had installed back in 2018), (iii) fixing the speedometer needle wobble at highway speeds (hopefully, it's just a matter of lubricating the cable), (iv) replacing a gasket that leaks when the car is moving (not when standing, which was a good thing during storage) and... (v) redoing the front seats. @sixpkrt has recommended an upholsterer and I decided to bite the bullet, as I intend to put quite a few miles on her later this year (virus situation permitting).
I not only want to replace the seat covers with the correct material but also to install new foam (and possibly new springs). Any suggestions about springs and foam would be most welcome.
Here is Medina today, saying hello for the first time to her 1970 cousin Snow White. The photo is courtesy @71Polara383
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MacLebaron
Well-Known Member
Nice!
Don Stolfi
Member
Sweet!
I really enjoyed this thread and very much appreciate your attention to details being posted for those of us who might do this in the future.
Will I be seeing this car at Carlisle this year?
Will I be seeing this car at Carlisle this year?
Thank you for the positive feedback!
It is highly unlikely that Medina will make it this year -- instead, the plan is for her to join in 2021 fr her 50th birthday. This year (virus permitting), I plan to bring my two 1970 Polara 'verts, Poppy and Snow White for a big reunion of the Last Convertibles.
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