Meet Buttercup, a 1972 New Yorker Brougham 2-door Hardtop

[david hill]

Although the heater core placement was pretty good. ( one rivet had to be ground off or it would prevent flush mounting). The overall heater core mounting dimensions were way off. Heavy grinding of the heater core assembly was required to bring it to proper fitment. This wasn't just a little, this was off a lot. see photos. The evaporator that was remade was fairly acceptable, the heater core. This being offered for resale is definitely not plug and play for the average collector. If you decide to use them in the future be sure to have good fab skills to install.

 

[LocuMob]

@david hill, did you do the kids and then send it back?

 

[david hill]

@david hill, did you do the kids and then send it back?

explain

 

[LocuMob]

explain

Man I hate my phone and it's predictive text.

Did you do the mods and then send it back? @ayilar made it sound like he got a corrected part after communicating what was incorrect. Thought maybe you did the necessary mods and returned it so AC Global know what to correct.

 

[david hill]

Man I hate my phone and it's predictive text.

Did you do the mods and then send it back? @ayilar made it sound like he got a corrected part after communicating what was incorrect. Thought maybe you did the necessary mods and returned it so AC Global know what to correct.

The mods were made after they made a second unit and sent it back with the correct core offset. The core that we originally received that thing was unusable. The reason for the mods was simply there was interference between the mounting case studs and the heater case and the evaporator assembly. It was just much simpler just to cut the release than to send it back for a second time.

 

[ayilar]

Additional items ordered for Buttercup. In the process of installing new heater hoses, @david hill found that the heater control valve nipple feed to the heater core had been modified and (...) cut off about half an inch. So we decided to replace it:

Here is the spring-loaded HCV currently on Buttercup:

I bought a Four Seasons 74643 from Summit. Summit and Rock Auto both listed it as correct, and the photos below suggest it is right for the application. The manufacturer says "Cable Operated Non-Bypass Closed Heater Valve":

David found an issue with the routing and condition of the fuel hose, and so we are replacing both the hose and (while we are at it) the fuel filter with a WIX 33032 from Summit.

I also ordered a set of belts. The current set is still fine, but while doing a bunch of revisions, I might as well go whole-hog. The belt sizes currently on the car measure as: two 60", 36.5", and 42.5". I bought Continental Elite 36" (PN 15366, which should work), 42.5" (which David says is actually the correct length; PN 15430), and two 59.5" belts (PM 13595, fingers crossed that they work with the big alternator on the car).

Finally, he has started installing the pieces from the splash shield set I got from Detroit Muscle Technologies.

 

[david hill]

Here is the latest installment on Buttercups makeover revival. Next on the list of repairs or redoes was untangling of the wire harness - fuel line, battery feed wire mess. As seen in the photos below the fuel line routing was anything but like origin. With the help of a wooden handle screwdriver and a 5/16 tubing bender a reasonable replacement fuel line was fabricated. See photos

 

[david hill]

The battery feed wire was relocated to the engine wire harness. Note the cleaner appearance in the inner fender photos.

 

[david hill]

The sway bar links should have been a piece of cake. Well not quite. As you see in the photos below the sway bar bushing bracket itself is spot welded together. PST does sell a replacement setup complete w/ everything you need, well they are out of stock. Left w/ no other choices I decided to cut off the welded strap and fab a new one. I located a body grinder, installed an aggressive cutting disk. Hack sawed off as much of the strap as possible I next ground off the rest. next installed rubber bushing and bent a replacement strap out of flat stock. Clamped it all together and drilled a 1/4 hole as shown on each side to secure the new strap. bolted back together w/ no issues.

 

[saforwardlook]

The sway bar links should have been a piece of cake. Well not quite. As you see in the photos below the sway bar bushing bracket itself is spot welded together. PST does sell a replacement setup complete w/ everything you need, well they are out of stock. Left w/ no other choices I decided to cut off the welded strap and fab a new one. I located a body grinder, installed an aggressive cutting disk. Hack sawed off as much of the strap as possible I next ground off the rest. next installed rubber bushing and bent a replacement strap out of flat stock. Clamped it all together and drilled a 1/4 hole as shown on each side to secure the new strap. bolted back together w/ no issues.

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Nice work, and I will likely end up doing much the same with some of mine in the absence of something from PST - hopefully they will get new stock in soon enough..................

 

[david hill]

Early on I took notice of the rusted finish quality of both inner fenders. They required a great deal of grinding and sanding to prep for primer and eventual painting. See photos.

 

[david hill]

more photos

 

[david hill]

More photos

 

[saforwardlook]

Early on I took notice of the rusted finish quality of both inner fenders. They required a great deal of grinding and sanding to prep for primer and eventual painting. See photos.

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Whether trying to remove the inner fenders (without breaking off the small bolts in the process - I soak the ends of the screws with Kroil for several days ahead of time to prevent that), cleaning/painting them up as you have done or reinstalling them even, it seems it is just a non-rewarding task that I do not look forward to doing. But without that refurbishing, the engine compartment will look like crap so it is a "must do" for me too. I like that you saved the emission label too. Nice work.

 

[ayilar]

Stopped by @david hill to visit Buttercup today. The engine bay looks great. Here she is, parked next to his concours-winning 1969 TNT 300 ’vert.

 

[david hill]

Here is the final installment of Buttercups stay here at the MOPAR Spa. The drivers door handle has a badd habit of difficult or no operation. Apon removal and inspection it was found that the Thumb actuator assemb was just plain worn out. Made a call to a fellow MOPAR owner and he said he had a outside door handle on the shelf. It was a very good replacement for the OEM door handle. Next on the drivers door repair list was to get better door glass alignment There was a small strip of door channel seal missing. Using some thin mastic rubber and epoxy glue took out some of the sloppy operation. The door panel was in need of some TLC . The door clips had ripped out of the melanin board and the upper steel latch hook was broken. Repaired the melanin board w/ high strength epoxy . let it harden 24hrs and resized w/ a dremal tool. Repairing the retaining hook required removal of the door whiskers and vinyl covering. As the photos show careful clamping and reattachment w/ small rivets did the job. Cat whiskers were reattached w/ small sheet meatal screws. 3M 90 contact spray adhesive made the door vinyl reinstall a snap. Michel will pick Buttercup in the morning.

 

[ayilar]

On the return leg of a long trip, I picked up Buttercup from @david hill before the winter sets in. Here she is, parked next to David's 1969 Three Hundred.

The ride is much improved as are the steering's feel and precision, the noise level on the driver's side is much reduced (the passenger side is unchanged, as it still suffers from the same deteriorated weatherstrip, but it is fine even at HIGHway speeds), and the heater's restored "toastiness" allowed me to drive her back home in shirt sleeves

 

[ayilar]

I found this beautiful GY4 Honeydew NYB with a gold top and black buckets on CL in Westtown, NY in mid-June and I managed to buy her before any sandbaggers got to it. (...) This car was a 60th birthday gift to the seller by his son. The father, who just turned 90, stopped driving the car last year. He and/or his son used to drive the car every week, on "cruises" in NY/NJ/PA.

I have learned some more about Buttercup's history in the past week, following the sad news that the previous owner (whom I was had been hoping to meet in person) had passed away this February.

Turns out that he acquired the NYB in 2003 (not in 1990 as I had been told by his relatives -- it must have been for a different birthday) from the creator of the Molara, a famous 1970 Polara convertible now owned by @JPMODL. That person, whom I met at a recent Carlisle event without knowing that he used to own Buttercup, had acquired the latter back in 1999 from someone in New Jersey. He was planning to use it as a driver and refurbished it, but then he let it go in 2003 to the person from whom I bought the car.

He sent me today a handwritten list of the items that he bought for the car between 1999 and 2003, which is great. They include a radiator previously on a Polara (which I will be replacing in spring), an exhaust, road wheels, etc.

As I reported last December, the elderly previous owner passed away on Feb. 19, 2021 -- before I had a chance to meet him. His daughter-in-law, however, put me in touch with the person from whom the car was acquired. Here is the first page of the parts records that he kept for the car, showing that he had acquired this New Yorker Brougham from NJ in August 1999:

Weather permitting, I will be meeting him later this month. Meanwhile, here is a 2009 sticker of the Tri State Car Club of Middletown, NY that I found in the glove box. The Club closed its doors in 2016.

 

[ayilar]

Both power seat hinge covers were present and attached when I got the car, but driver-side's fastening points finally broke this fall. Accordingly, I just purchased a replacement from ABC Moparts (photo from their website attached). I will need to transfer the chrome edge from the original cover to the new one.

 

[oliver]

On the return leg of a long trip, I picked up Buttercup from @david hill before the winter sets in. Here she is, parked next to David's 1969 Three Hundred.

The ride is much improved as are the steering's feel and precision, the noise level on the driver's side is much reduced (the passenger side is unchanged, as it still suffers from the same deteriorated weatherstrip, but it is fine even at HIGHway speeds), and the heater's restored "toastiness" allowed me to drive her back home in shirt sleeves

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Gorgeous! I absolutely love the 1972's and feel it was the model year that best embodied the fuselage styling.