My new to me 73 Monaco

[Lowbudget]

I bought a 1973 Monaco 4 door and a 1979 Dodge Magnum as a Christmas present to myself. The Magnum will be a FBBO story later. I went over and took a pretty good look at it today. It's a 440 car w/tow package. Optional 3.23 gears in the Sur Grip. I paid 2 grand f/both so I figure I'm into it $1000. 00. The plan is to toss a cam/lifters in it, a set of Edelbrock E Street heads, timing set and TTI exhaust. Rebuild front end, new leaf springs, torsion bars. Then drive the hell out of it. It is a 50,000 mile survivor. Here are the first pictures at my friends salvage yard. It's too wet and muddy to move the car yet. I will get more pictures and info when I get her home.

 

[azblackhemi]

Nice score! That's a really loaded car! You got it for a song! Congratulations.

 

[Boydsdodge]

Wow. Very nice car as it is. New top, tires and a tune and you should be good to go.
If you want to unload the air cleaner.....

 

[Davea Lux]

First off, let me congratulate you on a good buy on these two cars. I personally would not put a cam in this car unless you are going to rebuild the engine as part of the process. At 50k, you would be asking to leave the engine all over the street as this was probably some old persons car that was not driven hard, those usually do not fare well with performance upgrades. You are also starting with a low compression smog engine that will not gain a lot with a big cam. Get it home and running and see how the engine sounds, you would probably want to pull the pan and inspect the lower end of the engine to start and go from there.

Dave

 

[mrfury68]

Nice score! That is a well appointed 4 door hardtop. I always liked the front ends of those Dodges. I wouldn’t hop up the engine unless you were to do a total rebuild. Give it a thorough tuneup and you would be surprised at how well it will run. Carb may need a rebuild if it sat for a long time. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Lowbudget]

Wow. Very nice car as it is. New top, tires and a tune and you should be good to go.
If you want to unload the air cleaner.....

He did the tune up: plugs, cap/rotor and wires. The tires are new just not wide enough for me. I don't know where he dug up the Chrysler road wheels as I bought a set from him for my Diplomat a couple years back. As for the air cleaner I think I'm keeping it. lol. It should make a good project. The vinyl top shouldn't be a problem...Although I haven't put one on since High School in 1978 when I painted my Mustang. It was just too cool of a car to pass up. I've never seen the Chrysler cassette player on the transmission hump. The big block and Sur Grip just makes it even cooler. My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy but I proved her wrong when I bought the 79 Diplomat, which is another 60000 mile survivor.

 

[Lowbudget]

First off, let me congratulate you on a good buy on these two cars. I personally would not put a cam in this car unless you are going to rebuild the engine as part of the process. At 50k, you would be asking to leave the engine all over the street as this was probably some old persons car that was not driven hard, those usually do not fare well with performance upgrades. You are also starting with a low compression smog engine that will not gain a lot with a big cam. Get it home and running and see how the engine sounds, you would probably want to pull the pan and inspect the lower end of the engine to start and go from there.

Dave

I'm not going to go wild on the cam just a stage 2 Hughes cam for a little more torque. My friend thinks it might have a head gasket weeping. I won't know for sure until I get it home. Then see how the powdered hardened valve seats look. My plan is to add the Edelbrock E Street heads to get the 75 cc chamber, better flow and heat transfer, all for a little more cash then having the 346 heads redone...If they can be without throwing new hardened seats in. . It's an anemic 440 w/factory measurements of 8.2 to 1. With 88 cc to 90 cc chamber volume. The bottom end is the last thing I'm worried about. I'm just going to get a little cranking pressure with the LSA of the cam and have fun. It's a 1000.00 car I'm just looking to play. I've got 2 1967 440's in the garage if I want a hot rod. Oh yeah them old persons that drove the car drove it a lot harder than you think.....Trust me as these days I am one of those "old persons". There's a cool post over on FABO about taking an an Anemic 440 motorhome motor and throwing a Mopar 509 cam in it. Dyno's head changes and all that stuff.

 

[ayilar]

Congrats on getting DP43T3D159868. This HL4 even has the A35 towing package -- very well bought, enjoy in good health!

 

[ayilar]

@BLIMP @1970FuryConv @saforwardlook all own 1973 Monacos and may be able to answer specific questions.

@69CoronetRT and @cuda hunter will be grateful, as I am, that you posted the fender tag and the window sticker for historical records.

 

[69CoronetRT]

I bought a 1973 Monaco 4 door and a 1979 Dodge Magnum as a Christmas present to myself. The Magnum will be a FBBO story later. I went over and took a pretty good look at it today. It's a 440 car w/tow package. Optional 3.23 gears in the Sur Grip. I paid 2 grand f/both so I figure I'm into it $1000. 00. The plan is to toss a cam/lifters in it, a set of Edelbrock E Street heads, timing set and TTI exhaust. Rebuild front end, new leaf springs, torsion bars. Then drive the hell out of it. It is a 50,000 mile survivor. Here are the first pictures at my friends salvage yard. It's too wet and muddy to move the car yet. I will get more pictures and info when I get her home.

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I appreciate the pics of the tag and ADSN. Thank you. Out of curiosity, what does the door sticker say about production date?

 

[cuda hunter]

Wow! That is quite the car! And with little to no rust. Gotta love Utah cars!
The ADSN is super cool to see. Not many of them pop up with the old girls.
Thanks for posting up the info. I'm sure there is a build sheet in the car somewhere. Hope ya find it and put it back when done.
Cool Car !!

 

[sixpkrt]

You got an incredible deal on your Monaco. Was the 79 Magnum just as nice?

 

[Lowbudget]

The Magnum isn't quite as nice but still a rust free original sunroof car. The sun roof has been Bondoed up which is scary. It's a lean burn 318 car nothing fancy. I have always wanted one since King Richard was running one in Nascar. I don't have any plans for it yet. My friend made me a package deal on them and I wanted that Monaco, my first C body. I went up to Wyoming years ago to buy a 70 Sport Fury. The interior was pristine, it had the faded Chrysler paint and a slice down the rear quarter. I told a buddy about it the bar in my hometown and ended up coming home with a 67 Charger and another 12 valve Cummins. He made me a package deal that I couldn't refuse. The Charger is on hold for a few years until I retire. I can be driving and playing with the Monaco as I get it in shape.

 

[Keith926]

I'm not going to go wild on the cam just a stage 2 Hughes cam for a little more torque. My friend thinks it might have a head gasket weeping. I won't know for sure until I get it home. Then see how the powdered hardened valve seats look. My plan is to add the Edelbrock E Street heads to get the 75 cc chamber, better flow and heat transfer, all for a little more cash then having the 346 heads redone...If they can be without throwing new hardened seats in. . It's an anemic 440 w/factory measurements of 8.2 to 1. With 88 cc to 90 cc chamber volume. The bottom end is the last thing I'm worried about. I'm just going to get a little cranking pressure with the LSA of the cam and have fun. It's a 1000.00 car I'm just looking to play. I've got 2 1967 440's in the garage if I want a hot rod. Oh yeah them old persons that drove the car drove it a lot harder than you think.....Trust me as these days I am one of those "old persons". There's a cool post over on FABO about taking an an Anemic 440 motorhome motor and throwing a Mopar 509 cam in it. Dyno's head changes and all that stuff.

I remember the Edelbrock 75 cc heads being marketed as an upgrade to a smog era b/rb engine, sounds like a cool build for sure, should be fun, especially with the 3.23 sure grip, you are already way ahead of cars with a 2.--anything gear, I'm all for it, it will be mint

 

[Davea Lux]

The Magnum isn't quite as nice but still a rust free original sunroof car. The sun roof has been Bondoed up which is scary. It's a lean burn 318 car nothing fancy. I have always wanted one since King Richard was running one in Nascar. I don't have any plans for it yet. My friend made me a package deal on them and I wanted that Monaco, my first C body. I went up to Wyoming years ago to buy a 70 Sport Fury. The interior was pristine, it had the faded Chrysler paint and a slice down the rear quarter. I told a buddy about it the bar in my hometown and ended up coming home with a 67 Charger and another 12 valve Cummins. He made me a package deal that I couldn't refuse. The Charger is on hold for a few years until I retire. I can be driving and playing with the Monaco as I get it in shape.

King Richard hated his '77 Magnum because it had very poor aerodynamics at track speeds. He switched to a Chevy Monte Carlo and later in the season to an Oldsmobile. He gave the car to his son Kyle who did win the Daytona 500 with it. '77 marked the end of a long line of Mopars for the Petty team. His parting comment was that the "Mopar equipment was no longer up to the task."

Dave

 

[SwissABC]

The Magnum isn't quite as nice but still a rust free original sunroof car. The sun roof has been Bondoed up which is scary. It's a lean burn 318 car nothing fancy. I have always wanted one since King Richard was running one in Nascar. I don't have any plans for it yet. My friend made me a package deal on them and I wanted that Monaco, my first C body. I went up to Wyoming years ago to buy a 70 Sport Fury. The interior was pristine, it had the faded Chrysler paint and a slice down the rear quarter. I told a buddy about it the bar in my hometown and ended up coming home with a 67 Charger and another 12 valve Cummins. He made me a package deal that I couldn't refuse. The Charger is on hold for a few years until I retire. I can be driving and playing with the Monaco as I get it in shape.

Hi, first big congratulations ! I love this Monacos, I have a 68 Monaco Station Wagon and bought in 2020 a 72 Monaco Station with 440. AND also a 78 Magnum! with T-Tops. Crazy... and I have a 67 Charger too! with 383, copper in and out.
But I am in Switzerland
My 72 Monaco is still in project, is new painted and now at the show for new woody decal.

 

[Lowbudget]

My 67 is A pale copper inside and out 383 car. I have a complete black interior for it and plan on painting it Amber Fire Pearl. I have fiends in Bern that I met here in Vernal Utah 30 or so years ago. When I was working in Algeria we would overnight in Zurich and they would come get us and take us to the Black Out Bar. I need to go through my old address books and see if I still have contact info on them. They had bought a station wagon in California and were headed to Florida. It's a small world

 

[Lowbudget]

A quick rundown:
First of all I started hosing fasteners down with Kroil to let it soak. Anything that I thought I would be removing.

The battery tray was rusted out so I replaced it with the proper one and hold down. New battery cables. The inner fender has a rust hole in it from where the battery acid drained down. I used rust killer on it and sprayed it black. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be once I pulled the battery tray. I was quoted $175.00 plus freight for a replacement inner fender. I'm going to try and find something close in my friends Mopar salvage yard, break out my lead shot bag and mallet and gently massage it to fit. If it works I win if it doesn't I'll have to drink chea....inexpensive beer for a while.

I pulled the front wheels and looked things over. A front end rebuild is in my future. I looked rearward and noticed trans mount is shot. The brake lines looked good but I ordered new ones anyway. I looked at the shocks and decided to wait for the rebuild before putting on the new KYB's I have for it...Actually I thought WTF and laughed. I didn't measure but it didn't look like they would fit even compressed. I pulled the calipers and the drivers side brake pad only had 1/32" of pad left. I have never seen a pad worn down that low without being metal. The rotors looked great. It was Saturday and no one could cut them so I put new pads on and put it back together. I will get the rotors cut and do the wheel bearings next days off.

I pulled the rear wheels and drums. Everything was dry and looked good. I put new shoes on and got the drums cut. I could have run the shoes longer but I was there. The shoes were stock and had the Pentastar logo on them. I thought about putting new wheel cylinders in but figured if it isn't broke don't fix it. I have a trust issue with todays parts anyway. If the time comes I will find a kit and rebuild them. I shined the Road wheels up and painted the centers. The shocks will go on next days off. It needs leaf spring isolators and bushings.

I decided on the Lunati Voodoo 701 cam. I just got the whole kit. I was leaning towards the Hughes stuff and decided the money saved could go to better use elsewhere. The 75 cc E-Street heads have an ETA of May 1st so we are gaining on motor stuff. I ordered a new gas tank since mine has some pinholes in the top. I have the recess to weld in it in case I decide to go EFI in the future. I decided for now to replace the muffler and do the TTI exhaust in the future. My main objective right now is getting it safe to drive.

My girlfriend has named it the Money pit. I almost got MNY PIT for tags but got OLDIRON instead. I will start taking photos

 

[marty mopar]

OK FYI that is a cassette recorder you have on the trans hump. It might be worth what you paid for the car

do you have the microphone? there were 2 kinds: coiled cord or straight cord

here is one on turdbay:

1970 1971 1972 1973 Plymouth Dodge Chrysler NOS MoPar Cassette Microphone Strait | eBay

are all the plastic parts on the outside of it good? if so what a score!!!!!!

EXTREMELY SUPER uncommon due to the cost of that option.

here is one on Scuzzbay:

Mopar Factory Console Mounted Cassette Player Cuda Challenger RoadRunner Charger | eBay


you have R36 on your sales papers

Coded R36 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The package tray will not have perforations for rear speakers. There will not be a rear speaker fader, or any other speaker wiring. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio.

Coded R36, R33 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player and microphone. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The package tray will not have perforations for rear speakers. There will not be a rear speaker fader, or any other speaker wiring. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio.

Coded H31, R36 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The package tray will have perforations in both sides. The right side is used as an air intake for the defogger. There will not be a rear speaker fader, or any other speaker wiring. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio. The rear window defogger will have all of its parts and wiring, but will not come with an adapter housing for attaching a rear speaker.

Coded H31, R36, R33 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player and microphone. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The package tray will have perforations in both sides. The right side is used as an air intake for the defogger. There will not be a rear speaker fader, or any other speaker wiring. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio. The rear window defogger will have all of its parts and wiring, but will not come with an adapter housing for attaching a rear speaker.

Coded R36, R32 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The car will also have two rear speakers with wiring. The package tray will have perforations in both sides. A rear speaker fader (dual rheostat) will be present near the heater controls on rallye dash equipped cars, or on the underside of the instrument bezel near the fuel gauge on cars without the rallye dash. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio.

Coded R36, R32, R33 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player and microphone. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The car will also have two rear speakers with wiring. The package tray will have perforations in both sides. A rear speaker fader (dual rheostat) will be present near the heater controls on rallye dash equipped cars, or on the underside of the instrument bezel near the fuel gauge on cars without the rallye dash. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio.

Coded H31, R36, R32 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The car will also have two rear speakers with wiring. The package tray will have perforations in both sides. A rear speaker fader (dual rheostat) will be present near the heater controls on rallye dash equipped cars, or on the underside of the instrument bezel near the fuel gauge on cars without the rallye dash. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio. The rear window defogger will have all of its parts and wiring, but will also come with an adapter housing for attaching a rear speaker as this speaker location is also the air intake for the defogger. If the car is equipped with a spare tire, it will be a space saver spare tire.

Coded H31, R36, R32, R33 = (1971 only) 10 watt AM/FM stereo with stereo cassette player and microphone. Car will have a three speaker dash with speaker grills and three speakers with wiring. This setup requires a crossover box. There are two types of mounting brackets for the cassette player. (on tunnel or on optional console) The car will also have two rear speakers with wiring. The package tray will have perforations in both sides. A rear speaker fader (dual rheostat) will be present near the heater controls on rallye dash equipped cars, or on the underside of the instrument bezel near the fuel gauge on cars without the rallye dash. The fender will have a hole for an antennae, and an antennae will be present with a lead going to the radio. The rear window defogger will have all of its parts and wiring, but will also come with an adapter housing for attaching a rear speaker as this speaker location is also the air intake for the defogger. If the car is equipped with a spare tire, it will be a space saver spare tire.

NOTES: 70 & 71 cars use a telescopic antennae, while 72-74 cars use a 31” fixed mast antennae.

The crossover box on a 3 speaker car is the same as one on a 5 speaker car. The wiring harness between components is different to accommodate the fader and rear speakers.

Convertibles cannot be equipped with H31, R31, or R32 because there is no package tray to mount them.

A microphone for your 72 or 73 car with cassette player could be ordered over the counter at your local dealership, but could not be ordered to come with the car from the factory.
The factory installed microphone has a straight cord, while the over the counter microphone has a curly cord.

A defogger or rear speaker with fader could have been added to an otherwise unequipped car by the dealership. These dealership add on kits included an oval bezel and a speaker grill to cover the hole which would need to be cut into the standard non-perforated package tray.

Any of these components should work on any E body with the exception of the 70 Challenger. It has a different dash. Components specific to the 70 challenger are…
1. all three speaker grills on the dash
2. The plastic dash trim around the radio/stereo with or without 8 track notch.
3. “radio trim plate” will have vertical ribs if not equipped with a rallye dash

 

[Lowbudget]

Too cool! I just ordered the mic. Thank you. The plastic on the cassette looks good. It is one of the things that drew me to the car as I've never seen one. I haven't played with the interior yet as I'm still getting it road safe. I did notice rear defogger with speaker in the trunk. I will know more days off as I have back surgery scheduled and will start playing with the interior while I heal up. Thank you so much for the info.