Managed to get in a few hours Sunday with the 300 project. Decided to go for the low hanging fruit to make as much use of the time and warm weather wx was possible. The ol' girl started right up but still runs a bit rough. Spent a little time trying to hook up the electric choke then moved on to.....lights.
One of the big disappointments when the car arrived was how few things actually worked compared to the seller's description. No console lights, no dash lights, no map light, no trunk light, etc etc. After picking up a bunch of bulbs last month I dug into the interior lighting first. Moisture inside the car and trunk from leaks had created its own issues like stuck bulb bases. Broke the first console bulb trying to remove it, and spent half an hour figuring out how to get the map light bulb out.
I had been concerned that bad connections in some remote place under the dashboard would be the cause of all problems including the console. So imagine my surprise when the first new 1004 bulb lit up nice 'n bright. Replaced both in the side courtesy lights as well as the one in the map light. Voila - light galore! Also disassembled the vacuum gauge to find the #57 bulb in there is toast, but had no spare. Got some on order. The console shift lighting is out also, but I'm guessing(hoping) it's just burned out as well.
From there I moved to the trunk where things got a bit more nasty. The trunk light was still in place but pretty rusty. Spent over a half hour breaking tearing and yanking out the base. Flushed it well with WD-40 to get the crud out and help the contacts move more freely. The new bulb didn't fit well but, lo and behold, it actually worked. Next was a tail light bulb not lighting. Another bad bulb, another fight to the death trying to remove it. This time the socket ended up being toast, so I'll need to track down a replacement before continuing. Looks like it had been changed before.
Also tried to install the front directional bulbs in the bumper again. No luck, but did get one in far enough that it made contact and lit when the parking lights were on. Sockets are cleaned out and the springs seem to work fine, just need to get my wife out there with her smaller mitts to give it a try.
On the meatier side of things, the kickdown linkage had been disconnected at some point, perhaps due to the carb swap or who knows? Spent some time trying to decipher it using the manual. Decided I would post some photos and ask other owners before diving in too far. I did hook it back onto one of the pins but noticed when I revved the engine, the car tried to move backward a bit in park. So.....something for another day.
The best thing was - the Mopar Gods did not taketh away this time. Frequently when I tinker on the car I fix one or two small things and one or two new things break or come to light. This past weekend left me with a feeling of actual accomplishment again, like I was getting somewhere, forward progress and all that.
The plan at this point due to lack of time is to get it roadworthy enough to drive to a garage somewhere to have it looked over, maybe replace the vacuum advance and see why the engine runs rough. Needs an oil change, new belts, all that. Virtually no time now until next year, but I'll sneak in a minute here and there when I can.
Also found a neat little piece of history while cleaning out the quarter panels. A true blast from the past.
It's been outside in the driveway under the 5 layer car cover I bought for it many years ago. It does a pretty good job of keeping it safe. Bit of dust and debris gets blown up under the car cover, but I'd say 99.5% of all rain and moisture is kept out. And the moisture that does get in under it....can evaporate and move back through the car cover so it can dry out.
