The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[CTBob]

Hey, Steve! I sure do remember that cool 'Cuda! I had just picked-up parts for my Charger at A-1 Toyota/Dodge. (The Toyota dealership had recently purchased County Dodge Sales, and, consolidated the Dodge dealership with their Toyota dealership.) Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw you fuelin'-up that 'Cuda at the Mobil station across the street. MoPars being a somewhat-rare breed in our area, you motioned me in to the Mobil station, and, we had a chat! You were gonna be headin' off to the '83 MoPar Nats. Been friends ever since! (As a parenthetical note, I think it's interesting how timing can be such a contributory factor in life experiences.)

…And, speaking of timing… Wow! Has it been that long, already?! Guess so, huh… It still seems like only yesterday…

[njsteve]

YAY!

I really have to give a shout-out to Marcus at TurboStart Batteries for finding me not one but two yellow cap S24Y reproduction AGM batteries for the Cuda. He has been putting up with my: "So when will you have them back in stock?" emails for around eight months now.

He managed to locate one early last week and immediately sent it to me...and what happened? Friggen fedex ground destroyed it again, just like the red cap one I got from Jegs a month ago. Inconceivable!

(BTW, like the previously destroyed red cap battery, it went through the same fedex Northampton PA depot that has lost and/or destroyed so many of my packages over the past year - they must have my name on some kind of
"Do Not Deliver To This Guy" List)

It showed up on Friday and the moment I saw the young lady behind the counter at my PO Box handling it, I had to yell to warn her to put it down immediately: She had picked it up in a bear hug and I could see the acid staining on the cardboard as she held it against her shirt. She thought I was some kind of pervert, when I asked her if she had another shirt to change into. Before she could pepper spray me and call the cops, I quickly explained that it was leaking battery acid and that it may be on her clothing now. She then said: "Oh is that the vinegar smell I'm smelling?" So eventually she believed what I was saying as I opened the box to take photos and call Marcus and tell him what happened. It was around 3:30 PM by then.

When I got it out of the box it looked like they had hit it with a hammer or something because a chunk was taken out of the top corner of the battery. You could see the damage to the upper middle of the box on the outside. It looked like a deliberate attack and not an accidental drop while handling, because the top of the battery where it was damaged was not at the actual top of the cardboard box due to the layers of styrofoam on top of the battery. Someone had to have taken some time to find that spot.

Well, enough with my conspiracy theories for now...

When I got in touch with Marcus I think he was more mad than I was. He then went on a Holy Grail quest and managed to find a second one that he made sure that everyone along the way knew how important it was. It was triple-packaged with multiple layers of cardboard and styrofoam packing and sent it out Friday afternoon by 4:00 PM. I imagine he probably insured it for a million dollars just to teach fedex a lesson if they ruined this one too.

It just arrived today (Monday) and it was in perfect shape.

Thank you Marcus!


So here it is installed and makes the engine compartment finally look correct.

[njsteve]

I got a message from the guy refurbishing that Sanyo FT-489 I bought. It's all done and awaiting shipping. He actually posted a video of the newly rebuilt unit playing, which is kind of cool. He said it appeared to only have around ten hours total run time on it from the condition of the internals. It needed a belt and the ejection mechanism gears retimed and shimmed and that was about it. He charged around $145 with shipping.

I can't wait to install the circa-1975 vintage unit. (Paperwork has 1976 on the instructions but Sanyo supposeldy manufactured the FT-489 from 1971 to 1974 according to this site, which, by the way is a great site for dating stereo equipment. You just input the model and it will give you various brands to narrow down your search results: https://www.usedprice.com/items/car-...=ft489&x=0&y=0

[njsteve]

Drove the cuda to a show out in PA today. Around 60 miles, roundtrip. She drove great. 90+ degree day and the temp gauge never went above the 1/3 mark. The pollen was a nightmare though. It was actually raining pollen from the tress we were sitting under. I gave up dusting after an hour. My wingman brought his Sassy Grass Green AAR which when covered in pollen looked like it was covered in green flocking fuzz.

Fun show. Approximately 150 Mopars in attendance with a good 1/3 being all sorts of versions of Hellcats and SRT Challengers. (I so want one of them purple ones).

[njsteve]

The refurbished Sanyo FT-489 arrived back today. Only took a couple minutes to swap it with the other radio. It sounds amazing! This guy does incredible work. It plays my old high school Bob Seger tapes just like the old days, only better sounding through the modern-ish speakers.

Now I guess I have to find a matching amp/equalizer...

It's the old tale of "Give a mouse a cookie...and he'll want a glass of milk"...etc.