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

[CTBob]

Hi, Steve!

Yes! After, lo, these many years, ’tis I. Having been “RA” (Restoration Assistant) to ya back in the day on several of yer stellar vehicles, perhaps I can, on occasion, be yer “RAFA” (Restoration Assistant From Afar) on this here project! (No matter what, at least I can experience it vicariously through your exemplary photo & text documentation!) My perpetually busy schedule is a little less perpetually-busy, so I thought that I’d join y’all. Kudos to ya (and, of course, Dave) on the ‘cuda!

I scrolled through the last 20, or, so pages, and, perhaps I can render an assist about a coupla’ semi-recent inquiries which you posed.

#701 p. 71 Re: The ground straps for the Shaker air doors, I just checked both my early (Aug./Sept. ’70 Printing) -&- Late/Final (Dec. ’71/Jan. ’72) ’70’/’71 Parts Catalogs, hoping to glean some info, however, it appears that they are not serviced. Perhaps it’s the “Mad Scientist” in me, and, I hasten to point out, sheer speculation, however, considering it’s “arcane engineering Chrysler” here, I wonder of they’re to prevent the driver and/or the dash from getting zapped from a direct lighting strike to the bubble through the shaker cable?! Hmmm…

#707 p. 71 Re: Glass Codes
AS2 = Tempered Glass w/ 70% light passage; non windshield
M27.7 = Model # used by the glass manufacturer; in this case PPG (as mandated by US Law)
26.99 = *Sept. 1969
26.79 = *July 1969
DOT18 = PPG Industries / Pittsburgh, PA. USA
*Not sure of “26” That number appears on the original glass of both my right & left doors of my ‘71 Charger / All other info is complete & correct

#755 p. 76: …And, Re: The jute backing separator board direction of orientation, to be properly installed the jute faces the luggage compartment (aka “The Trunk"). The caveat here is that it “shouldn’t” be installed in a 340 ‘cuda, ‘cause that was “only” used on Gran Coupe models, however, as we often say, “It’s Chrysler,” and (almost) anything is possible. (As a note, that, also, would have been installed on any Challenger SE, or, R/T/SE. My previous ’71 Charger SE included factory-installed jute-backed package shelf -&- passenger/luggage compartment separator panel, and, carpet trunk mat & spare tire cover, as well as clip-in color-keyed cardboard panels to cover the wheelhouses & the inside quarter panels.)

I hope that this helps! MoPar to ya!

PS This is my first time on this Forum, so apologies if I didn’t post correctly!

[njsteve]

Hey Bob! Welcome to the interwebs! Thanks for the sage advice.

(Bob and I go back about 40 years or so with our Mopars - he is an invaluable source of Mopar trivia and a terrible fastfood supplier - at the Mopar Nationals in 1986? I asked him to get bring me back a hamburger as I was working on the Cuda in the Brice Road hotel parking lot. An hour later he shows up with a single White Castle hamburger the size of postage stamp.)

[CTBob]

Hey, Steve! Thanks for the welcome, and, the compliments! …And, you’re welcome!

…And, re: “terrible fast-food supplier,” guilty as charged! Yup! ’Twas the ’86 MoPar Nats in Columbus. Our friend Rodney & I set out on foot in search of sustenance, and, the only place we found that was open was a White Castle! (Home of the tiny slider.) In my defense it was actually a DOUBLE Cheeseburger (so, it contained not 1, but 2 postage stamps). We did, however, “compensate” by gettin’ ya a large economy size Pepsi… I do, indeed, recall your look of dismay to this day… Sorry…

On the happy news side, this feels good! Having been a member of national Chrysler Corp Car Clubs during their heyday (including CPPA, MMCI, NHOA, RTS, SIAC, Winged Warriors), this feels nice. My time is quite limited, however, if I can help with a question (or, something of that nature), I’ll be happy to do so!

[Xplantdad]

Welcome Bob!

[olredalert]

----I remember Dale Smith (RIP) when he was doing OEM Glass and I think you could have driven over a delivered box and find a perfect windshield still untouched inside!.....Bill S

[njsteve]

Dale Smith, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in along time. I remember buying glass from him back in the 1980s for my Cuda ragtops. He was a good man.

When I ordered a new date coded windshield for the black 1972 Formula Firebird, Pilkington Glass shipped it in something that could have doubled as a coffin. It was a handmade, wooden rectangular sarcophagus with internal scaffolding that held the glass safely inside. It weighed over 150 lbs without the glass!

[A12pilot]

I had ordered date coded glass from ECS as was the exhaust for my Bee. 100% top notch all the way. Dave was a great guy to deal with (wish he was still here) and had I of kept Crusty I would have ordered their exhaust for it if I went the "over the top, stress about everything, crazy paint blop Inspector mark" restoration we all love to do!

You're doing awesome on this one Steve! Love it!!!!!

Cheers
Dave

[njsteve]

Look what arrived today! In continuing with my Day2 theme I found an original 1970's Stewart Warner Stage III oil pressure gauge on ebay for $35. I had one of these in my first car - a '69 Camaro Z11 pace car back in 1977. They came out in the very early 1970's and were available into the early 1980's. This one is dated May, 1979 (my junior year of high school).

I also found a spare block off plate for the standard gauge panel for $25. This goes where the optional clock would have been if you paid the extra $$ for it in 1970. The block off is made of molded plastic so it was easy to Dremel out the circle for the oil pressure guage to snap into. This is exactly what we all did back in the 1970's. Back in the day, it was actually rare to find a standard gauge panel that didn't have the empty block off plate bored out for an oil pressure gauge or a mini tach. I will run a copper oil feed line instead of using the 41 year old plastic tubing in the gauge kit.

(Note: no dogs were harmed during the photographing of this oil pressure gauge)

This should go in this weekend before the steering column gets reassembled and installed. I also found the built in tach lead in the engine compartment harness. It feeds an empty spot on the bulkhead connector at the firewall. All I had to do was add the interior side portion of the wire with the corresponding connector and I have the tach lead already routed without having to fish a random tach wire to the coil.

As you may recall I am installing this 1972 Mopar tach on the column, just like the old days.

[njsteve]

I just got a shipping alert from UPS that Legendary Auto Interiors is shipping the front and rear seat upholstery out this week. I ordered it back in May? They had a six month backlog of orders. Fingers crossed that it arrives safely.

As for the replacement windshield, Jegs sent an email that it was on backorder and it is supposed to ship out directly from AMD later this week...They are probably having trouble finding some old, thin tissue paper to wrap it up in since modern newspaper is too thick and might actually protect it too much.

[njsteve]

Well, the Legendary interior showed up yesterday...in a shredded box.

You'd think if you were shipping a white interior you would do something more than put it in an unsealed plastic bag and throw it in a large cardboard box. Then tape the flaps shut with a single section of tape.

Here's how it arrived. The white seat covers were out of the plastic bags and laying on the bottom section where the open tears in the cardboard were. All that clear tape was put on by UPS in transit.

WTF is wrong with these companies? I paid them $86 for shipping. Legendary said it was the price they charge for an oversized box. Really? So you couldn't double box it? Did I pay for insurance?

I called them immediately and emailed them the photos. They didn't seem to think there was any problem. All they kept saying was if they were damaged to put in a claim and claims get expedited if they have to make a new set.

I ordered these in August. That's how long it took to get them made.