mattimuss

Hey PA, is this the voice of experience talking???

Customized vans are on the come back here in California. I am currently restoring a '69 Dodge A108, a very mild custom. The number of young people getting interested in old vans is growing. A lot of "experienced" [i.e. "old farts"] people like me just like them. Be prepared to see them showing up at car shows in your local area...

Is our "librarian" one of those sexy, scantily clad Hollywood movie types?!?! Inquiring minds want to know...NOW!

Hey Paul, A close friend did this procedure a few years ago. At first she was very apprehensive. We had many conversations about the procedure, the equipment and her fears. At that time she was having a very difficult time holding a conversation unless the other person was very close, almost face-to-face with her. She couldn't hold a conversation on a telephone, so she wouldn't answer any calls but would let them go to voice mail. Then she would listen to the messages from the answering machine with her head next to it and the volume all the way up. After many talks I convinced her that she should get the procedure done...and she has been happy that she did ever since. She can now hold conversations without standing directly in front of the other person. She now answers the phone and talks with the person on the other side. While there was a "leaning period" [your brain has to relearn sounds] and some initial frustration, this procedure has given her back her hearing. Most people have no idea she has had this done [she has long blonde hair that covers everything up]. I know everyone has different experiences with medical procedures. If you decide to go forward with this I hope your results are as good as hers.

Our car club, The Motorhead Misfits, was invited to attend a special tour that went down into the lower levels. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. While in the lower level we got to get up-close to this car. If I remember correctly they were preparing the car for display at the time of our visit. Here are a few of the pictures I took back then: [Please forgive the poor quality, it was my first digital camera that wasn't a high quality model]

Hey Harold, My uncle got one last year. According to him the surgery wasn't all that bad, but the recovery sucked because you are not allowed to do much for 4-6 weeks afterward.

Merry Christmas Everyone! My sincere wish for all memebers is that your 2016 is better than your 2015!

Cool, thanks! Now I have a Christmas gift I can recommend to my wife!

When & where? If it's not too far from the San Diego area I might attend.

One of the door lock knobs, the knob you pull up to unlock the door, broke today. Does anyone know where to get replacements?

I found this paperwork in two of my hubcaps. I pulled them out and put them in a safe place. One is in much better shape than the other, but both are readable. Purty cool...

Hey All, I took her for two drives, one 40 mile round trip last week to register her [i may have taken a round about route to get there!] and a 20 mile run tonight. She's running, and stopping, great! And I love her old horns! Here are a few pics... The first one was taken by my daughter after I backed her out of the driveway tonight. The second one is her parked at the adult ed. auto body shop I attend. The guys sure got a kick out of her! The third one is her parked at the top of the driveway getting ready to go get registered and tags. Once again, thanks to all who contributed to this success. I hope one day to be able to meet some of you, and I hope to be able to help in the future.

Very cool!

Done and will every night!

Thanks Jerry! I'll give NAPA and E&M a call in the morning.

Hey Don, First, thanks for the replay. I had thought about doing that but am a little leery about pulling the distributor, and I am ashamed to admit this, because I do not know how. I tried to find the procedure in the service manual but couldn't locate the instructions. I was going to search the forum to see if anyone had posted them here.

Hey All, Here's an update and a question...let's start with the question. Which distributor cap and points set do I need for the following distributor, IGS-4111-1 distributor. Before I get hammered I did indeed search the site and tech info. I also went to Tod's web site where I found a lot of useful info. Based on the info there I ordered a NAPA AL63 distributor cap and NAPA CS851P points set. The points set is totally different from what's in my distributor and the distributor cap is about 1/8" too small; it will not go on. I do not have any other way to search for the proper parts except to ask for help here. Does anyone have a parts guide for the above mentioned distributor? Now the update: I replaced the stop light switch, also replacing the male electrical plugs, still no stop light. I rechecked the bulb and it was good. So I rolled up my sleeves and started tracing the stop light wire from the light socket into the car...I didn't have to go far. The wire was broken at the top of the trunk lid. Quick fix and now I have a stop light. One down! Next I put the car on jack stands and tried to run it through all the gears, still no joy on 3rd. As luck would have it at the time I was working on this problem my uncle and Gramps called to see how things were coming along. I had the opportunity to ask Gramps if he ever had trouble getting her into 3rd gear. He, of course, answered he never had any issues. As a second thought I asked him when was the last time he serviced the trans. You're going to love this...never! He never had to add trans lube, and because it always shifted well for him, why would he service the trans? Logical question...I guess. So I drained some of the "original" trans lube out and added about half a pint of Marvel Mystery Oil [MMO]. I then ran the trans through all the gears except 3rd for about 15 minutes getting the MMO mixed in nicely and getting the trans warmed up. I then tried going into 3rd and with a little extra effort she went in. I spent another 15 minutes running through all the gears and by the end she was shifting into all gears nicely. I then took the time to perform the first ever service on the trans. I will service it again in about 6 months. I half expect all the seals to start leaking now! The final project was the brakes. The Aamco 1750 arrived and I was anxious to try it out. I read the directions and the service manual [3 times PA!] and then went to work. And you guys were right, that damned tool is the ticket! I now have a very firm pedal and much improved stopping ability! So, after all this work was done I took her for her longest drive since I have owned her, 3 miles! Had to keep it short since she is not registered in CA yet. I plan to get a one-day permit from AAA on my way home from work this Thursday and take her down early Friday morning to get her registered. I hope I can get this done with no problems...

Lee is correct, it's a first gen Barracuda, either a '64 or a '65, and they either came with a /6 or a 273 v8. The only ones to come with a 8 3/4 diff were the Formula S models, and this one doesn't seem to have the correct badging. Paul is also correct. These came out two weeks prior to the Mustang. All the car mags that tested the first gen Barracuda raved about it's performance and handling. It is my belief that the Mustang outsold the Barracuda 8:1 simply based on marketing. I have read that Ford put in 100 times more $$ in their marketing campaign of the Mustang than Plymouth put into the Barracuda. As far as how wanted/desired these are that's up to the individual. I will agree that '70-'74 E-body Barracudas and 'Cudas are the most sought after, and bring in the most $$ at Barrett-Jackson and Mecum. However, there is a dedicated group of people who love the first gen Barracudas. You can find them online at the Early Valiant Barracuda Club, or EVBC. I own a '65. Parts are very difficult to find.

Well, the day finally arrived this past Wednesday...I drove her for the first time under her own power! It took more than a year to get to this point. It was a long, arduous journey that could not have happened without the help from the members on this forum. So a huge thank you goes out to all of you who have had the patients to answer all my 'dumb' questions. Things I learned during her not-so-maiden voyage: 1. The brakes are very 'soft'. Pumping them does not make the pedal firmer so I feel that it is in the adjustment. After reading more on brake adjustment I decided to bite the bullet and purchase an Aamco 1750, it should arrive next week. 2. No brake lights. This should make some of you laugh...I have been chasing brake lights for two days. When someone presses the pedal neither of the brake lights on the rear fenders come on. I checked the bulbs, all good. I pulled the leads out of the stop light switch, checked and cleaned them, still no brake lights. So I dove into the repair manual to see if there is a testing procedure for the stop light switch and discovered, and I hope I am right about this, that the lights on the rear fenders are running lights and not the brake/signal light, which is located in the trunk handle. I still have no brake light [the bulb checks fine] and do not know how to test the stop light switch, but at least I have located the brake/signal light! 3. Transmission will not go into 3rd gear. My gut tells me that the car has sat too long and the transmission needs to be serviced. Here I have a question: I could not find, in the service manual, any info on how to flush the transmission. To be precise, what to use to flush the transmission. I seem to remember someone telling me years ago to pour a quart of kerosene into the transmission, drive it around until it warms up, drain it and fill it with new gear oil. Thoughts? I have attached a picture of her not-so-maiden voyage...more to come!

Hey PA and Shel, Ok, I was able to check a few things this morning after our chat PA. I did indeed have the heel cams in the correct position, arrows facing each other. And I did have the shoes on correctly too. Double bonus! I measured the thickness of each of the front shoes and found each was an 1/8" or more too thick. I pulled the shoes off and checked them against the drums, two are out of round enough to be easily seen by my old eyes. I think I may be on the right track! I would like to thank you PA for your advice on reading the manual at least three times before asking questions on this forum. I re-read the brake section after our chat and learned a lot of new info I swear wasn't there the last time I read it. I would add that one should clear their minds and seek their "Mopar Zen" prior to reading the manual! I know I have read that section multiple times, but I am sure that I read it while I was working on the brakes, frustrated and seeking an answer that seemed elusive at the time... Furthermore, I would like to apologize to each of you who I have frustrated with any questions that seemed dumb, or could have been easily answered by clearly reading the manual. It reminds me of a saying I learned in college. One of my instructors was an old, retired USAF Master Sergeant. Whenever anyone asked him a "dumb question" he would walk up to the white board and write in huge letters "RTFB". RTFB = Read The F'n Book Damn Master Sergeants!

Hey PA, no worries. Thanks for helping. You guys had me scared that I had overlooked something that seemed pretty major. The shoes seem to be aligning properly, but I will pay closer attention when I go out in the morning. I was going to swap shoes from the passenger side to the driver side and see if that makes a difference. Speaking of brake shoes, and this may seem a dumb question, but does the brake shoe that is fully lined go on the front or rear of each wheel? My interpetation of the pictures in the manual seem to show the shoe with the full lining on the front of the wheel. This is the way I have reinstalled them. As always, thanks in advance for ALL help/assistance!

Hey PA, your reply got me thinking that maybe I had missed something. So I went and pulled out the trusty repair manual. The push rods are not pictured in my manual. Here are the pictures in my manual and they represent the brake setup on my '41. Now I am really confused...

Well now, aren't those interesting looking little devices...there were none on the car when I took the brakes apart. In truth, I have never seen those before. There were none on any of the wheels. This could explain a lot! I have attached a picture of what I found when I took the wheel cylinders off the car. More questions: 1. Where can I get them? 2. How do I match new ones to the pistons WPR used? 3. Won't using these push the pistons further into the cylinders? I am already have in trouble getting the brake pads in far enough to get the front drums on. In my novice mind putting these would cause the pistons to be pushed further into the cylinders which will definitely cause leakage. The back brakes are all back together without push rods. This might explain why I felt they were never going to adjust properly... I am so close to finally getting the old girl on the road, but I want to do it right. After all, my wife and daughter will be riding in her with me and I want to keep them safe. As always, ALL advice is greatly appreciated.

Good morning and thanks for the responses. The drums have been turned and the shoes relined. I do not have access to anyone locally who can match the shoes to the drums. I am pretty sure White Post Restorations had to use new pistons as the original ones were disintegrated beyond use. PA, please forgive my ignorance, but please define the shoe "rods" as I have never heard the term before. Are you referring to the top end of the brake shoes that push against the cylinder pistons? If so, then I am pretty sure they are no longer matched.

Hey All, I have been working on the brakes as time allows and am almost finished. I started putting everything back together yesterday afternoon when I ran into a little problem. I have had the front wheel cylinders relined by WPR and it looks like they did a nice job. I reassembled the front brakes, heel cams in neutral position and toe cams out to prevent the pistons and rubber seals from being pushed too far in. I learned the hard way that the wheel cylinders will leak if the rubber seals get pushed too far in. All was going well until I needed to adjust the toe cams to bring the shoes in far enough to get the drums on. Everything is fine with the passenger side, but the front [small bore] piston/seal of the driver side leaks every time I get the shoes adjusted enough to get the drum on. The back shoe of that side is adjusted all the way in. The front will stop leaking if I adjust the toe cam out. But each time I bring it in to get the drum on it starts leaking. Am I missing something? Has this happened to anyone before? If there a fix? As always, and ALL help is greatly appreciated!