Meet Buttercup, a 1972 New Yorker Brougham 2-door Hardtop

How does it drive now that its completely reassembled w/ refurbished seats. Interior pics please. Looks better w/ the skirts on.
 
Finished up getting the trim installed this morning.

Also I fixed the seat belt retractor. The previous owner knotted the belts for some reason, and it wasn't allowing it to fully retract, thus jamming it up. Untied the knot and now it works.

The car drives quite well. There will be some tinkering and upgrades to be made but overall I think Miss Buttercup is a solid driver as is.

Heading back to the shop now, will be about a 100 miles of mixed driving when I return.

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Wonderful photos, thanks a lot for the trim installation, the adjustments and road testing, and the overall update. Can't wait to pick her up next Saturday and get to drive her myself!
 
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This morning, @71Polara383 replaced Buttercup's rear shocks with new Gabriel 81091 units, as recommended by @Ripinator — the KYB KG5512 shocks that I like so much on my fusie Dodges are too short for the 1972-1973 Chrysler’s and the KG5513 that @1970FuryConv found to be correct for 1972-73 Chryslers have been discontinued.

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Right after that, I swapped Medina (my 1971 Monaco) and Buttercup. Here are a few photos.

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Needless to say, tanking up was a good idea before heading out :)

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I'm generally not a fan of the 70s 2 dr. models since it makes the rear quarter look like it goes on forever but I have to admit I like your New Yorker. I especially like that color on the car. It is very attractive!
 
Whitewalls on a truck - that is a novelty.

Your Dodge out-styles them all! Even the lower body line is a styling touch that is still in vogue today.
 
So glad the skirts are on Buttercup...the lines of the trim extend through so well. Surprised so many take them off.

That stripe on Medina...arghhh! Totally interrupts the lines on the car. I'd get a colour match blow in done in that burgundy to eliminate that tragedy.

Such beauties.
 
So glad the skirts are on Buttercup...the lines of the trim extend through so well. Surprised so many take them off.

That stripe on Medina...arghhh! Totally interrupts the lines on the car. I'd get a colour match blow in done in that burgundy to eliminate that tragedy.

Such beauties.
Thanks! Agree on Buttercup's skirts. Look at it from the rear, as you say (and @tbm3fan implies), the lines flows perfectly (photo courtesy @71Polara383) with the skirts on:

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The car is simply gorgeous in that Gy4 Honeydew / V1G gold top combo, with road wheels.

PS: Don't worry, Medina will loose her stripe when she gets repainted in the original GY9.
 
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One final update this year. Thanks to @BLIMP, Buttercup will likely be getting a 3574602 (3-core) 1972 radiator if rodding out her current rad does not improve the cooling (and perhaps even if it does).

Long-distance testing this fall by @71Polara383 and myself indicated that BC's radiator struggles to cool the engine properly in warm weather after more than an hour at speeds higher than 55 mph. Her radiator is not original, so recoring is not a reasonable option. I had initially thought that I'd use a new Spectra Premium CU332 (that I'd bought in April for another car which does not need it anymore), but I'd rather go for an original. The correct 26" radiator for this car would be a 3574605 -- but I am not keen on a two-core rad for a car with a 440 and A/C, so when @BLIMP offered me the police/taxi rad that was in his green 1972 BB wagon, I took him up on the offer and we made a deal. It looks like a great candidate for a recore.

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I too am a stickler for having a top tank that reflects a radiator available in your model.

Then next choice is what kind of a core are you going to choose - a standard replacement core or a high efficiency core? Since you generally drive in a part of the country that doesn't see very high temperatures combined with slow traffic congestion, I would guess you are going to choose the standard replacement, which generally would be a 3 row core for your model. If one lives in high temperature areas but rarely sees much traffic congestion, then the standard replacement radiator should be adequate since I have never had problems with on highway driving with the factory radiators - only in traffic conditions do the temperatures rise considerably. For highway driving, radiator depth/rows of fins matters most while driving in traffic conditions, radiator width matters the most.

For areas that I live in, maximum cooling is usually my choice and the price difference between the two is quite large. The high efficiency cores have more rows of tubes that are smaller than in the standard efficiency cores (that permits more tubes per inch) and higher fin density; the former also implies that it is more important to keep high efficiency cores very clean over time by more frequent coolant changes. Today's coolants are now touting 10 year life spans so at least that issue is less of a maintenance concern than in the past.

In my area, high efficiency core radiators, out the door, are around $680 while the standard cores are about $100 cheaper (26" radiator width).
 
I too am a stickler for having a top tank that reflects a radiator available in your model.

Then next choice is what kind of a core are you going to choose - a standard replacement core or a high efficiency core? Since you generally drive in a part of the country that doesn't see very high temperatures combined with slow traffic congestion, I would guess you are going to choose the standard replacement, which generally would be a 3 row core for your model. If one lives in high temperature areas but rarely sees much traffic congestion, then the standard replacement radiator should be adequate since I have never had problems with on highway driving with the factory radiators - only in traffic conditions do the temperatures rise considerably. For highway driving, radiator depth/rows of fins matters most while driving in traffic conditions, radiator width matters the most.

For areas that I live in, maximum cooling is usually my choice and the price difference between the two is quite large. The high efficiency cores have more rows of tubes that are smaller than in the standard efficiency cores (that permits more tubes per inch) and higher fin density; the former also implies that it is more important to keep high efficiency cores very clean over time by more frequent coolant changes. Today's coolants are now touting 10 year life spans so at least that issue is less of a maintenance concern than in the past.

In my area, high efficiency core radiators, out the door, are around $680 while the standard cores are about $100 cheaper (26" radiator width).
I agree w your assessment on older OEM radiators is pretty spot on. High efficiency radiators are exactly as you described. They are however very sensitive to degraded coolant and and long service intervals. Small cooling tubes do plug up much faster. I saw that a lot in high end performance cars before I retired. Do the proper coolant maintenance and you will have no problems. My personal experience is unmodified cars w/ clean 3 row rad. and proper working fan clutch and fan shroud didn't over heat.
 
I agree w your assessment on older OEM radiators is pretty spot on. High efficiency radiators are exactly as you described. They are however very sensitive to degraded coolant and and long service intervals. Small cooling tubes do plug up much faster. I saw that a lot in high end performance cars before I retired. Do the proper coolant maintenance and you will have no problems. My personal experience is unmodified cars w/ clean 3 row rad. and proper working fan clutch and fan shroud didn't over heat.

Thanks for your comments David. It is not unusual for temperatures in the Los Angeles area to significantly exceed 100F much of the summer months and hours of extended traffic driving with the standard radiators in our cars with a/c operating causes them to operate above about 210-215F using a 180F thermostat even with clean original cores and fluid fan drives that are also in good condition and shrouds present (actually the maximum temperature achieved doesn't really depend on the thermostat opening temperature choice). That won't necessarily cause the red light to come on but it is too high for my comfort. So I guess "overheating" depends on what the owner is willing to accept rather than whether the red light comes on at least in my case. I run an aftermarket gauge with actual temperatures so I really know what the coolant temperature is rather than just depend on my coolant light.
 
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For me, I prefer a stock rad as well...only problem is that re-coring is a dying art and nobody does it here anymore. You are lucky to be able to have that 3 core done.
 
For me, I prefer a stock rad as well...only problem is that re-coring is a dying art and nobody does it here anymore. You are lucky to be able to have that 3 core done.[/QUOTE PM me and I will forward the information on the shop I use
 
For me, I prefer a stock rad as well...only problem is that re-coring is a dying art and nobody does it here anymore. You are lucky to be able to have that 3 core done.

I forgot, where is "all over"?
 
Well, being in the Canadian Air Force it changes...hence the tongue in cheek...but for now Winnipeg.

Maybe since Canadians have to keep anti-freeze up to snuff year round, maybe radiator shops that do that service are less plentiful than in places such as California/Arizona, Nevada etc. where lot of folks ignore the coolant for way too long and destroy their radiators.
 
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