For Sale 1976 Chrysler Cordoba (not mine)

[Cazman]

Bingo Boys!

Chrysler Cordoba

 

[1978 NYB]

Looks nice

 

[CBODY67]

Looks like a decent car, for what it is. Always a little skittish when "a mechanic" who "knows car values" does something like a Lean Burn delete or other things.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Too bad the original purchaser waz color blind. That interior iz way Gawdy

 

[commando1]

I know the value of these

Famous last words.

 

[aeon280]

Looks like a decent car, for what it is. Always a little skittish when "a mechanic" who "knows car values" does something like a Lean Burn delete or other things.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

Seems to me any mechanic worth his salt would immediately do a lean burn delete. Seriously, is the car worth more when you choose originality over the damn thing actually cranking and running?

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

I guess NON-CATALYST means no muffler, kind of a ***** for a daily driver.
Neighbors must love him. Wonder if da A/C works? Mechanic? Seems pretty handy in the wiring department!

 

[tbm3fan]

Famous last words.

That along with I'm going to college. Both lines are so old they should be considered prehistoric now...

As for the ad who took the pictures, Bonzo the Chimp?

 

[CBODY67]

I guess NON-CATALYST means no

Actually, ALL of those Cordobas in the earlier years had a "Catalyst" or "Non Catalyst" tag on the lh door shell, near the VIN label. It was for the state inspectors to know what they were dealing with, at the OEM level. Normal cars, from the 1975 model year onward were all supposed to have a catalytic converter under then as a part of the then-new federal emissions regulations.

Chrysler, by exception, initially had THREE engines which were certified to meet USA Emissions without catalytic converters. Initially, the 318 2bbl, 360 HO, and 400 HO engines . . . all which were "fleet engines". The Electronic Lean Burn cars joined those ranks in their first years or production.

In that earlier time, there was allegedly a ban on catalytic converter cars on federal grass lands, due to possible fire danger. ONE reason that Chrysler used "Environmental Heat Shields" attached to the bottom of the earlier converters to keep grass or other combustible items from directly touching the converter body. GM's bead converters had a layer of asbestos inside the bottom part of their converters, for the same insulating effects.

So, if you notice, or recall, the 360HO and 400HO motors were also REAL dual exhaust motors. They could be ordered by civilians, but also were in most of the genuine law enforcement vehicles. Using an air pump, usually, to dilute the exhaust with additional air to continue "the burn" outside of the combustion chamber to decrease exhaust pipe emissions.

So, the Cordoba in question would have been "Non Catalyst" due to its original ELB status. Simple as that. Eventually, after the '77 or so model year, ELB became Electronic Spark Control and carb calibrations were altered to match the newer federal emissions standards, with catalytic converters (single or dual, as applicable, on Chrysler products).

In those earlier years, to me, the best way to de-ELB an engine would have been to use the MP Electronic Ignition kit AND an OEM-spec replacement carb from Holley, for the particular application. Usually a 4175 650cfm 4bbl. That way, there was a "known" distributor advance curve and OEM-spec components to modify the existing vehicle with and also a carb that had known fuel calibrations that would pretty much bolt-on in place of the Carter TQ. End result would have been better as everything pretty much matched.

In contrast, most of the mechanics doing these ELB removals just went to the auto supply and got a reman distributor (a reman distributor which had multiple YEARS of applications AND related advance curves with different base timing settings!) and then some sort of convenient carburetor (they'll all work, allegedly). End result was generally a Chrysler product that continued to not run well, or as well as it could, as a result. Car was later sold for less money, after some greater level of neglect, as it still didn't run well or "drank too much gas". From a car that once DID run well, but now didn't do so, due to the mis-matched carb/ignition the "mechanic" put on the vehicle. Car later sold for much reduced price, with a former owner that cussed Chrysler products from then on. To me, if the "mechanic" had understood how generic of parts they were buying, they might have re-tuned the base timing and such to be more what the engine wanted rather than put it back "to spec" per the vehicle tune up specs label. BUT, that usually didn't happen, by observation. Nobody every thought to check the FSM for distributor specs and then match the "new" reman distributor + base timing to replicate those specs, then tweak things from there for a better total outcome. Those are my personal observations.

For the record, I trust Chrysler engineering more than some "mechanic" in the field. From that factory spec, then an engaged technician in the field can tweak from there for better results. To me, the problems came when apparently (due to looming financial issues at the corporate level), the projected failure rate of various parts was increased to save money, or some designs couldn't be fully developed for the same reason. Limited funding ended up costing much more down the road, by observation. Plus some new technology that GM hadn't yet produced which was not fully understood by the typical technician who usually worked on non-Chrysler products!

Back then, when Chrysler brought out some new technology, which may have had issues several years later, for whatever reason, everybody cussed them. When GM brought out their watered-down/lower cost versions a year or so later, which had widespread problems, everybody accepted those problems and that was that. Dealers did what they could to fix them, with varying results, and it was "just part of the deal". But I also believe that when the customers took their Chrysler vehicles back to the dealers, they were generally told "Sorry, that's the way it is . . ." while the GM dealers TRIED to make things work better, which was an important issue for basic customer satisfaction. I don't know how many fuel filters we sold for "drivability issues" that really did nothing to really fix the problem, but at least there was a perceived attempt to make things work better. Then, along came lockup torque converters and "the skip" the GM cars had when the converters locked up, which many customers thought was a tune-up problem that nobody could fix OR explain what was gong on to comfort the customer! The 27mph high-gear lockup on the TFs fixed it, whereas the GM lockup varied with vehicle speed and engine load, by comparison.

End result, back then, FEW dealership (parts or service) people understood and could convey to the customer why their vehicle was acting the way it was. That it wasn't a problem, it was "acting as designed" and why. Sometimes, it had to do with the way the vehicle was equipped (engine, trans, axle ratio, vehicle combination) that was ordered by operatives who didn't know what they were doing, or were using flaky means to get there, by observation.

I lived through all of those times. I took the calls (in the parts department) for Chevy customers in search of information of why their vehicles were acting as they did (auto transmission shifting on the road, up hills and down hills, even the electronic temp override on the electronic valvebody transmissions causing trans to not "engine brake" down hills). Getting below the surface to see what was really going on, for example. Most parts front counter people want to "sell things", but 80% of that job is really customer interaction and satisfaction. Yet that's where the least informed parts people usually end up, by observation, unfortunately. On the other hand, I also knew that what I told people had to match what the corporate orientations were, too, so I knew what lines not to cross. End result was that I did lots of extra investigations to satisfy my own curiosities to expand my knowledge base so I could do a better job for our customers. Which gave OUR customers a "value added" situation for doing business with us, by observation.

Y'all enjoy!'
CBODY67