1972 Polara Texas Highway Patrol

[ZedR]

To update on my year-old intro found here:
http://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/showthread.php?4259-72-Polara-Custom

Here is where it stands:
In lieu of replacing the engine, It was rebuilt. It had been pulled apart for whatever reason when the car was parked in 1978, and was rusted together like you wouldn't believe. It looked like this when I pulled it:

Summer was very busy for us at my office (HVAC/ Commercial Refrigeration) - which is good - and as such I wasn't able to work on the car that much. So I bought lots of parts instead.


In the last three weeks I have been blasting, painting, and mounting items to the engine. It now looks like this:


Original 400 HP Engine

The transmission was also rebuilt. New tires were purchased and mounted. The interior has been gutted.


While working on finishing the engine, I am soon going to start gutting the engine bay for painting so I can get the engine and transmission put back in.


As I should have ample time to work on it this winter, More updates soon, stay tuned!


Zed

 

[thrashingcows]

Looks good Zed...glad you've finally been able to get some work done. SO what did they end up doing to the motor during the rebuild?

 

[ZedR]

Looks good Zed...glad you've finally been able to get some work done. SO what did they end up doing to the motor during the rebuild?

Well like I said - for whatever reason, the car was parked in 1978; two years after the state sold it at auction.


The intake manifold, valley pan and valve covers were all loose on the engine. The car sat outside from 1978 until about 2008.


As you can imagine, the elements were not nice.


The block and everything inside was about ten hellish levels of seized rusty awefulness.


The machine shop was finally able to tear it apart after sitting in a hot tank for three weeks. Everything was replaced to as close to stock specs as possible.


The block, intake manifold, oil pan and valve covers were saved. Everything else was replaced with its oem equivalent.




It is a numbers matching 400 High Performance engine, which I was very close to just replacing. But, upon discovering the transmission was original to the car as well (and had been rebuilt just prior to the car being parked) I decided to rebuild the engine.

Im ready for when I get it in the car - I want to know how powerful it is or isn't!

 

[commando1]

I want to know how powerful it is or isn't!

Doesn't matter. You are doing a fabulous job and saving a great pc. of Americana. a Texas Highway Patrol car.

 

[70NPORT]

Yeah, kudos for undertaking such a project, its gonna be cool when it's finished.

 

[polarus]

Thanks for posting the updates, I'm very interested in this project. I think you could pry the Titanic off the ocean floor with that alternator bracket, I'm missing the one I need for my car. Is there an A/C shut off instruction decal anywhere on the dash? Good luck and keep posting photo's.

 

[Catfish]

Cool project!

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Thanks for posting the updates, I'm very interested in this project. I think you could pry the Titanic off the ocean floor with that alternator bracket, I'm missing the one I need for my car. Is there an A/C shut off instruction decal anywhere on the dash? Good luck and keep posting photo's.

I don't get the toggle? doesn't the regular AC switch turn off the AC?

CHP just printed the switch panel with instructions/warnings for the AC

Alan

 

[thrashingcows]

Wow....3 weeks in the hot tank to free up the block!! That's friggin insane!!! Glad you were able to save the original motor though.

 

[72Fury]

Really cool resto! Do you have any part numbers on the alternator? Polarus & Alan my car has a ac shut of toggle switch on the dash, and operating instructions (no decal on dash) on when to kick it off, printed from the Colorado State Police.
Joey

 

[ZedR]

Polarus: no instructions for the AC Shutoff. The few interior pictures I've seen dont show any either.

72fury: 2642411 is the mopar part number for the alternator w/ a/c & w/ 400 or 440. I'd have to check the tag for the leece neville number

Alan: I really don't get the point behind the AC Shutoff switch either, other than maybe it was faster to just flip that switch to kill the compressor, but keep the blower running than it would have been to slide the control where you needed it.

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

 

[Pete Kaczmarski]

So was the car white and the black applied later or vice versa? What did Texas do for emergency lights on a clean top car or, were you going to go with roof lights. Will local law enforcement be stopping you or do you have to cover a specific color of emergency light. In Wisconsin we must cover the color blue even if it is not operating. My Washington State Patrol car was a marked car and when I restored it became a clean top unmarked. The graphics were applied to magnetic vinyl so it can be placed on the car when at a car show. The blue colored headlight, tear drop and rear deck light are covered while the car is on the public roads.

 

[ZedR]

The car was factory Special Mask Black & White. Hood, roof and trunk were factory painted white, the remainder black. No evidence of one color under the other.

In those days, the state went to great lengths to repaint for resale, and the car was painted green with white wheels to match the interior. Texas no longer repaints cars.

Until about 1976, The state issued patrol cars with:

Two Way Radio
Red Spotlight
Mechanical Siren wired through horn ring
First Aid Kit
30-30 or 12 GA without mounting provisions.

- and that's it. Very spartan.

Additional lighting could be added at the troopers discretion, and overhead lights were usually purchased by counties the troopers were stationed in.

Radar was also county issued (if issued at all), and proceeds went to the county.

As far the law concerning my car - spotlight will have to remain down or covered if it has a red bulb in it. I plan to permanently mark the car, and cover the decals with black magnetic material.

My car shows no evidence of additional lighting, so it will remain a slick top.

I live in a small town, and the police here are aware of and appreciate the restoration. That said, everything will remain covered when not at a show or in a parade.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

Polarus: no instructions for the AC Shutoff. The few interior pictures I've seen dont show any either.

72fury: 2642411 is the mopar part number for the alternator w/ a/c & w/ 400 or 440. I'd have to check the tag for the leece neville number

Alan: I really don't get the point behind the AC Shutoff switch either, other than maybe it was faster to just flip that switch to kill the compressor, but keep the blower running than it would have been to slide the control where you needed it.

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

2642411 should be a Leece Neville 7020AA (that I need). I would say any special instructions for the AC would have been done by the agency and would be unique to them.
CHP installed this switch panel over the radio opening...

I love the markings on that car, not something you typically see on a police car. I would assume the hood and deck lid were painted separately then installed.
Are the graphics difficult to get? At least you do not need to look for a custom Motorola radio control head made just for them.
Look forward to watching this one.

Alan

 

[ZedR]

I love the markings on that car, not something you typically see on a police car. I would assume the hood and deck lid were painted separately then installed.
Are the graphics difficult to get? At least you do not need to look for a custom Motorola radio control head made just for them.
Look forward to watching this one.

Alan

I had a local sign shop reproduce the door decals to great effect:




Also got an unissued set of texas exempt tags a while back.

While it doesn't show up well in the picture, the "HIGHWAY PATROL" on the decal is a separate name tape.

Up until a few years ago, Texas DPS had several divisions, including:

Highway Patrol
License & Weight
Vehicle Inspection
Safety Education
Driver License

The name tape on the door of your patrol unit would have the name of the division you were assigned. While some divisions do not sound like it by name, all were populated by Patrolmen with marked patrol cars and the same enforcement powers as any Highway Patrolmen.

Based on the radar bracket outline that is etched in to the rear drivers door glass on my car, I'm assuming my car was assigned to the Highway Patrol division. Unfortunately Texas destroys all documents after 12 years, so unless a Patrolman recognizes this unit number I'll never know for certain.

Thanks for the kind words - you've got quite the awesome project as well!

 

[polarus]

Here are some photo's, I had a sign shop recreate the A/C decal that was on the original dash bezel. Alternator is the original from my parts car, 62 amp. Motorola. Mopar offered a lot of options considering these were fleet cars.

 

[ZedR]

Nice bezel - very neat sticker! I might make one up for mine now that I've seen that. Was it factory or an agency sticker? That Motorola alt can't be easy to find. Did it still use the separate leece neville 5013 voltage regulator?

In other news, I need my wiring harness rebuilt. When I took it out last night it was very crackly.

Any suggestions on who could do this?

 

[polarus]

Hi Zed, contact Bill and Rose Evans (814) 864-2622 or www.evanswiring.com. They can rebuild an old harness. I believe he decal was done by the agency, as the one's on the C.H.P. cars are different. My car does not have a separate voltage regulator, I'm not sure why, I guess it has to do with the smaller alternator, this also affects what size fusible link (from pos. battery to harness) the vehicle uses. Check your parts book, if you don't have one buy one they're invaluable.

 

[ZedR]

Thanks for the suggestion(s)!

ive never really notice these pieces before, but as I pulled the front grille area off today I noticed a masticated rubber air shield of some sort on either side of where the radiator would be.

I assume this is a factory piece, yet I can't find it in my parts book. There also appears to have been a piece that went across the top of the radiator area, but it is missing.

Anybody have any insight?

And I finished pulling the front wiring harness out. Got to the connectors at the junction block and all looked well:

Until I pulled them all. Looks like this car has already had a meltdown at some point. Will have to get under the dash and investigate what's been done under there. I believe I'm going to have my amp gauge replaced with correct looking volt meter while I'm at it.

Almost ready to media blast the engine bay, just a few more things to disassemble.

I also uncovered a vintage service station sticker. I had previously thought this was just the outline of a missing decal in the paint, but a tool scraped it and it was discovered.

Since I don't know where my car was stationed, I'd like to think this puts it to rest. I can see the state painting over it - I can't think of a logical reason for someone else to.

 

[polarus]

I've never seen those rubber pieces before, will the original ones clean up or will you have to replace them? As far as the melt down goes it's unfortunate but pretty common with old police cars, hopefully everything under the dash is o.k. Finding the service decal is pretty cool, you'll have to call them and see if you can find anybody who worked there back in the day. Keep the updates coming, this is great stuff. PS. Does your car have a handle under the dash for the fast idle lock?