I love that you resurrected this beast .
73 Monaco wagon
- Thread starter MonacoBlue
- Start date
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
Thank you. Yes, it's not about the money at this point. I can't look back, that would suck all the joy out of life. I guess I watched too many episodes of Roadkill on youtube: junkyard rescues. It was a gamble, but calculated...with a whole lot of blind faith, in Mopar engineering and 'hoping for the best' in one owner Maintenance! The 400 got a real bath in Gunk, it has no oil on it anymore, really clean but original....it got new exhaust manifold gaskets when they put on the duals. So smooth. No more tack-tack-tack sound from piston #1(?). It starts very very quickly. New belts, hoses, steering box, tranny seals. Just sits there idling saying, 'come on, let's go'....Time to drive it.
I got it back yesterday afternoon, dropped it off at the house, then went back to work for two more agonizing hours. I got back home from work in the evening. Jumped in. I set my iPhone on the passenger seat and had Nat King Cole going on YouTube...."Get your kicks, on Rt.66", as I drove west into the sunset of the Blue Ridge on some new asphalt...then when the road was clear I hit the accelerator....hard.
I'm extremely happy for you and the car
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
So...now I am considering the paint. It's rainy where I live, and nothing like the Oregon desert where this car spent its "retirement years". The paint shop says trim removal is going to cost a lot, the more I can do myself, the better off I'll be. Is there a resource I can reference that details how to remove drip moulding and window trim? I'm not intimidated by the rub strips on the sides, just so I can find a source for new plastic clips, for re-attaching... but elsewhere there is a LOT. The chrome roof rack looks relatively straightforward. I expect the grab handles at the tailgate pillars are probably screw-attached from inside the vehicle.
Just read through this thread and was very impressed at your progress.... Very nice work. I'm going to try your repair for cold hard start tomorrow. Not clear where you tried placing the check valve that lead you to your solution. Really glad you saved this wagon.
Keep up the great work and pictures!
Keep up the great work and pictures!
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
Thank you. It's been a lot of trial and error. I ended up removing the check valve. It was under the passenger side front door, where the fuel line is easily accessible. The root cause on that was the rod was disconnected from the choke, at the carb.
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
At the recommendation of the contributors to this forum, I replaced the Holley 2210 with a rebuilt carb from Rock Auto. I am not so sure the carb that came off the car was original: a line from the emissions carb canister, which normally would run to the carb, had no place to attach, on the carb that was on the car. The replacement carb had a vacuum fitting/line off the carb for the carbon canister hose. Had a mechanic tune it. It still has a flat spot on acceleration and has a tendency to slip into low idle speed and stall at stop signs, unless I pop it into neutral.Mechanic wants me to bring it back in for a 'no charge' re-look. This car has electronic ignition, as a 73. Long term I may upgrade to a 4-barrel or maybe even a throttle body, although that may offend some purists. This is not a low miles 440 car with electric everything, so "original condition" collector value (who cares, at this point!) is not really a factor for me. My goal is for it to be daily driver capable/comfortable. I had dual exhaust put on it recently and to me that enhances the driveability/ownership experience value. It does not feel so stifled when accelerating. Next I want to have some bodywork and A/C and seating/headliner/sound deadened/carpeting. Amazed the AM radio blares loud and clear.
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
Kicking around how to do a paint job. Paint shop is nervous about how to remove pristine stainless steel drip moulding that has stainless rivets, to be able to paint. I would almost rather leave those in place and tape them off, as much as I would prefer to take them off and strip body to bare metal. Any new rivets I could buy will most likely not be of the same quality as the originals, which have lasted 44 years!
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
"Even a blind hog finds an acorn every once and awhile"
azblackhemi
Old Man with a Hat
Not a big deal to drill out the rivets. Use a slow speed drill with a good sharp bit. Make sure the center shafts are punched out. But if there's no rust around the drip rails you could leave them on and mask. When I painted my 66 New Yorker I didn't want to have to hunt down impossible to find molding clips so I masked all the trim. It is really hard to tell that I didn't remove it all.
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
Yes. Good points all, and I appreciate the voice of experience. If this was a 6-pack...or... Hemi Cuda, removing it would be the preferred approach, as a 'best practice'. However I lean toward your other suggested approach, I would rather spend part of a Saturday taping drip moulding extremely carefully than drilling out a rivet and introducing newly exposed drill hole body metal to 21st century humidity.
The one negative is the other trim around the rear window has surface rust in surrounding painted metal. That needs exposed treated and painted. Which means I really need to remove it. I have no idea how to do that. Makes my body man nervous too.
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MonacoBlue
Senior Member
? I don't understand
You wrote " if this was a six pack Hemi Cuda" . Not such thing ...so I broke it up with " or " so it now makes sense. Just trying to help but that's all gone now
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
Oh. I defer to your knowledge on that! I guess I don't spend too much time thinking about the details on cars I'll never be able to own. But I didn't realize there were no six-pack hemi 'Cudas! Now I know! Ha!
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
So I have two "D's" and an "O". The "G" is, thankfully, still on the car.
All I need now is an "E".
"Pat, I'd like to buy a vowel please....oh Vanna...?"
All I need now is an "E".
"Pat, I'd like to buy a vowel please....oh Vanna...?"
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
I looked closer at the moulding around the rear side window. I hadn't noticed before but, it appears to be riveted also. So that leads me to believe the (outer?) rubber seal was put in last: first was paint, second was glass (with an 'inner' seal?), third was clips and/or stainless moulding, fourth was rivets, fifth was a rubber seal. Apparently.
I really don't like the idea of removing/messing with a perfectly good moulding and perfectly good seal and perfectly good glass...without having easy peasy exact replacements (ha!) readily at hand...
I really don't like the idea of removing/messing with a perfectly good moulding and perfectly good seal and perfectly good glass...without having easy peasy exact replacements (ha!) readily at hand...
.....
MonacoBlue
Senior Member
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