My last two purchases.

[71Polara383]

I'm a little late to post about my newest additions to my Dodge collection. But after this weekend I have 2 to post about.

#1. 71 Monaco 2dr. I picked this car up from Steve in July after bringing him a 71 300 parts car. It is everything he said it was and sent me plenty of pictures. He loaded me up with plenty of other goodies for the Brougham and Monaco. Very good deal and also a very impressive collection. One issue was the broken #1 spark plug. I attempted to remove it without any luck. Labor day weekend I pulled the 383 out and installed the 73 440 from the New Yorker I parted out. It does run but still needs some things buttoned up.
I scored some very nice NOS parts for it on EBay a few weeks back. The Broughams rusteration must be complete before this one comes apart for the same. Heres pics of the Monaco and some of the journey along the way...

 

[1978 NYB]

Nice scores!

 

[71Polara383]

More of the monaco and the engine swap. As well as some NOS ebay goodies...

 

[71Polara383]

Purchase #2. Just got home with it early Saturday morning. 1973 Dodge Polara Police car. U code 440. Used in Grants, New Mexico. I stumbled across it on Facebook and immediately made a deal and sent a deposit. When I got to Rolla,MO Friday evening I did not expect to be handed full documentation and an empty .38 Special casing. This car is Very solid and unmolested. Showing 77k on the clock. In service from 11-5-1973 and sold at a city auction to the previous owners father 12-14-85. It was bought to be a drivetrain donor and that never happened. Lucky for me. Very lucky for the car.
I got it running today and it runs excellent. You wouldnt guess it hasnt ran since 86. Need to fix the brakes. Drain the old fuel out and get it some tires.

Pics do not do it justice. Very original, unmolested time capsule.

 

[Rapidtrans777]

Floor console with auto on the column?

 

[71Polara383]

More...

 

[71Polara383]

More...

 

[71Polara383]

Has one original tire. One key fits all locks. I love it. No buildsheet under the back seat.

 

[71Polara383]

Floor console with auto on the column?

View attachment 215660

Will be converting to floor shift. The buddy seat was gone and Steve sent me home with a console we pieced together at 2am.

 

[LocuMob]

Think the paint will buff out as good on the '71 Monaco as it did on Minnesota?

 

[71Polara383]

Think the paint will buff out as good on the '71 Monaco as it did on Minnesota?

After I paint it. I was thinking a darker shade of blue. With white top and interior perhaps.

 

[hergfest]

That copcar is cool you never see a AM radio on a police package of that vintage. Plus the white wheel. Hard to believe the town held onto it for 12 years.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Fantastic purchases!

With no A/C, it looks like you had to be pretty tough to be a cop in Grants, NM. back in 1973! Maybe they spec'd that white steering wheel so that you wouldn't burn your hands on it as bad as a black one.

It's really cool that you got all those records with it too.

Hopefully, I can check out the collection when I stop in to pick up my seats.

Jeff

 

[71Polara383]

Fantastic purchases!

With no A/C, it looks like you had to be pretty tough to be a cop in Grants, NM. back in 1973! Maybe they spec'd that white steering wheel so that you wouldn't burn your hands on it as bad as a black one.

It's really cool that you got all those records with it too.

Hopefully, I can check out the collection when I stop in to pick up my seats.

Jeff

It was a factory AC car. Some brackets are there still. No compressor. I have one. ALOT of the paper work is for AC service. I guess it gave the ghost and they removed the compressor. Probably to be parked sometime after that.

 

[Davea Lux]

Nice score on the police cruiser. The build sheet on the cruisers is usually under the springs on the top half of the rear seat.

The dead spark plug on the 383 can be removed with a spark plug extractor, but you should remove the head to do that as pieces of spark plug innards are likely to get inside of the cylinder.

Dave

 

[bigmoparjeff]

It was a factory AC car. Some brackets are there still. No compressor. I have one. ALOT of the paper work is for AC service. I guess it gave the ghost and they removed the compressor. Probably to be parked sometime after that.

That makes much more sense. No A/C in New Mexico would be absolutely brutal when parked out in the sun in the summer. On second look, I see that everything else is still there.

 

[saforwardlook]

Fantastic purchases!

With no A/C, it looks like you had to be pretty tough to be a cop in Grants, NM. back in 1973! Maybe they spec'd that white steering wheel so that you wouldn't burn your hands on it as bad as a black one.

It's really cool that you got all those records with it too.

Hopefully, I can check out the collection when I stop in to pick up my seats.

Jeff

I believe the white steering wheel was a signature requirement of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). I wouldn't be surprised if New Mexico piggy-backed their order with CHP to obtain a lower per-vehicle price.

 

[BLIMP]

That orange air cleaner should look great when it's dusted off. What kind of HP did this have from the factory? I'm guessing it recieved a large exhaust, performance manifolds, cam, etc?

 

[71Polara383]

That orange air cleaner should look great when it's dusted off. What kind of HP did this have from the factory? I'm guessing it recieved a large exhaust, performance manifolds, cam, etc?

285hp from what I read.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

That orange air cleaner should look great when it's dusted off. What kind of HP did this have from the factory? I'm guessing it recieved a large exhaust, performance manifolds, cam, etc?

I believe all that good stuff was gone by '73. I think what you got with the HP motor was the air cleaner, dual exhaust, and probably different carb jetting. I'm pretty sure it's just the standard cam, but I'd have to look that up to be absolutely certain.