The story of my 1966 Polara, "El Cacharro", in several posts

I also make sure to carry a range of hot sauces in the car because you never know if a particular taqueria or restaurant will be stocked with what you need, whether it's chipotle Tabasco or Cholula or Torchy's Diablo here in Texas...

Hahahaha. Awesome.
 
New front tag with Cacharro nickname on it. I designed with a font that approximates the font used on the Polara nameplate. Also the drop shadow is in Patrician Green (the color of the car).

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Yeap. I've been thinking about what I should keep in the trunk. Currently I have a gas can, a floor jack, air compressor. Brake and power steering fluid. I also keep a set of small wrenches, tire gauge and a rubber mallet (for hubcaps) in the car.

Should probably add a phillips and standard head screwdriver. What else?

Probably a gallon of coolant.

Anything else?

Maybe fuses.

What other breakdowns can I plan in advance to use your phrase?

Here's just a few things that I always carry in case of roadside repairs:

A four-way space-saving screwdriver
Duct tape(fixes hose leaks,etc)
Small trolly/floor jack
Vise grips,pliers,adjustable wrench,cutters
A small spool of wire(never know)
A small socket set
Heavy duty lug wrench
Small hammer
Road flares/warning triangle
Gas can
And AAA card helps too
 
Yeah. I don't have a problem with the idea of new wheels but I want something period correct with hubcaps. We'll see. I got tires for the next five years.
The 15" steel wheels from the early 80s full size Dodge and Plymouth cars will fit your car just fine. Then at least you are buying 15" tires. There were some 15" hubcaps available for the mid 60s cars with disc brakes but otherwise getting period correct hubcaps is tough.
The "dog dish" hubcaps will fit the 15" steel wheels which can look very good if the wheels are painted body color.

Also, the latest Mopar Action or Mopar Muscle magazine has an article about old tires. The article is titled "Are you driving a Death Trap?"
 
Yeap. I've been thinking about what I should keep in the trunk. Currently I have a gas can, a floor jack, air compressor. Brake and power steering fluid. I also keep a set of small wrenches, tire gauge and a rubber mallet (for hubcaps) in the car.

Should probably add a phillips and standard head screwdriver. What else?

Probably a gallon of coolant.

Anything else?

Maybe fuses.

What other breakdowns can I plan in advance to use your phrase?

I think you've already dealt with most of the common ones. IIRC, you've replaced the radiator and heater hoses, (bypass hose as well?), plugs, points, condenser, cap & coil. A spare ballast resistor in the glove box is/should be standard equipment on these cars. Master cylinder and wheel cylinders? Flex hoses? Do you regularly use the parking brake to keep it exercised? You do engine oil & filter changes regularly? And a shot of grease into all of the front end components every oil change doesn't hurt either. Speaking of grease have you disassembled and greased the u-joints on the drive shaft? 48 year old grease just doesn't work like new grease does.

There's a maintenance schedule somewhere in the owner's manual for your car. It will outline "Normal" service and "Heavy Duty" service. I always recommend to people that they follow the "Heavy Duty" maintenance schedule. If you were driving the wheels off the car, following the HD schedule would make a difference in your wallet, but using the car as a pleasure only, occasional use vehicle, it shouldn't.

Replacing vacuum hoses (brake booster, PCV valve, vacuum advance) every time one of your kids graduates from one school to the next is sufficient.

Replacing the rubber hoses on the gas lines with ETHANOL RESISTANT hose is a must if you haven't already. Ethanol does just NASTY things to the steel gas tank, steel fuel lines and the rubber hoses. It also means you'll need to rebuilt the carb every few years to clean out the silt that will accumulate. No fuel filter available can catch that silt.

Or long story short, concentrate on the things you haven't worked on yet. They're getting ready to conspire to get you unless you get them first!
 
I think you've already dealt with most of the common ones. IIRC, you've replaced the radiator and heater hoses, (bypass hose as well?), plugs, points, condenser, cap & coil. A spare ballast resistor in the glove box is/should be standard equipment on these cars. Master cylinder and wheel cylinders? Flex hoses? Do you regularly use the parking brake to keep it exercised? You do engine oil & filter changes regularly? And a shot of grease into all of the front end components every oil change doesn't hurt either. Speaking of grease have you disassembled and greased the u-joints on the drive shaft? 48 year old grease just doesn't work like new grease does.

There's a maintenance schedule somewhere in the owner's manual for your car. It will outline "Normal" service and "Heavy Duty" service. I always recommend to people that they follow the "Heavy Duty" maintenance schedule. If you were driving the wheels off the car, following the HD schedule would make a difference in your wallet, but using the car as a pleasure only, occasional use vehicle, it shouldn't.

Replacing vacuum hoses (brake booster, PCV valve, vacuum advance) every time one of your kids graduates from one school to the next is sufficient.

Replacing the rubber hoses on the gas lines with ETHANOL RESISTANT hose is a must if you haven't already. Ethanol does just NASTY things to the steel gas tank, steel fuel lines and the rubber hoses. It also means you'll need to rebuilt the carb every few years to clean out the silt that will accumulate. No fuel filter available can catch that silt.

Or long story short, concentrate on the things you haven't worked on yet. They're getting ready to conspire to get you unless you get them first!

Most of that stuff I've either taken care of over the years or doesn't apply (no brake booster). I was more thinking about emergency gear I need in the car. Already some great suggestions and some obvious things I overlooked like jumper cables. Your suggestion of ballast resistor is also very good.

But your list is good mental checklist of maintenance items. I'll bookmark it.
 
A CC and some cash in my wallet, and my cell phone with a complete address book programmed in it including all the tow companies. How many of you have tow companies in your cell phone?
 
I have one wrecker in my address book and also the Hagerty Plus Auto club that includes towing benefit.
 
New seat belts (pics included)

Thanks to Mr. Fix It for starting this thread (http://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/showthread.php?13505-New-Seat-Belts&p=191719#post191719) and finding the vendor.

A couple of notes:

The car came with four lap belts. The main thing I wanted to do was have six because that's how many ride when my whole family is aboard. The old ones were a light blue, somewhat matching the interior. Obviously I wasn't going to get two new ones of a different color so I needed to buy all six. I didn't trust the color samples on the website (there's a lot of different shades of blue already going on inside the car so I went with white despite the fact that they aren't going to stay white for long.

Also, on placement. The original owner's manual says the seat belts should be "crossed". In other words the latch mechanism closest to the passenger is for the driver and vice versa. With six seat belts it's a little more complicated. You're always going to have two of the latching mechanisms right next to each other. Still I suspect the best way is for the belts to "cross over".

Very happy with the end result.

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Very nice thread, loved it and love the car and your persistence!
 
A CC and some cash in my wallet, and my cell phone with a complete address book programmed in it including all the tow companies. How many of you have tow companies in your cell phone?

I don't need the phone number for a wrecker. My F-wagon doesn't break down...........
 
Hi Fishfan,great story.Along with the ballest resistor that was mentioned,I always keep a spare voltage regulator,starter relay, and some fan belts..One never knows do one..John
 
Great story! Four-door cars rarely get preserved/restored. Yours is a very nice Polara; and I agree about the Ford shade of green looking nicer than the original Mopar shade.
 
I can remember my father buying a brand new 77 Volare wagon and having it recalled within 2 years due to the tops of the fenders rotting out.I guess they managed to use some of that Chinese sheetmetal that GM had left over back in the mid-70's
 
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