What did you do to your C-body today....

Couple more there was a beautiful 63 fury wagon black with red interior but he left before I could get a picture.

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It looks like the rear deck had four speaker holes factory. Is that correct?
Yes, you're right. There are 4 speaker holes. When I discovered this I had to purchase and install another pair of woofers. Not sure if this was for ventilation purposes, rear window defoggers, or audio reasons. I'm curious of this is standard for all C-bodies, only fuselage models or if I just got lucky with my year model. At the time, FM radio was still in it's infancy, but 8-track stereos were popular in '73. For what it's worth, I'm taking advantage of it.
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FWIW
Two holes for rear stereo speakers, one for rear defog inlet and the other probably for rear heat and or air. I believe only c bodies were 4 holers. Two holes for most A,B &E bodies. Exception being the 71 through 74 B bodies and fold-dn rr seat Duster/Demons. Stereo in these B bodys cars got you one speaker in front and one in rear. The second rear opng would be used for rear defog. Ballance was front to rear and was rather disappointing in our 71 Satellite and 73 Charger.
 
I drove the $&!t out of it this week. Just finished a 1,500 mile road trip. Fargo, Duluth, up the North shore of Lake Superior ( Not sure why they call it North shore as it seems actually the west shore to me), then down to Union,Il for the Midwest C-body meet, and then back to Fargo. Great trip. No issues. Low 70’s so perfect for no A/C.
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I drove the $&!t out of it this week. Just finished a 1,500 mile road trip. Fargo, Duluth, up the North shore of Lake Superior ( Not sure why they call it North shore as it seems actually the west shore to me), then down to Union,Il for the Midwest C-body meet, and then back to Fargo. Great trip. No issues. Low 70’s so perfect for no A/C.
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Oh man, that is great! Thank you for sharing!
 
Yep you got to drive em to enjoy them. We only did around 300 miles but was all back country roads through PA OH & WV .The recent complete tune up got me around 13 mpg but was a lot of start stopping through Ohio through densely populated areas took a different route home more open roads.Car ran great no need for the a/c was nice and cool.Next trip is Carlisle can't wait.
 
Yep you got to drive em to enjoy them. We only did around 300 miles but was all back country roads through PA OH & WV .The recent complete tune up got me around 13 mpg but was a lot of start stopping through Ohio through densely populated areas took a different route home more open roads.Car ran great no need for the a/c was nice and cool.Next trip is Carlisle can't wait.
It will be good to see you soon.
 
Hot day outside yesterday, 96 degrees and humid, (in Fargo, not AZ)so spent much of the day in my garage which was sitting around 78 degrees. I had two projects.
1. install a NOS exhaust hanger, as my original was pretty well stretched and making my exhaust sag. I need to find some large rivets to rebuild it with new rubber. The NOS one gained me an extra inch and tucked my exhaust in nicely.
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2. installed a bushing in my carburetor to take up some extra slack of my choke shaft. After driving the choke butterfly would almost over center and stick wide open, so wouldn’t reset for “cold start” and activate the high idle cam. So I set up a jig on my drill press to make sure I was aligned. It worked ok, but would do it a little differently next time.
It did tighten up the shaft so it wouldn’t possibly stick due to the sideways motion binding, but I also gave the butterfly a very slight curve at the bottom so that it would hit the tiny internal stops about 1/16” sooner. Now it seems to stop before over centering and sticking.
I probably could have made it work without the bushing.
The issue is now fixed.
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I blew the power steering hose on Gran Coupe playing around
So it made decision on which car to bring, easier
Lol
 
Since the rain has finally stopped, I got some seat time in the Chrysler so I can call the steering box project finished.

Decided on a Firm Feel stage 2 after talking to the guys there and it's been sitting here for a while. I had hoped to do it this winter, but the cold on the bones kept me in the house. Everything went according to plan until it didn't... LOL.

First issue was the rubber coupling was a lot worse than I thought. I had a used one in OK shape, but decided to go with the Land Rover piece.
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Steering Flex Coupling For Range Rover Classic (See Fitment Years) (Part #NTC3486) - Land Rover bolts, clamps, nuts & hardware from Atlantic British

I cut the Rover coupling down on my bandsaw from 1 5/16" to 1" thick, finishing it with my ultra precision... Harbor Fright belt sander. Got it to .005" flat so we're good. Counterbored the screw holes and it fits like it was made for it. Yes, I put new cotter pins in the bolts. (just not before the pic)

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I decided to "rebuild" the coupling. In hindsight, a new seal and cover was all I needed. I did install a clip over the cover as insurance to keep it together. No after pics.

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Column got a new foam seal from DMT.

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Started to get it all back together and must have smacked the brake switch with the column as I put it back in and broke it. Of course, it wasn't the cheap $20 switch I can get anywhere because of the Cruise Control. I found a $60 replacement on eBay, but more delay...

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So... The Stage 2 might not be for everyone. It has a good "road feel" while driving and for me, I kind of like it. While parking, the assist is lower and while it's not a problem, if you are used to just spinning the wheel effortlessly, it's not quite the same. Still not much effort, but it's different from what it was. I think it's close to the electric power steering in my Ford Edge while parking.

A short video.. I wasn't really pushing the car. (Mrs. Big John was with me)
Satellite radio cutting in and out due to the trees.

 
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Yesterday I repurposed the 6x9 speakers installed by the PO. They were cheap Wally World Pyramid speakers, 4 ohm 100w. They sounded like crap anyway, they looked like 4 way speakers but we're really coaxials, a 6x9 woofer cone, a 1.5" tweeter (blown) & 2 fake 1/2" tweeter "domes" that were passive, no wires or magnets. They (tweeter assembly) were easy enough to remove, a single long screw thru the bottom magnet held them in, clip the wires to the main speaker and they lifted right out. Carefully trimming around the foam surrounds and the wires and the 6x9 paper cone was out. Then all I was left with was a naked spider cage, magnet & voice coil. Proceed to the 2nd speaker and repeat.

Test them both for ohms revealed I had broken one of the tiny copper wires to one of the voice coils, easily rectified with my soldering iron. Then I cut a thin flexible strap of galvanized tin from some leftover air ductwork from the bathroom remodel. This is to bridge diagonally across the speaker mount. Drill holes for each side and one in the center for a long bolt. Discovered that the original hold down bolt for the tweeter assembly would do nicely for this. I mock up the assembly and trim off the excess length of the bolt so it won't stick out any farther than the strap and a hold down nut. Then I got down to making me a pair of DIY Tactile Transducers. I epoxied in a heavy washer onto the voice coil, then the bolt. Attach the cross strap to hold the bolt upright and centered ensures the voice coil will travel and slide up and down without binding in the bore of the magnet. It's quick set 5 minute epoxy so I let it set and go eat BBQ brats & baked beans for 4th of July lunch.

After lunch, I see it's solid and hard, good. On to the next one. Repeat voice coil mod to 2nd speaker. As the 2nd is setting, I dig out a stack of washers and disassemble the strap from the 1st speaker. I load as much weight as will fit under the strap and reassemble. Repeat with the 2nd speaker as by now the epoxy has set.

These will be mounted under the front bench seat. These will compliment the 4 6x9 woofers on the back deck and the subwoofer cannon mounted in the trunk. Coupled with an additional amplifier and low pass filter, they will add a visceral sensation to the bass, literally a kick in the pants to simulate a massive high power sub under the seats but without the expense or complexity. The idea it to give myself & passenger the sensation of a 10,000 watt sound system but without pissing off the neighbors or cops. I want a setup that will give you CPR, a massage even, that beats in time with the music. It took me all of 3-4 hours to make these, saved myself a couple hundred dollars from buying dedicated bass kicker transducers.

These work by virtue of creating motion instead of sound. You really don't hear deep bass, you feel it. By pushing mass instead of a paper cone, vibrations are transmitted through the seats to reveal the kick of the bass drums and bass guitars or big horns. Another advantage of these over dedicated bass shakers is I can "tune" them by adding or removing weight (i.e the washer stacks on the center rod). Adding weight increases the sensation while lowering the frequency peak. I intend to drive these (and a 4 pack set of tactile "pucks" to be mounted into the seat backs) through a 100 Hz low pass filter and a mild 200 watt amplifier.

Nowadays people use transducers in home theater setups, usually mounted in the couch or chairs, or else in gaming chairs, to add an additional emersion effect to feel explosions from the soundtrack of movies or games. I saw one of the Jurrasic Park movies at the theater that had these in the seats, the effect was unreal. You could feel the stomp of the feet of dinosaurs. It really adds to the experience. I want that in my car.

And now I will.
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Drove mine to get ice cream on Sunday. Odometer turned 27,000 on the way home. Found the source of the power steering leak at the ps cooler and hopefully fixed that. Installed my clock adjuster knob and screw. Today is supposed to be decent, so after work, I'll get the rest of the under-dash drama sorted and install my new glove box.
 
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