Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

Got the other side of the railing done & a few more floor planks, one more day I hope to finish about 20x12 that's left of the planks?

I had tiny bit of energy left so I glazed & waxed the side of the other fender, with buffing done I put in my side markers. I guess now I might as well do the rest of the wheels, running out of things to do, want to set up the headliner guy but want the tarp up, with my luck I'll put it up now & get a heavy snow storm. 20240314_160458.jpg
 
So sticking in the bulb housing I'm not sure they are in right, pushed in square & then about 1/4 turn, it stops, but seems to twist back out awful easy?

So with so much time left between now & april I'm thinking maybe I'll try & find a way to get the distributor in by myself???

So that brings me to fluids, oil, brake, rear gear oil & posi additive all good. I have a little power steering fluid left, not sure how much that takes.
Leaves me with a need to buy antifreeze & tranny fluid. How much does the tranny take & anything special I should buy?
How much antifreeze will it take & how much water should I use?
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
How much does the tranny take & anything special I should buy?
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Dexron II (IIRC) and the amount is in the FSM.

Be sure you cycle it through the gears a few times before checking the level, and check it in neutral so the pump is running.

RUSTY Cuda said:
How much antifreeze will it take & how much water should I use?
Click to expand...
IIRC I used about a gallon and a half in the last engine (400) I filled up, mixed 50/50 with distilled water (avail at grocery store, walmart, etc.)
 
OK me check the book, I was google-ing around & kept seeing ATF+4.
might have enough antifreeze laying around.

Now I get to see at least the really bad gravity leaks!
wonder what I'm in for on startup, might wear a hazmat suit for that!, maybe even a bomb squad hazmat!
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
kept seeing ATF+4
Click to expand...
That's formulated for newer models but I think it's all basically just hydraulic fluid anyway. You could probably just go to Farm & Fleet and buy a 5 gallon bucket of that and be set for years. (I am not recommending anyone do that)
 
Ordered the A/c under hood kit, glad I called to confirm kit, I had the right one but it did not include the liquid lines, so I added those in. now I'm praying everything between the evap & condenser are in there, they said about a week or so before shipping.

Still not a peep out of the hocky stripe place?
 
I won't need that, once it's driving I let my mechanic do all the fluid changes, getting rid of the old is a pain in the butt around here.
They did love the pan with a drain plug on it on the other car, did the same this time!
 
Here we can take oil/ATF to most any parts store for recycling, but antifreeze isn't so simple. I found exactly one place (Firestone store) that will accept it and the one time I tried they told me their barrels were basically full and they didn't know when they'd be emptied. I dumped what would fit and brought the rest back home with me.
 
My guy has a 275 oil tank behind his shop, he lets me use it for the little bit I had on the other car, I have milk bottles in the garage from this car, mostly oil, most of the tranny fluid & antifreeze is in the ground behind the garage.
 
Once I had a bad idea that pouring used oil on mile-a-minute (multiflora rose) would kill it, and had some on the other side of a fence at my house. I leaned over the fence to pour it on the weeds, but didn't realize I was actually pouring it through the fence and back onto my feet until it was too late.

I considered that a sign to not do that anymore. I'll store it until I can recycle it.
 
Dexron II was factory fill on the transmission. It's no longer available, but Dex/Merc (aka Dexron III) is backward-compatible. ATF+4 is for overdrive transmissions with lockup converters; it's synthetic and formulated to reduce lockup shudder. It'll work in an A727, but it's extra money for no benefit whatsoever.

That being said, the factory engineers have always recommended Type F/FA for high-performance use in any non-lockup Mopar RWD/4WD transmission, both before and after your car was built. It provides less wear via with firmer and quicker shifts. It's the only thing I've used in a RWD automatic Mopar since 1989.

Pre-mixed 50/50 antifreeze already has the distilled water added. Yeah, it's a little more expensive to go that way, but it saves chasing around for distilled water and the hassle of achieving a 50/50 mix using separate bottles. Make sure you use the green stuff, not "mixes with anything" (usually yellow) or any other type/color.
 
Another day turns to shit, figured I put some fluid I had here in, filled the brake reserve T figured I see if any gravity bleeding would work, tried to open the closest on, passenger front & I could NOT get the bleeder open, will pull the wheel another day I don't want to strip that thing!
So I'm putting in the power steering fluid & put some in, still low, put a little more in & it's over filled an inch or so, I don't know how much will actually go over to the box, will wait & see.

So I started the touch ups, mixed a tiny bit of putty for the big chips.
Now I'm trying to mix a tiny bit of paint, used an eye dropper, went to get a tad more & dropped it into the paint can, well this dumb ass sticks his hand in with no glove on, me be blue now!

Cept for the one deep chip on the door that seemed to go ok, I'm in the 5 foot rule area.

So in between I figure I'll do the trim rings & lugs.
Well trim rings would not cooperate, I could not get another on any wheel, now the first on that's on I did by hand, but it never seemed to lock in.
The rest would just keep popping back & forth, so to check that I'm not going completely nuts I pulled out an old one, right on with the rubber mallet, all the way in & tight!

Came the closest on the left rear, but if I try & get that last part flat it just pops the whole thing out, so I go back to the one that was on, tapped on the part that was out a little & the whole thing popped off!

First bump & these would be rolling down the highway! 20240316_161249.jpgSo I put em on the bench to compare, new are deeper & have much bigger locking tabs, gonna go search them again & see what the other options are? 20240316_161003.jpg20240316_161042.jpgThis shit is starting to get to me!

So I cleaned the blue off the other 3 wheels & called it a day!
 
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OK, book says 16 pints for regular stall & 13.5 for a high stall, guess I start with 13.5 that should be enough for a start up either way & then add as necessary, car running & in neutral!
 
So today I decided to do things that won't go haywire & piss me off, that didn't last long, opened the door & found some of my roof insulation hanging!!!!!!!!!20240317_124245.jpgBetter not happen again, my can of spray glue is about empty.
So I glue that up again & move on to more mellow stuff, replaced my 3-piece vapor barrier with one piece, thanks again 68! 20240317_140223.jpgSo I move on to that stuck bleeder on the caliper, put a deep socket on it & got it free, i did already have some damage from the wrench slipping, was rusty in there, so I cleaned off the rust & put a dab on never seize on it.
While the wheel was off I noticed rubs on the rim where they shouldn't be, those trim rings with that extra lip were bottoming out! 20240317_140249.jpgnext was the passenger seat if that didn't go smooth, well I don't want to think about it.
20240317_142004.jpgthe carpet still has some little bulges but mucho better than before.

So I final glazed & waxed the hood & top of the fenders, 5 feet away I have a show car! 20240317_150843.jpg
Picture this baby coming at you at 140+20240317_150947.jpgso I pull my old rings back out, pretty bruised up, 3 I might live with but this is a goner! 20240317_152209.jpgrest are about this bad? 20240317_152217.jpgSo against my better judgement I start sanding on some of the touchups
little ones are livable both doors need more work but are closer to flat? 20240317_160800.jpg

Last but not least how do I stop this, carb is already getting puck marks from sitting out there????? 20240317_155146.jpg
 
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So I'm looking around at green anti freeze & they come up with for asian cars, is this the same stuff I need.
my auto zone has peak & prestone max, any preferance?
 
I knew someone would point that out!

Don't think at this point I'm gonna bother.
Car is not pure enough to worry bout it!
 
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