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2,680 Posts
Greetings and hope everyone's 2014 is starting off well. About time I logged-in to update. No excuses other than being thoroughly occupied and dog-tired at end of each day. Most of the Tech topics I respond to are either redundant or otherwise taken care of adequately by the highly-experienced membership - (you know who you are). :thumbsup: , So, as I sit here, half-way thru our winter season, the Valiant is safely covered and sleeping until early March (give or take) and the Power Wagon is insured (from mid-Dec.'13 to mid-April '14. I got six months of good, reliable and fun usage out of Signet - with absolutely NO mechanical woes or issues. I cannot believe how much fun it is to drive. Oh sure, I considered 'up-grading' to P.S. and larger (front-disc) brakes, plus the 4.5" bolt pattern, but, at the end of each day I would ask myself - "why bother?" Of course if anyone brought me a 'donor-car' I would buy him or her a coffee or beer. I still have the OEM (13-inch) wheels and likely will for at least the next few months. I planned to get some argent rallyes after possibly selling the Power Wagon and sort of 'tested the waters' on Kijiji thru July and August. In spite of many expressions of interest, I had no serious offers. I was asking 35 and would have taken 30 - but not 28. (hundred $). One smart guy offered 2 grand - without asking extra questions OR even looking at (let alone driving) the truck. I updated my ad stating that I would stop advertising in Sept.'13 and (maybe) try again about April, '14 and so far I am right on schedule. As of August, 2013, I have been working on two JH23H2- code Challengers. The first one is a total rotisserie (4 yrs.ago) resto and is valued at $45,000. It is a sun-roof car and a multiple show winner. But, there are always the 'little things' that only 40 years of E-body experience can handle. The second car is a factory EW1, but changed to FY1 a few years ago, and is now undergoing a transformation to FM3 (long story). I am totally responsible for completely stripping everything - right down to a rolling chassis. It is a factory Auto. but apparently someone converted to 4-spd. and, likely when change to yellow was done. so was a change back to Auto. But, in this case it was the A-518. (over-drive). There are two tiny switches on console - one for O.D. and one for (converter) lock-up. The rear end has a -742 housing with 3.91 ratio, so it performs really well. The (360) engine has Edelbrock heads and intake and Holley 750 vac., with stock exhaust manifolds and excellent exhaust system. Lots of problems with this car, in spite of it being nice-looking enough for car shows. I quickly endeared myself to the owner and she now lets nobody else touch anything mechanical on it. When I repair something, I repair it for life and most of the needed 'repairs' involved correcting previous bad work. (some really bad). This second Challenger also has nice 15 by 8" Magnums and T/A's all around. NO factory rear sway-bar and a few other missing trim pieces and call-outs. I am slowly accumulating many items. Even the (rallye) cluster is in need of TLC. - starting with replacement decals for all the instruments. All the exterior trim needs polishing and there are no wheel-openind moldings.- maybe later. I have to locate a pair of the fender-mounted turn signals (new ones are $100. a pair). So, it goes on and on - everything from 'rehabilitating' the door-window mechanisms to installing Sure-Grip, detailing the cluster(as mentioned), to dismantling and restoring the heater assembly to getting all the underhood wiring cleaned-up and simplified, to replacing timing gears and water pump, removing oil pan, cleaning and painting these parts and more. In other words, I have months of work to do in a matter of weeks - from about mid-Feb. to mid-March. The car will have the '71 non-R/T side stripes, the fender louvers (but no strobes) and the black-out patch on hood. There is a black 'ducktail' on trunk that will go back on. We thought about a factory-style 'go-wing' but (repro) cost of $600. not considered cost-effective. Front 'chin-spoilers' are considered and they are relatively cheap to buy. I won't talk any more about this - especially in this thread, but I just wanted to illustrate that some of us don't have to look very hard to find something (we like) to do. My second car ever was an E-body and I've had many since. I always liked the A-bodies - primarily Dusters and Demons but even those are quite rare as of the past few years. Values have sky-rocketed for sure but there are still deals to be had. B-bodies were equally sharp-looking and could perform like anything else,however I generally prefer 'lighter' vehicles. I won't take up any more time right now but hope to post replies as necessary in various threads. I am just not able to find the consistency to 'log-in' unlike so many of the other long-time members. As usual, if anyone wishes to message me, for whatever question or comment, please feel free to do so. Oh, and I also do not text, use a 'wireless' phone or partake of ANY of the 'social-media' sites. :thumbsdown: Thanks for reading and I will update as stuff happens.