Got quite a bit accomplished this month but little to get it to pass inspection. Finally got the brakes to work properly. Apparently, whomever the PO (previous owner) was either was an idiot or took the Cuda to the king of idiots for repairs. I am going to do a title search and find out if it was the PO or the PO's "mechanic". On to the brakes. It has 10" fronts and 9" rears. The wheel cylinders, shoes, and master cylinder were recently replaced, even though I recently rebuilt the master cylinder it didn't appear to need it but the kit was a nonreturnable special order. The holddown hardware and adjuster hardware were old. All the starwheels were froze up due to rust and lack of lubrication. They were also all adjusted completely in. Is it any wonder that you had to pump the M/C a few times to get the car to stop? Add to this the broken self adjuster lever on the driver side. Thanks to Dan Stern's drum brake upgrade article he wrote a long time ago I upgraded to the newer style, 69 and up, self adjusters, which mandate the use of the newer style holdown parts. I had planned on only freeing up the adjusters and replacing the self adjusting hardware on the driverside, since I'm buying an 8 3/4 with 11" brakes I couldn't see spending a lot of cash on the current setup. Unfortunately, Bendix doesn't list the self adjuster kits for the 68 and earlier A bodies. Hence, the upgrade. I was wondering why they never put self adjusters in the fronts, remember all my front drum experience involves 65 and earlier Mopars. Well, I was using my 72 FSM to show me how to properly reassembly the brakes when I noticed that in 72, probably 69 and up, the fronts do have self adjusters. I thought about adding those, along with the newer holdown kit, but I do plan on upgrading to later style discs and I can't justify the expense. I haven't found the source of the exhaust leak I have (I hope it's an exhaust leak). From the sound of it I swear it's coming out of the oilpan, almost like a rod knock but I know what a rod knock sounds like and this sounds like an exhaust leak, but from the oil pan. It could be the crossover but I ran my had along it and felt nothing. The whole Y pipe is one massive kluge of welds upon welds upon splices and grafts. So it needs to be replaced, got some 340 manifolds with duals in mind. Changed the oil as well. Came out dirty but with no funny smells or colors. Had a bear of a time prysing the Fram oil filter off. Added 5 quarts of Valvoline 10w30 and a new MoPar severe duty oil filter. The only filter left to change is the trans filter, waiting on the MP deep sump trans oilpan and shift kit. New plugs, air and fuel filter, cap and rotor as well. Still need new wires and a decent set of go/no-go feeler guages to set the lash. Oh yeah, how can I tell if I still have solid lifters or if I have hydraulic lifters, short of removing the intake? I ask this because closer inspection really leads me to think the engine has been rebuilt. It's way too clean inside, the steel freeze plugs are shiny, there is RTV on the oil pan, the timing chain, and waterpump gasket surfaces. Still need to do the hoses and belts. Need better tires (13") for the rear, one is cam shaped, the other holds air for about 6 hours. Gonna buy used since I'm upgrading to the 4.5" bolt pattern and M body 15x7" rims. Was gonna install the KYB's and rear sway bar but figured that would work better if I waited till the axle swap. Oh yeah, it's got 4 1/2 leafs in the rear. The block has a casting date of 12-15-64, build date on the fender tag is 12-30-64. Intake's casting date is 12-15-64 and the block is stamped A 273 12-17. My intermediate E-brake cable needs replacement. Speedo don't work. Lights mostly work, haven't checked the license plate light and that is usually what they gig me on, not to mention that the PO had the wrong bulb number in a few sockets. Gonna pull the dash out, clean, detail and lube the guage cluster, replace all the lights and go. Got 75% of the interior chrome polished, some of the exterior mostly the front bumper and the stainless trim on the sides. I need a electric buffer like Eastwood sells to really polish it up. Gonna take the grille apart to clean, detail and polish. I love the heat and humidity, Texas in the summer. That is all for now,
Steve
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