Hi All,
Been a little remiss in not getting out any emails about the last 10
days worth of MoPar events. I'll kind of quickly recap some of the
events.
C@C:
Great time, great fun. I didn't really find much of anything
parts-wise, but did have a good time looking around and hanging out with
the cars. It was nice to meet so many people from the list, and I hope
that next year we can get a nice tent to hang out in.
One regret was the dinner on Saturday. My friend Heather talked me out
of the chicken dinner idea, saying it would be too messy, and no one
would want to eat hot food anyway. So, she ordered pizzas for us,
instead. I guess I forgot to communicate that there were going to be 15
people there, as she only ordered 2 pizzas. Thanks to everyone who
donated money to the dinner fund. I'll put it towards next year's
dinner. Sorry about that, everyone.
On a brighter note, our first Forward Look Award winner is John Paxos &
his 1957 Fury. His tireless dedication to promoting the Forward Look,
and his work with the GFS made him a natural. The next award winner
will be announced this week, so keep an eye out. Again,
congratulations, John.
WPC:
Something of a rocky road getting there, as I pulled into a rest stop,
and saw a little steam escaping under the hood. I opened it up, and the
radiator literally exploded into a cloud of steam. Whoops. The main
seam on the inside top between the cap and the core gave out (for the
third time) and made quite a mess. The steam all went directly at the
snorkel on the air cleaner and sent probably a gallon of antifreeze
right down into the engine. Yuck. Luckily, I had a tube of this magic
steel epoxy putty, which did a fair job in patching her up enough to
complete the trip to Akron.
I also had something of a rocky road getting into the meet, but I won't
go into detail here. Suffice it to say, I was late (and thus
ineligible) due to the radiator problems, but due to some help from
Bruce Smith and friends, things worked out in the end. It was worth the
trip, as I have never seen a larger gathering of Forward Look cars. Ron
Waters will be making a web site with photos from the event.
Tires:
The front tires on the Duchess are completely bald -- totally slick.
Ugh. Soooo, it's time to shell out some big bucks for a nice set of
radials. Now while I haven't decided which brand to go with yet, I'm
dead set on radials, but have a few concerns. I guess the appropriate
P-metric size for a 7.50x14 is a P215-75R14. Has anyone used
P225-70R14s though? I'd like to get a little more meat on the ground if
possible, but I don't want it to look too out of place nor cause
clearance problems. Also, I've heard some talk about realigning the
front end for radial tires. I believe it has something to due with toe
in/out changes due to the different tire construction. Can anyone
enlighten me on the changes needed?
While the rims are tire-less, I plan to repaint them argent from the
current body color (red). We've had some discussion about this in the
past, and it appears that either black or argent is correct. Can anyone
offer input as to the correct choice?
Also, due to the tire change, I will have 2 (or 3) used wide whites for
sale. They are Remington Cushion-Aire G78-14 Bias Ply tires. These are
the two rear tires, and they look just fine with deep tread, as well as
my spare. I think they would make a nice pair of extra tires, or a
decent spare that looks correct (although the G78 designation would be
incorrect, to be picky). They can easily be shipped UPS. If you're
interested, just drop me a line and make an offer.
Gas Tanks:
I guess a lot of us have cars that 'burp' up a quart of gas out of the
filler neck and onto their shoes whenever we fill them up. According to
a service bulletin I recently picked up, it mentioned that this may be
due to a misaligned vent tube in the filler neck. I couldn't find this
tube in any diagrams. Anyone have an idea where this might be located?
Oh, and the bulletin mentioned that if this tube was clogged or
misaligned, the tank will only hold about 15 gallons instead of 20 due
to trapped air...
Brakes:
Does anyone have a good source for brake springs? I could really use
new centering and return springs all around. Anyone bought these
recently? I figured while the wheels are off of the car, now would be a
good time to check out the brakes thoroughly.
-Dave
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