70 Coronet Winter Odd Jobs

[Chargerjase]

Some di-electric grease is useful on the terminals Jase.

I used it also on the heads of the park lamps up front - where water is easily forced in while driving. Doesn't hurt to put a thin smear on those glass fuses either - won't harm them, and make them easier to replace/remove next time.

Hi Roger, yes I agree totally. I like a thin smear of it too. I don't have any currently, but that's one thing I can buy locally here lol, apart from bratwurst and beer.

 

[ckessel]

Prior butchery is one of the many reasons I don't bother trying to remedy old wiring. Pull out the snips and go to town removing all of it. Install fresh stuff with upgrades. I do save the molded plastic connectors though.

 

[Chargerjase]

Prior butchery is one of the many reasons I don't bother trying to remedy old wiring. Pull out the snips and go to town removing all of it. Install fresh stuff with upgrades. I do save the molded plastic connectors though.

Right there with you. That's my plan when I get the car back Stateside.

 

[Chargerjase]

So in light of discovering other wiring issues, I looked over everything that I could see, that was visible that may become an issue later. Lo and behold, I found that at some stage a PO had cut out the fusible link. It had probably blown and instead of replacing it, he just joined the wires together. As this is a critical protection device and could potentially prevent my car from burning to the ground, I replaced it.
We are lucky enough to have a Mopar dealer in Germany, that has a lot of these knick knacks on stock. A bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

Removed the old piece of wire off the starter relay terminal

Chopped the cable with plenty of extra to spare.

As with a lot of these bulkhead connectors, the joint had got hot at some stage and melted the housing. Somebody ran the cable straight through to the interior. I know this is a better way to do it in these circumstances, but I did not want to hack up my new fusible link.

So I crimped on a female spade connector and stole the plastic connectors off my unused AC cable. I have a replacement from Bill Evans anyway, so no harm done.

I used this Delphi crimp tool that my Father-in Law gave me. I must say, what a beautiful tool. It does a perfect crimp.

Made the join outside the bulkhead connector. This way, I can keep an eye on it until I can fix it properly.

It looks like a bodge job, but trust me, that is as good as the original installation. The crimps are brand new and snap together nicely.

Fusible link in place.

I tested everything on full load and no signs of any over heating, so I am calling this job good.

 

[Chargerjase]

I was also able to take care of some other little odd jobs.

From the Mopar shop found some lamps to replace my blown, missing or wrong ones. I looked up the GE part number, but unfortunately all I got was Chinese made lamps.

It's a bit depressing as I stay right away from Chinese made anything, but sometimes you just don't have a choice.

Replaced the glove box lamp.

Then I replaced the missing lens from my licence plate light and also the lamp which was the wrong size.

 

[Chargerjase]

Back onto it. My gas tank leaks gas when I fill it up. Of course the culprit is the gas tank seal. I removed the rear bumper and gave it a good clean. I took the opportunity to replace the sad looking rubbers on the bumpettes with a good repro pair I purchased from Tony's Mopar Parts.

With full access to the gas tank nozzle, I removed it from the tank.

I removed the rotten old seal. Interestingly, it was installed backwards and has been like that for many years. It is a genuine Chrysler part complete with the Pentastar. I honestly can't believe that the factory installed it backwards. But the seal looks to be 54 years old, so who knows.

I purchased a new one from DMT.

This is a really nice part and I recommend it. Using some dish soap, I installed it the correct way round. I then lubed up the fuel nozzle and reinstalled it. It went in beautifully and is holding a good seal.

I have read that some people just about pop their eyeballs out of their head trying to get the nozzle back in. No issues with this seal from DMT.

Reinstalled the bumper and she is as good as new.

Next job will be to tackle why my fuel sending unit is working poorly. I can probably guess, but she will be ripped out and diagnosed on the weekend.

 

[Chargerjase]

I have been having issues with my fuel gauge since the day I brought the car. I made up a tester and checked wiring and gauge response. The gauge sweeps from empty, 1/2 and full no problem using my tester so no issues with any of that. The sending unit must be the cause. The main issue is that when full, the gauge reads 3/4 and when the tank is just under 1/2, it reads empty. I was hoping that the float was leaking and partially sinking in the fuel.
So today I pulled out my fuel sending unit. I am happy to say that I have an original lock nut in place because the new repro ones are notoriously thin and can cause leaks. The bad news is, somebody in its life has changed out the factory sending unit for a new Chinese repop. And of course you guessed it, it's junk.
The range is 10.0 Ohms- 77.5 Ohms. On face value, you would think that's not too bad. But, two things are not good. One, the slider must have very light pressure applied to the rheostat because sometimes it loses resistance altogether. Second, the sending unit is vastly different to OE. I know the OE version is non linear and the repops are made linear. I wouldn't call mine strictly linear, but it is also very different to what it should be.

I read in @dadsbee Superbird cleanup thread that he has the following readings from his OE sender compared to mine

Wayne's OE Jason's Repro

Full = 10.8 ohms Full = 10.0 Ohms

Empty = 69.6 ohms Empty = 77.5 Ohms

1/2 tank = 26.8 ohms 1/2 = 41.3 Ohms

3/4 = 19.1 ohms. 3/4 = 25.5 Ohms

1/4 = 41.2 ohms. 1/4 = 56.3 Ohms

The other thing I noticed is that the the bend in the arm was far more pronounced on mine than the OE version. In a vain effort to improve the readings, I straightened it out a bit, but don't know at this stage how much difference it will make.

So, for now I have put the sender back in and will fill the car with gas tomorrow to see if there is any difference. I replaced the seal with one I got from DMT.

I am now looking for a good used one (Part number 3420 848) or NOS if it's possible to find one. My car is a 383 4bbl.