Automotive

Up until around 2016 or so, I primarily drove these quirky "Turbo Mopars" employing Chrysler's 2.2L turbocharged powertrain.  My last daily driver of this type was a 1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z C/S.  The car was a bit of a basket case when I got it, but it was eventually sorted out: the frame was straightened, the floor pans replaced, and the powertrain and interior were upgraded.  It was a very fun and comfortable car to drive (for a Turbo-Mopar anyway).  Eventually I had to let it go, as it just wasn't practical to use a 30+ year-old car as a daily.

My previous daily driver from 1995 through 2002 was a 1988 Dodge Shadow ES.  It was laid to rest due to a fatal case paint peel and floorpan/frame rust.  It had been in a few collisions over its life and it just wasn't worth saving.  Prior to that, I drove a 1987 Dodge Shadow Turbo and a 1987 Plymouth Sundance Turbo.  I had a thing for these particular cars (the "P-body", in Turbo-Mopar parlance), especially the first generation (1987-1988).

Back when I first graduated from college, I strongly desired the ultimate first-generation P-body: the 1987 Shelby CSX.  After some searching and waiting for the right car in my price range, I found Shelby CSX #694 of 750.  It has mainly been a project car, though it has had to step in as a daily from time to time.  This is the last of these cars that I still own.

Chrysler had an interesting relationship with Carroll Shelby in the late 1980s.  While the resulting vehicles were never taken very seriously in muscle car circles, a great online community did form around them.  The discourse has moved from mailing lists to online Forums to (unfortunately) Facebook Groups, but the community itself still exists.  The Shelby-Dodge Auto Club still holds an annual convention to this day.

In the dark recesses of the Internet lies an ancient tome of knowledge that (according to the server logs) people still visit for some reason: Mini-Mopar Resources.

The Daytona: May 27, 2003

Posted on May 27, 2003.

I think I have decided what paints I am going to use.  In the interest of not having to worry about rusting under the primer, I will take the body down to metal, spray with POR-15 clear, POR-15 tie-coat primer, and PPG color and clear coats.  The underbody and fenders will get the POR-15 underbody treatment in semigloss black.  That should intomb the metal for all eternity.  I also need to think about how I am going to weld in the plates to patch up the underbody and straighten-out the front end.  At the moment, the driver's side door is partially stripped and the rear end is in the air so that I can investigate the squeaky brakes and bleed the lines.  As usual, the bleeders snapped off when I tried to remove them, so hopefully I will be able to extract them.  If not, new cylinders are only $15.

The Daytona: May 23, 2003

Posted on May 23, 2003.

Haven't done much work to the car lately, but I have stopped driving it.  I went to take care of some rust that was forming just above the bumper strip on the passenger-side door.  What I uncovered was that the strip was attached to the door with silicone rubber and under it was all rust.  In a few places it did rust through, but since it is under the strip, I'm not concerned.  It appears that the door had been hit at some point, as there are holes drilled in random places, probably from a dent pull-out tool.  Whoever straightened the metal did a good job, but they didn't bother painting it! So, it looks like I am going to have to DA the whole door and repaint it.  The paint is cracking in several places anyway, probably due to rust forming.  I see the same thing happening on the passenger-side front fender as well as the hood, but nowhere else.  Hopefully I'll have a compressor soon, so I will be able to do a proper painting job.  This will be the practice I need to repaint the Shelby.

The CSX: May 23, 2003

Posted on May 23, 2003.

I've been driving the Shelby daily now for several weeks while I addressed some issues with the Daytona.  All and all it has been reliable, though still has some cold startup issues, uses oil, and sounds like a Mack truck.  I may drop the old Shadow engine in if looks like the Daytona project is going to take a long time.  Eventually I put the Daytona wheels on because they actually have tread and they are also round.  There are various things that need fixing on the CSX as well, but much of the work is the body.  If all goes as planned, I will have a compressor fairly soon and will gain some experience at painting the Daytona.  Then I'll be able to repaint the Shelby, finally.  I may try to polish the rims next winter to have a nice, fresh Shelby by next summer.  Yeah right. :p

The Daytona: January 28, 2003

Posted on January 28, 2003.

I found the damn electrical load that was draining the battery.  The battery wouldn't last sitting for more than about 2 days.  I measured about a 300mA drain, which is a lot! I isolated it to the power seat/power door lock circuit, which made so sense since I have no power seats and the power door lock motors draw many amps when they are on.  A quick glance at the wiring diagrams revealed the horn circuit also being fed from this circuit.  The horn doesn't work and I never looked as to why.  It appears that the steering column wiring for the horn switch is shorted and it was disabled at the horn itself.  Unfortunately, this left the horn relay on at all times and, apparently, and relay coil draws about 280mA.  Anyway, I yanked the relay and now everything is fine.  I still see about 22mA of drain, 4 of those are for the Dawes Devices A/F guage, which was tied right to the battery.  The rest must be the radio and clock, I guess.

The Daytona: January 21, 2003

Posted on January 21, 2003.

I re-replaced the left-front wheel bearing.  It went rather easily, considering what a pain it can be.  The assembly came out with a sledge and went in easily with a pair of C-clamps.  The only major problem I ran into was that the new rotors had rusted to the new (failed) hub assembly.  Ended up having to use a hydraulic puller and a sledge to get it off.  I think it rusted around the center of the hub, so I dabbed a little anti-seize on there.

For an encore, I went to tighten a hose clamp on the heater bypass valve when it went "click".  Damn, and I was doing so well.  It was a Mopar unit and it was as if the plastic has broken-down.  Instead of being brittle, it had the consistency of hardened rubber hose.  It just crumbled in my fingers.  I had the spare from the Shadow, but since it had the new-style intake (bypass valve under the battery tray), the valve inlet points the wrong way.  I managed to find a nylon elbow that I could use for now.  I bought a new one at Auto-Stoned for $12.  It was the all-plastic one, like the one from my Shadow.  It lasted for over 7 years, so I won't complain.