www.direkteinspritzer.at

Craighead

Speaking of Chrysler C-Body shrouds….
Back in 2000, I bought a ’70 Dodge Polara 2-door from Washington State. I was really tight on cash but I had always wanted a Fuselage Coupe. Plane tickets were too expensive on short notice and the guy needed the car gone by the next week. I booked a ticket on Greyhound. Los Angeles to Washington…..
I had never ridden on a Greyhound but I figured it would be a cool life experience. It sure was an experience. The filth, the sketchy people, the marginal air conditioning, the constant stops, the fact that it took about 3 full days to get there. Pure hell.
I arrived at around 6am. The owner of the Polara picked me up in a shitbox Hyundai Tercel.(haven’t seen one of those on BAT yet. What’s the deal?)
We drive to his garage/junk/recycling yard. There was the Polara. “There she is. You really going to drive her to Los Angeles?”. I looked at him and said “Yeah, why? You said it ran fine.”, “it does but it hasn’t be driven in about 20 years…”
Shit.
I checked the fluids. They were there. Body was in great shape. No rust. Engine did run fine. Transmission didn’t slip. A/C needed a recharge. I got in and headed on my way. Once I got up to speed(I think. Speedometer was broken) on the freeway, 20 years of dust blew around the cabin and blinded me. It was in the nineties out so I had to have the window down. I was in hell.
I settled in and she seemed to be cruising fine. She was low on gas so I pulled in for a fill up. I put the nozzle on auto and went inside to get some water. When I came out I had about 30 gallons of gas spilled under the Polara. The fuel tank had a split at the seam. 1/2 tank at a time is all she could take. Not the most fun thing when you are driving a 383 at highway speeds. Oh well.
I soldiered on. About 100 miles later it started to knock when I accelerated along with some steam coming from under the hood. I pulled over and found a bunch of tiny pin-sized holes in the radiator and I noticed there was no shroud. Shit.
For the next 700 miles or so I drove about 80 miles at a time, pulled over and let her cool off for about an hour and then repeated. I finally pulled into Bakersfield when I couldn’t take it anymore. I found an old school looking shop but they were closed for a day. I parked it there, got a hotel and left a note to fix the cooling system. The next morning I got a call that they were “on it” and it should be done by the end of the day.
I picked it up to find a new radiator, shroud, fan clutch, oil change, transmission fluid change, diff fluid change, power steering fluid change and fully working A/C! I was excited as hell but nervous about the cost. I asked how much and the mechanic said “gimme $200. Any LA boy like you that’s willing to drive a 30 year old Mopar in that shape, that far with no air conditioning must really love cars.”
I did and I still do.
That Polara was a fun car that got looks everywhere I went. Pea green paint, interior and shredded vinyl top not withstanding. I had ZERO problems with that car for years using it as a daily driver. I had to let her go when gas hit about $3 per gallon here but I’ll never forget her and I’ll have another some day, regardless of condition.

http://bringatrailer.com/2015/06/30/mea ... r-hardtop/

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Et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt


http://vienna-galaxie.blogspot.com

Nette Geschichte! Und Bakersfield ist ein toller Platz dafür.

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Alex

was für eine nette Geschichte.

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digital for now, analog forever.