A Busy Saturday

Today was a busy Saturday. The weather turned really nice, and I had some good quality time to spend with the car. First up was continuing to tear down the interior.

Removed the back seat, and this is the buried treasure that I found. All sorts of crap that had built up over the past several years.


After removing the rear seat, I removed the rear carpet. Found a little bit of surface rust, but not too bad. The floor boards were still solid.


Set the console brackets up to figure out where they needed to be welded at. Removed all the remnants of carpet glue and crap to prep for the welding. After this photo was taken, I shot the bare spots with some primer until I can get to the welding. The center console I got from an eBay auction.

Went up under the car and "sorta" installed the rear anti-sway bar. I installed the frame brackets, attached the bar, and mocked up where the spring pad brackets are to go. Those also need to be welded up. In this shot, you can also see the HD Police shocks that I installed a while back. The sway bar itself came from the junkyard, out of a 1981 Chrysler Imperial. The brackets for the spring perch I purchased off of a member of one of the forums that I frequent.

Here is a shot of the brackets installed on the frame.


Here is another shot of the anti-sway bar and the brackets installed on the frame.


Here is another angle of the anti-sway bar. You can see it snake it's way over the pumpkin in the rear end.

Hot B-Body Wagon

This was linked off of a MoparStyle, it was an eBay auction. This B-Body wagon is pretty frickin slick, very similar to how I want the wagon to end up. The copper color is pretty close to what I want on the Aspen, not sure yet about just the roof as a two-tone or the color of the two tone. Still, this is one hot wagon.

Diplomat Police Package Shocks Installed

About a week ago I purchased a complete set of NOS M-Body (Diplomat/Gran Fury) Police Package shocks from a member of a message board I frequent. They arrived Thursday, and I spent a little while today installing them.



The Shocks





Rear Shocks Installed





I didn't get a photo of the fronts. I went for a test drive immediately after installing them. What a difference new shocks make. The front end used to float and wallow. Going over even the smallest bump would enduce several undulations before the front end would settle down. Now, it's tightened up quite a bit. I don't know of the differnce between regular shocks and the Police package shocks, cuz mine were just shot to begin with. But, this is the firmest that I've ever felt the wagon feel. Just need to replace the rear springs, add in the rear sway bar, possibly upgrade the front sway bar, and the suspension will be done for awhile.

Junkyard Hunting

Well, softball season is offically over now. I should have some time to dedicate to working on the car now. I decided that this past weekend was a good time to go and roam through the junkyards to see what's out there.

I hit pay dirt!!

I have been searching and searching for a set of the 11.75" brake caliper mounts, so that I can upgrade the front disc brakes to the larger 11.75" brakes. The caliper mounts can be found in B-body Cordobas, Chargers, etc, as well as the even larger R-body Chrysler New Yorker, Dodge St. Regis, etc. All the Cordobas that I have seen, all had the older pin-style calipers (not the slider type likeon the Aspen). I found one R-body, and the bolts were so rusted that I was unable to break them loose with the tools I had.

Sunday, I found 4 sets(!!!) of the caliper mounts. A 78 Dodge Magnum, a 78 Cordoba, an 80 New Yorker and an 80 St. Regis. I pulled the mounts from the New Yorker, cuz it was the first one I saw. They came off with very little effort. Score one for budget big brake upgrade.

The second score was the 1982 Imperial in the second yard. This car still had the complete rear sway bar. I've already purchased a sway bar and a set of custom made brackets to weld to the spring caps, but I still needed the frame mounts. I picked up the entire bar, frame mounts, and end links for next to nothing!

The parts are home now, and after my trip to North Carolina I'm going to start ordering parts. Coming up I'll be doing the following:

- Replacing suspension: front and rear shocks, rear springs, rear sway bar, possible cop-size front bar.

- Upgrading brakes: budget big-brake (11.75") upgrade in the front, replacement of shoes in the rear, new master cylinder.

- Upgrading steering: new steering box (firm feel unit), new tie rod ends, and new steerign wheel (tuff-wheel lookalike).

Stay tuned.