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Post by 77granfury on Jun 13, 2022 11:48:48 GMT -5
Interesting info on the mirror. I knew they were in other years and models, but now there are even more places to look. I'm using this style that sits a little farther forward:
Mine came from a Barracuda. - The bent antenna looks good. It has a nice "replica movie prop" look to it. I'm thinking I'll now instead look for something a little thicker than a coat hanger. - On opening the doors... My guess is that if it were the door hinges sticking, and the closing latch was working correctly, the doors would move open... at least a little.
I'm rather guessing the linkage rods and/or connectors, from the handle, to the pivot point, and back to the latch, have deteriorated. Either the connection points have come apart and/or the rods have rusted and seized.
Likely the outside door handle is lifting up and springing back down, and nothing past that point is moving. The doors might even still open... From the Inside.
Tag decoding- Some spots of the image are hard to read (near the screws), but came up with this much:
@ tk826 The tag decoding is awesome, THANK YOU, lots of codes I didn't find. The year is about a decade off, but the rest sounds good.... it means, the car HAS a rear sway bar (I wonder what shape the sunken-into-the-ground rear axle is - and what gears... I have an open diff with a gear ratio that "further complements" the relaxed driving style of an 86 year old grandmother, retired crochet champion and vice-president of the Crochet Guild of America. I'm not sure what Chrysler was thinking. My 1977 emissions-360 wasn't supposed to rip the front bench console out of the floors when accidentally hitting the accelerator pedal while nodding away at 60 on the highway lol. The mirror - yes, I was happy to have tried it. I saw lots of them, unfortunately none were perfect: the mirror glass seems to react with the glue - maybe that process is just called "aging" as anything from the early 70s is already 50ish years old! I read before that other models' mirror wasn't as wide as a c-body mirror, hence I posted the comparison pic. I think they used different mirrors in different Bluesmobiles, I remember that some were like yours and some further inward like mine. I couldn't care less but Lil' Elwood was very concerned about not having the correct roof mounted mirror (but raised white letter tires...the double standards he has!) Bent antenna - if you find a thinner one (not sure when they started making them thinner, but that 74 antenna I grabbed is THICK. Not 100% happy with the look yet, it doesn't look natural to me. I need to put a few more kinks and bends into it. The doors - thank you. It just seems odd that every single c-body I found doesn't open up - unless the door is already open. You're right - even if the hinges were horribly rusted, there should be a little play - which - there isn't. I'll bring the heavy artillery in a couple weeks and see what I can do. |
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Post by cynot on Jun 14, 2022 6:34:10 GMT -5
I used an antenna off of a Dodge Ram pickup, probably 05-10 at the time of my build...alot thinner and easier to work with as far as bending it up, and it threaded into the factory base.
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Post by 77granfury on Jun 16, 2022 9:59:40 GMT -5
I used an antenna off of a Dodge Ram pickup, probably 05-10 at the time of my build...alot thinner and easier to work with as far as bending it up, and it threaded into the factory base. @ cynot That's great advice! I was thinking our antenna looks not "natural", like, "someone worked on it for 30 minutes with a vice, a hammer and a beer" - and that pretty much nails it. It should rather look vandalized. Like, "someone worked on it for 30 seconds with his bare hands, some hate, and a luke warm crack pipe" kind of thing. I'll see what my preferred junkyards have to offer... |
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Post by 77granfury on Jun 18, 2022 20:27:59 GMT -5
PART 14: The 8-track playerFather's Day weekend/month! And to top it off, our teenage daughter left for the weekend with some questionable female friends and the wife has to work a late shift. Perfect. Lil' Elwood and me had all afternoon to figure out what to do next with our Bluesmobile. We changed the plugs, wires, rotor and cap, finished a few other little jobs (when a tray with 6 bolts on the passenger floor reminds you that you procrastinated finding the 5/16" nut that always disappears, but it was late, it got dark, and it looked like it was going to rain...etc.), and realized it was NOT too late to tackle a bigger job: we finally decided to install our 8-track player. A while back we bought a Craig S605 on ebay, for us close enough to the S601, S608 or whichever was used in the movie. It wasn't hundreds of dollars, but $26.51 if I recall correctly, that played a big part. However, it was cheap because it was in "non working condition", which is usually not a good thing, but we have a modern (I'd say, mid 90s?) single DIN unit that came with the car and already offers a CD player, but not an input for a phone (That wouldn't be movie correct! That's where I draw the line!). I never wanted to start an 8-track collection, the player was just meant as a showpiece with Sam and Dave's Greatest Hits in the dashboard. It didn't NEED to be in working condition. BELOW: The reason why a Craig S601 (or S608?) is incredible expensive: It's a movie star. BELOW: The trained eye notices right away: LEDs are square, not round, and some other details are incorrect... Our Craig S605 - or shall we refer to it as "the poor man's Craig S601" - has 5 square LEDs above the tape, in the movie it's round LEDs. There are no selector buttons under the inserted 8-track, but neither you nor the friendly server from Hooters that you're giving a ride home will see this, unless you're taking a nap on your passengers lap or vice versa. Nap. N A P. Control your thoughts...! Children are present! Bottom line is: it does the job well for us, and we saved some money that we wasted on other avoidable things instead. We went a similar route with the 8-track tape. After searching flea markets and kijiji for months, it seemed absolutely impossible to find the exact "Sam and Dave" 8-track from the movie anywhere for cheap - or anywhere at all. Let's put it this way - you'll more likely win the lottery. Vendors around here have a huge amount of old country and Canadian folk 8-tracks - next to no Blues - but at least "some" hair rock. Phew.... Since our 8-track player doesn't work, why would we need the original tape? We found a lady that sold the labels, I bought an 8-track on a flea market for $5, and roughly $30 later I had a real fake Sam and Dave 8-track tape that I aged a bit and we were good to go. Cutting a hole in the mint and un-cracked dash is a different story: it made my heart bleed. I wanted to grab a rough dash from the junkyard, paint it, cut the hole and use it instead, but all dashes I found were either too rough, or I couldn't open the doors of the cars... So...we did what 2 men have to do: BELOW: No, let him work for his dry toast. (Child labour helps my economy)
Note: the glovebox/under the dash metal panel had a passenger ashtray in Monacos - not Furys/Gran Furys - and was black in the Bluesmobile. We'll work on it.  BELOW: It didn't take Lil' Elwood long to get to this point:
Note: The metal panel that covers the central dash speaker just pops out. We'll eventually find one made for 2 STEREO (!) speakers... ![]() BELOW: Ta-da! We're DONE! That poor dash... We just destroyed a 45 year old, mint, obsolete piece of history...or did we? BELOW: It sits right where it should be, maybe half an inch too far to the left, and maybe half an inch too far out, but... BELOW: ...we'll pickup a few parts from the green-ish 74 coupe soon, and that dash has only a couple cracks - perfect candidate to paint and hack into... BELOW: ...because we kept our dash in pristine condition. We just couldn't do it. Now, some might think we ruined a non-working $26.51 8-track player, but hold on, this is the plan: Once we have the not-so-great green dash, we'll fix it up a bit, paint it, cut the correct hole, and sink the 8-track player just about half an inch further in, and half an inch further to the right. That won't only cover the cut, I'll also be able to screw the actual 8-track drive/motor back into the currently empty housing, so that it also feels right. Until then, it's just a non-working player in a hacked up case with the wrong - but correct looking - 8-track tape, and while we drive, we secretly play our home-burnt CDs and it feels a little like if it came from the tape deck. 
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Post by 77granfury on Jun 19, 2022 20:09:34 GMT -5
FATHER'S DAY DRIVE 2022...I'll let the pictures do the talking. We had a "no women" Father's Day/weekend this year, and it beat every other Father's Day I've ever had. The weather was beautiful, sunny, but not too hot to wear a full suit with jacket and hat. ...so I made my way to our local youth-jail, the Juvi, to pickup my brother Lil' Elwood...   Of course we went straight to church, skipping to see the penguin, because we lie to nuns...      Lil' Elwood then lifted his black sunglasses for a split second and saw a lot of light. He decided to bring the band back together. Unfortunately he had ice cream first, then a Highway test drive, then we got some groceries, and then we simply forgot.  We do, however, have plans to go on a drive tonight, because yesterday's late night drive ended like this, 5 minutes in: (you might have to zoom into the passenger seat a little)...  "I wasn't tired, but the seats were so comfortable"... suuuuure.... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL FATHERS ON HERE WITH GREAT TASTE IN MUSIC AND CARS!!!
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Post by mygreenmonaco on Jun 21, 2022 17:01:54 GMT -5
Good afternoon sir.
I was told to ask you for help in finding rear quarter marker lights for my 77 Royal Monaco. My passenger side rear quarter marker lense and the bezel are broken. Thank you for your help.
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Post by 77granfury on Jun 22, 2022 6:38:54 GMT -5
@ mygreenmonaco
I PM'd you. I'm going back to the yard on Saturday unless it rains, will get you a side marker.
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 1, 2022 13:43:23 GMT -5
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 4, 2022 15:15:56 GMT -5
Update to 12. General Maintenance - Wild speculations and conspiracy theories!
-Roof mounted mirror - why it is in all Bluesmobiles in the movie!
-Ticket light - why it's nothing but a glorified dome lamp! The picture above had me thinking! I've read posts over posts trying to find out what roof mounted mirror to look for, what cars they could be in, and what the parts numbers were to confirm that they were right. I've read posts of mirrors being narrower when they didn't originate from a C-body, I've watched some movie scenes over and over to compare the two different styles of mirrors used and chose the mirror with the aluminum base that holds up the visors as the "preferred version" - to me a little bit of a cleaner look - and found one in a 1970 Monaco 2dr coupe that I installed - the mirror glass was almost identical size - and shape-wise. So off I went to find some more parts on the weekend and figured, I'll grab a few more mirrors when I see them - just in case one has actually a clear mirror - and also to find the second version that was used in the move as well - mounted further towards the windshield. But... everything I could find was the same mirror, no matter which Chrysler product I looked in. I took one from a Duster. I took one from a Roadrunner, and I took one from a Newport. To my surprise - they were all the same!? Same width, same aluminum mount, same everything. No different widths, no different anything!?   If you compare the movie still above with these mirrors - to me they look identical. Even if these are old news - 2 of the 3 screws bolt directly into the existing holes in your roof where your visor bracket is mounted. Now while I can't guarantee that the mirrors I found were in all the cars at the yard from factory, it seems that almost every single Chrysler product from 1969 to 1973 I looked at had this style of mirror. I expected something different in the '71 Roadrunner, and I would have assumed the Duster had a way smaller mirror, but...nope...?!! If you're still on the look-out for a '74 Monaco station wagon for that roof mounted mirror and you're not too concerned about absolute 101% Part Number accuracy, this is probably the easiest and most accurate bang-for-the-buck way to go. This is where the speculation begins...this is my theory:Police departments replaced the glued on mirrors with proper roof mounted units. We've all been through it. It's a hot day, we get in our car to head to work, and not only do we burn our legs on the faux leather because we wore these Daisy Dukes again, we also stare - instead of into a mirror - on glue residue on the windshield (and NOT a mirror) to check on traffic behind us, just as we're flooring the car ready to overtake Karen in her gold coloured Toyota minivan doing 37 in a 50. If 1974 was the first year for Chrysler to glue their rather heavy mirrors onto the windshield, I can see them fall off more commonly than nowadays. I'm sure Police departments didn't have the "glue-your-mirror-back-on kit" at their local home depot in the late 70s, and any other available glue might not have been strong enough to hold them up. So...they go to Chrysler and have the fallen off mirrors replaced with still available 69-73 mirrors. If it's not the Police departments that looked for longer-lasting and time-proven solutions and didn't believe in flashy new inventions, like glued-on mirrors, maybe it was just the garage that fixed up the movie cars. The jump cars that couldn't keep a glued-on mirror on the windshield for a couple jumps? Yup. Let's replace it with a solid mounted one. A little far fetched? Probably....but we picked up our 77 with rearview mirror on the passenger floormat... The ticket light:While I'm still on the ball trying to get an original ticket light out of a '76 Gran Fury cruiser, I came across something that looks size-wise and in general just like the ticket light in the movie still above. (Again, I can't vouch for this to have been there from factory, but from the way it was installed and wired up, I have no reason to believe that it didn't belong in there either.) It's the dome light of a '71 Roadrunner. I'll have to do a little more research (in the junkyards), but if you're in my boat and didn't find the aluminum ticket light on ebay that should be a perfect match, go take your neighbors GTX for a spin, and make sure to take a Phillips screwdriver and wire cutters. What do you think? I'm tempted to believe that Chrysler didn't really design a specific ticket light for the cars that were equipped with it by factory. I'm sure they took this aluminum dome light out of the parts bin and installed it in Police cars with an external on/off switch - because their dome lights didn't have a switch from factory. EDIT: So far I found the exact same dome light (ticket light) in 2 early 70s Dusters, a Dart and a 73 Challenger. They seem to be quite common for late 60s/early 70s Mopars. Here's also an updated ebay link for the identical light, listed as Charger/Challenger/Dart Dome Light for $87US plus shipping (it's not cheap, but at least available?). I will keep my eyes open next time I'm at the junkyard. www.ebay.ca/itm/363898568956?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=706-89093-2056-0&mkcid=2&itemid=363898568956&targetid=1656417413990&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9000759&poi=&campaignid=17297476241&mkgroupid=135489415143&rlsatarget=pla-1656417413990&abcId=9300870&merchantid=533914481&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlemWBhDUARIsAFp1rLV803REYF9ORJf5FLy7yj44KAJcb93bfg-EdVE46nNAO48391phU14aAibVEALw_wcB 
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 16, 2022 11:32:18 GMT -5
PART 15: Lil' Elwood's License Plate Aging TutorialInstead of big breaking news, let's fill the gap with smaller improvements and details. Today: License plates. We all know that the Bluesmobile wasn't clean, and this brings dirty, banged up, slightly rusty and bent license plates with it.   We saw on amazon that there's now a "rusty version" of the classic BDR529 license plate, but upon arrival, we decided that the $20 spent on it wasn't worth it: it looked fake and nothing like the real deal, especially as it's painted in high gloss, so the LEAST you'd have to do is spray some flat clear over it. Not even brand new plates are glossy around here.  We did come across someone that ages your license plates for a fee, but our budget restraints once again made us ramp up our creativity, or should I say, Lil' Elwood's creativity - because while I was trying to figure out if I should mix sand with paint and carefully brush it on, he took "aging" to a whole new level - and taught me a few things that I wouldn't even have considered: 1. "Spray paint" is just another word for "glue", and, 2. Playing with dirt can be combined with any activity. Since my wife didn't agree to get "artificially aged" by 100 years, I gave him an old ONTARIO license plate to use as a sample and come up with a game plan. Then this happened:   I was impressed. Within 10 minutes and no careful planning, he converted an aluminum license plate to an approximately 100 year old, rusted and bent tag. When cutting down on the aging by about 50 years, his method can be absolutely adapted to convert our BDR529 plates, so let me share his recipe for success and a few pictures of our BDR529 plates and how they turned out: INGREDIENTS:1 tbsp. of gold/bronze Krylon paint (previously used on the Bluesmobile stencils)
2-3 tbsp. (to taste) of brown Krylon paint (previously used to put some depth into the red oxide rust fix on the front fender)
4 tsp. of satin black Krylon paint (previously used on Bluesmobile steel rims)
5 cups of dirt. Stay away from cheap top soil, you want the good stuff found in your backyard.
1 rag to wipe wet paint a bit off the blue letters/numbers.
1. Have a hammer ready to delete the "fabric new appearance" of shiny plates. Re-shape and un-straighten to taste.
2. Fog on some brown Krylon paint, stay at least a foot away when spraying it on, that makes it easier.
3. Fog on some gold/bronze Krylon paint. Then decide it was too much, because it's sparkly.
4. Fog on some more brown Krylon paint.
5. Toss on all the crumbled up dirt you got, it'll stick to the wet paint and give it structure like real rust
6. Shake the remaining dirt off the plate.
7. Either repeat steps 2-4, or, give it a coat or two of a flat clear, just to seal it and make it last a little longer.
Bake at 32 degrees celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit or whatever your current temperature is until dry.
Enjoy!  Above: 100 year old aluminum plate sample and aged-to-taste front license plate. Above: Sprinkle on the dirt. Cover it completely in dirt, it'll only stick on wet paint.   Above: finished rear license plate. Almost a little too light on the "aging". Above: attempt to be even more creative and take picture of reflection in bumper. Fail.   Above: Our dirt reminds me more of countryside and "Red Dirt Road" than highway grime and city, maybe a hint more black and less brown? It's up to you, but it always looks great when dark!
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Post by tk826 on Jul 17, 2022 10:57:16 GMT -5
That looks the part. Wouldn't have guessed it was deliberate.
When the report is written on this build, Lil' Elwood is going to require a Prop Master and/or Creative Consultant credit.
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 21, 2022 20:15:58 GMT -5
That looks the part. Wouldn't have guessed it was deliberate. When the report is written on this build, Lil' Elwood is going to require a Prop Master and/or Creative Consultant credit. He says "Thank You!" - I have a feeling when this build is done, Lil' Elwood gets a bit more out of it besides the obligatory credit - I have a feeling it'll become his first car. He might turn only 8 this fall, but time flies, and the older he gets, the more difficult mods we can tackle. Like hydraulics and 22's...lol just kidding. But there's something about this magic number..."440".... (but then again, "318" or "inline 6" appeals to me quite a bit when it comes to a new driver...) |
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 21, 2022 20:41:12 GMT -5
Just quick... I found the trunk lid "Dodge Monaco" jack instructions in the '74 Monaco Brougham at the junkyard a while back and spent a fair amount of my day at work playing with white-out, a sharpie and a copier. If anyone here is missing the sticker on the inside of their trunk lid, please let me know - send me a message with your email and I can send you a scan for better resolution - I can try to find some 8.5x11" address labels at work and copy them straight on there if anyone is interested. This is free. I don't want to take money from a community I really benefitted and learned a lot from - plus, it's far from perfect (in the picture below you see the AGED original on the very left), several passes with the wife's iron still didn't straighten it out 100%. If you want it copied on a sticker-sheet and mailed, I'd just ask you to paypal me for the bare shipping cost which is probably not much. On a positive side-note, the size is bang on, and I doubt someone ever looks at this label close enough to notice it's fake. Well....not really fake....but...reproduced...unprofessionally...  Above: From left to right the original and a couple of the countless stages...
Below: You can see the imperfections, lets all assume that printing wasn't perfect in the 70s either. |
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Post by scmods55 on Jul 28, 2022 21:33:45 GMT -5
Just a note about Illinois license plates from 1979 to 1984...you should put the Red sticker over the "79" for the rear license plate. The front license plan would have no red sticker on there, so that's where you'll see the "79".
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Post by 77granfury on Jul 30, 2022 16:25:37 GMT -5
Just a note about Illinois license plates from 1979 to 1984...you should put the Red sticker over the "79" for the rear license plate. The front license plan would have no red sticker on there, so that's where you'll see the "79". Oh no!!! These are all the little details we didn't know - and now it's too late - we already have several layers of Lil' Elwood's age-enhancer caked on there... I feel we should serve Tequila shots to everyone that wants to see our car...lots of them...about half an hour in advance. Blurry vision of the viewer is what we need... Thank you for pointing it out - we might get another plate eventually! |
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