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Post by countrybunker on Jul 19, 2011 21:32:29 GMT -5
This last june we had a lil bluesmobile gathering here in Hell MI. Was a great time! Awesome to see monacos running aorund the streets! lol Got to do some great parts trading as well. Thought Id share some pics. Cars- 1974 dodge monaco hardtop, chads (lordvadus on BBC) 1975 dodge monaco blumo clone, chris's (Mr. Mercer on BBC) 1975 dodge monaco blumo clone, mine (country bunker on BBC) s922.photobucket.com/albums/ad69/countrybunker/2011%20blumo%20meet%20in%20hell/My place,       A lil photo shoot in Hell.       This was also arthurs first time to drive a blumo. He was a lil hesitant at first, but I think he liked it! I kept egging him on to take my car further lol But I had a great time!  A lil vid.  -zac |
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Post by sigmfsk on Jul 21, 2011 17:21:37 GMT -5
> This was also arthurs first time to drive a blumo. He was a lil > hesitant at first, but I think he liked it! I kept egging him on to take > my car further lol But I had a great time! It was great. My first time to drive a Monaco was also my first time to drive a bluesmobile! The entire visit was a blast. I learned many things during the visit; I'll post them here sporadically.  177ellwood has a 1975 Monaco, with the trailer package. So it had the big "police" drum brakes on the back - AND air shocks (they're not there now, but the fill valve is still there). The fill valve is a Schrader valve, pointed to in the above picture. COOL! You know how we all know that a 1974 headliner is that ridiculous fabric contraption with support rods, and a 75-77 headliner is the foam-backed piece? Well, Lord Vadus' 1974 Monaco Brougham hardtop has a foam-backed headliner. Stock! Apparently, the foam headliner was available in 1974 only on Brougham's ONLY WITH DELUXE INTERIOR PACKAGE. And then Ma Mopar decided in 1975 that it wasn't worth their trouble of keeping two different types of headliners or such and just used foam backed for everything. This interior really is deluxe. And the headliner material matches the sun visors, and matches the seat style. It all looks original and great. COOL! your friend in getting ready to say "COOL!" many times about this visit to Hell, arthur |
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Post by Lord Vadus on Jul 22, 2011 11:24:15 GMT -5
I'm glad that everyone had a good time and it was most definitely a neat meet-up.
As for my '74 car, I've had a few people ask me if it was really a '75 or a late-build car because of the sheer number of odd features on her, but, I assure you, she's all 1974. Since she was custom-ordered with a downgraded 360 2-bbl, she has a build date of July of '74; months before the model changeover was in progress. My car just happens to have a lot of features that resulted in changes or cancellations; like the power lock module preventing the car from having a pocket in the driver's door or the tilt and telescoping steering column preventing the standard wheel from bolting on to it.
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Post by sigmfsk on Jul 24, 2011 20:55:00 GMT -5
Here's a interesting tidbid.
The 1974 Monaco came standard with 2-speed windshield wipers.
But every car I've seen until now had the 3-speed windshield wipers. This seems to have required the DELUXE WINDSHIELD WIPER PACKAGE that packaged the 3-speed wipers with a washer fluid level indicator.
My car had 3-speed wipers, as does:
Lord Vadus' 74
Country Bunker's 75
but check out 177ellwood's 75 with 2-speed wipers:
The motor assembly is different (2-speed sticking straight out from the firewall rather than the 3-speed laying against the firewall). And the switch itself only has 2 speeds selections (plus off), while the 3-speed has 3 speed selections (plus off).
Marin County had a 3-speed motor, and a 3-speed switch, but it didn't have the low fluid level sender or lid (or even extension wiring to the passenger side). Maybe CHP spec cars always came with 3-speeds.
Or maybe all police cars. King-of-the-hill had a 3-speed (based on windshield wiper motor) and didn't have the low-fluid level switch (based on the fluid lid not having connections for the switch).
your friend in differences popping up when several cars are together,
arthur
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Post by sigmfsk on Jul 25, 2011 17:41:44 GMT -5
Remember my training pic for 74 and 75 bumpers:
That is a nice reference; but it doesn't highlight a difference I noticed in Hell. The 74 has the jack slots on the front of the bumper, while the 75 has them on the bottom.
Above, Lord Vadus' 74
Above, Country Bunker's 75
Above, Marin County 74 as it was being towed to the panel beaters. I thought that pic showed the jack slots well.
your friend in noticing new things,
arthur
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Post by sigmfsk on Jul 26, 2011 17:09:12 GMT -5
Time for another exciting update from Hell!
Remember my gold 1976 Monaco parts car? And it had the cardboard shield to protect the electrical connections to the taillights on the inside of the trunk? Here are two pics:
In Hell, both Country Bunker's 75 and 177Ellwood's 75 had the protector, but Lord Vadus' 74 did not.
Above: 177Ellwood's 75
Above: Country Bunker's 75
Above: Lord Vadus' 74
Now if any 1974 car would have the luxurious cardboard protector, it would be Lord Vadus'. It even has the previously unheard of deluxe interior option on top of the brougham option which gave it the foam backed headliner. So I'm going to posit the theory:
1974 : never had cardboard protector
1975+ : always had it (or maybe just usually had it).
It would be hard to know for sure. If we found a 74 with a protector, maybe someone added it from a 75. And if we found a 75 without it, maybe it got damaged over the years and was removed. But LV not having seems persuasive that a 74 never had it.
your friend in proof, and when that fails, persuasive lines of argument,
arthur
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Post by sigmfsk on Jul 28, 2011 21:32:14 GMT -5
This may be my last update about my trip to Hell; I think I've exhausted my comparison pics. It sure was fun just getting to chat and look over all the cars.
Lord Vadus had a theory on the door pocket. It seems that most 1974s came with a driver-side interior door pocket. And no 1975+ came with a door pocket. And this seemed strange to me, because a door pocket would seem a cool thing to have, and 1975+ seemed to be a "better" car all around - nicer headliner (although we found out that 1974 broughams with deluxe interior also had that), more comfortable window cranks, more reliable hood sliders, etc.
Notice that LV's car does NOT have a door pocket:
LV's said that he can understand why his car does not have a door pocket - there's no room for it with power windows. He had the panel off and can vouch that the motor takes up the space where the pocket would reside. So this leads into the theory:
1974: manual window = pocket
1974: electric window = no pocket
and then for 1975 Ma Mopar decided to trim back options (like she trimmed back the two different types of orange dual snorkel air cleaners). Maybe it was cost savings measure (make only one door panel, so the only one that would fit every door is pocketless).
Or maybe they didn't want people with power windows to feel ripped off that people with manual windows had an extra door pocket option. We'll probably never know WHY, and that's OK with me. I like his theory.
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And check out the door lock pulls. A brougham with electric door locks has special door lock pulls, and does NOT have a metal tag on the upper door panel. A non-brougham with electric door locks has regular door lock pulls and has a metal tag on the upper door panel that looks like this (from my parts collection)
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I remember MBMOPAR was telling me that when he did his bluesmobile that his was a brougham, then he updated with parts from a standard sedan. So after he had everything painted, he went to install the standard sedan fuel tank access door on the brougham, and the hinges didn't line up and he had to do some modifying to it installed. I think Bismo did the same thing. Here are some pics showing how the Brougham is different.
Above: 177ellwood's 1975 non-brougham (arrow is described earlier in the thread)
Above 2: LV's 1974 brougham
Man, if a few guys in Hell can have this much fun, think about how its going to be at CEVS!
your friend in gettogethers,
arthur
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Post by Lord Vadus on Jul 28, 2011 22:03:06 GMT -5
Further info on the tail light cardboard panel; my '74 Custom has 56,000 miles and NOTHING was changed or removed. There was no cardboard piece present in the car, yet the screws are also present that are used to mount it on the '75.
I'll be taking my Brougham to the CEVS show because my Custom is partially disassembled due to my Bluesmobilification.
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