First of all, hello from the Nevada desert!

Now, I have acquired a '76 Chrysler Cordoba (With the 400, 2 Barrel, Lean Burn). The car has 75K original miles on it. It ran perfectly, and was driven out into the back shed and parked about eight years ago, where it has sat ever since. I was told that if I can get it running, I can have it at no cost.

Now, I am no mechanic - I can fix small things here or there - but I have a shop manual and a desire to learn. Cosmetically the car is in fantastic condition, with the exception of some very minor surface rust on the top of the car, and the dash cracking from the pounding desert sun. The oil was brand new and fresh when it was parked there, but as far as I know the gas-tank wasn't emptied. I'm sure this is a part of the problem I am having with it.

Someone had tried to start it at some point, and was an idiot, and hooked the battery up backwards. The ignition switch was fried and needed replacing - which I did over many painstakingly slow hours of trying to figure out how to take apart the steering wheel and whatnot to get in to remove/replace the ignition switch.

I cracked open the hood - which needed some grease as it didn't want to come up on its rails. First in goes a new battery. I have a new set of plugs but they are WAY down there and I have to get this car off of the ant-infested gravel before I even think about climbing under it.

Took the air cleaner off - the intake hose to the air cleaner was cracked and busted - but that's no problem. Gave the carburetor a thorough cleaning with some carb cleaner. Poured half a can of Seafoam and about 5 gallons of fresh gas in the gas tank and tried to start her up. It chugs, but doesn't go - so I spray some starter fluid down in the carb to try and give her a bit of a headstart - and she comes right to life. However - she then shortly dies again after running for a few seconds. It seems I am not getting fuel to the carburetor.

And this is where I am stuck. Got no idea where to go from here, as I am not a car person - if it were a motorcycle I'd have a slightly better idea (not much) of what I was doing. Any thoughts? What should I be looking to check/replace first?

Someone had suggested to me that the Lean Burn needs to be taken out too, as they tend to fry after sitting in the desert sun for so long making the car run horridly - and that it can be bypassed - but I have no idea how to do this either. Any thoughts on this? Should I even be worried about it at this point?

Anyhow - would love to get this thing running so I can move it somewhere that I can really get a start at it - get some pictures under the hood and whatnot.

Thanks in advance,

W0lf

 

The carb looks fairly clean - I need to figure out how to tow it up onto some front-wheel ramps so I can get under it next weekend. Might borrow a buddy's truck and drag it on up there.

The manual I have is a Haynes - Dodge Plymouth Chrysler 1971-89 and my Cordoba is listed in it. From the looks of it the fuel pump should be easy to access - am I going to need any special tools besides a wrench to pop that sucker offa there?

 

Have not tried this yet. I just need to pull the fuel line where it connects at the carburetor? As far as I can tell, there is no fuel getting to the carb whatsoever, even when the accelerator is pushed. No need to tow it - I cannot park it in the street here (gated community - if it isn't reg'd and tagged it gets towed) and I have motorcycles in the garage + vehicles in the driveway. Besides - it's at my better half's mum's place so I can work on it whenever we visit weekly.

 

Right now for bikes :

'07 Triumph Rocket 3 Classic - 2300 CC 175 HP/180 lb/ft dyno'd. Turbocharger coming soon.

'07 Triumph Thruxton

'69 Triumph Bonneville/frankenstein - Work in Progress . Turning her into a classic cafe racer.

'95 Triumph Thunderbird - on her last legs, due for a rebuild.

 

Would I be looking to replace it with something like this, essentially?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-3690427/Application/?query=Year|1976|Make|CHRYSLER

 

Well my fuel pump is here - just gotta get up to the car Monday or Tuesday and yank the old one off, see if I can't drain the gas tank, blow out the lines, and get the new pump installed. Hopefully she'll purr for me. Ill take pictures while I'm there.

 

Will do - not sure if ima drop the tank yet or not - not entirely sure how involved that is and if I am ready to try it. Also - just paint thinner? Do I need to clean it out somehow afterward, or is it good to bolt back up and go? Doesn't Seafoam do the same thing? Not sure on cars - I know Ive used it on my truck, but mostly for old motorbikes that haven't started in forever.

 

Minor progress:

So, I get up and head out early to work on the Cordoba. Tie it up to my blazer and tow it out from over the huge nest of spiders that is the side of the shed up there. Little rinsedown, jack her up, and dive in. The shop manual said the fuel pump would be on the forward passenger side of the engine. Where is it? Oh, I found it - but it is NOT nearly as easily accessible as the picture makes it seem.

I end up having to pull the alternator out - that was fun to figure out - and have a go at it from the top where I discovered that the fuel line going from the pump back to the tank had been sheared through right up near the pump where there is a section of rubber fuel line connected to the main steel line. So I yank it off - yeesh this stuff has hardened up like a rock. I figure since I've already dug in there I may as well have a go at replacing the fuel pump anyhow. Problem is, the left side bolt is RIGHT up against the block. I have no socket, or wrench that can get in at it - and you can't even begin to get at it from below.

Off to Autozone - buy a foot of rubber fuel line for a buck-fifty, and some easy-clamp hose clamps (these things are awesome, have a turn-key thing that you can pull out when they're tight). The lady there is a mopar enthusiast - and agreed that the fuel pump on that engine would be a bitch to get out - but had no advice for me. Off I go, install the new section of hose, bolt the alternator back on, spend 10 minutes cursing trying to get the belts back into their tracks.

I got a hand-pump fluid transfer thingy, and down into the gas tank the line goes. I pump and pump but it's dry. When I pull the hose out there's some brownish-grey gunk on it but not a ton. I pour in a gallon of gas and some Seafoam and prime the carb with some starting fluid. Give her a crank, and realize the battery is flatlined. Even better, the charger is out. I hook her up to my truck and try to jump it - the first crank she starts to go and the carb belches out some nasty smelling smoke, and then the car dies. Any further attempts just lead to the engine cranking but no start - not enough juice and just draining my other battery. I'm thinking that a gallon wasn't quite nearly enough with that big 25 gallon tank on there.

So - I am at an impasse - should I pour another 5-6 gallons in it and grab another can of starting fluid and try again next week when I'm up there? Any other suggestions? I didn't drop the tank this time, maybe I'll have to next time.

I haven't checked the plugs yet - they may need replacing. I have NO idea how to get at them though, they are under the engine from what I can see - and sorta blocked by those two big block-heater looking things. At least, that's what I assumed they were.

Lessons learned :

The manual sometimes lies about things.
Gravel SUCKS to work on.
Next time, bring a pressure washer and de-greaser. (The underside of the car was COATED with eight years of caked-on desert dirt, and grime. It was NASTY.)

EDIT : Also, the roof of the car has rusting on it - no pitting, but it's a dark red rust that smears if you drag your fingers across it - almost like paint or mud when I sprayed the car down with the hose. I also noticed that the top of the air cleaner that I sprayed down with some carb cleaner left a ring in the paint on the roof where it looks like it ate right through it. I'm thinking about taking a sander to the roof and primer-ing it for now to protect it from any further rust/damage - or is this not a good idea? The car is going to need a repaint for sure at some point.

 

Plans for the weekend are to jack the back up, drop the tank, clean the tank and sending unit, disconnect and blow out the lines, take a usable not-broken battery charger this time, dump the oil and put in new, and pray she starts.

Was bantering about with a good friend of mine who was a longtime mechanic (but sadly is too busy with his current work to watch over me so I don't break things.. or myself.. all the time). We figured if it wasn't going to start up for me, it might just be time to tear it down completely and build it back from the ground up - keeping what's good and discarding the rest.

I'm ordering this book over the weekend to read up and gain a better understanding of how the engine goes together before I do anything.
http://www.themotorbookstore.com/9781557881908.html

Then rebuild the engine - I was looking at a master rebuild kit from here:
http://greenbaypartsworld.net/websto...iew&page=c400a

Not sure about the transmission -I dunno if it would be a TON of work to switch to manual or not - or if there is a slightly better Auto transmission out there that I can look into - I do know that I want to figure out how to go from column shift to floor-shift if I keep it auto for sure.

There is some rust on the undercarriage - I figure tearing it down to a rolling chassis and having the frame cleaned up and painted with at least some high-temp engine black couldn't hurt.

Electronic Ignition Conversion from here :
http://www.jimsautoparts.com/mopar_p...e_ignition.htm

Replace the TQ Carb with an Edelbrock 750 CFM 1411 and the intake with an Edelbrock Performer Intake.

I'd like to go to dual exhaust as well - dunno if any company out there makes headers for the Cordoba or not, but I know TTI makes some fantastic exhaust systems that are direct fit with many aftermarket headers..

Past that I really don't know what else I'd be looking at doing - new brake and fuel lines, obviously. New wiring harness as this one's a bit messed up from someone blowin the ignition switch somehow - which I replaced already.

My buddy suggested replacing the front-end, suspension, and steering kit altogether but I dunno where to even start looking at that stuff yet.

Planning on taking more than just a few months to do any or all of this - just laying out a plan.

For sure going to take the sanding disc to the roof and get that nasty mud-like rust and fading paint off and lay down some primer to keep it from going any further.

 

So the decision has been made, we - meaning "I" until I run into something that requires absolute help or totally stumps me - are going to tear the thing down and work on it from the ground up. I figure if I just get her running and do some engine work, I'll never get motivated to tear her down and deal with the rust in the frame, repaint, etc.

I plan for it to be slow going, and a fantastic voyage with MANY pictures taken, and lots of things noted and stored in an OCD-type manner so I can get it all back together again eventually. Where the car is there's a BIG shed, with a large covered area off of it with a raised makeshift aluminum-siding and 2x4 flooring. It stays pretty dry - and that is where I will be storing things as I go. More than enough room to get most of the car in there. Figure I'll wrap the engine and tranny and other vital bits up with some heavy duty plastic wrappage stuff I've got to keep it pretty dry and keep the dogs off it.

I figure on a week or two to get it completely torn down - which equates to a month or more due to limited times that I can go up there (until we move in up there in a few months). I want to take it down to just a rolling chassis if that is possible, and then see how bad the rust is. Replace what needs replacing, and paint it up.

A few questions :

**I am assuming that I *can* tear the car down to a rolling chassis - if this isn't doable, what are my options?

**Is there some specific paint I should be looking for to paint the frame, axle assembly and whatnot? Just Hi-Temp Engine paint such as the DuPont stuff, or something else? Anything out there that doesn't come in a rattle-can but also doesn't cost an arm and a leg? I have a couple of HVLP guns so I can spray it myself if I can find it in a large enough can/mix.

**What are my options as far as rust-removal? Just a light go at it with a grinder, or am I looking at having it sandblasted?


I am really excited to get started on this, and I plan to have a lot more questions - will be taking it slowly and learning most everything as I go along, and if it takes a year or more so be it. Not worth doing if it isn't done right, yeah?

Right now the hardest part is figuring out where to start my teardown! Any advice on the order I should do things in? I'm going to try to get my buddy out to help me but he works until six or seven and it has been getting dark out here in the desert by five. Lame stuff.

Thanks for reading my wall-o-text. Sorry for all the questions, but I suppose that's the only way to learn isn't it?

Ciao,
w0lf

 

But that'd mean the whole rigamarole with registering and insuring - and that means she HAS to pass a smog test here first. I was hoping to put that off for awhile :P

 

Of course, I'll drop the tank next time I'm up there , clean her out and pray she starts anyhow, since I've already invested time into doing the fuel pump and whatnot. She really needs a sand down and paint, or prime at least.

 

Las Vegas, Nevada