Mopar Muscle Association UK

Wow, looks like you're making some serious progress ... especially for someone thats hibernating

Looks great, I wasn't expecting it to get done that quick!

hello chasps

Just managed to get joined up, been meaning to for the last 10 months.

but its been hell on wheels

Moved from back from Oz to uk
two funerals
moved house (needed a garage)
got married
honeymoon
had 3 jobs
A tad busy

anyway enough of my trials

My names Dave,
Recently moved to Twickeham from Shepherds bush.
(two blokes with mopars on their drives just round the corner. I need to investigate more closely)

Spent 3 years in Australia hence the car (went looking for a vw kombi)

1971 VH Charger 265 2bbl RT with option H51 Air condidtioning which makes it 1 of only 5 out of the 1300 RT chargers.

RT number 439 off the production line

car has a 4 speed fitted by a previous owner, obviously got fed up with the 3 speed. two second gears that reverse gets in the way of and an overdrive is no good.

and a 2.92:1 open diff.

it should have a 3.23.1 diff (i have the correct ring and pinion sitting in the garage.) the sure grip was an option on 2bbl chargers but sadly not this one.

engine body and compliance plate match.

its got the correct RT dash with woefully inaccurate guages.
the 3 core radiator
twin trumpet horns and the ROH mags (possibly not orginal as the hub caps don't fit) (maybe ford dunno)
all badges
correct no-armrest backseat
vent windows in the doors
opening rear windows
reclining bucket seats (well they used to)
3 spoke steering wheel aurographed by Doug Chivas and leo Goeghan
and the drving lights in the grill (not currently working) ($700 a set now)
ah yes the best bit the RT flip top fuel cap

engine has E38 cam, sticky rattly annoying lifters and not so good oil pressure. still it spins up to a massive 3500 rpm at 80-90 mile per hour and manages 40 lb per whatsit oil presure. just above the 10 lb per 1000 rpm limit on the hemi 6. the oil pumps are crap

its got the 2 oulet premium 265 cast iron exhaust manifold.
nearly flows as good as cheapo extractors and doesn't warp so reluctant to take it off.

converted to electronic igniction using a reluctor pickup from a VJ and one of these GM 4 pin HEI modules

http://www.megasquirt.info/ms2/

$17 and 9 quid for a bosh blue coil from a VW place

cookin on gas.

I daren't do anything else to the motor at the mo. after discovering just how bad the gearbox and diff were.

I bought the car off a well known chrysler enthusiast in Australia. turns out he is well known for some of the wrong reasons.

No gaskets used in the gearbox. maybe thats why there wasn't any oil either
bent pinion.
missmatched disks calipers and pads out of the 3 types, i had bits of all. With mismatched calipers no wonder the brakes pulled to the left.
and a radiator made entirly from solder

so the motor could be 'orrible

I had Ray at pentastar parts and restorations in sydney build the box and diff as i didn't have my tools with me in Oz.

re core the radiator

and pop in an new windscreen nice

and the hole in the air vent plenum welded up.


the plan was to bring back a spare motor diff box and anything else i could get. but spent all the cash and all my time just getting back.

so i have 4 sealed beam light inserts (anyone need a pair) swap ya
1 acelerator cable
the majority of an air con system
a points dissy
dashboard bulbs and bulb holders
and a manual.

best laid plans etc.

Thanks for all the nice comments

I think the grill is a Roots group thing

pops up on the hillman hunter i think along with very similar rectangular lights. Similar grill used on Aussie VG and VF (canadian dodge dart body with Aussie front end)

What else can i say

it handles quite well consdiering the whole floorpan and k frame are still setup for a left hand drive 1962 plymouth valiant.

And the steering box hasn't snapped off from the chassie rail yet

looking forward to meeting you all soon.


Ta

Dave

Hi Dave, nice intro you've done there - to go with a nice car

You're in good company regarding the Aussie Mopars, and I'm sure James B will have at least some of the stuff you need

Anyway, hope you enjoy the board, and best of luck with the engine!

Howdy! My chassis rail/ steering box mounts are covered in weld!

I want an air con system. I was gonna ask dominic to look for me, but if you have a good 'un I'll be interested.

my parts are suitable for repairing a system only. had to junk the case of the unit

I had the full underdash box from a CM but my Mrs drover her MX5 into it . seemingly i left it in gear.......

needless to say the MX5 s palstic bumper came off worst but sheet metal box was pretty buggerd so i dismantled it.

So ive got the small bits, internal bits bi metallic strip thermostat vaccum units etc and the two radiators.

if you do find one make sure you get the correct unit for your car

The VH one is different from all the rest
The bulkhead needs to be cut in 4 places and must be of the kind that has the fan motor comeing through it by about 4 inches into the engine bay.

the VH type of aircon used a d shaped rubber connection on the back of the 'Airtemp' controller in the dash for the 8 or so vaccum pipes

the later type used a rectangular one and had different positioning for the heater pipes and aircon pipes through the bulkhead.

both used the same compressor but you need the appropriate brakets for a 265 or a V8.

both need the correct double pulley and spacer on the alternator

you can not run the orginal oil in the compressor with modern aircon gas
the new oil which is manatory eats the seals in the compressor. thats a bit of a bugger

the water tap to switch or water flow through the heater when aircon is on is a vaccum controlled tap. never saw one that worked anywhere in Oz. US would be best source.

the airtemp controler in the dash runs on vaccum from the manifold. press the buttons too hard and you carck the back off leaving a big vaccum leak in the manifold runner whith the vaccum take off bung in it.

most aprts available new from the US a new airtemp controler comes in at around ?80-100.

you may have to take the dash and windscreen out to fit the box under the dash.

power for the airtemp unit comes froma splice in the automatic gear selector qudrant light on a column shift car or feom the trailing orange leed at the junction box to the left of the column on a non auto car (looks like a bodge therfore its factory)

so if ya up for a challenge and get a system i'm sure we can piece together any bits of the under dash unit that don't work. i don't have the under hood stuff...

if i can find piccies i can scan and send

i got the heater part of mine working and left it at that.


Dave

My V8 VJ 770 is a H51 car but the Air con and compressor is gone. I still have various other bits from it still in the car but unsure as to what. I have the pulleys for it, can you send me the pics so I can piece it together.

My heater matrix is leaking anyway, so it all has to come out to be fixed anyway. I was going to take the car off the road and give it some attention since there are a lot of niggly problems I want to sort out, figured I could replace the old aircon whilst at it.

hello sir

sounds like you've got more than me

i've managed to get the pages from the apropraite manual which will allow you to connect up the internal bits.

but under the bonnet your on ya own

AFAIK you should have

a big square steal compressor, dunno where it goes on an 8

presumably somewhere parrallel to the alternator and within a decent fan belts radius of it

but the rest is easy

ya heater pipes should go from water pump outlet into vaccum operated tap on the passenger side inner wing top. there should be 3 holes there for the mount for the tap.

to the heater then back to the inlet at the water pump.

the heater pipes are the ones through the rubber grommet over by the whiper motor.

3 vac lines come into the engine compartment

the black one goes to a screw in bung on the manifold

the red one goes to the front side of the vaccum tap and the white to the back

the compressor pipes run to some kind of accumulator device then off into the air con rad.

the aim being that the gas is compressed to aliquid in the accumulator device and allowed to expand back to a gas through the aircon rad. returning to the compressor as a gas. liquid and compressors don't mix

I will find the vital pages, they are somewhere in the spare room with about 25 boxes of stuff i haven't un packed since my house move.

once i can lay my hands on em they will be winging their way in your direction

if you are stuck for a heater tap plug off the red and white pipes and use a cable operated tap from a ford falcon XA, XB XC. these can be had from repco in Oz or NZ for about $20

set it so it can't close totally just to keep things moving

you could get a modern compressor /accumulator or get a rebuilt orginal.

the tap will be the hard bit to find

and that bloody vaccum switch in the dash will have you running lean due to leaks in no time.

i gave up and cable tied the bottom left most vaccum switch on the heater box open (cable tie round the actuator rod does the biz). This sets the heater to demist all the time and slowly cooks ya mrs in the summer months

my plan next is to use the aircon radiator as a heater core as well.
its been so cold...

does the electric side of your system work? gotta love that funky green and orange glow

hows about the rocker switch for the fan speed. These burn out but can be fixed using tiny plyers and a few blobs of solder.

dunno if my spare heater box survived the mazda attack hole free. Will stick a cork in one end and suck the other tomorrow

Dave

I have the original dash control unit, unsure if the aircon bits work. There is a mass of vacuum hoses under the dash, they may or may not be connected to anything. I have the tap still connected to the system, unsure if it works.

I don't have:

Compressor,
Radiator,
Possibly parts of the air con under dash section, (the hole in the bulk head has been blocked)
Hoses,
Anything else.

Trouble is I don't really know what parts are required or the condition of those I have on the car. I need a new wiring loom anyway, since one reason for it coming off the road is to rewire it.

Air con---U.K.---??????

I'd have loved aircon at the 2003 Nats!

hi dave,
nice motor. do you mind if i ask you how much it cost you to bring you charger over to the UK? was it pain sailing or did you have any problems?
andy

Hi Andy

we used these guys

http://www.transinternational.com.au/

think they came from either a list that Sandy or Matt gave us or sombody from the aussie ford register.

we moved the car as part of a package that basically got the car and the whole houshold contents from Austrlia to our door in the UK.

Car, Bar-B-Q, 3 peice suit

i saved a bit by delivering the car and picking it up from the container depot at Brent cross basically because i wanted to see what they were doing and how.

i.e we paid a wodge up front and they packed and took it all away. 7 weeks later it all arives and i go back to the depot and pick up the car, paying handling charge there and then.

cost us ?3500 in total.

however thats for a 40 foot container all to ourselves with box supply packing, landing pickup customs , and delivery of the houshold goods.

you can get a 20 foot for less
you can share the container. Most do not allow packing above the car. these guys will build a wooden room over the car to fill with stuff.

Or you can use roll on roll off car carrier the cheepest option.

most people think these things are like cross channel ferries. i think in general the cars are less likely to get sea water damage on one of these than in a container that is bolted to be big sea going barge

Holden import corsa and astra from GM Opel in germany so there are RoRo car carriers that need to be filled for the return journey to the top side of the world.

any shipping agency in austrlia should be able to book you one of the above options.

most of the boats and containers are owned by a few companies all the agents do is arrange where and when and have the container dropped in their yard for your arrival.

our guys were good. The Aussie end needed a bit of prompting but this is probably because they assume you know whats involved i.e answerd questions when asked but not forthcoming with info, you feel like saying 'i'm not bloody psychic'.

UK end

typical bunch of happy go lucky fellas again didn't inspire huge confidence but got everything through without major mishap.

3 things to note
they lost keys for car found under back seat communication between agents is poor i.e they don't speak end to end other than sales person to sales person so the guys in the office know whats going on but the guys on the ground don't and make little or no effort to find out


knocked off wing mirror found on back seat both agents blamed the other...no real damage done lesson learnt...take of anything that sticks out.

big scratch across drivers door. t-cut... off basically white paint off something else annoying but no proplem.

other than that no damage. was barbying in the snow last night

i'd suggest that for a restored car you'd go for a 20 footer and have it to yourself of share..check out shareing a 40 footer 2 cars 2 bikes boxes of gear etc


for a car bought off the net that you have never seen in the flesh i.e uknown quantity you don't miss what ya never had so go with the RoRo

and fix up any blemishes with some of the cash you save.

a search of www.google.com.au and tick austrlian only sites

will turn up many agents.

some of the wbsites are infuriatingly badly designed and just beacuse there is a contact us email doesn't mean anyone checks the inbox so wait until bed time and phone em.

keep in mind however no matter who you get to physically tie that car into the container the same bunch of

DOCKERS

load it onto the ship

if you want names and contacts i'll dig out the paper work lemmy know

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


James

will try to take some photos of my aircon bits tomorrow
am at work till midnight and need to be back at work by mid day....

and I've got my yearly hair-cut to fit in as well as sleep
so may be friday if i sleep in or the barber doesn't do what i ask for


Tata

Dave