My new 1988 T/A

[DynoDave]

The T/A is kept in the back shop (no heat/light/power/insulation), where working on it is difficult.

I need to get it moved up front where I have a livable space. But I need to get one of the other projects out of the way. During my working from home period, without an evening commute, I can actually get an hour or so in the garage each night. I've managed to dig it out, and get the cover off. First thing is the radiator. It split many years ago, which is when it was parked. So I'd like to get that pulled and re-cored, if the area shop that I want to use is open through current events.

With the radiator fixed, I can then keep coolant in it, and store it out back without heat, and bring the T/A up front.

It's going to be hard to avoid scope creep. Will certainly need to drop the tank and clean it before firing it up. The std. tank was wide and shallow, hanging over the rail on one side, making it a single exhaust car for all practical purposes. When you ordered duals from the factory, you got a narrower, deeper tank. Narrow enough to hang dual tail pipes off each rear rail. Deeper also means it's harder to find one that has been bottomed out at one time or another. But I have a couple of options.

And while the tank is out, a perfect time to swap axles. I have a complete 8.75" banjo-style rear axle from a '71 RoadRunner. 3.23s, SureGrip, sway bar, leaf springs, drum brakes and all. I need the leaf springs (mine are completely collapsed and she's resting on her bump stops), so why not swap the whole thing?

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[MP81]

Holy shit that thing is clean. It sure looks to have that Soft, Corinthian Leather as well.

Dual exhaust will definitely be worth it - which engine does it have?

And yes...scope creep can be a wonderful albeit expensive thing...but if you have the extra time...why not!

[DynoDave]

It's a '77 Cordoba with 400 4 barrel. A 38k mile original, but in need of resto. It Has Issues! Formal Black Sunfire Metallic, black leather bucket seat interior and black Halo top. It's been in our family since new. I do love the interior. Like the Trans Am and Charger, I have collected a lot of parts for the Cordoba over the years. The buckets need very slight seam repairs (a spot where all B-body buckets fail), and I have a factory floor console in black, '75 floor shifter (that while not marked as such, but is actually a Slap Stik shifter), and a floor mounted cassette player that I want to convert. And a factory tach for the dash too. But yes, the interior is in very nice shape and doesn't "need" much at all. The outside is another story!

[MP81]

More pics! Or, even better, if you have the time/want to, a separate thread so we can see how that one progresses!

[DynoDave]

My real first step was going to be removing the repro. MOPAR battery under the hood. It's the style with the 6 round threaded caps, one on each cell. The Battery Thermogard is designed for this style of battery. I'm fortunate in that my Thermogard was never cut to accommodate a newer battery. But the repros are expensive, not exactly world class as batteries go, and of course, vent gas right out of those caps, and corrode the surrounding metal just like the originals did back in the day.

The answer is to gut it, and install an AGM inside the old case. I didn't get it removed today, but did venture out to Meijer and purchase the materials I envision needing to drain the acid from the case. So I'll get started on that tomorrow. Once it's out and draining / drying, then I can get to work on the radiator. Still plan to have it out by Monday night, so I can drop it off at the shop this week.

[MP81]

Oooh yikes, one of those older batteries is probably not the best to have, especially if it's corroding anything.

Sounds like you have quite the plan to make good use of the four-day weekend!

[DynoDave]

Ran out last night and picked up a few battery conversion supplies. Deep tub that I can reuse for parts storage after, and if there's any "splash", it should help contain that. Kitchen gloves that reach half way up my forearms Vs my nitrile gloves. And a couple of big boxes of baking soda. Hopefully what I learn here can be applied to the Trans Am in the next year or so.

The old gal looks sorta past it. But it's been in there since the early '90s, a Turbo Start unit that lasted 8-9 years with little use and a battery tender.

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I have a whole box of these cut-offs from when we built the shop in back. 3 of them should be perfect for protecting the posts when the battery is inverted.

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I removed the vent caps, set her inside, and rolled her into place. Amazingly drama-free.

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And out flows what's left of the acid.

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Set the lid over it, but left a little room to let fumes out if needed. The caps went into a bath of baking soda and water.

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After a half hour soak, they were cleaned with an old tooth brush, rinsed, and look good as new.

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While the caps dried and the battery finishes dripping, I took a moment to check out the battery tray. When the battery was installed, the tray was solid, but had surface rust. It was neutralized, coated in POR-15, and sprayed over with Eastwood battery tray coating. Two layers of Battery Mat were cut to shape. The upper layer is dirty from sitting, as is the rest of the engine compartment. But no other wear or damage.

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The lower mat and tray look like the day I put them in.

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I'll get another hour or so out there this evening

[MP81]

Nice work! Battery acid is no joke, so it's good you took the necessary precautions and ended up not needing their benefits.

[DynoDave]

After sitting over night, and rolling the battery around to drain it as best I could, this is all that came out. She was pretty dry.

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Neutralized with a layer of baking soda.

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Dried off, and noticed there is a crack radiating from the positive post. It's still very solid, not loose in the case. Should not matter for what I want to do with it. Not happy about it, but it should not be a show stopper.

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Refilled with a mixture of baking soda and water.

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I drained out the "acid" from the tub, and left the layer of baking soda. After letting the battery sit all day with the soda/water mix inside, it's back into the tub to drain.

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I'll pull this out of the tub, drain the tub one more time, and refill the battery with pure water, and let it sit over night.

[MP81]

Ahh, old car plastics (even if that plastic isn't that old): is it broken/cracked? Probably.

[farmington]

I bought a 75 C?rdoba in 93 as a DD. It only had 25k miles and was rust free. Probably the lowest optioned one built. Bought from a little old lady. Only damage was where she lightly scraped both sides getting out of her garage. Drove it for 3 years and I think I sold it for almost what I paid for it.

[DynoDave]

The passenger quarter on this one is flattened out from my Grandma doing the same thing Don.

I had a good final day off before returning to work tomorrow. Stayed on schedule with the Cordoba, my daughter helped me in the shop quite a bit, and I even found toilet paper on the shelf at Meijer today!

I'll need to find replacements for these decals at some point.

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The car was very cooperative today. Upper radiator hose came off the neck without issue (no coolant, as expected). The four bolts for the shroud and 4 at the water pump for the fan clutch and fan blade assembly came right out, and the shroud/fan/clutch all lifted right out of the way.

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The brass is green with corrosion, and the steel side brackets are rusty, but it seems structurally sound to me.

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Bottom hose put up a little bit of a fight, but came off clean, with no damage to the tank or nipple. Got about a gallon of coolant out of the block/water pump housing, all clean and bright green. I couldn't have been happier about that. Having topped it off with pure water when the radiator split eons ago, I was afraid there would be some corrosion inside the engine. But no signs of that here.

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Taking a break from the radiator, I dumped the pure water out of the battery, and set the fan up to try and dry the battery out as much as possible before I start drilling on it.

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Back to the radiator. Last night, I found that the threaded adapters in the lower tank for the trans cooler lines would turn in the tank. Good news. The the lager nut on the line would turn on the adapter. Also good news. But then I noticed that on both the inlet and outlet lines, the nut was NOT spinning on the tube, but was corroded to it. Any major effort to turn them would twist the cooler lines. So before I turned in, I dropped some PB Blaster on them, and let it soak overnight.

Today we broke out the small acetyline torch set I have, and heated both nuts (I did one, my daughter did the other), then tapped on the nuts and pipes with a hammer. Tried them both again with a line wrench, and they came apart smooth as butter. Four more bolts on the radiator frame, and out she came.

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Rod that ties the two frame sides together. Threaded only on the last inch of the end with the nut. This end is just like a nail head.

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Hard to believe that a thread and nut that rusty and that small will come apart. We'll see what they can do with it. I went ahead and hit it with PB Blaster tonight, so it can soak until I take it over to them tomorrow.

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Given it's age, I didn't think it looked too bad inside. Upper and lower hose openings into the upper and lower tanks shown.

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That "extra" tank width from having one one row or core makes a great place for debris to get trapped behind the condenser.

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[farmington]

Is that a Lean Burn motor?

[DynoDave]

Yes. Like most of those units, the connections on the board insdie the computer started to break down, leading to intermittent stalling. I replaced it with a Mopar Performance electronic ignition (hidden inside the Electronic Spark Control box on the side of the air cleaner). We'll see how long that lasts.

Just back from dropping the radiator off at the shop. He's going to check it out, and call with a price. It won't be cheap I'm sure, but good work never is.

[farmington]

Was going to suggest the electronic ign pkg. glad you have one. They are pretty bulletproof. The ballast resistors don’t like water leaks.