Nothing original about this car. Dressed up as a VH R/T. It’s actually a base model 215 VJ. Got a 770 drivetrain and odd combo of a CL interior.
Still, I found it locally in Michigan. Other than my old car (that you all know) I know of only 1 other in Michigan, so I currently own 2/3 of the market here
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I am coming to believe a 56mph speed record is harder to achieve than a 400mph one!
Matt, that time in UK was literally my last day off!
Dave, I actually need some grille parts. What is there is not complete. Who do you even trust to buy things through these days? All my old places I used to go to are gone. PentaStar imploded, BlueStar ran out of parts. It actually looks like HP might be the most Honest company left there!!!
I know nothing of Elko, their website is quite poor so I have to phone them.
I am coming to believe a 56mph speed record is harder to achieve than a 400mph one!
Hemi performance seems to be better its now run by the 3 kids (who are all obviously adults and very much so) not the old fella. It was grumpy old dad who was the main problem. bad mood= bad service and a ear bashing if you complained he always knew best
https://www.mirabitoperformance.com/ hemi 6 lunatic... talent for swearing, drinking american whiskey, and building motors.. foul mouthed genius of the first order.... only hemi 6s really nice guy will bend over backwards to keep your hemi 6 in top form
the main grill is made from
4 or 5 steel supports
1 big aluminium cast grill
1 aluminium bottom molding that is riveted onto the support
1 stainless or black top moulding
the RT/770/Police grill for driving lights is just a standard grill which has had the bars trimmed with bolt cutting shears. originals all turn up or down slightly at the cut ends of the grill bars from the action of the shears. they can be made nicer with mole grips and gentle heat followed by wet-n-dry.
then you need
2x cast grill ends C shaped
2x pressed steel C brackets for around the headlights they have tabs to bolt into the aluminium grill and use a splayed tanged end to fit into a small cut into the cast grill end basically the gill end covers the outside of headlight and the pressed steel bracket is in-fill around the top and bottom and inner side of the headlight
this stuff is on all VHs and has no RT/770/police uniqueness to it
headlamps
2 squre buckets and spring/bolt/plastci position adjusters
2 inerts sealed beam hella halogen Lucas or Autopal
basically for a US car LHD headlamps you will need german hella Mk1 capri or Italian fiat 127 or LHD hillman triumph tolledo some of these had extra bracketry which needs to be cut off
the driving lights
metal support bracket (Chrysler)
plastic bucket with spring and stud mounting + 2 washers (Chrysler)
reflector seal and glass (Hella)
bulb holder cast pot metal with clip (hella)
pot metal surround with mock grill bars (Chrysler)
4 clips per light or silicone
2 screws per surround
reflectors can be used upside down and right way up, depending on length of bulb, and where you want the light to fall to achieve a sensible light pattern that doesn't blind people. short modern bulbs tend to send the light slightly upwards as the point source is no longer in the middle of the reflector. put reflector upside down to avoid this.
presume the reflectors, bulb holders, glass and seal are hella emergency vehicle/light bar lights, with no mounting pod, and the rest is Chrysler tat to make them fit in a place they were never intended to fit. they definitely did a blue pod mount/bumper mount/bar mount light with very similar glass in the 60s/70s seen them on the roof of VW campers that were german/austrian village fire trucks.
cars with driving lights had 2 relays set up in a latching manner, controlled by light switch and floor switch, up near the washer bottle
headlamps on switches relay one on and the headlamps light in dipped beam config
relay 2 will not work unless relay 1 is powered
relay 2 is powered on by switching the headlights to full beam it carries the full beam load and also switches on the driving lights if the driving lights switch is in the on position.
presume driving lights switch acts as a switch to earth to complete driving lights circuit when headlamp full beam is on
driving lights switch is just a modified wiper switch with a new knob, with the high speed position blocked off i.e it has on or off enabled. i have never been able to establish if the "Press in" position (washer bottle) was for flashing the driving lights, if it was i don't know how it works. it won't on mine which i suspect is because of the dependency of relay 2 on relay 1 status, and on the floor switch for dipped or main beam. this could be a wring mismtach on my car.
indicators
Vh specific housing
should have VH pot metal cast corner finishing pieces below
the VH housing came in 3 types
raw aluminium Dodge Ute
Chromed 770 ,charger XL, and Charger
chromed with black detailing apart from central strip RT
can be drilled and have a modern bulb holder pressed in via a rubber grommet the originals are not removable and are usually grotty
paint the interior gloss white to get decent side lights and indicators. there was no silvering they were polished originally
71/72 lenses clear white with stripes
71/72 lenses repro less clear white
last few cars 73 lenses after metrication and adoption of new standards orange rare as hens teeth
VJ different all together and orange and smaller
Dave
The Greater Knapweed near the Mugwort by the Buckthorn tree is dying
Can you put up some pics of your dash switches for the driving light? Also that relay arrangement?
This car has a 770 dash and I’m pretty sure the driving lights aren’t connected to anything, or if they are they are taken off the main beams and the original main lights no longer work. Not sure, never driven it at night. Also the rear reverse lamps are on all the time....
I am coming to believe a 56mph speed record is harder to achieve than a 400mph one!
reverse lamps is a switch in the trans . switch could be stuck installed in the wrong position or the wires shorted to the floor or cross member.
driving light switch has 1 connection and needs to be earthed to dash.
the wire from the relay to the switch was never in the main loom
as far as i can see what happens is
relay for main been puts power to main beam and power into coil section of driving lights relay
when you switch on at the dash your switch shorts to earth the -ve end of the driving lights relay powering on its solenoid which handles the switch on of the driving lights
hence they only work when the main beam is working.
i'll try and get a picture..
but you can achieve a simple set up that may not be standard, but works Thus.
1) light switch sends 12 volt from battery through low beam circuit which earths at drivers side lamp bucket, but it also sends power to relay 1 solenoid which doesn't switch on because its earth is at the foot switch and the foot switch is off. no relay click.
power to + on bulb 1 power to + on bulb 2 power to + on relay 1 solenoid
earth wire from headlamp 1 to headlamp 2 then to screw on bucket
2) press foot switch: this powers on relay 1, it provides an earth for relay 1 solenoid which switches power from battery through high beam circuit, the high beam circuit earths at driver side headlamp bucket
wire from relay 1 to the pin on the foot switch that connects to the case when the switch is pressed
wire from battery through switched terminals of relay and to high Beam1 + and high Beem2 + wire from relay 1 to the + on relay 2 solenoid
3) relay 1 also provides power to the + end of the solenoid of relay 2. relay 2's solenoid earths back at the driving lamp switch which is off so relay 2 doesn't click.
wire from -ve on relay 2 solenoid back to the driving lights switch
4) turn driving lamp switch to on. that earths -ve side of relay 2 solenoid powering it on and it is used as a remote switch for power through the driving lamp circuit. which earths to one of the driving lamp buckets.
relay 2 power from battery through contacts to driving light 1 + and driving light 2 +
the negative sides tied together and earthed to 1 of the driving light buckets or grill screws
so you need 2 relays
the main power feed for headlamp main beam
a wire from relay 1 to foot switch
a wire from relay 2 to driving light switch
2 fused circuits that switch on the high beam and driving lights that use the relays as remote switches in circuit
thus high power main beam and driving lights current is kept away from the temperamental heat sensitive cut out in the headlamp switch because all it powers is the low beam (which in this case is on all the time any headlights are on to avoid further complication)
obviously switch does rear lights side lights interior lights and dash lights as well from other pins......
best off just keeping to the + supply at the front which is on when set to low beam... the rest is direct from battery or a bus bar on a fuse from the battery
Dave
The Greater Knapweed near the Mugwort by the Buckthorn tree is dying