Jade - 79 LeBaron - Green

[Justwondering]

Yes ....
My husband gave the okay for the 79 LeBaron that Tim was selling so...

Here it is:

I have a few things to fix and will put each in its own thread.

I did set up a member photo garage so you can check out all the photos I excitedly took the first few days.

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

In general, its in good shape. About double the miles as my 5th avenue. But I love the way the transmission shifts in this car.
It does not have major rust.
It has decent interior (seats are cloth and are getting a little thin).
Thank goodness the door moulding is in good shape -- much quieter than my truck.
It starts and runs really well.

Things I need to address:
1. Driver side door doesnt work with the key. Cylinder just spins.
2. Steering wheel has cracks on both sides. Unfortunately Jim (Arizona) doesn't have one.
3. Leak in the exhaust system. I sound like the guys did in high school that ran everything loud trying to compensate for small weiners. At least that's what the girls thought, in high school.
4. Oil is all over the carb and engine. Looks like its coming from the valve covers.
5. Guy that picked it up says the suspension 'rubber's are all cracked and dried out.
6. Needs a paint job.
7. Spare is the original bias tire. Now why would I drive around with a 40+ year old tire on a car?
8. Electrical wire in the trunk is bare metal connection. Looks like they used a wing-nut that has since been lost.
9. Rear lights have been siliconed onto the body-poorly.
10. passenger side, side marker light has a busted lens. Replacement was in the trunk.
11. Vinyl roof is starting to die.

JW

 

[Justwondering]

There was a distributor in a plastic ziploc bag in the trunk.

And I need a LeBaron trunk badge. I have one that is missing the first letter so it says 'eBaron'.
Oh lordy.
I was thinking I could get a volare 'V' and cut the 'e' off mine, then stick the 'V in the middle and I would have a 'eVBaron' and all those snowflakes would think I drive an electric car.

ROTFLMAO.....

JW

 

[XfbodyX]

I sound like the guys did in high school that ran everything loud trying to compensate for small weiners.

Nice car, but what about this man hating comment?

 

[Justwondering]

Oh now, now, now ... I don't hate men nor their wieners.

Just reporting the smack the girls were talking in the non-smoking bathroom at high school.

JW

 

[69-]

I found the trunk nameplate on eBay, not sure there are so many left - it was NOS and more expensive to ship to Germany than the plate itself...

Re the key lock - years ago I re-keyed the ignition lock to match my door keys in my charger (69). There it was easy to remove the ignition lock, rather than ripping the door panels off.. .. I'll try to find some pics of that tedious job.

 

[69-]

Ah, here they are.That's the ignition lock.

Remove the rear retainer - be aware, that the core slips right out of the shell part, when the retainer is off. Don't turn it upside down without holding the core. YOU WILL LOOSE PINS & SPRINGS!

Take a fitting drill to avoid searching for tiny little pins and springs.... while removing the inner part with the key in.

There you go:

Behind the red marked plate are the springs and pins in various length (to fit the key); that's what it reads on the picture:

And it has to fit straight on both sides - the core (with key in) together with the pin+spring in the shell part.

This is how it works. The spring is inside the blind hole (resulting from the covering plate), then the "shell pin" and finally the "core pin".
All that must mate with the key in to have a straight line. (More or less what it says in German).

This won't work:

 

[Mikes5thAve]

You shouldn't have to touch the ignition lock to fix the door lock. Get a new door lock for the $15 or so they cost and get it re-keyed to your key. Or live with two different keys.

 

[69-]

OH, I'm sorry. That was just as example, not to show the need to change the IGN lock. For me it was easier to change one IGN lock instead of two door locks
With the LeBaron it's probably easier to change two door locks

 

[Justwondering]

Today was pretty successful.
Dentist says 'you cracked a porcelain crown but its a small crack' . Come back in 6 months for you next cleaning and we'll keep an eye on it. Then I choked on the bill for a cleaning. This low inflation they talk about at the federal reserve is bogus.

Spent 3 hours before I left removing things to get the passenger side valve cover off and mostly cleaned. Have to upload my pictures with details.

Then another 2 hours after I got back home from dentist to finish cleaning, put everything back, clean the corrosion off the battery, and try starting it.

It does run.

Husband was out in the greenhouse and comes walking over to investigate the running engine.
And yes, he has a $hit eating grin on his face. Says the sound in the green house is just wonderful when that car starts up and is running. Wanted to know if we could go on the car ralley that runs through Bug Tussle this year. Absolutely!!

Short story is everything got out and back in successfully.
However, there is an oil leak on the driver side at the bottom of the valve cover about dead center on the fender side of the valve cover. Its about 3 inches to the left of the center bolt that holds the valve cover down.
BudW -- thanks so much for the phone conversation and online info of things to consider. You are won-der-bar!!!

More details after I resize the images.

JW

JW

 

[Justwondering]

Took the driver side valve cover off and tweaked the edge and all three bolt holes to get it more aligned.
It stopped the driver side leak.

But I have a leak on the passenger side about the same distance to the rear of the center bolt.
and
On the driver side, there is oil splashing in the top of sparkplug 5 -- second from rear on the driver side.

Did get the corrosion off the battery though.
and mostly 5 loads of laundry done. bleh
JW

 

[Hayzoos]

If I understand what you are describing for the driver's door lock, my guess is the linkage rod is not longer attached to the back of the lock. If so, my second guess is the rod was held in place with a plastic retainer clip.

I loved the way my 79 electric locks worked. Switch integrated into the manual lock rod. No need to reach halfway down and to the front of the door on entry to lock/unlock the other doors.

 

[BudW]

I loved the way my 79 electric locks worked.

The lock/unlock switch on those (inside of the door) is problematic. The newer design, the one that uses the door lock switch on the door panel, is more trouble free.

I used to like the older design, as you mentioned, but as almost all cars today also use the door panel mounted switch and are more trouble free, my opinion has changed (I can still do that, can I?).

Also, the older electric door locks are easier to open (because of the larger lock knob) using a coat hanger - which can either be a good or a bad thing.
BudW

 

[Mikes5thAve]

I never had problems with the old style but prefer the normal switch. The old ones had stronger solenoids that powered thru anything. The 80s ones are very picky to how clean the latches are.

 

[BudW]

The 80s ones are very picky to how clean the latches are.

I think the problem with door latches mostly lies with the grease used gets rock hard over time. Usually, removing the door latches, give it a good cleaning (carburetor cleaner or other) then giving it a good bath of spray lube (good luck in not giving yourself a good coating at same time), then reinstall. That usually takes care of most door lock (opening/closing/door lock) concerns for another 20-30 years.

I do see the occasional door latch that fails, as well as the colored lock rod clips that break and so forth - but usually the latch lube causes most issues.

BudW

 

[slant6billy]

I want to see video of the Lebaron. Love the color. Full walk around

 

[Hayzoos]

Also, the older electric door locks are easier to open (because of the larger lock knob) using a coat hanger - which can either be a good or a bad thing.

Haha, not to mention the fact that they advertised the fact they were electric locks. That is why I replaced the factory knobs with the type that had no flared top. I don't remember if I did the smooth chrome rounded top or the straight ones with finger dimples. Even more important on a coupe.

 

[Justwondering]

billy --
I'll get you some pictures and a video this weekend. We are finally supposed to have a few days of sunshine and no 25 mph winds with gusts up to 40mph.

This has been an eventful week ...
New key blanks to have copies made.... and
A new-to-me LeBaron badge for the trunk ... and
today I picked up my new air filter.

JW

 

[Justwondering]

No internet for past 10 days. Pitiful.

Lebanon has an electrical issue now. No crank no start.

Budw and darthcar are helping me problem solve.

Details if I can get online this week

JW

 

[Justwondering]

Internet returned today!!
Let's see ...
1. I lightly cleaned the engine bay. Looks tons better.

2. Tried waxing the trunk. . . . I totally suck at waxing the car. Looks much worse after I finished. Apparently the phrase 'apply a little elbow grease' to buffing off the wax requires more effort than I put into it. Looks chalky now. So I'll be washing it and trying again.

3. Spent 3 days chasing a harness/wiring issue. Did the typical dance...
-clean battery,
- test voltage,
- charge battery,
- check ground straps,
- check voltage to alternator,
- check voltage on all red wires,
- check fuses
- check voltage underdash as wires come in from firewall
- call BudW
- call Darthcar
- gently move and rearrange wiring harness
- struggle to read info online with sporadic phone service and no internet
- wait for rain to quit
- asked brother to help with his multi-meter and double check me
No crank, no start, no noise at all .....
- replaced the stater relay and the ballast resistor because ... they were ugly and depressing to look at and I figured one needs a backup ballast resistors (according to BudW and Darthcar)
- stared at the engine a lot
My brother finally found the problem when I was trying to start it (no success), he started moving lines around and determined the the large white connector from the battery into the wiring harness was not making solid connection even though it was thoroughly connected.
Thank you lord!
At least I can move the car now so I can chainsaw down the oak that died this spring and not hit the car.

4. Contacted the 'local' police department to get an inspection so I can apply for a bonded title. Only do inspections on Thursday, if you have an appointment, and its a 60 mile round trip.

5. Can't get the front end alignment til next week.

6. So, it looks like it will be two weeks before I can drive it to get its inspection so I can apply for a title.

7. That does mean I should have a running, street legal car for the Bug Tussle Road Rally this year. Assuming hubby is still feeling up to driving it with me.

8. I'm thinking the headliner is getting taken out tomorrow if it isn't going to rain and I can get it glued and back in so we don't look too sad.

And the good news is the rain last night/this morning washed most of the pollen off the car so it looks green again instead of yellow-green.

Pictures once I get them offloaded from the phone.

JW

 

[69-]

I just love reading your posts. Keeps me smiling and remembering that I haven't seen it all, yet. I admire your attitude and stoicism towards your cars and related problems.

Hopefully, we'll be able to travel to the US someday (year) again. My wife wants to travel the southern states, and, if that's ok, I definitely would like to stop by for a beer and chat at yours