Hello from Poland

jed_laski

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Hi! I finally got my first mopar v8 since I became obsessed with them. Wanted to buy a Duster or Dart Sport, but there was none around or in "decent" shape for a project or the import cost was too much for a rusty non driveable car. I got my hands on 77 Aspen SE 318 with landau top. The car was made for Sweden - It has a name tag of a guy who ordered it, the manual is in swedish, and it has main kmh speed unit. It is driveable and cost me less than non driveable duster from USA. I drove it home ~220miles without any problem. I was really amazed how a 45 year old car can drive so smoothly without any mechanical noises. It currently has additional turn signal lights to match with casual vechicle inspection laws, and a towing Hook along with mirrors.

The car has a hard start problem when its cold and it shoots fuel when revved hard. Other then that it starts nicely. I got it only couple of days so im going to diagnose if its a floater Bowl, lean burn or anything else. The car has also tendency to stall when i push the gas pedal too much at low rpm so I have to be very gentle when applying throttle.

Other than that, im missing a seatbelt loops on seats and it has some rust on lower front qt.

My idea is to remove all that funky side moldings, vinyl top and whitewall tires to make it look more sporty than fake luxury.
I like it and im going to post any progres here. We have plenty of jeep ZJ GCs here and I wonder are there any suspension/drive train parts compatible with other than magnum motor?

Once again, Hi!

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Oldiron440

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Welcome to the forum, we need more pictures your car is very interesting…
 

jed_laski

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Welcome to the forum, we need more pictures your car is very interesting…

Here are some pictures from the day I bought it. Any idea how can I check if it has limited slip diff or what kind. It has a towing Hook so I wonder? From my point of view its chrysler 8.25 but i cant tell no more.
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69-

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Congrats. Another "neighbour" in Europe. Cool. :)
Maybe you want to join some Mopar meetings in Germany? (I don't know about such events in Poland)
 

Sub03

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I think that is a really good looking Aspen Jed, maybe apart from the extra turn signals and fender mirrors (just my honest opinion:)).
If it is mandatory with amber turn signals in Poland, you can put amber bulbs in the front fender lamps and backup lights.

My Aspen had holes in the front fenders and some kind of rivet heads on the doors for the side molding clips, so removing the moldings will include some grinding, welding and a paint job.

Welcome to the forum, and keep the pictures coming.
 

jed_laski

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Congrats. Another "neighbour" in Europe. Cool. :)
Maybe you want to join some Mopar meetings in Germany? (I don't know about such events in Poland)

That would be cool, you can send me some info in private message but i dont think that in this or next season I will be able to go further than my city area just to avoid breakdowns. I found out recently in documents provided that 55.000 kilometers is a true mileage and the gearbox was repaired in 2008 and it shifts nice and strong. I also got a 94 Ford Explorer wich I really liked until I drove this. Its a night and day comparsion.

Sub03- I have removed fender mirror and it looks better. I was thinking the same about turn signals to remove them and put in lower front bumper where the fog lights are (wich are currently broken) and in backup lights.

Today im going to replace dome light, headlight bulbs, seal thermostat pipe and fix the throttle that goes stuck.
Thanks guys!
 

Sub03

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Sub03- I have removed fender mirror and it looks better. I was thinking the same about turn signals to remove them and put in lower front bumper where the fog lights are (wich are currently broken) and in backup lights.

Okay, so the park/turn lamps in the bumper was converted to fog lights at some point?

Mine had some ugly yellow plastic glued to the lenses for yellow turn signals. I managed to remove them without destroying the lens so they now have the original semi-clear look. With amber bulbs it looks like this (sorry for the low quality picture):

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M_Body_Coupe

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Welcome to the forum!

I must ask (in Polish): gdzie jestes w Polsce? (where are you in Poland)

My parents are in Krakow and I figured one of these days, if the cash is there, I'd love to haul my coupe into EU, hit a few car shows (I hear Krakow and surrounding areas do have a sizeable classic car presence) and just enjoy a few drives here and there.

Mind you, the last time I was there (2015) the driving seemed rather crazy by my docile Canadian standards...LOL, so maybe that's not such a great idea after all???? ha ha...

Anyways, I'm curious: how is the parts sourcing situation for such older cars? Are you having to pretty much entirely rely on North America based aftermarket network?
 

69-

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If you want to join a *real*dead*serious* meeting, you'd need to get to Sweden, first week in July (7th to 9th). I would expect more than 10.000 cars over the three days in the Västeras area - Summer Meet. -> Västerås Summer Meet
If you want even classier cars, join the meeting in Lidköping (also sweden, same days, unfortunately), approx same number of cars, but more 50's, instead of 60/70's in Västeras.
Serious numbers of Mopar Muscle is expected to meet in the Västeras area, as well (have no details, yet). I'll drive up there (it's approx. 700 miles trip) with a friend. And most likely we'll take the LeBaron (I did that trip 5 years ago with my 69 Charger, so, new car for meet needed :cool:

Now to come down to smaller numbers (approx 150 cars), there's a German Mopar event nearby the City of Homberg/Efze, pretty central in Germany, weekend of September 15-17 (camping/tent on site allowed). Really nice event (no music, just cars and fun - even some wheel spinning possible on site).

Mopar Nationals (usually around 300 cars) I do not know, yet. Usually it's the first weekend of August in Herten.
 

jed_laski

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Sub03 - The bumper lights have very dirty lenses. I tried to clean them but they are dipped in glue or some sort hard to remove stuff. Same with rear panel that has a flashy "safety" sticker on it that i cant remove.

M_body_coupe - I am located in Szczecin, North-western part of Poland.
Parts are mostly sourced from United States, but if I would like to put some magnum parts on it we have plenty of 1st gen Cherokees, and even second hand parts for older engines are possible to obtain from facebook groups.

69- Ive been on Power Meet in 2014 as a tourist. It was before they split it on2 different shows. Very very cool, i even got a ride in a black 69 gto back to train station :D Owner was from UK and had a big block under that. I am thinking more about going to race 61 in Finowfurt, Germany. It is smaller volume than Power Meet in Sweden but also cool with hot rods and stuff. There is also Oleśnica meeting in Poland locally but i never been to that one. Best experience I had was on Monster Mopar event in Norwood Ohio. Badass cars and wheelstands that was freakin cool.
 

69-

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Jaa, PowerMeet before the split must have been just _something_ 40.000 US cars. Do you pals in the states have something THAT big? :cool:

Anyway, we're going this year again. Finowfurt is said to be just cool with racing and all. Also, in Paaren/Glien (just northwest of Berlin) are usually two events each year, which are great (all historic vehicles, not just US). Unfortunately, this year the first one was canceled (they build a refugee camp on that site for the poor Ukrainians), so we hope that this RU/UA-shit ends soon and the other meet (around Oct 3rd) might take place.

And yes, I still plan to attend the Mopar meet in the US someday....
 

jed_laski

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It had a feeling like a small town was turned back 50 years back. Rock n roll music everywhere, people dressed properly, classic cars all around the place. I couldnt get to main event zone the first day because there was so many cars outside in the city i stopped to look at.
 

jed_laski

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So in thinking about fixing leaky carb and rich running issue. The car burned more than 25 liters wich i think is abnormal. I started to search for lean burn engines and my "first impression" lookalike setup does not look like any of thoose i have seen on other engines but I was told it is. The car has to be started on choke otherwise it is impossible to start the engine. Currently Im thinking about deleting egr valve that I also wish to fill with steel plate. Wich gasket set from rockauto should I order? Carb is carter 2299

I want to replace intake, ignition and carb but not at this moment.

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69-

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You definitely need to fix the transmission throttle lever (the long hole at the throttle, thats going down to the trans). It needs to be touching the throttle stud with its right end of the long hole.
 

jed_laski

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You definitely need to fix the transmission throttle lever (the long hole at the throttle, thats going down to the trans). It needs to be touching the throttle stud with its right end of the long hole.
You mean kickdown cable?
 

69-

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No, it is just an adjustment issue. You have the service manual?
 
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