Mopar B-Body Miscellaneous Mechanicals Guide

When your powertrain is complete, you can add some functionality and some amenities to your B-Body. This chapter shows you how to incorporate some civility and creature comforts into your Mopar project.

This tech tip is from the full book, MOPAR B-BODY RESTORATION: 1966-1970.

For a comprehensive guide on this entire subject you can visit this link: LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK HERE

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Wiper Motor

As you restore the functionality of your B-Body, it’s worth reviewing various accessories on your car, including the wiper motor, drive links, arms, and blades. An aged and discolored wiper motor can cost several points in judging and can otherwise detract from a clean and attractive engine compartment. Equally, a non-functioning wiper motor can be a safety hazard if ever caught in a sudden rainfall. The base trim–level B-Bodies typically came with a simple two-speed wiper motor; higher-optioned models came with the three-speed. For those cars equipped with a three-speed motor, the armature barrel came from the factory with dichromate zinc plating that can fade over the years.

A cursory search on eBay shows that similar motors in equally rough shape go for a few hundred dollars, so it’s worth having your motor properly restored. This is not the type of job for the everyday automotive enthusiast, so we strongly suggest having the motor professionally restored.

Disassembly

When you send a wiper motor to be restored, the motor is disassembled to assess the condition of all the internal components. For example, rust can collect on the rotator, as the factory shrink-wrapped wire sheathing can be cracked and/or non-existent.

Disassembling the motor starts with removing the plate covering the gear set. Inside of the housing, the lever attached under the cover fits into the mechanism operating the gear. The larger components (the armature barrel, aluminum motor gear body, end plate, and motor plate) must be sent to a plating shop.

A proper restoration shop uses both plastic shrink-wrap and factory-correct nylon sleeves on the wires. Even NOS shrink end caps were used to complete the wiring. Upon reassembly, new brushes, brush springs, wire insulation, shrink caps, and gaskets are needed to not only restore the look but also the functionality of your wiper motor.

Reassembly

The wire windings must be cleaned and rewrapped in new cardboard sleeves. With the armature fully assembled, the two long screws that run the length of the barrel must be tightened. They are threaded into the aluminum motor body. The armature barrel, now freshly plated in dichromate zinc, is polished to remove any surface blemishes before being reinstalled.

The end plate, which was clear zinc plated, is outfitted with new brushes and new brush pressure springs. Before reattaching the rotator to the end plate, the windings are cleaned and wrapped in new wire sheathes. New short-circuit protective cardboard is slipped between the armature base and the rotator before seating the barrel.

With the head reinstalled with a new replacement worm gear and restored shaft (the gear requires a little wiggling to get it back on), all of the components are properly lubed and capped with a new switch plate gasket.

The switch plate, which was correctly plated, is rewired with each of the new wires soldered in their original factory locations.

New OEM-colored nylon and shrink-wrapped wires are installed, connected by NOS shrink cap connections. The plate is topped with a liberal dollop of ochre red sealant. This keeps the soldered wire points from the elements.

Wiper Motor Restoration

If your underdash wiper assemblies need to be rebuilt they can be disassembled, cleaned or blasted, and painted with Seymour’s Stainless Steel paint. Each pivot needs to be cleaned and lubricated so it turns back and forth freely. The nut that attaches the main pivot to the wiper motor is red.

Step 1:

This wiper motor is a three-speed. Your car could also have a two-speed wiper motor that is black; instead of lying flat against the firewall it stands up. These motors are date coded and have the part numbers of the particular application. This motor has a date code of the 251st day of 1969 and came from a 1970 B-Body.

Step 2:

Purchase a wiper pivot seal kit and rebuild the pivots. This is the only way to ensure that you do not have water leaking onto your feet after the wipers are installed. Carefully install the linkage, making sure you have the correct positioning of both pivots and the linkage. Make sure it moves freely. Test the motor and the linkage for proper function before installing the dash.

Step 3:

Red paint remains on the ends of this three-speed wiper motor mounting studs. That is the way it came from the factory. The wiring pigtail plugs into the bulkhead connection box.

Step 4:

This is a correct reproduction wiper fluid bottle and pump. The forward opening of the cap is correct. Some bottles have the cap opening from the rear, which is incorrect. The body of the washer motor is white and cad plated and the ground wire goes toward the front of the bottle and is attached with the front screw. The attaching screws are black phosphate. The cap has the original recess and is not solid. Fluid has not been added and is blue.

Step 5:

Two styles of wiper blades are correct. The most popular is this Anco refill style. The wiper arms have “15B” stamped on them. The only exception is that those for convertibles do not have a stamp.

Step 6:

The correct washer hoses are ribbed and are available as reproduction. Replace the tee and the screws with the new kit. Make sure to seek out the highest quality supplier (such as YearOne or Classic Industries) that guarantees its products.

Step 7:

The washer nozzles go down through the body and come out in the grid of this model. They can be bent so they spray the fluid on the windshield correctly.

Grille

In less than a decade, a massive influx of aftermarket and restorationgrade parts have appeared, saving automotive enthusiasts thousands of dollars and hours spent hunting for original equipment. Only a few years earlier, finding replacement parts for an original grille required scouring forums, pages of eBay listings, and rifling through broken plastic and pitted and bent trim moldings at swap meets. Thankfully, companies such as YearOne and Classic Industries have helped to save you time and money.

Some models, including Road Runners and GTXs, benefit from readily available replacement grilles. Others, such as Dodge Chargers, Super Bees, and Coronets, are more difficult to come by. And while the metal frames are available, much of the molded plastic is rare. Because of this, consider purchasing several grilles so you can piece together one suitable grille. Cherry picking the pieces that are the easiest to clean, patch, and repaint can save valuable time and money.

Ranging from very basic to exceptionally complicated, Chrysler B-Body grilles can be as straightforward as a 1968 Road Runner or 1970 Super Bee, or as difficult as a 1969 Dodge Charger or a 1970 Superbird. In the case of the Charger’s grille, a metal frame features twin dual-headlight buckets with adjustable spring-loaded cups. Cleaning the frame requires not much more than a hammer and dolly to straighten up some bent edges and steel wool to scuff the surfaces in preparation for painting.

Plastic Repair

The key to repairing a split or break in the original plastic is to expose fresh material for the bonding agent. Because some plastic restoration sealants can be pretty pricey, many choose to use a two-part catalyst such as JB Weld to adhere and fill gaps.

Use an electric Dremel to clean up any open or jagged edges. If the cracks are too wide to simply fill in, use small patches of scrap metal to bridge the gaps, adhering them to the back of the plastic panel.

Because molded plastics have a tendency to return to their original shape and contour, much of the split and cracked plastic pieces only need to be coaxed into place before being permanently held back in form. With a pair of tin snips and some spare scraps of sheet metal, some small strips can act as a bridge holding two fractured pieces together.

Take care not to mix the two-part bonding agent too hot; a conservative amount can be applied into the crack itself. By holding the crack closed, a second more liberal amount can be added to the back (which remains unseen to most) where the small metal strip can be applied and eventually covered up. Applying the necessary pressure to close the gap until the compound cures can be done by hand (although that’s pretty time consuming) or with a low-pressure C-clamp to avoid further cracking or damaging your original plastic.

Before the compound is fully cured and while it is still a bit pliable, use a razor blade to scrape off the excess from the visible side of the newly sealed crack. Be careful not to remove too much.

You can wrap a socket in sandpaper for the proper radius and start sanding the now fully cured sealing compound. Start with 60-grit and move to a finer 220-grit to knock down the cured compound. Continue sanding and filling any exposed pours and fissures, patching cracks, and filling in small holes where you find them.

Plastic and Frame Paint

Argent silver and semi-gloss black are the two most common colors found on Mopar B-Body grilles. Obviously, depending on your application, your needs change. A handful of different-widths and sizes of painter’s tape are mandatory. It is much easier to paint each plastic piece individually, so start by coating everything with a spray adhesion promoter. This colorless spray helps bind paint to plastic and is a worthwhile extra step.

We know that it’s difficult to wait for paint to dry, but don’t peel off your tape too soon or you will have to repeat the process. While the chrome and stainless are off being refinished, you can take the opportunity to finish other parts of your grille. This includes cleaning and scuffing the frame before painting it.

If you’re not too concerned with making a 100-point restoration, and really just want to freshen up an otherwise okay grille, spray can repaints can be effective. With a can of paint adhesion promoter, coat the scuffed and exposed plastic to help the paint bond better. Next, with a couple of cans of semi-gloss black and argent silver, mask off each piece in layers, which allows you to paint in stages.

Brightwork

With the entire grille repaired and painted, it is ready for its newly straightened and polished brightwork. Because most of the factory Mopar trim is made in stainless, be sure not to have your pieces chromed but merely polished. Decorative emblems such as the “Charger” script or Super Bee emblems require a finer touch to clean, sand, and repaint. Replacement aftermarket pieces are easily acquired from outlets such as YearOne or Classic Industries.

Trim Repair

Not all trim is created equal; aluminum sill plates, a pot-metal side-view mirror and gas cap, stainless door top trim, and die-cast stainless steel trim all require different types of restoration. With the variety of metals in a variety of conditions and lusters, you must evaluate which pieces are worth replacing, re-chroming, or re-polishing.

Counting from the front to the tail, the average B-Body can rack up nearly 40 individual brightwork items, including the front and rear bumpers, their accompanying pairs of bumperettes, multiple pieces of grille trim, windshield surround trim, side drip rails, side-view mirror, side-window moldings, vent-wing window frames, side-window seals, door handles, door locks, various emblems (grille, door, fender, quarter panel, rear), gas cap and its base plate, rear-window surround trim, taillight valance surround trim, and taillight lens trim.

**End-cap your B-Body Mopar with a set of bumpers. Outsource the chrome replating because the process is too environmentally hazardous to be handled at home.**

Proper brightwork is like good movie special effects; if done right, nobody should notice. On Chrysler B-Bodies, there is far more chrome, stainless, aluminum, and pot-metal brightwork than you might realize.

Polishing and Buffing

Yet, with many original pieces, a Saturday morning spent with a clean rag and a small can of metal polish does the trick. Unfortunately, trying to hand polish the chrome plating on door handles or other pieces often can prove to be difficult or outright unsuccessful. Even passing over them with a buffing wheel on a two-speed electric drill sometimes does not remove the discoloration.

Most aftermarket outlets sell new door handles with chrome push buttons and not black buttons. Be sure you match what your car came with.

Items that do take well to some elbow grease are pieces made from harder materials such as stainless steel and the front and rear window reveals. Buffing these pieces can save a great deal of money and patience, as the front windshield trim (or “reveal”) is currently on a pretty widespread back order, particularly as all bodies between 1968 and 1970 used the same trim.

Straightening

If they’re in rough shape, it’s worth having your bumpers straightened. Bumpers have a nasty way of rusting from the back if not properly treated. You notice this by a discoloring or yellowing of the chrome from the front. Similar to rust bubbling up through the paint, the only way to remedy it is to strip the plating, address the cancer (media blasting or chemical dipping are good solutions), and replate. If you’re not looking to replace your factory trim with aftermarket pieces, it’s worth doing some due diligence to find a local chrome shop for straightening and buffing.

Most plating shops discount their rates depending on the size of the order. The more parts you bring in, the cheaper it becomes.

Re-Chroming

Although the aftermarket has grown exponentially over the past few years, particularly for Mopar lovers, enthusiasts have the tendency to think, “I’ll just replace it.” Although that might be a viable option nowadays, the cost can add up.

When tastefully done, brightwork can really make your paint pop. Re-chroming, can be pretty controversial, particularly if you plate items that weren’t originally plated or getting a result that doesn’t match the original product.

The down sides to re-chroming crop up particularly when considering textured surfaces. Original Charger and Challenger gas caps have a brushed surface that re-plating completely covers.

For many project cars, you simply don’t have everything. The drip-rail trim may be gone, removed years ago; a replacement simply needed to be purchased. But that’s not to say that it couldn’t have been restored if necessary.

Drip-rail trim is often uncommonly expensive (about $250 per set). The stainless steel trim actually rolls onto the B-Body’s stamped railing deceptively easily. You can keep the protective blue film on the unit until it is fully installed. Then, when installed and the film removed, you attach the corner piece, connecting the two-part drip-rail trim together.

Reassembly proceeds a lot easier if each of your parts has been fitted beforehand. Re-plating has a nasty tendency to alter the close tolerances of smaller parts. Stainless steel items such as the belt line moldings and drip-rail trim are surprisingly durable and resist more pitting and aging than will softer components.

Many metal polishers can restore old emblems, smaller trim pieces, and taillights. When replacement taillights can cost $150 each, restoring the ones you have might be worth investigating.

Electroplating

The electroplating process has several steps and uses tanks full of caustic chemicals. Certain metals react better than others to the plating process, stainless being the most resistant due to its durability. Each piece is thoroughly washed in an electrified soap bath before being dipped in an acid bath.

Each piece is then submerged in nickel acid before soaking in nickel chloride. When washed, the part goes in a copper bath, and then a final round of washing before a chromium bath. Washing off the residue and passing the part under the buffing wheel, you can see the full luster of the newly plated part.

The pieces are passed under the buffing wheel before being cleaned in electrified baths. Because various metals react differently to the acid baths and bonding agents, each metal has a slightly different process.

Plating the pieces actually helps them stand up better than simply buffing them.

Phosphating

Phosphating (also called Parkerizing) can be done with zinc or manganese; both produce varying levels of gray to almost black (depending on the concentration, age of bath, length of time in the solution, and base material). The biggest difference between the two is the level of porosity at the microstructure level and depth of color.

Automotive hardware is generally made of zinc whereas many guns are made of manganese. Zinc also makes a good base for painted surfaces or can be oiled (sealed) for an attractive gray finish. As an alternative to oil, you can use a water-soluble sealer available from Caswell plating. This sealer can be left natural for a beautiful zinc finish or painted over at a later date.

Equipment

Phosphating requires a stainless steel or porcelain pot; it needs to be heated to approximately 180 to 200 degrees F. You need to season the bath prior to the first use (one time only as long as you continue to use a portion of your previously seasoned bath for future jobs). This is easily accomplished with iron filings or shavings and a coffee filter.

We first tried a propane camp stove for heating, but found it impossible to keep the temperature from creeping over the boiling point. Now we use a candy thermometer and double-boiler method with a large electric skillet from a garage sale. The skillet has water in it, and the solution is in a stainless pot sitting in the water. Temperature control is good. A Teflon skillet with water and a stainless pot inside works okay, too.

The average home user can accomplish phosphating pretty easily for a minimal investment. The process is convenient and the phosphate can be easily stored in plastic containers for long periods, making it easy to use later to freshen up details. (We tend to refinish even brand-new hardware if it doesn’t have a good finish.) We don’t recommend performing the process in your home; a garage is the better location, with an old stove or electric portable burner providing the heat.

Component preparation can vary but, in general, we blast first and often use a wire wheel for a nice finish prior to plating. The exception is that you may elect to skip the wire polish if you intend to paint the part.

Materials

Zinc phosphate is not a great corrosion protector; you may receive a box of new parts that already show corrosion. Zinc’s ability to deter corrosion is largely dependent on the oil or sealer placed on the porous surface.

With the proper products you can replicate almost every finish and know that when you’re done you have a good protective layer against corrosion, as well as a great base for painted items.

One source of phosphating solution is Shooter Solutions. This company claims that the solution is simply darker, but it’s actually manganese. You can obtain zinc phosphate from Brownells. You can source electro deposited zinc with or without brighteners, yellow chromate, clear blue chromate, OD chromate, and black chromate from Caswell.

Prep Your Parts

It takes a little effort to prepare your fasteners, but it’s worth the effort in the long run. Fasteners, such as body bolts, do not need to be restored if they are going to be painted. Just coat them with a phosphoric acid called Rust Cure. Then re-coat a week later, wipe, and they are ready for paint in one week.

Before tossing all of your fasteners in a bucket to get plated, take the time to document each one. You also have to separate the fasteners that are zinc clear, black, and yellow (gold) because they are barrel tumbled separately. Take a picture of each, along with markings on the head, and store in a Ziploc bag with the description written clearly on it. Also weigh each fastener on a digital scale and log it in a notebook. It does take time, but when you get everything back it is much easier to sort things out.

It’s really not that difficult or horribly inconvenient, and this way you don’t confuse yourself with what goes where. When you find a bolt or two that have been forgotten (maybe left on a sub-assembly) they are easy to plate at the same time as the parts that you’ve put in baggies.

The Process

Don’t blast; just degrease and dunk your fasteners in vinegar for half-day periods to clean them. Then use a brass wire brush to chase the threads if necessary. Wear gloves to prevent fingerprints.

Because some time may pass between cleaning the fasteners and Parkerizing them, you need to re-clean them. Immediately before dunking in the Parkerizing solution, dunk in acid for a few seconds or minutes, spray with oven cleaner, and dunk in hot water.

Weatherstrip

Not everything on your classic muscle car is timeless. Sure, the long, sleek lines will survive the test of time, but certain things just are, well, pretty bad. Your original weatherstripping is likely to be very brittle, flaking, or just plain rotting apart. Obviously, it’s high time to replace the old rubber with some new stuff.

Modern technologies offer far better replacement parts than what the original factory equipment could provide, namely in the way of electronics, plastics, and rubber compounds.

Today’s plastic and rubber are embedded with new-age polymers that resist aging, cracking, and discoloring far longer than those from more than 40 years ago. These polymers also improve elasticity in softer contact points (including body bumpers and weatherstripping) and maintain that pliability over the years.

Sealing your cabin from the outside elements is easily done. Apart from insulating the cabin from road noise and debris, weatherstripping also acts as a vibrational buffer, keeping doors, windows, deck lid, and hood from rattling and chipping your paint.

Although most weatherstripping either comes with plastic clips or fits snuggly into channels to hold the rubber into place, a good bead of 3M Weather Stripping Adhesive keeps out moisture, dust, and debris.

Companies including B/E Parts, YearOne, and Classic Industries offer full sets of weatherstripping and body bumpers. A tube of 3M weatherstripping adhesive and a roll of narrow painter’s tape (and somepatience) are all you need to get the job done in a couple of hours. Proper weatherstrip adhesive is applied in a two-part process: Apply a thin bead on a clean surface and do the same to the mating surface of the backside of the weatherstripping.

The recommendation from 3M is to wait up to a minute before bonding the two together; the waiting period is to allow the oxygen-activated glue to “kick.”

On the door rubber, the weatherstripping features a series of knurled plastic clips that lock the rubber in place. You can glue as you clip the weatherstripping in place. When finished, simply close the door to apply the pressure necessary to complete the bond. Applying the trunk lid weatherstripping requires a little more finesse, and painter’s tape, to keep the rubber liner in line.

OEM-level restorers note that the seam for trunk weatherstripping is offset by 6 inches to the right from point of center. This was done to better seal from seepage.

When your weatherstripping dries, insert the body bumpers. These act as bump-stops for the doors, hood, and trunk to protect your car’s paint from being chipped and damaged.

With a gentle cleaner, wipe down any excess glue and residue. The 3M adhesive requires a few hours to fully bond, so closing the hood, trunk, doors, and windows when you’re done helps the glue dry faster.

Windows

The door glass, seals, window channels, and regulators must be carefully inspected and most of if not all the soft materials replaced. You must carefully inspect the door glass and quarter glass; if it is the original glass, it is in good enough shape to use. After a full restoration the original glass flaws are often magnified next to the fully restored paint and trim.

The two-door post, hardtop, and convertible side glass are all different. None of the convertible glass can be used in either the hardtop or the post cars. The hardtop glass has different trim where the door and quarter glass meet. However, the front door window actuator and glass channels are the same. The quarter glass actuator and window channels are very complicated. Inspect them closely to make sure all of the plastic rollers and guides are in good shape. If they are broken you must find replacements.

The door and quarter glass whiskers and seals must be replaced and are available through many sources. Take several pictures of how these mechanisms and channels are located in your car so that upon reassembly you can install the parts back in their general position, so that final adjustment is easier. Here too, the original factory service manual for your car is a must-have when adjusting your glass and doors. The manual devotes 50 to 100 pages to these installations and adjustments.

If you want date codes on your replacement glass various companies can apply your exact dates to the glass for you. Otherwise all new seals and plastic parts can be replaced with correct factory appearance from many reproduction part suppliers.

The best tip we can give you is to replace any questionable parts now. You do not want to have to do this again after you have completely restored your car.