Mysteries abound, unfortunately. :(

Exhibit A - Passenger side bent control arm

July 10th - The first time Stella ever came home on that flat bed (See the first post!), the tow truck driver had absolutely no idea what he was doing.  This was completely evident by his carelessness to his job and lack of attention to detail.  What happens when people don't take the time or pride to do their jobs?  Mistakes are made, and often mistakes that cost people in the long run.  Enter into Exhibit A, one passenger side control arm.  Bent ever so slightly on both sides indicated that his chains were not attached to the frame...but to the control arms.  Both were bent, and there was no one that I could cry wolf to.  Tom added that to the list of things to work on.

Exhibit B - Missing speaker, void in housing.

Even more of Stella's past history had begun to show themselves.  Having a fascination with older vintage radios, I was curious what the radio and the speaker looked like from under the dash.  This was yet a mental diversion from the other pieces that awaited me.  The stock MoPar 802 radio was not there, but another smaller radio was in it's place.  The speaker was a whole different story.  When I reached back there with my hand, there was a void where the speaker should have been.  If it had indeed been there, a 63 year old speaker would surely have crumbled.  One less thing to worry about.  But that will go on the list for later on in our story.  But if we fast forward onto July 15th, Tom discovered a couple of other things.  Before removing the existing tires, he noticed that these were MoPar wheels, but not the stock wheels that came with the 6.00x16 Bias Ply tires.  Also, before I rescued Stella from the hot rodders (not Jim and friend, they were cool) they managed to put strange sized tires on the wheels.  The fronts were P205/70R15 and the rears were a whopping P275/60R15.  Therefore the tires were rubbing and screwing up the fender walls.  This could be why the turning radius on Stella was horrible.  I intend on buying the appropriate wheels, hub caps and tires.

A tale of two wheels.

When he attempting adjusting the rear drums, he could not get them to adjust at all.  This puzzled him and he couldn't figure out why one tire would only rub on the passenger side and yet the drivers side was fine.  With the MoPar Streamliners Parts Catalog and the Plymouth Service Manual I provided him, he went searching for answers.   And find answers he did.  He had worked on other P15s before, but never had he come across one with some many gremlins.  One other discovery that was made was that there was one remaining wheel being used as the spare tire.  And the tire that was on the stock wheel was a tractor tire.

Each time I had the opportunity, whether before work during a lunch hour or on a weekend I'd go and visit Tom and Stella.  In blistering heat, he'd be under her working.  At times frustration and other times would be joyous.  One morning, I had decided to call Tom early.  He was always an early riser from his days on the farm as a kid.  And I knew that he had a work ethic like most older folks do.  He let me know that he had taken apart Stella's rear end to check out the axle rod shafts and such.  He also wanted me to do some research on how long each axle shaft rod should be.  He needed to find out as what he found was also perplexing.  One axle shaft rod was SHORTER than the other.  After some research and speaking with Neil Riddle of Riddles in Washington State the length was found to be 32 1/4"  The passenger side axle shaft rod was 31 1/2".  Previously, axle grease had been oozing out of the driver's side rear wheel.  This was the source of the leak.

Passenger side Axle, waiting for a rod.

This needed to be replaced post haste and Neil had it in the mail and delivered to us within a few days.  Tom and Stella waited patiently for brake parts from Jeff at Moose Motors and the axle shaft rod from Riddles.  And while we were down there, the king pins, shims, and seals needed to be replaced.  Those came from Kanters in New Jersey. 

Fuel Line Moved ABOVE the Axle.

The hot rodders, also in their infinite wisdom decided that they would place the fuel line going from the fuel tank to the front of the car under the rear axle.  Therefore, stress was pulling and stressing the fuel line.  This bothered Tom and eventually he became sore at the previous 'tinkerers' shoddy workmanship that he moved the fuel line himself.  The day however was not over as of yet as there were more surprises in store.  Moving to the front of the car, the control arms were not the only troublesome affair.  The driver's side brake drum and it's components were frozen and needed to be replaced.  The condition of the car was almost one of neglect.  I was on a mission to get her to where she should be.  And I thought that the VWs I had owned in the past had nicked and dimed me to death.  Not even close yet.  But the fun in getting on the road was beginning to kill me.  All I wanted to do was drive her, but patience and a cool head were my constant companions.

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If you ever need ANY brake work done, and by the most honest man in the business at a good price, see Tom over at Duarte Wheel and Brake.  He's a little known secret and he has been in the same shop since 1963.  He works on classic and modern cars. He is meticulous, detail oriented and very friendly. 

Rear passenger side brake drum with short axle shaft rod.  This speaks loads to Tom's attention to detail.