flagmanruss

Gas prices here keep dropping ~ $1.59 but diesel prices have been slow to follow maybe a buck higher... I've been using the Cirrus mostly (because of my knee surgury) @27 mpg (summer). I've been using the CTD just to exercise it once a week or so. It's due for fuel next trip out. I've got it plugged in as we speak... about 20 degrees & it needs batteries. Ought to do that as well. Russ

Happily we're in a thaw right now... I'm noticing a fair sized gap between the bumper & grill / hood assembly. Front bodywork is sure not air tight, little risk of over heating. I find my winter fronts patterned after yours to be handy & trouble free. It's really nice to get the truck fully warmed up on short trips. Russ

Nick loved being a re-enactor where he had his own "personna" as the favorite mount of a mountainman/explorer c 1830. Nick was especially fond of "camp life"... most horses in the North East don't hobble. Nick really enjoyed being hobbled on the grass, followed by nap time. Any horsemen (& women) will know how unusual it is for horses to lie down with people arround. Yes, that lump is Nick contentedly sleeping while camps are erected all around him. I had to prevent people from setting up too close, so Nick could have his space. For the power guys out there, who think it is gettin too far off topic... There's "Makin Smoke"... and then there's "MAKING SMOKE!" (The little brass gun in the foreground stays at my house.)

Sure, ok to fly another flag below US, you got it right. It's great that you fly the flag(s). I'm a historical re-enactor... it took many years & much wifely tollerance to collect them. I use the display as an opportunity to walk the public through history. It's so much more fun then book learning! I use the CTD to get to events! I lost my horse about a year ago... Nick was 28 years old (I'd had him since he was 4). It's just not the same without him. Russ

Hey, that's pretty! Here's a few of mine! In case yer tryng to figure it out, it's a historical time line from oldest to newest (going back). Russ

There were big block wedge engines in other CIDs... there were high block 413's, & 426 "wedge" engines. A marina customer had a Coranado mahogany "ski boat"... about 20' long. With a 426 wedge with (2) AFB 4bbls. My 68 Road Runner "383" was a big block / low deck engine... a great engine... there was an earlier 361 wedge big bock, low deck also (in my Mom's 64 Chrysler with push button automatic). A class mate had the same 383 in his convertible 'cuda. The later 60's 440 6 pack (3) 2bbl carbs 440 was the big block, high deck block.The 318 series was bored out to 340, 360, 383, and maybe even 400. Those walls must have been d*mn thin by then... Really could use a whole nuther heading for the "hemi" of old. A College buddy had a 354 hemi in a 'early 60'sDodge Coronete, buckets, 4 on floor. I gotta say high decks got more c inches but I'm not sold. The low decks just ran & ran... "IF" I could keep my foot outta the 4bbl that roadrunner (auto, 3.23 rear) was capable of near 20 mpg. Man I gotta get the photo albumn & see it there's anything I can scan

I'm not using the CTD (currently 16mpg) enough to worry about fuel prices... but in Rhode Island, diesel prices have not fallen like regular gas. I'm using the Cirrus (27 mpg). They'll probably make up some BS like always. Actually, I'm down near 1/2 tank & I'll fill the CTD next trip out. I use the truck one day a week, just to keep it exercised.

Well the oval opening behind the headlight, is in front of the radiator although both are "under the hood & thus blocked by the winter front. It would be interesting to explore what the air temp is in various locations... at that oval, in the fender, under hood, in the air box. I have (if it still works) a remote temp sensor in the form of an A/C service kit. A diesel runs on heat... heat of compression. I don't know how much the grid heaters affect the IAT... they'd sure run less if intake air warms up faster.

I put my plastic winter front panels back on the CTD today. I cut the panels from some plastic sheets I bought from Modern Plastics for another project. The plastic is ~ .055", black all the way through. I posted some on this previously on the CAI thread. I had hoped to remove the egg-crate OEM grill to trace a pattern but ended up cracking a mounting foot & quit. I ended up with a cut & try approach. I tried several ways to cut the plastic, saws, snips, but finally did it best with shop scissors. Because the plastic material is pretty flexible, I used (2) 1/4-20 bolts (held the panel in place & trace the egg crate on the back, drill it on the bench). It's kind of arkward to reach around to tighten the nuts (I have serious numbness in 1 hand) so I replaced the fender washer, lock washer, nut with fender washer, marine self-locking nuts. I put all 4 panels in. Temps are running high 20's overnight to 60-65 days but I'm not working the truck... it's running on the thermostat. Russ

It's been a tough year... didn't use the CTD much. With my knee messed up gettin in is a pain you know where. (It really sucks to fall out of your own truck... stone cold sober!)It's cold enough now, I dug the cold front plastic panels out from under the back seat. I got tired of messin with lock washers & used SS marine self-lock nuts this time. The plastic is pretty flexible so I have (2) 1/4 X 20 bolts on each. They worked like a dream last year. I put all 4 panels in as I'm not working the truck... it doesn't heat up at all. If that happened much I might use wing nuts... I've not been able to mess with it but I'm still thinking that it would be preferable to draw underhood air as "cold" fender air in winter. Since I'm still running the stock air box, maybe the through fender snorkle might get removed & fender hole find some duct tape. Russ

OK, my signature truck is pure stock, right down to the OEM air filter... except the tailpipe rusted itself off a while back. Tires are OEM Michelins, ratio is 4:10. Most of my driving is secondary routes (state owned local highways). I'm doing my best to stretch fuel... getting the automatic to shift up & foot off the go pedal down hill. I'm running 2 cycle Dino 100:1. In the past, the overhead MPG has been within fractions of the hand calc miles. I reset the overhead after my last trip with a trailer, to get that off the data... the over-head has been bouncing 18.0-18.3... respectable mpg for this truck. I just filled up 27.94 G at 619.1 M That's "22.15"mpg which is unbelieveable... I'm pretty d*mn sure the wife didn't take it near a fuel pump! It may be a while before I empty another tankful at these prices... I'm driving the Cirus daily... Is this a mistake?Russ

Oh, SH*T time... I bet it'd be easy to do though... Russ

Yes, the IAT is the question... here in Southern New England (Rhode Island) air temps can have decent daytime highs say 40 or more with nights 30 down to zero. I'm guessing that come winter, along with the cold front, altering the filter set up to draw somewhat warmer air from under hood would improve the mpg. I'm sure everyone remembers the gas engines with thermostatic flappers in the air inlet to draw manifold heated air into the filter. Gotta think on this.

I did that years ago in my own !#$%&! back "lawn". I had backed the HD stock trail in the paddock gate to coax a mare into loading... after a couple of days of rain, she decided to get in. I fired up the 454, gently put it in gear (automatic) & the truck sank up to the axle. I left the !#$%&! mare in the trailer, jacked up the truck & laid planks all the way around the garage to the driveway... pulled the truck out with a come-along. Then went back & brought the trailer out with the come along too. I hope she enjoyed the ride cause after that, she was NOT coming outta that trailer until she arrived at the destination... At least I didn't have to walk far to get the tools!Russ

Hi Guys,The winter front worked out pretty well. Since I couldn't get the grill out to trace a template (I quit after cracking one mounting foot... made fragile to ensure they sell a lot of grills), it was a cut & try proposition. I got the flat black plastic in there with a couple of big stainless fender washers on the inside, 2 bolts per panel. They looked good & laid flat against the grill but one of them tended to buckle a bit in use. Maybe it needs further trimming. I admit I got tired of fussing & just screwed it in before darkness totally set in. In short, it worked well. It's under the back seat now (July) and will be going back in this fall. I'm thinking I'll tweak it more then. Thanks for this great idea.Russ

Hi Guys,I made my winter fronts from black plastic sheeting I had hanging around from another project... The truck looks kinda cool with the grill blacked out. The plastic was thin like 1/32 (came from "Modern Plastics" a couple of years ago). I tried sawing it with a jig saw but it didn't cut well. I tried several things til I happened to cut it with a pair of shop sissors! I measured as close as I could and then It was a cut & try with trips to my bench sander. Once I got it in place, I reached around to trace the grill grid from the rear & drilled mounting holes. It worked perfect on a run into upstate NY in the cold last week. CTD warmed up quick & ran +/- needle width of center on the guage, just like before. Thanks for the ideas.Russ

OK, the wiper arems are off... I found a nut through the arm once I flipped up the wiper cover... wow, that's a cover! I didn't figure any problem getting the cowl cover off but it's still resisting. There must be some hidded retainers somewhere... I'm going slow, don't wanna bust anything! Russ

Thanks Mike,I'll go check it out.Russ

Hi Michael & everyone.I knew that the wiper shafts were splined but can't figure out the locking mechanism... I'm sure there is one. I don't see any clamps or screws so it's underneath. I'll have to study it some more.Yes, the cowling gets drainage from the windshield... On the truck, the drains are behind the hood hinges. I used a stainless pot scrubber (steel wool) to plug those & evict the mice from the CTD... since there is just the cowl inlet and heater inlet. The steel wool still allows drainage while blocking critters.On the Cirrus, however, the screening will have to go in the cowling space as the hood hinges pierce the cowling space. I can't be sure if the mice are coming in the drains or around the hinges. I think the wipers (and the screws & plastic flange) are all that's keeping me from lifting the top piece to the cowling.I've had to remove all the underhood insulation from all the vehicles as it was fabulous mouse habitat... before I did so they chewed through the washer hoses. Thnaks,Russ

Hello fellow mouse haters!Once again the !@#$%&* mice have done me dirty... really nasty dirty... A couple of weeks ago the heater in my car started vibrating when the fan was turned on... worse the faster it turned. I know we live in the sticks & do battle regularly with mice in the house, barn, attic, vehicles... I've screened all the engine air intakes & all the other openings I could find. (Note expanded aluminum gutter guard seems to work well & is a bit malleable, but 1/4" "hardware cloth can sometimes be used.)Lately Sheila been complaining of the mouse smell. Today the vibration got real bad even on low... the guy pumping gas in front of me looked genuinely concerned when I turned it on! Fortunately it was warm enough today so I could work in the driveway without a heavy coat. (NOT room for me & coat in the knee space.)I was concerned that this might entail removing the whole !@#$%&* dashboard as it does on some. This car is a 98 Chrysler Cirrus (inherited from my Mom)... I started exploring under the passengers side and found a panel / ductwork that was only held up with plastic connectors. One on ther right, the other on the firewall, interlocks with the console. I used the armstrong removal meathod & discovered behind it was the heater motor on the right. A few trips in & out of my basement work shop & I'd found the right wrench 5/16" (1/4 drive socket) to remove it 3 drive screws from underneath is all. The bird cage fan was clogged with mouse nest and sure enough (dead) mousy was spinnin round in there like a ride at the fair. I delicately removed the corpse & debris... (YUCK) I blindly felt around into the ductwork and (only!) found more mouse debris. I couldn't get a vacuum in there so I just had to work by hand. I got out as much as I could. It was a awkward job to hold th fan up (with my weak hand) & turn in the mounting screws with my good one. But I got it done. I'm looking through the cowling in front of the windshield... I can see a bit of the open... appears to have a screen but I'm sure it's plastic & the critters got in some how. I can't get the cowling off with out removing the wiper arms. I'm gonna have to look into this so I can cure this problem. I cured my truck by screening the openings on the cowling but on the car, the hood hinges extend into the cowling area.I could still use some info... Anyone know how to remove the wipers? What sort of retainer do they use? I'm seeing a couple of screws holding the cowl down on each end, and probably held by the gasket groove to the firewall. Russ

Moparman, I like your cold front panels. I thought I'd just loosen the egg crate grill and slip a cardboard in there to trace a template. Well, That idea just bit me in the *ss. I'm gently backing the screws out with a 1/4 rachet and the tabs start breaking off. It seems the speed nuts rotate into the brittle plastic and 'snap'. WTF? Of the ones I got out, one broke retightening it... gees, seems like they made it to be sure it "needed replaceemnt". The truck is an 01 with almost no mileage and no sign of corrosion. WD40 (on the threads) is not my choice of super lub but was enough to keep more tabs from breaking off. It just seemed so simple. So I guess I'm gonna have to figure the shapes the hard way. Russ

I'm not ready to do the winter thing... been overhauling the cottage for the grand-daughter & b/f since summer. Just getting some rent money again. Cold then freezing rain... this place is a skating rink. The kid next door broke his wrist on his way to the bus stop this morning. I came close a couple of times... I've had some bad falls due to my MS & don't want to add another injury. This would be a good time to invest in a battery company... I'm pretty sure the backhoe needs them and the CTD is hurtin in the morning (01, OEM batteries). Does anybody run an onboard charger along with the block heater? Hope yer all well,Russ

Price of Diesel killing me... been using the 98 Cirrus to save some green. The heater motor just started vibrating on the higher speeds. I'm afraid mice got in there. (I've had to all screen all the air cleaners & the cowel drains in my p/u). I couldn't find the cowel drains on the Cirrus. Dodge 2500 is behind the hood hinges.Does anybody know how to get to the heater motor? Check the vent lines?Thanks,Russ

I'm just thinking how ironic we go to all the trouble of building Cold Air Intakes... and then plug the engines in in winter! I'm thinking that maybe the warm under hood air might be better for the engine in cold weather. (Faster warm up, less rich cold time.) I want to build a new grill block out instead of the bad idea cardboard I used to use. Russ

Oh, YEAH! :D