I bought my Scamp in the summer of 2000.
As I pulled away from the sellers house there was major banging coming from underneath. I pulled over the check it out and determined that it was broken clamps allowing the exhaust to bang around.
On the ride home it started raining. I had 2 wipers for a minute, then one, the passengers side of course! Pieces of wiper linkage bushing hit the floor at my feet.
Now with the windows closed, I turned on the air conditioning. It felt like it sucked half the horsepower out of it! The whole car rumbled and shook.
As it started getting dark, I turned on the headlights. They barely shined 10 feet in front of me, and NO dash lights. Then I noticed the ammeter pinned to the left, not charging at all!
For the rest of the ride home I just waited for the car to quit. As many idiots with old cars do, I started talking to it. "Just get us home and I'll take good care of you" I told it. It took me the rest of the way.
I spent the next 3 weeks fixing it up. Coil, cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Oil change and lube, brakes, shocks, tires, complete exhaust and replaced the weeping valve cover gaskets.
I gave it the cleaning of it's life inside and out.
It was like driving a different car! It responded to all that TLC ike a dream. It ran and drove like stepping back in time. Within a couple of months, I drove it from MA to FL and back. Not one problem on the road. Then a trip from MA to western PA and back. Not a single issue. Over the next year and a half it was my daily driver and took numerous trips up and down the east coast. To the tune of about 40,000 miles.
We became friends.
In December of 2001 I brought it in to the body shop for a paint job. The shop disassembled the entire vehicle and sent everything but the body back to me in boxes. The car was in the shop until August of 2003
During the 2+ years in the shop I worked on cleaning and painting the seemingly thousands of parts. I collected parts. NOS, repops, used--whatever I could find. I bought books, even the 1974 Mopar parts book.
When the car was finally delivered in new paint, I started re-assembly. It took me less than 3 weeks to have it back on the road. Now it looked as good as it ran and drove. The car was obviously happy! I drove the hell out of it for the next 2 years.
In September of 2005 I had to travel for a business opportunity, so I parked the Scamp. For the next 6 months all I could do was start it a couple of times on brief trips back. I could tell it was angry. It didn't start easily and shook a LOT once it did.
When I visited in March of 2006, it wouldn't start. The battery was dead. I hooked up the jumper cables and ran in the house for a drink. I came out a minute later to see white smoke pouring out from under the dash! I quickly pulled the cables off thinking they were reversed. They weren't. I was sickened by the thought of what had just happened. I had left the car alone too long and it was mad and it burned me for it. Literally.
I couldn't even look at the car again until May of 2007. When I could finally stomach it, I pulled the dash to see the extent of the damage. The ammeter had fried, along with two fusible links and about 1/2 a mile of cooked wires. I bought an NOS ammeter on eBay and started cleaning and restoring the instrument cluster. My heart wasn't really in it and after a few weeks I dropped it again.
It was almost 2 years before I felt up to taking on the car again. This past April I was looking at the car and said "I'll take better care of you, I promise".
Major wiring project. I replaced the alternator, voltage regulator, ballast resistor and coil. I did the ammeter bypass and installed a volt meter. I rerouted the voltage regulator sense wire directly to the battery. I replaced all the burnt wire and connectors, and 2 fusible links. Put in a new battery and some new battery terminals. I cleaned and lubed the bulkhead connectors and numerous other harness connectors. I removed, cleaned and reconnected every grounding point I can locate on the vehicle. I think I still have electrical gremlins somewhere as I still see some flickering in the lights and voltmeter.
The old fuel tank was full of gunk, so I replaced the tank and sending unit. New fuel filter and fuel pump, and bent up some new fuel line from the pump to the carb. I rebuilt the old carb and couldn't get the car tuned so I replaced it with a reman.
I changed the oil and filter twice, before running and tuning, and after. New coolant, new brake fluid, and topped off P/S fluid. Had a leaky valve cover and found that it was cracked behind a couple of the bolt holes. I put on a cheap set of chrome covers until I can find a new set of originals or possibly have mine welded.
After some running, I noticed the fan wobbling slightly. One of the studs had pulled out of the fan clutch. Replaced the fan clutch and replaced all the belts. Had a slight dribble from the lower radiator hose, so I removed it re-seated it and re-clamped it. The windshield washer bottle was leaking at the pump. The old pump housing had warped so I replaced the pump with a repro.
I replaced the saggy rear leaf springs and installed a new set of KYB's all around. Had a squeaky right front bushing and ended up replacing all the upper control arm bushings. I bought a clean set of 14" rallye wheels from another member here (Thanks KP!), set of repop center caps and new repro lug nuts. I had the wheels skinned with BFG Radial T/A 215/70-14 and had the front end set up and aligned. I didn't have a spare, so I bought a plain 14" chrysler steel wheel on eBay and had the same tire put on it.
Finally, I installed a full set of sound deadener under the carpet, new trunk divider and padding, and new package tray and padding.
My Scamp is happy again and I'm planning 2 road trips for this summer. Each one about 2500 miles round-trip. And I am perfectly confident that my friend the Scamp will take me home.
The moral of the story: an un-loved Mopar will kick your ***, but show it some love and it will cuddle you and love you back.
I love my Scamp. My friend.
Mike
