25th Feb 2020, 00:04

I am the original reviewer, posting a long term update. Although I post yearly updates for vehicles I'm actively driving, this car is in the process of being awakened from a long slumber. When I posted the initial review in 2006 and the update in 2014, this car belonged to my father, although it had been in the family since the time I originally stated. Now it has become my car, and I've begun to set my hand to it, reversing years of neglect. Just about always, I improve whatever I touch. Sad to say, this car has pretty much sat and deteriorated since the last posting in 2014. With my 1971 Plymouth Barracuda, 1973 Dodge Charger (both of which have reviews on this site), and my wife's 1979 Chevy C-10 pickup, this 1975 Charger SE fits right in! However, with the '70s cars and three "normal" vehicles (2017 Explorer, 2010 Cadillac, and 2010 Honda Fit), I'm a bit pressed for garage space, and am not sure when I'm going to be able to get the Charger SE the help it needs. Here's what I've done so far, and they have been improvements.

As always, I like to know where I'm starting. So, in the last couple of years, I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, and air filter. I also changed the oil, starting with Mobil 1 now and forever after, and topped off the transmission fluid, and changed the engine coolant after running some Super Flush through it. Scale had started to form on the radiator passages. The belts and hoses are good, including (thankfully) the numerous vacuum lines that run all the emission control switches. Last year I replaced both rear tires, ancient 721's that were paper thin after one delaminated on the road. I also had to replace the plastic windshield wiper bushing that couples the wiper motor to the reciprocating wiper assembly. That is a fine job that required lying on a sheet of plywood on top of the engine bay to reach into the the space behind the fire wall--really fun while trying to press on the plastic bushing that you can't see while also encountering a huge, disgusting mouse nest (complete with mouse carcass) in that well, all the while being wedged up under the hood. Thanks for moving the padding out of my seats and into the firewall, that's really helpful...

So, with all that, I have a solid car that runs and drives well. Last summer I put a couple hundred miles on cruising the county roads to get things gently working again. The idle after initial start was still rough, and the full tune-up hadn't fixed that, so I added a can of Sea Foam to see what would happen and miraculously the idle problem cleared up within seconds. I'm still evaluating that one, as I had assumed it had more to do with the heater passage in the intake manifold being clogged shut with carbon, or perhaps a temperature controlled switch not opening to pull off the choke. If it's as simple as Sea Foam clearing out some tar, I shall not complain. At this point, the only thing that doesn't work is the air conditioning, from sitting for just too long. So, the next thing will be to add some refrigerant.

As I say, it's a fun car that runs and drives well, but the rocker panels and quarters have some surface rust that is not what I like to have on my cars. It will be a little problematic to get this addressed in the short term, although it will be addressed. It took me 20 years to get my '73 Charger to the body shop, and it took me almost 30 years to get my '71 Barracuda to the body shop. At my age, I don't have that kind of time left, at least not to enjoy the car once it's finished. Although this Charger SE is post-muscle car era, I really enjoy it. It's still a rear-wheel drive, 2-door, V-8 Dodge sedan that runs on unleaded gas, and I really like looking out over that 5-acre hood. To my amazement, it's actually bigger than the 2010 Cadillac DTS that I also recently acquired. The days of big cars, when big meant quiet and comfortable. As I said somewhere above, even though there have been many impressive advances in automobile technology, a car like this '75 Charger SE makes you think that perhaps some things have been lost as well. It wasn't long after this body style Charger that we saw small, front-wheel-drive 4-cylinders with lots of plastic, a kind of car that Detroit seemed to have a hard time mastering for the next 30 years, so in that respect this Charger represents the last of an era.