Introducing a 1970 300 TNT convertible

Well, folks, today was the day. I took advantage of a work trip through Indy to meet @david hill , pick up my TNT, and drive her home for the winter. I got up very early this morning so that I could finish my work and pick up the car before dusk.

A heap of thanks to David for bringing this 300 'vert back on the road following a 20-year slumber. After spending part of the last six months restoring the car, David declared her roadworthy: he thoroughly road-tested her around Thanksgiving to ensure that I could drive her safely at highway speeds for hours on end today. Several hours later, I am happy to report from another state that the car runs beautifully. Very, very impressive for a 375HP 440 with (now) almost 139k miles on the clock. The previous/first owner, who was a Chrysler mechanic, appears to have taken very good care of the car, but without David's help and huge knowledge and skills, I would still only have an immobile metal sculpture.

All right, as @Ripinator would say, we like pictures here. Let us start with the Chrysler when David and I met late this afternoon.

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David did not "only" fix the engine / transmission / brakes / suspension, he also cleaned up the interior and the engine bay. And some other stuff, hidden from sight too...

The air flow in the heating system was poor when David got the car back to driving condition. He found out why when he started investigating earlier this month. The fuzz ball below shows just 1/3 of what he found. Luckily he did remove the obstructions, and so I got good heat inside the car on the way home. Good thing as the temps outside were in the low thirties by nighttime and the wind was blowing hard (the car was very stable at speed despite the wind).

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After David and I had chatted and parted ways, the first thing that I did was to go and quench her thirst for 93 octane. Yes, the tags are custom -- I could not resist...

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The Everco H1949 that I bought on eBay in late April for this car works, and I expect it to be very reliable. Once again, however, I have concluded (as I did with Medina, who got the same unit back in 2019 when @71Polara383 brought her back on the road) that the heat modulation and the speed of response to adjustments are not as good as with the originals. I'll take reliability over sensitivity any day for a component that can created real trouble if it goes bad, but it is worth repeating: it is not quite as fine as the OEM "teapot" HCV.

I drove with the fast traffic and the car was solid and very pleasant. The bucket seats are IMO slightly more comfortable than on Medina, my 1971 Monaco, but the latter takes the pompon because the center armrest is great for comfort.

It was supposed to rain for half of the trip, but I was lucky (just got a few drops that dried quickly) and the clouds soon gave way to sun. Here is a photo taken along the way. The LED lighting installed by David works very well, not too bright yet it is very easy to read all the instruments.

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I stopped by in time for dinner, and found a nice building nearby to end this little story.

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Well, folks, today was the day for me to meet @david hill , pick up my TNT, and drive her home for the winter. I got up very early this morning so I could be done with work and pick up the car before dusk.

A heap of thanks to David for bringing this 300 'vert back on the road after a 20-year slumber. After spending the last six months restoring the car, David thoroughly road-tested her around Thanksgiving to ensure that I could drive her safely at highway speeds for hours on end today. Several hours later, I am happy to report from another state that the car runs beautifully. Very, very impressive for a 375HP 440 with (now) almost 139k miles on the clock. The previous owner, who was a Chrysler mechanic, appears to have taken very good care of the car, but without David's help and huge knowledge and skills, I would still only have an immobile metal sculpture.

All right, as @Ripinator would say, we like pictures here. Let us start with the Chrysler when David and I met late this afternoon.

View attachment 499794

View attachment 499795

View attachment 499797

View attachment 499799

David did not "only" fix the engine /brakes / suspension, he also cleaned up the interior and the engine bay. And some other stuff, hidden from sight too...

The air flow in the heating system was poor when David got the car back to driving condition. He found out why when he started investigating earlier this month. The fuzz ball below is but 1/3 of what he found. Luckily he did remove the obstructions, and so I got very good heat inside the car.

View attachment 499806

After David and I had chatted and parted ways, the first thing I did is go to quench her thirst for 93 octane. Yes, the tags are custom -- I could not resist...

View attachment 499798

The Everco H1949 that I bought on eBay in late April for this car works, and I expect it to be very reliable. Once again, however, I have concluded (as I did with Medina, who got the same unit back in 2019 when @71Polara383 brought her back on the road) Ithat the heat modulation and the speed of response to adjustments are not as good as with the originals. I'll take reliability over sensitivity any day for a component that can created real trouble if it goes bad, but it is worth repeating: it is not quite as fine as the OEM "teapot" HCV.

I drove with the fast traffic and the car was solid and very pleasant. The bucket seats are IMO slightly more comfortable than on Medina, my 1971 Monaco, but the latter takes the pompon because the center armrest is great for comfort.

It was supposed to rain for half of the trip, but I was lucky (just got a few drops that dried quickly) and the clouds soon gave way to sun. Here is a photo taken along the way. The LED lighting installed by David works very well, not too bright yet it is very easy to read all the instruments.

View attachment 499803

I stopped by in time for dinner, and found a nice building nearby to end this little story.

View attachment 499804
Sweet!
 
Although I haven't seen your 300 yet, it is my favorite car in your collection.
 
Here is the last update for 2021. After the initial test drive two problems were evident. No airflow from the heat - defroster ducts and no dash lights. The transmission shifted ok, but was sluggish on first startup. Removed the RT. front inner fender and removed the blower mtr. Below pics show the mouse nest packed into the blower squirrel cage and engine side blower housing.

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That is one very sharp looking 1970 300 convertible - love the colors and the styling since it is the same series as my avatar car. I drove mine over 200K miles (I think it was 205K miles) without an engine rebuild when a piston ring finally let go in cylinder 7 that manifested itself as a misfire at idle. I expect you will get a lot of good miles yet with your new UCODE. David obviously did good work and made sure it was all sorted out too - what a good guy. You now have two really good techs available to you as well. You have it made!! Enjoy and I know you will...........................

One of my biggest complaints with the 1970 Chryslers was that the dash lights were never bright enough. The LEDs sure fixed that! Are those LEDs dimmable?
 
Are the dash lights stock, or something more modern? They look very bright.
LED courtesy of @david hill (see here).

The impression of brightness in the photo is an artifact of my phone camera's low-light algorithm. It is white but not too bright (and I hate bright lights on dark country roads -- no issue here, yet perfect legibility).

One of my biggest complaints with the 1970 Chryslers was that the dash lights were never bright enough. The LEDs sure fixed that! Are those LEDs dimmable?

The dimmer switch does not work, and I'll be looking to get an NOS unit this winter. But that is only for "customization" possibilities, because even in pitch dark these LED lights were not bothersome in the least. The solution by @david hill is great.
 
The dash lights were repaired in post#100. New problem came up when the dimmer took a dump the day after I posted. By pass the dimmer as a correct replacement could not be obtained before pickup. Led's draw little amperage so I am comfortable about by passing the dimmer switch. The transmission fluid change was surprising as there was no heavy metallic buildup or friction material I would have expected. The photos below show how dark the fluid was. Torque convertor was also drained. The trans pan condition exceptional, even the metal # stamping is still visible. Finished off the job w/ a aftermarket silicon reinforced pan gasket and refill. Test drive reveals perfect automatic trans operation. This TNT Chrysler 300 has the potential for a full blown restoration. Still more work to do next spring, Road worthy now.

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LED courtesy of @david hill (see here).

The impression of brightness in the photo is an artifact of my phone camera's low-light algorithm. It is white but not too bright (and I hate bright lights on dark country roads -- no issue here, yet perfect legibility).



The dimmer switch does not work, and I'll be looking to get an NOS unit this winter. But that is only for "customization" possibilities, because even in pitch dark these LED lights were not bothersome in the least. The solution by @david hill is great.

I trust that they would be fine even at night. I was just asking because some LEDs are dimmable and some are not. I have so far not seen any LEDs in that application that are dimmable, hence the question. Maybe David can elucidate.

Edit: I see David posted on my question just before I entered my post - maybe we will know later regarding my question when you get a new dimmer switch.
 
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LED courtesy of @david hill (see here).

The impression of brightness in the photo is an artifact of my phone camera's low-light algorithm. It is white but not too bright (and I hate bright lights on dark country roads -- no issue here, yet perfect legibility).



The dimmer switch does not work, and I'll be looking to get an NOS unit this winter. But that is only for "customization" possibilities, because even in pitch dark these LED lights were not bothersome in the least. The solution by @david hill is great.
Yes they work well existing OEM dimmer used. Have used them on my 69 300 w/ no issues. properly installed
 
Well, folks, today was the day. I took advantage of a work trip through Indy to meet @david hill , pick up my TNT, and drive her home for the winter. I got up very early this morning so that I could finish my work and pick up the car before dusk.

A heap of thanks to David for bringing this 300 'vert back on the road following a 20-year slumber. After spending part of the last six months restoring the car, David declared her roadworthy: he thoroughly road-tested her around Thanksgiving to ensure that I could drive her safely at highway speeds for hours on end today. Several hours later, I am happy to report from another state that the car runs beautifully. Very, very impressive for a 375HP 440 with (now) almost 139k miles on the clock. The previous/first owner, who was a Chrysler mechanic, appears to have taken very good care of the car, but without David's help and huge knowledge and skills, I would still only have an immobile metal sculpture.

All right, as @Ripinator would say, we like pictures here. Let us start with the Chrysler when David and I met late this afternoon.

View attachment 499794

View attachment 499795

View attachment 499797

View attachment 499799

David did not "only" fix the engine / transmission / brakes / suspension, he also cleaned up the interior and the engine bay. And some other stuff, hidden from sight too...

The air flow in the heating system was poor when David got the car back to driving condition. He found out why when he started investigating earlier this month. The fuzz ball below shows just 1/3 of what he found. Luckily he did remove the obstructions, and so I got good heat inside the car. Good thing given the temps outside were in the low thirties by nighttime and the wind was blowing hard.

View attachment 499806

After David and I had chatted and parted ways, the first thing that I did was to go and quench her thirst for 93 octane. Yes, the tags are custom -- I could not resist...

View attachment 499798

The Everco H1949 that I bought on eBay in late April for this car works, and I expect it to be very reliable. Once again, however, I have concluded (as I did with Medina, who got the same unit back in 2019 when @71Polara383 brought her back on the road) Ithat the heat modulation and the speed of response to adjustments are not as good as with the originals. I'll take reliability over sensitivity any day for a component that can created real trouble if it goes bad, but it is worth repeating: it is not quite as fine as the OEM "teapot" HCV.

I drove with the fast traffic and the car was solid and very pleasant. The bucket seats are IMO slightly more comfortable than on Medina, my 1971 Monaco, but the latter takes the pompon because the center armrest is great for comfort.

It was supposed to rain for half of the trip, but I was lucky (just got a few drops that dried quickly) and the clouds soon gave way to sun. Here is a photo taken along the way. The LED lighting installed by David works very well, not too bright yet it is very easy to read all the instruments.

View attachment 499803

I stopped by in time for dinner, and found a nice building nearby to end this little story.

View attachment 499804

WOW! The car looks great. And David is a true mechanical artist.

So disappointed I was unable to make the trip with you. Can't wait to see the car again.
 
As you guys know, I like to record what goes into my cars, for future reference for others and to keep track. Here goes, for the last batch:

1. The original 2998970 radiator was recored (cost: $480) by a specialist that @david hill recommended, and then refinished by David himself. David then replaced the Spectra CU332 that I had bought for the TNT in spring, and that radiator will be used in another car. The total price for the restoration was less than half what a correct reproduction would have cost, and the result is great -- performance and looks. David told me that he would post info about the radiator specialist in this or another thread.

2. For the trans service, I followed David's advice on the ATF and went for Valvoline 773636 DEX/MERC transmission fluid. It was much cheaper at Walmart than at Summit, so David bought 12 quarts locally. From Summit, I bought WIX 58707 transmission filters ($11.99+...). The WIX 58707 filters are sold as a package with gaskets but, while the filters get great reviews, the gaskets show they have problems so I bought a Moroso 93110 transmission pan gasket ($32.99 + T/S/H) from Summit (as for my other C-bodies, as recommended by @sixpkrt and @71Polara383).

3. For the shocks, David installed the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks that I'd bought in spring: KG4507 up front and KG5512 in the rear.

Cheers!
 
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All that work and you couldn't score a decent NOS washer bottle??

:lol:

Can't wait to see this one in July at Carlisle!

:thumbsup:
 
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