Metalmarty
Member
Hi All,
I'm gradually going to restore my 1968 Chrysler Newport. First mechanically and maybe paint in the future.
First some backstory
I'm Martijn (26) from the Netherlands. As some of you already know, I was visiting a friend in North Carolina in January 2020 when I came across a pretty nice 1968 Chrysler Newport 4dr Hardtop. It has a 383, 727, power brakes, power steering, manual A/C and some other options. I've decided to go and take a look. The car looked pretty rough on first sight but as I continued inspecting the car it got better and better. It's pretty much what I'd call a "rough" survivor.
- Still has it's original paint from factory
- Apart from one trim piece, radio and some small stuff it was all complete
- All of the interior is really really nice
- It was running and driving, although, just barely
- Apart from some surface rust it's rustfree and rock solid!
The owner was really nice and the price was good after some debate. I could store it for a while on the property of my friends parents, which was great because I was flying back to the netherlands 2 days after.
The car was shipped to Savanna, GA in March and I've received the car in the Netherlands in April. Shipping the car to The Netherlands (including all duties and taxes) was a lot more expensive than I've hoped, but ah well...
After some research I've found the build sheet. It also appears to have a matching numbers engine. The shipping order number on the build sheet, fender tag and on the car (trunk cowl seal) all are the same.
The plan at first was to fix some stuff mandatory to get it registered in The Netherlands. But after some more inspecting it seemed more mechanically tired than I've expected. Excessive play in steering gear, all bushings dry rotted (some missing), brakes are bad, etc. So I've decided to shift my plan of driving the car to summer 2021 and go big. I'm going to rebuild the front suspension, brakes, engine, rear differential and probably a lot more.
I've already got a lot of great information and help from some of the forum members here, as well as Richard Ehrenberg, Pat Blais and others. Hopefully I can bother everybody some more with my Newport related questions.
Some information:
To get an old car registered it needs to be fully inspected. It needs to drive and brake really well. All rubbers, bushings, ball joints etc need to be in good condition without any play. It can't have excessive oil leaks. And so on. So it's pretty strict. (It's way worse with newer cars). So I knew that it would be a lot of work to do the minimum work already. After some consideration I've decided to do it right the first time.
Now first some pictures!
I'm gradually going to restore my 1968 Chrysler Newport. First mechanically and maybe paint in the future.
First some backstory
I'm Martijn (26) from the Netherlands. As some of you already know, I was visiting a friend in North Carolina in January 2020 when I came across a pretty nice 1968 Chrysler Newport 4dr Hardtop. It has a 383, 727, power brakes, power steering, manual A/C and some other options. I've decided to go and take a look. The car looked pretty rough on first sight but as I continued inspecting the car it got better and better. It's pretty much what I'd call a "rough" survivor.
- Still has it's original paint from factory
- Apart from one trim piece, radio and some small stuff it was all complete
- All of the interior is really really nice
- It was running and driving, although, just barely
- Apart from some surface rust it's rustfree and rock solid!
The owner was really nice and the price was good after some debate. I could store it for a while on the property of my friends parents, which was great because I was flying back to the netherlands 2 days after.
The car was shipped to Savanna, GA in March and I've received the car in the Netherlands in April. Shipping the car to The Netherlands (including all duties and taxes) was a lot more expensive than I've hoped, but ah well...
After some research I've found the build sheet. It also appears to have a matching numbers engine. The shipping order number on the build sheet, fender tag and on the car (trunk cowl seal) all are the same.
The plan at first was to fix some stuff mandatory to get it registered in The Netherlands. But after some more inspecting it seemed more mechanically tired than I've expected. Excessive play in steering gear, all bushings dry rotted (some missing), brakes are bad, etc. So I've decided to shift my plan of driving the car to summer 2021 and go big. I'm going to rebuild the front suspension, brakes, engine, rear differential and probably a lot more.
I've already got a lot of great information and help from some of the forum members here, as well as Richard Ehrenberg, Pat Blais and others. Hopefully I can bother everybody some more with my Newport related questions.
Some information:
To get an old car registered it needs to be fully inspected. It needs to drive and brake really well. All rubbers, bushings, ball joints etc need to be in good condition without any play. It can't have excessive oil leaks. And so on. So it's pretty strict. (It's way worse with newer cars). So I knew that it would be a lot of work to do the minimum work already. After some consideration I've decided to do it right the first time.
Now first some pictures!