Hi all. Brief history, I went to school for auto mechanics in the late 70s, discovered I hated it once I got out in the field, so went on to other things. I stopped doing 90% of the car work; the newer stuff just baffled me. About 5 weeks ago I bought a friend's '57 Bel Air which has been stored since the late 90s. It's "on the road" but I did some real slam-bang stuff to make it so (in a short period of time), i.e. radiator, gas tank, carburetor... I drove it about a week and almost lost a front wheel (old school Keystone Klassics) because I was too stupid to re-tighten the lug nuts. So now I'm waiting for Fedex to bring me a new set of front drums and USPS to bring me all new lug nuts and washers for the Keystones. It never stops. News flash, right?
Last weekend this Chrysler became available. It was bought new in June 1970 for $3990 including tax. I have the original receipt. It remained in the family until now; as people passed away it would be inherited by another member. The plates ran out in 2000 and it was stored in a garage ever since, untouched. The farmer who owned the garage lost the farm so the owner had to go have it towed to his house... that was the first time the car had ever seen snow. It sat in his driveway since late last winter.
Evidently they moved, as the house appears empty and they posted it on a facebook group, must sell, needs to go asap, all that. They wanted $700, I offered $500, we settled at $600. The tires are H78-15 dated 1990. One was flat so I pulled the spare, which was dated 1980.
It's a 1970 Newport, more or less a base model, not a lot of options; it has power drum brakes, no a/c, AM radio, etc. 383 of course. 60,000 original miles, never in an accident, original paint. No tears in the seats. All I could see bad inside was dumb stuff, some severe discoloration on the side of one headrest and armrest, a broken piece on a sun visor (the little tip that pops into place by the mirror), the chrome button on the glove box won't stay on, dumb little stuff like that. Lots of surface rust on the trunk floor where moisture has been held by the mat.
This is the first two door hardtop I've ever owned that I don't have to pick the doors up to shut.
I put a battery in it the other night and it cranked over ungodly slow. Last night I pulled the plugs and shot some PB Blaster into the cylinders. #7 cylinder was wonderful....had to crawl underneath to pull the plug.
I pulled the starter, removed the end cap and saw the bushing was badly out of round. When it was on the car it sounded wicked dry, squeaking as it turned. I weighed going through this one against dropping $50 or $60 on a rebuilt. I'll just buy one. It was suggested I go with a newer style high performance starter but they're $160.
I'm hoping to hear it run before the weekend is done.
Last weekend this Chrysler became available. It was bought new in June 1970 for $3990 including tax. I have the original receipt. It remained in the family until now; as people passed away it would be inherited by another member. The plates ran out in 2000 and it was stored in a garage ever since, untouched. The farmer who owned the garage lost the farm so the owner had to go have it towed to his house... that was the first time the car had ever seen snow. It sat in his driveway since late last winter.
Evidently they moved, as the house appears empty and they posted it on a facebook group, must sell, needs to go asap, all that. They wanted $700, I offered $500, we settled at $600. The tires are H78-15 dated 1990. One was flat so I pulled the spare, which was dated 1980.
It's a 1970 Newport, more or less a base model, not a lot of options; it has power drum brakes, no a/c, AM radio, etc. 383 of course. 60,000 original miles, never in an accident, original paint. No tears in the seats. All I could see bad inside was dumb stuff, some severe discoloration on the side of one headrest and armrest, a broken piece on a sun visor (the little tip that pops into place by the mirror), the chrome button on the glove box won't stay on, dumb little stuff like that. Lots of surface rust on the trunk floor where moisture has been held by the mat.
This is the first two door hardtop I've ever owned that I don't have to pick the doors up to shut.
I put a battery in it the other night and it cranked over ungodly slow. Last night I pulled the plugs and shot some PB Blaster into the cylinders. #7 cylinder was wonderful....had to crawl underneath to pull the plug.
I pulled the starter, removed the end cap and saw the bushing was badly out of round. When it was on the car it sounded wicked dry, squeaking as it turned. I weighed going through this one against dropping $50 or $60 on a rebuilt. I'll just buy one. It was suggested I go with a newer style high performance starter but they're $160.
I'm hoping to hear it run before the weekend is done.
........ Sure is a pretty car. Glad you saved it.
