1966 300 Restoration

JonLee

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We have a 1966 Chrysler 300 4 dr hardtop in the family that was originally my great-grandparents'. It has well over 100k miles, and served as a daily driver more many year.
For many years I've thought about restoring her. I've got basic mechanics' skills (i.e. if it's bolted together, I can take it apart and get it back together again), and I'm reasonably confident that I could tackle rebuilding the 383 (with suitable reference materials). Everything else though...

The paint is faded, the rear taillamp lenses have some cracks. The body is reasonably straight...there's a very slight dent in the left rear fender (really the vestigal "fin") from my dad backing gently into a tree ~ 30 years ago. There are some spots of rust, all surface/shallow. Interior is ok; there's a torn in the driver's vinyl seat, and some fading of the material under the rear window.

There's almost certainly mouse damage in inopportune spots.

So, I know the car itself pretty well, but have never restored a car before and don't really know where I'd start. I know I have no idea how much work it'll be, but have undertaken enough complicated projects that I know that's a plus.

Any ideas, tips, tricks, suggestions, resources, sources for parts, cataclysmic prophesies, advice on what to have someone else do, etc. that anyone can offer?
 
Truly restoring a car is a huge undertaking. It's very expensive and time consuming too.
My suggestion (for what it may be worth), is to do the mechanical work first to make it a safe and reliable driver. It sounds like the body and interior are not all too bad.
Then after you have enjoyed it for awhile, if you still feel the need to restore the body and interior, you have some idea of the investment it will take after doing all the mechanical work.
All of the "damage" or wear tells a story on the car. And the fact it's been in the family so long, you may want to keep it that way.

Just my opinion, and good luck with it.
 
Well, that is a real question with a lot of different scenarios! Here is what I would do. Sit down and have an honest discussion with yourself (and probably your wife) as to what you actually want to accomplish. Do you want to have a safe vehicle, and drive it a bit as a tribute to your grandparents? Do you want to restore it to it's former glory, or a combination of both? What is the budget, how much time do you have, do you have any experienced help? You mention the rebuild on the 383. This is not a job for the faint of heart, and in my own opinion should be left to guys that have the experience, and knowledge to rebuild an engine. Just the rebuild alone will cost upwards of $3000 depending on the present condition. The car has to be safe, that means brakes, steering and suspension gone through right away. Has it been sitting for a long time? If so, complete fuel system needs to be addressed, tank out and flushed, fuel lines checked, sending unit replaced etc. How was the service work over the past 10 years, transmission checked out, rebuilt etc? Charging system, wiring etc. With all due respect, even thought I love the 300's, it is a 4 door with a 383. Not the most collectible or desired car in the fleet but it is something that is important to you and that is enough. I would have all the running gear run through with someone who knows his stuff. A local Car Club or someone on this forum can maybe advise you on local shops depending on where you reside. Make the car safe, don't worry about the paint, or the interior or other cosmetic stuff. Once that is done and you have had a chance for some seat time and decide if you really like this car, then look at ways to improve the looks and the eyeball stuff.
Cam Shaft
 
Good Morning
A couple of year ago I purchased a '65 Newport 4 door sedan (Party Barge). The car had between 55 and 60K on the clock, (first time around). The interior wasn't the greatest (driver side of the seat material was dry rotted.) The body was straight and it structurally sound with no rust through anywhere. I purchased the car in Wisconsin north of Milwaukee and drove it to Toledo Ohio.
Since then I have had the seats recovered (original material) replaced the carpet, renewed the A/C, tinted the windows and generally fiddled with everything else. (one of the downsides of retirement is the I 'find' things to do). I have more into the car then its probably worth, but I view it as entertainment not an investment.
Anyway the point of all this is that if you are planning on keeping and driving the '66 any cash you put into it will probably not come back to you if you decide to sell.
If you decide to 'flip' the car, flip it as-is.
Omni
As Purchased:
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Today
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So, I know the car itself pretty well, but have never restored a car before and don't really know where I'd start. I know I have no idea how much work it'll be, but have undertaken enough complicated projects that I know that's a plus.

This popped up today on Facebook and it's a decent read for anyone wanting to "restore" a car. The TV Shows Are Lying to You: It's All About Patience
Any ideas, tips, tricks, suggestions, resources, sources for parts, cataclysmic prophesies, advice on what to have someone else do, etc. that anyone can offer?

The world is full of restoration "projects" that were started with the best intention. They are feverishly worked on for a while, then something happens and the momentum is lost and before you know it, the car sits for a couple years and it never gets done.

The project cars that are finished are often the exception to the rule.

Here's what I suggest.... Take a good look at what has to be done to make the car safe and drivable and do those repairs. You mention mouse damage... That probably means headliner and carpet. If the car is safe and drivable, you can strip that stuff out and still be able to drive it and have some fun while you take your time getting the carpet and headliner in. In other words, once you can drive it, drive it... and then break the other jobs down to Saturday afternoon projects.

Whatever you do, once you start, be prepared to spend a lot more time and money.... and if you are doing any long term repairs, make it a habit of doing something every day. Even just putting one bolt in... It's all forward progress.

The advice I'm giving is to not turn it into a restoration project... Turn it into a car you can drive and then putter with... It's a lot more enjoyable.
 
^^^^^ What he said.
I restored my dad's old Camaro. It came out really nice. Then I never wanted to drive it, for fear of pockmsrks, dings, and scratches. It took all the fun out of it.
I had more fun when it had the old paint, rusty quarters, etc.
 
I restored my’68 Dodge Polara. I repaired everything and replaced every seal, bearing on everything that moved. Dad bought the car in 1970 so I grew up with it, learned to drive in it and it was the first car titled in my name.
When I started, the expectation was that I would have it finished in 5 years and could keep it under $15k including body and paint. I was willing to “spare no expense” because of the sentimental value.
I am very mechanical so I did all the mechanical myself, but I had to farm out the body and paint. About 14 years later and well past my budget I finally finished. I never did tally up my final spend and I don’t know if I ever will.
The first couple of weeks when I was finishing putting everything together, I would freak out when the dogs or my kids got close. Then when I finished, I started driving it quite a bit. The first few months was a little tense, but then I loosened up.

Now I figure I need to put about 100k miles on it to depreciate it down and get my value back out of it. I really enjoyed the process and learned a lot during the journey. I am now at the point where I could do another project, but probably not to that detail.
If you are up for learning and need good time consuming hobby jump in. If you just want to drive, get the mechanical sorted and then drive.
I didn’t do it for the resale, I did it for the therapy. (Even though when the paint and body bills started rolling in, I did have a few panic attacks). I try to log about 2,000 miles a year.
Proceed at your own risk.
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I agree with going through the mechanics and suspension first. I do make the rear taillights if you ever want to replace those.

If you want to go all in the way and paint the car, I do make the clips for the stainless steel trim. If you are careful many clips can be saved, if you send it to a body shop they will most likely destroy most of them.

It really helps if you have a designated space in which you can work so you can just turn of the light and leave for the day. I will be honest I can't see me restoring another car, it is a huge under taking and you will never get the money back from what you put into it. If you hire out much of the work, you can really get into to serious money, especially into a paint job.

The other thing I tried to do is never get into so many things at once that is sits for years without driving it. I am fortunate that I have a heated shop so I would get as many things checked off the list during the winter and then drive it when the weather is nice. Try look at each task individually and enjoy when you complete it, if you think of the whole undertaking it can be quite intimidating.

Good luck and you must have fun doing it too.

FB_IMG_1589066595485.jpg
 
Good Morning
A couple of year ago I purchased a '65 Newport 4 door sedan (Party Barge). The car had between 55 and 60K on the clock, (first time around). The interior wasn't the greatest (driver side of the seat material was dry rotted.) The body was straight and it structurally sound with no rust through anywhere. I purchased the car in Wisconsin north of Milwaukee and drove it to Toledo Ohio.
Since then I have had the seats recovered (original material) replaced the carpet, renewed the A/C, tinted the windows and generally fiddled with everything else. (one of the downsides of retirement is the I 'find' things to do). I have more into the car then its probably worth, but I view it as entertainment not an investment.
Anyway the point of all this is that if you are planning on keeping and driving the '66 any cash you put into it will probably not come back to you if you decide to sell.
If you decide to 'flip' the car, flip it as-is.
Omni
As Purchased: View attachment 586239
View attachment 586240
Today
View attachment 586241
View attachment 586242
Great to see the party barge with it's NEW seat fabric - VERY nice, and I CAN'T WAIT to see it in person. Nice photo, BTW.
 
I've been watching a YouTube channel from a guy restoring a Mazda Rx-3 for about 10 years now. He's still taking freshly plated nuts and bolts out of ziplock bags and trying to remember where they go. By the time the car is finished, he's gonna be too old to drive! He's been working on it for 10 years already and it's still a rolling chassis that doesn't even run!

I totally get how easy it is to slip into OCD land and imagine every nut, every bolt, every connection, every flange, brand new, like the day it rolled off of the assembly line, but at the end of the day, the joy is in the driving of the car. No matter how much work you complete on a car, there will always be something that isn't done, so just drive it and enjoy it. If you take it all apart into 10,000 pieces with the goal of restoring every single piece, the likelihood of ever driving it again goes way way down, imo.
 
I did my Dart on a Rotisserie at home.
It was a rectification as vary little of it was original.
It took 10 years to build the car I thought I wanted.
I was then almost to nice to drive very much.
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I agree with the majority here.
Make it safe and drivable and address the cosmetics during the downtime one thing at a time.
If it is totally disassembled it is much harder to drive.
Does the engine need to be rebuilt?
Perhaps you could tune it up.
It's not likely that you will use a 57 year old car as daily transportation.
 
I'm near the end of a professional mechanical restoration on my 67 300. My grandparents bought the car new and drove it a lot (over 250K miles), and I am the second owner. So I get where you are coming from with the car being in the family.

Although mechanically inclined, I feared that I would get in over my head quickly trying to restore the car myself. It's one thing to disassemble a car, but I think it's another thing entirely to get an intimidating pile of parts back together to where everything's correct, functional, and safe. As Clint Eastwood said, "A man's got to know his limitations."

I have spent far more on the restoration than what the car is worth, but mechanically it's brand new (or at least freshly rebuilt), a bit more modern (e.g. EFI and electronic ignition vs. carb and points), reliable, and safe. It still needs cosmetic work, but now I can enjoy it while I take my time on the rest.

For me this is about the sentimental value and fun, not return on investment.
 
@Ripinator @Zymurgy These two have a lot of experience with 66 300s. Zymurgy even has the ability to get new lenses.

Hey! Thanks for the referral. Sorry I came so late to this thread.

When I acquired my '66 300 convertible, I started a thread to chronicle my progress and adventures. I won't bore you with the whole thread, but here is a link associated with my first and subsequent steps to get the car up to snuff. I've been dicking with this car May 2016. I can't believe its been seven years. . .

The SAGA Begins - '66 300 Convertible

Feel free to contact me regarding any questions you have.

All the best,

Rip
 
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