1969 300 Convertible - Repair or Part out?

[amazinblue82]

Thinning the projects ..this is a 1969 300.

Both rear frame rails look like this. passenger floor areas ok. stub ok. rockers ok. both quarters behind rear wheels bad. body panels otherwise good metal.

I do have a clean-enough '69 "donor" and skilled body men ("old school" guys with 40 years experience & still "young" enough/high work ethic to take it on).

Yes, i know its a big job. My guys have rendered an opinion. Its a "split decision" - two guys in one camp, one guy in another. Money is a concern but not a constraint to moving forward. "Concours" resto was never in the cards.

I am taking peoples' thoughts here before I make a decision next week to start repairs or scrap the whole car.

I will not derby it, but will strip it of good parts before it gets recycled. I will not be selling parts from it.

Sorry, there are no more pictures coming.

Thanks in advance if you have thoughts.

 

[david hill]

I need more photos of the sub frame and mounts. I need the following photos to give you an accurate est. Cowl and firewall around wipers and brake booster and rear frame rails and rear shock mounts. Also pic of the torsion bar mounts and trans cross member area.

 

[1970FuryConv]

1969 Chrysler 300 is a very nice-looking car. However, as I've entered retirement, I have learned not to take on big projects.

Based on scant information, I lean toward parting the car.

 

[300rag]

For an investment, the job may be worth doing if it's a 2 door. If it's a four-door, my guess is you'll never get anything close to your money back out of it when you go to sell it.

...

Thread title says convertible.

 

[SGT FURY]

Based on only 1 pic shown?
I would say parts car.

 

[polara71]

Hi Ray, I'm not sure if I can give an unbiased opinion . If you have the means, which I believe you do then save it. I think you've picked up a lot of cars along the way to save, so it didn't get parted or destroyed.
On the other hand it likely has a bunch of stuff you need for others in line for restoration.
I personally would have never considered this car from that one photo for a restoration project. That's a parts car all day long. The hobby is grateful for guys like you.

 

[amazinblue82]

guys. its not a "fair" question. and I asked it like i dont know much about restos of unibodies. While i have no repair skill, my "wallet" does

i know more pics would help but please assume cowl is fine. The torsion bar mount areas, sub frame mounts, etc., are intact/readily remedied.

NEVER done a convertible before tho .. they seem to "take on standing water" more readily, obviously, due to their design. And there's unique structural feature. Thats my "noob to verts" observation.

i have four 1969 300 verts. all are projects with a view going into them i could get two decent cars outta the four. Not looking to profit on resale, but as retirement knocks, i too am looking to continue to throttle down my participation in the hobby.

we dragged this one out of the warehouse where its been cooling its heels for a few years to start continue the project assessment. And then make un-emotional "go/no go" decisions whether to keep idea of getting two decent vert drivers outta the four I "rescued", or punt on these rigs altogether.

we just finished parting the green one I bought here ~7 months ago. it was rough underneath/body panels from a lifetime in Michigan, but had many nice elements/pieces that could be used for the other cars I hope are worth saving.

thank you again if you have views on this one from just what you see and/or similar work done on one of your projects.

 

[amazinblue82]

Hi Ray, I'm not sure if I can give an unbiased opinion . If you have the means, which I believe you do then save it. I think you've picked up a lot of cars along the way to save, so it didn't get parted or destroyed.
On the other hand it likely has a bunch of stuff you need for others in line for restoration.
I personally would have never considered this car from that one photo for a restoration project. That's a parts car all day long. The hobby is grateful for guys like you.

my man!

appreciate as always your views .... you call 'em like you see 'em. hobby needs that from its knowledgeable participants like you - balance out the kooks like me always tryin to save strays

take care chief and good to have ya back

 

[FURYGT]

Thinning the projects ..this is a 1969 300.

Both rear frame rails look like this. passenger floor areas ok. stub ok. rockers ok. both quarters behind rear wheels bad. body panels otherwise good metal.

I do have a clean-enough '69 "donor" and skilled body men ("old school" guys with 40 years experience & still "young" enough/high work ethic to take it on).

Yes, i know its a big job. My guys have rendered an opinion. Its a "split decision" - two guys in one camp, one guy in another. Money is a concern but not a constraint to moving forward. "Concours" resto was never in the cards.

I am taking peoples' thoughts here before I make a decision next week to start repairs or scrap the whole car.

I will not derby it, but will strip it of good parts before it gets recycled. I will not be selling parts from it.

Sorry, there are no more pictures coming.

Thanks in advance if you have thoughts.

View attachment 607430

Ray, As you know, these cars are expensive to repair. If this car has a lot of parts that are needed to save 2 of your other cars, then I would say part it out. Good luck with your decision.

 

[detmatt]

Have you a donor car with all the needed parts? If not it’s a parts car.

 

[Samplingman]

Parts car. The rear frame rails on a convertible are extremely involved. You will need to fabricate a steel mount to hold the body by the pinch welds and weld braces between doors and cowl to keep from flexing. Use the parts to save others.

 

[rags]

i fixed the rear frame rails on my '69 convertible with no problems. i considered it the easiest part. doing the inner fender and rear wheel arches from scratch were very difficult. if those are good on yours, the body is saveable. in your overall position i think it's a parts car, but it's a shame to just scrap a decent shell.

 

[amazinblue82]

again .. let me apologize for not adding more pictures.

Its a personal thing .. kinda like when my '71 New Yorker coupe, U code, got wrecked a few years back (T-boned and plowed into a tree on the other side - damn thing was four feet wide between A and C pillar and the roof was a "tent").

A drunk, 19 year old kid (she was not hurt), in a C/K (GM) Suburban SUV, bulldozed it and then we parted it. I do not want some things to live forever on the Internet, having to "relive it", potentially, for the rest of my natural lfe.

Anyway ...

The last two posts, from @rags and @Samplingman, describe the two camps my three body guys are in.

Two of them are kinda where @Samplingman is. "yeah, we can do it, but this is what it takes. Not worth it man. And we might not even get it right for ya after all that hard work". One is, "tough job, but it aint that hard, you just make sure you bing, bang, boom, etc., but it WILL be pricey even with friend rates."

Where they agree? This body flex thing, during resto, has to be managed. AND, that is HARD to do on fusie verts even, I am told, in body-in-white 50 years ago in the plant -- with original design jigs/fixtures. Lotta rework before many of them left the plant it is said

I dunno. Not trying to debate that, but I do know the Fisher Body division at GM always wanted more money/time to control for it - body stiffness -during the builds of their big platform verts.

Thanks again everyone for your views. Very helpful.

---

btw, a few folks here knew I have these verts and knew my plans DID include giving away (yes, "give away for NO money" .. somebody just agree to pick them up at a place/time, exactly where they are - in Michigan) the shells of what i deemed "parts cars" to anybody just willing/able to drag (they'd be four wheel rollers) them away.

NOT MINE - 1969 Chrysler 300 & Fury III Convertible barn finds, $1200-4500 Clinton, MI

Even after I picked them clean of what I wanted, there would surely be stuff left over useful perhaps on other cars that arent verts. I predict no one would want them after that, even if free, just adding time/hassle to the whole deal for everybody.

Hence part then scrap.

I am now leaning against that "give away" idea. I really just dont wanna be horsing around with, even with abandoned project cars that are free, with time wasters, nit-pickers, appointment breakers, etc.

EVERYBODY is NOT like that, I know.

But I (and my local buddy taking them apart for me) dont have patience for even ONE person like that. Two miles from where the cars are is a recycler. Show up with the titles (I have them) and if its a slow day, he'll crush them while we watch.

To me, better that fate (help save the planet) than a derby or some ill-advised attempt to put a compromised car back on the road. Simple fact is they all can't be saved.. and I am ok with that.

Then I'll go back yellin at the kids on the lawn or at somethin else equally pointless.

 

[polara71]

I'm likin' this thread already.

 

[amazinblue82]

ah, the simple pleasures in life, boss.

 

[marty mopar]

had a 69 300 convertible in the early 1980s...yellow with white interior, 440, what a sled! didn't have it very long, but I liked having a battleship.

bought some grille medallions from a dealership as they were still available for about 5 dollars.... even then I thought holy crap that was cheap!

 

[SGT FURY]

As far as body flex goes!
Not quite sure about a fusey conv,but on a 61 Plymouth conv
there is long thick reinforced plate inside rocker panel to stop
body flex. Conv only,, not found on sedans and coupes.

 

[Samplingman]

As far as body flex goes!
Not quite sure about a fusey conv,but on a 61 Plymouth conv
there is long thick reinforced plate inside rocker panel to stop
body flex. Conv only,, not found on sedans and coupes.

View attachment 607708

Same on fuselage cars, but they still twist and flex regardless.

 

[amazinblue82]

I have one more candidate in inventory to check out. The two I have "out of the barn" will be stripped and parted, and shells crushed.

I have been taught a lesson on C-body verts though.

Even with guys I have worked with for decades, this was the first time they disagreed on what to do. I get 1/4 of their regular rates as I have done orders of magnitude MORE business with them/gave them powertrains, etc. More than that, they are just good guys who love this kinda work.

Two guys voted part it, one guy said let's fix it.

They have their "horror stories" about slabbie & fusie verts just being difficult "patients" in the body shop "hospital". Doors poppin' open in fender benders/bumps on inclined roads, and just plain never "bein right" (NVH stuff) after unibody work.

They were kinda disappointed, maybe in themselves, that they just were NOT sure they could "fix it right" with SO MUCH to do on it..

Let me say right here .. i DONT know what others' experiences have been, be they good or bad. SO, I am making NO blanket statements, NOT wanting to debate it, NOT callling anybody right or wrong, etc,,

I am saying FOR ME, I am finally in agreement on something I learned decades ago -- that its BEST, as with any unibody car (especially the BIG ones with heft and torquey mills) to NOT have to get into extensive underside work. It's a no-brainer

but there was always time/money in my case to take on nearly anything. Add a young buck's hubris in the mix too and it was "damn the torpedoes on some deals

And, at least anecdotally, Verts seem to have peculiarities/idiosyncrasies that 20+years ago I would throw my billfold at until we got it right ... not now though. I am just too old.

 

[rags]

my car was so rotten that it could have broken. i built frame connectors for it and made it rock solid. both doors can be opened and shut on a lift. they weren't even difficult to make. in the case of this thread, the decision is made and should be acted on.