Finally got my dream car : 2-dr 300!

CitronPresse

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Hi there!

First of all: please forgive my terrible english: I speak french habitually (I'm from Quebec) so I try to do my best but it's not always a success :D:canada:

My name is Loïc, 28 years old I'm a car maniac and I owned approximately 65 different cars in last 10 years, every type of cars (little european cars, sports cars, big landyachts and a lot of shitty cars...)
I had a nice bunch of big old american cars...'72 and '75 Cadillacs, '78 Marquis, '76 Electra ParkAvenue, '77 T-Bird (and probably some other that I forgot) and of course some Chrysler C-bodies:
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A '68 300 and a '71 Imperial

I already created a thread about my '68 300 (my first Mopar), I suggest you to read out this thread where I posted a lot of pictures:
My first Mopar : '68 Chrysler 300...needs a lot of love...

After the 300 I had (for a couple weeks only) the Imperial and the next summer (2016) my '78 Mercury Marquis
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I sold it (or rather traded it for a shitty '06 Audi A4) after a couple of weeks and then...nothing...I didn't own any "big boat" for 3 summers :(

I fall in love with Fuselage Chryslers and especially the '70 2-door 300, so I managed to find one in last 3 years but these cars are really rare in Canada and the good ones became more and more expensive so I planned to buy a solid one in the south of USA
But the importation process is a pain for a newbie like me and as the years passed, my dream to find a clean 2d 300 under 5000$ seemed to come unrealizable...
So I more or less put this idea aside and continue to check other models

Last winter (early 2019) I found a '69 Mercury Marauder not far from me (1 hour far) for a decent price, a barnfind (not running) in very nice original condition, so I decided to go see it
The guy is a big classic car enthusiast like me, and his barn if full of nice project cars...
While we cross the barn to enter in another one, I found myself face to face with this:
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Obviously I immediately ask if this one is for sale and obviously the answer is no :D

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So we continue to the Marauder, which is beautiful and probably more "exclusive" than the 300 (the 300 is more common), but now I only think to the 300...
I kept contact with the owner, he finally told me that when he would be ready to let it go, the car would be for me!
And he kept his promise: after 6 months, he called me back and told me that he was ready! :)

It's a '69 and not a '70 like my dream model so:
-rear bumper is bigger
-no full-length taillight (it's in 2 sections)
-no pan under the bumper...so the rear fascia doesn't looks as large and "bestial" as the '70

My dream was to have a red 300 (with black or white interior), this one is "light green", clearly not my favorite color...BUT:
-it's not brown, gold or beige (I had too many brownish cars and I hate this color :confused: )
-it has a front bench seat...for me a real landyacht must have a bench seat
-it has power windows
-it is mostly original (paint, interior...)
-it has some features specific to early Fuselage C-bodies: ignition switch on the dash, front window vents, hood latch in the grille, horn ring, toggle switches...I know it's ridiculous but I love those features :realcrazy:
And the most important things:
-it is really clean and sound since it never seen winter (reason why most canadian cars are rotten)
-it is closely at my door: 1 hour far from Quebec-city where I live...I was planning to get one in California :rofl:

More information:
The car has 89,000 original miles, but the engine was changed under warranty when the car was approximately at 35,000 miles, it's not a good thing...the original 1969 440 engines was probably the better ones for the specs: beginning in '72/73 (depending on the manufacturers) were the first antipollution devices, the cars from this era were not as powerful as the late 60s models...and if the car was 35,000mi when it received a new engine, it should be in '72/73 (maybe 71, maybe 74?), am I right? I'll be able to determine the year with the engine number
But anyway I have a beautiful '70 440 HP engine in my garage, I picked it up on my friend's full-options '70 NewYorker just before it sent it to the junkyard (a real canadian rotten car), so it shouldn't be a problem on long term :)

Habitually I'm a "purist", I like to keep my cars in original condition, but this one already has a non-original engine, so why not? :)
You will hate me but I also plan to give it some modifications...slight suspension lowering, dog-dish hubcaps, dual-exhaust with headers, aluminium intake manifold, a carb and probably a camshaft...spread on a a couple of years

But before that I have a lot of work: the car has not been on the road since 15-20 years, its previous owner bought it in 2017 from the first owner and it was already in this condition...the fuel tank is full of deposits that probably clogged the fuel lines and it will probably need an intensive tune-up: ignition system (spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor), a carb cleaning, and when I look at the pictures I think that valve covers gaskets and brake master-cylinder are due
But the owner said he made some test drives with a fuel can under the hood and it works really fine, needing mainly a good brake bleeding (but for me the master-cylinder is dead)

Now it's time for some pictures:
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The "moonbeam" style wheel covers are not my cup of tea but the car comes with its original covers...anyway I think I already have some nice Mopar "poverty caps" in my 1000 wheel covers collection :realcrazy:
The dog-dish caps will look good with the white lettered tires
I don't know what in the engine bay is original or not (what is from the original engine and what is from the later one), I like the dual-snorkel air cleaner but it'll take a fresh black paint coat and new "440 Four-Barrel" stickers

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The body seems to be clean under the vinyl top, a rare thing on a canadian car, even my '71 Imperial that was beautifully restored in an amazing condition was beginning to rust around the vinyl top rear moldings
I only seen the car in its dark barn so I'm aware that I could find some bad surprises when I'll be able to take a closer look...

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The green interior is awful (in my opinion) but at least it is pretty clean and original :p

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New master-cylinder and valve cover gaskets will be needed unless I'm mistaken
[the end on the next post...I can't upload more than 20 pictures in one post...:mad:]
 
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[the rest]
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Frame and floor pans are overall really good...

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...but I'll maybe cry when I'm gonna see the rocker panels under chrome trims

That's it for my new 300, I was supposed to get it in my garage these days but it's impossible with the f*cking "corona mess": the towing company is closed, and I can't find any place to store my other beloved car (a '74 Renault 5) :(
So I'll have to wait, I'm gonna make the road next week probably to lay a coat of silicon sealer around the window moldings, and maybe try to remove the fuel tank that I'll bring to a radiator shop for a good refurbishment: cleaning, sandblasting and inner coating...less expensive than a new tank

Beside refurbish the fuel tank, what should I do? Blow in the fuel lines (from front and rear) to clean them before reinstall the tank, or install new rubber fuel lines where it's possible?
I'll order some stuff on Rockauto, a couple of feet of 5/16 fuel line, collars, fuel filters...what else?

For sure I'll ask you some advices when I'll begin to work on the beast, thank you in advance if you accept to help me! :p
Don't hesitate to give me your opinion on the car and what you'd do in my place in order to put the car on the road again in the best conditions :)

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A little picture of my "70s toaster" :D

Thanks for reading (if you did XD )
Loïc
 
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my God a Renault Le Car...those were real death traps....but I like the rest of your cars especially the Marauder...looks like a X100?
 
Nice car, when you are driving, the road will take your eyes off the green interior. I hardly even notice it in my Monaco. I don't notice the blue in the Polara either, too busy enjoying the drive!
 
Hey thanks guys for your support! :p

The only cars I still own are the 300 and the Renault, I don't own the other ones anymore unfortunately :(
The other cars I have are a '93 Buick Century, a '05 Toyota Echo hatchback (my daily driver), two Citroëns ('81 Dyane and '67 DS21) with my father, and I plan to buy an '92 Honda Accord in next weeks XD

A little pic of the DS like it's contemporary to our beautiful Fuselage Chryslers :p
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Nice car, when you are driving, the road will take your eyes off the green interior. I hardly even notice it in my Monaco. I don't notice the blue in the Polara either, too busy enjoying the drive!

Ahah really nicely said, and you are totally right my friend, I complain about my interior's color but I know that I'll quickly forget that :p
And this 300 is one of the firsts cars (with my Renault) that I plan to keep on the long term, so I'll get used to its little "flaws"

That is by far your best looking car!:thumbsup::wideyed:
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Hehe yes it was beautiful, and I regret that I have sold it :(
At the time (back in 2016) I was not in love with the "slab sides" Chryslers (I got the '68 300 on a sudden impulse), but I learned to appreciate them and today these are in my favorite car designs and one day I'll get another one
Last year I called the guy who bought it to me and asked him to sell it back to me, he accepted but he put a completely new and modified 440 engine in the car so the price was too expensive for me :(

My dream was to find a 2dr Fuselage 300 and now I got it!
The next one (in a couple of years probably) will be a '65 NewYorker, 2 or 4dr
Like this one:
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my God a Renault Le Car...those were real death traps....but I like the rest of your cars especially the Marauder...looks like a X100?

Ahah I think these cars were only not in your culture, french cars were not really suitable for americans, too small, too simple, you didn't need an economical car at the time...but these little Renaults were incredibly comfortable (more than my big Chryslers) and good-handling cars :)

For the Marauder it's not mine, I didn't buy it ;)
And no it's not a X100, just a well-optioned base model, originally a 390 "upgraded" with a 429...but a 429 from 1973 :(
Otherwise this thing was beautiful, I really hesitated to buy it, if I didn't find the 300 I'd buy the Marauder :D

Nice collection.
That dual snorkel is home made...
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For real? :eek:
It seems to be well made, I'll probably keep it anyway after a little refreshing :)
 
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It's always nice to find what you are looking for, nice car! And don't worry, judging by the underside shot's, there should only be a bit of surface rust on the rocker's.
With 3 lug nut wheels too!

Dang! You beat me to it! I used to give my friend across the street a hard time about that. Fun little car though. His was silver with orange "Le Car" script across the bottom of the door's.
 
It's always nice to find what you are looking for, nice car! And don't worry, judging by the underside shot's, there should only be a bit of surface rust on the rocker's.

Ahah yeah I hope you're right! :p
I can't wait to have it in my garage and begin to work on it :p
This damn coronavirus must stop now :BangHead:
 

Yes the DS was a fantastic car ahead of its time, even more in Europe where people were not familiar with "clutchless" transmissions :p

You'll just have to buy a big pickup and large car trailer then you can collect your cars yourself.
Best wishes with your collection.

Ahah yeah that's a nice idea, I sold my '02 Dakota 4.7 with only 53,000mi and I miss him, it'd be perfect to tow the 300 on a dolly :(
 
Ahah yeah that's a nice idea, I sold my '02 Dakota 4.7 with only 53,000mi and I miss him, it'd be perfect to tow the 300 on a dolly

I gotta argue with you there. A Dakota with a 4.7 is a great truck, I can't remember the base engine, but the 4.7 made it a completely different truck. Still not enough to comfortably tow a C body any real distance. The 4.7 could probably handle it (barely), it would kill an automatic transmission, but mostly, the suspension isn't adequate.
 
I gotta argue with you there. A Dakota with a 4.7 is a great truck, I can't remember the base engine, but the 4.7 made it a completely different truck. Still not enough to comfortably tow a C body any real distance. The 4.7 could probably handle it (barely), it would kill an automatic transmission, but mostly, the suspension isn't adequate.

Hehe I admit that you're right!
For a very short distance (a few blocks) I think it should be okay but the 300 is 1 hour far from my home with a long highway portion
Anyway I found a solution for all my problems, sometimes the stars do align! :D

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(sorry for the size I don't know why the pictures are so small :eek: )

The Renault is put up in my buddy's garage for 2-3 weeks while I work on the Chrysler in my garage, he borrowed his boss's closed trailer...I took measurements and surprisingly the Chrysler fits in the trailer: 84in between the inner fenders and the car is 79in large, 254in long after the V-nose, and the car is 225in long
I was planning to rent a platform trailer (car hauler at Uhaul) but this closed trailer seems to be perfect!
The truck is a 2018 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 engine, I towed many times with 5.3 Silverados (up to 11,000lbs with an old '04 Silverado 5.3) and they are pretty good for this use, as long as carefully driven, at 50-55mph

So the garage is emptied from the Renault and one of my other summer cars (a '93 Buick Century), everything is ready, wednesday is the day!
The 300 is finally coming in the garage, I plan to start with fuel tank removal for a refurbishing by a specialized shop and a good cleaning of all the fuel lines :)
 
I don't know how, but I created not one, but two identical threads... :eek: :rofl:

So I answer here to those who answered on the other thread, @Davea Lux , @slamabad , @commando1 , @Trace 300 Hurst and @3175375

I doubt that a reputable dealer would have installed a later smog motor in you '69 Chrysler. There were usually sufficient crate motors available of the correct year type to put the car back to original specifications. On the front of the block opposite the distributor there is a machined pad. On the pad will be stamped E 440 usually followed by the letters HP. This would indicate a '69 motor. One the same pad, the will usually also be an assembly date for the engine. To be correct, this date will will usually be prior to the build date for the car. Dealers usually were pretty good about putting a warranty engine of the correct year back into the car. The assembly dates might not be correct, but that was not a priority on a warranty claim. Mopar engines usually always have an engine casting number and an engine casting date on the left side of the block, that is another way to determine the year of the engine. On the right side of the block towards the front of the engine, there is a machined pad at the pan rail. On '69 and later Mopars, this was used to stamp a full or partial VIN for the vehicle. A good dealer would stamp a warranty block with the VIN which was considered part of making the owner of the vehicle whole again, but not all dealers did this.

You Chrysler looks to be pretty solid and should make a good project. Be sure to go thru the brakes as they will likely be degraded from sitting, new master cylinder, hoses and wheel cylinders at a minimum so you do not crash your new toy. Carefully inspect and or replace all tires.
Dave

Thanks for your detailed answer Dave!
To be honest I was wondering how it used to work in those warranty cases back in the days, you reassure me, if the car actually have a correct '69 engine it'll be a beautiful surprise
I have a '70 complete engine (with transmission and all stuff around) but if I can keep it in reserve and keep the car with its actual engine it will be better
I'll decode these engine codes as soon as possible when I bring the car home! Thanks alot! :)

Love the Marquis and the Marauder!

I love them too, with the years passing I get more familiar with Mopars, but I always still love all the makes :p
My first old car (other than a Citroën 2CV when I was 15y.o) was a '80 Mercury Monarch with only 23,000km (14,000mi) :p

:wideyed:
At 28, yet. Good job. :thumbsup:

Ahah, thanks man! :D

I think his English is better than most of us 'Murikans!
:canada::usflag:

Hey thanks a lot!!
I understand 99% of english but when I have to talk/write I search my words and often don't know how to tell something the right way :BangHead:
So I'm glad to know I'm not so bad at least! :D

Nice collection!
My parents had a 73 Mercury Colony Park with a 460 that ran on regular. I verified that it could do a burnout from a standstill with 10 teenagers in it.
unique feature it had was a tailgate washer. It retracted the glass into the tailgate and sprayed it. Then the glass lifted back up (dried by fuzzies). I have never seen that option on any other car.

Amazing!!
I consider myself as having a good car culture and I love those weird car features, but I never heard something about this system! :eek:
I'd love to find a car like this today :p
 
It may be a better option to replace all the fuel lines, the perfect opportunity once the tank is out.

Anyway, all the best with your car, as for your English, it's good, interacting with native speakers like those on the forum will improve it, but there's nothing too much wrong (if anything) now.
 
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