Hoping up my Chrysler

I think this may turn into a full out restoration... Unfortunately for my wallet. I just can't see myself not digging into this car and making it better than it is. Because it already is so good. I just purchased new arm rests for the car as the old one on the drivers side was cracked and split.

DMPS-6517 Mopar Front 13" Arm Rest Pads 1966-1967 B-body, 1966-1970 Dodge Charger, 1967-1970 C-body - dantesparts.com

These are about as original as i could find. I have found quite a few 66-70 C bodies on craigslist but none have original arm rests in good condition.

I am going to be on the look out for a steering wheel. I dont know what hard plastic mine is wrapped in but it is cracked in a few places.

Besides getting the trim re-chromed the entire car needs new weather stripping. I am sure that the original is still on the car. But all of that will get done once im ready to re spray this car. Having the original build sheet for the car is cool because ill know the exact color it needs to get painted. Ill know once i get the car back from the upholster tomorrow. However when I get it re-sprayed I will most likely go with a base-coat clear-coat instead of a single stage. I can't see any reason why to do it this way unless it hurts the value of the car.

How much value does having the original certi-card (i think thats what its called) add do you guys think? One of my uncles friends found it under the hood when we were tuning the car a few weeks back. He explained to me what they were used for and I thought it was pretty cool.

We may need to move this thread to the restoration section.
 
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Check the casting numbers of your cylinder heads the last three numbers. In 67 the 915 small exhaust valve heads 1.60” were used in the 350hp 440s. If this is what you have, when you get your heads done have 1.74” exhaust valves and hardened seats installed. You will have yourself a set of 915 hp heads. If your engine was built with 516 heads they can also be fitted with 1.74” exhaust valves and seats, they just don’t flow as good as the 915 heads. Both are closed camber design heads.
 
LeBaron1973 said:
Just a suggestion for parts, Murray B. Park in Ohio, a well respected fellow lots of us have purchased from. Here is the link to 1967 Chrysler:

Www.cbodies.com/categories.asp?cat=86
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thanks for the link i appreciate it.

66Newyorker said:
Check the casting numbers of your cylinder heads the last three numbers. In 67 the 915 small exhaust valve heads 1.60” were used in the 350hp 440s. If this is what you have, when you get your heads done have 1.74” exhaust valves and hardened seats installed. You will have yourself a set of 915 hp heads. If your engine was built with 516 heads they can also be fitted with 1.74” exhaust valves and seats, they just don’t flow as good as the 915 heads. Both are closed camber design heads.
Click to expand...

1.74" got it. Thanks for the info, ill also check the casting numbers.
 
MightyMats said:
Here are some pictures of the car and how it looks now. My little brother took the pictures. He convinced me to take it to what he called a "car show." Well it was more like a car meet up of kids with imports who smoked weed in a burger king parking lot and had lowered cars on cheap rims.

But he took some decent photos so here she is.

View attachment 206218 View attachment 206219 View attachment 206220
Click to expand...

She's purdy...keep her that way. And drive her as much as you can damn it! When the ricers start gettin stooopid, bounce out of there and hit a country road for a cruise.


Ripinator said:
Thank you.

Please also comment on the usage of 'to, too and two'. :poke:
Click to expand...

Dont forget yer, youz and all y'all :poke:

MightyMats said:
I think this may turn into a full out restoration... Unfortunately for my wallet. I just can't see myself not digging into this car and making it better than it is. Because it already is so good. I just purchased new arm rests for the car as the old one on the drivers side was cracked and split.

DMPS-6517 Mopar Front 13" Arm Rest Pads 1966-1967 B-body, 1966-1970 Dodge Charger, 1967-1970 C-body - dantesparts.com

These are about as original as i could find. I have found quite a few 66-70 C bodies on craigslist but none have original arm rests in good condition.

I am going to be on the look out for a steering wheel. I dont know what hard plastic mine is wrapped in but it is cracked in a few places.

Besides getting the trim re-chromed the entire car needs new weather stripping. I am sure that the original is still on the car. But all of that will get done once im ready to re spray this car. Having the original build sheet for the car is cool because ill know the exact color it needs to get painted. Ill know once i get the car back from the upholster tomorrow. However when I get it re-sprayed I will most likely go with a base-coat clear-coat instead of a single stage. I can't see any reason why to do it this way unless it hurts the value of the car.

How much value does having the original certi-card (i think thats what its called) add do you guys think? One of my uncles friends found it under the hood when we were tuning the car a few weeks back. He explained to me what they were used for and I thought it was pretty cool.

We may need to move this thread to the restoration section.
Click to expand...

BC/CC is good. IMHO, it does not devalue the car...as long as you do everything that needs to be done along with a paint job--ie whiskers and rubber etc. Dont half-*** it, a half-*** paint job will be spotted a mile away. (but that means $$$ unless you can do some of it yerself). A certi-card and broadcast sheet is great! Good history on the car. Those are part of what makes the car more sought-after. Do you have a fender tag? (if you posted it, I didnt see it, sorry)

-Lemme ax you something...how old are ya? Just wondering...:D
 
Ignition? Many orientations and brand/type prefs. To me, the Chrysler electronic conversion kit is pretty neat and OEM-based.

Carb? Why the Holley 750cfm double-pumper? It's a little too "race" oriented, to me. A Edelbrock 650 (either AFB or AVS) would be much better and less trouble to keep running reliably. No real need for 750cfm for a street motor, to me, which will not get much over 5000rpm, even at WOT upshifts. That's just me. Now, IF you upsize the cam a good bit, do a different intake manifold, add headers, and a full 2.5" exhaust system, THEN you might really need that much cfm.

The '67 440/350 motor had a 600 Holley 4160 as OEM factory equipment It was plenty for that car and motor. The Carter/Edelbrock AFB or AVS should not need to be rebuilt quite so often as the Holleys, might, especially back in '67.

Distributor vacuum advance? Got to have it for decent cruise fuel economy. No real advantage, from what I've seen, with running it other than "ported" vacuum. The carb is set-up that way, too. As soon as the rpms get off-idle, you're getting the majority of manifold vacuum at the "ported" vacuum port anyway. The OTHER thing is that with the idle speed set at base timing, vac advance unplugged and capped, as soon as you put the hose on the manifold vacuum tap, that ads about 25 degrees to the base timing right then, which raises the base idle speed a good bit. To slow it down, you have to close the throttle plates enough to put them out of their desired (and engineered) position in reference to the idle and transition ports in the carb base plate. Sags and flat spots can result when coming off-idle, which can't be otherwise tuned-around. Keep it all in stock configuration, in this area, for best results.

For now, continue to work on getting the car to run well and reliably. Fix the weatherstrip and such, for good measure. Do other things to see how much brake lining is still on the shoes, for example.

You might be surprised how well the stock-configuration car can be. Street driving is about response rather than pure power at 5000+rpm. TORQUE moves the car. Keep the stock converter unless you upsize the cam a bunch. 3.23 gears were standard 300 fare, as I recall, with New Yorkers getting the 2.76 gears as standard, but 3.23 as optional. With the 440/350 motor.

You don't need a 50KV ignition system when the plugs only need about 10KV to fire them. The coil will only produce enough voltage to fire the plug. The GM HEI was designed to fire a .100" plug gap, with many OEM Olds motors which spec'd .080" gaps back then. All you need to have is enough to fire about .045" gaps for best power. Once you get past about .060", plug wire condition can be a factor in miss-fires.

Fuel injection can be a neat thing, if you have about $2K to spend on the unit and getting it all in the car. Prices have decreased in the last year or so, but look at the price of the "kit" rather than just the "unit" that goes on the manifold. Might need to also use a different intake manifold (single plane or upgraded dual-plane), NOT to forget the necessary distributor and other side issues. Can be more work and expense, to say the least. A $400.00 carb can look pretty good and give similar mpg when it's all said and done, by observation.

Engine rebuild? Use stock, OEM-level parts. Might not be a "sexy" as some of the "hot rod" brands, but will do just as well for a generally-stock engine. Key might be to find a piston to keep the compression ratio where it is, as most brands have ONE stock 440 piston that's not forged. The closed chamber heads can be a PLUS, here! Use only stock valve stem seals. Use the bronze-helicoil style valve guide reconditioning. Better friction interface with chrome stem valves, it's claimed. Factory HO 440s and such of the later '60s used a chrome-moly top ring, which would be good to do. Plus probably a Mopar Perf windage tray, for good measure.

If you need to remove the thermostat to get the engine to cool, then the block probably needs a full cooling system flush and core plug replacement, plus a radiator clean-out. Messy, but can be beneficial. Going cooler than 180 degrees can result in accelerated cylinder wall wear, according to Vic Edelbrock. If you remove the clutch fan, replace it with an electric unit. Some are less expensive then others!

The stock car was a pretty impressive car, when new, all things considered. Learn about and what makes it "tick" before you start making a "magazine build" out of it.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
MarPar said:
She's purdy...keep her that way. And drive her as much as you can damn it! When the ricers start gettin stooopid, bounce out of there and hit a country road for a cruise.




Dont forget yer, youz and all y'all :poke:



BC/CC is good. IMHO, it does not devalue the car...as long as you do everything that needs to be done along with a paint job--ie whiskers and rubber etc. Dont half-*** it, a half-*** paint job will be spotted a mile away. (but that means $$$ unless you can do some of it yerself). A certi-card and broadcast sheet is great! Good history on the car. Those are part of what makes the car more sought-after. Do you have a fender tag? (if you posted it, I didnt see it, sorry)

-Lemme ax you something...how old are ya? Just wondering...:D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words i appreciate it. I am currently teaching myself how to do body work with my Jeep. I'm learning how to correctly mix, apply, and sand down body filler to make panels straight. Within a few weeks ill be priming and blocking the Jeep down for paint. My counsins cousin (no relation to me) owns an autobody shop and he is giving me free reign of his paint booth and equipment on a weekend of my choosing to paint my car. His son is going to come in friday night and help me get everything set up so i can paint the car metallic silver and hit it with the clear. The only contingency is that my stuff is gone by monday morning. Or i start owing him $$$. Ill throw him some money for his troubles and ALL materials i use so hopefully when the time comes to paint the Chrysler he will be generous enough to help me out again. I am lucky in the fact that everyone in my family knows someone or can help me out if I need something. But I like to do everything myself if I can.

Yes the tag is still on the fender. Ill post a picture of it tomorrow when i get the car back from the upholsterer. I had the front seat re-done because it was pretty tattered and I was not about to put down duck tape.

I am 26 years young. Just turned 26 in June.

Edit: i think my favorite part about driving the car is the guys who speed up to check the car out and then see some young kid driving it and give me the thumbs up.

The older things are the better. My Jeep is a 77' CJ7 and I own a 82' Kawasaki LTD 1000. I just don't really see a need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on new stuff when I can buy something cheaper and cooler, that will hold its value if I take care of it. Heated seats and AC is nice but its nothing that warm clothes and driving faster cant fix. Unless you are in traffic...
 
Last edited:
CBODY67 said:
Ignition? Many orientations and brand/type prefs. To me, the Chrysler electronic conversion kit is pretty neat and OEM-based.

Carb? Why the Holley 750cfm double-pumper? It's a little too "race" oriented, to me. A Edelbrock 650 (either AFB or AVS) would be much better and less trouble to keep running reliably. No real need for 750cfm for a street motor, to me, which will not get much over 5000rpm, even at WOT upshifts. That's just me. Now, IF you upsize the cam a good bit, do a different intake manifold, add headers, and a full 2.5" exhaust system, THEN you might really need that much cfm.

The '67 440/350 motor had a 600 Holley 4160 as OEM factory equipment It was plenty for that car and motor. The Carter/Edelbrock AFB or AVS should not need to be rebuilt quite so often as the Holleys, might, especially back in '67.

Distributor vacuum advance? Got to have it for decent cruise fuel economy. No real advantage, from what I've seen, with running it other than "ported" vacuum. The carb is set-up that way, too. As soon as the rpms get off-idle, you're getting the majority of manifold vacuum at the "ported" vacuum port anyway. The OTHER thing is that with the idle speed set at base timing, vac advance unplugged and capped, as soon as you put the hose on the manifold vacuum tap, that ads about 25 degrees to the base timing right then, which raises the base idle speed a good bit. To slow it down, you have to close the throttle plates enough to put them out of their desired (and engineered) position in reference to the idle and transition ports in the carb base plate. Sags and flat spots can result when coming off-idle, which can't be otherwise tuned-around. Keep it all in stock configuration, in this area, for best results.

For now, continue to work on getting the car to run well and reliably. Fix the weatherstrip and such, for good measure. Do other things to see how much brake lining is still on the shoes, for example.

You might be surprised how well the stock-configuration car can be. Street driving is about response rather than pure power at 5000+rpm. TORQUE moves the car. Keep the stock converter unless you upsize the cam a bunch. 3.23 gears were standard 300 fare, as I recall, with New Yorkers getting the 2.76 gears as standard, but 3.23 as optional. With the 440/350 motor.

You don't need a 50KV ignition system when the plugs only need about 10KV to fire them. The coil will only produce enough voltage to fire the plug. The GM HEI was designed to fire a .100" plug gap, with many OEM Olds motors which spec'd .080" gaps back then. All you need to have is enough to fire about .045" gaps for best power. Once you get past about .060", plug wire condition can be a factor in miss-fires.

Fuel injection can be a neat thing, if you have about $2K to spend on the unit and getting it all in the car. Prices have decreased in the last year or so, but look at the price of the "kit" rather than just the "unit" that goes on the manifold. Might need to also use a different intake manifold (single plane or upgraded dual-plane), NOT to forget the necessary distributor and other side issues. Can be more work and expense, to say the least. A $400.00 carb can look pretty good and give similar mpg when it's all said and done, by observation.

Engine rebuild? Use stock, OEM-level parts. Might not be a "sexy" as some of the "hot rod" brands, but will do just as well for a generally-stock engine. Key might be to find a piston to keep the compression ratio where it is, as most brands have ONE stock 440 piston that's not forged. The closed chamber heads can be a PLUS, here! Use only stock valve stem seals. Use the bronze-helicoil style valve guide reconditioning. Better friction interface with chrome stem valves, it's claimed. Factory HO 440s and such of the later '60s used a chrome-moly top ring, which would be good to do. Plus probably a Mopar Perf windage tray, for good measure.

If you need to remove the thermostat to get the engine to cool, then the block probably needs a full cooling system flush and core plug replacement, plus a radiator clean-out. Messy, but can be beneficial. Going cooler than 180 degrees can result in accelerated cylinder wall wear, according to Vic Edelbrock. If you remove the clutch fan, replace it with an electric unit. Some are less expensive then others!

The stock car was a pretty impressive car, when new, all things considered. Learn about and what makes it "tick" before you start making a "magazine build" out of it.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
Click to expand...

Wow, a lot for me to digest there! I'm glad its all written down. I'm mostly interested in why a cooler thermostat can increase cylinder wall wear. I think im going to look that up first once I finish all my finals for this semester and deal with my anniversary. I put a 165 degree thermostat in a few weeks ago because it was running hot. But when I took it to my uncles shop and all the monkeys got their hands on it and started helping me adjust the carb and timing they told me that putting a cooler thermostat in can sometimes make overheating worse. They said I wanted to keep the liquid inside the block as long as possible. Maybe ill just swap it back out with a new 185 degree one we will see but she is not running hot anymore.

Thank you for taking the time to type that all out. Appreciate it.
 
You need temperature to keep the fuel vaporized. Too cool and the fuel can form droplets on the cylinder walls, washing away the oil.

A flex fan will be really noisy and will also be sucking power. A thermostatic fan won’t run when cooling isn’t needed so will be quiet on the highway.

If you are resorting to crutches to keep the car cool, you have another problem that needs to be addressed
 
You got so lucky to get such a well preserved car.
As far as the air cleaner goes, you could drill some holes in the bottom pan outside of where the filter sets and let some more air in, if you don't wanna run that tiny deal.
Do you have A/C?
 
Just a suggestion, points lovers will chime in .....
Proform Mopar Licensed Electronic Distributor Conversion Kits 440-426
You could hide the module some where and 99% of the populace would not spot the change.
PS- nice work on the Jeep
You might have screwed up some grammar, but you have awesome garage skills.

aa.jpg
 
65Fury440 said:
You got so lucky to get such a well preserved car.
As far as the air cleaner goes, you could drill some holes in the bottom pan outside of where the filter sets and let some more air in, if you don't wanna run that tiny deal.
Do you have A/C?
Click to expand...

The reason why I bought the car is because it was in such good condition. I came home and told her I was going to look at a car up the street. It wasn't posted on craigslist. It was just sitting on the side of the street with a for sale sign hanging from the mirror. Test drove the car, negotiated a price and walked away with the keys. I had to have it, my wife was ******* pissed at first but now she likes the car. No unfortunately I do not have AC in the car. But it has power brakes, steering and a power bench seat. Which I think is wicked cool.

Edit: I paid 5,750 for the car. Which I thought was a pretty good deal.

65Fury440 said:
Just a suggestion, points lovers will chime in .....
Proform Mopar Licensed Electronic Distributor Conversion Kits 440-426
You could hide the module some where and 99% of the populace would not spot the change.
PS- nice work on the Jeep
You might have screwed up some grammar, but you have awesome garage skills.

View attachment 206430
Click to expand...

I think I am taking a english class next semester so hopefully my grammar will improve. I know mine is sub par and thank you for the compliment. I'm at the point where my Jeep is almost driving but about 2-3 months ago i was feeling really down about it. I need to commute an hour and a half to get to my dads house. I can only work on it on weekends when my wife lets me. Its been a very tough project not being able to get my hands on it daily. I dont think I will ever take on a project of this size for a LONG time. Building a car from scratch brings on the suck.
 
Last edited:
Hardened valve seats - Great idea. You will need a complete valve job too, and if it was me I'd replace the valves with 2.14 intake /1.74 exhaust stainless performance valves
Port work - Total waste of money - have a performance shop with great equipment do a 5-angle performance valve job on the heads and you will get the benefit of or porting without the cost for just that.
Duel 2" exhaust keeping the stock manifolds and add some quiet mufflers w/ X or H pipe - Up the exhaust size to 2 1/2" pipe from just down from the manifold flanges.
Holly 750 double pumper - Waste of money. Keep the Edelbrock and tune it properly. It will far exceed the Holley's performance with what you have.
Edlebrock duelplane intake "Dual" plane :). Don't want it fighting itself...lol. The Performer is a great choice.
Rather than waste money on porting or gimmicks - replace the camshaft with a mild aftermarket unit. Something like the Comp XE262will really open your eyes without affecting idle vacuum or needing different driveline parts. You will also need to buy matching springs for any cam choice.
727 rebuild - Good idea. A stock rebuild with a TransGo TF1 is a nice crisp shift that won't be too harsh.
I daily drive this thing and by no means am i looking to turns this into a F body. But id like to be able to put my foot down on the on ramp. However I DO NOT want to be put back in my seat everytime i touch the pedal. Would a different torque converter help that? - A different convertor will behave differently...lol. Not to be a wise ***, but again spending on a convertor is one of those things that in a C body really doesn't pay off well. The cars are heavy, and the gearing is normally more low rpm oriented. So what's around for shelf-type convertors will simply be higher stall, and more soggy feeling around town. Your best bet is to keep the stock one and mod the engine a hair. Least IMO.

Edit - For ignition - I'd put a curve in the distributor and then use the Pertronix conversion. If you want to upgrade, the MSD ready-to-run would be my 1st choice. Use a vacuum advance, and plug in into ported vacuum source.
 
Last edited:
65Fury440 said:
Just a suggestion, points lovers will chime in .....
Proform Mopar Licensed Electronic Distributor Conversion Kits 440-426
You could hide the module some where and 99% of the populace would not spot the change.
PS- nice work on the Jeep
You might have screwed up some grammar, but you have awesome garage skills.

View attachment 206430
Click to expand...

I just tried putting my third Proform kit into my 79 2 weeks ago only to find out the distributor shaft was 3mm too short and wasn't engaging the drive. Took me all day to figure out that the rotor wasn't turning and that's why I had a no start. I have used these kits on several other cars with no problems but this was my first small block conversion with this brand. From now on I will be using the Rick Ehrenberg kits as they are fully vetted for Mopars.

Rick Ehrenberg's Mopars
 
I hope you guys like stories, because it's story time.

Here's the deal with what's going on. A few weeks ago I was paying my rent at my apt and talking to the secretary in the office. I told her I wanted to get my front seats reupholstered and guess what. Her husband owned a re-upholstery shop a few miles from my place so I said sure i'll go see him. She told me he does "amazing work," so I called and stopped by the shop. It's not the best shop but I said "**** it" if he does good work and the price is right i'll give him my business.

He didn't have any car seats because I guess he mostly does work on boats because that was what was in his shop, boat soft tops. He seemed like a cool guy, had american flags everywhere (which I love) and we talked about a date, price, and time then shook hands. I give him the cash for the job (big mistake) he writes me a receipt, and I walk away.

Fast forward two weeks and I drop the car off on Tuesday. I am reassured the car will be ready for pick up on Friday and that he will give me a call, perfect. I catch a ride back to my place with a buddy because my wife is living out of state for work and that's my only set of wheels. I've been bumming rides to base the past three days but that's not really a big deal. Get off today and i'm doing homework waiting for my phone to ring... Never does. Call the shop, no answer. I can't even leave a message. My wife looks them up on BBB, google, and yelp. Dun dun dun, horrible reviews all across the board. All sorts of bad stuff even the cops got involved in one case apparently.

Well I'm going to go by the shop in the morning and if my car is there and he hasn't touched it I'm taking it away, ill get my cash back later. I have an 8 hour shift tomorrow until midnight and I need the car. The deal was friday, not saturday, not monday, not two weeks from now.

But maybe the car is all done, he was just waiting for me to show up today and all of this is for nothing. However I have a weird feeling in my gut so I'm just going to try to walk away from this. Hey if he didn't start the work there is no reason I shouldn't be able to get my money back. I shouldn't have paid in cash though.
 
I'll give you some real advice this time.

Slow down. Don't become a slave (or go into debt) for this car. It looks pretty good in the pics you've shown, so I can't imagine you need even 1/2 the work that other people are suggesting; but what the Hell, right? It's YOUR money. It's much more enjoyable to have a reliable car and zero debt than some ill-tempered turd and interest payments on a depreciating asset.

And yes, don't front anybody cash for automotive work. A professional shop can put a lien on if you don't pay.
 
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