Treozen
New Member
I've been asking a few questions here and there, some before I even bought the car, but now that she's here I thought I'd do the formal introduction....Meet "car" .....name TBD.
"Car" is a 1961 Chrysler Newport, that has been sort of warmed-over as a 300 look-a-like, at least in part. She has the grill from what I believe is a '62 300, and the engine and transmission from what I'm told was a similar year New Yorker. The engine is a 413 with long-ram dual four barrel, transmission is aluminum - which I believe makes it '62+ . She runs and drives, in fact I picked the kids up from school today, but as you'd expect, there are a few needs:
The Big Ones
1) Car has about 5" of freeplay in the wheel, and after an unsuccessful adjustment of the gear lash (no change) I am hoping it's the rubber isolator - failing that, it'll be new steering box time. Car is driveable, but much over 40MPH and she wanders around like a drunk and its a bit too white-knuckle for my liking. All the front-end suspension components were recently replaced, so that's good anyway.
2) Car has drum brakes, and they work well-enough, but there is a fairly significant pulsation when coming to a stop - as though a drum were warped and the shoes are making intermittent contact - or the shoes are not contoured to the drum. Its not the end of the world, but it is a bit too much to live with. Remains to be seen if I'll fix the drums or just go to discs - I found a kit I like through Andy Bernbaum and it includes a correct disc / drum master that - so I confirmed - fits under the stock power booster assembly. So we'll see if that's the route I go or not.
3) Car has some sort of vacuum leak introduced when you are using the brake - you can actually feel and hear the car run rough when holding the brake, and recover when you release. I think I can also hear the leak - I have a similar issue with my '67 Tempest, though in that case the leak isn't large enough to show up in how the engine runs. Part of the issue is that Car runs just "ok" but there's room for improvement. I haven't looked to see if its a problem with a check-valve, a problem with the booster unit or a problem with the vacuum canister under the battery, but some way, somehow, we get a vacuum leak when the brakes are applied.
The Middle Ones
4) Car runs ok, but has a bit of a miss at times, stalls at times if given too much fuel and then brought to a sudden stop, doesn't have any chokes hooked up and idles way too high. I've not even attempted to tune or calibrate, so I expect there's a lot that can be done with some tweaking. As of now though, she starts up pretty much first turn of the key and you just need to play with the gas pedal for about 30 seconds, then she'll idle. Once warm, restarts are fast and smooth - so I don't think its that far off, but I don't think the carbs are well-synced and I have no idea where we are in terms of timing or last time the points were addressed, etc. Everything looks in place, but old, and in some cases mismatched (plug wires, for example).
5) Car needs some work on her functions. Wipers work, but on their own schedule - like a random intermittent setting. Heater works, but only on LOW or Defrost - HIGH does nothing, and the "AIR" button doesn't depress at all - frankly all the HVAC buttons are tighter than my grandpa's wallet. Turn signals are having fun with me - Left turn stays engaged, but doesn't auto cancel. Right turn doesn't stay engaged at all - but both do work in that the lights flash. Radio lights come on, but no sound - unknown if its the radio or the speaker.....right....its the radio....but maybe its the speaker ;-) Clock wants to work, but doesn't (no surprise) no horn and no map light.
The Small Things
6) Car is missing her dashpad. I already located a supplier out of Swewden, so I'll probably replace it.
7) Car has a rather broken steering wheel. I found a few places that restore them, but I'd need to knock-over 47 gas-stations and a Wells Fargo to pay for it, so I have an alternate plan for that. I've done some leatherwork in the past, and I'm pretty handy with interiors, so I may try replace the missing top rim with leather to match either the eventual dashpad or seats. It'll be an experiment. The previous owner did a wrap in vinyl, which will work well enough in the short term.
8) Car has throttle return springs previously designed for the Titanic. Its very difficult to get a smooth take-off without looking like a jerk - so those need replaced or adjusted such that you can pull away smoothly, and without having a workout routine for your ankle.
9) Car has - what I assume is either blow-by or burn-off, coming from under the passenger side ram manifold, where the manifold crosses (and touches, I believe) the valve cover. There is not much blow-by to speak of on the other side, which I find odd, but something is causing a noticeable vapor on the passenger side - it's almost as though there were a hole in the valve cover - right where an oil fill might be, only instead the long ram is covering it up. I don't think its an issue per-say, but its certainly annoyng to have one side of the motor look like Thomas the tank engine.
SO - that's the list as of now. Overall, I'm pretty pleased and although body and paint are not perfect, they are well good enough for what I need and require no fixes or repairs - which is great because while I can do electrical, mechanical and upholstery, to me body and paint is essentially witchcraft.
"Car" is a 1961 Chrysler Newport, that has been sort of warmed-over as a 300 look-a-like, at least in part. She has the grill from what I believe is a '62 300, and the engine and transmission from what I'm told was a similar year New Yorker. The engine is a 413 with long-ram dual four barrel, transmission is aluminum - which I believe makes it '62+ . She runs and drives, in fact I picked the kids up from school today, but as you'd expect, there are a few needs:
The Big Ones
1) Car has about 5" of freeplay in the wheel, and after an unsuccessful adjustment of the gear lash (no change) I am hoping it's the rubber isolator - failing that, it'll be new steering box time. Car is driveable, but much over 40MPH and she wanders around like a drunk and its a bit too white-knuckle for my liking. All the front-end suspension components were recently replaced, so that's good anyway.
2) Car has drum brakes, and they work well-enough, but there is a fairly significant pulsation when coming to a stop - as though a drum were warped and the shoes are making intermittent contact - or the shoes are not contoured to the drum. Its not the end of the world, but it is a bit too much to live with. Remains to be seen if I'll fix the drums or just go to discs - I found a kit I like through Andy Bernbaum and it includes a correct disc / drum master that - so I confirmed - fits under the stock power booster assembly. So we'll see if that's the route I go or not.
3) Car has some sort of vacuum leak introduced when you are using the brake - you can actually feel and hear the car run rough when holding the brake, and recover when you release. I think I can also hear the leak - I have a similar issue with my '67 Tempest, though in that case the leak isn't large enough to show up in how the engine runs. Part of the issue is that Car runs just "ok" but there's room for improvement. I haven't looked to see if its a problem with a check-valve, a problem with the booster unit or a problem with the vacuum canister under the battery, but some way, somehow, we get a vacuum leak when the brakes are applied.
The Middle Ones
4) Car runs ok, but has a bit of a miss at times, stalls at times if given too much fuel and then brought to a sudden stop, doesn't have any chokes hooked up and idles way too high. I've not even attempted to tune or calibrate, so I expect there's a lot that can be done with some tweaking. As of now though, she starts up pretty much first turn of the key and you just need to play with the gas pedal for about 30 seconds, then she'll idle. Once warm, restarts are fast and smooth - so I don't think its that far off, but I don't think the carbs are well-synced and I have no idea where we are in terms of timing or last time the points were addressed, etc. Everything looks in place, but old, and in some cases mismatched (plug wires, for example).
5) Car needs some work on her functions. Wipers work, but on their own schedule - like a random intermittent setting. Heater works, but only on LOW or Defrost - HIGH does nothing, and the "AIR" button doesn't depress at all - frankly all the HVAC buttons are tighter than my grandpa's wallet. Turn signals are having fun with me - Left turn stays engaged, but doesn't auto cancel. Right turn doesn't stay engaged at all - but both do work in that the lights flash. Radio lights come on, but no sound - unknown if its the radio or the speaker.....right....its the radio....but maybe its the speaker ;-) Clock wants to work, but doesn't (no surprise) no horn and no map light.
The Small Things
6) Car is missing her dashpad. I already located a supplier out of Swewden, so I'll probably replace it.
7) Car has a rather broken steering wheel. I found a few places that restore them, but I'd need to knock-over 47 gas-stations and a Wells Fargo to pay for it, so I have an alternate plan for that. I've done some leatherwork in the past, and I'm pretty handy with interiors, so I may try replace the missing top rim with leather to match either the eventual dashpad or seats. It'll be an experiment. The previous owner did a wrap in vinyl, which will work well enough in the short term.
8) Car has throttle return springs previously designed for the Titanic. Its very difficult to get a smooth take-off without looking like a jerk - so those need replaced or adjusted such that you can pull away smoothly, and without having a workout routine for your ankle.
9) Car has - what I assume is either blow-by or burn-off, coming from under the passenger side ram manifold, where the manifold crosses (and touches, I believe) the valve cover. There is not much blow-by to speak of on the other side, which I find odd, but something is causing a noticeable vapor on the passenger side - it's almost as though there were a hole in the valve cover - right where an oil fill might be, only instead the long ram is covering it up. I don't think its an issue per-say, but its certainly annoyng to have one side of the motor look like Thomas the tank engine.
SO - that's the list as of now. Overall, I'm pretty pleased and although body and paint are not perfect, they are well good enough for what I need and require no fixes or repairs - which is great because while I can do electrical, mechanical and upholstery, to me body and paint is essentially witchcraft.
