My '72 Newport being held hostage by COVID-19 pt. 1

MattfromMaine

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Here is my current project and a rundown of where we are at the moment....

I had been casually looking for a c-body for quite a few years on the typical places, sorta hoping that I'd continue to strike out and save myself the conversation with the wife. Unbelievably, this '72 Newport Royal 2-door appeared on Facebook Marketplace and was less than a half hour from my house. We went and looked at it on Labor Day and after some "discussion", it was in my driveway the following weekend. The story behind the car was that the guy had purchased this from an estate two years earlier and hadn't really driven it. He replaced the exhaust and put new air shocks in the back. The original owner had purchased it from the State of Maine in 1984 for $900 with 21,539 miles on it (it has 62k on it now), having been a fleet vehicle for Department of Human Services.

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I bought the car knowing that it needed work and that I'd be able to drive it while chipping away at it. After I looked at it, it was clear that the brakes need to get gone through, it was leaking transmission fluid from the cooling lines, and it needed a tune-up. Not surprised given the fact that it has been sitting for a while.

Well, I work at a high school that has the area technical center attached to it with an Automotive Technology program that will take on projects for the winter. I had met the instructor a few times so I approached him with a "do I have the winter project for you!". He immediately asked if it was the gold Chrysler he had seen in the parking lot that week and of course it was. Without skipping a beat, he said they would do it and asked what I wanted done. I told him what I suspected it needed and he agreed that he would do any brake/ suspension/ tune-up work it over the course of the winter. The deal is that I pay for parts and there is no charge for labor. The instructor has a few classic cars of his own that his students work on from time to time, so I felt good about his ability to do quality work for this driver.

Part 2 to follow with the repair info...
 
Since I drive a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with 71k miles that I got with a 3-ring binder of the dealership service slips (I got it in 2012 w/ 40k on it) I decided to continue to get it serviced at our local Chrysler dealership that I already had a relationship with. Since this was a one time opportunity to get work done without labor, I brought the Newport in to have one of their techs to go through. Man, did I get an education on what it needed. Here is the link for the video the tech recorded while walking underneath it -

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The list -
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Fender tag -
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Obviously, there were a few things that needed to be addressed. The tech center agreed to do what they originally said they would do and provided me a quote of the parts -

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They got it the Tuesday before Halloween and have had it ever since. About 3 weeks ago now, the instructor said everything was done and that they could put a new aluminum radiator in and repair the transmission lines. Very cool!!!! Added about $270 to the bill.

Well, I gave them the radiator on Tuesday, March 10th. They started on it the next day. Friday, March 13th was the last day anyone was in school and we aren't even allowed in the building now. The instructor said he was one day from finishing and handing me the keys. Now, they are talking that we might be done for the year.

Not sure when she'll be in my driveway again......... VERY BUMMED!
 
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I'd be demanding they open up to get the car back.
 
Very bumming - especially as it seems the weather is getting nice very quickly. My engine is being worked on at the moment and the virus is suspending it being worked on. I know the feeling!

Matt, is this your first C-Body? Or your first old car in general?

Hope to see more of the car and welcome to the forum
 
I would be going insane, this would send me nuts...have to admit, someone is being stupid here, (officials) I would break in and get it.
 
I'll put my thoughts on civil disobedience aside for a moment and ask if you addressed the sub-frame issue? Otherwise this is good money thrown after bad.
 
The janitors are at the schools in town here, too bad they are not where you are.

Hope you get it sooner than later. As @Carmine said, that stub needs to be replaced or it's all for naught.
 
I know.... I've chosen to be patient since I've got to believe that we'll be back in school this year and it continues to snow in Maine, so it's making me be patient.

I've had quite a few older cars but this is my first "classic". I've done some basic work to them and plan on doing a bit of the work myself. Having two young children, working full time and coaching three sports, I was glad to hand some of the work to the tech center. Things that they did like new brake lines are waaaay out of my comfort zone. The stub frame is definitely first on the list to figure out before I take it anywhere beyond my neighborhood.

When looking at the car, I asked the guy who I bought it off of about the condition of underneath since he had it up in the air to do the exhaust and shocks. If you look at the video of it up in the air at the dealership, they are discussing what they describe as "bondo" on the rail. When I was initially looking at it and even looking at it up on the lift at the tech center, it doesn't quite look or feel like it. It's like a rubbery fiberglass type material and the guy I bought it off of thought it was put on more as a barrier so that it wouldn't rust out. I chipped an area of it off and the metal underneath looked solid (I'd take a picture of it and show everyone if I could get to it).

I must say, the floor and trunk are rock solid (surprised since it's been in Maine it's whole life) and I have to believe that if the stub frame was rusted out, some of these other areas that are notorious on these cars would be eaten through as well. Thoughts? I've done an obscene amount of research this winter on the stub frame (lots of good stuff on this site) and my thought is that I'll take a grinder and strip all of the rubbery material off and see what we have. There is no doubt that the stub frame bushings are completely gone and need to be replaced. There is certainly no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all answer to this but this is where we are. The car, despite how scary the report from the dealership was, drives and sounds great. Drove it all around town for a month before I sent it to the tech center. If anyone has thought, feel free to share. I really enjoy the people and their expertise on this site!

The car sits in the building right on the other side of the stream/ those trees. Trying not to look left while I sit in my favorite chair in my living room...
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One thing I can tell you is that I've looked at (and currently own) cars that have somehow escaped "normal" rust but which have completely ruined stub frames... And for some reasons they've all been of the 72-73 vintage, almost as if they cheaped-out on the paint in those years, then switched back. The bodies have looked as good as yours.

Perhaps you've seen my instructional video on the wrong way to remove a stubframe?


That car's floors are super clean, with no rot in the fenders.

I removed it in that manner because the actual box sections of the frame were filled with rat skeletons and nests. I went under long enough to cut the exhaust and remove some wiring, and let the truck do the rest. Yours is probably not that bad, but I will tell you that I was surprised how much the front end sheet metal and steering column held the car together in lieu of a good frame. It didn't actually collapse like that until I removed those components. I make such an emphasis on this because it's very important to safety, and I feel like the dealer tech wouldn't have given you the //////LOOK AT THIS SAFETY STUFF///// and yellow highlight pen if it were just peeled undercoating. All those new parts aren't going to mean anything if the stub frame is going left, and inertia is taking the body right. Bad stub frames are an issue on modern cars as well, so it's not just an issue of a 25 y/o who isn't familiar with old cars.

On the other hand... If the shop teacher installed all those new parts on a bad frame and didn't mention it, he's either criminally stupid OR the dealer tech truly did over-react to some peeling undercoat. Only good photos under the car are going to reveal that truth.

If it does turn out to be bad, the good news is that it doesn't take a TON of skill to remove the stub. It's not like rebuilding and engine/trans which require measurement, assessment of parts, cleanliness, etc. If you can remove fenders and an engine assembly, you can do the stubframe. It is also possible if the rust is confined to just one section, steel could be welded in place to reinforce the bad area.

Finding a good one in Maine might be the issue. If you want to invite a technical consultant, I do love lobster.
 
Great project, really like the looks of a two door 72.
Do you have any pictures of the rotted sub frame? I've seen many variations of rot...from the bottom channel missing along the entire length, to a random hole in an otherwise solid structure.
 
First, nice car. Second, I would never trust a single word out of the mouth of a dealership service guy on these cars unless you are related or best friends. Bondo on the frame rail, or a heavy coat of rubberized undercoating? I wold suspect they don't know /care about the difference. Until you have personally put a screwdriver through the "rust" of the stub frame, I'd be skeptical. As for the school lock-down my wife was able to get back into her school for supplies, but only for a short time before it was locked down for the year, but every state/district is going to be different. You could appeal to the superintendent, they might be able to let you pull the car out into the lot at least. A school auto shop is not the most secure place to leave it for an extended period of time, IMHO. Good luck!
 
Its a "twist" on sub-frame...because that's what it is...its a "sub-assembly" not a stub assy, the stub assy is what carries the front wheel bearings.
/rotor/disc/caliper etc

The other funny one is "Body English"....err, no, that would be "Body language", you are looking for. LOL
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Its a "twist" on sub-frame...because that's what it is...its a "sub-assembly" not a stub assy, the stub assy is what carries the front wheel bearings.
/rotor/disc/caliper etc

The other funny one is "Body English"....err, no, that would be "Body language", you are looking for. LOL
.
I thought that was "Bloody English", or is that something else altogether?

:lol:
 
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