My New Bus!

[saforwardlook]

The voice doing the talking sounds like Bob Merritt of the Chrysler 300 Club International, Inc.

Looks like he still has a 300F in the garage that also must be very nice.

You did very well and if that is indeed Bob, he is a technical consultant in the Club so he very likely knows his stuff.

Great score!!!

 

[Big_John]

The voice doing the talking sounds like Bob Merritt of the Chrysler 300 Club International, Inc.

Looks like he still has a 300F in the garage that also must be very nice.

You did very well and if that is indeed Bob, he is a technical consultant in the Club so he very likely knows his stuff.

Great score!!!

Yep, that's Bob alrighty.

He's a great guy with a fantastic collection.

 

[Big_John]

Is there something different with the taillights?

The early versions (this is an early car, with a build date of 11/25/64) had that style lenses. They went to a red lens with 2 bulbs somewhere along the line.

I was wrong. Those are New Yorker lenses. I misunderstood when I asked about it.

The early cars had a single light and the later cars had a double light on each side. That much I got right. All the 300's had red lenses though.

I can't decide if I like them or not...

 

[saforwardlook]

Wen I first saw those lenses in your visuals of the car I wondered why New Yorker lenses were on such an otherwise original and very nice car. For me, that car looks so nice that I would put the red lenses on it only because seeing those on the car suggests "unoriginal" and your car looks far too nice to give that impression potentially about the rest of it.

But I also believe, to each his own....................the car just as it sits is just gorgeous and the styling is the best of all the slab sides in my eyes.

 

[Barry S]

That car is gorgeous!!! Congratulations, John! The stars did certainly align, that car was meant to be yours.

 

[Maindrian Pace]

Beautiful car, perfect color combination too. As for wheels, my vote is for Kelsey Hayes wires. That car warrants them.

 

[Clover]

Gorgeous! That color is so nice on the ‘65 and ‘66 300. Tilt wheel!

 

[fury fan]

Congrats on scoring a really nice-looking car!
That dashboard looks so elegant in white, gives it a late-50s Cadillac vibe. (my 300L dash is so comparatively boring in black)

They are more "place holders" and they have to go back. The previous owner didn't care for the original wheel covers. It's a drum brake car, no discs available until 1966.

Honestly, I'm struggling with a wheel choice... I'd almost like to stay with the stock wheel covers... But that's a 14" wheel and that limits my tire selection.

I've struggled with the wheel-choice thing on my 300L also. I don't drive mine much and the 14" tires have lots of tread - they're old, but have no cracks. Good enough for short errand-drives around town.

One odd potential option is this early 70's Dodge wheelcover, which has similar shape and gets you into 15" tires.
You'd need to figure a way to de-Dodge it and get some red-white-blue in there, though.
The Dodge emblem is much smaller than the 300L's so they cannot simply swap into place.

 

[fury fan]

Another option is these, albeit much harder to find.
Should have the turbine section deleted IMO, though, to use on the L.

 

[garyh]

Wicked Nice "L" !

 

[Big_John]

Congrats on scoring a really nice-looking car!
That dashboard looks so elegant in white, gives it a late-50s Cadillac vibe. (my 300L dash is so comparatively boring in black)


I've struggled with the wheel-choice thing on my 300L also. I don't drive mine much and the 14" tires have lots of tread - they're old, but have no cracks. Good enough for short errand-drives around town.

One odd potential option is this early 70's Dodge wheelcover, which has similar shape and gets you into 15" tires.
You'd need to figure a way to de-Dodge it and get some red-white-blue in there, though.
The Dodge emblem is much smaller than the 300L's so they cannot simply swap into place.



View attachment 601268
View attachment 601269

I've decided to stick with 14" wheels for the time being. Sent the wheels out for sandblast and I'll paint them when I get them back. I had 5 tires shipped to me the other day and I'll mount them and then take to one of the tire shops for balancing. The alternatives I looked at was either sky high in price or wasn't available, so the $77 Kumhos looked pretty good.

I have the original wheelcovers. The centers need some work so for now, I've got some '66 300 wheelcovers (courtesy @Ripinator ) that will go on for now.

 

[Big_John]

Spent some time messing around and changed the running light lens. A new one came with the car.

I also changed the bulb to an LED after a talk with Bob about the theory that heat from the bulb might be cracking the lenses. Less current draw, less heat etc. The light is also whiter.

Amazon product ASIN B097MMQ2WB
I think I'm going to figure out something and 3D print something to make a wall hanger out of the old one.

 

[Big_John]

The paint needed some attention.

Buffed with Meguiar's 105 compound and followed with Collinite 390 using a foam pad and a dual action polisher. Then I used a personal favorite, Collinite 845 insulator wax topped with P&S Bead Maker with a little P&S Dream Maker. Shined up the chrome with the best chrome product I've ever used, Collinite 850 Metal Wax

Obligatory clouds and trees in the hood pic.

 

[Big_John]

And the question!

What is this? It's next to the antenna switch/map light on the dash. I've been trying to figure it out since I brought the car home.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I think that may be the bezel for the rear speaker/reverb switch?

 

[Big_John]

I think that may be the bezel for the rear speaker/reverb switch?

Hmm... There is a rear speaker pot under the dash for volume to rear.

The data plate doesn't call out a reverb. It does call out an AM radio with a rear speaker, but there's a correct AM-FM radio in the dash. After looking over the car, there's some things that have been updated... It has a later style electric trunk lock and had a newer style washer bottle with the pump in the bottom.

The reflectors in the doors also light up instead of being just reflectors! So someone has been doing little electrical changes here and there, like the tail lights for example.

The washer bottle was broken, and a correct bottle came with the car, so I have a new rad support mounted pump coming.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Intriguing!

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

The more I think about it, if I recall correctly, rear seat speaker fader was under the dash, rear seat speaker with reverb was beside the map light for 65/66 Chryslers.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I think my memory is good for this one:

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Here's another:

And another:

And another: