Hello Everyone!
I've been lurking around for a few months trying to figure out how this forum works.
Sure seems like a great place to get advice and leads on restoring my C-Body Fuselage!
So here goes.
I have a 69 300 Convertible - 440, Column Shift, A/C, Manual Windows, Power Top (Were they all power??)
All original interior with some much needed restoration. (Plastic Seat Backs, Dash numbering/lettering faded off, chrome door pulls needing polish or re-chroming...)
I am in the process of restoring/upgrading my land yacht!
I have already converted to electronic ignition.
Now I am in the process of trying to gather all the parts necessary to convert from the factory power drums to front disk brakes.
I would like to "upgrade" my wheels from the OEM 15" with stock 300 hubcaps to a set of 18's that match the original wheel and tire diameter but give the car a more modern/aggressive look.
My local Discount Tire Center ordered a couple Boss 338 wheels for me to test fit on the car.
Test fit went fine on the rear axel fitting 18*9.5 Boss 338's without issue.
The front was another issue:
While test fitting a 18x8 Boss 338 on the Front Drums the wheel fits fine in the wheel well, but the the dust cap sticks soooo far out thru the center of the wheel that the center cap to the new wheels won't go on!
I told the guy at Discount I was planning on converting to disk brakes up front so he suggested getting the disk conversion done first before committing to wheel purchase. (Once they are mounted you own em!)
So I started looking into how I could convert from drums to disk.
I found a company called SSBrakes.com (Stainless Steel Brakes .com) that has a brake conversion kit for my 69 300, however they use the original drum spindles... which doesn't mitigate my center cap issue with dust cap! (Can't just beat the dust cap flat either... it just sticks out too far... )
So I looked at other options Wilwood, and some others... none of them had any listings for a 69 300 conversion.
I called a couple vendors and they all recommended I just go find a set of spindles off a similar C-Body with disk brakes.
So I did just that...I live in Chandler AZ so I took a trip down to DVAP in Casa Grande and found a 71 Fury 4 door that had a pair of loaded spindles. Got the guys to pull em and I was off to the local repair shop to get em cleaned reassembled and installed on my car.
The problem: The rotors that came with the spindle assembly off the Fury(Two piece rotors) were trashed... so the guys at DVAP threw in a pair of rotors off a 73 Polara. What I didn't know then was there apparently is a difference in the rotors upper wheel bearing housing... on the two piece the wheel bearing housing (where the grease/dust cap goes on) is coned.. rather conical in shape, where the one piece rotor from the 73 Polara "And every other one piece rotor I have found at local parts stores Orielly, Autozone, Napa" all have a flat/cylindrical shape wheel bearing housing.
But then I decided to take the 73 Polara rotors over to Discount to see if they would work with the Boss 338 wheels.
No-Go! the fat flat non conical outer wheel bearing housing wouldn't fit throughout the center cap hole and therefore would not allow the mounting surface to make contact with the back of the wheel!
So then I started calling the local auto parts shops (Orielly, Autozone, Napa...) and no-one has one any rotors in stock for a 69-72.5 C Body... So I had Autozone order one so I could test fit it to the Boss 338 Wheel I would like to put on my car.
Again... no go! the rotor PN 5300R had the exact same cylinder shaped outer wheel bearing housing as the 73 Polara rotor that didn't work.
Then I tried taking the trashed two piece rotors over to test fit...
They worked..BUT... I still have the same center cap problem.
Has anyone else here had any success converting drum to disk AND changing/upgrading wheels?
Other things I think I want to do too this car:
Replace front Sway bar from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch sway bar.
I have a grill assembly from a 71 300 that I would like to swap out, but I think I need some sort of grill surround from a 71 to complete the swap... The 69 has turn signals integrated into what I am calling the "Grill Surround" where the 71 appears to have the turn signals in the bumper and the surround is a different shape.
I am including a couple pics of 69 and 71 front ends for reference.
Any ideas where I could get my hands on such a surround or possibly an entire front bumper grill assembly?
Lastly, my heater/A/C controls were working without issue... then suddenly after having the car "worked on" by a local dealership the buttons on the A/C heater control is stuck on Max A/C and WILL NOT MOVE.
Is this possibly a vacuum control issue?
Thanks for reading this long post!
Any input/guidance is greatly appreciated!
I look forward to hearing from this group!
JK
I've been lurking around for a few months trying to figure out how this forum works.
Sure seems like a great place to get advice and leads on restoring my C-Body Fuselage!
So here goes.
I have a 69 300 Convertible - 440, Column Shift, A/C, Manual Windows, Power Top (Were they all power??)
All original interior with some much needed restoration. (Plastic Seat Backs, Dash numbering/lettering faded off, chrome door pulls needing polish or re-chroming...)
I am in the process of restoring/upgrading my land yacht!
I have already converted to electronic ignition.
Now I am in the process of trying to gather all the parts necessary to convert from the factory power drums to front disk brakes.
I would like to "upgrade" my wheels from the OEM 15" with stock 300 hubcaps to a set of 18's that match the original wheel and tire diameter but give the car a more modern/aggressive look.
My local Discount Tire Center ordered a couple Boss 338 wheels for me to test fit on the car.
Test fit went fine on the rear axel fitting 18*9.5 Boss 338's without issue.
The front was another issue:
While test fitting a 18x8 Boss 338 on the Front Drums the wheel fits fine in the wheel well, but the the dust cap sticks soooo far out thru the center of the wheel that the center cap to the new wheels won't go on!
I told the guy at Discount I was planning on converting to disk brakes up front so he suggested getting the disk conversion done first before committing to wheel purchase. (Once they are mounted you own em!)
So I started looking into how I could convert from drums to disk.
I found a company called SSBrakes.com (Stainless Steel Brakes .com) that has a brake conversion kit for my 69 300, however they use the original drum spindles... which doesn't mitigate my center cap issue with dust cap! (Can't just beat the dust cap flat either... it just sticks out too far... )
So I looked at other options Wilwood, and some others... none of them had any listings for a 69 300 conversion.
I called a couple vendors and they all recommended I just go find a set of spindles off a similar C-Body with disk brakes.
So I did just that...I live in Chandler AZ so I took a trip down to DVAP in Casa Grande and found a 71 Fury 4 door that had a pair of loaded spindles. Got the guys to pull em and I was off to the local repair shop to get em cleaned reassembled and installed on my car.
The problem: The rotors that came with the spindle assembly off the Fury(Two piece rotors) were trashed... so the guys at DVAP threw in a pair of rotors off a 73 Polara. What I didn't know then was there apparently is a difference in the rotors upper wheel bearing housing... on the two piece the wheel bearing housing (where the grease/dust cap goes on) is coned.. rather conical in shape, where the one piece rotor from the 73 Polara "And every other one piece rotor I have found at local parts stores Orielly, Autozone, Napa" all have a flat/cylindrical shape wheel bearing housing.
But then I decided to take the 73 Polara rotors over to Discount to see if they would work with the Boss 338 wheels.
No-Go! the fat flat non conical outer wheel bearing housing wouldn't fit throughout the center cap hole and therefore would not allow the mounting surface to make contact with the back of the wheel!
So then I started calling the local auto parts shops (Orielly, Autozone, Napa...) and no-one has one any rotors in stock for a 69-72.5 C Body... So I had Autozone order one so I could test fit it to the Boss 338 Wheel I would like to put on my car.
Again... no go! the rotor PN 5300R had the exact same cylinder shaped outer wheel bearing housing as the 73 Polara rotor that didn't work.
Then I tried taking the trashed two piece rotors over to test fit...
They worked..BUT... I still have the same center cap problem.
Has anyone else here had any success converting drum to disk AND changing/upgrading wheels?
Other things I think I want to do too this car:
Replace front Sway bar from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch sway bar.
I have a grill assembly from a 71 300 that I would like to swap out, but I think I need some sort of grill surround from a 71 to complete the swap... The 69 has turn signals integrated into what I am calling the "Grill Surround" where the 71 appears to have the turn signals in the bumper and the surround is a different shape.
I am including a couple pics of 69 and 71 front ends for reference.
Any ideas where I could get my hands on such a surround or possibly an entire front bumper grill assembly?
Lastly, my heater/A/C controls were working without issue... then suddenly after having the car "worked on" by a local dealership the buttons on the A/C heater control is stuck on Max A/C and WILL NOT MOVE.
Is this possibly a vacuum control issue?
Thanks for reading this long post!
Any input/guidance is greatly appreciated!
I look forward to hearing from this group!
JK
:sSp_HappyNewYear:
