New to the c-body club

[Floaten]

Just purchased a 63' pacesetter. Such a fun car to cruise around in. She does need some good tlc though. This car has been sitting for the last 4 years before I picked it up.

Already done.
Carb rebuild. -carter AFB
New fuel pump
All new fuel soft lines
New tank and sending unit
Surge tank
Exhaust manifold gasket r/side. Had to drill and helicoil #1 stud [that wasn't fun]
Tune up

Need to fix.
Trans pan and speedo cable leak (have parts)
PS pump leak. (Have kit)
Brakes at all 4 corners. Shoes, Hardware and rear cables (ordered parts)
U-joints (have parts)
Lower quarter and pans. (Have parts)
Heater control valve (bypassed for now, need to collect parts)
Alternator (not sure what to buy but would like black or chrome plated)
Radiator [I think that's the issue, over heats/get hot in traffic)

Shes a fantastic car though and my kiddos love it!!!!!! It unbelievable how many heads turn.

I'm here to learn more about the car and where in the world I can actually find the right parts (floor pans and rocker panels were given to me with the car). The car appears to have a 413 intake off a New Yorker but the block is a 383. Still trying to adjust all the linkage on the trans for kick down. Shifts nice and firm around 15 and 35mph but won't kick down until I'm at low speed 5mph or so.

 

[Turboomni]

Congrats on your car,,she is a beauty and welcome to the forum!

 

[Davea Lux]

Welcome and That is a nice looking car. The 413 single carb manifold won't fit a 383, the blocks are a different width. Down load the FSM at www.mymopar.com you will find the service manuals in the tools reference section, they are a good resource for most repairs. Rear brake drums are keyed to the axles and are a pain to pull off, requires a special puller. Be sure to follow the torque instructions when you put the drums back on, these cars were famous for breaking the key way out of the axle and drum if improperly torqued. Mobil Parts, a vendor on this site has most of the brake parts for the brake system rebuild. Replace or rebuild all wheel cylinders and the master cylinder. May also need a brake booster rebuild as well if it has power brakes. Replace all the rubber brake hoses too.
Most of the pacesetter verts were pacesetter blue as is yours and came standard with a 383 4BBL engine. A 413 was available as an upgrade. There were 1861 of these cars built and this model was selected as the pace car for the Indy 500 in 1963.

Dave

 

[66sptfry]

Welcome

 

[CBODY67]

Welcome! Great looking car!

CBODY67

 

[mr. fix it]

Welcome WOW is all I have to say about your car!

 

[75LandYacht]

Welcome from NYC.. I love topless girls. Lol

 

[Newport 66]

Welcome from Wisconsin. Beautiful Chrysler

 

[Mr C]

Welcome! Beautiful Chrysler! I would say that there is not necessarily anything wrong with the kick down. It is a well known issue that the early and Muscle car era Mopars had to be floored to kick them down in certain driving conditions.

Chrysler solved the issue with the part throttle kick down. First on the Slant 6 cars as it greatly improved their driveability. I don't remember when it first showed up, but by the mid 70's it was on all TFs. It was a popular upgrade among the Muscle car crowd.

The beauty of it is that all you need to do is drop the pan, pop off the block off plate and screw the assembly to the valve body in its place. It used to be that all you needed to do was find a Slant 6 car in the wrecker and pull the assembly for installation on your older Mopar...now it's not so easy to find these cars at all anymore in a wrecker. There are a couple of designs I've seen and it's so popular that an after market company makes one. I highly recommend this upgrade.

Here's a pic of a Mopar one and the aftermarket one:

 

[Floaten]

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome. Before this my toy was 08 calibert srt. You can only have so much fun with a fwd man van so we decided to change things up. I'm also restoring a 60' MGA for my father. His is a total frame off but it is his original car (long story that I will share later)

@Mr C, thanks for the great advice. I will definitely need to check this out.

@Davea Lux, my goal for today is to locate the block identification. Pretty sure its a B block (has the identification stamped on the passenger side. Just need to clean it to get the numbers off. I can tell the motor is not OE as its been spray painted a weird baby blue and there is overspray on random parts.

Things I need to dig into since most "performance" sites list minimal stuff for the 300.

Alternator (she's starting to make a good rattle) is it just and 1 wire? I would like to "upgrade" to a coated black or chrome finish and that isn't available for the OE fit.

Was this car supposed to have AC. From all my readings I see no but I have a button on the dash saying AIR.

 

[Floaten]

Update, it does look like its a 383 out of 64 so my assumption is correct. Not the OE engine

 

[Rexer]

That is a great looking convertible!! Where did you find it?

 

[Floaten]

In Kansas City

 

[RGORHAM29]

Beautiful car. Welcome from MA.

 

[Floaten]

Update #1
Well its been an adventure to say the least.
I regularly check fluid levels and perform regular maintenance. 3 weeks ago I had the left front wheel cylinder completely blow out leaving me without brakes. (Thank goodness i was in the neighborhood and no-one was around when this happened). Limped the car home and i have started replacing every component of the braking system. Drums are the only thing that i am reusing since they are within spec.

Items fixed since original post:
-Rewired and replaced alternator
-Rebuilt PS Pump
-Braking system (lines, shoes, hardware, master cylinder, wheel cylinders etc...) Just waiting on the front hoses to show up.
-Stereo upgrade (Replaced factory AM speaker with dual 3-1/2 speakers and placed dual 3-1/2's in the rear seat behind the 300 logo grille and put a modern headunit inside the glovebox.
-Misc: Working on polishing all the chrome on the car with a Dremal buffing wheel and some jewelry compound. Wow does that make a difference.

Unexpected finds. RR wheel cylinder had a broken bleeder. One of the previous owners appears to have crushed the RR brake line against the axle to prevent flow. (oye). The left rear axle nut was not tight allowing the drum to float on the axle damaging the Key and threads.

Things i need help with since i feel like these cars "to most" aren't really considered C-Body's
-Locating a Radiator (Would love to upgrade to something more modern with better cooling efficiencies and room to grow for a built motor)
-Appears to have a torn driveshaft boot at the slip yoke (not sure what the part number if. Almost looks like i could use a CV boot kit

Im trying to get the car up to snuff before i start looking at the future. Has anyone done anything crazy with these cars? Searching has yielded little results.
Future plans:
- 1st Front disc brake conversion (i need to start putting a parts list together (unless someone has a full list they are willing to share ))
- Built Motor - thinking 440 just because, possibly with FI
- Upgraded transmission, but from what i understand these have a different tailshaft/rear section
- Subframe connectors and core strengthening while in for body work on the doorsill/driprail section

 

[glhs0075]

Beautiful!

 

[cretin90]

Oh good! I'm not the DFNG anymore!
nice ride!

saw your wishlist of upgrades. Everybody on earth told me to get disc brakes. Well, did my research, and as of now anyway, I'm staying drum. Mine work very well, and upon further research it turns out that going to disc (15") leads one down the rabbit hole---new wheels, impossible to find period tires, and weird spacers if you want to use your OEM hubcaps. (I have a 1966 300) . Just my experience, which is entirely anecdotal.

 

[live4theking]

Nice ride, welcome aboard.

 

[440sportfury]

Welcome that is beautiful car. Good Luck.