Hezzelwood
New Member
Hello all. Back in the mid 90s, after seeing the '66 Newport convertible Ray Liotta drove in "Goodfellas", I spotted a derelict '65 300 Sport in a back lot. It was covered in surface rust but nicely straight and original. I bought it for $800 and with the help of the local Mopar guru from Woods Cross, Utah, we swapped the worn out 383 with a 440 from a '67 Coronet wagon that was slated for the demo-derby, and installed some front disk brakes from a '71 something or other--I can't remember. Since I had the engine out we did a decent repaint of the engine bay which helped a ton. I gave it a basic exterior paint job and some replacement seat covers and called it good enough.
I drove it hard for 10 years or so, eventually replacing the headliner and the rear seat upholstery and re-chroming all the interior chrome that was rusty, and then it sat for quite awhile. Recently I decided to get it back into shape and address some of the things I hadn't initially, like a missing front grille and non-operating rear window regulators and the remaining rusty trunk. Here is a short video of some of the trunk work:
The window regulators have been a real experience. The little wheels in the mechanism have bulged as they have aged, resulting in them being wedged tight and not turning anymore, so I drilled out the rivets and machined the wheels down so they turn again. I'm almost finished so when I do I'll post another video showing the process.
So anyway, hello from northern Utah!
I drove it hard for 10 years or so, eventually replacing the headliner and the rear seat upholstery and re-chroming all the interior chrome that was rusty, and then it sat for quite awhile. Recently I decided to get it back into shape and address some of the things I hadn't initially, like a missing front grille and non-operating rear window regulators and the remaining rusty trunk. Here is a short video of some of the trunk work:
The window regulators have been a real experience. The little wheels in the mechanism have bulged as they have aged, resulting in them being wedged tight and not turning anymore, so I drilled out the rivets and machined the wheels down so they turn again. I'm almost finished so when I do I'll post another video showing the process.
So anyway, hello from northern Utah!
