1966 New Yorker Town Sedan

[Ramashkaus]

Hi all! Long time lurking around. Finally got the car. I really wanted hard top, but this was too good of a deal to pass and was close enough to me.
I guess I'll make a thread here and ask my questions as they come up one by one as things get tackled. I did that in the welcome thread, but I don't think it's the right place for it.
Car is getting a whole bunch of work done and I want a reliable DD out of it. No perfection. I had that and didn't like it any. Just a comfortable family hauler and an enjoyable ride.
For starters, can someone recommend a set of blocks that would work to lower the rear an inch or two? I lowered the front, but now it's too much of a race car stance. The front will likely come up and the rear needs to go down some.

 

[1978 NYB]

Nice 6 window sedan!

 

[detmatt]

Killer slabby!

 

[Newport 66]

Really nice!! Congrats on the sedan!

 

[CBODY67]

Nice car. 6-Window Town Sedans, whether Newport or New Yorker, are low-production cars, hiding in plain sight.

From my experiences with my '66 Newport TS, when it was just a used car, you might like the look of it lowered, BUT with people in the rear seat and a little stuff in the trunk, at stock ride height, that rear overhang can get very close to the pavement, especially a stock exhaust pipe.

One of the nice things about Chryslers is their suspension travel. Keeps them from bottoming out on dips and such, too. But that long rear overhang can mean it could drag on some of the sharper approach aprons for drive-ins, driveways, and such. NOT a good sound to hear! The other thing is that with a Unibody car, compared to a body/frame car, that scraping noise/feel comes through the whole body of the car.

When you lower the front end by backing off the torsion bars, you also lower the spring rate, which means "softer" and more prone to bottom out on dips and such. IF it's lower than 1" from normal ride height, the camber adjustment will need some attention, very possibly.

To me, with factory a/c and a good set of HD shocks all around, the suspension is firm bur still soft enough for a good ride and handling. Don't really need to slow down for dips and such, either (depending upon how deep or severe they are, though). That's what I like about those cars! Plus the responsive handling, compared to GM and Fords, especially.

What size are the tires/wheels? Just curious. They appear to be taller than the factory 8.55x14 tires and do raise the car a bit, as a result. It also means the rubber is closer to the inner fenders and such, so with a lowered ride height from there, more prone to "contact" in corners and turns, which to me, is a bummer. Especially a turn with a dip in it!

Your car. Your money. Your dreams. That's all that matters. BUT just be advised that chasing "the look" might result in other driving dynamics for which you might need to make some adjustments in how you do things. I found that out when I got my '77 Camaro, even with the stock Z/28 tires/wheels. There's a reason all of those cars had a busted lower valence panel. Just pulling up to a curb to park would do one in! So you learn to not put the front wheels against the curb, for example. With the factory Z/28 exhaust system, the mufflers can get close to the ground, too. So you learn to take driveway approaches at an angle rather than "head-on" (which also saves the front valence panel, too). Even if the front and rear clear, midway into those deals, you have to worry about dragging "high center" or the mufflers. These are things I learned from experience. Just a head's up.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[mrfury68]

Great looking car. I like it. Have fun.

 

[Ramashkaus]

255/55/18 is what I have on right now. The car sits much higher that stock because of that. I'd like front and back to be nearly the same height. Close to stock. Suspension is all figured out at this point. All joints, sway bar and all the links. Shocks all around. Bushings. All finished.
I might actually go for a different wheel set unless a little setup I'm trying works out to my liking. I'd love a set of stock wheels, but with the disc brakes this 66 has on it they wouldn't fit. Here is a pic of a car that's a tad too low my taste, but front to back is perfection. The line that goes through the whole car going level with centers of the wheels is IMHO perfect look. For me it would mean at least 2 inches higher than this ride sits. Which is probably around stock height for these cars anyways. Am I wrong?

Nice car. 6-Window Town Sedans, whether Newport or New Yorker, are low-production cars, hiding in plain sight.

From my experiences with my '66 Newport TS, when it was just a used car, you might like the look of it lowered, BUT with people in the rear seat and a little stuff in the trunk, at stock ride height, that rear overhang can get very close to the pavement, especially a stock exhaust pipe.

One of the nice things about Chryslers is their suspension travel. Keeps them from bottoming out on dips and such, too. But that long rear overhang can mean it could drag on some of the sharper approach aprons for drive-ins, driveways, and such. NOT a good sound to hear! The other thing is that with a Unibody car, compared to a body/frame car, that scraping noise/feel comes through the whole body of the car.

When you lower the front end by backing off the torsion bars, you also lower the spring rate, which means "softer" and more prone to bottom out on dips and such. IF it's lower than 1" from normal ride height, the camber adjustment will need some attention, very possibly.

To me, with factory a/c and a good set of HD shocks all around, the suspension is firm bur still soft enough for a good ride and handling. Don't really need to slow down for dips and such, either (depending upon how deep or severe they are, though). That's what I like about those cars! Plus the responsive handling, compared to GM and Fords, especially.

What size are the tires/wheels? Just curious. They appear to be taller than the factory 8.55x14 tires and do raise the car a bit, as a result. It also means the rubber is closer to the inner fenders and such, so with a lowered ride height from there, more prone to "contact" in corners and turns, which to me, is a bummer. Especially a turn with a dip in it!

Your car. Your money. Your dreams. That's all that matters. BUT just be advised that chasing "the look" might result in other driving dynamics for which you might need to make some adjustments in how you do things. I found that out when I got my '77 Camaro, even with the stock Z/28 tires/wheels. There's a reason all of those cars had a busted lower valence panel. Just pulling up to a curb to park would do one in! So you learn to not put the front wheels against the curb, for example. With the factory Z/28 exhaust system, the mufflers can get close to the ground, too. So you learn to take driveway approaches at an angle rather than "head-on" (which also saves the front valence panel, too). Even if the front and rear clear, midway into those deals, you have to worry about dragging "high center" or the mufflers. These are things I learned from experience. Just a head's up.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[CBODY67]

Thanks for the info and pictures. The stock disc brake wheels were 15x6, as the drum brake cars were 14x5.5 or 14x6. '65 Wagons (and some other years) were 14x6.5. The 15x7 Rallye wheels that were specific to E-bodies have a 15x6.5 cousin that was normal equipment on '76 Charger SEs. There are a few versions of center caps for those wheels, early or late.

The early PDB cars had 8.45x15 tires, equivalent to the later H78x15 size. That equates to a section width of right at 215mm, say, on a 6" rim width wheel. P225x75R-15 is the size that's normally associated with the old "H"-15 tire, but it's actually a little bit taller, kind of between the old "H" and "J" size. "L" is the P235/75R-15 size.

I have a set of old NOS BFG Advantage T/As on my '67 Newport with the 14x6.5 wheels. They are P245/70R-14 and match the old H78-15 OD/revs per mile perfectly. When I got them in the 1980s from Coker, they were NOS by a few years then. There's a tire size comparison tool on the Miata website where you can see the theoretical tire dimensions for any size you put into the slots, plus a graphic of how two sizes will compare with each other. Additionally, speedometer calibration "numbers". For reference, the P225/70R-15 size has a revs/mile of about 755 and is about 9" wide in section width. The same revs/mile as a P215/75R-15 size.

Knowing how the 14" and some 15" tire sizes are becoming hard to find, I've considered go to 17" wheels. I've found a few sizes that are good dimensional matches.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[LocuMob]

Nice car, I like those rims.

 

[Ramashkaus]

I checked the speedo, and I am running dead on with the GPS right now. Need time to really figure out the wheel situation, but need those blocks to actually try lowering the rear at all. Going 17 would probably look right on our cars. My 18s with that much meat around look a bit too big for my taste. I am going to try those portawalls to make the tire look smaller, even to just see what it would look like. If that looks right to me ww 18s are in my future. If not, back to the rim trials.
So, any suggestions on rear lowering blocks?

 

[Ramashkaus]

Also, is there a write up on installing the glove compartment liner? My googlefoo apparently is not strong enough. I got that $60 piece of cardboard, but it wouldn't go in without taking something apart. Both me and my mechanic can't figure it out. It looks like the whole dash needs to come off. Can't be!

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

Also, is there a write up on installing the glove compartment liner? My googlefoo apparently is not strong enough. I got that $60 piece of cardboard, but it wouldn't go in without taking something apart. Both me and my mechanic can't figure it out. It looks like the whole dash needs to come off. Can't be!

I did a write-up on removing it here which should help you.
Forums / General Tech / How-to: Removing glovebox cardboard liner - C-Body DryDock

Nice car BTW! Congrats!

 

[Ramashkaus]

Thank you so much. Just for me to understand it 100%. The whole thing gets separated in two parts. Upper and lower. Upper goes through the main opening in the glove box, while the lower gets wiggled in the way you showed in your tutorial. Or did I get something wrong?

I did a write-up on removing it here which should help you.
Forums / General Tech / How-to: Removing glovebox cardboard liner - C-Body DryDock

Nice car BTW! Congrats!

 

[Mike66Chryslers]

Thank you so much. Just for me to understand it 100%. The whole thing gets separated in two parts. Upper and lower. Upper goes through the main opening in the glove box, while the lower gets wiggled in the way you showed in your tutorial. Or did I get something wrong?

That is correct. It's been a long time since I did this, but I don't believe there's any big trick to removing the top half of the box.

 

[live4theking]

Nice looking car.

 

[jct]

This is the first time see this type of body style before, i must say it's mighty sexy

 

[Ramashkaus]

That is correct. It's been a long time since I did this, but I don't believe there's any big trick to removing the top half of the box.

Just finished it. Only put in half the screws. Bunch didn't line up. Had to take it apart to get it in there. But it looks much better now. Thank you very much.

 

[Ramashkaus]

Windshield wiper switch doesn't do anything when you turn it more or less to the side. It's either on after the click or off before. Turning it further doesn't adjust the wiper speed at all. Anyone has any clues on that?

 

[CBODY67]

(Is it supposed to be variable speed wipers?)

 

[Ramashkaus]

(Is it supposed to be variable speed wipers?)

Oh. I didn't think of it possibly being one speed switch or motor. Is there an easy way to tell?