Maindrian Pace
Member
Thought I'd post a few pictures of this NYB I used to own. Like most old cars, it had a story. My neighbor Ken across the street from me was an interesting guy, he was a retired trucker who hauled cars hotshot style (diesel pickup and 3-4 car trailer) for extra cash. He specialized in old stuff, non-runners that nobody else would touch.
So I was gathering up parts to build my '75 Monaco into a Bluesmobile clone, and I needed to find a 440, as the 318 was a hard no. So a few car guys on the block were gathered up at my house and as we were talking smack, Ken told me that he knew of a good 440 in Yuma, a dust bowl about halfway between Phoenix and California. For cheap. It was a car that had just been taken to a junkyard and Ken knew the owner. He said to not think about it too long, because an employee there was a derby guy, and he wanted it bad, because of course he did. So I told Ken to hotshot that thing (not knowing what it was) back to Mesa and give me an amount. My plan was to pull the drivetrain and rear end and have the local classic car wrecking yard haul off the rest. So a week later, Ken rolls up to my house with his Cummins Dodge and this car on the Featherlite trailer. I took one look at it and immediately realized that it was no parts car, and a rehab was in order. I paid $800 for the car, and gave Ken $300 for his trouble, and we rolled the non-running NYB into the shop.
I got it running by replacing the broken ignition resistor, draining the gas tank, which amazingly was like new inside, and installing new plugs, cap, rotor, and wires. Ran very well. Now a '78 440 in a car this heavy isn't going to set the world on fire, but it accelerated very well for what it was. I spent the next 3 weeks fixing most things that didn't work, mainly the power windows and other electricals, valve cover gaskets, and the like. There was no trunk key, so I opened it through the back seat and had a key made. When I opened it, there was a set of skirts from another car, a nice bonus as this wasn't a skirt car.
The car was originally a Canada car with a 160 KPH speedometer (I told the Chevy guys that it had a rare police pursuit package) that was owned by an elderly Canadian couple who bought it new. They had a winter home in Yuma, and brought the car down there when it was two years old. A a result, it was entirely rust free; not even so much as any flash rust on suspension parts. The blue velour interior was faded, but in good shape. Original paint and everything else, and it was really, really nice. I drove it around for a few months shaking it down, fixed a few other things, detailed it, and sold it on ebay to a buyer in Indianapolis; a retired Chrysler engineer. He was so happy to get it, he kept in contact with me and even sent me a few Chrysler factory manuals for things like the Torqflite transmission and wiring. The last picture is the car heading off to Indiana.
So I was gathering up parts to build my '75 Monaco into a Bluesmobile clone, and I needed to find a 440, as the 318 was a hard no. So a few car guys on the block were gathered up at my house and as we were talking smack, Ken told me that he knew of a good 440 in Yuma, a dust bowl about halfway between Phoenix and California. For cheap. It was a car that had just been taken to a junkyard and Ken knew the owner. He said to not think about it too long, because an employee there was a derby guy, and he wanted it bad, because of course he did. So I told Ken to hotshot that thing (not knowing what it was) back to Mesa and give me an amount. My plan was to pull the drivetrain and rear end and have the local classic car wrecking yard haul off the rest. So a week later, Ken rolls up to my house with his Cummins Dodge and this car on the Featherlite trailer. I took one look at it and immediately realized that it was no parts car, and a rehab was in order. I paid $800 for the car, and gave Ken $300 for his trouble, and we rolled the non-running NYB into the shop.
I got it running by replacing the broken ignition resistor, draining the gas tank, which amazingly was like new inside, and installing new plugs, cap, rotor, and wires. Ran very well. Now a '78 440 in a car this heavy isn't going to set the world on fire, but it accelerated very well for what it was. I spent the next 3 weeks fixing most things that didn't work, mainly the power windows and other electricals, valve cover gaskets, and the like. There was no trunk key, so I opened it through the back seat and had a key made. When I opened it, there was a set of skirts from another car, a nice bonus as this wasn't a skirt car.
The car was originally a Canada car with a 160 KPH speedometer (I told the Chevy guys that it had a rare police pursuit package) that was owned by an elderly Canadian couple who bought it new. They had a winter home in Yuma, and brought the car down there when it was two years old. A a result, it was entirely rust free; not even so much as any flash rust on suspension parts. The blue velour interior was faded, but in good shape. Original paint and everything else, and it was really, really nice. I drove it around for a few months shaking it down, fixed a few other things, detailed it, and sold it on ebay to a buyer in Indianapolis; a retired Chrysler engineer. He was so happy to get it, he kept in contact with me and even sent me a few Chrysler factory manuals for things like the Torqflite transmission and wiring. The last picture is the car heading off to Indiana.
