polara71
Old Man with a Hat
I looked at New Ramchargers there in 92 or 93'. I called there when looking for a Challenger, they didn't have the black stripe on Purple so I never went up.
Found nice 70 383 Chrysler Newport
- Thread starter 70NPORT
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70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
Man, the last time I was there I think Jimmy Carter was still president, haha....barely remember that. Dad bought the Polara on a whim and drove it home after work one evening. I came home from playing and there was this big yellow Dodge in our driveway. In addition to the Polara, Dad also had two Plymouth Furys (63', 65'), a 65' Dodge Coronet, and a 71' or 72' Black Dodge Monaco Wagon....I thought it was super cool b/c it was a wagon with hide-away lights. Still looking for the pics of the 70'....
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
if it had hideaways it was a 72 up
BillGrissom
Active Member
Rusty floors are very common (many cars), since any water sits under the mats. If no rust-thrus, you can fix easy (wire bush & POR-15 or such), then fix the water leak - usually windshield gasket (use flowable silicone) or the wiper pivots (seal kit ~$15 ebay). A terrible thing would be a rusted out cowl (sheet metal), so look up under the dash with a flashlight.
The rust on the left fender looks benign and is probably from a crappy paint job (someone painted over surface rust?). I see wrinkled paint elsewhere, so the whole car will need to be re-painted. The main thing is that there is sound metal underneath. Look for bubbling around the bottoms of the doors and wheels. That is often a sign of rust-thru. Poke them with a screwdriver if they let you. I would probably live with the cracked windshield until I found one cheap.
Put the car on ramps and look close at the frame. If rusted thru, it would be extremely expensive to fix. You can also see any rust-thrus in the floor if you can't get the carpet up.
Overall, it looks good for a NE car. Hard to judge the price. I would talk them down because of the need to repaint. That could cost >$2000. I would do it myself. It is all in the prep and a shop hides that from you. Search for the post "paint car for $50" (or such) on www.moparts.com, using the roll & tip method. I think it is the most-read auto post ever. I did my trailer that way and plan that for my 65 Dart.
Oops. I saw only the 1st page when I posted (my browser requires scolling right to see whole page). Looks like it worked out great and you made good choices.
I agree on the comments to fix the trunk rust thrus. However, I would first use fiberglass cloth, from both sides. For small holes, Bondo Hair has chopped up fiberglass in it and works good. Without tensile strength, plain Bondo would crack. Cut away rust and wire brush to sound metal and prime first (I use Rust Destroyer). Rust doesn't spread like cancer, unless you leave loose pockets where moisture can sit under the paint.
Replacing your heater core will be a b*** since you have factory air. If like my 69 Dart was, the AC evaporator will have to come out, which means venting your refrigerant. Look up butane mixtures like Duracool. Works for me. Totally compatible with R-12 oils and even works better. The EPA has been fighting it for years due to "safety concerns" (not their domain). Butane is used in Canada and Europe. R-134A creates poisonous gas when it combusts, and is a potent greenhouse gas. The good part is your heater core should be cheap. I got one recently for my 65 Newport for ~$25.
The rust on the left fender looks benign and is probably from a crappy paint job (someone painted over surface rust?). I see wrinkled paint elsewhere, so the whole car will need to be re-painted. The main thing is that there is sound metal underneath. Look for bubbling around the bottoms of the doors and wheels. That is often a sign of rust-thru. Poke them with a screwdriver if they let you. I would probably live with the cracked windshield until I found one cheap.
Put the car on ramps and look close at the frame. If rusted thru, it would be extremely expensive to fix. You can also see any rust-thrus in the floor if you can't get the carpet up.
Overall, it looks good for a NE car. Hard to judge the price. I would talk them down because of the need to repaint. That could cost >$2000. I would do it myself. It is all in the prep and a shop hides that from you. Search for the post "paint car for $50" (or such) on www.moparts.com, using the roll & tip method. I think it is the most-read auto post ever. I did my trailer that way and plan that for my 65 Dart.
Oops. I saw only the 1st page when I posted (my browser requires scolling right to see whole page). Looks like it worked out great and you made good choices.
I agree on the comments to fix the trunk rust thrus. However, I would first use fiberglass cloth, from both sides. For small holes, Bondo Hair has chopped up fiberglass in it and works good. Without tensile strength, plain Bondo would crack. Cut away rust and wire brush to sound metal and prime first (I use Rust Destroyer). Rust doesn't spread like cancer, unless you leave loose pockets where moisture can sit under the paint.
Replacing your heater core will be a b*** since you have factory air. If like my 69 Dart was, the AC evaporator will have to come out, which means venting your refrigerant. Look up butane mixtures like Duracool. Works for me. Totally compatible with R-12 oils and even works better. The EPA has been fighting it for years due to "safety concerns" (not their domain). Butane is used in Canada and Europe. R-134A creates poisonous gas when it combusts, and is a potent greenhouse gas. The good part is your heater core should be cheap. I got one recently for my 65 Newport for ~$25.
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70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
Bill, thanks for the tips. I've got surface rust in the trunk, with some very small holes (fingernail size -- I think the pics are posted here in one of these threads) and there are but a few of them. I pulled up the entire carpet and the floors are completely solid, but because there was/is a leak somewhere the rug became moldy and nasty and had all kinds of crap infested in it -- removed it same day I bought the car. The floor does have surface rust, but I plan to sand all that away. I just noticed the other day when I washed it there was a small trickle of water coming down the from under the dash board on the passenger side...guess that's how the rug was getting wet. I had a 340 Duster that had bad wiper grommets (they leaked and let water drip from bottom of the dash), perhaps its the same culprit here. If not, guess my work will be cut out for me...its my understanding the windshield will have to come out.
Good News is I have heat, tons of heat...I'm not worrying about freezing my buns off in the middle of Feb. Also have rear defogger which will be nice. The problem was a small vacuum hose had popped off a canister under the hood. I pushed it back on, and bingo heat was back in business. The owner said the AC system had been converted over to R-134A last summer as the car was in some kind of 4th of July or Memorial day parade. Thats about all I know about that AC/Heat system.
When I start attaching the rust issues I will definitely have all these suggestions in my I Pod for guidance. My first efforts have just been to get her road worthy....new tires, exhaust system, tune up, ....as she had been sitting under a car cover for sometime before I bought her.
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