New member, 1966 Chrysler Newport

[Edison]

Thanks guys.

Tallhair, I bet you are right. When test driving I was at low speeds and it seemed accurate, but when I drove home and it said I was doing 100 mph and people were passing me I knew something was up. ;) The faster I go the more off it seems. I pulled over for gas downloaded a speedometer app on my phone and used that till I got a feel for it. At 70 mph it was roughly reading 100 mph. Being close to a MPH-KPH conversion just a coincidence haha! I don't really have a way to know if the gears were changed, I can say it does feel like acceleration is better than I expected out of an old school three speed auto so between the speedo and that I would bet anything you're right.

I didn't even plan on buying a classic car. Two weeks ago my girlfiend and I went to the place I picked it up from just to look at some old Model A's and Model T's, purely as history buffs. I always figured the places prices would be high, but then as I was walking around I started thinking they really weren't that far off from Craigslist/Autotrader prices. The car I initially looked at was A) out of my price range and B) started raising my eyebrows the more I looked at it (mostly paint job). Then I spotted this on the site and it checked out. Drove good, didn't have any leaks underneath where it was parked, and had lower miles. And it was so damn comfy. So I went online and started reading and researching prices. They were waaaay more helpful and friendly than I expected to.

 

[NewportTM]

Welcome!! Love the color!!!

 

[Edison]

Tallhair, do you think the speedo gear would also affect my trip odometer? It seems to be reading a bit fast as well. I used it and an app on my phone and it seems to count faster than the app. I measured the app against my 2008 Fit and they were almost identical.

 

[OneEyed]

Great Looking Car!! and Welcome! Let us know what you find out on the speedo and fuel gauge as I have similar problems with mine.

What is the factory gear ratio supposed to be and where are these colorful pinion gears located on my car? Mine will say I'm doing 70 when actually going about 45. Plus a full tank of gas (20 gallons?) only puts the fuel gauge to the halfway mark. Not a big deal to me since I don't do a lot of driving in it but I would like to have everything correct eventually.

 

[patrick66]

So far, the only things wrong with it are the speedometer reads about 30 MPH than you are really going, and the gas gauge doesn't work.
EDIT - after being pointed out by someone else, I wonder if it is possible my car was originally a Canadian car and the speedo is in KPH? I think it might have been a Minnesota car before ending up here in Illinois . . .

Canada used miles until the late '70s, you can rest assured your speedo is in MPH. Were this KM/H, it would be the equivalent of 83 mph. It's MPH. Guaranteed. Were it a real metric speedo in the car, the top speed would read 200 km/h.

The reason your speedo is off so much is that your tires are WAY smaller and shorter than what was on the car to start with. And yes, it can make up to 30 mph difference. Look at the picture of the green NY hardtop above and compare the way your car sits and that car. If the rear gears have been changed, there is that variable, also.

Nice car. I see you got the car from one of the least trusted dealers in IL. Pretty infamous guy.

 

[Edison]

Canada used miles until the late '70s, you can rest assured your speedo is in MPH. Were this KM/H, it would be the equivalent of 83 mph. It's MPH. Guaranteed. Were it a real metric speedo in the car, the top speed would read 200 km/h.

The reason your speedo is off so much is that your tires are WAY smaller and shorter than what was on the car to start with. And yes, it can make up to 30 mph difference. Look at the picture of the green NY hardtop above and compare the way your car sits and that car. If the rear gears have been changed, there is that variable, also.

Nice car. I see you got the car from one of the least trusted dealers in IL. Pretty infamous guy.

Thanks.

I wasn't aware of the trustworthy dealer thing. I honestly am completely 100% satisfied with the car and service I received there. But I'd be interested in hearing the horror stories to see how it compared to my experience.

On size of tires, I found this that listed the original tire size as "8.25 - 14".

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_details1.php

Can anyone confirm if that is accurate?

 

[Edison]

Not to get off course, but I found this thread

http://forums.aaca.org/f115/careful-when-dealing-country-classic-cars-166682.html

And although it's over a decade old, I think our51super (post #8) is pretty fair. I did the same thing that guy said. Looked up prices on ebay, craigslist, auto trader and such to determine what I thought would be fair in my area. Went with cash in hand, and set to not be heart broken if it didn't come to fruition. And I checked BBB and they had an A+.

But I'm reading some other threads with horror stories.

 

[tallhair]

Tallhair, do you think the speedo gear would also affect my trip odometer? It seems to be reading a bit fast as well. I used it and an app on my phone and it seems to count faster than the app. I measured the app against my 2008 Fit and they were almost identical.

Yes the speedo, odometer and trip odometer will all be off if the speedo gear in the trans is for the wrong tire size/rear gearing

It's all based on revolutions of the drivetrain and rear tire height

 

[commando1]

I see you got the car from one of the least trusted dealers in IL. Pretty infamous guy.

I didn't want to be the one to say it.