Old Test Drive Video of 1978 New Yorker Salon
- Thread starter march
- Start date
LeBaron1973
Old Man with a Hat
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2015
- Messages
- 6,311
- Reaction score
- 2,421
I hope the 1980 version was better as i want one of those.
Eventually, when my 73 is here in Christchurch.
Eventually, when my 73 is here in Christchurch.
JC68vert300
Senior Member
Well the 79 New Yorker got some decent reviews for the interior and driving dynamics, but those electrical gremlins must have really hurt owner loyalty. The power window ,locks, hazard lights, the clock, the flashing map light, no brake lights. Wow, and that wasn't over time....all on a test drive. But Chrysler was hovering over extinction at that point.
When I bought my '80 Newport, I was very impressed with how quiet it was. I added a set of Magnum GT wheels (15x7) and with the normal P215/75-15 radials, cornered very well. It had the "load carrying" HD suspension with no rear sway bar. As usual, some Monroe HD shocks (from Chrysler) made the ride and handling firm and "as expected".
When I was hanging the dual exhaust (from a salvaged ex-police vehicle), I noticed that ALL of the exhaust system was above the level of the rocker panels! Go off-road or over curbs, ONLY body contact and the exhaust system was still intact?
The front crossmember is fully isolated from the rest of the unibody. As some earlier Imperials were, but a different design. One reason for the quietness.
As the vehicle came from "deepest, darkest" West Texas, the original engine computer was still intact and operating very well! A/C works great and quick.
On that TV guy, seems that all he can get out of a car is 12mpg? Those cars will do much better than that, especially on a trip!
One bad thing is that after Chairman Lee came around, the Chrysler 4-drs were "pillared hardtops", as the Ford Crown Victorias and similar Mercurys were. B-pillar to the roof, but "live edge" glass. One reason for the wind noise, plus the window regulators.
LOTS of good things, with some that needed a little more finesse and "presentation upgrades".
CBODY67
When I was hanging the dual exhaust (from a salvaged ex-police vehicle), I noticed that ALL of the exhaust system was above the level of the rocker panels! Go off-road or over curbs, ONLY body contact and the exhaust system was still intact?
The front crossmember is fully isolated from the rest of the unibody. As some earlier Imperials were, but a different design. One reason for the quietness.
As the vehicle came from "deepest, darkest" West Texas, the original engine computer was still intact and operating very well! A/C works great and quick.
On that TV guy, seems that all he can get out of a car is 12mpg? Those cars will do much better than that, especially on a trip!
One bad thing is that after Chairman Lee came around, the Chrysler 4-drs were "pillared hardtops", as the Ford Crown Victorias and similar Mercurys were. B-pillar to the roof, but "live edge" glass. One reason for the wind noise, plus the window regulators.
LOTS of good things, with some that needed a little more finesse and "presentation upgrades".
CBODY67
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
For what it's worth, the clock, brake and dome light issue were all the same problem...(because they're on the same circuit). A missing ground.
As I was hinting in the '79 C-body thread, the R's weren't fully baked when they came out. I've heard the late 1980 models were much better, but for naught... the reputation was cooked.
They were most definitely not an Iacocca-influenced product as he did not arrive at Chrysler until late 1978. He was the guy who cancelled them, and just about anyone in a position of responsibility for their production.
As I was hinting in the '79 C-body thread, the R's weren't fully baked when they came out. I've heard the late 1980 models were much better, but for naught... the reputation was cooked.
They were most definitely not an Iacocca-influenced product as he did not arrive at Chrysler until late 1978. He was the guy who cancelled them, and just about anyone in a position of responsibility for their production.
When the R-cars came out, I thought they looked pretty neat and the New Yorker was as nice as anything around. The downside was the anemic powertrains (i.e., engines). That was too much car for the poor Slant 6 to lug around. The 360 2bbl has less horsepower than the 318 4bbl. The '80 360 2bbl had a 318-size BBD on it, with a new mounting plate grafted into the existing 360 intake manifold . . . the ONLY year that happened, that I know of. The lock-up TF had "programming" issues, but the lock-up speed on my '80 was about 53mph, which took it out of the "speed limit" orientation. The "Thermal Guard" battery protector/windshield washer reservoir is makes battery swaps difficult, even if you hold your mouth right.
The carpet and insulation was like 3" thick! One reason for the quietness, I suspect. I'd noticed that it appeared the floor level was higher than in the past, which it is, aside from the thick carpet and insulation. ALSO, hiding under that carpet (at least on the true dual exhaust 360 HO cars, is a specific front floor section with the clearance for the dual catalyst exhaust system, which ALSO has an area stamped to accept a floor shifter! Which could well have been the same stamping as the '79 Cordoba 300 used.
If the economic times had not been so bad, plus Chrysler's internal finances on the rocks, might we have seen a "Euro-themed" Chrysler with buckets, console, leather, Magnum GT wheels, plus related suspension upgrades? KInd of a shame for the "Open Road" package (suspension upgrades to basically "police car") to be saddled with 15x6 wheels and wide whitewalls! BUT without a stouter LA motor, more flash than dash. As with the /79 300, now lh power seat with the dual exhaust.
The Cordoba connection goes a little deeper, as I found out one year at Mopar Nats. The R-cars were only Slant 6 and LA V-8s, BUT one guy had an old Fire Chief's car (a real law enforcement-spec car with the 360 HO and dual exhausts) with a 440 under the hood. I asked him how he did that! A K-frame from a 400 Cordoba. A new a/c line to the RV-2 compressor. Some '73 Charger HP manifolds and driveshaft. Hooked up the manifolds to the existing dual exhaust. To fool the Chevy guys (who didn't know what they were looking at), a 340 pie plate for the air cleaner. So, some definite possibilities!
I also asked permission to look under the driver's seat to see about the "no power seat" situation. On my single-exhaust '80 Newport, there is barely enough room between the seat tracks for any kind of power seat motor and such. On the factory dual exhaust cars, they needed additional clearance on the lh side for the exhaust pipe, cat converter, and heat shielding. THAT put the seat tracks about 3" apart from each other. A 1/4" adapter plate connected the seat track to the seat bottom.
The cars had a new-style window regulator, possibly similar to the RWSX cars, but on the pillared hardtop, they allowed the top of the door glass to pull away from the weatherstrip at high speed. In looking at this issue on mine, it appeared that you could tack on the upper door frame from a Caprice to the Chrysler door shell to make it a "4-dr sedan".
The poor Plymouths were so bargain-basement it was unreal. Just there for fleet business and little else. The St. Regis was better.
To me, the basic car design was pretty good. Other aspects were pretty good, too, but where they were not, it was in obvious places (like when you put your foot into the throttle). Otherwise, they were much better than what GM or Ford had in that size car . . . just the negatives didn't play well if you didn't desire to tolerate them or figure out how to upgrade them.
CBODY67
The carpet and insulation was like 3" thick! One reason for the quietness, I suspect. I'd noticed that it appeared the floor level was higher than in the past, which it is, aside from the thick carpet and insulation. ALSO, hiding under that carpet (at least on the true dual exhaust 360 HO cars, is a specific front floor section with the clearance for the dual catalyst exhaust system, which ALSO has an area stamped to accept a floor shifter! Which could well have been the same stamping as the '79 Cordoba 300 used.
If the economic times had not been so bad, plus Chrysler's internal finances on the rocks, might we have seen a "Euro-themed" Chrysler with buckets, console, leather, Magnum GT wheels, plus related suspension upgrades? KInd of a shame for the "Open Road" package (suspension upgrades to basically "police car") to be saddled with 15x6 wheels and wide whitewalls! BUT without a stouter LA motor, more flash than dash. As with the /79 300, now lh power seat with the dual exhaust.
The Cordoba connection goes a little deeper, as I found out one year at Mopar Nats. The R-cars were only Slant 6 and LA V-8s, BUT one guy had an old Fire Chief's car (a real law enforcement-spec car with the 360 HO and dual exhausts) with a 440 under the hood. I asked him how he did that! A K-frame from a 400 Cordoba. A new a/c line to the RV-2 compressor. Some '73 Charger HP manifolds and driveshaft. Hooked up the manifolds to the existing dual exhaust. To fool the Chevy guys (who didn't know what they were looking at), a 340 pie plate for the air cleaner. So, some definite possibilities!
I also asked permission to look under the driver's seat to see about the "no power seat" situation. On my single-exhaust '80 Newport, there is barely enough room between the seat tracks for any kind of power seat motor and such. On the factory dual exhaust cars, they needed additional clearance on the lh side for the exhaust pipe, cat converter, and heat shielding. THAT put the seat tracks about 3" apart from each other. A 1/4" adapter plate connected the seat track to the seat bottom.
The cars had a new-style window regulator, possibly similar to the RWSX cars, but on the pillared hardtop, they allowed the top of the door glass to pull away from the weatherstrip at high speed. In looking at this issue on mine, it appeared that you could tack on the upper door frame from a Caprice to the Chrysler door shell to make it a "4-dr sedan".
The poor Plymouths were so bargain-basement it was unreal. Just there for fleet business and little else. The St. Regis was better.
To me, the basic car design was pretty good. Other aspects were pretty good, too, but where they were not, it was in obvious places (like when you put your foot into the throttle). Otherwise, they were much better than what GM or Ford had in that size car . . . just the negatives didn't play well if you didn't desire to tolerate them or figure out how to upgrade them.
CBODY67
Similar threads
- Locked
