Project Thread : 1967 Chrysler 300

[Jeremiah]

I am starting this thread to document the clean up and preparation of our '67 300 for driver duty.

It all started with the dreaded Saturday morning Craig's List browsing at breakfast.

I shouldn't have even mention it to Chandra, my better half. One look at the first pic and we were making plans for a look at it on the phone.

The rest will unfold in this thread!

Here are a few pics from when we first looked at it.

 

[Jeremiah]

This car lived under a car port it's entire life until about five years ago. The lady that drove it for years after her husband's passing had also passed and her surviving heirs thought so fondly of this fine heirloom that it sat in a pine grove for five rainy winters and five blistering hot summers. At one point the hood was left up and an intense wind storm ripped it off of the hinges, cracking the windshield and denting the cowl. It's kind of ironic that the car is Pine Green, no?

 

[Zymurgy]

Nice find, glad you saved it.

 

[detmatt]

Great looking 300, love the taillights on the '67s. (And the '66s and the '68s etc...)

 

[bulldogchesty]

Very nice.

 

[cm23uoc]

Still Held up nicely if you consider it was in the elements for half a decade. No Vinyl top was a plus, too.
Interior, steering wheel etc. look pretty sane.
Maybe the paint will buff right out as they say.

 

[Jeremiah]

Thanks everybody. We were lucky to find this car in our time of need. My silver '66 Coronet 440 383-4 car was my fair weather driver until it met it's demise at the paint shop this summer. No more rainy day driving for it!

To continue...

We immediately brought the car home and gave it a stem to stern post purchase assessment. The car did not run right and the folks we bought it from thought the transmission might be slipping. Also, someone had installed a 110 GPH electric fuel pump because they could not get the mechanical unit to pump fuel. We saw that and automatically assumed that the fuel system was going to need attention starting at the tank!

A few pictures from it's first night home. The lighting at dust is kind of neat lately due to the forest fire smoke.

 

[Jeremiah]

I was really digging the Coronet until I parked it next to the 300. It makes the Coronet look so plain, especially with not grille.

 

[Jeremiah]

There has been some discrepancy concerning which air cleaner a '67 375hp 440 from CA would have come with. I started digging in the back room and found a promising candidate.

 

[Ripinator]

Ya know. . . The more I see of these fastops, the more I like 'em. Mighty fine score there Jer. . .

BTW, How far are you from Medford, OR ?

 

[68plymouth383]

That's awesome. Tell us more about this room of parts.

There has been some discrepancy concerning which air cleaner a '67 375hp 440 from CA would have come with. I started digging in the back room and found a promising candidate.

 

[300cruiser]

Great find! I love the fast top with buckets and console. I'm looking forward to following your progress.

 

[Jeremiah]

Ya know. . . The more I see of these fastops, the more I like 'em. Mighty fine score there Jer. . .

BTW, How far are you from Medford, OR ?

About 15 miles. I am there several times a week if you ever need something looked over. I used to have quite a few 68-70 B and C cars but over time the 66-67 stuff has really become out focus. I think these were the last "square" American cars. Something about that era in this country makes me feel good.

 

[Jeremiah]

Great find! I love the fast top with buckets and console. I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Hey! That is a cool car you have in your avatar! Throw up a pic on this thread if you can.

 

[Jeremiah]

That's awesome. Tell us more about this room of parts.

It's not the room you would be impressed with. Mostly engine tin and race car junk. The attic of the race shop is where the good stuff is. If I remember I put it there lol.

 

[Jeremiah]

The poor 440 didn't run right. Actually it idled okay but a little fast a choppy for a stocker. I pulled the idle screws out out and cleaned them blowing out the idle circuit with some B-12 Chemtool. Progress was clearly made as the idle mixture was once again adjustable. It still sounded like it needed help though.

We pulled the plugs to find them black as night. Okay, fresh plugs for all eight team members! That really helped but my helper, Chandra, gives me a sideways look with a very corroded, gummy feeling spark plug wire in her hand.

"These things suck. Do we have a cut-to-fit set on the shelf?"
"No, you used them on your other car...out of stock."
"Lame. I'm going foraging in the engine forest."

And off she went to rob some forlorn engine of it's plug wires.

She returned with one of those old school orange Mopar Performance wire sets in hand, distributor cap dangling in tow.

"What about these ones?" she impatiently inquired

"I guess they are better than a set of those yellow Accel wires" was my retort over the hiss made by a can of VHT epoxy paint I was applying to the newly appropriated air cleaner

"Why are they orange?" she asked, a bit more impatiently this time.

"Fonzy effect?" I smartly retorted.

When I got back to the bay in which the 300 was docked the "new" wires were in place and things were starting to look up. The thing that caught my eye was the nearly perfect chrome on the factory, '67 only valve covers. My helper was busy cleaning 30 years of neglect from this righteous icon of performance. Back when people actually opened the hood to show off their mill...

 

[68plymouth383]

Used ignition parts... that's a new one for me.

 

[300cruiser]

Hey! That is a cool car you have in your avatar! Throw up a pic on this thread if you can.

PM Sent

 

[commando1]

The poor 440 didn't run right. Actually it...

I enjoyed reading that post. You have a talent. Hope you use it often here.

 

[Jeremiah]

Used ignition parts... that's a new one for me.

Lightly used! lol