Questions about a Newport
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Bryan
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Have Fun!!!! I did a similar thing when I bought mine. Not quite as far though.
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Photo document and post up some of it for us to see. Congrats!
Thanks guys! Well, 1,000 miles of driving, plus inspecting it and actually doing the deal makes for a 20 hour day. Just got home, and I'm gonna hit the hay hard. But before I do, I just wanna ask one thing. Who wants to know the skinny on this thing???
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I'll be waiting till you're done napping.
Bryan
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I got to go to a basketball tournament, but when I get back, I'll be looking forward to seeing and reading.
ccasion14:
ccasion14:All I can say is...WOW! The car was exactly as described, an 86,000 mile two owner (including them) car from the desert in Idaho. (I didn't even know they had those in Idaho, but I looked it up. :reading Anyway, they bought it from the owner's estate 4 years ago or so and had it painted, put on the new top, and then shipped it to Ohio, where it has sat in a storage locker since. The lady showed me videos of them loading their cars on the car hauler when they moved. They never even registered the car in Ohio, it is still wearing '08 Idaho plates! They were planning on driving it, and doing a few little things to it, but they started a new business (antiques/knickknack shop) and it kind of took off, and they just didn't have the time. They also have a few other classics in their collection, so this one just kind of fell by the wayside. Her and her husband were some good folks, and she genuinely was sad to see the car go. She was ecstatic that a "car guy" was buying it, and that it was going to be well taken care of. She made me promise to keep in touch with updates on how I'm fixing it up. (Along with her also making me promise that I wouldn't put dubs on it! 
) She even videoed me getting in and driving it off the lot. Suffice to say, I am thrilled to have taken this leap of faith in her honesty! But enough of that, on to the car itself!
First, the bad:
-A few tiny dings in a few places that weren't apparent in the photos, and aren't apparent even in person except to a person who was actively looking for such things, like me.
-Slight misaglignment of the lines on the driver's door. May have been that way since day one.
-The rear bumper has a tiny scuff, and could probably stand to be re-chromed. Still looks pretty darn good though.
-A couple cracks in the upper dash. I'll probably refurbish that next winter, 'til then a dash pad will do.
-An exhaust leak at the donut on the pass. side. Duals are in it's near future anyway.
-A small tear in the side of the driver's seat near the seat lever, that has been sewn shut.
-Some fraying on the end of the rear interior panel where it wraps around and meets the driver's door. A needle and thread should take car of this as well.
-About a 1 inch tear in the headliner just inside the driver's door. More needle and thread work.
-Missing the small dash piece that goes under the steering column. (Actually, it was in the glovebox, just in about 5 pieces. :icon_lol
-The radio doesn't work. I'm gonna put a radio in it anyway, somewhere hidden so I don't mess up the look of the dash.
-The turn signals work, but the stalk doesn't stay on by itself. I'm thinking the cam is bad, or maybe the whole switch?
-Someone put an electric fuel pump on it. I'm really not sure on this one. It is an older model Carter one, and looks to have been done a long time ago, but, uh, why???:violent1: Anyway, it will be gone soon for a mechanical.
-A/C doesn't blow cold. The compressor cycles, though. Hoping a recharge will do the trick, if I can scrounge some R-12 somewhere.
-Driver's door hold-open roller on the hinge assy. is broken off. Not sure if I can make something work, but no biggie.
-A dash bulb is burned out. Easy fix.
The emblem in the center of the grille is cracked. I'm looking for a replacement now.
-The battery hold down works, but has been repaired, and not too well either, so it's gotta go.
-Fender mt. turn signals don't work. Hoping it is either bulbs, a bad connector, or a bad ground.
-Driver's window crank works fine, but requires some effort. Hoping a little grease solves that.
Now, the good:
-I missed that deer at 75mph, around midnight in the middle of Illinois! :icon_eekSome cleanup of the driver's pants and seat are in order, though.)
-I made it home 500 miles without a hitch. She drove straight, quiet, and smooth.
-It has surprising power for such a boat with just a 383-2V.
-I was also really surprised and impressed with the manual drum brakes as well. They stopped straight and true with just a bit more pressure than I'm used to.
-The paint is pretty well done. Although just a respray and not a restoration, it looks great!
-There is truly no rust to speak of! This part actually worked out great for me. I met the lady at their shop, and it was a busy Friday afternoon for them. I told her no problem, I was in no hurry, and for her to go help her customers. In the meantime, I got to crawl over, under, and through this thing with a flashlight, inspection mirror, and a magnet. It appears that no bodywork was done before the paint, which is evidenced by some of the dings having no visible scratches or mars where they occurred, so they must have been there beforehand. I found no evidence of major bondo anywhere! :clap:The magnet stuck wherever I put it, and I put it everywhere. The floorpans, inner fenders, wheelwells, trunk floor, door bottoms, rear window, and cowl all showed original paint and the slight surface rust around seams and such that one would expect for 40+year old car, even from a dry climate. There was no odd freshly painted spots or undercoating, no wrinkles or weld seams from anything other than Ma Mopar that I could tell!
-The door hinges are nice and tight. No sag or play at all.
-The vinyl top was well done, although the grain is probably wrong. I could care less about that though.
-The wiring was an area of particular concern for me, considering what the ad had said. I was pleasantly surprised to look under the dash and see soldered crimp connects with heat shrink, and heavy gauge wires. There was a spot on the harness connector going into the firewall where it heated up and very slightly melted at one terminal, and it was bypassed. I haven't completely traced it yet, but it looks like it is similar to an ammeter rewire as it has a big maxi fuse under the hood, feeding 10 ga. wire into the dash.
-The seats, except for the one flaw I spoke of on the side, are perfect. I love the color combo as well, it just screams old school custom to me! They are very comfortable too, and the fold down armrest is a nice feature.
-The engine fired right up from dead cold, and purred like a kitten. No smoke or noise, other than the donut gasket leak I mentioned. It has nice smooth power, although it's begging for some HP manifolds and duals, a mild cam, and a dual plane and small 4 barrel. I'm thinking something around 383 Magnum specs there.
-The tranny shifts clean, and there's no slippage. There were no leaks, the fluid level was correct, and no burnt smell to it. It wasn't terribly dirty, but a fluid/filter change is on the agenda.
-No leaks or noise from the rearend. In fact, I couldn't find any wet spots anywhere on the underside of this car, and it hasn't been cleaned at all under there.
-The car wears 15" wheels and 225/75 front and 235/75 rear tires. Not stock I know, but sizes more in line with what I feel a car of this size should have. Still debating the wheel situation. I didn't like the old moon style caps at first, but they have really grown on me, especially if you painted the wheels body color and that little bit would show through around them. Would probably look pretty sweet that way. We shall see.
-The springs and shocks are all good to go. It sits level, rides super nice, and makes no odd noises to speak of.
-The steering is straight, it doesn't pull to either side, and I could find no play in it.
-The windows are nice and scratch free, they all work nicely, and all the weatherstripping around them was replaced when they did the paint. Sweet!
-The lights all work, except for the fender mounts I spoke of.
Suffice to say that I am one happy camper! :toothy9:Although I did as much research as I could, it was still a huge leap of faith to buy this thing sight unseen. Especially for more than what we all seemed to think it was worth. But I just fell in love with the car, and had a really good feeling about the seller. At the end of the day, I think I got a great deal on it, considering the overrall condition and road worthiness. Hell, the wife even loves it, and has mentioned us driving it out to California this summer! I told her to pack her bags, that is what these cars were made for! Once again, thanks for all the help on here, and the continued interest in my little saga with this car. I think I might start a build thread to follow along with all my planned updates. I'm thinking kind of a period correct custom type deal. :icon_cool: Should be fun!
And now some pics. Sorry about the quality of them, and the crappy scenery. I'll get some better ones on here soon.
Anyway, they bought it from the owner's estate 4 years ago or so and had it painted, put on the new top, and then shipped it to Ohio, where it has sat in a storage locker since. The lady showed me videos of them loading their cars on the car hauler when they moved. They never even registered the car in Ohio, it is still wearing '08 Idaho plates! They were planning on driving it, and doing a few little things to it, but they started a new business (antiques/knickknack shop) and it kind of took off, and they just didn't have the time. They also have a few other classics in their collection, so this one just kind of fell by the wayside. Her and her husband were some good folks, and she genuinely was sad to see the car go. She was ecstatic that a "car guy" was buying it, and that it was going to be well taken care of. She made me promise to keep in touch with updates on how I'm fixing it up. (Along with her also making me promise that I wouldn't put dubs on it! ) She even videoed me getting in and driving it off the lot. Suffice to say, I am thrilled to have taken this leap of faith in her honesty! But enough of that, on to the car itself!First, the bad:
-A few tiny dings in a few places that weren't apparent in the photos, and aren't apparent even in person except to a person who was actively looking for such things, like me.
-Slight misaglignment of the lines on the driver's door. May have been that way since day one.
-The rear bumper has a tiny scuff, and could probably stand to be re-chromed. Still looks pretty darn good though.
-A couple cracks in the upper dash. I'll probably refurbish that next winter, 'til then a dash pad will do.
-An exhaust leak at the donut on the pass. side. Duals are in it's near future anyway.
-A small tear in the side of the driver's seat near the seat lever, that has been sewn shut.
-Some fraying on the end of the rear interior panel where it wraps around and meets the driver's door. A needle and thread should take car of this as well.
-About a 1 inch tear in the headliner just inside the driver's door. More needle and thread work.
-Missing the small dash piece that goes under the steering column. (Actually, it was in the glovebox, just in about 5 pieces. :icon_lol
-The radio doesn't work. I'm gonna put a radio in it anyway, somewhere hidden so I don't mess up the look of the dash.
-The turn signals work, but the stalk doesn't stay on by itself. I'm thinking the cam is bad, or maybe the whole switch?
-Someone put an electric fuel pump on it. I'm really not sure on this one. It is an older model Carter one, and looks to have been done a long time ago, but, uh, why???:violent1: Anyway, it will be gone soon for a mechanical.
-A/C doesn't blow cold. The compressor cycles, though. Hoping a recharge will do the trick, if I can scrounge some R-12 somewhere.
-Driver's door hold-open roller on the hinge assy. is broken off. Not sure if I can make something work, but no biggie.
-A dash bulb is burned out. Easy fix.
The emblem in the center of the grille is cracked. I'm looking for a replacement now.
-The battery hold down works, but has been repaired, and not too well either, so it's gotta go.
-Fender mt. turn signals don't work. Hoping it is either bulbs, a bad connector, or a bad ground.
-Driver's window crank works fine, but requires some effort. Hoping a little grease solves that.
Now, the good:
-I missed that deer at 75mph, around midnight in the middle of Illinois! :icon_eek
Some cleanup of the driver's pants and seat are in order, though.)-I made it home 500 miles without a hitch. She drove straight, quiet, and smooth.
-It has surprising power for such a boat with just a 383-2V.
-I was also really surprised and impressed with the manual drum brakes as well. They stopped straight and true with just a bit more pressure than I'm used to.
-The paint is pretty well done. Although just a respray and not a restoration, it looks great!
-There is truly no rust to speak of! This part actually worked out great for me. I met the lady at their shop, and it was a busy Friday afternoon for them. I told her no problem, I was in no hurry, and for her to go help her customers. In the meantime, I got to crawl over, under, and through this thing with a flashlight, inspection mirror, and a magnet. It appears that no bodywork was done before the paint, which is evidenced by some of the dings having no visible scratches or mars where they occurred, so they must have been there beforehand. I found no evidence of major bondo anywhere! :clap:The magnet stuck wherever I put it, and I put it everywhere. The floorpans, inner fenders, wheelwells, trunk floor, door bottoms, rear window, and cowl all showed original paint and the slight surface rust around seams and such that one would expect for 40+year old car, even from a dry climate. There was no odd freshly painted spots or undercoating, no wrinkles or weld seams from anything other than Ma Mopar that I could tell!
-The door hinges are nice and tight. No sag or play at all.
-The vinyl top was well done, although the grain is probably wrong. I could care less about that though.
-The wiring was an area of particular concern for me, considering what the ad had said. I was pleasantly surprised to look under the dash and see soldered crimp connects with heat shrink, and heavy gauge wires. There was a spot on the harness connector going into the firewall where it heated up and very slightly melted at one terminal, and it was bypassed. I haven't completely traced it yet, but it looks like it is similar to an ammeter rewire as it has a big maxi fuse under the hood, feeding 10 ga. wire into the dash.
-The seats, except for the one flaw I spoke of on the side, are perfect. I love the color combo as well, it just screams old school custom to me! They are very comfortable too, and the fold down armrest is a nice feature.
-The engine fired right up from dead cold, and purred like a kitten. No smoke or noise, other than the donut gasket leak I mentioned. It has nice smooth power, although it's begging for some HP manifolds and duals, a mild cam, and a dual plane and small 4 barrel. I'm thinking something around 383 Magnum specs there.
-The tranny shifts clean, and there's no slippage. There were no leaks, the fluid level was correct, and no burnt smell to it. It wasn't terribly dirty, but a fluid/filter change is on the agenda.
-No leaks or noise from the rearend. In fact, I couldn't find any wet spots anywhere on the underside of this car, and it hasn't been cleaned at all under there.
-The car wears 15" wheels and 225/75 front and 235/75 rear tires. Not stock I know, but sizes more in line with what I feel a car of this size should have. Still debating the wheel situation. I didn't like the old moon style caps at first, but they have really grown on me, especially if you painted the wheels body color and that little bit would show through around them. Would probably look pretty sweet that way. We shall see.
-The springs and shocks are all good to go. It sits level, rides super nice, and makes no odd noises to speak of.
-The steering is straight, it doesn't pull to either side, and I could find no play in it.
-The windows are nice and scratch free, they all work nicely, and all the weatherstripping around them was replaced when they did the paint. Sweet!
-The lights all work, except for the fender mounts I spoke of.
Suffice to say that I am one happy camper! :toothy9:Although I did as much research as I could, it was still a huge leap of faith to buy this thing sight unseen. Especially for more than what we all seemed to think it was worth. But I just fell in love with the car, and had a really good feeling about the seller. At the end of the day, I think I got a great deal on it, considering the overrall condition and road worthiness. Hell, the wife even loves it, and has mentioned us driving it out to California this summer! I told her to pack her bags, that is what these cars were made for! Once again, thanks for all the help on here, and the continued interest in my little saga with this car. I think I might start a build thread to follow along with all my planned updates. I'm thinking kind of a period correct custom type deal. :icon_cool: Should be fun!
And now some pics. Sorry about the quality of them, and the crappy scenery. I'll get some better ones on here soon.
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Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
Congratulations. Nice score. BTW If you replace the headliner I'd be interested in where you source it and your opinion on quality and fit. Need one for my Monaco.
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
Great looking car ........................BUT....its not a picnic table, save that for the work truck. Good luck with her
Nice buy, that's a beautiful car.
LOL! I was waiting for someone to comment on that. I included that pic on purpose because believe me, that is definitely not something I would normally do! But when the wife and I stopped on the way back, and it was such a beautiful day, I told her we would have a little picnic on our beautiful new "picnic table".
Thanks for the well wishes and congrats. I couldn't be happier thus far!:icon_mrgreen:
cm23uoc
Old Man with a Hat
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The only reason for vinyl tops was to serve as an easy to clean picnic table that doesn't get scratched. Just put this stuff up to the second floor.
440Sled
Well-Known Member
Nice find!
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
The only reason for vinyl tops was to serve as an easy to clean picnic table that doesn't get scratched. Just put this stuff up to the second floor.
Would make for an interesting vinyl roof........
FWIW, when the wing cars came out, some people did refer to the wings as a redneck picnic table.
cm23uoc
Old Man with a Hat
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Would make for an interesting vinyl roof........
FWIW, when the wing cars came out, some people did refer to the wings as a redneck picnic table.
They had the Paisley and Mod Tops that pleased the eye while eating.
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Thanks, 440Sled! Nice ride yourself there! Dayum, that thing is looooooow! Gotta be on bags, right?
Yeah, "interesting", that's what we'll call it.:laughing4:Would make for an interesting vinyl roof........
FWIW, when the wing cars came out, some people did refer to the wings as a redneck picnic table.
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That's a great looking car, I'd be proud to drive it. It will be a fun first summer with it.
Thanks detmatt! Yeah, I'm looking forward to really getting to know the ol' girl this summer. The wife even loves the car so much that she suggested us taking it out to Cali for her family reunion this summer. I told her hell yeah, that's what these cars were made for!
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Could be a lot of fun, how long of a ride is that?
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