Rip's New '73 Navajo

[detmatt]

Love it, well done Rip!

 

[Big_John]

Nice car! I always really liked the interior in those cars.

After all the trips to Legendary and Schenectady, I'm really getting familiar with the roads in upper NY state. . .

81 to 20 or 81 to the thruway to get to Newark?

 

[78Brougham]

Great to see you, Jeff and of course the "Navajo" She's a real beauty. Congratulations again!

Awesome time at dinner as well, with @MarPar, Kiera, Sammie and Jeff. Great memories. Thanks!

If you go to legendary again, and want to take the scenic route, go up 15 through PA and swing through for a visit. It'd be nice to see you again.

 

[65sporty]

Nice cruiser, congrats

 

[twostick]

Marv: I would say the color is more copper than burnt orange. As regards the 400 engine: Yes. It is somewhat anemic, but I think it is mostly due to a really tall rear gear. It is a 'B' engine, so it is probably a bored out 383; maybe the stroke was changed to get the extra 17 cubes, but I don't think so. I don't know what ratio the rear end is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like a 2.76. This car appears to have been built for the interstate. It rolls along at 75 - 80 mph with the cruise control on, and it doesn't slow down for the hills.

400 has the same stroke as a 383.

A 4.25" stroke 440Source kit will help it pull those 2.76's with some authority.

LOVE the color.

In 1976 I had a 73 Newport Custom 2 door hard top in Regal Blue.

Kevin

 

[monaco75]

Congrats Rip!! She looks great! Cool seeing all the ‘73s getting some love on the forum lately.

Enjoy the hell out of it!

 

[NWPT70]

I know this car! This car was talked about on this forum a while back and for a very short period of time I owned it. It came to NJ originally from Minnesota or Wisconsin. My friend Scot B who was a member found it listed on a Craigslist Ad that was talked about here somewhere around 2014-2015. He bought it for $5200 and had it shipped to NJ then I took it off his hands at his due to sudden financial hardship he had. I had the radiator rebuilt and installed a new water pump and fan clutch. I didn't have the room to properly store the car for the winter so I then sold it to a guy named Dennis out of Florida for $6200 (he put the mag wheels on and filled some minor lower body holes). He had it listed for $8500 on Ebay and it then went to someone in New York (I assume the guy you bought it from. I wish I could have kept this ride.

 

[1970cat]

nice impala
sounds like you passed within 15 miles of me on your way through. love the navajo package. even like the wheels !
800 miles in an unknown car?

 

[Polara_500]

nice impala
sounds like you passed within 15 miles of me on your way through. love the navajo package. even like the wheels !
800 miles in an unknown car?

Not near as unknown any more, now is it?

 

[300rag]

Not near as unknown any more, now is it?

I remember a long time ago a mechanic friend told me if the car can do 50 miles trouble free, it will do 500 miles.

 

[CBODY67]

Thank you Rip for your reply. I think I've read on this board before that it's not the engine being restricted but the rear end that needs a tune up to get some more power out of it. In any way, it's a landyacht member to roll down the highway smoothly. Performance is secondary

NOTHING wrong with a 400 that a bit more compression won't fix! Comparing our '72 Newport Royal 400 2bbl to our '66 Newport 383 2bbl, the '72 is a bit doggier at lower speeds, by comparison, the '66 with 2.76 and H78-14 tires and the '72 with 2.71 and H78-15 (taller) tires. Result? The '72 is about 200lbs heavier with a slightly higher effective rear axle ratio. The 400 has a little bit more cam, which might hurt lower rpm performance a bit, but with a 4bbl, better "road" performance, I suspect. Plus the larger 1.74" exhaust valves in the 400, as the later 383s had, too, but not the '66s. In other words, the 400's specs, other than the lower compression ratio, were about as good as any other prior normal 383. A good bit more torque than a 360, by observation. No 318s in Chrysler C-body, just 360 2bbls, unless it was a Plymouth or Dodge. They ALL run decent for what they are, but the 383/400 is the best alternative, except when it comes time to change spark plugs. But then now, we have Iridium plugs that didn't exist back then, so "once is enough" in that area.

The added sound insulation in the '72 tended to mask its performance. Less road noise and wind noise references compared to the '66, by observation. I tuned and tweaked the then-new '72 Newport Royal 400 2bbl as best I could and it still seemed a bit sluggish, most of which was probably the lesser auditory/sensory inputs compared to the '66 I was more used to. Mpg was about 1-1.5mpg less, all things being equal. With the extra weight and size, not too bad, though!

The problem with the 400s, comparitivly so, is their shorter stroke compared to the Pontiac 400, for example, which seems to have more real-world mid-range, hill climbing torque than the Chrysler 400 2bbl, with similar tire/axle specs. Yet the bore/stroke and rod length/stroke ratios for the Chrysler 383/400 are the same as the much-lauded Chevy 302 V-8 and Chevy's 430cid Can-Am only race motor.

ONE other thing that tends to hurt the Chrysler 383/400 is that they calibrated the trans to upshift at a bit too-low mph levels. Meaning that after a min-throttle 2-3 shift, the engine rpm will drop back to under 1000rpm, which means that all later accel is "on the converter" unless you use enough throttle to trigger a part-throttle kickdown. A minor adjustment to the kickdown linkage will raise that min and mid-throttle upshift speed a bit to use "more gear" and "less throttle". End result is the car feels "happier" and liking what it's doing.

By observation, this early upshift orientation has plagued Chrysler products well into the 1980s, as kickdown linkage adjustments became more hidden to technicians. But all it might take is ONE thinner black plastic wire tie at the rear of the slot in the kickdown road, effectively giving it a slight bit of more preload to delay the upshifts enough to make things work better. A casualty of the "grams/mile" emission measurements?

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Maybe I'll sell it to you next year, after I take all the good parts off of it

No problem, got so many irons in the fire I don't think I could even enjoy it.

 

[Wildbunch02]

I remember the ad from a couple of years ago, I loved the car but was unsure if I could get used to the interior. I have to say it has grown on me, and I definitely appreciate the uniqueness of it.
Good luck with your new ride, enjoy!

 

[Ripinator]

Nice car! I always really liked the interior in those cars.



81 to 20 or 81 to the thruway to get to Newark?

John: I was on US 15 / I99 most of the way up there from the Harrisburg area. Of course, from Schenectady to Newark, it was I-90 most of the way. Stayed overnight Tuesday in Phelps at a nice B&B (Yorkshire Inn).

 

[Ripinator]

Great to see you, Jeff and of course the "Navajo" She's a real beauty. Congratulations again!

Awesome time at dinner as well, with @MarPar, Kiera, Sammie and Jeff. Great memories. Thanks!

If you go to legendary again, and want to take the scenic route, go up 15 through PA and swing through for a visit. It'd be nice to see you again.

Thank you, Kenny. Having dinner with you, Sammie, Mario and Kiera and son Jeff was the highlight of the trip for me. I had such a good time. When he wasn't looking, I put some A-1 on Mario's steak. . .

 

[live4theking]

Nice ride Rip, I sneak a quick peak at it over the weekend.

 

[Samplingman]

Congratulations, Rip! I lusted after this one as well when that ad came out, wish I could have seen this one in person. Other than the interior, are there any other differences between a Navajo edition and a standard '73 coupe?

 

[BLIMP]

Congrats on a slick looking ride, that interior is great!

 

[Dobalovr]

Congrats Rip that’s quite the ocean liner! Love the Navajo package!

 

[Ripinator]

Congratulations, Rip! I lusted after this one as well when that ad came out, wish I could have seen this one in person. Other than the interior, are there any other differences between a Navajo edition and a standard '73 coupe?

I don't know, James. This car has the 400 engine, disc brakes, cruise control and the standard AM radio (which is missing). I have a brochure that came with the car that I think lists all the options, etc. I'll investigate. Stay tuned.