As we show in our Rare Finds column each month, there are still plenty of Mopars hidden in the woods, barns, and garages, just waiting for someone to discover them and fix them up. And while each of us has his or her own personal favorite to look for, we admit that we're suckers for just about any classic Mopar, purchasing more than one project car simply to save the vehicle from a questionable future. Another type of car we're suckers for, especially here in Florida, is any Mopar with a convertible top. As you'll read in Rare Finds this month, we found this '69 Chrysler Newport convertible locally and bought it as a first car for this author's teenage daughter. At 13 years old, she's not sure she really likes the big drop-top yet, but we think it will grow on her as she helps fix it up and personalize it. We also think all that extra C-Body steel makes this Newport safe, as well as cool.
When it comes to Chryslers, bigger is definitely better. This month we'll attempt to get this '69 Newport running after it sat in a barn for more than ten years.
Like many Mopars that are found these days, this Newport had been sitting in a barn, and hadn't been driven or even started in more than ten years. Knowing that the fuel tank pickup was likely varnished, and the engine's oil had probably all drained back into the pan leaving oil galleys and vital engine parts without lubricant, we decided the best bet was to trailer our car home and give it a thorough evaluation. Getting a car running after it has been sitting for an extended period can be accomplished, but you risk damaging the engine, transmission, and accessories by simply throwing a battery in the vehicle, pouring gas down the carb, and firing it up. If you take your time, though, and replace parts and fluids as necessary, the outcome can be a Mopar that runs smoothly, is reliable, and fun to drive.
One of the best ways to initially evaluate a car you've purchased is to speak with the previous owner. We actually purchased this car as a third party from a friend who had spoken to the prior owner, who stated that the car ran and drove when it was parked, but had some issue with the power steering and maybe the brakes. With this in mind, and knowing we'd need to change all the fluids and perform a regular tune-up, we pulled the big Newport into the garage and popped the hood to begin making a list of parts.
Unsure of the condition of our new purchase and knowing it had been sitting for many years, we chose to trailer our Chrysler home before attempting to get it running.
C-Body Mopars are simply not the most collectible of the breed, and therefore some parts, mainly sheetmetal, just aren't reproduced for these cars. Fortunately, nearly everything else for this car is available, including all the parts we needed to get the 383 in our Chrysler to fire up. Rather than attempting to find parts at the local store, and wondering about the quality of those parts, we logged onto Rock Auto's website, rockauto.com, and simply typed in our vehicle information. One of the big advantages of Rock Auto is that their website is super easy to navigate, requiring just a few clicks to find everything we needed for our Newport. They also offer multiple brands of the same part, so you can decide if you want to pay for the highest quality, or save a few bucks by choosing more economical items. So if you like these options, and have a little time to plan your work, Rock Auto can save you money and conveniently ship the parts you need directly to your house.
We saw several areas that would need to be addressed on our Chrysler, including leaking valve cover and exhaust manifold gaskets, fouled spark plugs, and mismatched plug wires. The belts and hoses were intact, but obviously old, so we ordered all new ones from Rock Auto, as well as a new water pump and 180-degree thermostat. Unsure of the condition of the transmission, we checked the fluid and found it to be clean, which is a good sign. While online at rockauto.com, we ordered all the parts we'd need to change the engine oil and service the transmission, and then ordered new rear brake shoes and hardware for the rear drum brakes. Up front, we were lucky and got a full set of factory disc brakes from a '72 Monaco, which we'll show you how to install in a future article. Evaluating the rest of our Chrysler, we noted that several light bulbs were inoperable, and the wiper blades were shot, so we ordered replacements while online.
We noticed signs of coolant leaking from under the water pump pulley, so we decided to replace it with a new pump from Rock Auto. We also installed new Gates radiator hoses and a new 180-degree thermostat before filling the system with Prestone antifreeze.
Knowing our parts would start arriving in a couple of days, we put the Newport on the lift and began servicing the car by removing the fuel tank pickup and cleaning it. Other than discovering a couple of broken exhaust manifold studs and valve cover bolts, we didn't have any real issues performing the work on our Chrysler, and even discovered that our Chrysler's engine had evidently been rebuilt at some point. Though unsure of when or by whom, this did encouraged us to think the 383 would run well once we were finished with our work. Luckily, we didn't see any major problems with our car, and the service work went quickly. After completing the work, we marked the position of the distributor, then removed it and primed the engine's oil system, achieving some 50 psi of oil pressure before attempting to start the car.
With our preliminary servicing and tuning of the Newport accomplished, we primed the carb with fresh fuel and turned the engine over with the transmission in neutral so that the transmission pump would pick up fluid. The big-block fired up immediately, sounding crisp and puffing just a minor amount of smoke when it first started. With good oil pressure, we let the engine come up to temperature while checking for leaks. Follow along and see what it took to wake this Chrysler up from its long nap, and check out future issues as we perform maintenance and upgrades to get this cool convertible back on the road.
We encountered broken fasteners while changing the exhaust manifold gaskets as well, one that we caused and one thanks to a previous mechanic. This added time to our repair, and we'll show you how we removed the studs and repaired the threads in next month's Quick Tech.
