https://www.checkerworld.org/single-post/2016/08/12/Your-First-Checker Careful washing it! https://www.imcdb.org/v032021.html https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vin...imate-camp-automobile-or-an-suv-with-a-trunk/
I shoulda bought it when it was $200, eh? I already read the stories....I like the road test. It's a good poke at the buying public.
heh...yeah, it might kill me! I tried to start it, didn't want to get going, although it was trying. I pulled the plugs and cleaned them..four were OK, just dry carbon, but two were funky, one had corrosion, the other was wet fouled. Then I tried again, and eventually got it to run like it should. I was filling the carb float bowl with an oil can through the vent hole, which lets it run for about half a minute at some RPM. Had oil pressure and charging. The cooling system is holding water, I only had to add less than a gallon to the radiator....there might be old antifreeze in it, hopefully. Seller said he'd replaced the freeze plug on the back of the block, and I found the receipt for the plug in the glove box. Sorry, no video. I'll never make a living from youtube, apparently.
very free flowing! I pulled the tank, and it looks surprisingly good. Didn't have any gloop in it, just a little brown layer on the bottom. After a couple small flushes with fresh gas, it seems relatively clean. The pickup tube was partly plugged, but carb cleaner blows thru it now. The filler neck rubber hose is a bit cracked, so I'd like to replace it, but it looks like 2-1/8" ID. And the sender seems to work after a few blasts of an old can of Blue Stuff tuner cleaner. 75-10 ohms, like a Ford. The cork float is intact. And you can get to the sender without removing the tank, which is nice. The whole car was built with serviceability in mind. I'll see about getting the title transfer in the morning....hopefully all will go well....
All Canadian assembled Export RHD Chevys and Pontiacs had those valve covers. Our Pontiacs had 283s in them. Here's a 65 Pontiac Laurentian 283 I picked up approx 12 months ago.
Those tail lights can be sanded with 1000 grit and clear coated, this makes them look as good as they can possibly look…
If I leave them alone, they'll match the rest of the car....which I think looks better, than having a freshly lipsticked lens on a pig....
The owner of the Checker dealership was known as "Charlie Checker". He did not sell a lot of his trade-ins. Instead, warehoused them in a medium-sized 2 story brick building. About 30 years ago, there was an ad in the Tucson newspaper about auctioning off the contents. I attended the preview. The building had a drive up ramp to the 2nd floor. I suspect that it might have been a 1920's auto dealership. Two stories of 1960's trade-ins, in as-traded condition (very good physical condition, would have qualified and a good used car in the day). Nothing was running, having sat for many years. Mostly family cars, nothing that I was interested in - A couple of Plymouth Barracudas - No obvious defects - I just never warmed up to the "fancy" Valiant... Russ
I got the title transfer and registration this morning...went very easy. Heading to the tire store to get some new skins, then I'll get the new hoses in and the gas tank installed, and the new fuel pump, and see if I can get it to run for more than a minute at a time.
After you get things sorted out and get it running and operating as good as it can get, considering how historically, for these lemons rally,s that you participate in, you try to limit the budget, which I totally understand. After it participates and hopefully will do well in the rally, I really hope that you will consider keeping this very cool Checker, it deserves to be a cool keeper and a member of the @squirrel fleet of unique vehicles! I really enjoyed the two that I owned. They were very comfortable drivers and even though my friends used to tease me about them, they never complained about riding in them, when at events, they would all pile into my checker to go out to eat or what ever, because their cars just didn't have room for everyone to fit into! It will be very interesting to see the evolution of this cool checker survivor that you have! Thanks from Dennis.
You could help finance your drive during the LeMons Rally by picking up a few fares along the way. "Keep your meter running... rollin' down the hiway... lookin' for adventure..."
On my dads white checker, I hung this very cool metal placard over the front license plate. I used to be a rigger and professional heavy machinery mover. One of the machines our company was hired to move, was a very large piece of machinery, and it had this very cool metal placard on it, so I removed it from the machine, because the machine was going to be scrapped, For years it was attached to the front of my Dads Checker. As a practical joker, when people would ask me about that placard, and especially if they didn't know anything about Checker's, I would explain it to them, that this particular 65 Checker Marathon, used to be owned by the famous "Pratt & Whitney" Corporation! I always just smiled when the reply sometimes would be, "WOW" Thanks from Dennis.
Chuck a 292 into it. Restore the interior with a couple of Mexican blankets, add a roof rack And use it as a tow-hack for your race car adventures. And play this when you show up at the track.
J That sounds good until you get rear ended because somebody can’t see your tail lights. As far as lipsticked lens they wouldn’t look any different than a new lens.
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