My cousin has a 1960 Chrysler for sale. It has 49,000 original miles, and for some reason the first thing he did was get the interior done. The problem is it has been sitting for 3-4 years and he took the heads off (again i dont know why??). I am going to look at it next weekend with Thom from the board. It will need brakes i am sure, but my Dad is a brake specialist so that is not an issue. The question is if i put the top end of the motor back together, will it probably run, or will it just be full of crap and ruin the motor. I believe it is a 413 big block by the way. He wants 1200 and i think it has a real decent body to the price seems ok to me. The problem is that i am a poor college kid and cannot afford to rebuild a big block. If i can just put it all back together and fire it that is no biggie. Also, are these cars hard to find parts for? Thanks! Lil Joe
I would try to turn the motor by hand first, if it doesn't move, soak the cylinders in some desiel, atf, or kroil if you can get some, and whack on the pistons with a 2x4 until it breaks free. If it does turn by hand, I would replace all the fluids and give it a try, but be warned.... if he took the heads off, there was probably a good reason why. If you can find out before firing it up, I would. Might save you headaches in the long run. I could tell you what you've probably got if I wasn't at school... I'll check when I'm home at lunch. Honestly though, any car can be built right cheaply, if you're patient. Melissa
Thanks Mel for the reply. If he wasn't my cousin i probably wouldn't even look at the car, but i think he took the heads of to check for a groove of some sort because he did not beleive the car had 49,000 original miles. (if i remember the story correctly) By the way, i am pretty sure i saw you pull into the pileup, i was workin the front gate for a while and have seen the pics on the HAMB. That is a real cool car. Also, i know my name thing says i live in Brookfield IL, but i am actually not to far from you (i think) i live in Milwaukee right now and i am attending Marquette University. Thanks for the reply. Lil Joe
Buy it. Save any spare change you have and get the heads checked. If the shortblock will still turn over, soak the cylinder walls down anyway. Change fluids, put motor back together, kick it over, run the snot outta it. Those BBM's are pretty tough.
For some reason, the book I'm looking for isn't here.... must've borrowed it to some guy at the auto club. Anyway, my other sources say you ought to have either a 361, 383, or 413. All of which could prove to be spendy unless you shop around. Talk to four-thirteen... he's gotta know some places with good prices. The good news is once it's running, you outta be able to beat the crap outta it without worries I'm at UW-Stout here in Menomonie (yay, last year) and that's about 4-5 hours from Milwaukee. This state is surprisingly big. Thanks. I was at the pileup with the 59 dodge... she still needs a few things, but she's a great driver. Melissa
Mel- thanks for the info, i appriciate it. Yes, i guess this state is suprisingly big haha. Thanks again. Lil Joe
boy, what happened to your hot rod project??? FOCUS. You're not allowed to have a car at school, let alone a 20 footer. Where are you going to keep it? Give it to me. I will drive it for you.
I think that one is Abomber's, but i could be wrong. Hellfish- i need a daily for summer, then i can start the gowjob. Besides you have more projects than you need...you should give a car to me haha Lil Joe
Yeah,,, you've got beer and condoms to buy in College.... Now that we have that straight,, I'll buy the car and you can come help work on it.. Besides pretty soon the train will be open from Chicago to Milwaukee!!!!!! Now get off the internet and get back to studying
57Wagon- you got more projects than Hellfish haha, and this is Milwaukee beer is cheap and condoms.... well they are still expensive, but thats 1 out of 2. Besides i need a daily for summer. You can help me work on it whenever you want if i end up getting it. I am sorry i missed the kremlin mode on Saturday. I could have seen it to with the trains being canceled! Lil Joe
Joe, I believe your cousin has an Imperial, not a Newport, like Drew... and I think Drew has a 61 or 62 not a 60. Look into it. Chrysler had some drastically different models in the 60s. 60 Imperial
Damn the bad luck!!! See if you had that car you could have driven yourself back We will get you on the road somehow in something by summer..... keep the faith
the big book of chryslerhas all the info on your car[go to barnes and noble and read it.] the old c body mopars go cheap.i should know i've got three.the best bet is to go disc brakes in the front.drums are impossable to find.hopefully the drums you got are good. are good.but a lot of stuff is out there.
61 and 62 Chrysler Newport/New Yorker/300/300-H have the same grille as a 60, but it's been flipped over, and the headlights are canted to match the angle on the grille sides. If anyone knows of a 62 listed above for cheap, PLEASE let me know, I want to get one for my dad, it's the car he wishes he never got rid of. Proposed to my mom in that thing.
leadsled1953, any bolt on,junkyard donors that you know of for those "c" bodies,for disc brakes? i drive a 65 imperial,(among other things) and would be interested in a low buck disc swap. thanks.
.those imperials are so cool.i saw one down in Jersey last weekend at a repair shop.[had to stop and look] it was in very good shape.AAJ has disc brake kits for those big c bods.that was the route i was going to go when my drums dont pass inspection.
Man I painted a 61 300 for a couple of fags 5 years ago,arms still ache from the blocking. Parts were at that time a nightmare to locate. One thing I will always remember is that the car had no seats ,they brought it in with a folding lawn chair.I was driving it through the shop and the chair folded up and I fell at the same time slaming my foot against the gas pedal. The car tore ass through the shop missing the torch cart before I could get control of it.I guess it was a sign from above... I ignored it..
The 60 that was at the HCPU was mine. Do yourself a favor and don't spend anytime messing with the front drums. I've spent more time fighting the brakes on that car than waiting on the upohlstery guy. The front brakes have two wheel cylinders per side and the front wheels adjust differently than the backs. I'm planning on putting on a set of disks from AAJ this winter. Other then the brakes, the car has been a blast. The 413 got around 16 mpg running 80 mph to and from Morris.
I have three of these myself, two for parts, one I thought was savable and is rare, but I see now has some serious rot issues. Of course, welcome to New York... 1960 Windsor and Saratoga had 383s, New Yorker and 300 had 413's as did Imperial. The 361 was brought over from the Dodge and Plymouth lines in '61, they downsized the Saratoga and changed some things. Partly because of pulling the plug on DeSoto, i think, which were more or less a rebadged Windsor by that point anyhow with a Dodge motor and dash. 60-62 grilles will interchange, I have the two side by side in my garage - same shape, same bolts. In fact a lot of stuff interchanges back and forth - some glass, lights, etc. Good place for info - www.forwardlook.net - Do the disk brakes and add a dual master if you're going to drive it. The rear drums need to be removed with a puller on these cars - a 70-74 Cuda rear is a bolt in as are some others if you want to upgrade them. Someone was asking about a '62, which is a '61 with no fins. I know where there is a solid '62 300 Sport 4dr hardtop with a nice interior, sitting, priced reasonable. New York, of course. I know where there is a savable '61 ragtop, too (and a desoto that could maybe be a pan donor or become a convert, it has nice floors but one side is a mess).
I have done some work on this vintage of Chrysler and the first thing you need to do is take nothing for granted. I was redoing the front end on a 61 New Yorker hardtop wagon that had a fuckered up disc brake / spindle swap. I had a 62 Windsor parts car to get parts from. Almost nothing from the parts car fit on the new yorker. Imperials and new yorkers are considered bigger cars than the others so you need to be careful about buying and ordering parts. Also the brakes (in a lot of peoples opinion) are kinda sucky on these cars and expensive to rebuild. Its very easy to build your own disc brake setup.(no one makes one) I can tell you how if you like when you get the car. Greg
Any idea if a 61 front clip will bolt onto a 60? If possible, I would like to put the front sheet metal of a 61 on my 60. As if the body style wasn't unique enough, the angled head lights would look even better.
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