Projects 1961 Chrysler basket case, mild custom

I let the seven year old operate the engine hoist.



I'm just happy she wants to play with the car.

I undented it.



Cleaned up the other stuff.



I figured out why the new dipstick didn't fit.

 

Some red.



Some silver.







All the silver is metalflake so it pops in the sun.

Why I chose that for an underhood paint is beyond me.

This is sitting on the old subframe that I won't use.

 

383 or 413?

 

361. I have a set of crossrams. Not sure if I'm going to go that route or not. I'm not even sure if they'll ft.

 

Make ‘em fit! Or sell them to me.

 

Not sure if I fully grasp what had to be done to make the 300 floor fit the subframe, but glad you were able to get it back together somehow. 361 6 pack Newport sedan is pretty unusual but I love it.

 

That makes two of us. Somehow everything lined up with the pillars and it's still longer? I'm 100% lost.

It no longer has a weird bend where the rockers met the front fenders, looking like it was collapsing. It probably was.

I ran out of nice painting weather so I looked for parts and stuff, because why not add every option to the lowest tier car they made? We have a crossram. No carbs yet.



Annnd power swivel seats that have seen better days, and need to be sent to the folks at wicked stitch maybe.



I sold my car trailer to fund this.



And a floor operated seven button radio.

 

Also the gauges were slightly...less than ideal.





But they got some love, too.

 

Love the record player, etc. Very cool, as are the swivel buckets. And the dash!

 

Love the swivel bench setup, I got one of those for my Imperial last summer. By far the heaviest seat I have ever encountered though, lifting it out of the parts car nearly broke my spine. The underside looks like a Dr Seuss drawing. Very cool when they're done.

 

If your ram's are from a Chrysler, they won't fit, they're designed for the 413/426/440 RB (raised block), and your 361 is a B (low block). So you'd have to source Long-Rams from a Dodge or Plymouth to make them work on your car; and those are far more rare than the Chrysler Rams. Sorry.

 

I have no idea what they're from. Is there an easy way to tell?

 

Just checked my parts books and have some good news! The actual intakes are the same for the B vs RB, it's the coupling tube that is different due to the difference in the deck height on the block. So if you don't have that tube you'll have to make one, this is what the longer 413 tube would look like:

The linkage would also be shorter on your engine, so that also would have to be custom built or buy the reproduction 413-style linkage and cut down to fit.

You also should have some supports to carry the weight of the intakes, they originally had these ductile-cast iron elbows that bolt to the unique exhaust manifolds:


As you can see, when hooked up with the original chokes, you have to have the exhaust go through the intake to help warm up, otherwise they won't want to idle on a cold start. Also the crossram cams are dramatically different than a standard 4bbl cam, they have a unique overlap to help "suck" more air/fuel down the intakes and into the combustion chamber. The long runners literally becoming vortexes of swirling atomized fuel into the heads. Amazing tech for 1960!

 

Hey, crfs;
Do you have the cam specs comparo info. I've known about the crossrams, not the cams. I'm interested in learning.
Might be applicable to other projects. I get some of the drawbacks to the different length rams.
TIA.
Marcus...

 

Man, I wish I had checked back here before searching around frantically to find the same answer you just gave.

I was under the impression the exhaust was solely to warm up the intake, and not an actual support?

I swear I read it on the forwardlook site, but danged if I can find that info again. Someone butchered the bottom of these things for unknown reasons. I'm sure I can figure something out. It's not the highest priority, but they were stupid cheap, so I had to get them.

The hard part is finding someone to tune up the record player.

I'm up to date at this point, unfortunately. So the pace is back to glacial.

I've been having a nightmare getting the body lined up. I don't know if the wrong floor being in is throwing everything off or what. The cowl vent should go further back, but does not. This pushes the hood too far forward, leaving an uneven gap.

 

Try cleaning some of the dirt and junk out between the cowl vent and the windshield and see if you can’t make it go back some.

 

Here's the full comparison for Chrysler 300s, you're mostly looking at the 1960-61 cars. Hydraulic would be for regular 300s, while the Special Order cars got the Solid lifters and a different camgrind.
https://www.chrysler300club.com/tech/cam/gk.html

 

The intake must be supported by something out by the exhaust, otherwise you're cantilevering 3ft of aluminum with carbs, linkage, air cleaners, etc.. all off the opposing head's intake bolts. Too much risk of cracking the intake manifolds. Even on hot rods and customs I always recommend some kind of support off the exhaust manifold studs to help hold the intake from vibrating/cracking. That's why the front elbow is ductile cast iron vs being simple a thin wall tubing.

 

I’ve always wondered what those intakes were for. Maybe 20/25 years ago me and a friend were walking through the Turlock swapmeet, I spotted one with a 300$ price attached to it, I asked what it was for, he said “I don’t know, but there’s one for a 100”. This was two stalls down.
Finally my curiosity is over!

 

Yeah, there's a lot floating around because from day 1 buyers realized how finicky they can be to daily drive, especially since it essentially has to be tuned every Summer/Winter. So most had the dealership remove the rams and install a single 4 or inline 4bbls.

 

My memory might be fuzzy, but the two I saw, I don’t recall having “runners” casted look to them, I kinda recall just a long, sort of plain looking casting. But I didn’t look/study too much to let it sink in.

 

Those would be the "short-Rams", that would've come on the 1963-64 Chrysler 300s.

 

Wow, getting an edumacation in Mopar cross rams today!

 

They were something. I think 495 ft-lbs of torque.

 

Hey, crfs;
Thanks for the reply, but is there a link missing? Info not showing up for me, just the comment, post #77.
TIA.
Marcus...

 

Damnit I want crossrams for my convertible!!!

 

Yep,,nothing

 

Sorry, it didn't get pasted in. Fixed now

 

Thank you.
Marcus...

 

Maxwell Smart on that floor/frame "missed it by THAT much!" Ouch!
Truly amazing how much effort went into this car, but your efforts are appreciated!
A cowl that doesn't fit the body does not sound like a floor replacement is the cause.
I'd also be cleaning the area to bare metal and taking measurements of every example I could.
It is crazy how much we take for granted on interchange of old stuff, but it's WAY worse on newer stuff!