Since pops '66 Town & Country had been sitting in the garage for the past 20 years I decided to sell it - even had a buyer, but my dear sister put a halt to that. She evidently had a sentimental attachment to it because pops taught her how to drive in it. She wants to drive the car so guess who the lucky one that has to get it road worthy? Needless to say that's me :BangHead:
Anyeays, the car was in pretty good shape just needed a little bit of work to get it road worthy after having sat for so long. Pops had a lot of extra parts so I dug through the shelves and piles and replaced all 4 wheel cylinders & brake shoes with fresh Dot-3 fluid. While I drained and changed the oil/filter I pulled the plugs and sprayed some WD-40 in each cylinder and let it sit for a couple days then installed new plugs. Wondering if I needed to drop the fuel tank and get it cleaned out or not I decided to first open the fuel line at the filter, let some fuel drain and check its smell and whether it felt tacky or not. Smelled and felt fine to me so I decided to check if she'd fire up. I depressed the accelerator pedal down once to activate the choke, turned the key and VROOOM! she fires up on the first crank. Heck, not bad for 20 year old gas if you ask me!!
Since my sister wants to drive the car I needed to do more than just get it started. So... I ordered up a Fan Clutch, upper/lower radiator hoses, thermostat/gasket, spark plug wires, dizzy cap and brake lines from RockAuto.... a Fram CA127 air filter, Pertronix igniter II EI, Flame Thrower Coil, a case of Motor Medic Lead Substitute from Amazon.... a G2 Fuel Filter, Gates green line 5/8" & 3/4" heater hoses, a gallon of Prestone Antifreeze & a quart of Dextron Tranny Fluid from our local parts store.
The car definistely needs new tires after having sat on them so long. Since the availability of 14" are so slim and expensive I opted to go with 15" for more choices and cost savings. I toiled whether to get stock 15" rims or Rallye or Police Wheels for the car. Wanting to keep the car as stock/original as possible I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go with the Mopar Road Wheels (15x6). I figured if I could easily change the look with these wheels as I could simply remove its trim ring and center cap and pop on a stock hubcap. For tires I chose 235/75r15 Hankook white wall radials. That size was the closest to the original bias ply H78's so I knew they would look good on the car. I got the tires this past weekend on a Black Friday sale so I got an extra $100 off which was an added bonus. All I can say is, "What a difference these radials make compared to the old bias ply tires - feels and rides like a totally differnet car!"
So, this past Saturday i got the tires mounted, installed the radiator hoses, thermostat, heater hoses, dizzy cap & wires. To change the thermostat I had to pull the AC compressor which was a pain, especially getting the main bolt back on. The original fan clutch had studs where the Hayden I got does not - it uses bolts which didn't even come with it so back on the old one went. Since I'll need to get the radiator & fuel tank boiled I'll replace the fan clutch & brake lines at that time.
Note: if you didn't know... most American cars used 5/8" & 3/4" heater hoses. This Chryslers heater hoses are both 5/8".
So here's B4 and AFTER pics of BLUE with her New Shoes and Soles (old tires and boxes stuffed in the back haha)!
I think the Road Wheels give the car a Sporty yet Classy look :os_dancing2:
Anyeays, the car was in pretty good shape just needed a little bit of work to get it road worthy after having sat for so long. Pops had a lot of extra parts so I dug through the shelves and piles and replaced all 4 wheel cylinders & brake shoes with fresh Dot-3 fluid. While I drained and changed the oil/filter I pulled the plugs and sprayed some WD-40 in each cylinder and let it sit for a couple days then installed new plugs. Wondering if I needed to drop the fuel tank and get it cleaned out or not I decided to first open the fuel line at the filter, let some fuel drain and check its smell and whether it felt tacky or not. Smelled and felt fine to me so I decided to check if she'd fire up. I depressed the accelerator pedal down once to activate the choke, turned the key and VROOOM! she fires up on the first crank. Heck, not bad for 20 year old gas if you ask me!!
Since my sister wants to drive the car I needed to do more than just get it started. So... I ordered up a Fan Clutch, upper/lower radiator hoses, thermostat/gasket, spark plug wires, dizzy cap and brake lines from RockAuto.... a Fram CA127 air filter, Pertronix igniter II EI, Flame Thrower Coil, a case of Motor Medic Lead Substitute from Amazon.... a G2 Fuel Filter, Gates green line 5/8" & 3/4" heater hoses, a gallon of Prestone Antifreeze & a quart of Dextron Tranny Fluid from our local parts store.
The car definistely needs new tires after having sat on them so long. Since the availability of 14" are so slim and expensive I opted to go with 15" for more choices and cost savings. I toiled whether to get stock 15" rims or Rallye or Police Wheels for the car. Wanting to keep the car as stock/original as possible I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go with the Mopar Road Wheels (15x6). I figured if I could easily change the look with these wheels as I could simply remove its trim ring and center cap and pop on a stock hubcap. For tires I chose 235/75r15 Hankook white wall radials. That size was the closest to the original bias ply H78's so I knew they would look good on the car. I got the tires this past weekend on a Black Friday sale so I got an extra $100 off which was an added bonus. All I can say is, "What a difference these radials make compared to the old bias ply tires - feels and rides like a totally differnet car!"
So, this past Saturday i got the tires mounted, installed the radiator hoses, thermostat, heater hoses, dizzy cap & wires. To change the thermostat I had to pull the AC compressor which was a pain, especially getting the main bolt back on. The original fan clutch had studs where the Hayden I got does not - it uses bolts which didn't even come with it so back on the old one went. Since I'll need to get the radiator & fuel tank boiled I'll replace the fan clutch & brake lines at that time.
Note: if you didn't know... most American cars used 5/8" & 3/4" heater hoses. This Chryslers heater hoses are both 5/8".
So here's B4 and AFTER pics of BLUE with her New Shoes and Soles (old tires and boxes stuffed in the back haha)!
I think the Road Wheels give the car a Sporty yet Classy look :os_dancing2:
