[Chrysler300] Lo-Tech glass cleaner, Headliner repair, sill plate covers, showtime & PowerFlite issues

["Rich Barber" <c300@xxxxxxx>]

Sent on 7-4 due to e-mail server death.

Some time back, I commented here that the rear glass in our 1955 C-300 was
becoming delaminated.  This was based on numerous discolored areas that were
not responsive to glass cleaners and could not be felt with a thumbnail or
scratched off with a razor blade.

Several of you gently advised me the back glass in a '55 was not laminated
and, therefore, could not delaminate.  Duhh!  Thanks for that.  

While in the garage yesterday I noticed a jar of lime and rust remover to be
used on sinks, tubs & etc. that was gelled phosphoric acid.  I smeared a
little on the outside of the stained areas, waited patiently for about 10
minutes and wiped it off with a sponge and rinsed the glass.  Presto-stain
gone.  At some time, some chemical deposition occurred at several places on
the back glass.  The car spent its working years around Colorado Springs, so
who knows what was in the air there.  The doors were filled with pine
needles.  The lime remover also worked on some pretty hard deposits near the
window rubbers that were 53-year accumulations of lime-like deposits that
would not yield to Windex.  Easy to work with-a Duro Product that I may have
purchased at Ace hardware.

I also got an upholstery guy to drop the headliner by the RHS courtesy light
to repair a 2" stress rip that was there when I purchased the car four years
ago.  He put a patch on back of the rip and filled the remaining tiny gap
with some kind of vinyl putty.  Several upholstery guys were afraid of this
project, anticipating more rips and tears.  I was prepared for that, and
told the guy I'd not fuss if that happened.  There were no more tears (or
tears) and the work took less than an hour.  I had some vinyl spray that was
pretty close and brushed some over the scar.  It looks pretty good and
preserves the original headliner.  No warranty expressed or implied, but
that old headliner was made out of pretty good stuff and held up well to
this minor repair.

I also received and installed the John Cote sill plate covers and they
really look great.  They are nice and shiny, but not overly so.  I trimmed
back some excess windlace at the front and back of each door jamb to enable
the new plates to lay down better.  The step plates that go between the long
sill plate and the seat base fit very tight and I had to adjust one end of
the seat base with a cold chisel to create proper gaposis.  All holes lined
up perfectly.  There was one small screw head projecting from the seat base
on each side that had to be worked around when installing the step plates
and I did manage to deform each step plate slightly with just thumb pressure
when installing them.  Thumb pressure also straightened them out.  They are
a little delicate, but no more so than the originals.  It might be a good
idea to install the little short step plates first before installing the
long sill plate covers.

I now have two fairly decent original sill plate covers and one half-way
decent step plate available to someone wanting to improve their '55-'56
Chrysler hardtop or convertible.  Nicely oxidized aluminum that I never
tried to polish up--but it should be possible to clean this up if that is
one's desire.  Contact me off-line if you need these.

I have the car entered in the Antioch, CA Fourth of July car show tomorrow.
Four years ago, the car won "Best-of-Show-Coupe" at this show, just 72 hours
after I took possession of it.  Beginner's luck, but an indicator of genuine
interest in the car that I've experienced at all shows since.  We shall see.
We have certainly enjoyed these four years grooming, showing and learning
about the car and meeting the good folks in several national and local
clubs.  But, if someone offers me $180K for the car tomorrow, I will be
sorely tempted!  I'd have enough to buy that red G rag on ebay and have $15K
left over.

It turns out the rear transmission case extension of our PowerFlite has a
crack in it that was not sealable with stickum.  Does anyone have a spare
extension (back half of case) for a '54-'56 MoPar PowerFlite?  Part number
1530857 appears to be universal for all 6 or 8 cylinder '54-'56 MoPar cars
except the C69 Imperial.  The universal part number is also for the Crown
Imp.  Go figure--I wonder why the Imperial would be different.  But, I would
also appreciate input from anyone who believes the '55 C-300 requires a
special part number for this piece.

I did have my tranny mechanic remove a couple of small dog-leg shaped steel
plates with three holes and a slot that were protruding from the bottom of
the tranny.  Looked like lifting lugs for the assembly lines.  Anyone know
what these were for or whether they are needed or useful when servicing the
tranny?

Best wishes to all of you and to our country on its 232nd birthday tomorrow.

C-300'ly,
Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA




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