Thanks so much. I appreciate the response. I was
thinking 5k for that '62 was on the high side
myself...get this..my WIFE actually liked the car!
Anyway, I'll pass on it. I'd rather get my New
Yorker's body fixed up and repainted. The NYB is is
very good shape I think. The interior is excellent,
dash, seats, carpet, door panels, headliner, all in
excellent shape. All the lights in the dash work,
even that little green light that shines on the key
works. Only thing that doesn't is the gas gauge, it's
stuck on E and the low fuel light stays on. I think
it's neat that it has a blower motor for the back
window, I hit the rear defrost switch and heard the
blower motor kick on and just laughed. It has a few
rust spots, the rear quarters have rust along the very
bottom edges, and the passenger side rear is rotted
right in front of the rear bumper. Also, the front
quarters have rust right behind the wheelwells,
they'll need to be cut out and new metal welded in.
All the wheelwell areas are perfect, the trunk is dry
and rustfree, the floor is solid, even underneath the
car it's clean. No dents that I have noticed. It runs
and drives very well, very good running 440,
transmission shifts smooth. I just went to an oil
change place today and had the coolant, engine oil,
transmission fluid, and differential oil changed. The
car had been in storage for a few years before I got
it. I bought it off Ebay for $1400.00 I want to take
it to local shows and such and have the ONLY C-body
there.
Chad
--- C F <mopowered@xxxxxxx> wrote:
<HR>
<P>Sir, as one who has restored a '61 LeBaron (among
MANY other Chrysler products); might I offer my
thoughts?<BR><BR>> Wife and I just went out to
Outback to eat, </P>
<P>So did I, sans wife who is back in Detroit :-(</P>
<P>> It looked <BR>> pretty good from the road,
so we stopped in (it was at <BR>> a car stereo
place) and asked about it. Body's been <BR>>
redone, new paint, looks really nice, all the chrome's
<BR>> there but the bumpers could use re-chroming.
</P>
<P>Probably about $1000 right there.</P>
<P>> 413 never <BR>> been rebuilt (the
carburetor needs to be "gone <BR>> through",
apparently it doesn't like it when the car <BR>>
goes over bumps) to the owner's knowledge, </P>
<P>It's probably a god thing that no one has touched
the engine, as few take the time to do it correctly.
However, I've yet to meet anyone selling a carbureted
car who doesn't make excuses for the way it runs, yet
they always claim the repair is simple/quick/cheap. If
it's so easy to do, how come no one ever seems to do
it?</P>
<P><BR>> very smooth, doesn't smoke or make weird
noises. Dual <BR>> exhaust on it sounds good,
though there is a slight <BR>> leak somewhere. </P>
<P>Because the exhaust shop doesn't understand that
Chrysler's don't use a gasket off the exhaust
manifold, so joints & angles must be of good
quality.</P>
<P>> Car drives well, brakes work but the <BR>>
booster needs to be rebuilt or replaced. </P>
<P>Did he tell you this, or did you observe a hard
pedal? Make sure he's not covering other brake
problems by claiming brake booster.
You'll certainly need power brakes to stop this
monster.</P>
<P>> It needs <BR>> interior work though..front
seats need either <BR>> replacing or
re-upholstering, </P>
<P>Expensive to do correctly, probably around another
$1000.</P>
<P>> headliner has a couple <BR>> small, look
like burn holes in it, </P>
<P>Easily replaced for about $60 (material, not labor)
If you remove all of the interior yourself, labor
shouldn't be too bad on this.</P>
<P>> square steering <BR>> wheel is cracked.
</P>
<P>Typical, can be repaired fairly inexpensively.</P>
<P>> Needs all 4 inner door panels, <BR>>
interior chrome trim is pitted. </P>
<P>Again, an issue for the upholstery shop. You might
be able to live with the trim, but replacting these
small parts isn't that expensive.</P>
<P>> Heater doesn't work, <BR>> owner doesn't
know why, </P>
<P>Oh yes he does. I'm guessing the heater core leaks,
and this is a real pain/expensive job. If you see the
heater hoses looped from the water pump instead of
running all the way into the firewall, you'll know I'm
right.</P>
<P>> switch for heater is missing, <BR>> owner
says switch "fell in behind dash".</P>
<P>Really? Then why not spend a half-hour or so,
and find it?</P>
<P>> 2 power <BR>> windows on driver's side
don't work. </P>
<P>Typical. Not hard to fix, but hard to find
working motors.</P>
<P>> Has original <BR>> radio, don't know if it
works or not. </P>
<P>I'm sure it doesn't, or he would have played it for
you. Remember, this is a "tube" radio so you do need
to give it about 30 secs. to warm-up. Even if it
works, it'll probably need to be "re-capped" by
someone with electronics skills to sound decent. This
actually isn't that hard, but it can be hard to find
someone who'll do it.</P>
<P>> I asked about <BR>> the price, owner says
"I'm asking 6k, but I'm <BR>> motivated, I'll take
5"...</P>
<P>IF this is a solid, no-rust car; it's worth about
$3000. If everything worked (I'm sure the air doesn't,
and the electroluminesent dash lights probably don't
either) and the only issue was the ratty interior,
$5000 would be reasonable.</P>
<P>But that's a big "if". Are you in a rust-prone
state? You really need to check this thing out VERY
carefully. Heavy rust is the difference between a
$3000 car and walking away. You'll have to excuse my
suspicions here, but a re-done, shiny paint job on a
flashy car with a bunch of "small" mechanical ills
usually equals some old bomb that has been given a
quick fix-up, for a quick buck. He might not even be
the guy who did it... He might just be looking to
unload his mistake.</P>
<P>Crawl under, maybe even use a lift and give a gas
station a few bucks to look it over. The drive-shaft
center bearing is another issue on these cars, and
you'll need to see it on a lift to check condition
(although if there are no banging noises underneath on
hard accel, it's probably OK).</P>
<P>> It's a neat car, really <BR>> looks sharp,
whoever did the bodywork and paint really <BR>> did
a good job, but is it WORTH that much? </P>
<P>It's the most noticable, and LEAST important
issue.I prefer cars with original, ratty paint any
day. That usually isn't an option on a 40-year-old
car, I admit.</P>
<P>> How much <BR>> will it cost to track down
all the interior odds and <BR>> ends it needs? </P>
<P>It isn't the issue of tracking them down (luckily),
but rather re-conditioning what you have.</P>
<P>> And those brakes, I just see $$$$ when
<BR>> I think about them, are they that bad to
service? He <BR>> said the front brakes had 2 wheel
cylinders each. I am <BR>> interested to read what
others more experienced with <BR>> these cars
think. </P>
<P>The brakes are fairly easy to service, once you
remove the rear drums... Which is HARD! The two-wheel
cylinder thing is true, but it's not rocket science.
Parts are available. These cars have massive brakes,
which stop FAR better than anything else made around
that time. Although I'm sure others will try to get
you to convert to disc, it really isn't needed if the
brake system is in good shape. I'm assuming you won't
be trying to out-corner any Vipers, or drag-racing at
tracks with a short shut-down area.</P>
<P> <BR>> BTW, I already have a '73 NYB that
has a near perfect <BR>> interior, solid body but
some rust in the lower <BR>> quarters, that runs
and drives great and everything <BR>> works. I'd
have to sell this car to get another one. </P>
<P>You might be sorry if you did that.</P>
<P>I know it sounds like I'm rather down on the car,
but I hate to see people get sucked into a money pit
because of a nice paint job. If your NYB is in really
good shape, spend the $1000 you would have spent on
the Imperial bumpers, and get new lower quarters
welded on, plus a nice paint job for the NYB. Either
way, you'll turn heads.</P>
<P>When you can afford, or desire to have the
Imperial sit around while you gather parts, and get
things re-conditioned, you'll be in the proper place
for such an involved project.</P>
<P>Carmine F.</P>
<P>'61 LeBaron & '73 LeBaron (sunroof/ABS
coupe)<BR></P>
--
<p>_______________________________________________<br>
Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at <a
href="http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup";
target="_new"><font color="#0000FF">
Mail.com</font></a></p>
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network