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1963 Chrysler 300 Series For Sale
1963 Chrysler 300 Series

1963 Chrysler 300 Series


Car make & model:
Year:
Exterior color: Condition:
Interior color: Engine:
Transmission: Mileage:
Drivetrain: Fuel Type:
Airbags: Warranty:
Extended Warranty Quote
VIN#
Vehicle History Report
Documentation:
Owners Manual, Service Manual

Shipping: Auto Transport Quote Price: $6250.00

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Up for auction is my 1963 Chrysler 300 "Hot Rod". The original 383 has been replaced by a pro-built 440 with a estimated 400+hp. The engine, transmission, exhaust, brakes and much more, have less than 3000 miles. I'm the fourth owner and have had the car for about 10 years but have used it very little - at least I've put more miles on it than the last two owners combined. It has been in New Mexico since new and I know the (word of mouth) history back to the original owners but no actual records. The overall condition seems to back up the claim that it's been in the desert Southwest all its life. It's fast, pretty and "Big As A Whale (to quote The B52s). I will get into the specs, condition and history in further detail below.As a general overview I'll say that it is extremely straight and solid with nice presentable paint, chrome, glass and trim (with exceptions and descriptions below). The seats, carpets, headliner and rear window shelf are pretty toasted but door panels, dash, gauges and the chrome pieces (and there are lots of chrome pieces) of the interior are still very nice. It's hysterically fast for the big ol' boat that it is. But on the other hand, it also steers drives and brakes just like the big ol' boat that it is. Mileage currently shows 55,713 and although that is not the correct total mileage, I do believe it to be under 60k (the speedo cable got crimped when the engine and trans were removed and I drove it approximately 2000 miles before it was repaired). The condition of things like the pedal pads, original windshield and the very clean underside seem to confirm the low miles.Here's the specs and details of the running gear:
1970 date coded 440 block bored +.060" to 452cid.Steel crank.Direct Connections "Purple" .484" cam.Direct Connections forged "6 pack" rods.Keith Black flat top pistons.904 heads with new chrome rocker shafts, new rocker arms, new pushrods and new performance lifters.Direct Connections performance electronic ignition.Edelbrock 750 cam carburetor.Holley Street Dominator intake.Cast iron exhaust manifolds run to a new 2 1/2" dual exhaust with Dynamax mufflers and chrome tips (it sounds really good!).The transmission is the original 727 Torqueflite rebuilt with a Trans-Go phase 2 shift kit. Shifter is the original dash mounted pushbutton ("Push-to-Race") set-up.Rear gears are 3.23:1 in a open differential. The input yoke seal drips a little bit - when I recently checked the gear oil it was only down about 1 cup since the last top-off a couple years ago.The Magnum 500 wheels are 15x7" front and 15x8" rear. Tires are Firestone "Indy 500" 235/60 front and 255/60 rear. I just couldn't pass up the Indy 500 tires - a Chrysler 300 was the Indy Pacecar in 1963! Tires and wheels are about 8 years old. The rear tires (@ approx60%) have noticeably less tread than the fronts - accomplished one burnout at a time! (figured I might as well get some fun before they age out).Brakes have less than 1000 miles on new linings, master cylinder, wheel cylinders, hardware kits, and rubber lines. At least one of the front drums is a bit out of round but I never addressed it, figuring on the disc brake conversion that was always in the future.I believe the suspension and steering components are mostly original and as such there is much room for improvement (think; big anti-sway bars and torsion bars, poly bushings, stiffer shocks etc.) Try as I might with brake adjustment, the brakes still have a pull to the right. It doesn't lock up the right front wheel but always has a initial pull. I now think the cause is the upper right ball joint and/or alignment.
Recent service and repair within the last couple hundered miles include:Oil and filter change.Transmission flush, filter and fill.Brake fluid flush and fill.Cooling system flush, fill and pressure test.Differential lube topped off.New U-jointsNew fuel pump, filter and hoses.New power steering pressure line and fluid.New wiper blades.Light bulb replacement as needed - all lights work with the exception of the trunk light which is missing but the switch is still there.
The body is very straight and solid. So far as I can tell (and as the story goes) it has had one repaint over the original white and shows no signs of previous damage or rust repair. The body has two spots of bubbling/rust - one ahead of each rear wheel arch. Those areas have not significantly changed in the years that I've owned it - it's always been stored inside. But nothing more than that. The unibody "chassis" is in remarkable condition. The trunk floor had considerable rusty scale that was wire-brushed off and treated with POR15 rust treatment and top coated with a "spatter" type trunk paint.The (all original) glass, chrome and stainless trim is very nice with a few minor exceptions; the original windshield has one previously repaired "bullseye" and has various light chips, scratches and wiper marks commiserate with its age, and the door glass has some scratches on the inside (maybe from the use of a ice scraper? That one is a mystery to me). The right front fender trim has a small bit of damage at the tip and the front bumper has a small ding right below that. The rear bumper has various dings/bends and some light pitting - especially where the original single exhaust tip exited. There is one small piece of the chrome headliner trim that has lost its shine (I suspect it was poorly plated at the factory). All the rest is very nice - certainly not perfect, but very nice. No sanding marks anywhere.The weatherstripping is old and sunbaked with a few notable exceptions; The vent window seals (the most complex and difficult piece of rubber on the entire car) is essentially perfect (it must be made of a different type of rubber than the rest), the windshield seal is just about as nice and the rear window seal is pretty good.The upholstery has suffered from the desert heat, sun and general old age. As I said above, the seats and carpets are toasted and the headliner isn't much better. There are pieces of tape here and there just to keep the stuffing from blowing around. The door and back seat side panels are pretty good and probably saveable. The interior chrome pieces are just as nice as I described the exterior chrome and that's a good thing as there is lots of chrome inside that would otherwise cost a small fortune to re-plate. The gas gauge is not to be trusted under about a half tank (ask me how I know!) and the clock will occasionally tick for a few seconds and the turn signals don't self cancel. The drivers seat has 4-way power adjustment that needs a bit of help - it works but I don't think it is going all the way back or down.The heater control valve is missing and the vacuum control panel is not hooked up. Since I've only used the car as a sunny weather driver, I've never bothered looking into heat. On the other hand, with 4 windows down and the vents open it's actually pretty comfortable even on hot summer days - new car manufacturers could use a lesson about air flow! There is a old Wards Riverside (Montgomery Wards) air conditioning unit included (see the picture) that was apparently on the car back in the old days. All I've got is the under dash assembly - the rest of the system was removed with the engine swap.The bumper jack and lug wrench are included but no spare tire/wheel. There is a can of Fix-a-Flat in the trunk if that makes you feel any better.The paint is mediocre at best but it's been on there for 20+ years now so I guess it has stood the test of time. Prep was minimal so there are underlying scuffs and scrapes from the original paint in a few places (you've got to look pretty close to find them) but no sanding/grinding marks or anything like that. The color change was fairly comprehensive although the original white can be seen in many places and any little chip will show the white underneath. This summer I finally went a little crazy bringing the paint back to its current shine... I clay bar'd it. I lightly wet sanded it 1500-2500. I tried using compound by hand. And eventually progressed to lighty power buffing. I emphasize the word "lightly" because I certainly did not want to rub thru to the white. And I didn't! After a coat of Meguier's Carnuba I got it to where it is today... pretty damn nice.
So, on to the history as I know it:I purchased the car in 2006 or 07 from a local MoPar guru named Otto (owner number three). Some of you New Mexicans may remember a PBS TV/Radio automotive call-in show called "ask Otto" - That's the guy. He bought it in Albuquerque around 2002, drove it home to Peralta (about 30 miles), removed the 383, built and installed his monster big block and trans and sold it to me after about 25 break-in miles. That's as far as he went.A couple years after I bought it, a new neighbor moved in near my shop. He had been owner number two who sold it to Otto and immediately recognized it as his old car. He (owner number two) was the one who had done the color change/repaint. He had purchased it from the estate of the original owner but did not know any other history. Similar to Otto, he drove the car home from Belen (about 60 miles) and went straight to work. Once the paint was done, he drove it about 100 miles more before passing it on to Otto.About 4 years ago I had a guy come to my shop looking at a Alfa Romeo. He saw the Chrysler and recognized it as the car he had "missed out on" years earlier. Although the car had gone from white to red and sleepy to "Hot", he ID'd it by the rear bumper, the interior and that it was originally white. Apparently, he had known the car since he was a kid and when it was nearly new. It belonged to his neighbors who raised horses. The 300 was used to tow their race horse around the state in a single horse trailer with a clamp on bumper hitch (yes, people did that before towing packages and class 3 hitches and such). The "clamp-on" hitch explains the bends in the bumper and why it's drilled for a trailer light plug, but there are no holes drilled anywhere for a conventional hitch. The old guy recalled that they regularly towed between the horse tracks in Albuquerque, Los Cruses and Alamogordo thru about 1980. After that he saw the Chrysler less and less. Around 1989/90 it was finally and literally "put out to pasture" and baked in the sun until owner number two (the painter) bought it and leads is thru the saga up until today. All word of mouth, but...So that's my lenghtly description of what I know. If you've read this far, you must be interested. And I figure that anyone interested wants to know everything and anything that I can tell them. So there you have it. If there is anything you want to know or anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll be happy to answer your question and/or provide pictures.Thanks for looking and Happy Bidding.


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