When my wife said that either I had to go buy a new modern car or get something with A/C that is what I did.
I spent about 36 months looking at cars in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona.
The basic criteria was a 1957 to 1959 MOPAR four door hardtop with A/C.
I must have looked at 20 plus cars. Some were very rough, and some were great looking at 20 feet. The rough ones would have taken a lot of work. A lot of sheet metal work. The nice-looking ones, even ones that were listed a “restored” had
issues. I would say 100% of the nice-looking ones were spray and pray jobs. Cars were painted in the last 10 years but amazingly nobody had any photos of the bare sheet metal to see the actual metal condition. Close inspection showed that there was a very
good likelihood of gremlins under the paint.
We concluded that there are just not many full frame MOPAR 4-door hardtops out there and I really did not want to undertake a rotisserie project. Did that with my XKE and ’49 Desoto CV.
We had all but decided to just break down and for the first time go buy a new car when I got the phone call about a ’64 Chrysler something a 93-year-old wanted to sell. No other details. That was the 93K mile 1964 Chrysler 300K I am working
on. It cost $10K.
I was not interested in another uni-body and I wanted a four door hardtop. But this car was so clean I made an exception.
I have seen a couple of 1964 RAM 300K’s in the last couple of years. I think for $15K there are much better core cars out there. The key is to set some standards BEFORE you start looking and stick to them. Then be patient. The right car
at the right price will come along.
James
From: Hank Hallowell <Hank@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 1, 2024 15:23
To: Nick Taylor <nicksgaragesd@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: James Douglas <jdd@xxxxxxxxxx>; Michael Corrigan <mcorrigan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; mwl1967 <mwl1967@xxxxxxx>; Chrysler 300 Club International <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} Ram 300K project for sale in San Diego
Ron is totally correct…I could not agree more.
The smartest thing anyone can do is thoroughly research the car (or letter) and then go out and find the best one you can find.
Best one you can find is (for me) defined as the best possible original car: low mileage, no (or least) rust, complete, intact specimen.
Then with the help of the senior folks in the club, careful disassembly, and restoration. The late Gil Cunningham’s definition of a “molecular restoration” is what comes to mind - and best describes how to tackle a letter car.
To me the letter beasts are incredibly low production- nearly handmade - historically important pieces of American transportation history and deserve the very best carefully executed preservation: restore what requires restoration and preserve
what can be saved.
Chrysler Corporation was determined to put the best engineered pieces on the road. The letter cars are such an important example of a time when the engineering team was able to demonstrate their ability.
We are a lucky bunch to be able to have to opportunity to preserve these vehicles.
We are not restoring Mustangs or
Camaros…. (Thank god) In which case we could just buy repro stuff from….well you can guess the rest of this sentence.
Gosh…that made me laugh OUT LOUD….so funny! But after 2 rough K’s and 3 L’s I shouldn’t have bought…..It is SO true!
If we only did rational things with cars, we'd all be driving Toyota Camrys.
Well,
Considering I purchased the 300K I am working on, non-RAM, that has 95K confirmed miles on it and the sheet metal was the best of any unrestored car I have seen in 15 years…
…and I paid $10K for it this car the one for sale is very overpriced. Just my 2 cents worth.
James
Reading this I find myself wanting to voice some caution. I bought and H in comparable condition about twelve years ago for $10,000. I have probably spent $60M (or even more), am
on my third mechanic and it still isn’t finished! I certain see some of the errors I made that added to the bill but I expect I will still have to spend as much as another $5,000 to have a functional car. Complete money pit.
In contrast, a couple of months ago I bought a stunning very original white K that had lived in AZ. No rust anywhere, great original paint and black leather interior. This car only
needed new tires because the ones there (which look great) are over twenty years old. I paid $17,500 on BAT so this represents a pretty good measure of real “market”.
If someone really wants a project, I personally wouldn’t pay more than $8000 or so for a car in this condition. You will certainly spend at least $15,000 to pull it together. Perhaps
less if you do everything yourself but isn’t one’s own time valuable too?
I still hope to drive my H some day and do my best to rationalize the irrational expenditure but it really does make so much more sense to buy one of these cars after idiots like
me have wasted so much of their money.
I see he's got it listed for sale online also. Looks like a good project. Problem as always is not what you pay for it but what you pay to finish it. Hope it gets saved.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
Date: 1/31/24 12:49 PM (GMT-07:00)
Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} Ram 300K project for sale in San Diego
Sorry, left out his phone number. 619-507-3160.
My friend Lee Meyer has decided to sell his 300K Ram car project. I've briefly checked the car out and it's really solid. It is missing the brake booster system as a previous owner
was trying to put disc brakes on it. The front end is out of the car so it's not rolling on its own. The pictures here are before it was taken apart. Really a good car to save. I'd do buy it if I had room or bandwidth for it. He's going to send me the VIN
later.
Anyone interested in a legit Ram 300K project? This is a really solid car from arizona, about as rust free as it gets with mint floors and trunk floor. I took it on a trade deal
a while ago and i have started to mechanically go through the car it needs some love. The body has decent driver paint, i just wanted to get it back on the road and fix the interior. So it is kindof apart right now, original engine rebuilt, 65 trand rebuilt
with new converter and cables, rear axle and brakes rebuilt 3.23 sure grip also rebuilt, newer type axle without flange nuts. Gas tank cleaned with new sender installed. Front suspension and steering apart and cleaned, new joints and bushings installed on
arms. Interior is all out including dash, console has been cleaned and detailed with new tach. The rest of the interior needs attention. Car has all of the short ram equipment as it should. Heater core is new. Carbs are restored. I will sell it all for $15k
or i dont mind keeping the drivetrain and selling just the body assembly for much less. Car is in San Diego.
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