{Chrysler 300} Odds and Ends on the '64.

I finished the “clamp” for the bottom of the door window electric motors. Anyone with a ’63 or a ’64 knows that the cast gear box legs can crack off after years of doors being swung closed. The weight of those motors with two field coils want to keep going when the door closes.

In the past I made some brackets and used a hose clamp. I could some industrial pipe clamps on McMaster-Carr that work very well and they are rubber lined as well. They come with a nut, and I used a stud on it. Then a hardware store angle bracket cut and drilled, and I was done.

I use the bolt that holds the long “leg” of the window mechanism to the inner door web. Interesting in that when I went to back that bolt out it was under a LOT of load. I could not figure out why one of those brackets had failed on the doors, now I know why. A lot of side load. I suspect that the reinforcing bracket coming up from the bottom of the door and the hole in the door inner web were miss welded at the factory. Once that bolt was out, with all the other tight and the window positioned well, this one arm had to be 1.5 hole diameters out. So I drilled a new hole to line them up with a hole in my new brace.

So, a word of caution to folks with a ’63 or a ’64. Take that lower bolt out next time you have a door panel off and if that long bracket moves you know to drill a new hole for that bolt to relieve the tension on it or that upper spot weld may go over time.

I also have my differential and spring ready to go in. Now I just must get some help from some friends to swap out the old and swap in the new-ish.

James

PS, you may notice some JB weld in the photo. The cast is fine on these units. What I did is filled on the casting as much as I could to reinforce it in advance of any issues on both the front and the back. They made these sections way to thin.

PPS. The McMaster-Carr parts numbers are 2615T22 and 2615T22 for the clamp and the stud for the motor reinforcement.