thedartsport
Well-Known Member
So here is how I went about making myself a budget 60s police car. I had this idea rattling around for a couple years but couldnt find a car suitable for the replica. Then along comes this beautiful boat of a vehicle: a 1965 Chrysler Newport 4 Door Hardtop with a 383, power steering, power drum brakes, A/C, and cruise. Little bit luxurious for a cop car but it plays the part well. I picked this thing up for $900 and brought home my new toy. The previous owner had installed a new gas tank and fuel pump, but they stopped driving it since the transmission had apparently stopped pulling.
First thing was to get the right front wheel from sticking which required some persuasion from a mallet and pry bar. The drum had stuck to the shoes from sitting so long. After that I took it for a short, and very slow, drive to get acquainted with my necessary parts list. The brakes stuck, the 2 barrel Stromberg was leaking everywhere, the power steering pump was missing an adjustment bolt, the alternator did not charge, and the exhaust drug the ground, yet I was grinning from ear to ear with the sway of my Chrysler boat as I tried to keep it between the ditches.
Heres where the fun begins. I went to Summit and ordered all new wheel cylinders, brake shoes, brake hoses, and a master cylinder. Over the next few days I took my time and rebuilt all 4 brake assemblies. The brakes worked fine, but I could barely drive it from the awful carburetor and exhaust scraping. My temporary fix was to just unbolt the exhaust after the two manifolds Y together (sounded cool at first but got annoying after a while). Carrying a jump pack with you every time you want to start your car is just plain ridiculous, so an alternator was my next install. The carburetor was then replaced with a cast iron 4 barrel intake and a 1406 Edelbrock. That made a world of difference to the point where I could actually get this thing up to speed. 60 miles an hour and it floats!
Slowly my Chrysler became more trustworthy to the point where I felt I could drive it anywhere. Problem was it just didnt look as cool as I wanted. So a friend of mine allowed me to borrow an old garage on his property for a little paint! Now notice in the pictures that this garage has dirt in the floor and holes in the wall, but it kept us out of the wind and cold. After 2 days of masking, sanding, and painting (with spray paint) I had the beginnings of a police car for only $100 in materials. Now there was no turning back from this.
My next job was making her look nice. I scored a working Peterson 759 beacon light for only $40 from a local swap meet. It just needed the lens repainted red instead of orange. After that I ordered an MS-290 siren from Amazon for around $15. In a couple of hours I had both mounted to switches under the dash and working. The neighbors werent too pleased with the siren but oh well. The finishing touches were the custom decals I had made (thanks mom). Not pictured is the C-65 on the fender for the car number. Ill give you one guess about my inspiration for that!
Im still not finished completely with it, but its very close. Other things I plan to get include some white line tires and exhaust. I have some other plans down the road but that is still in the Is it too crazy? stage.
All in all I have around $2000 invested so far including the cost of the car, so anyone can do this with enough patience!
Thank you for reading even though its a C body. I figured everyone could get a kick out of it.
First thing was to get the right front wheel from sticking which required some persuasion from a mallet and pry bar. The drum had stuck to the shoes from sitting so long. After that I took it for a short, and very slow, drive to get acquainted with my necessary parts list. The brakes stuck, the 2 barrel Stromberg was leaking everywhere, the power steering pump was missing an adjustment bolt, the alternator did not charge, and the exhaust drug the ground, yet I was grinning from ear to ear with the sway of my Chrysler boat as I tried to keep it between the ditches.
Heres where the fun begins. I went to Summit and ordered all new wheel cylinders, brake shoes, brake hoses, and a master cylinder. Over the next few days I took my time and rebuilt all 4 brake assemblies. The brakes worked fine, but I could barely drive it from the awful carburetor and exhaust scraping. My temporary fix was to just unbolt the exhaust after the two manifolds Y together (sounded cool at first but got annoying after a while). Carrying a jump pack with you every time you want to start your car is just plain ridiculous, so an alternator was my next install. The carburetor was then replaced with a cast iron 4 barrel intake and a 1406 Edelbrock. That made a world of difference to the point where I could actually get this thing up to speed. 60 miles an hour and it floats!
Slowly my Chrysler became more trustworthy to the point where I felt I could drive it anywhere. Problem was it just didnt look as cool as I wanted. So a friend of mine allowed me to borrow an old garage on his property for a little paint! Now notice in the pictures that this garage has dirt in the floor and holes in the wall, but it kept us out of the wind and cold. After 2 days of masking, sanding, and painting (with spray paint) I had the beginnings of a police car for only $100 in materials. Now there was no turning back from this.
My next job was making her look nice. I scored a working Peterson 759 beacon light for only $40 from a local swap meet. It just needed the lens repainted red instead of orange. After that I ordered an MS-290 siren from Amazon for around $15. In a couple of hours I had both mounted to switches under the dash and working. The neighbors werent too pleased with the siren but oh well. The finishing touches were the custom decals I had made (thanks mom). Not pictured is the C-65 on the fender for the car number. Ill give you one guess about my inspiration for that!
Im still not finished completely with it, but its very close. Other things I plan to get include some white line tires and exhaust. I have some other plans down the road but that is still in the Is it too crazy? stage.
All in all I have around $2000 invested so far including the cost of the car, so anyone can do this with enough patience!
Thank you for reading even though its a C body. I figured everyone could get a kick out of it.
