OFFICIAL Pics of my project car

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

pic 1

pic 2

Pics were taken in 1999.

My project car is a 1979 Chrysler Lebaron 2dr. Medallion trim level with optional A07 Spring Sport Special Package. It has a 318 V8 and a 998 automatic transmission. Unfortunately it came with the craptacular 7 1/4" rear axle with 2.45:1 gears.

Changes so far have been:
a newer 318 slightly moded
rebuilt heavy duty 998 tranny
moded suspension including eurathen bushings
rims and tires. Pics show the new rims on the back. 15x7 police rims with chrome centers. P245 60 15 tires on the back. Fronts are P215 65 15 (not shown in pics)
Dual exhaust.

More mods to follow.

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

I am a old mopar man
be proud of your old mopar

I thought all those had a 904 tranny

how about 3.2 gears next

http://www.magnumxe.com/
http://www.dodgepolara.com/

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
I am a old mopar man

I thought all those had a 904 tranny

how about 3.2 gears next

Technically the 904 is a slant 6 tranny.

The 904 derivative behind a V8 is either the A998 (318 or light duty 360) or A999 (heavy duty 360).

I was thinking of either a 8 1/4 or 8 3/4 rear axle with 3.55:1 gears.

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

heck I might have a old 3.2 rear laying around, non posi thou, it came out of a volare slant six, 4 speed manual overdrive car

to bad we just hauled out a diplomat police car that had a 3.2 posi rear end it

AntisociaL · May 7, 2005

The front of those always reminded me of the Griswolds car when they go to Wally World

Looks solid,did you buy it from down south or do they not salt the roads in Canada?
318's sound nice with a decent exhaust.

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: AntisociaL
The front of those always reminded me of the Griswolds car when they go to Wally World
Looks solid,did you buy it from down south or do they not salt the roads in Canada?
318's sound nice with a decent exhaust.

I bought it here, about twenty miles from where I live. Saw it in an Autotrader and took a look. It had 110,000 kms on it and the original 318 ticked like a timex watch. Ripped out the lean burn ignition and converted it to electronic ignition. Then swapped in a very good low mileage 318 I had kicking around.

Floors and frame are like new. It was a good deal.

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
heck I might have a old 3.2 rear laying around, non posi thou, it came out of a volare slant six, 4 speed manual overdrive car

to bad we just hauled out a diplomat police car that had a 3.2 posi rear end it

I have been looking for a F, J or M body 8 1/4 rear axle for my car, suregrip or not.

The police ones are very rare here.

Not sure what I am going to do.

duckdown · May 7, 2005

that s*** is hi tech

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

yep getting a old police car for parts would be the way to go, bigger brakes too

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
yep getting a old police car for parts would be the way to go, bigger brakes too

I know, except the front brakes are the same on these cars. 10.87" rotors. Drums are bigger on police cars: 11" drums for police.

My front sway bar is 1 inch in diameter, just 1/8 inch smaller than police unit.

I have 6 leafs on the passenger side and 5 on the driver's. Suspension is quite stiff even after all these years. Tires made a huge difference.

Here is what came with the A07 Spring Sport Special Package:
Cloth/vinyl bucket seats
3 spoke Sport steering wheel
Dual remote body coloured sport side mirrors
Chrome plated road wheels (15x6)
P205 75 15 whitewall tires

The original buyer didn't want the buckets seats and had the dealer delete the seats on order. The buyer got a credit of 200 or so dollars and received 60/40 split bench seats instead. I have the dealer invoices for it.

I have been trying to track down an original pair of buckets for it in the correct colours. I did find a pair in the wreckers a few years ago in the correct colour, but they crushed the car before I could get a hold put on the seats.

I am currently using a pair of buckets that came out of a 1980 Lebaron, unfortunately they are high-back buckets, not the low backs that are supposed to be in there.

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

you have done your home work I see
a freind of mine had a lebaron 2 door, but it was I think a 1980, with the shorter wheelbase, a plain jain slant six, it was a good car

he new nothing about cars, so I set it up for him, showed him a few things, tuned his tranny etc

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
you have done your home work I see
a freind of mine had a lebaron 2 door, but it was I think a 1980, with the shorter wheelbase, a plain jain slant six, it was a good car

he new nothing about cars, so I set it up for him, showed him a few things, tuned his tranny etc

Yes, I have.

Mine is the long 112.5 inch wheelbase model.

I love these cars. My first car was a 1977 Plymouth Volare' station wagon with a slant 6 and automatic. That was one tough car. Best winter car I ever had. You just can't easily kill a slant 6. Too bad the body died or I'd still have that car.

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

ya, I had 78 volare 2 dr, I later made it a aspen in the front, totally took the interoir out a totaled aspen, the dash, bucket seats floor shifter, door panels the whole nine yards. it started out as a plain jain and became a sport (not a r/t thou) it was slant six auto, I pounded it for over 10 years, rust did it in, it had about 190,000 miles on it when we stoped driving it, it still ran but the body, floors were bad. it needed some money stuck in it, but the bad body made not worth putting any more money into it

at first it green on green later it was black on black

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

but my favorite old mopare wa the 1964 Dodge polara, I had one so did my freind, old poly head 318, with a push buttun 727 automatic

Iron Woode · May 7, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
but my favorite old mopare wa the 1964 Dodge polara, I had one so did my freind, old poly head 318, with a push buttun 727 automatic

some old guy here is driving around in a very nice 1966 Polara 2 dr.

I want that car so bad because its the B-body midsize model not the C-body fullsize. Swap in a moded 440 and have fun.

Insane3D · May 7, 2005

Nice project.

I'm doing a bunch to my Mustang this spring/summer, finally decided t ostart doing everything myself, and slowly building up my tools. It's a lot more tricky when your project car is also your daily driver.

If I ever see a rainless weekend, I hope to be putting on a stainless mid-pipe, and stainless headers.

Bassani SS "X-pipe"

Crossover

Nice welds

Headers

One Piece Flange

I've also got a 31" x 19" x 3" thick Griffin aluminum radiator waiting to go in when I get my dual electric fan setup.

:thumbsup: for car projects!

I really love how much easier older cars are to work on. I like my Mustang because it has a good blend electronics and fuel injection that is mostly passive and works well with mods; and can be fully tweaked out with add on tuners. However, I can still change 8 spark plugs in about 15 minutes.

cavemanmoron · May 7, 2005

http://www.allpar.com/index.html

http://www.allpar.com/forums/

lots of Mopar fans around.

I have a 1964 Valiant
rare 2 door hard top

Signet 200,

with the rare 273 V8.

http://fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=ca...on&category=cavemanmoron&file=e00c.jpg

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

nice old mopar you have caveman
is it a push button auto

Summitdrinker · May 7, 2005

62 to 65 mopar site

and this site has many links:
scat pack

cavemanmoron · May 8, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
nice old mopar you have caveman
is it a push button auto

Yes,
last year for the pushbutton shifter,automatic.

First year for the new lightweight "LA" small block,it was a 273 CID 2 bbl;180 hp.

65 you could get a 273 4 bbl 235 hp as an option.

1967 they pumped the "LA to a 318,and
1968 the 340 came out.

1963,-66 Valiants;and Darts,were a Small body size.
1967 they enlarged the "A-body" to better accomodate the V8;with plans to make
a Big block version,which they did,but not many,in 68-69.

The Barracuda came out a week before the Mustang in mid 1964.

My car was built in Jan 64,and was ordered about 3 weeks after the V8 was offered.

Summitdrinker · May 8, 2005

ya there were some 383 magnum 68-69 cuda's built but not very many, 340's were just as fast, plus the rare 426 hemi , which weren't really street cars

hemi pro stock

Iron Woode · May 11, 2005

Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
ya there were some 383 magnum 68-69 cuda's built but not very many, 340's were just as fast, plus the rare 426 hemi , which weren't really street cars

hemi pro stock

http://www.budgetperformance.com/articles/hemidart/

Toastedlightly · May 11, 2005

I LOVE 318s. I got one in my truck that I am restoring. Durable little bastages. I gotta fix my suspension.

BTW, it is a 74 D100 (looks like a Dodge Warlock)

Iron Woode · May 11, 2005

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly
I LOVE 318s. I got one in my truck that I am restoring. Durable little bastages. I gotta fix my suspension.

BTW, it is a 74 D100 (looks like a Dodge Warlock)

cool truck.

my friend had a 1979 LRE, all original.

alkemyst · May 11, 2005

**OFFICIAL** Pics of my project car

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OFFICIAL Pics of my project car