The Electronic Newsletter of the Chrysler 300 Club International
This Newsletter is published for the members of the Chrysler 300 Club International. All rights reserved. Publication will be at irregular intervals. Not responsible for errors or omissions.



Issue 59 March 15, 2022
In This Issue
News
Club Events
Feature Stories & Book Review
Tech Articles
Video Corner
Members Say
Restoration Spotlight
Puzzles
Those Were The Days
Final Thought
Chrysler 300 Club International
PO Box 40
Benson, MD, 21018

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From Auburn Hills






























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with wine.
Brevity is the first
step to brilliance.
News
It took two years to do it, but it looks like we have beaten this Covid bug. Come on over to our spring meet in South Carolina as we celebrate our return to a normal life. We are ready to go. You can make your hotel reservations now. The registration form is ready. See below.
We have a large collection of videos at YouTube. Bill Elder took on the task of organizing this material and created two summary pages; one for the meets and one for tech. A boatload of thanks to Bill for the ton of work involved in this project.
Tony Rinaldi has been hard at work with QBStores on apparel embroidered with Letter Car logos. You can get your favorite Letter Car logo on hats, totes, shirts, sweaters, jackets and more. Click here for information or contact Tony at awrdoc@yahoo.com
Charlie Vrana writes: I am one of the organizers for the Greenwich Concours car show which will be held June 5, 2022. This year we will have a special class for Chrysler 300 Letter cars. We are looking to have one of each year. I need the B, H, J, and K. Please contact Charlie Vrana at 718 683 0900 or email charlie2013challenger@gmail.com If possible call me first on my phone 8 AM-9:30 PM.
For years I have been posting videos of letter cars and club activities at Youtube. I am no longer able to upload to that channel so I have a new Youtube channel. Here is the link to a video at the new channel. If you subscribed to the old channel and want to subscribe to the new channel, just click the subscribe button. Do a Youtube search for Bob Merritt Chrysler and both channels will come up. The old channel will still be there too.
This newsletter is for you. Let us know what you'd like to see.
Click here for the feedback form.
Club Events

Spring 2022: April 27 - May 1, 2022 in Greenville, South Carolina. Hosted by Tom Cox and Jim Benson, our hotel is the Greenville Marriott. The room rate is $135/night. You can make reservations by calling the hotel at 864-297-0300 and mention the Chrysler 300 Club name to receive the special room rate or use this link. Click here for the meet registration form. The deadlines for the hotel reservations and the registration form are April 6.
If the Marriott is full, we have more hotels in the area. Try the Hampton Inn at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport (phone 864-263-5555) or the Hampton Inn at I-385 and Woodruff Road (phone 864-213-8200).

Fall 2022: Sunday October 9 to Thursday October 13, 2022 in Pasadena, California hosted by Bob Jasinski and Rob Kern. The host hotel is the Double Tree Hilton Pasadena/Monrovia. Rooms are $159/night not including breakfast. A breakfast package is available for $20 additional /night for party of two. The club rate will be offered for 3 additional days prior and after the Meet. Plenty of free parking with an overflow lot for tow vehicle and trailer parking with 24 hour security provided. Details for this meet will be announced at the Greenville, S.C. Spring Meet.


For more information, contact Ray Jones at 1970hurst@gmail.com or
Carlton Schroeder at schroe99@newnorth.net
Feature Stories & Book Review

Bob Jasinski sent an article on the Chrysler Enforcer for 1961.
Click here for the PDF.

John Begian reviews "1960-62 Chrysler Body Assembly Manual" available from Faxon.
Click here.

Tech Articles

1957 Chrysler 300C Data & Spec Bulletin
1002-CH
(PDF)
Letter Car Steering Wheels Letter Car Horn Buttons

We are looking for new technical articles. Please send whatever you think is helpful to bob@simplexco.com

Video Corner
Coupe2 wiring

{21:15)
Coupe 2 turn signal switch

{8:52)
Members Say

Joe Luciano writes:
In 1962 I brought a new 300 Sport convertible with a 413 340 hp. One night at the gas station a guy from my neighborhood came in with a 1957 300C. He was telling me how fast the car was and he wanted to run me to show me. From the gas station to the first traffic light was a quarter mile. I raced there many times. One of my friends flagged us off, I jumped him by two car lengths and kept that lead 3/4 the way when all of sudden I heard the sound of the engine as his car came alive. I got to the finish line first. I decided to see what he can do and he passed me at 100 miles an hour. I never will forget the sound. He made a believer out of me.


Henry Mitchell writes:
Hi Bob: Thanks for updating the source list. It is a valuable tool to be sure. I would like to add a recommendation if I may: Drive Line Service of San Leandro, 2474 Teagarden Street, San Leandro, CA 94577, (510) 352-3500.
I developed a serious vibration at higher speeds in my 300C. I could tell it was the drive shaft so I pulled it and gave it to Drive Line Service to have it balanced. Turns out the vibration was the cockamamy front ball and trunnion. I bought a kit, installed it and brought it back. it was the wrong kit so I took the drive shaft back. I went back and forth between my shop and theirs several times. They stuck with me until they were able to get a perfect balance. I think the whole process took about six weeks and when I picked up the drive shaft for the final time, they charged me $80. Honest and conscientious.
Gloria Moon writes:
For those of you with a mind for history, here is a list of people that have been members of the club every year for 50 years; Charles Brackett, Bill Codner, Gil Cunningham, Bev Gillespie, Arnold Lueth, Terry McTaggart, Allan Moon, Gloria Moon, and Don Warnaar.

Jim Krausmann writes:
My Dad and his brothers ran a gas station when I was a kid. We were looking at pictures of the station last week. It was built around 1940 and utilized the Modern design.
The brothers bought it in '47. It was a big station for the day with a large showroom. A little digging and we found some background. Gulf had a presence at the '39 World's Fair and wanted a futuristic design for their station. Afterward, they built a few signature stations in the eastern US. Maybe one in a big city if real estate was available and traffic would support it. A couple of photos are attached.



It closed around '68 and the building struggled on as a fish market and kitchen cabinet place. It was torn down in the early 80's to build a donut shop. Now it's a cell phone store.

I appreciate the things I find about Dad's gas station. I have some monthly profit and loss statements (darn they sold a lot of gas), receipts (Uncle Dick charged Grandma full price for service), uniforms (if they could talk) and station branded items (Krausmann Bros Gulf wallet, probably to hold the proceeds from the gas sales).


Warren Anderson writes:
I bought a 300 C that has been sitting on the Illinois Wisconsin border for over 45 years. I bought it from a man who had bought it in 1969. My Serial number is 3N572370. It has the 392 HEMI with goose-neck air cleaners. I have also found out it has the dimpled valve covers and adjustable rocker arms, meaning it has a sold lifter camshaft.

Dave and Kya Mason write:

We bought a K last year from California, flew out there, and drove it back. It's a great car, and we got for a reasonable price, It was a fun drive across the country back home to Virginia. Here are photos of us driving the K through Joshua Tree National Park, with a rare rainbow to boot.



Jean-Yves Chouinard writes:
For those of you working on an F with AC, the Hayden 2747 fan clutch will fit on an F with the big compressor clutch. The 300F with the small compressor clutch can do with the 2947 Hayden unit. The 2947 is a shorter unit. If you use the 2947 on the big clutch AC cars the fan blades hit the AC clutch.

Write us with whatever might be on your mind.
Restoration Spotlight
by Jamie Hyde

Carl Bilter writes:
I installed the passenger side mirror on the J. While all modern vehicles have dual mirrors, it was rare back in the day. On a Chrysler the passenger mirror was a dealer accessory, not a factory option. The mirror has been reproduced, but the base/wedge was unobtainable. So we were grateful when my buddy Bob Merritt had the RH base wedge reproduced. The new mirror comes with nice chrome screws but they are too short. So it was off to the store for #10 x 2" Phillips oval head sheet metal screws. I found them in stainless, and after a quick pass under the buff wheel the heads are as shiny as chrome. I made a template of the left side and flipped over to use on the right side. Measure three times and drill once. Score with an awl, then start with a 1/16" drill bit and work up to 9/64." Starting with a bigger bit will just walk down the fender, damaging the paint. The LH first hole was 9.75" from the door edge and 4.125" from the fender crease. A check of the new holes on the RH side shows we are spot on. The new gasket is just a bit oversized, and the new base is just a smidgen undersized, but it will be fine. Installed new RH mirror and reinstalled LH mirror after freshening. I am pleased with results.


Jamie Hyde writes:
Vans Auto has a new item, sill plate extensions for the early 1960s Chryslers. I bought a set. They are a nice item but they won't work for the F, G, or H. The new extensions measure 8-3/4" long but the FGH needs 27". I tried them on the J and K coupe but a 10" extension is needed there. It looks possible they will work on the K convertible.
Perhaps with encouragement we can get Vans to make a longer version.
In the meantime I made a "work-around" extension for an H by taking interior roof trim coupe and cutting to length. I think the trim might have been from a 65 or 66 coupe.
Carl Bilter writes:
I installed the beautiful new reproduction door sill plates on the 300J. These exactly match the factory originals in anodized aluminum, a project that has been in the works for some 20 years. Get them from Murray Park or Vans Auto for $350. Of the 20 screws holding the two old plates, 18 were incorrect. That's what happens when a careless former owner or a body shop messes with a car and doesn't keep track of things. New correct stainless screws in proper sizes were obtained from Menards.

Old screws on the left. 18 of the 20 were incorrect. New screws on the right in stainless. 8 pan head #10 x 1/2" and 12 oval head #10 x 3/4". The pan head screws are used on the flat surfaces. The oval head screws are used over the carpeted portion.


Nick Taylor writes
I saw your new video today. The gas tank in the '61 Belvedere I'm working on had black varnish coating the bottom of it. A gallon of good chem dip sloshed around in it for a month cleaned it up. At first I thought it wasn't going to work as it turned it into thick honey consistently after a couple weeks. But in the end I was able to flush it out. I did have to ream out the fuel lines in the frame as they were gummed up as well. Completely blocked on the ends. I used ribbed weed eater line to auger it out and get most of the tar out. There was 1979 gas trapped between the two ends and boy does that stink. What gas tank did you use? Vans sells a 23 gallon one but they say that it's designed for the '61-62 cars and the filler pipe is short for the '60.
I used the tank sold by Murray or Vans. The difference in filler pipe is so minor it does not matter.

Plugged fuel line

Plugged fuel sender

Fuel tank tar

Ron Kurtz writes;
Restoration continues on E #292. Original fuel lines were cleared as much as possible with a metal rod (point smoothed down to prevent internal gouging) then systematically flushed several times with a brew of Kroil, WD-40, Liquid Wrench and Gumout, fed into the lines with a baster. After 30 minutes or so, the lines were cleared each time with 110 psi of compressed air until drips from the lines were clear and proper airflow was obtained. The lines over the differential housing had to be replaced.
The new exhaust system from Waldrons was cleaned with solvent then coated with a clear high heat (2,000 degree) ceramic finish.
Bumpers are out for rechroming and work on the interior will begin with on the Goers interior, purchased several years ago.
Restoration should be completed in May.


John Grady writes:
After a lot of work, we have succeeded in milling on our CNC a solid billet aluminum replacement for the fragile circular diecast switch actuator piece in every Mopar 57 -59 turn signal switch. This is the 'Top Layer" of that switch that the turn signal stalk screws into. It is a complicated die cast ring that is easily broken by excessive accidental force on the stalk. Of 5 cars I have had of that vintage, two of these were broken. A 300C, D ,E with no turn signals and a flopping lever is not a happy camper.
Because of a long process time commitment for each one on our Matsuura CNC, we would first like to gauge interest. $135/each plus shipping. The 300 Club will get first shot at these at a special price of $95 each, plus shipping. I expect the first production batch will have a 3-4 week lead time. Tell your MoPar friends -- the more we can make the more other things we can support.
Inquire at Forwardlookparts.com, Liisa Marino will help you there.


Jamie Hyde writes:
I am pleased to announce that joining us at the 2022 Spring meet will be for the first time Dave and Cheryl Mihalko from Quirey Quality Designs. Some of you have met them in the past at Mopar themed swap meets. They will be hosting a meet and greet from 7-8 at the host hotel on Thursday. For those who do not know Dave and Cheryl, they are the team that bought the Gary Goers business. Dave and Cheryl are improving a lot of the older Gary parts utilizing new modern injection molding and manufacturing equipment.
Dave is willing to bring any large bulky orders to our meet to save in shipping costs. Now is the time to order a Trunk Cardboard kit, or a Carpet kit or anything else you need -- they will bring right to the meet. Give them a call at (814) 509-6410 for delivery at the 2022 spring meet and save the shipping!

Puzzles
If you like picture puzzles, here are new ones. Take your pick of "Red hot 300J", "Shimmering E", or "B in black."
Those Were The Days

Note the license plate number.
Something a little different