|
I first saw this car at Dave Totten's estate auction in Clifton, Kansas.
That was June 20, 1993. Dave had been a collector of 1962 Chrysler products. The auction
was to sell quite a few H's, Sports, New Yorkers and Imperials. People came from far and wide
for the sale and that included Ed and Angie from Chicago. They were the winning bidders
on the car and took it back to Chicago where they restored it. Over the years Ed and Angie
brought it to many Chrysler 300 Club events....Florida, Maine, NJ, TN, Arkansas, they were
there with the H. Ed passed away in May of 2014 and the car came to Golden Lion Grrrages in 2017.
Chrysler built 123 H convertibles. We estimate between 47 to 55 survive today.
Click here for some factory photos of the H convertible.
We will probably always refer to this car as
"Ed and Angie's H".
These are the pictures of the car when it arrived, still wearing the
chrome rims Ed was fond of.
The Chrysler 300 Club International has the original Chrysler microfilm for
some of the Letter Cars. This car is one of the lucky ones to have a record.
The microfilm shows this car
was shipped October 28, 1961 to dealer # 09770 (Briley Motor Company, Omaha, NE), region #52.
From the data tag, the SO date (scheduled
build date) was 1018 (Oct 18). This car was ten days late getting out the factory door. A review of
other records shows most cars were shipped a week or two behind the scheduled build date although
I did come across one scheduled for Dec 22 that didn't ship until April 25.
From the papers that came with the car, we are thinking the first owner was
Joe Bryant of Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The next owner
was likely Brad Parker of Hay Springs, Nebraska, 69347. We have David E
Totten of Clifton, Kansas purchasing the car in April of 1983 and
then, of course, Edward A Phillips of Illinois in June of 1993.
Ed kept records. When he bought the car in 1993, it had 103,858 miles on the odometer.
In 2006, Ed has a record of buying new tires and 126,440 miles on the clock. It is good to
see he enjoyed the car - - 22,000 miles in 13 years.
The car needs a "freshening". By that I mean it needs attention to a few things but does not
require major work. For instance, we found that the instrument gauges under the Astradome
were not working (except for the ammeter, and that was sticking). We got into it and found the
oil pressure gauge -- it has the voltage limiter -- was the problem. A new gauge solved that problem
and while we were at it, replaced the ammeter, temperature and fuel gauges too.
Here is the Youtube.
The heater valve had been bypassed, so we got into that.
Here is the Youtube of
the valve replacement. Also included is buffing the sill plates,
new heater hoses and a look at the front seat spacers.
We just discovered the convertible top isn't working. No noise from the pump, no ammeter deflection, so
when we get a minute we'll look into it. It is a simple enough system that any Mechanical Engineer
should be able to figure it out.
Click here for that page.
With the new gauges installed, the gas gauge was still not working. We disconnected the wire at the sender,
jumped it to ground and the gauge worked. Then we noticed there was no ground strap from the sender to the
fuel line. Year One has them (part number FD58862) and I put several in stock just for such occasions.
Installed and now the gas gauge responds to the sender.
While working around back, I saw the rear license plate lamp was out. Then I could see that the housing lens
was cloudy so I decided to replace the assembly with a new one from stock. I noticed that the
license plate lamp housing is held in place by two one-way screws. I had not seen that before and went
checking. Sure enough, in 1960, 61, and 62, Chrysler used one-way screws for it. True to their name,
it was a wrestle to remove the one-ways but it was accomplished and a new assembly installed.
While I had the front seats out, I decided the console ash tray could use some attention
so I removed it. Be warned, removal of the ash tray is 100 times easier than installation because of the
retaining clips. But the ash tray looks much better and is worth the effort. I put the pieces
through the grit blaster to get the cups and recesses thoroughly clean, then use
Eastwood reflective aluminum for paint. Multiple light light light coats is the key otherwise
the paint loses its crisp luster. These adventures are on Youtube here
and here.
I was able to install the ashtray and all 4 retaining clips and was pretty pleased with myself
when with the last twist on the last screw, the ashtray top popped off of the JB weld.
So it all came back out and a second application of JB weld was done, more generous
this time, and on thoroughly roughened and cleaned surfaces. The ashtray was installed
for the second time the next day, with all 4 retainers. Never do once something
you can do twice.
While working on the top pump motor, the console had to be moved in order to free up the
rear seat separator board. Getting the console loose isn't too bad a job, and the rear ash tray
has to come out so might as well treat it to a fresh coat of reflective aluminum.
New battery cables went in. The battery tray was missing
the drain tube so a replacement was installed. I was pleased the battery tray
was in such nice condition.
The driver door mechanism was in need of lube so the
panel came off. Video here. The door was solid and rust free (always a nice
thing) but the vapor barrier was missing. The door pull, latches, and window
mechanism was lubed, a new vapor barrier made, and the door reassembled.
|
