The restoration
The brakes needed a complete overhaul. We replaced all of the brake lines, wheel cylinders and brake shoes. The master cylinder still seems to be okey, although it is rusted on the outside. Once the car was up on the rack my mechanic discovered a few other things: 1. The gas tank has a minor leak near the top where the gas line attaches to it. He suggested not filling the tank completely. 2. He noticed a special ground wire attached to the front of the gas tank which explained why the gas guage doesn't always work properly. It seems to be working now after he blew air into the tank to get the float unstuck. The ground wire connection may be a little bit corroded. 3. The gas line had a leak along the rocker panel, so we replaced 3 feet of it with rubber tubing. The idler arm on the steering linkage had a loose joint so he replaced the idler arm with a new one.The parts for these projects came to $878.27 plus tax. He only charged me minimum wage for 32 hours of work, since I helped him part of the time, so the labor was only $208.00. With the tax, the total bill came to $1146.01, but that covered everything that had to be done to make the car safe to drive. I have enjoyed cruising around in it, since then. It really turns heads, since the P225R75x14 radial tires are about 3/4-inch lower in radius and 1.5 inches lower in diameter than the original spare tire which is 855x14. As a result the whole car is lowered about an inch. I have put my piano tuning equipment in the trunk which weights it down even lower, so the fender skirts cover half of the rear wheels now. It looks really cool. I will have to take a picture of it from the side, because it has to be seen from the side to be appreciated. Some surprising discoveries:While trying to get the radio to pick up signals, I discovered that the bottom of the dash is shiny mirror like chrome 2 inches wide all the way across, which you don't see when seated. It is too bad this beautiful chrome is hidden from view, until you actually lay on the floor to work on wiring. Even the numerous Phillips screws that hold the parts of the dash together are chrome. Another surprise inside the glove compartment are two black plastic compartments in the cover where you can store things like a cell phone and lock them up securely in the glove compartment. The other cool features are the running lights on the side and the mini turn signal lights on each front fender, which I understand are very hard to find replacement bulbs for. Luckily they both work. The turn signal lever has to be held down to flash...it doesn't click on or off...it is like the lane change feature on modern cars, but both the front and rear signal lights flash rapidly as long as you hold the turn signal lever down. This condition helps save bulbs, as they aren't flashing when you start the turn and release the lever. You have more control over the length of signal flashing. I'm not sure if it is broke or was meant to work like this, but I prefer it this way. The car just rolled over 60,000 actual miles on Oct. 11, so it has a lot of cruising miles left on it. One of the oil change cards from 1978 indicates it had 9,445 miles on it when it was 10 years old.

Update October-November 2007: I took the car in for some body work. So far the back fenders have been repaired with new steel and have been primed. Cold weather prevented further work until spring, and it is in storage, snowed in, and the door on the building is frozen shut at present. To be continued in the spring of 2008.
Specifications: The following information is in response to a question from one of my Car Domain friends, who asked about the firing order. Firing order for all 1965-1971 Chryslers & Imperials - all models - all V8 engines:
1 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 7 - 2. The diagram of the rotor also shows this order, beginning with #8 at the 11 o'clock position and going around counter-clockwise: 8 4 3 6 5 7 2 1. The diagram of the engine, showing the fan on the left, looking down at the engine from the driver's side fender is as follows: Top (passenger side from front to back) 1 3 5 7. Bottom (driver's side from front to back) 2 4 6 8. I copied down the fireing order, but the diagrams are from memory, so I hope I am correct. To verify this information, here is my source: Motors Auto Repair Manual (1971) 34th Edition chapter 2 The diagram of the rotor and engine are excellent and show lines drawn from the rotor diagram to the engine diagram. It also shows the HP, torque, compression ratio, etc. for all the Mopar engines. The 1968 Chrysler with a 383 V8 2bbl carburetor puts out 290 HP. A 4bbl carburetor would put out about 330-335 HP. Not only the engine, but the entire drive train is as smooth as a gyroscope all the way from 25 mph to 70 mph. The engine does idle rough at its specified 600 RPM idle speed and it is mean in reverse when the engine is cold, lurching back quickly and a little hard to control until warmed up, so I have to be very careful backing out of the garage.

Update: May 2008: Body work and painting
My friend finishing up the body work

The right front fender after preparation.

The left front fender after preparation.

THE "RAT ROD" LOOK. Lookin' cool for just a little while. Just about ready for the new paint job.

THE NEW PAINT JOB. Here I am with my Chrysler, looking like new, after the 25 mile cruise June 14, 2008.

Here it is from the left front.

Here it is from the left rear.

Finally, a view of the back. This was one of the most challenging body repairs...there was rust above this area...very hard to get at to repair, but it was done.