Brought The New Labaron Home Today....

[Jonnyuma]

Not exactly an EPIC journey... it was less than 5 miles from me.
I made a quick swing by the seller's house yesterday to pay the balance (minus the deposit I left on Sunday) and to get the title and keys so I wouldn't bother him at a ridiculous hour today.
A 0400 $13 Uber ride got me there this morning and I drove it home. Still too dark for any beauty-shots at that hour, so I took a few in-situ pics as it sits on my street right now...

One thing I noticed on my test-drive and again today is how small this car is...
I've gone from C-bodies to B-bodies and eventually landed on "late Bs", specifically early (75-76) Cordoba/Chargers and later, Dodge Magnums. Compared to "Chrysler's First Small Car" (Cordoba), this thing is a compact... my hair touches the headliner and I don't have "big hair".
That's not a complaint, just an observation.
My delightful and lovely GF said, "It's not as ugly as I thought it would be...".
I consider that pretty high praise from a non car-girl who thinks her Mazda 6 is the height of automotive design...

 

[Justwondering]

What color is the interior?

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

...My delightful and lovely GF said, "It's not as ugly as I thought it would be...".
I consider that pretty high praise from a non car-girl who thinks her Mazda 6 is the height of automotive design...

Hey hey...what's wrong with the 6??? LOL, a 2006 Wagon, V6 5spd manual has been my daily driver, as far as room to load up when going camping, or tossing a 518 trans for it's ride "home" or an occasional 360 block, it is a pretty sweet ride!!! ha ha...still like my 6, and I'm just giving you a hard time!

Man, that LeBaron is a nice ride...funny to hear someone call 'em "small" though. So what are the plans?

 

[Jonnyuma]

What color is the interior?

It's tan. The seats have been reupholstered in tweed... it looks to be well done. New carpet. Door panels, headliner, trim panels are all in good OEM shape. The dash isn't cracked but is a little bit distended at the leading edge where it meets the steel defroster panel... that would be the only thing to address on the inside apart from trying to figure out where to mount a tach and real oil/water gauges.

So what are the plans?

First big purchase will be Mopar cop wheels and caps. Originals are pretty spendy so repros are in order. The tires are good and I like the sizes so they'll stay. I need to get underneath and have a look, but I think the rear needs to come down an inch.

Big picture is some subtle trim and top removal and shiny black paint. The body is straight and rust-free enough that I think I can pull it off... its way nicer than my typical beater. I'm kinda thinking MiB-style sleeper...

The car has <80k so the little 318 should hold out for awhile. Also, I don't want to break the trans and rear by overpowering them sooo... while mo' power is better, I'll stick to bolt-ons for now. Stock intake and carb need to go, maybe add oil and trans coolers and some HD "cop" and/or FF susp goods... the overall condition of the car and relatively low miles is new for me. I usually have to fix a lot of stuff before I can start modifying stuff.

Wish list: Stroker small block (prolly 408) and a Tremec 5 or 6 speed... ultimate sleeper.

 

[BudW]

Hi, nice to meet you!
A nice looking car you have.

You mentioned getting a set of police wheels for your car. One thing I couldn’t make out was what kind of wheels you currently have on the car. It looks like they might be police wheels, possibly – can’t really tell from the pictures, above.
BudW

 

[Jonnyuma]

I couldn’t make out was what kind of wheels you currently have on the car

HA... you noticed that, huh. I kind of obfuscated them on purpose, lol.
They're Chrome Chevy-style Rallye wheels w a dual bolt pattern. I'd be satisfied (for a while) to just paint them black and leave it be.
Buuuuut... paint doesn't stick to chrome and the amount of work to get em to the painting stage wouldn't be worth the trouble, IMO. I could just clean, scuff, and shoot but I'll be reselling these to someone at some point and flaking, chipped paint and ruined chrome would knock quite a bit of resale value off em.... I think I can recoup almost half the cost of the new steelies (around $400 not incl caps) if I leave them alone. That plus the fact that these will only take Chevy or generic center caps makes the cop wheels the best long-term option... buy once, cry once. There will be compromises made, but I'll sacrifice a bit to make the cop wheels happen.
The 255 and 235 Radial T/As are the way I would have gone anyway so them already being present and serviceable saves me another $400+.
I'm very optimistic that this little "project" will actually bear fruit... starting w a better car vs a clapped-out beater is IMMENSELY helpful.
Nice to meet you too, @BudW. I'm glad to be back in "the game" and back in the mix here at FFMJBO.

I fully expect a ration of sh*t for misspelling "Lebaron" in the thread title...

 

[BudW]

Police wheels are getting a bit hard to find, used. There are a couple of part venders (maybe more), who are still making them new – and to the specifications you request (width and backspace/offset).

I’m also in a similar boat, for I want police wheels/dog dishes for my wagon and police wheels with the existing locking wire hubcaps for my Fifth Ave (to maintain the sleeper look) – but wider wheels (for the wider tires), so I plan on getting new wheels made for me.
In the case of my wagon, getting the new wheels painted to match body color (possibly).
New wheels are roughly about $150.00 (US) each.

So far, I have only seen one police wheel for sale (at a reasonable price) in the last 15 years, and I got it. Also – its condition is best for use as a spare.

Chrysler did use a version of the police wheels on the F-body (which I thought you might have had).

picture swiped from the internet
It is hard to tell, but this version of the wheel, does not have the lip for the dog dish hubcaps.
BudW

 

[Jonnyuma]

Wheel Vintiques has been my go-to for steel wheels for over 25 yrs.
If the chrome Rallye wheels I currently have(5 hole vs Mopar 6 hole) had the nubs to fit OEM 8.25" caps I'd reconsider keeping/painting them. I think the Super Coupe/Magnum center caps would work (as in your picture) but would require some grinding of the wheel's center ring... bound to turn out ugly.
OEM Mopar and Police wheels run about $110 new from WV with your choice of widths. They'll do custom backspacing for $25 per wheel... not a bad deal when you think about the hassles it can save.

 

[BudW]

They make a couple versions of the center caps/domes.
To be correct, the dome is the part that attaches to wheel. the cap is what pops onto the end of the dome.

The domes shown in post #7 will fit most all Chrysler steel wheels from mid ‘60’s to ’89 except for Rallye or magnum style.

They also make a version for aluminum wheels – and for the heavy urethane wheel which are different from each other and the above.

The dome used in picture above is most commonly used for the 15” road wheel – but also fits others, as well.

This style wheel will fit FMJ cars - but I don't think any were made with them.

Caps/domes for all three kinds mentioned above are getting a bit tough to find.
The wheels in above picture are 15” Road Wheels.
Chrysler also has a 14” Road Wheel – which I refer to as the Magnum 500 style.
BudW

 

[Oldiron440]

I once drilled a set of cop wheels for rallye wheel caps. Wheels were silver caps Lt gray, I had the on my shop truck.