300 F "400 hp ;
4-speed". Let's build one ... |
It is the consensus of all knowledgeable connoisseurs of Chrysler 300 Letter
cars that the 300F 4-speed cars are the ultimate collectible, the pinnacle of production,
the very embodiment of the Letter Car Idea Bob Rodgers had, simply put the utmost,
supreme, ideal, transcendent, ultimate, preeminently desirable 300. So why don't we all
have one in our garage ?
The answer is a little matter of production numbers.
There is no microfilm documentation that ANY were built at all !
That's right, there was no code for the option package of 400 hp motor and 4-speed
transmission. The cars were produced as standard 375 hp, torqueflite cars and then
modified in a special building sometimes referred to as "Header House" after
they were completed cars (....)
The current existence of four 300 F Specials verifies some were
built and we know historically that at least six were entered at Daytona Beach Speed Week
in 1960... When Chrysler Engineer Paul Mallwitz (now deceased) spoke to the Spring '82
meet of this club, he revealed that a red "mule" test car 4-speed was a seventh F
Special at Daytona. By documenting two other cars back through history, two more
Specials were built post-Daytona: a black A/C hardtop for construction company owner Andy
Drum of Fallon, NV, and a white convertible for a friend of Carl Kiekhaefer, George Kuehm
who owned Edwards Motors (Chrysler dealership) in Milwaukee, WI.
That seems to "historically document" that nine F Specials were
assembled. There are innumerable rumors of 4-speed F past and present. Only one of these,
to my knowledge, has any truth in it. A carb restoration specialist, Bob Harris, relates a
long and detailed story of a Mr. George Miller, who lived in the Pasadena area in 1960.
Bob, as a teen-ager vividly remembers riding in, and has slide photos of the Miller family
Toreador Red F speed car. It may have been the "mule" car or a third
post-Daytona produced car. As of this writing, it is believed to have ended up being
parted out in Phoenix, AZ, in the late '60s.
(..) So what is stopping you from owning one of these cars other than the
astronomical price one hears ? Let's build one !!
PARTS LIST
- restored 300 F (H/T or convert; your choice !)
- second-series Pont-A-Mousson steel-cased 4-speed transmission (the automobile of the era said "aluminium-cased" incorrectly as the trans. is painted Chrysler aluminium silver)
- special cast bellhousing to adapt motor to trans.
- truck flywheel, clutch assembly, disc to accept P-A-M shaft, truck linkage.
- clutch and brake pedal set from a stick Plymouth or Dodge.
- set '60-'62 short rams (# 2129986 / 7) complete with brass hot water fittings ('63-64 short rams are different casting and are exhaust heated)
- pair Carter 3084S carb. w/manual chokes
- four long air cleaner studs
- two Chrysler # 1670694 air filter elements
- set silicone spark plug wires (mauve in color)
- set '60-61 3" 4-bolt cast iron headers ( # 2129998 / 9). '62-64 headers are different casting.
- 24' of 2,5" exhaust pipe and low back pressure Arvin mufflers
- '60 Imperial alternator
- radical camshaft and solid lifters
- 2.93 : 1 Sure-Grip differential
- reproduction console aluminium insert w/o ashtray cutout
- 1/4 " aluminium plate
- 10' bowden (choke) cable, steel to make brackets, water manifolding T-fittings, 12' HD heater hose, hose clamps, exhaust clamps, etc, etc, as required.
LABOR
- Remove and replace (R&R) factory cam and hyd. lifters with the radical grind cam and solid lifters
- R&R long ram intakes and 2903 carbs with short rams and 3084s. Run manual choke bowden cables from each carb into custom hand made brackets to tie two into one, and continue through firewall; mount to left of steering column.
- R&R air filter short studs with longer studs and change to new taller filter element. Drill spot welds from rear of hood corner braces and remove for air cleaner vertical clearance.
- Remove hood insulation pad for air cleaner clearance, install heater hoses from motor heater outlet to right ram manifold front fitting, then from right manifold rear fitting to T-fitting to pick up heater inlet, then tee into heater outlet to run hose next into left ram manifold rear fitting, then from right manifold front fitting to motor heater water return fitting. This is the only way to heat the intakes because the 60-61 headers have no heat riser port like the 62-64 headers have.
- R&R original sparkplug wires with silicone type. These wires necessary because of interference with and excessive heat from headers.
- R&R generator with Imperial alternator
- Remove Torqueflite and torque converter from motor.
- Remove emergency brake assy. and adapt to rear of Pont-A-Mousson. Install custom cast bellhousing and adapt truck linkage to limited space available remembering the geometry is critical to proper operation
- Remove original power brake pedal and install small manual shift car pedals. Install stick-type flywheel, clutch cover and disc. Modify transmission tunnel braces by torch and hammer to allow clearance for the P-A-M.
- Remove center interior console from car and remove its front ash receiver and alum. insert. Repair fiberglass at ash receiver and cut new hole for manual shifter in proper location of fiberglass and new aluminium insert. Fashion a shift bezel for the stick shifter access with a lever boot. Hand stamp R 1 2 3 4 on bezel.
- Attach 4-speed to motor. Original transmission crossmember and mounts are reused. Replace console in car
- R&R factory exhaust manifolds, head pipes, mufflers, tail pipes with cast iron headers and 2.5" new system. Do not install a cross-over between head pipes; allows maximum flow and maximum noise !
- R&R differential to install new ratio with Sure-Grip.
- Add premium gas with octane booster (required)
- Run motor 15 minutes to get sufficient intake manifold hot water heat.
- Tune, tune, tune !
PROBLEMS YOU WILL ENCOUNTER
- The '60-60 type short-ram are in extremely short supply as we only know of nine 1960 400 hp cars built and perhaps as few as one 1961 400 hp car, and they weren't many '62 short-rams either
- The '60-61 type cast iron headers are in extremely short supply for the same reason.
- Carter Corp. disavows ever having built 3084S carbs, thus there is no parts list or specs and they are therefore in extremely short supply at swap meets.
- There are no original specs known for the "radical" camshaft grind of the 400 hp motor.
- The 2nd series Pont-A-Mousson transmission was only available as an option in Facel Vega Excellence and HK-500 models, and the 300 F Special. The 400 hp Gs (if built) had a Dodge manual 3-speed. Few of these Facel models were built and the vast majority of these few had the Torqueflite.
- Once you find the Pont-A-Mousson, you will need to engineer, cast and machine: 1/ a longer top shifter cover for proper placement "at hand" of the shift lever in your 300 application and internal shift shafts. 2/ a longer tail shaft with properly located pad for crossmember mounting and flange to adapt the original emergency brake assembly and new trans. output shaft, speedometer drive, seals and bearings. The F Special was the only car to use these.
- The Pont-A-Mousson is "bullet proof" except for the cluster gear and first-reverse slider gear and shaft. If you need any parts, please be aware the trans. company went out of business thirty years ago and all the extra clusters were used up quickly.
- The original equipment Arvin mufflers are obsolete.
- In cool to cold weather the car is virtually impossible to keep running.
- A well-trained left leg is mandatory to pull a recalcitrant 4300 Lb. car away from a stoplight with a 2.93 rear gear, especially if sitting on the least bit of uphill grade.
- The factory brakes are grossly inadequate for a car now capable of 165+ mph. Riveted high-metallic linings at a minimum are recommended.
- The neighbors tend to complain when you start the car at 5am Sunday morning to get to "the show". And restart it ! And restart it !
- As if a winged 300 did not stand out in modern econo-box traffic to begin with, there is an additional problem that use of the vertical right pedal now redefines the term "loud pedal" .
SUMMARY
You now have a car that will run 100 mph OVER the federal speed limit, needing a half mile to slow down, with no historical documentation of its authenticity, that looks and sounds like a Daytona entrant, which you'd better not fully tell your insurance company about. Or you can keep looking for the other five cars that were probably built but may not survice. So, THAT'S why the people who own the four existing 300 F Specials value them higher than some Duesenbergs. And the very next time one sells, they will be proven correct.
WAYNE GRAEFEN
This article was edited in the Chrysler 300 Club News , vol XXI n° 2.