Field Repair! 1976 Dodge Coronet CHP 440 Cop Car Fix, Extensive Reliability Testing On Dirt

[@UncleTonysGarage]

EPIC! Rare, beautiful survivor. I'm trying to lighten my load at this point, but if I wasn't, I would NEED to own that car.

[@chaddavis7228]

Which ones are you wanting to go away.have a good day

[@vincerencher9128]

this car would be a nice compliment to BR!

[@clembob8004]

Oh, to be able to go back in time. My dad bought a 77 B body Fury (the "small" Fury, lol) 440 cop car in 1980 at a state fleet auction for $750. Nice condition at the time, and well maintained as most cop cars were. I had the pleasure of driving it home about 80 miles (following behind dad in his truck), so I proceeded to do a burnout whenever I took off from an intersection or Stop sign. Just nail the foot pedal, and instant tire smoke! Fun times!

[@tonyb3864]

Groovy man. I've sat in the back of those old mopar cop cars more than once. Ahhh the memories.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Haaaahaha. Quality memories I’m sure.

[@BlooMule]

Jamie- a man outstanding in his field...... well, out standing in Tom's field......

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Whooooever’s field… I had every intention of making that joke in the video, but somehow forgot. Dang it.

[@markhoffman6861]

The first car I ever bought back in 1978 was a '68 Chrysler 300, 2 dr. w/TNT 440, bucket seats, full console that had the factory vacuum guage mounted to it. One of those "I wish I had never sold it" stories.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Bummer. History is littered with them unfortunately… I’ve got a good few myself.

[@NathansMoparGarage]

That's one of my favorite cars. 😎

[@auteurfiddler8706]

Me, too. Around 1981. But 350 HP 440's, not TNT's. I bought a pair in a package deal for a few hundred dollars. The hard top was running and driving and the convertible was missing a carb.

[@85Stang331]

Priceless line don’t worry about that normal big block stuff!😂

[@dantupper1784]

That was a highly productive day!- nothing wrong with that! Had a 80's 360 small block core- had a oil cooler return bolt on the fuel pump & windage tray, car pan. Stashed that bolt....somewhere, because it was for a oil cooler. I'll rediscover it when I'm looking for something else & get squirrelled...

[@irish3335]

Fantastic Coronet, glad to see another survivor that didn’t get sacrificed to the dukes of hazard - hope you guys restore it and show it to others! Fun video thanks much!

[@butcher390]

Sweet Dodge Coronet !! 440 too 💖 Rosco P. Coltrane , eat your heart out ‼️ I do genuinely appreciate your , Dry humor & sarcasm , Jamie 😅 Field tested & approved 👌

[@jimringo2569]

Yes own it. Will enforce your positive happy Existence! Thanks for the show as always.

[@idaholineman5788]

I’ll be on the lookout for big c bodies now! Especially old cop car flavor…great video

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

This one’s a B body! It’s just ugly like a late C body. Haha. I think I’d also prefer a cop car in C body flavor though. I don’t have any in the fleet.

[@idaholineman5788]

@@DeadDodgeGarage thanks for the correction! Those mid 70s cars are a bit out of my wheel house

[@ChargerMagnum440]

Love literally everything about that coronet, especially the green paint! Great fun to drive I'll bet!

[@jimdayton8837]

Love these '75-76 Coronets. Not many of them still in existence.

[@robertspence831]

Sweet machine right there. Wouldn't mind bringing that home to Texas.

[@65283impala]

Fantastic, thank you for this video. Definitely my favorite 4 door ever. The exact reason why I wish I had a bigger garage to have it next to the Satellite, even a 318 version would do. Too many of those have been crushed or left to rust away, on thing they were clearly very good at.

[@kenjohnson3641]

Cool big block barely had time for a corn dog 😮

[@auteurfiddler8706]

Even without the paint, you can tell it is a California cop car by the interior and steering wheel. Speaking of interiors. B bodies never offered 3 speaker dashes in 75-79. Mono radio cars got a center speaker while stereo radio cars got just the two side speakers and the center was not perforated for a center speaker. Given that C and E bodies had 3 speaker dashes , it seems like we were getting short changed. I have driven C and E bodies with 5 speaker stereo three in the front and two in the back, all stock, and it sounds great. Not loud, but good sound. So I miss that.

[@KLX1990]

I just bought that exact engine last weekend for $350. Accessories and all I just need a b body to plop it in

[@mikeburns7049]

I had a 78 trail duster with a 400 in it. It was a rust bucket but it was fun to drive

[@johnb.7979]

I had a '77 Gran Fury cop car years back. I soooooo badly needed that special 'bolt' for the oil cooler return line. Even back then I couldn't find one.

[@dondownriver3464]

Love the side burns just like elwood blues

[@sjaywjayw70]

I want that Chrysler low battery sound from the starter back on my 70 roadrunner. I have full tube headers with a mini.

[@howarddavis1307]

Great video not big mopar guy but love your content glad too see that dodge escape being turned into hazard county sheriff car and destroyed on the dukes off hazard even though I loved that show growing up 👍✌🏿

[@demetridar506]

I wish I had that air cleaner. One of my 440's wants one of these!

[@UQRXD]

The exhaust manifolds would bake the valve cover gaskets to death. Mine had a huge aftermarket alternator and I was always replacing the matched belts that would stretch. It also had a dual feed holley carb.

[@ThisValiantAdventure]

Exercising with purpose! Get your steps in. :)

[@wbarney59]

Thanks Jamie

[@dominickserignese8837]

It's begging for a Sure Grip and it definitely deserves one!😂 that thing is so cool. That thing must of been oh-so-sweet when it was brand new! She's a keeper.👍

[@OrrinCahoone-dd4tm]

It's a cop car with cop tires and a cop engine, now you can go on your mission from God. What movie line is that from. Yes,this is a test.😂 Good one as usual.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

You don’t need to test me, I literally said “oh look, the Blues Brothers car! That one’s still full of bees…” in the intro. Haha. I have resisted doing the entire cop motor, etc. bit for the two not Blues Brothers cars.

[@rexkean]

Field "revival" Awesome

[@jakebridgetimpastato5622]

I would love to see it repainted as a cop car!!!!

[@auteurfiddler8706]

That 300 looks very good to me! Notice the cornering lights and the fender mounted turn indicators. Not all of them are loaded with console, and vacuum gauge mounted on it. One interesting fact is that the rear panel between the tail lights is argent on some cars and semi gloss black on some others. Rumor is that the early cars were argent but they got some pushback about the backs putting out glare, so they were forced to darken them up midway through the production run. I don't think it has to do with matching the paint color of the car. My red car has the black, by the way.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Very interesting. I just don’t know a thing about them by that time, really. My happy place for the 300 is 1955. Haha.

[@wg4405]

Wish I had all the ones I bought and sold back in the 80ties that is as clean as my 88 Plymouth Grad Fury sitting in my garage . I wish I could find one sitting in a field here in Texas . Texas DPS use to take them to the prison and get the prisoners to put a cheap paint job on them back in those days now the just sell their cars black and white . All the ones I had 400 or 440 had Thermoquads on them . Such à shame seeing that sitting in a field AND I'm sure you know to be careful with that oil return line bolt .

[@milfordcivic6755]

This cars name reminds me of the old Rosemary Clooney commecial for Coronet paper products "Extra value is what you get, when you buy Coronet......"

[@auteurfiddler8706]

The hub caps (not full wheel covers) that came on cars like a 65 Chrysler Newport were very elegant compared to the plain ones available after the mid 60's. They also needed wheels with a larger diameter hub cap mounting. So someone put a 1960's wheel on the back of the CHP car. I wonder if the back wheel was a 15 inch. The majority of them were 14 inch. I have a set of those nice hub caps but only 14 inch wheels to mount them on.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Those are definitely 15s. I have seen similar wheels with the larger center hub area before. I had always figured they were Ford for some reason. Haha. I’m guessing someone just had this sitting around with decent tires at some point in history. We’ll get proper wheels on it soon.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

@@DeadDodgeGarage If they are 15 inch Mopars, I could use them. Ford also had big hub cap wheels in the 60's as late as 1967 on Galaxies and they were 15 inch. Wheel color should match body car color. Especially on hub cap cars . Now, the Ford oval or the Chrysler pentastar should be visible near the tire valve. But, a Ford/ Mercury 4 1/2 inch bolt circle wheel has a smaller center bore than Mopar-AMC wheels. So, a Ford wheel will not bolt to a Mopar like the one in the video. Unless you use spacers or hog out the centers on a lathe. A Mopar wheel will fit on a Ford, but will not be hub centric. A guy at work had 15x7 Mopar Rallyes on his 69 Mustang. I was coveting.

[@brentforte5950]

Sleeper dude gave you a shout out on his latest video.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

That’s awesome! I’ve talked to him in comments a bit about that motorhome. Hopefully he can get it figured.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

There is a bunch of technical detail about which cop cars used standard looking wheels and which used the slotted cop car wheels, and what year they first started using the hub caps with the perforations as shown in this video. I am pretty sure in the car in the video they used standard wheels and non perforated caps.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

This car should be standard wheels, but hole caps. I believe Tom said ‘76 was the first year for that, and then the slotted “cop” steelies came in ‘78. He has a set of the slotted wheels that we may use on this - despite them technically being incorrect. But there are other options as well.

[@JUDGERAMBO]

The cost of taillights on new cars, trailer lights sound like a good idea.

[@musclecarmitch908]

Cool old cop car!👍

[@wrenchinwithgrandpa4586]

Looks like a great time!

[@NathansMoparGarage]

Awesome car

[@TheBBodyBuilder]

Neat old Mopar…would look cool as a Black and White again.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

In our brilliant future vision, it is 😍

[@PHXez7939]

I have a 78 Dodge Monaco. Same car basically.

[@coronapack]

Hey I got one in my garage right now I'm fixing up

[@brkooduh66]

omg i miss my 73 Cor so much now, his name was YellerDog

[@gilbertwashburn7095]

I like old patrol cars when I was 15 years old and 1970 the guy on the Block for me bought a detective squad at a police auction it was a 65 Fury four-door it was white it was a stripper but it was really cool at 4:26 wedge torque flight on the call had a Sure Grip dad thing was fun how rare is that paid $500 for it and manual steering manual brakes No Air radio delete carpet delete basic stripper what a screamer it had a valve on the fuel line with a hose hanging under the hood so someone ran out of fuel he could assist them in the car's fuel pump all running would put fuel in their tank how cool is that I always wondered whatever happened to that car you want a lot of races with that thing I think was quick have a great day🙃My friend Marge is 70 years old she has a 71 Charger SE 383 4 speed Sure Grip she had it since 73Pistol grip bucket seats no console it's black with dark blue interior it has a bulge Hood pretty weird what a cool car it's got 78,000 original miles her dad bought it for a birthday man she's cool she's got other Mopars too🙃

[@0004612]

Wow, that was the longest sentence I’ve ever read. 65 Fury’s are way cool, especially with 426 wedge!

[@passinggear]

Trunk living is the best.

[@jeffhutchins7048]

Always wanted a '74 440 police package. They're soooo ugly that their cool. Ed Sanow wrote TWO books on Chrysler Police Cars (as well as one on GM and one on Fords), four different years in the '70s Plymouth 440 Police Package cars were the FASTEST production cars available in the US. He researched all of the car magazine test from the time and compared to the Michigan State Police testing numbers. '74 and '78 (last year of the big blocks) were two of those years, I can't remember the other two.

[@Sidewayz455]

1:07 - The car was not amused by the pun.

[@meh-canics9628]

I used to have a 78 Monaco Pursuit 440. Had to let it go cause I was 20 yrs old, and it met its doom like many other Dodges did. Been pissed about it ever since! For Sale?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Bummer. Not for sale…

[@meh-canics9628]

@@DeadDodgeGarage Dangit!

[@olikat8]

The small block A38/AHB fuel pump? The center of the diaphragm body is more narrow and the through bolt (return from the oil cooler) is about 3" long, so your only hope is an NOS pump (Hello, Lew? Are we reaching Anacortes..?), rebuild your original unit, or modify the return end

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I bet the through bolt is the same big and small block - but I’d never seen one at all before this car…

[@olikat8]

@DeadDodgeGarage my first '89 had one, the '80, the '85, and the '89 Jim R (you & Tom know him) gave me...all have that.

[@Ross046]

Big block B body what's not to like?

[@adamhoffman3687]

Cool rig, Jamie. What did you think about the 70 chargers and rt sheriff's car pictures

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

They wouldn’t load when you sent them for some reason, so I had to go back and look. Super cool! Pretty awesome cop cars. Haha. I’ll have to show them to Tom. His first Mopar was a burnt orange ‘70 Charger.

[@adamhoffman3687]

@DeadDodgeGarage getting pulled over sucks but getting pulled over by one of those cars would have its own experience. The rt is mostly original and it runs pretty hard yet

[@calebevans7166]

I have one like this identical but it’s from Nevada i was wondering if they have workshop manuals ?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

The regular ‘76 service manual will get you most of it. I’m sure there was supplemental material as well. Tom just acquired the model and equipment brochure/catalog from Chrysler for the CHP cars. They must have had service info in the same vein.

[@timbarry5080]

Do you know if there is any strength difference between a 1960 car 225 vs a 1968 truck 225? Should I seek out a truck motor? Thank you, Jamie!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

As far as I know, there is no difference. In 1960 the A-body would only have a 170, so I’m assuming you are looking at a full size car engine. I know on V8s, the crank flange changed after ‘61, so early and later engines don’t directly interchange, and I don’t know if the same is true of the slant. I suspect they were all the same ‘60+ but that might be worth verifying too.

[@davidlewis2681]

daaaaaaaang Jaime it seems like yall have an endless supply of old MOPARS out there.!!! i live in Metro Detroit area and these cars are almost non existant..😢

[@cbobmonster]

Hell yeah, I would drive the hell out of that thing every day

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Big same I think. Haha.

[@WhiteTrashMotorsports]

Forgot possibility 4 on the fuel, a hole rusted in a line

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Absolutely possible - or mega cracked rubber. But it had run in the last few years, and we don’t usually see rusted fuel lines in these parts. It happens on occasion.

[@12Georgia83]

👊🏻

[@danmoffia8692]

Check this vintage cuda out,,

[@vinriffic]

Show me how to weld the spiders.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

👀 ok, maybe some day. Haha.

[@p38kris]

Oooooh cop car

[@sjaywjayw70]

Carter pumps don't like ethanol. I'm on my 3 pump in 2 years.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I don’t think any of them really do… seems to me they cope with it better when they’re in constant use. It’s when they sit that the carbs start going to crap too.

[@timmolinari5420]

How much do you want for it? I want a cop car.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

It’s not for sale. It’s also not mine.

[@auteurfiddler8706]

Tim, there is a super beat up one on Facebook Market place with dozens of fake bullet holes that a tow yard in Victorville CA is trying to scalp at an inflated price since it was rigged up to be in a notoriously bad movie but appears to have been cut out of the final edit. Not a big block car.

[@steveash9831]

Note to self... Install a computer screen filter, that blocks out the color green on cars!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Srsly tho… why are they always hideous shades of green? Or yellow 🤮

[@steveash9831]

My guess is that Chrysler made a money saving bulk purchase on those aggravating colors!@@DeadDodgeGarage

[@auteurfiddler8706]

If you ever saw one when it was new.. Meadow green Metallic, Ivy green metallic, Mint green metallic, you would have maybe a better opinion of green. And that goes for gold and brown, too. The car companies were not fools. They tested every color and people bought every color, even pink. Now, granted, the green in this video car isn't great and the Maaco or Earl Scheib repaint green on my original B5 blue Mopar is worse. A few years ago a relative tried to buy stripper Ford sedan and they only offered a couple more colors than model T's came with. He finally had to buy the next level up from the base car to get any choice of real colors. A wise old sage, (I think it was I) once said, "In the 1950's TV was in black and white and cars were in color. Now it is the other way around."

[@steveash9831]

Hey there! Fresh new paint or not, I hate the color green on cars. Starting in 1975, my first 5 cars were all Mopars in F8 green. My father forbade me to ever bring a green car in his driveway again! Turned out, he hated green cars too! Maybe I inherited a hate for green from him. Many years later in 1993, I bought a '69 Coronet. At first I was happy to see that it was silver. Upon closer inspection, it was actually factory frost green. Damn it! I had it painted black immediately! Car companies do many foolish things. AMC Pacer. Pontiac Aztec. Ford Edsel, to name a few. If they were asking the public want the wanted, they were asking complete fools! In my opinion of course.@@auteurfiddler8706

[@brentforte5950]

Roscoe P Coletrain car .

[@0004612]

Cue, cue, cue

[@noberet]

I really wish KZbin would figure out that the char count that Twitter (X) accepts was increased quite some time ago. This title doesn't need to be truncated. Love your channel!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I dunno, I’ve done ok with 100 characters so far. Haha.

[@noberet]

I'm not sure how I phrased that badly. @@DeadDodgeGarage

[@michaelnault5905]

Another thirsty Dodge ready for field duty.

[@coronapack]

Btw, Hollywood and idiots all destroyed these b bodies. I cant find many parts for mine. Please dont tear this car up. Sell it to me before you want to do that. I need parts!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

This car will never be torn up. A CHP car especially is something worth having. If things go to plan, it will end up black and white again one day.

[@coronapack]

@@DeadDodgeGarage kick ass! Good to hear. Just finished painting mine, but in Oklahoma highway patrol black and white.

[@tonychasey7990]

Your videos and info are great.. until you start talking... less talk, more work.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Just about 15,000 people disagree with you. I’m not changing a thing. Good luck.