If there’s one thing that’s dangerous for a car enthusiast’s wallet, it’s Facebook Marketplace. We’ll search for hours upon hours for good deals and usually will end up finding something that peaks our interest. Some get dragged home and others don’t but it’s always almost a guarantee that something eventually will.
A while back, our good friend Brett Domin from Flaming River Industries was cruising Facebook marketplace when he stumbled upon a 1966 Chrysler 300 for sale just a few miles down the road from his work in Berea, Ohio.
Brett says, “I contacted the seller and made arrangements to go view the car. It was sitting outside at a storage facility where the elements were starting to take their toll on it.”
The car cover was ripped to shreds, the tires were flat and the driver’s window was off of its tracks but Brett saw potential in the car. The gentleman that was selling it told him that it had a 383 in it but it wasn’t the right engine for it. However, he had bought it that way and didn’t really intend to change it.
He explained that he used to take the 300 to car shows as he absolutely loved the car but life got in the way so he had to put it in storage and there it sat, waiting it’s turn for attention again. Overall the car was in great shape and just needed some love. Brett really liked the car so he made an offer that was accepted.
“Once I got it home, I washed it, and got it running and mobile again. I started doing research into the car and upon asking for some help decoding the VIN and fender tag on one of the C-Body Facebook groups, I learned that it was originally a 440 TNT powered car!” shares Brett.
Shortly after, he was contacted by a gentleman in Ohio that said he thought he had owned the car way back. He asked Brett about some details on the car that ended up matching, thus confirming it was his old car.
Brett told us, “He said the car had a 440 engine in it when he bought it so he decided to pull it out for something else and swapped a good 383 in its place. He just loved 440s and he claimed he had dozens of the engines over the years and bought them whenever he could. He still had the 440 tucked away and it was 100% complete from the oil pan to the air cleaner and still had the matching 727 Torqueflite automatic transmission attached.”
After doing some further investigation, Brett quickly realized that this was the original engine and transmission for his car! He asked the gentleman if he’d sell it back to him which he thankfully agreed to do. As soon as Brett got the drivetrain home, he quickly stuffed it back into the 300 where it was when it rolled off the assembly line in 1966.
“How often does that happen?” Brett joked. “To find a pretty original car is one thing, but to reunite it with its totally complete powertrain is something else entirely. Talk about winning the lottery!” Since then, he’s been enjoying tinkering on it whenever he possibly can!