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1968 Coronet 500 Project

Yea, the upper and lower portion which is suppose to match the interior trim. I still haven't decided if I am going to paint mine black or not.
Ah. No I shot mine orange to bring the outside color inside. The all black inside was too much for me.
 
Got a full days worth of work in today. Only one more day before reality reappears and I have to go back to real work :(

Installed the plastic. Framed it with 3M caulk strips (dum-dum) and pressed the plastic into it. It took a bit of trimming but they look like original.

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The next thing I did is shoot some SEM Satin Black along the edge of the rear quarter so you won't see a strip of orange in the back. Taped it up and just rattle canned it.

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Found a slick way to stretch out the door panel clips. Snap ring pliers and a quick squeeze stretched them back out so they snapped in and held this time.
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The doors are done!
 
Looks like you're having fun! I'd rather be at that stage now instead of lying underneath mine grinding welds like I was today!
 
I fixed my little mistake on the rear carpet with a hot glue gun and some backing. Nothing fancy. Shot it with a bit of SEM Satin Black to blend in the fuzzies and you can't tell if you don't know it is there.

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The previous body work left the seatbelts in when they shot primer so the base of the belts were all primer. Brushed some Aircraft stripper on them and then blasted them with a high pressure washer. Look like new now.

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It was then just a matter of cutting and trimming. A utility knifes works great if you don't skimp on the blades. You can get about 12" to 18" of cutting before it does not cut like butter anymore. Flip the blade or use a new one. You should go through 3-4 blades (two sided) to do the whole job.

It is looking AWESOME.

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Also installed the dimmer switch and previously restored gas peddle.

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I can't believe this. I only have TWO more assemblies to restore! The steering column and AC box!

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And my pile of parts and parts shelves are almost empty!

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Looks like you're having fun! I'd rather be at that stage now instead of lying underneath mine grinding welds like I was today!

I really hate that level of bodywork. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can see me driving this thing this spring!
 
Photos for Bryan...

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AC Bolt and Washer

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The Starter Shield Bolts. There is an "anchor" in the middle of them.


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Tackled one of the last two major projects. Pull the steering column apart, blasted it and epoxy painted it. A few days of UV drying and I can put it back together.

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Finally dug into the project I was dreading... the AC box.... What a nightmare. Let me count the ways the Chrysler engineers found to develop coolant leaks in a heater box..... I have never seen such a thing. There are valve, heater hoses and o-rings inside this box....

This is mostly just a reference for disassembly and maybe it will help someone in the future. The blower motor is straightforward. I still have no idea how to get the cage out of the box...

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The hoses are in 2 bundles of 3 hoses each. 2 of the hoses go to a single valve in each bundle the and third goes to one side of a the last value. Notice that one bundle has a red and white striped hose that has a plastic coupler (restrictors to delay operation of the actuator in certain modes) with a few inches of hose after it. Those go to one value. The other hose in this bundle goes to the plastic "tee" as shown.

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The other bundle has the pair of hoses that go to the valve that mounts to the main box (the other 2 are on the recirculation door housing.

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This was suppose to tell me something. Seemed obvious 4 hours ago... I will understand this more once I rebuild it and actually understand how it works.

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Time to split the case. Here are some reference photos walking around it
for later reassembly..

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Finally split the cases. The heater core is in the rear half and the evaporator is in the front. The evaporater seemed easier so I started there. It was not.

Here is the heater core.
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and the evaporator

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The evaporator has these drip tube that exit into the engine compartment for the water that will accumulate on humid days. Getting those nipples off is painful.... the flange makes it necessary to remove them since they won't make it through the heater box holes.

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This one has already been remove but they can be really stuck on the copper tube. I heated with a torch and hit it was WD40

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You have to work it off slowly. Grab it and twist it back and forth till it is loose (keep using WD40). Once loose use the pliers under it (don't squeeze the copper tube) and hit the pliers with a hammer to knock it up the tube. A little at time, go back to twisting and WD40 until free then knock it up a bit further. Lather, Rinse, Repeat till it finally comes off.
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Now it should pull out of the box half. Well no. It hits the loovers in the box. You have to gently bend the bottom of the box down to get it out.

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Finally VICTORY...
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Now time to understand the insulation for when the DMT rebuilt kit is installed.

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More insulation on the evaporator side.

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Four more screws and the drip pan is off.

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Now time for the heater core side.

Lots of linkage to worry about.

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Notice on the bolt near the pipes the star washer is behind plate and not next to the nut. This seems wrong but that is the way it was.

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Note the orientation of the spring. The 90 degree goes into the cam and the double bend end goes into the box itself.

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This spacer goes behind the cam

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Getting the heater core out is a bit if a chore. The pipes that come of of the box have o-rings directly once they enter the box. Pull the 4 screws out of the plate and the assembly will pull out of the box. Once you figure that out the rest is obvious.

Reference for the insulation in the heater core side.

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Notice the seals are different on each side of the floor heater door.

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The window defroster vent shaft can be removed by giving the tab a bit of a bend instead of trying to that that dang press clip off the end.

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Note which side of the defroster valves have the seal on them.

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Still need to disassemble the extension box with the other vacuum values are mounted to. That is a tomorrow job as well as starting to strip and bead blast.
 
Bright and early start today. Finished disassembling the small corner box with the recirculation door in it. The door needs to have the 6 tabs bent back to get the small keeper plate off the corner of the box.

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Few shots of the heater core and evaporator.

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I then pulled out the bead blaster setup for the last time I hope and blasted everything but the painted items.

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Then switched over to Starblast and finished up the painted parts. These boxes are actually galvanized sheet metal so don't blast so hard to remove the finish. Again Aircraft Stripper makes this job way easier.
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The heater core and evaporator look like new. I saw no evidence of leaks when I removed them. I will setup a pressurization setup and test them under pressure. If they pass I will reused them. I am of the opinion that the factory core and evaporator at 48 years old are better than aftermarket.

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Lastly I shot a few coat of SPI black epoxy primer on the boxes... Am I done? I think I am DONE. I don't have anything else to sand blast or paint!!!!!!!

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Painted and buffed the AC innards. Letting the cases bask in the UV rays for another day or two to make sure the SPI Epoxy is good and cured.

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Cleaned, buffed and restored the steering wheel and column covers then ssembled the steering column and loosely installed it. I am going to put the dash in soon so I can test all the wiring before committing to anything and the column needs to move to get that in.

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I am so glad I don't have a/c!!!!!!!!!!!!! Course my box has never been apart,knock on wood.
 
Agree, drove my new wife to So.Cal. in August of '69!!!!
 
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