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I'm in it deep now fellas

bigowhiteboy

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Location
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Well I just got myself into one heck of a project. I wasn't even looking for a project, as I have an easy one almost done, and then wham next thing I know I have a 66 Belvedere II and a 67 Belvedere II in the yard.
A year or so ago I picked up a 66 Belvedere II wagon, all original 48,*** mile no rust easy project car, and this spring finally got it all freshened up ready to go for the summer.
Mind you this was my first Mopar, as I have always been a Ford guy. Well somehow that darn wagon gave me the Mopar bug and I have been looking at them on craigslist constantly.
So last week I see an ad pop up for a 66 Belvedere and a 67 GTX locally. The guy has them listed as a make one car out of the two cars type of deal. I decide to go take a look at them, thinking they would be pretty rough. He had bought them from a freind of his as a favor and had no intention of doing anything with them.
As I gave them a look over they look pretty decent, and I'm thinking to myself "these two cars are both easily rebuildable, alot of work but rebuildable". The previous owner had cut the whole passenger side rear quarter out of the 66, and some Montana redneck had done a sorry job of doing a GTX clone on the 67 which was a belvedere II as well. But both cars have solid floors, trunks, and frames. The 66 has rear quarter rust, needs wheel houses, and trunk extensions both sides. The 67 has some minor quart panel rust on the driver side, but wheel houses and extensions are good. It is also missing both front fenders. Both interiors are complete but need redone. Neither car has an engine, but one has an original 727 small block tranny. Looks like both where originally 318 cars, but still need to decode the vin numbers.
I ended up getting both for $800, which I thought was a pretty good price. My wife wasn't thrilled about having two project cars in the yard, but she did say she now wants the wagon for her car. So my plan is to build the 66 wagon and 2 door to be a matching set. I am leaning toward a 426 in the 2 door, and a 426 in the wagon would be sweet, but not sure my wife needs that much power. I may just do 318 poly stoker in the wagon. Then I will build the 67 and probably put a 440 in it and sell it to fund the other two cars.
It will be slow going, but I'm really excited about the whole project. I do have question for you Mopar guys. I found a 67 block 426 max wedge that needs rebuilt. Would that motor in the 67 boost resale value considerably compared to a 440?
 

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Correct me if I'm wrong but no max wedge blocks in '67, in fact you couldn't get a 426 wedge in a car in '67. IMO the only engine that would raise the value of a non numbers matching car would be a Hemi and that would be an expensive proposition to begin with.
 
What he said!

Good luck on the projects!

I'd toss a mild 360 in the wagon, poly 318 stroker, while it sounds cool, would be very pricey. 4 barrel intakes are rare, not sure what heads are available for them either and everything else would be have to be custom.
 
Look like good projects. I guy down here was selling two similar cars a few months ago, but one was a convertible. Sucks that the guy cut the quarter panel off, but that sure makes for one awesome reference shot of how the rear window mechanism goes together from a viewpoint we never get to see. :)
 
Good luck, both look like pretty good fixers. Getting the quarter panel will be your most expensive proposition besides the drive train. At least between the two you have one good car and then can either part the second or restore both (I'd probably just combine the two).

$800 is a really good price. I paid $700 for a rusted out 67 coronet 4 door, and $650 for a 66 Coronet for door with out an engine...your deal was better.
 
I would never put a 360 or 340 in a 66 B body. Just doesn't seem right. A mild cam/4 barrel and some 391's for the little lady will get Her all the oomph She needs...the 426 wedge may be better to sell separate...I'd drop a 440 for myself as there are endless options......My 2 cents
 
Thanks for all the advice fellas. I see another 67 belvedere on the kalispell montana craigslist, Ive
Seen it in person and it is real solid. He is asking 1200, the guy selling it is the Montana redneck who did the
horrible GTX clone attempt on the 67 I picked up. Hacked up the trans tunnel, I can only imagine it was
his attempt to put in a 4 speed.
So can anyone tell me if there is a reproduction rear quarter avaliable for the 66\67 belvedere? Or am I gonna need to get it off a donor car?
Also how do I i.d. what gears are in the rearends, is there an id tag or does the vin #, or fender tag contain that info?
 
Last I checked the 'whole' rear quarter was currently unavailable. I would still ask Sherman and AMD. You may find out one of them has plans to produce one in the future. They won't re-pop unless they get demands!

If the rears are untouched, there should be a tag hanging off a 3rd member bolt. If not, you can simply count the revolutions of the yoke to revolutions of the tire. It won't be precise, but it will get you very close. I believe options for 318 cars were 2.76 (2 3/4 turns of the yoke), 2.94 (3 full turns of the yoke), and 3.23 (3 1/4 turns of the yoke). Each of these is per one revolution of the tire. This is for a Sure Grip. For an open diff leave one tire on the ground and make two rotations with the tire. Some suggest going 10 (Sure Grip) and 20 (open diff) revolutions with the tire to get a more precise number. i.e.: Rotate the tire 20 times. If the yoke spins 27 1/2 times you probably have a 2.76, if it spins 30 time you likely have a 2.94, 32 1/2 times equals a 3.23.

The black rear seat looks like a Satellite seat and I think that front seat with headrests is from a newer (mid/ late`70s?) car.

Lots of work there. Good luck on your projects!
 
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Thanks for the info I really appreciate it.
The black interior is in the red car, it has some gtx badging on the back seat. All the seats and door panels have an embossed pattern on them, not sure if they are correct or what they may be out of originally.
Found some newspapers in the trunk dated from 1981, an old holley rebuild kit box, and an exploded bellhousing.
 
Building A 426 Max-Wedge Is Very Expensive Done Right! Two Of Them You Better Have Deep Pockets! That's Why All The Suggestions To Other Motor Choices! Forget The Hemi!
 
So I was messing around with the red car today, the 66, and noticed it has a clutch pedal. But it also has a spot for the shifter on the steering column, just no shifter. It also does not have the trans tunnel hump. So I am guessing someone added the clutch pedal at some point, and then hacked up the trans tunnel with the intention of putting in the tunnel hump.
Does anyone make a repo tunnel hump? Now I am leaning towards a 440 or a 426 with a four speed standard.
Another question, how can I tell if my k member is the original, which would be for a small block?
 
I don't know that K members varied in `66 or `67.
 
K frames were the same for all 66 and 67 v-8s except hemi. /6 was different too. 66-67 K frames can be IDed by the horrible ball socket mounting for the idler arm. New they had play in them. 68 and up is a far superior design with a through bolt that gave much more stability. There are no whole reproduction quarters for your car, as a matter of fact, 66 and 67 B-bodies are tough to get most anything. The 68 and up guys have it much easier on parts anyway.

As far as the transmission hump, that is part of the floor. All these cars got the same floor. If it was a 4 speed, they hand welded the four speed hump in and then hacked (literally) the floor open from the underside using the four speed hump as a guide. They also welded in the Z-bar bracket too. The Z bar bracket is on the top of the frame under the master cylinder.
 
After looking at the fender tag, I believe it may have been a 3 speed manual 318 car. Were the 3 speeds column shift, and the 4 speeds floor shift? Because the clutch pedal looks like it is the factory set up.
So if I have this correct on the K member, to go to a 426 I would need the hemi K member, but to go with a 440 the stock K member will work? Do motor mounts have to be changed at all, or will a 440 bolt right in? Thanks again for all the great info.
 
You will need a set of big block motor mounts to drop a 440 onto the K frame. You could also get a set of Shumaker hemi mounts that will allow the Hemi on the v8 K frame. I think that is all you'd need. If I'm wrong some one please correct me.
 
Nice projects. bigowhiteboy
I've spent some time in Kalispell, years back.
Rode horses into The Bob Marshall with Gene Lee
Favorite bar, The Stockmans Club,
 
Thanks 69B5.
I do a week long backpacking trip every year into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, love it in there.
 
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