Jetblast
Well-Known Member
Hello All,
Well I am pushing into the project of my dreams, a total rotisserie build. It is a 65 Coronet that I bought from a young man in Cincinnati that I don't think had any idea what even a basic rebuild would entail on this car. He started by putting a cam in the stock 72 440 that came with the car.
While this model was not my dream car, but I wanted something to start with that was at least somewhat intact. I try to be real with myself about what I can do and what it would cost to have others do stuff. I am pretty good at the mechanics, I can do OK with welding, but I am not a body guy or painter. To me that is an art and I am no artist.
Any project that I have ever done, I looked for cars that were not overly rusted out body wise I can do floors etc. and all of the mechanical work so when I went to look at the car, that was my mind set.
The car was on Craigslist and the first time I called about it the owner told me that a friend wanted it and we parted ways. A couple of weeks later, the guy called and asked if I was still interested and after figuring out what he was talking about ,I said I would like to look at it ,and later that day did so.
So when I first saw the ad for the car it was parked in a driveway and looked fairly decent but, we all know that Craigslist ads usually are not what they appear, and that was sort of what happened hear.
When I arrived at the location the owner said that the car was at his sister's house so off we go. When we got there, it was a small two car garage and the car was parked up against one wall, all four tires were flat and it was was covered with boxes and strollers. WOW, was this the same car.
Long dull story short dull story, the car was in black Primer over what appeared to be the original paint. The inside was stuffed with stuff that I couldn't really tell if it was for that car or not, and like I said, tires were flat. There was a couple of interesting things, the engine compartment had been basically stripped cleaned and primed, and my magnet seemed to like the sheet metal, most of which appeared original, at least what I could see.
The car was a Coronet 500 so would have had buckets and console. I later determined that it was originally a 318 auto, white over white car with silver interior. The front seats were not in the car and he did not have them.
So when I asked him what he would take for the car, he was $1500. more than I wanted to get it for and at least 1k higher than what I thought it was worth, and thinking about seats, floors, console, and all of the other billion you never think of, I told him that.
I left a $1000. apart and told him that if he changed his mind let me know.
I went home and kept thinking about it and the next day called and offered him another $500. more and was told that he had to get a $1000 more Again told him that if he changed his mind give me a call and resigned to look elsewhere. About two hours later he called and said that they had decided to go with the offer. I would bet that the sister who wanted he garage back made that decision.
Anyway, I took my trailer and an air tank and when after it. Along with the car, there was a 440 and a 727 transmission.
I got it home, put it in the shop and walked around it for a couple of months doing other things that needed to be done. Finally, after a trip to the Family Dollar for tubs, I started sorting out all of the stuff.
Just a brief list.
Several sets of SS trim sorted and taped together.
A second dash, the steel shell.
A second steering column
All kinds of body parts like Headlight buckets.
A second grill. One was installed
Big score, console in good condition
There was a lot more stuff, probably enough to go along way towards the purchase of the car but that was just the icing. The floors in the car were brand new. Someone had done a full pan firewall to trunk. I was beside myself with the blessing that was. Other great things is that the car has 15 x 8 cop wheels, all of the glass is there and in great condition, and the column is floor shift as it should be. There was an extra hood although the one installed is in great condition and there was an additional driver side front fender.
The only body rust is the pass side front fender has a rust hole behind the wheel well and I found a patch piece that had apparently been cut off of a fender in a junk yard.
I can't express how great it was to be blessed with such a find I know that I keep calling it a blessing and that I is what it is and was for me
So, I made the decision to do something that was way beyond anything I had ever done full on rotisserie restore. Not a numbers matching or anything like that but a really nice street machine.
I have gotten to the point of stripped body shell on the rotisserie. I am going to post just pictures of that but will post a few coming home pictures that are on my computer and share some plans as well as ask for some input later.
Well I am pushing into the project of my dreams, a total rotisserie build. It is a 65 Coronet that I bought from a young man in Cincinnati that I don't think had any idea what even a basic rebuild would entail on this car. He started by putting a cam in the stock 72 440 that came with the car.
While this model was not my dream car, but I wanted something to start with that was at least somewhat intact. I try to be real with myself about what I can do and what it would cost to have others do stuff. I am pretty good at the mechanics, I can do OK with welding, but I am not a body guy or painter. To me that is an art and I am no artist.
Any project that I have ever done, I looked for cars that were not overly rusted out body wise I can do floors etc. and all of the mechanical work so when I went to look at the car, that was my mind set.
The car was on Craigslist and the first time I called about it the owner told me that a friend wanted it and we parted ways. A couple of weeks later, the guy called and asked if I was still interested and after figuring out what he was talking about ,I said I would like to look at it ,and later that day did so.
So when I first saw the ad for the car it was parked in a driveway and looked fairly decent but, we all know that Craigslist ads usually are not what they appear, and that was sort of what happened hear.
When I arrived at the location the owner said that the car was at his sister's house so off we go. When we got there, it was a small two car garage and the car was parked up against one wall, all four tires were flat and it was was covered with boxes and strollers. WOW, was this the same car.
Long dull story short dull story, the car was in black Primer over what appeared to be the original paint. The inside was stuffed with stuff that I couldn't really tell if it was for that car or not, and like I said, tires were flat. There was a couple of interesting things, the engine compartment had been basically stripped cleaned and primed, and my magnet seemed to like the sheet metal, most of which appeared original, at least what I could see.
The car was a Coronet 500 so would have had buckets and console. I later determined that it was originally a 318 auto, white over white car with silver interior. The front seats were not in the car and he did not have them.
So when I asked him what he would take for the car, he was $1500. more than I wanted to get it for and at least 1k higher than what I thought it was worth, and thinking about seats, floors, console, and all of the other billion you never think of, I told him that.
I left a $1000. apart and told him that if he changed his mind let me know.
I went home and kept thinking about it and the next day called and offered him another $500. more and was told that he had to get a $1000 more Again told him that if he changed his mind give me a call and resigned to look elsewhere. About two hours later he called and said that they had decided to go with the offer. I would bet that the sister who wanted he garage back made that decision.
Anyway, I took my trailer and an air tank and when after it. Along with the car, there was a 440 and a 727 transmission.
I got it home, put it in the shop and walked around it for a couple of months doing other things that needed to be done. Finally, after a trip to the Family Dollar for tubs, I started sorting out all of the stuff.
Just a brief list.
Several sets of SS trim sorted and taped together.
A second dash, the steel shell.
A second steering column
All kinds of body parts like Headlight buckets.
A second grill. One was installed
Big score, console in good condition
There was a lot more stuff, probably enough to go along way towards the purchase of the car but that was just the icing. The floors in the car were brand new. Someone had done a full pan firewall to trunk. I was beside myself with the blessing that was. Other great things is that the car has 15 x 8 cop wheels, all of the glass is there and in great condition, and the column is floor shift as it should be. There was an extra hood although the one installed is in great condition and there was an additional driver side front fender.
The only body rust is the pass side front fender has a rust hole behind the wheel well and I found a patch piece that had apparently been cut off of a fender in a junk yard.
I can't express how great it was to be blessed with such a find I know that I keep calling it a blessing and that I is what it is and was for me
So, I made the decision to do something that was way beyond anything I had ever done full on rotisserie restore. Not a numbers matching or anything like that but a really nice street machine.
I have gotten to the point of stripped body shell on the rotisserie. I am going to post just pictures of that but will post a few coming home pictures that are on my computer and share some plans as well as ask for some input later.
