1964 Polara Convertible Project

[Sixpaksteve]

I've had this Polara for about 6 years. Found it for sale on Ebay in East L.A. and had it shipped to Maryland. I've been doing research and accumulating parts since it arrived but with this winter being kinda tough around here this year I've been motivated to resume it's disassembly and restoration.

From the factory, this had white paint, a red interior, a black top and was a 318 c.i. automatic with an AM radio and drum brakes all around. It's wearing the wrong fenders now, but correct one's have been located. When the car arrived from Calif. I got an extra rear end, and the correct 727 push button Torqueflight, both of which were stashed in the trunk, but no engine. The replacement motor will be a Max Wedge clone that I'll build from a 1967 440 block I found.

Back in 1975, I learned how to drive on my dad's '64 Polara 4 door family car, which became my car a year later when I turned 16. Lot's of good memories from that car back then prompted the purchase of this Convertible… :icon_winkle:

 

[HYRDGOON]

What's the plans for the resto back to as original as possible?

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Hello Hyrdgoon - Yes, for the most part I'm keeping it original

 

[HYRDGOON]

Looks like a great project! Look forward to following your build Oh and since you just started posting.... Welcome to FBBO!!

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Thanks! I'm still learning how things work here but I'm definitely enjoying the site and learning a lot so far from other member's projects.

 

[khryslerkid]

That's going to make a nice project! One of my first on the road drivers was a '64 Polara 500. Black on black. Looks like your cowling is in good shape. Welcome to the site!

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Hello Khryslerkid, and thanks for your comment. That's a nice looking ride you have there….

I'm hoping that the cowl is in decent shape but I won't know for sure until I get the car to the blaster, hopefully in early Spring. My trunk floor is in great shape but I know that I need some floorpan work under the front seat area at least. The Calif. owner had the car under a tarp but he had left the carpet in it. You know the rest of that story…

 

[64polaradroptop]

Hello Steve,welcome to the site.You have a nice project there,I love 64polaradroptops as you can tell by my handle...thats exactly how mine looked 16 years ago..heres mine now for a little insperation...BTW what are you doing with those wrong fenders..just asking...JOHN

 

[2059]

very nice project! keep us posted!

 

[mr. b]

welcome nice project my 63 was from LA area and the cowl area was perfect good luck with it keep us posted

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Those are the correct front fenders, you just need the Polara front fender side stainless trim. Those are 440 trim in the pics. Some of the holes will be in the right place as it is now........................MO

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Hello John (64polaradroptop) and thanks for the pics and warm welcome! Very nice convertible you have there, and you're wearing my original color paint.

Thank you 2059!!

Hi Mr. B. - Nice '63! I can see that I have some issues with my cowl right above the master cylinder area. I'm hoping that's the worst of it. Coming from the west coast, this car has been very easy to take apart so far compared to anything I could have found here in the east. Very little rust….

Good morning MO and thanks for saying hello - I agree that the fender sheet metal I have on there now is correct. I meant to say that the holes in the fenders are for 440 trim, not Polara trim. Since these fenders had other 'issues' anyway, I looked for and found 2 good Polara fenders at Carlisle and those are the ones I'll be putting on the car.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Glad to see you bringing it back. I love those older cars like that. Plain and simple.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Just a quick update..... Been working on the car a little more in-between other projects around the house and now -mowing the grass every 5 days. Lol! The engine compartment is mostly cleaned out, and the windshield is out which allowed me to remove the dash.

With the help of my body guy/painter today, we started to align the doors to the cowl and the 1/4 panels. We're going to get these doors right height and gap-wise before removing them. When properly aligned we'll drill a small hole thru the hinge and the door just before taking it off the car so we can 'pin' align them later after everything is painted up. The passenger side went just fine, but the drivers side hinge was found to be too 'sloppy' so we stopped there while I either buy a new hinge or a rebuild kit.

Question for you guys familiar with the '64: On AMD's website, they list and show a photo of the hinge with the spring in it as the 'Lower Door Hinge' and it's part number 525-1462- LH (or RH). On my Polara, the hinge with this spring in it is the TOP hinge on both of my doors. So do I have a problem or does AMD have a typo on their website?

 

[mr. b]

that's a typo mine are on the top also

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Thanks again for your feedback Mr. B..

I ordered / received replacement door hinges from AMD since I last posted here. The drivers side original door hinge definitely was 'sloppy', and while the passenger door and hinge looked and felt just fine I thought I'd replace that side too while I was at it. But when the new parts arrived and the boxes had 'Made in R.O.C." stamped on them, I have to admit that I was a bit disapointed. The weight, quality, and construction of the new hinge seemed to match my original driver's door hinge, which I HAD to replace. But after closer evaluation of the original passenger hinge I'm going to leave that one alone.....

 

[conv67bdere]

Really cool there Steve . . . nice to see another convertible being restored/built on this site.

Your floors look to be in pretty good shape - my 67 floors looked like Flintstone floors, you could stick your feet through them to stop.

 

[Ron 73]

I've had this Polara for about 6 years. Found it for sale on Ebay in East L.A. and had it shipped to Maryland. I've been doing research and accumulating parts since it arrived but with this winter being kinda tough around here this year I've been motivated to resume it's disassembly and restoration.

From the factory, this had white paint, a red interior, a black top and was a 318 c.i. automatic with an AM radio and drum brakes all around. It's wearing the wrong fenders now, but correct one's have been located. When the car arrived from Calif. I got an extra rear end, and the correct 727 push button Torqueflight, both of which were stashed in the trunk, but no engine. The replacement motor will be a Max Wedge clone that I'll build from a 1967 440 block I found.

Back in 1975, I learned how to drive on my dad's '64 Polara 4 door family car, which became my car a year later when I turned 16. Lot's of good memories from that car back then prompted the purchase of this Convertible… :icon_winkle:

We all love the cars but its memory's that help us make the decisions we do.. This, one of the original family cars would really do it for a lot of us and to take the time to bring it back so future fun can be made in a everyday daily driver unique as it is is great! I truly hope you enjoy the build as much as enjoying the ride when shes done!!!.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Thank you for your comments Mr Conv67bdere. Lol! Oh yeah, I can picture that 'Flintstone Floor' you're talking about very, very, clearly. Mine actually do have some holes in them and I'll eventually be welding in some new metal. I don't think that I'll have to replace the entire floorpan but I'll at least have to put in some partial panels. I'll decide that after I get the car blasted later this summer and I see just what I've got.....

On a positive note, the trunk area seems very, very, good.

The previous owner of the car (in California) kept it stored outside and under a tarp for a number of years. If he had just removed the seats and carpeting and pulled the rubber drain plugs out of the floor I think I'd be in better shape now. That carpet acted as a huge sponge once water got past his tarp and the floorpans never got a chance to dry out.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

I've been able to get back onto this project recently, thanks to the colder temps here and the shorter days which limits my time to do things outside. The doors were the last removable pieces that needed to be cleaned up, and they went to my blaster guy last weekend. Today with the doors out of the way, I welded up some support braces to keep the body from flexing and then I hooked up this nifty rotisserie that I bought off of EBAY last winter from a guy down in Florida. It was a little nerve wracking rolling the car on it's side like this, but only because I hadn't done anything like this before. The rotisserie 'tool' itself worked just fine and it's practically a 1 man operation to use.

Now that I have the car on it's side in my garage, I'm going to remove the underside things like fuel tank, shocks, fuel & brake lines, etc.. Then I'll load the car onto my trailer and take it to my blaster as a rolling shell, hopefully in the first few weeks of December. And when he's ready to blast the underside, I'll take my rotisserie and engine hoist over to his place and roll the car for him just like you see it here. He should be pretty happy about that.