1966 Coronet 440 field find

[gdrill]

My new project is a car I saw 15 or so years ago. I went back and it was still there, it had been parked in 1978. I paid $200 for it and brought it home. This was $150 more than the roving crushers had offered so we were both happy. After inspecting the car it appears the floor, trunk and frame rails are near perfect with only one little hole where the gas pedal goes and a small hole in each wheel well in the trunk. It would be nice to find a couple fenders, but these can be repaired if need be. The rear quarters also can be fixed but a donor car is what I will be looking for. I think it will become a big block car with an auto trans. I am thinking about making it an R/T clone, but I'm not sure about that. I have to give credit to Daredevil, his car is what lead me to go back and rescue this one. Anyway here's the starting point.

View attachment 120158

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Some pics of the trunk and from underneath.....

Still nice balck paint on the LCA's

 

[Dako]

Congratulations on your new project. You have your work cut out, but it is do-able. Look forward to following the progress.

 

[gdrill]

Well I figured I had best get at it! So yesterday I pulled the engine and trans. I also sanded down the passenger quarter to see the full extent of the damage. It aint so bad. I should be able to patch if I can't find a quarter section for it. The drivers side however is much more labor intensive. The engine bay is phenomenal. There is one small blister by the drivers side hood hinge, pretty minor. There is no rust in the control arm area and nothing on the frames. The rad support has a slight bit of damage from the original owner hooking a chain there to tow it home! Easy fix. Today I removed the front fenders. They are both savable with work but I would like to find some replacements.
I have a line on a near complete 65 Fury III interior. The guy has buckets, rear seat both with new material. He also has a console, new door panels, chrome in and out, gauges, headlight bezels, a fender, trunk pan, quarter pan, a new headliner and a new carpet. The headliner and seats are white whereas the carpet is black. I know I cant use all this stuff, but I think I will try to use whatever I can and sell off the rest. The price is way right. I know they aren't the same car but I think the body size is very close. I am not doing a resto so exact part matches are no matter. Anyway here is the last couple days progress.....

 

[charger360]

as a canadian boy myself i am blown away at how solid that car is! they are not usually that nice when we start in on them!

 

[kb67mopar]

Pretty much all of the rust you have can be patched with panels made by Sherman available cheapest through RockAuto. Not as good as an AMD panel but not too many people make them and they are pretty inexpensive.

Either way the car looks to be in pretty good shape and for $200 you can't go wrong there. Good find and good luck with the restoration.

 

[gdrill]

Thank you sir. I have read though your build thread. Nice! I hope to make this one look good again someday too. I will check Rockauto for those parts.

 

[Nick2317]

Wow for sitting in a field for that long that's a really solid car .....Ive seen a lot worse that's been sitting in a garage for less time

 

[gdrill]

Thanx Nick, ya I am in awe at the condition. It was actually sitting on a flat front drivers side tire and the frame was touching the ground. The only thing, my buddy figures because it was on a slope and there was cow manure and straw around it seeped the wet away.

 

[Nick2317]

I have friends that live in Alberta and have heard horror stories about snow from them so man you got really lucky with that car congrats on a great purchase man have fun with it

 

[Basket case]

great score! car looks really solid. keep the pics coming.

 

[daredevil]

Now youre even getting me motivated.That cars alot better than it looked.

 

[gdrill]

That's funny, I was just looking at pics of your car again. I was studying the way the pearl glows off of the lines in the sun. I have been considering color choice, although it's a long way away, and yours gave me an idea. I wonder what a silver with a blue pearl would do.

 

[satellite66]

Nice find! A love it when a car gets rescued!

 

[daredevil]

like this?http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...qu&sigi=15faofse4&.crumb=V9dHapzWUti&fr=crmas

 

[gdrill]

If you ignore the car and see the effect, I think it would pull the lines off the car very well.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Your car is in good shape and definitely savable. That pearl would rock on your car if you did decide to go that way.

 

[gdrill]

So today was the day to finish the strip down. Man It was hot out. I also cleaned the rocker panels out with a wire and a pressure hose. Mice had made their way in and built a nest on each side. With a long coat hanger I was able to remove them and then wash them out profusely. Then I removed all the chrome trim around the doors and windows inside and out. At that point I removed the windsheild. I just cut the seal as it was damaged already. Too bad the glass was damaged because it came out like nothing. Then then heater and the dash. Wash some more and wait until the heat of the day to do the back window. I put the wife and daughter in the oven and we got it out without breaking it. It is a little scratched but I think it can be polished up to look like new. I saw a thread about wives accepting our hobby......mine does!! It was nice to find no rust in the lower corners in either the front or the back. Here is how it sits now.....
I haven't searched yet but I hope I can still get all the door and window seals / whiskers etc.

 

[Basket case]

not waisting anytime! :icon_thumright:

 

[kb67mopar]

Dang that was quick. You stripped that farther then I have mine in 2 years!

 

[MarPar]

hot damn!! makin' short work of your 'net. congrats, it is a helluva field find.

for your whiskers, etc try here...

http://www.restorationspecialties.com/Catalog-PDF.html