1968 Coronet 'Wanna Bee'

[MTUCJ7]

Got this far in late March of this year... got busy with work, moving, excuses and finally a 6cyl/auto to 350/4speed conversion in my 67 Camaro.

 

[CoronetDarter]

You got the skills; the rest is time and money. The car is looking good; keep us posted.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Wrapped up the engine earlier this fall and broke it in on an engine stand I made. I'm thinking it will roast the tires just fine.
440 bored 0.060" & decked 0.060"
Forged flat tops 0.025" in the hole
Comp XE274 Cam
Comp roller rockers
440 Source heads, port matched, light bowl work & milled 0.010"
Edelbrock RPM intake millled 0.060"
Calculated comp ratio 10.2:1
Hughes Hemi converter (big bolts) 2200rpm stall
Rebuilt my 727 locally.

Finally got the car back in the shop in November. Time for the big push to spring....

 

[MTUCJ7]

Tubular uppers and a disc brake conversion. Used the torsion bars from the GTX, happy with the stance so far.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Then it was time to turn attention to the interior. I needed to have functioning gauges and dash lights at a minimum. Dimmer switch was bad but crazy expensive to replace. Tore it apart and rebuilt with some help of the search function on this forum. Replaced the burned out bulbs while getting a full ab workout in the process haha.

 

[65-440]

Ok, so I " cleaned" my dimmer switch a couple years back. I never took the halves apart, just soaked in battery terminal cleaner and dipped in boiling water. Repeated a few times. It works but not prefect. I noticed the halves were riveted together, what did you do about that ?

 

[MTUCJ7]

Ok, so I " cleaned" my dimmer switch a couple years back. I never took the halves apart, just soaked in battery terminal cleaner and dipped in boiling water. Repeated a few times. It works but not prefect. I noticed the halves were riveted together, what did you do about that ?

I drilled the rivets out and used machine screws with nuts to hold it back together. I couldn't go your option because the coil portion was coming unbonded from the ceramic disc so it needed to be torn down. Sorry I should have got a final picture!

 

[MTUCJ7]

Now onto the back of the car which had your typical rusted out B Body trunk/frame/quarters/etc stuff. I think i've ordered every piece AMD makes for a 68 Dodge.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Started with cutting out the trunk floor, non-existent frame rails and rear crossmember. I only did one side at a time to keep as much structure as possible (haha) left in it while fitting/welding. So far i'm really happy with how it has turned out - we will see when I put in the rear axle this week and see how far off I am....

 

[MTUCJ7]

Rails, crossmember and spring hangers welded in now. Pics are now caught up to current day!

 

[Basket case]

great job! were you able to get these new? a buddy needs some for his '69...

 

[MTUCJ7]

great job! were you able to get these new? a buddy needs some for his '69...

Ha! Those are the factory brackets that were spared from the rot!

 

[MTUCJ7]

Got some work done over the holidays - glovebox cleanup, brake & fuel lines run, rear brake rebuild, fuel tank in, axle in, brakes bled and engine running in the car!

 

[MTUCJ7]

Unfortunately I have to sell this car due to a move. I'll update this thread since I have actually finished the car last summer.
Jan18-April18 was a lot of rust cutting and welding new in. While I had the quarters off I also ended up rebuilding the rear window mechanisms and now they work great. Got everything welded in and drove it down the road - tracks straight and looks good!

 

[Basket case]

hate to hear this.been there done that.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Rear seat was original and salvageable for awhile. Front seat was more duct tape than anything. Tore it down, fixed some broken springs and restored. Also new carpet, good used visors and new front doorpads. Interior no longer smells of rodents and is super comfy with that bench.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Drank quite a few beers at lunch one day and did my BEST 'Chrysler employee' slathering of seam sealer in the trunk. Tried to match the paint to the original, it came out pretty good.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Hard to believe how wavy the doors and fenders are from the factory but a block will show the truth. New bushings/pins in the door hinges and some minor window regulator work was needed. MORE rust in the bottom corners of both doors and lower portions of the fenders. Why doesn't AMD make 68 Dodge fenders or trunk lids? I would have bought those!!

 

[MTUCJ7]

Sand, bondo, sand, prime, sand, rinse, repeat.

 

[MTUCJ7]

Put on the color, sanded/blended it in some areas and of course along the edge of the original paint on top. Apply the Super bee strip (again) and satin clear. Super happy with how it turned out.