67 R/T... Back to Life

[69L48Z27]

Thx Hawk! I appreciate it.

Parts for this car are crazy. All the one year parts are crazy money. Glad I was able to start with a complete car.

I see your in Lansdale, car should be at Carlisle next year if you go to the show.

 

[khryslerkid]

The steering wheel was a head scratcher, I had no idea how to paint a steering wheel. More like what materials to use. The wheel is color matched to interior, there is nothing in the factory service manual that tells us what color code or what gloss level it is. Looking at pictures of other cars I decided to use the paint used on the dash (Shopline base coat) and use a semi clear. I went to the paint store and asked them to to mix the dash paint without the suede but they said they couldn't. No clue why, said they didn't have a formula but yet they custom made the paint they already sold me. So now I'm freaking out a little. I decided to use what I had and wet sand the suede out of it and make it smooth before clear. Luckily it all worked out. Original chrome on the wheel.
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Did you have to do any repairs to the wheel, (cracks) before painting?

Looks great!

 

[HawkRod]

Thx Hawk! I appreciate it.

Parts for this car are crazy. All the one year parts are crazy money. Glad I was able to start with a complete car.

I see your in Lansdale, car should be at Carlisle next year if you go to the show.

I go to Carlisle every year (except this year when I was travelling for work), so I should be there next year. I look forward to seeing your car there!

 

[69L48Z27]

Did you have to do any repairs to the wheel, (cracks) before painting?

Looks great!

No, all wheels were sand blasted up at Finishing Systems in York. Brought them home and epoxied all 5 and then painted the spare. I still need to paint the other 4 formthe car at some point. One wheel has some rust pits that I need to smooth out. Other than that they looked pretty good.

 

[khryslerkid]

No, all wheels were sand blasted up at Finishing Systems in York. Brought them home and epoxied all 5 and then painted the spare. I still need to paint the other 4 formthe car at some point. One wheel has some rust pits that I need to smooth out. Other than that they looked pretty good.

I was wondering about your steering wheel, lol

 

[69L48Z27]

I was wondering about your steering wheel, lol

I'm sorry. Just saw 'wheel' and that was what I just posted.

Steering wheel... Not that one. Another member posted up a great black wheel and I grabbed it. That wheel looked like it was never repaired or at least they did a superb job. It was repainted black at some point.

The original wheel to the car is whole other story. I may attempt to fix that one with the putty epoxy but for now it's wall art.

 

[69L48Z27]

Car is still coming together. Trunk is detailed and done. Jack and all parts are correct to the car, even have a tire that's the right one, 7.75x14 WSW Goodyear Power Cushion.

Original big wing nut and bolt were cleaned up and re-zinc plated. The mast for the jack was soaked in EvapoRust and then cleaned up with steel wool.

Only issue is Legendary or their supplier wrote the part number on the hard board cover for the spare in Sharpie. Thx Legendary

 

[69L48Z27]

Up next is the grill, this has been a point of procrastination for sure. Grill overall was in good shape but not when you put it next to new shiny paint. The surround also had some minor dents and one big one on a corner. I spent more than a few hours working out the dents and re-shaping the surrounds and hood trim. This aluminum gets thin quick and it's very brittle. Had to fix a stud that broke when I removed it and then paint the inlay. Turned pretty good but now I still need to do the center and two bezels. Front bumper can go on too.

 

[khryslerkid]

Only issue is Legendary or their supplier wrote the part number on the hard board cover for the spare in Sharpie. Thx Legendary

You could try dabbing it with a rag wet with lacquer thinner.

 

[69L48Z27]

You could try dabbing it with a rag wet with lacquer thinner.

I'll give it a shot. I was thinking about that or maybe acetone. Didn't want to make it worse than it is now plus the trunk gets a mat that'll cover it up.

 

[khryslerkid]

I'll give it a shot. I was thinking about that or maybe acetone. Didn't want to make it worse than it is now plus the trunk gets a mat that'll cover it up.

Acetone would work too. You could do an experiment on another similar piece before trying it on the cover.

 

[69L48Z27]

Acetone would work too. You could do an experiment on another similar piece before trying it on the cover.

Well, lacquer thinner or acetone won't touch it. It's sucked into that fiber board. Wouldn't even smudge it.

 

[69L48Z27]

When I tore the car down I tried to get the windshield out safely. Didn't go as planned, just as the first corner was ready to pop out of the gasket it cracked. I should have sacrificed the gasket in hindsight. I decided to save the window logos and date code for reference.

I6 is the date code, month and year 66.

 

[69L48Z27]

Next up was a small plate the covers the lock cylinder clip for the trunk lock. For some reason the lock cylinder was out of the trunk when I got it and this plate and screw were missing. If I knew what it was at the time the plate was probably in the trunk with all the loose parts.

This plate is gone on almost every deck lid I can find and if it's still there it's rusted to bits. I found a deck lid for a Coronet on eBay for crazy big bucks. The ad said it was original, paint and all. Zooming in on the pictures I could see the cover was still there. I decided to send a note the seller asking if they would remove it and sell that and the screw. Much to my surprise they did. When I got the cover I soaked it in evaporust and saw there was black paint on it. Screw was chrome plated. This is one of those little parts that will make you nuts trying to find it. Out of all the cars at Carlisle this year, only one had the cover on it. I must have looked at a dozen cars.

 

[69L48Z27]

Keys... I thought I would post what original keys look like and then what eBay 'NOS' keys look like.

From the top. eBay, original, keys from my local lock smith who's been doing this since the early 60's. He gave me an education in keys.

The biggest difference is the width on middle rib ignition key. Trunk keys are all the same except for labeling and depth of the 'throat'.

If I use my lock smith key and the eBay trunk key we have a good set. Looks like only other variation is stamp on the key blade.

 

[69L48Z27]

In PA when you title and register a car as antique, you don't need to have it annually safety inspected anymore. I found a seller of 'original' PA state inspection stickers, NOS. This seller seems to have a lot of original stickers, I'm not sure how you accumulate that many stickers but I'll buy into the originality. Historically in PA you had to account for all your stickers with the state, issued or not, no left overs. Repop stickers are just about the same price anyhow.

Here's the inspection sticker the car would have had the day it was put into service. Nice little detail item.

 

[khryslerkid]

And did you take it one more step and find an original tag to use on your car? I did on my '62 and had to wait about three weeks for the approval from PenDot. I like the idea that they don't know if it's registered as an Antique or Classic just by looking at it.

 

[69L48Z27]

And did you take it one more step and find an original tag to use on your car? I did on my '62 and had to wait about three weeks for the approval from PenDot. I like the idea that they don't know if it's registered as an Antique or Classic just by looking at it.

Sure did. Not sure why they needed 3 weeks. You can go online and check the tag and make sure it's not registered. I'm out and about for work so I just stop at the PennDot in Harrisburg to get everything done in one shot. Seems like the price keeps going up too although it's a permanent tag. I thought Classic you have to run their tag and still get state inspection?

 

[khryslerkid]

Sure did. Not sure why they needed 3 weeks. You can go online and check the tag and make sure it's not registered. I'm out and about for work so I just stop at the PennDot in Harrisburg to get everything done in one shot. Seems like the price keeps going up too although it's a permanent tag. I thought Classic you have to run their tag and still get state inspection?
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You can use an original tag (historic for the year of your vehicle) for antique or classic. Yes classic requires a annual inspection. The classic registered vehicle would have a inspection sticker on the windshield also.

I used a title place here in Hanover (Runkels) and they required a full size, colored picture of the tag I wanted to use. Paid for everything up front and they sent the paperwork to Harrisburg. It was three weeks before I received the approval and the registration card. Btw I registered mine as antique.

Heres some info on Pa tags that were used...
https://www.ricksplates.com/pennsylvania/papass1.htm

 

[69L48Z27]

Another big day today. Car hit the street for the first time under its own power since 1980 something. I thought I had something going on with the brakes but it turned out they just need a mile or two on them. I pulled out of the garage and nearly pushed the pedal through the firewall to get it stopped. Between all new shoes and turned drums I guess there wasn't a lot of contact. Until I got back from my big 1-2 mile journey they would lock up. All systems look good, just need to tweak a couple things.

Off to get it aligned hopefully Friday. I still need to restore the grill center and headlight bezels. After that it's the rocker moldings and then... that's it!

Sorry, no pictures today.