67 R/T... Back to Life

[Hotrod20]

Awesome project, love the 67 R/T's as well. Nice work!! wish I could have found that one.
HR 20

 

[69L48Z27]

I might be doing some things out of order but have a car blown into all its parts is over whelming to say the least. Since the engine was back from the machine shop already I decided to get that put together and get some parts off the workbench. Everything went back together pretty well without a lot of drama. I have one freeze plug that is oversized for some reason. I remeber wresting one out when I tore the engine down. Sure enough it was that plug. I saved all the old plugs and I can tell that one is different for sure. I guess it was this was from day one.

I have all my chrome gathered up and I'm going to LiBrandi and Paul's Chrome this week to get prices. More on that later.

10 hrs.

 

[Paul Boucher]

I was referred to Pauls chrome as well by a good buddy. They did amazing work on his car. I have some of the same exact parts you have I need to send (fellow 67 R/T owner). PM me when you get pricing. I would love to know about what I would be looking at for costs.

 

[69L48Z27]

I'll let you know what I get regarding quotes. Both shops will produce about the same product and both are within driving distance so I'll save shipping cost. When I bought this car I had no idea what to budget for chrome. I'm anxious to get prices, I'm either going to be shocked or pleasantly surprised.

 

[Paul Boucher]

I'll let you know what I get regarding quotes. Both shops will produce about the same product and both are within driving distance so I'll save shipping cost. When I bought this car I had no idea what to budget for chrome. I'm anxious to get prices, I'm either going to be shocked or pleasantly surprised.

Thanks and I feel you. I don't have a clue on chrome pricing. I am as interested as you to find out. I would have to ship, so having an idea before that would be great. Let's hope we are both pleasantly surprised!

 

[Mopartisus]

That makes three of us, I need the rear finish panel and the taillight covers done. I could likely drive mine to PA.

 

[moparnation74]

I use Paul's Chrome and they do stellar work.....As far as prices go for my GTX...a single bumper in good shape will be around a grand for a plymouth(large bumpers btw), my tail lights bezels(almost zero pitting)I think were around 900 and the tail panel(NOS and very little pitting) was around 1100 for example....

 

[threewood]

Wow, great car! And it is in fantastic shape too. The work so far looks nice.

 

[69L48Z27]

I'll get into more detail about the chrome experience this weekend. It was eye opening for sure.

Prices between the two shops were not even close. The 67 tail panels must take a looooong time to replate. The one quoted above is less than half of the 67 price. Rest of the prices are spot on.

These parts are in relatively good shape as well, I would say these prices are the starting point.

The tail panel is in good shape with little pitting and the price was $2500 @ Paul's. Just for the center part. Budget blown for sure. The cost to restore these cars vs what they're their worth when done is staggering.

 

[69L48Z27]

Worked on engine assembly today, got most of it buttoned up. Lots of glass beading and cleaning. Cast metal gets a a rust haze on it almost instantaneously after washed off.

So far the plug wire brackets are salvageable. They are the original ones.

7 hrs.

 

[69L48Z27]

I thought this was interesting. When I disassembled the engine there was a plate that was attached under the front valley pan bar and there were these foil bags under the intake. At first I thought maybe someone forgot their lunch but after further research these are supposed to be there. The only info I could find was on PCG website stating these were used to quiet valve tappet noise. They also state that there are some questions about application an usage. I can tell you that in 67 they came on this non AC car. Picture attached so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[69L48Z27]

I ordered a negative battery cable along with a firewall ground strap and they came in today. Items came from Herbs and they did a fine job, I also got some of their custom mix vinyl dye. I'll post more on that when I use it.

These cables are the 'correct', very expensive, ones. Both the cables on the car were original. Couple observations:

- New cable lengths are wrong. Whoever is cutting the cables is measuring the wire and. Not end to end.
- New cables a pretty dead on regarding cable ends. Crimp is different on the battery cable and head markings on the bolts are slightly different.
- Both my original cables had a lot of engine paint on them out at the ends. I suprised how far the paint went out on the cables.

Some things we buy seem like a great deal. I can't say that with these cables. Seems to be no competition in good, accurate, repop cables. At over $100 I think there was plenty of margin. These came from Herbs and I assume they are M&H.

Pics show the differences.

 

[69L48Z27]

Not too much going in this weekend. I have the engine ready to pain, almost. I need to attach the rear ground strap with the correct bolt. The wire was under the rear intake bolt which I believe to be wrong. I did not receive my intake insulation either from PCG. Also another issue with these new cables, the ground strap has a 5/16" hole and not 3/8". The one rear freeze plug is installed too, 45/64". I also had to figure out the pushrods, I ended up getting a relatively inexpensive set from Mancini. Lots of info on the site here but not accurate in some cases. 9.290" was the correct length for this engine. This is what Mancini had for a stock set, hydraulic and stamped rockers. Still haven't made my mind up to paint the engine with or without manifolds on. I know what's 'correct' but I'm using epoxy with single stage paint and I'm not sure what it's going to look like after it burns off.

I also spent time with the blasting cabinet and cleaned off some parts. I also started bodyworking the trunk and getting all my fender hardware in order. Placed an order with AMK to get all the hardware I'm missing. I will also be getting my phosphating station setup too. Make all the old bolts look new again!

8 hrs

 

[NorthOfForty]

Nice to see another 67 R/T coming back to life. Wish mine was as far along as yours. It even looks great in bare metal.

 

[69L48Z27]

Had another good day in the garage. I detailed a few remaining items on the engine and it's ready for paint now. I'm not sure when I'll be doing that.

One of the things I learned about while resorting Chevys is how to phosphate. It's very simple, basically if you can boil water you can phosphate. Most items on the car like hardware has a phosphate coating. I found a company online that sells supplies called Palmetto Enterprises, he sells zinc and manganese phospate concentrate. Cost are around $25/pint and they cut at 14oz to a gallon of water, little more solution needed for zinc than manganese.

I spent all day doing this, time is the prep like anything else. The glass bead cabinet was running hard today.

Supplies:
Hot plate - $10 @ Walmart
Tongs - $3
WD-40
Candy thermometer - $5
Vessel - glass, porcelain, or stainless. I found an old glass pot from the '80s.
Measuring cup
Phosphate concentrate

Instructions:
1. Bead blast items to be put in solution. Instructions say only allow 2-3 hrs between beading and coating. Metal needs to be fresh for chemical bond.
2. Start with water and get that to almost 190* then add phosphate concentrate.
3. Maintain vessel temp at 190*-200*
4. Add parts. When fizzing stops give it a few more minutes. It seems like 5 minutes is the time in the bath.
5. Remove parts and soak with WD-40. Wipe parts and repeat again.

That's it! You can do this in your house, there is no odor. I like the setup in the garage so I can have an assembly line going. End result is brand new looking hardware that was born with the car. No need to buy all new hardware if your willing to take the time.

Most everything is supposed to be zinc phosphate, that color is a lighter gray to the brown side. Manganese is a darker finish but it's really close. I used manganese since I had that left over. If you pull parts sooner rather than later they will be lighter colored.
Started with fender hardware, these were Evaporust'd first to see what finishes were on them.

K Frame bolt

 

[69L48Z27]

Here you can see some new AMK fastners on the left.

Here's some front end and trans crossmember bolts.

 

[69L48Z27]

I had a few days over the holiday break to work on the car. I concentrated on body work and just about got all the rust repair done. I also got the deck lid on and aligned it.

I also painted the engine today. I used PPG Shopline epoxy as sealer and JE enamel. Color was matched at my local supply store and it's pretty good.

Here's the results. I chose not to paint the manifolds on the engine. I'll end up touching up the nuts and studs with a Preval sprayer once they're on.

20 hrs

Prepped and masked

In epoxy

Finished product with original rocker covers

Here's the color next to the fuel pump

 

[69L48Z27]

I got a little surprise the other day, my FCA request for IBM card came back. The good part was I have a copy of the IBM card and FCA confirmed the selling dealer was Stetler Dodge in York. The bad part was they wrote a letter saying the archives was too busy and short handed, they did not decode the IBM card. They also sent my check back. Not too bad I guess.

 

[TxDon]

Engine looks great, it was lucky you had original paint to match the color. There are so many versions of that turquoise out there, no way to know whats right.

 

[Don selleck]

super nice, giving this car some justice. love those coronets.