70 Coronet - Rebuild
- Thread starter EJL
- Start date
With the exception of driveshaft and exhaust, everything on the underside of the car is installed and torqued. Just waiting on driveshaft to show up before finishing those items.
She’s on her own wheels for the first time in 7 years.
The goal is to have it done and on the road by September 1st.
She’s on her own wheels for the first time in 7 years.
The goal is to have it done and on the road by September 1st.
Driveshaft finally arrived so we were able to get that and exhaust installed today.
We also started installing classic auto air a/c system lines & hoses in engine bay. The instructions aren’t very good in my opinion. The hard line coming off the condenser wasn’t even close to sitting on top of radiator support like it should. We ended up cutting it and removing like 3/4” of it to get it to look like an OE line would. Still need to weld line back together, but it should be a lot nicer. I’ll post pictures of the lines and hoses once finished.
We also started installing classic auto air a/c system lines & hoses in engine bay. The instructions aren’t very good in my opinion. The hard line coming off the condenser wasn’t even close to sitting on top of radiator support like it should. We ended up cutting it and removing like 3/4” of it to get it to look like an OE line would. Still need to weld line back together, but it should be a lot nicer. I’ll post pictures of the lines and hoses once finished.
Here’s pics of ac lines cut to length, crimped and installed. We also found that the pictures that came with the instructions were wrong in regards to how the compressor is installed. Pics show it with hose fittings on top when it really needed to be on side otherwise the hoses would hit the hood when closed. Got everything sorted out and we should be good to go.
Everything in engine bay is nearly buttoned up. Finished making my own positive battery cable. Took the tips posted by other members here and bought the materials to make it. I think it turned out good and should hold up better than most of those repop ones out there.
I also got the air cleaner blasted and painted with the krinkle paint. Found a 400 sticker to put on it as well. I know the air cleaner isn’t correct for 70 Coronet, but it works.
Now we need to get steering column installed. Getting close to firing it up and making sure everything works properly before installing windshield. We’re in the home stretch, the hometown car show is just over 5 weeks away so time to go to the whip!!
I also got the air cleaner blasted and painted with the krinkle paint. Found a 400 sticker to put on it as well. I know the air cleaner isn’t correct for 70 Coronet, but it works.
Now we need to get steering column installed. Getting close to firing it up and making sure everything works properly before installing windshield. We’re in the home stretch, the hometown car show is just over 5 weeks away so time to go to the whip!!
Wow, it's turned out really nice. Who redid your cluster for you?
Thanks. I bought the rebuilt cluster from a seller on eBay. The seller name is willyspeed and he has other clusters listed for sale.
So my brother and I added fluids to tranny, power steering pump and radiator on Friday night. Put some gas in the tank and filled bowls on carb. Turned key and she fired right up. After a few seconds it started to idle smoothly. Found a small fuel leak where we forgot to tighten fitting on carb. Fixed that and started back up again and let it idle for a minute or so. I was pretty stoked about how well this initial run went.
That’s right up to when we saw a rather large puddle of fluid under the engine. Raised car up on lift to find it was antifreeze. WTF? Tracked it down to find it was coming out of drain tube through firewall just under the blower fan motor.
Looked inside car and sure enough there’s a small spot on passenger side carpet where coolant was dripping from heater box. Tried looking closely at box to see if I could tell where leak was coming from, but no luck.
I had original heater core cleaned and tested by a local shop and they found no issues so I decided not to drop $300 for a new one and reuse original. I’m hoping it’s not the heater core and wondering if it’s either a bad o-ring seal on the tubes that connect to heater core and go through firewall or the valve on the H pipe, but won’t know until I get it out of the car. Grrrr!
That’s right up to when we saw a rather large puddle of fluid under the engine. Raised car up on lift to find it was antifreeze. WTF? Tracked it down to find it was coming out of drain tube through firewall just under the blower fan motor.
Looked inside car and sure enough there’s a small spot on passenger side carpet where coolant was dripping from heater box. Tried looking closely at box to see if I could tell where leak was coming from, but no luck.
I had original heater core cleaned and tested by a local shop and they found no issues so I decided not to drop $300 for a new one and reuse original. I’m hoping it’s not the heater core and wondering if it’s either a bad o-ring seal on the tubes that connect to heater core and go through firewall or the valve on the H pipe, but won’t know until I get it out of the car. Grrrr!
These AC cars have a ton of **** under the dash as far as extra vacuum hoses, actuators and ductwork, so getting to the box to remove is total PIA. I followed manual instructions for removing just the cover to remove core instead of entire box. 40 screws and bloody knuckles later, I have cover loose. I was just about to figure out how to get cover out from under dash when my small trouble light battery died. I guess I’ll have to wait till tomorrow night to finish getting cover and core out so we can pressure test it again.
Virg464
Well-Known Member
Awesome project, always loved the 70 coronet! Can't wait to see the finished product. 
Beautiful car!
Thank you.Awesome project, always loved the 70 coronet! Can't wait to see the finished product.
Thanks, much appreciated.
Heater core successfully removed tonight. We submerged it with pipes connected and put under pressure. No leaks to be found. Now what?
My brother suggested hooking it back up on cowl outside car and testing it under normal operating conditions. So we put a blanket on cowl and did just that. Fired up car and watched for leaks. Nothing coming from core or the o-ring connections. Moved the valve back and forth and still nothing.
Then we noticed smoke coming up from between firewall and engine. Well it wasn’t smoke, it was steam. Coolant was leaking from the water valve between firewall and inside car. WTF?? I spent over $200 to have original air inspect and rebuild this water valve. I think it took them like 4-6 months to do the work.
So what do I do now? Call them and ask to get it rebuilt again and wait till next year to get it back? Totally screws my plans on driving the car this year. Or post a WTB ad to see if anyone here has one available???
My brother suggested hooking it back up on cowl outside car and testing it under normal operating conditions. So we put a blanket on cowl and did just that. Fired up car and watched for leaks. Nothing coming from core or the o-ring connections. Moved the valve back and forth and still nothing.
Then we noticed smoke coming up from between firewall and engine. Well it wasn’t smoke, it was steam. Coolant was leaking from the water valve between firewall and inside car. WTF?? I spent over $200 to have original air inspect and rebuild this water valve. I think it took them like 4-6 months to do the work.
So what do I do now? Call them and ask to get it rebuilt again and wait till next year to get it back? Totally screws my plans on driving the car this year. Or post a WTB ad to see if anyone here has one available???
Lowhound
Well-Known Member
Wow! I really like the hydro dip pattern & color. I'm currently redoing my dash with a custom gauge panel. I've tried several different patterned overlays so far but they look 'too cheap' even after I shot PPG clear on top of them. Did you do the hydro dip yourself or send the pieces out?
Thanks Lowhound. I had a friend of mine do the hydro drip with my help. He had the water tank already so I didn’t have to make one. The process can be a PITA, but as long as you buy extra film you can clean off what you don’t like and start over again. I also made sure to spray at least two coats of dead flat clear on them after dipping to protect the film.
Well it’s official, original air basically told me to get f’ed on my water valve leaking. First reason was I’m passed my 90 days warranty and second reason is because their guy who did their rebuilds retired.
Lesson learned I guess, you can’t trust anyone to rebuild **** correctly and you have to bench test it as soon as you get it back. It took them over 6 months to complete the work so am I supposed to wait till car is done before sending part out for rebuild to avoid being out of warranty period?? WTF?
Lesson learned I guess, you can’t trust anyone to rebuild **** correctly and you have to bench test it as soon as you get it back. It took them over 6 months to complete the work so am I supposed to wait till car is done before sending part out for rebuild to avoid being out of warranty period?? WTF?
Got some help from another member and buttoned up the after valve issue.
My brother came over today and helped me get the windshield installed.
One week to finish everything else before big local cruise and car show. The pressure is on now.
My brother came over today and helped me get the windshield installed.
One week to finish everything else before big local cruise and car show. The pressure is on now.
Virg464
Well-Known Member
Windshields! Fun times!! I just did my 66 coronet about a month ago, boy was that fun!!!
Agreed.
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