GG1 '68 Coronet R/T 4-Speed

[nitro_rat]

Big day today! My dad came over and we got the front clip on the parts car stripped. We reassembled the front end on the R/T so it has a functioning hood latch, hood hinges, headlights, and a front bumper.

Swapped on my set of R/T fenders with the side markers and pentastar badge off the parts car. I took the back side markers and cherry deck lid off the parts car too.

We worked all day and skipped lunch. By the time we were done getting the grill and headlights together it was good and dark!

I got the 5-slot mags off the front of the parts car swapped on. I really need to let the torsion bars down a little!!!

I still need to get the 10” wide mags off the parts car swapped on to the back, they’ve got Hoosier dirt track tires on them that don’t hold air overnight on them though.

Once that’s done, I think I’ll have a little more motivation to get back going on this thing!

I’m sidetracked right now doing a cab swap and EFI Magnum swap on my ‘80 Power Wagon Club Cab. It’s getting an air conditioned cab to be my daily driver here in Texas.

The ‘73 Power Wagon with no A/C just doesn’t cut it for these Texas summers anymore!

The truck project is happening over on ramchargercentral.

Anyway, I’m going to Shreveport for a family get together tomorrow so who knows when I’ll have a chance to get the stance dialed in on this thing…

 

[ckessel]

You've got too many irons in the fire. When do you sleep?

 

[Richard Cranium]

You've got too many irons in the fire. When do you sleep?

 

[nitro_rat]

This is just what I’m doing in Texas, I have a ‘77 W-100 regular cab/short bed factory 440 truck that’s getting a 2.5” lift kit, 9” Ford rear end, 5x5.5” bolt pattern front outers, and a hybrid big block 727 case with a 80’s 4x4 tail housing to use the NP208 out of a Ramcharger. MOST of the parts are on deck to make that happen when I get back to Washington state next year…

The RC is giving up its trans, t-case, crossmembers and skid plate, front driveshaft, front outers, and wheels…

…and Skyjacker left this for me!

I don’t have enough time on my hands!

I road trip from TX to WA in the yellow ‘73 Power Wagon.

 

[nitro_rat]

I was dark again when I got home today and now it’s raining. But here’s a shot of the ‘68 in the daylight this morning that I snapped before I left.

 

[ButterscotchA12]

First off nice build! I read that you mentioned installing all the glass in the car before you fix the floor pans.You may already know this but if not,anytime you use a grinder or welder around glass the metal sparks will embed in the glass and pretty much ruin it, unfortunately I learned this the hard way many years ago so thought I would throw that out there.

 

[sam dupont]

First off nice build! I read that you mentioned installing all the glass in the car before you fix the floor pans.You may already know this but if not,anytime you use a grinder or welder around glass the metal sparks will embed in the glass and pretty much ruin it, unfortunately I learned this the hard way many years ago so thought I would throw that out there.

and it's amazing how far they can travel and still be hot enough to embed

 

[ButterscotchA12]

and it's amazing how far they can travel and still be hot enough to embed

Yeah no doubt! I have also learned that it will embed in a cars paint also,even from many feet away.That stuff is no joke.

 

[nitro_rat]

I don’t necessarily want to install all the glass before doing the metal work but I want to HAVE all the glass because it needs to sit outside most of the time!

 

[nitro_rat]

Today I had a little time to kill. Dad came over and we got the good deck lid off the turquoise car swapped over. The turquoise car is a 440 and uses a slightly different trim piece on the lower lip. R/T’s and 500’s have a unique tail light/trim treatment. I really lost enthusiasm for the whole project for several months after dealing with Martin Lackner to get the tail lights and rear trim. I eventually did get them for a good price, but if it wasn’t for eBay/PayPal buyer protection AND the fact that I know where he lives and am in the area frequently, he would have shafted me.

Anyway, all that stuff is fitted up now, I still have to get the “R/T” emblem to replace the “500” badge. The turquoise car also donated its “G” to fill in the “DODGE” script out back.

The turquoise car also has the lower rocker panel trim, I’m not sure I want to swap that over. I think I like the look without it better. We’ll see what happens.

We also yanked out the dash shell and brought it inside. I need to strip it down and rebuild it with the set of used components that I have collected.

I’m headed back to work on Tuesday so we shoved the R/T back into its parking spot to await the next round of repairs.

The next round will be to get brakes working. The turquoise car will be giving up its rear end setup (springs, shackles, and axle) and I’ll rebuild its rear drums. Brake lines will be replaced and I’ll rebuild the front end and slap on a disc brake conversion. A new power booster/master setup along with the pedal out of the turquoise car and I can start thinking about power…

I’ll likely drop in a 360 that I have out already with the radiator, trans and driveshaft out of the turquoise car. That will get the thing mobile under its own power and make it much easier to move around and work on!

I already have a 440 torn down for it (in Washington) that will be going back together once I can get some machine work done on it. It will be getting a 4-speed and a Dana as well EVENTUALLY.

 

[nitro_rat]

Dash frame is out and mostly stripped. It’s going to have to be blasted to clean it up. There’s quite a bit of rust pitting on the back side. I’m thinking about trying one of those wet sand blaster kits.

I also have to track down quite a few more items. I guess I’ll be pulling the heater box as well for overhaul. I need the heater controls, defrost ducts, etc. to finish out the dash.

I have collected most of the cosmetic stuff to trim out the face, including a repairable dash pad core (not pictured) as well as an original wiring harness that needs minor repair.

 

[nitro_rat]

One of the major holdups on this project is the fact that it's relegated to sitting outside. This has prevented me from putting any effort into cleaning up the interior and starting on the metal work. Anyway, in an effort to shore things up, I located the cheapest set of glass I could find on eBay. I've been looking for quite a while and I've been saving budget minded pieces. I found a much cheaper rear window today so I pulled the trigger.

I got a really cheap set of door windows that have "some scratches" on them, the cheapest single left quarter window I could muster, and the really good deal on the back glass shipped. I also got a windshield seal from Van's Auto for $75. For now, I'll cut the windshield out of the Coronet 440 parts car and stick it in a cheap sacrificial seal.

I guess I'll get to practice up on my glass polishing skills! I think that I had all of the regulators in the parts car working at one point, and it's mostly been covered since I got it. Hopefully, any deficiency in door/window parts can be made up from the parts car! Window trim may have to wait. I'll have to look at the parts car to see what's salvageable. I know some of the rear window trim was bent up on that car. I guess it has the front trim, I know the windshield is intact.

It's almost debilitating when I try to start adding up the costs of all of the parts that I'm going to need to get this car put back together!

I'm thinking I can get by with one cheap (Sherman) quarter panel, a trunk floor, one trunk extension, and a full floor pan.

To save on truck freight, I'll probably make a road trip up to Arlington, TX to Summit to pick up the panels.

The donor car will provide the top of the driver side quarter that's smashed on this one. That car's quarter is so trashed it will need a full replacement. It is pretty much only nice in the spot the R/T's is busted up!

That's all I have for now, just trying to keep the momentum going!

 

[nitro_rat]

Well, the **** hits the fan again.

The rear window I bought on eBay. First, the seller sends me a message saying that it will be tomorrow before he can get it shipped out. No big deal, I’ve been buying stuff on eBay since Elon was giving away $20 for you to open a PayPal account. It sometimes is a week before sellers ship an item. I don’t mind, I’m not home anyway.

I sent him a note with packing recommendations (slit pool noodle around edges, foam blocks in corners, sturdy box, two layers of cardboard, etc.). He assured me he had done all that and more.

This morning he sent me a message that he broke the window in the process of dropping it off for shipping. He said he was trying to refund my money but he was having trouble with the system.

I tried to walk him through it and as it turns out, he can’t process the cancellation/refund because he’s going to owe eBay $40 in seller fees which he says he doesn’t have.

He went on to say that he’ll be coming to San Antonio for Christmas and he might be able to find another window to bring with him when he comes.

I have a feeling that he couldn’t afford to ship the window for what he sold it for. San Antonio is 5 hours away from where I live. Hopefully he didn’t really break it and he can meet me somewhere next week.

Otherwise, I still have plenty of time to resort to eBay/PayPal buyer protection which hasn’t let me down YET…

 

[nitro_rat]

The seller was having trouble figuring out how to refund the transaction on his end so I submitted a return request. That’s going to force the issue. It gives him 3 days to respond. He won’t have shipped it by then so it will trigger ebay to want to do something.

I ordered another one from a seller that I have purchased glass from before. Hopefully that will work out okay. It was a couple hundred bucks more expensive though!