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My Coronet project

Hi, it has been a while since I last posted any thing here, been busy this summer with the house and the family.
The car has been road ready for two years now but it was not as fun as I imagined, the bench and column shifter was not my cup of the so I have decided to do a remake of the car this winter, the plan is this:

- Get rid of the bench and put in a pair of modern bucket seats.
- Get a floor shifter, a B&M Quicksilver is the plan.
- Put in a nice car stereo, 90 % finished already.
- Get some juice in the machine, the rest of the drive train is ready for it.

I have started with the teardown of the engine, first I was up in the blue and was planning a 500" with aluminum heads but reality slapt me hard in the face so I have to build on the parts I already have, my plan sounds like this, please do comment if it sounds great or if I am on the wrong track.

Hard facts: The car is basically stock with a 8 3/4 3.55 SG, HD leafs, 727 with shift kit Hemi specs, Hughes 2400 conv, those parts I want to leave as is.

The engine was running great but not as strong as I wanted it so I took it apart and found the pistons 0.040 down in the hole, also got a set of 516 heads with a larger exhaust valve, 1.74. The pistons has a relief of approx 5 cc and this would give a comp ratio of 9.1-9.2, my plan is to mill the block 0.035 so I get a nice quench of 0.045 with a fel-pro head gasket and the closed chamber heads, this will also rise comp to about 9.5.

Next step is to get a new cam and I found a solid Comp cam, XE274S, http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/cca-21-231-4/overview/
This will also include a set of aluminum roller rockers, new springs, retainers locks etc.
Do you think this cam will work with the rest of the parts? Any other suggestions, will get a set of headers and put those HP factory exhaust on the shelf, rest of the exhaust is a 2.5" dual with Flowbastards.
Intake is an old torker 383 with a new Holley 750 ultra DP.

Bottom will get new bearings, rod bolts, oilpump etc. The enginge looks really nice in the cylinders with good even compression, crosspattern still there, shall I get new rings and hone the cylinders or can I put in them back as they are with the old rings? The block seems to be bored 0.060 if my caliber gauge is OK.

As you can see this is a cheep charlie tuning but it is hard fact, I can not start a build up of a 500", nor a 440, this is what I got and I was hoping for 400 plus horses, do you think it will be possible?
Please do comment on the cam choice, it will be a solid but brand and size is not written in stone.
Also thinking of the XE282S http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/cca-21-232-4 but will this work with the drive train and the 516 heads and 9.5 comp ratio, I dont want to over cam it but I want as much power as I can get!


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swede and outstanding job with that car it is super,those wheels are great for that car.
 
Pulled the second head of and it looks worse then it is in the picture due to water and oil but at a second glance the number 2 and 8 pistons are mounted in the wrong direction, hmm, looks like it will be a little more work than I first expected.


And it seems that the block is not even either, when I measure how far the pistons are down in the hole the top number is 0.040 for piston number 1 and 7 but number 2 is only 0.020 down and number 8 is 0.030 down, nothing that can't be fixed but did they came like this uneven from the factory?

Will buy a Flex-hone and get some new rings along with the new bearings if I don´t find more trouble in the bottom of this Pandoras box...

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Your car turned out great, nice choice of wheels.
Congrats on the finished product.
 
You'd be stunned Swede on how many blocks have a wacked deck height on each side. Both my 512 and now 340 both were way off.

That's crazy with those piston's! How does someone miss that?

Sounds like a pretty slick build you got planned. That second cam is the same exact one I run in my 512. A few things I can say about it is.....It's makes great power, mega torque. It does like a lot of gear, a lot of converter, a lot of CFM through the heads, and has a pretty decent idle & street manners. It doesn't make much vacuum, so power brakes would need a electric vacuum pump or hydroboost system. I also run a mechanical advance distributor on mine.

Looking at your 516 heads, 3.54 gears, intake, and 2400 stall, I wouldn't recommend it for your car. I run 3.91's, 3300 stall, ported eddy aluminum heads and port matched Indy intake. It work's well with that combo, but I think it would still like a little more stall and gear. In your shoe's, I'd sway more towards your first cam option. If sticking with the 516's, I'd have them ported, valve job and get a decent intake like a Indy or Eddy RPM Perf. Good carb and a good ignition, I don't see you having any problem hitting your 400HP goal.

Cheers!
 
Ooops, my thread has dropped to page five, time for an update.

Got an idea of a bucket seat car with a console and floor shorter would be more fun, Spauldo had a console that is on its way over seas, bought a B&M Quicksilver, if the console doesn't fit I will keep it on the shelf, prio one is the shifter.
Ran into a set of E-body leather bucket seats, they are in an incredible shape! Only has 4400 miles and are soft as a babys ***! Problem is that the tracks are to low, will start a new tread about the right height.
The next problem was the column shifter, took it apart and cut of the shifter and indicator parts, look great now, had to buy a new coupler from a Mr Slater in MN, arrived in no time.
Why a new coupler? Because I am skipping that power steering and go manual, found a manual gear in Sweden and with new seals and gears it works great.

And this is not enough, the engine is getting a new cam shaft, the MP 284 and a set of headers, this will probably get me the character of the car that I want.

And finally, a new stereo is already installed in the car!

When I put all this together it is a weight saving at the front of 120 lbs, power steering, intake manifold, water pump and housing, mini starter and the HP exhausts!

And I will upload some pictures tomorrow!
 
Go Swede go! I got into that Dart that I was trying to sell earlier so my BEE still waits patiently!
 
Great looking coronet!

The local engine guy here is a Mopar fanatic. He has a 64 Plymouth Valiant he drag races with a 273 that produces 550hp N/A. Anyways, he told me a while ago that it's not uncommon for Mopar blocks to have .010 to .040 difference from one side of the deck to the other from the factory. He also said he rebuilt a 440 for a 70 Charger. The guy had owned it since new, the motor had never been touched, and it always had a slight vibration. He took the motor apart and found that the #6 and #8 rods where 6 pack rods and the rest were standard 440.
 
Here is some pictures of the progress so far, The steering is ready, the collars too, cut the gear indicator off and did some grinding, ended up pretty well.
Have not been able to mount the seats yet, waiting for a console and will see if it is possible to have it together with the quicksilver shifter.
The block is cleared up and I will take it to the shop next week, got me a Flex-hone and tried it on one cylinder, the result was great.
I also found a complete jack and a rim.

Pictures are bad due to scratched lens on my phone, will fix that asap!


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I made it to the finish line!

Hi everybody! This will be one of the last threads in this project.
This weekend I decided to finish my car and sell it. 10 min after the add came out the first guy calls and he lives only 15 min from here.
I open up the door to the garage and I could hear his jaw drop to the floor, love at first sight!

A big thanks to everbody supporting this journey, you have supported me with parts, know how, and encouragement!

So here it is, saved from the crusher in Maryland to a new life in Sweden!



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Wow, your car turned out gorgeous. I can't believe you sold it without first enjoying it a bit. I've been following along with you so long, almost feels like one of my kids has grown up and moved out of the house.
 
The car turned out great........tough call to sell it. Did it sell to the 1st guy?
 
The car turned out great........tough call to sell it. Did it sell to the 1st guy?
Hi, I am back!
Yes Mr Superfreak, first guy got it and no bargain, we became friends too so I have been riding more in the car since I sold it then when I owned it!
The car had some issue with timing and so but he was able to work it out and the 383 now sings like ever before.
He bought a set of drag radials but autumn came and he did not have time to test it, will probably run a mid 8 in the 1/8.

The reason why I sold it was because I got me another car, please don´t be too pissed, it is a 2016 Mustang GT PP Conv, auto, Magnetic.
Yes I know some of you are upset now but this is the first time I could buy a brand new Mustang from a Swedish dealer with full warrantys, Euro-version and to a real nice price so I signed the papers this summer, est. delivery spring 2016.
After 8 Mopars and one Poncho it was time for a Ford, but I am still deep into mopars, a friend is restoring a 1971 Cuda and I will try to help him with the body work if I just can find the time, it will be a nice machine, 472 Hemi and manual!

Take care!
 
Well at least you still get to ride in his/your car and you know it went to a good home.
As far as why you sold it that you did not need to explain but since you did.........please hand in your man card.

Thank You

PS. have fun in the stang.
 
Bitter sweet buddy. The new muscle cars are great and it's easy to see why guys go out and buy the new stuff. Congrats on the sale and the purchase. That Bee is beautiful and you should be proud for saving a great car from certain death. Enjoy your new ride.
 
Got a video when the car drives away with the new owner, not the best quality, will try to fix that.

[video]https://youtu.be/n8swTxqZ5Js[/video]
 
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