Secret Chimp
Well-Known Member
I come to you from the land of Miata.net - probably the antithesis of these cars 
My friend's wrecked Miata that I've been parting out is almost completely stripped, and I was going to need a new project, but I also had wanted an old car quite a bit lately. I trolled Craigslist for a few weeks for anything made before 1970 until I saw this car - I went to the bank as soon as they opened.
Not even 103,000 miles, smooth-running 318 upgraded to orange box ignition (not sure about the coil), Torqueflite still shifts smooth. Everything bodywise on the car is original aside from the carpet and the front left fender, which was taken from a Coronet 500 and color matched to this car.
Everything works aside from the rear window (motor has been rebuilt and confirmed to run outside of the car, but the wiring is broken somewhere, probably in the tailgate) and the radio. Some body trim still needs to be sourced so most of it just isn't installed right now. Honestly I think it looks pretty good without the side chrome, I'll probably do some non-permanent fill of the trim holes. I do need to find some C-pillar window trim though.
The previous owner just had a very nice dual exhaust system put in from the manifolds on back... I got a horribly short video of it but it sounds pretty nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9jQCjs-TY
The previous owner also turned down the front torsion bar adjusters and installed 2 inch blocks on the rear axle to get the current ride height, and I like how it looks. The ride can be a little crashy over big bumps but it looks like it has the original shocks. The wheels are 15s from a Dodge truck with the original Coronet caps with new Cooper tires. There's some slack somewhere in the steering (not sure if it's the coupler or one of the arms or the box, I haven't had a chance to look yet) but it goes down the road great.
I'm 25 and I've never owned an old car of my own. My dad had a 1967 Coronet sedan when he was a kid, and my family had a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe for about nine years. I'm excited to get this thing fixed up the rest of the way and learn about The Old Ways, as I've done almost everything I can on my Miata short of rebuilding the engine. I'm also excited to share the joys of classic iron with my family the same way I got to when I was a kid.
My friend's wrecked Miata that I've been parting out is almost completely stripped, and I was going to need a new project, but I also had wanted an old car quite a bit lately. I trolled Craigslist for a few weeks for anything made before 1970 until I saw this car - I went to the bank as soon as they opened.
Not even 103,000 miles, smooth-running 318 upgraded to orange box ignition (not sure about the coil), Torqueflite still shifts smooth. Everything bodywise on the car is original aside from the carpet and the front left fender, which was taken from a Coronet 500 and color matched to this car.
Everything works aside from the rear window (motor has been rebuilt and confirmed to run outside of the car, but the wiring is broken somewhere, probably in the tailgate) and the radio. Some body trim still needs to be sourced so most of it just isn't installed right now. Honestly I think it looks pretty good without the side chrome, I'll probably do some non-permanent fill of the trim holes. I do need to find some C-pillar window trim though.
The previous owner just had a very nice dual exhaust system put in from the manifolds on back... I got a horribly short video of it but it sounds pretty nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL9jQCjs-TY
The previous owner also turned down the front torsion bar adjusters and installed 2 inch blocks on the rear axle to get the current ride height, and I like how it looks. The ride can be a little crashy over big bumps but it looks like it has the original shocks. The wheels are 15s from a Dodge truck with the original Coronet caps with new Cooper tires. There's some slack somewhere in the steering (not sure if it's the coupler or one of the arms or the box, I haven't had a chance to look yet) but it goes down the road great.
I'm 25 and I've never owned an old car of my own. My dad had a 1967 Coronet sedan when he was a kid, and my family had a 1968 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe for about nine years. I'm excited to get this thing fixed up the rest of the way and learn about The Old Ways, as I've done almost everything I can on my Miata short of rebuilding the engine. I'm also excited to share the joys of classic iron with my family the same way I got to when I was a kid.
