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old dog Coronet...new tricks

2LGT2QT

Well-Known Member
Local time
9:40 AM
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
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Location
Placer County CA
I'm compelled to share because I'm so pumped by the transformation of my '65 Coronet. I have owned it for 11 years. Originally it was a base model with a 6 cylinder. The car has original paint and interior with 82K miles. The prior owner installed a 440, Torqueflite and a 3.55 Sure-Grip. The rest of the mechanicals were original...manual steering and drums, no sway bar. The car was scary to drive fast if I needed to turn or brake.

I still love the look and the originality of the one-year-only car, so I decided to make it safe and fun. After about $5k in parts and labor, the car handles and brakes like a C4 Corvette. Here's the list of upgrades:

Borgeson PS box, Saginaw pump and required pulleys from Bouchillon Performance
Hydratech brake booster and Wilwood master cylinder
11" Wilwood drilled front discs
Front end rebuild with Performance Suspension Technologies (PST) parts including control arm pivot shafts, poly-graphite bushings, ball joints & reinforcing plates to box the lower control arms
PST 1.03" torsion bars and strut rods
Bilstein shocks
Hellwig sway bars: 1-3/8" front; 7/8" rear

I was worried that the car would ride like a 60's pick-up but the ride is supple. The Coronet handles and brakes like the '65 Chevelle I recently test drove that had a complete C4 Corvette suspension and brakes. I can now drive the car hard into and out of corners which is a blast. Looking forward to my first autocross.

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Great looking car. I'm hoping to get going on mine by the end of the year. I have some "up-grades" in mind, so time will tell...

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Very nice! Great looking ride for sure.

One thing, every time you compare your car to a GM, I cringe! The factory Mopars could be equipped with different upgrades that made them handle just fine.
 
right on man, looking good. Pick up a sector support unit for your box as well.
 
See, THIS is what I have been blabbing about for the last few years! Take a solid car, add in some upgraded aftermarket parts that utilize the great factory engineering, then have fun with it. You get improved road manners with zero risk of a loss of durability.
The car looks nice. Well done, Sir.
 
Great looking 65 you have there, glad to hear those upgrades worked so well for you. I too am doing suspension and brakes on my 65 Coronet. Not sure if you've seen what 65roadracer has been doing with his 65 Belvedere but you'll like it as well. Yours looks to be in better shape than mine though.

'65 Chevelle that motivated me to make my Coronet handle.

View attachment 417589

Looks a lot like my brother's 65 Malibu SS.
 
When I looked at the OPs screen name I thought he might be LGBT or something....Then like a custom license plate that is at first confusing, it appears to be a word play on "Too legit to quit".
 
See, THIS is what I have been blabbing about for the last few years! Take a solid car, add in some upgraded aftermarket parts that utilize the great factory engineering, then have fun with it. You get improved road manners with zero risk of a loss of durability.
The car looks nice. Well done, Sir.
I was considering an Alterkation, Magnum Force, etc, but it was the research I did on this site that made me realize I just need to improve upon the factory engineering.
 
When I looked at the OPs screen name I thought he might be LGBT or something....Then like a custom license plate that is at first confusing, it appears to be a word play on "Too legit to quit".
You are correct sir! 2LGT2QT is also on my CA vanity black plate
 
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Great looking 65 you have there, glad to hear those upgrades worked so well for you. I too am doing suspension and brakes on my 65 Coronet. Not sure if you've seen what 65roadracer has been doing with his 65 Belvedere but you'll like it as well. Yours looks to be in better shape than mine though.

I have been watching 65roadracer's posts...awesome information. He's taken his car to many levels of kick *** above my driver.
 
Hey... even if you wore a dress short enough that your balls were visible, you did right by the car. :D
 
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