It has been awhile since we updated the progress of our latest project and for good reasons. First of all, this is not reality tv, which is anything but real, this is a real life restoration. For those of you who have never completed an entire restoration, let me educate you. We had the car half assembled & walked out into the shop one morning and were horrified. The paint was starting to bubble on the quarter panels and doors, tiny little spots all through it. Not good. this means there was contamination at some point during the paint process. Needless to say, all of the progress we had made to date was pushed back below zero. We dis-assembled all of the parts that had been put on the car. We shipped it back to Florida to the paint shop to be re-done. Basically stripped and started over. We have been waiting for almost a year now to get the car back. This is a very long time to think about all of the lost time on this project. Car is finally ready for paint again and we are just waiting on the word of when we can go and pick it up. And also hoping it is right this time...
Meanwhile, during all of these months of waiting, we have continued to purchase parts, sometimes one at a time depending on how much they cost and getting everything in line so we can can assemble the car and get it ready for the road.
We built the 440 motor and 727 transmission, 8 3/4 rear end with 3.55 gears. All totally rebuilt. Used Edelbrock aluminum heads on the engine. Just got a new radiator in from US Radiator.
The stainless trim was sent to Advance Plating in Nashville to be redone. They also restored the grille and tail panel. Excellent job- so happy with the quality of the work. The pieces look amazing. We will post pictures soon.
Purchased a Classic Auto Air system which will be installed to keep us cool.
Using TTI headers & exhaust system. Ceramic coated & polished. TTI headers are the best option for fit on Mopars.
Already purchased a new thumbwheel stereo which looks and fits in the factory location but with all of the modern technology. Will post pictures later.
All of these things sound so simple. We bought this, purchased that. For the average person, it means sacrifice when you add up the dollars. It is not like tv where all of the parts magically appear within a week to build a whole car. Unless you have unlimited funds and money is no issue, you will have to piece your project together a little at a time. This is what we do. We work on one area of the car, buy the parts and then move to the next.
Don't worry about the time it takes to restore your car. Do it right the first time and your car will last for generations. The finished project always speaks for itself. The Coronet is a year behind schedule right now which I hate. However, it will soon be back on track and hopefully we can get back to making progress.
