1965 AFX Coronet

[funnykarman]

Gas petal done !

Finished up petal assem. painted and added Lokar cable assembly . Welded up floor and pop riveted down both sides . Took time to clean up the shop , what a mess ! :hello2:

 

[64BEL]

You're doing some great work, funnykarman - thanks for the pics!

And thanks for the pics and stories, Mike!

 

[funnykarman]

A lttle more done .

Finished up the small things , the clutch rod was moved higher due to the motor being moved back along with the new Z bar . had to move the clutch rod boot hole up 3/4 of a inch and weld in a small section of an old one I had from the parts car . I put the seat belt plates in the new floor section . I welded a 1 inch piece of tubing from side to side and plug welded it in place , then notched the seat belt plates and welded them in welded up all the seams in the floor .
Next is the front fenders , remember I stated that the fenders were of poor quality , they look like they were pulled from the molds to soon . Both of them are warped from the headlightbucket back over the wheel opening , about 30 inches or so back . So I am giong to try and fix this issue by clamping steel tubing on the outside and glassing in 1/2 tubing in on the inside of the fender ... Hate to buy more I have $700.00 in the pair plus shipping ..... Plus I have to figure a way to attach them to the car with bolts , like a stock fender .... The fun begins next week ..... ink banana:

 

[funnykarman]

Mounting fiberglass fenders

After a lot of thought on how to mount the fenders , this is what I came up with . Made a parts run to Home Depot , picked up a gallon of fiberglass resin , 4 packs of fiberglass matt , paint brushes and 3 pieces of steel strap . Two 1 1/2 x 1/8 and one 1x1/8, stopped at Copperstates bolts and picked up some 5/16 cert-nuts . I cut a piece of 1 1/2 x1/8 off at 31 inches , clamped it to the splash panel on the car and marked the holes with a sharpie . Them drew a line thru all 4 holes . Drilled the holes out to 31/64 and inserted the cert-nuts . To those that do not know what a cert-nut is , I will try and explain . It's sort of like a pop rivet but with threads . You take the cert-nut and screw it on the gun , then insert it in the hole and squeeze . It may take a secound turn or two on the gun and a secound squeeze but it leaves you a nice set of threads when done . Great for putting threads in thin sheet metal when needed .
Back to the fender , when done I took the strapping and bolted it to the fender thru the holes that were drilled in the fiberglass fender and put 4 bolts thru and snugged them down . Then I drilled 3 holes and put pop rivets in them to hold the strapping in place . They can be drilled out if the strapping needs to be moved . Mounted the fender , looks OK may have to move it around some ....more work for Tuesday ....

 

[funnykarman]

I am still here

I have a little more done to the fiberglass left fender . Had to slow down and do some HONEY DO"S. NOT done Yet . :sad2: We live in the southwest , and we have had a extremely warm and wet winter . I have a lot more weeds and grass than I normally have .. Wife said they need to go , :tied up: so that is what I have been doing .I feel so Sorry for the folks that live up north , I know your winter has been brutal . As far as the fender go's I first thought to just glass in a piece of 1/2 square tubing , after thinking about that I changed to a 1 x 1/4 thick 36 long piece of flat strapping. I put down 2 layers of glass and clamped the 1 inch into it and layed down several strips of glass mat down , came back the next day and sanded it down and moved the clamps and put down more glass mat . Next day the same procedure . I have gone from about 3/8 inch bow in the fender wheel well opening to less than an 1/16 of gap in just one area , a little of filler and some block sanding will take care of this issue , so next week I will work on getting the fender fitted to the car an trying to get the gaps set , wish me luck ... :hatwave:

 

[Budnicks]

good luck with the fiberglass stuff,
It can be trying at times for sure...

have fun

 

[funnykarman]

Just to let everyone know I am still alive and trying to get started again

Life and family slowed me down a little , one of my wife's sister has been fighting cancer for 10 years , she had to move in with us and I had to be on hand helping with her . Plus summer has been brutal this year here . After 5 months she was able to go back home but we still lost her 2 weeks later. So I am slowly starting to gather parts for the car . I picked up a 1978 440 block from a motor home with low mileage . The cyclinders still show hatch marks , will have it checked for cracks and sonic tested for cyclinder thickness . I want to go .030 over with a 4.25 stroke Molnar crank and rods , pistons will be 10.5 to 1 compression with the new Trick Flow heads .
Also picked up a water pump housing with the lower outlet on the passenger side . This needs to be done in order to miss the steering box on the driver side , I will use a chevy style radiator with the bottom hose on that side . I also picked up new stainless u-joints for the steering shaft along with a piece of double D stainless shaft , this way I can can take the steering column out by undoing the nuts on the shaft , the old ones were weld on joints and would make removal harder.
also picked up 2 pieces of sheet metal and a set rear tubs for the car .
A far as the fiberglass work on the fenders went , my idea did not work so I will split the fenders and try and move the affected area's one at a time , only time will tell !

 

[funnycar65]

I find it odd that Diane Sox would tell you no.I know a couple of guys that have asked the very same question and she was more then gracious.

 

[funnykarman]

Sorry that you think that , Diane Sox is a super nice lady and I enjoyed every minute that we shared taking about Ronnie . He was one of my Hero's and a hell of a nice guy . But I asked and she did say no due to the fact that someone might think that it was his old car. It's one of the few that has never been found . I still might paint it that way , there are over 30 things that are different on the 2 cars ... it was being build to honor Ronnie and to give the younger mopar folks what a AFX altered wheelbase streteched nose car looks like ... Thanks John

 

[funnykarman]

Well I am still alive , not dead yet , worked on my sister-in-laws house last year , took a trip off a ladder , messed up a knee and shoulder , had to have surgery on shoulder in Jan of this year so I have been on the mend . While looking for parts for my 66 funnycar I did little checking and found that the Spal fans on the 66 car only moved 1700 cfm of air They were 12 inch fans , wanting more I found Spal fans that moved about 1350 each or about 2700 cfm that were the same size . the new ones were listed at $150.00 each but I ran across Dillon Radiators that were offering a radiator , 2 12 fans and a shroud for $299.99 with free shipping . The radiator was 19 inch by 31 inch with a Chevy hose set up . This was needed on the 65 car due to the steering box being moved up and the Chrysler set up ran right into it . First pic shows old problem with hose set up , second one shows new radiator . It looks great and has quality welds thru out . By using a water pump housing for the pass . side problem solved ! Just have to swap the fans out from 65 to 66 and 66 to 65 should work !

 

[funnykarman]

Changed out the fans on the two radiators , put the 2700 cfm set on the blown 66 car and put the 1700 cfm set on the radiator that will go into the 65 AFX car , been slow going , had surgery on right shoulder in late January , getting better but have to watch what I pick up still sore . Next step is to make mounting brackets for the 65 radiator ... slow going

 

[CudaChick1968]

Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery!

 

[funnykarman]

Well I am back , was talked into getting a Motorhome and doing a little travel . 30k miles and we are back home . Picked up a Hihborn injector set with stacks . Might use them on the 66 Cuda funny car and use the blower on 65 AFX car to look like the old Grand Spalding Dodge .

 

[funnykarman]

Ok , I have started back on the 65 AFX car , the front end was rebuilt in 2015 and just needed to painted and installed back on the car . I then finished up the steering column , Had to take the shaft to a machine shop and have them cut the end to accept the double D ujoint . By using this type of joint the shaft to the steering box could removed with out taking the column out . With that done the steering wheel was installed . Then I bent up and rolled a piece of 18 gage sheet metal to start filling in the rear of the car . Next will be the wheel tubs . The pic with the Green piece is the color I want to paint the car . The last shot is of the super stock springs , dana 60 and the and the hoosier tires 33x22.5x15

[AT

TACH]735498[/ATTACH]

 

[funnykarman]

Managed to get a little more done in the car . I knew that I would have to install the side windows before putting the tubs in place . Took the windows and had them tinted , I remember the AFX cars in 1965 had colored lexan windows and liked the look . I dug thru my junk box and came up with 4 inch 3/8 studs along with nuts , flat washer and lock washers . Using the old window track I placed it under the window in the car and found that there were 2 holes that lined up perfectly for me to use . I put a small amount of windshield sealer in each track to hold it in place .

Using nuts flat and lock washers I was able to get the window in place and secured . The I installed the tubs , that took me quite a while , to get a good fit . Then I made up sheet metal and filled in the rear section of the trunk from the tubs back to the trunk . All is needed is a good sealing with RTV . Tub #2 is next wish me luck .

 

[funnykarman]

Ok also bought a motor plate from Mancini racing . Measuring the block and the scatter shield the motor plate will fit in the center of the upper clam shells . I also will gasket match the plate to the water pump gasket to get good water flow thru this area . Have already done this to block and water pump . The motor will have a rear sump oil pan that was for a 4x4 truck . In order to get the engine in the car I cut out the radiator support and replaced it with one I removed from a parts car . Using riv-nuts it can be removed and replaced putting the bracing back into the car in this area.

 

[funnykarman]

Got the second wheel tub in and right side almost boxed in . Also working on placement of the 20 gallon fuel cell . Looking at shock mount place . tryin to finish up the rear end of the car .

 

[funnykarman]

Ok finished up the tin work and got the fuel cell mounted and built and welded in the shock mounts . I pulled the Hemi out of the 66 cuda and changed every thing back over to the carb. set up . Put the Lakewood shield back on the block and put the Milodon rear sump pan back on . Rest On bottom of page .

the Hemi went back in with the TTI headers and I am working on the motor plate install . Let's see a Level on the car , one on the motor and one on the motor plate and all show level so it's time to weld in the mounting tabs . One last pic . It's not quite a Mopar just a distant relative . I built this Willys 30 years ago and Have passed it on to a grandson . He wanted to keep it in the family . I have put over 50 thousand miles on this car plus a trip from NC to AZ . And no it does not have a mopar motor but not a Chevy , used the shortest motor that would fit . The reason for the motor swap is because I am just getting to old to try and build 2 cars so I picked the one I had the most parts for . I am also moving back to the East coast soon .

 

[funnykarman]

Did a little more work on the 65 car . Welded in 2 pieces of angle to hold the motor plate . Will add more to them when I pull the motor back out to paint everything in the engine bay . Built a stand to hold the radiator used thick foam rubber to pad the bottom of the radiator . Made brackets to hold the radiator in place on the lower end and drilled holes in the upper brace and bolted the radiator in . working on the grill placement along with the head lights mounted to the glass fenders . Oil pan looks to have about 5 inches of road clearance . Will get a custom pan built , Oil Pans By Charlie is a good place to start , they do great work had them make one for me a while back . Better safe that sorry when going over a tall speed bump . LOL !

 

[gtxracer]

I sat here for over an hour, looking and reading, following your progress thru the past few years. I must say, I am impressed. I look forward to seeing your '65 Coronet come too fruition. Thanks for sharing.
Bob