69 Coronet 500

[westie47]

Time for an update....lots of changes in my personal life so haven’t been able to get after the car.
This weekend, my buddy and I got the engine built out. I wanted to get it to the dyno next week but because of a wrong part, we wait.
I got the short block built at the local engine shop then I spent the last couple of months collecting all the parts...Performer RPM intake, Source heads, etc.
The first roadblock came while torquing the heads. I bought the 440 Source 12pt head bolts to save a bit of $$$. Two of the head bolts stripped on the first round of torquing. I thought we were dead in the water so I called the local parts store and turns out they had a set of ARP head bolts...only $190 Cdn...sigh...after that everything went together smooth....that is until we turned it over and put the oil pick up on. The machine shop gave me the straight Melling pick up, after I told them I’m going with a 6qt pan and windage tray. It was too long (see my other post). A quick call to Mancini and the correct one is one it’s way (fingers crossed). It’s so awesome to spend money twice on the same part...I suppose it’s character building lol.
So my engine is 98% complete at this point...and again I’m waiting...lol

 

[oldkimmer]

Looking good. Kim

 

[westie47]

Finally got the engine buttoned up and painted. Next step is Fuel pump, oil prime, and get it to the dyno! I can’t wait to see the numbers.

 

[oldkimmer]

Sweet, it will have good numbers and meet ur expectations. K ok m

 

[westie47]

Got the engine dyno’d today, I was pretty happy with the results...450 hp @ 4900 rpm and 543 lbs-ft @ 4000 rpm.
Not sure how to upload the video off my phone..

 

[oldkimmer]

That’s awesome. Glad it met ur expectations. Kim

 

[westie47]

Wow, I am long overdue for some updates. I feel there hasn’t been a lot of progress through the last months. I’m patiently waiting for mid-April to get the car into the shop for some sheet metal.
The plan for this year is replace flood pan, fix around back window, prep/seal roof and install vinyl top. If the stars align, I’ll get the trunk floor center replaced, headliner installed and USCT frame connectors welded in.

 

[westie47]

This is what’s being fixed. The deeper I dive into this car, the more rust I find. There’s literally rust on every spot in this car! Luckily it’s all mostly surface rust. This car spent its life on Vancouver Island in the salt air.

 

[westie47]

Concurrently I’m in the process of restoring the dash and console. I sent the switch’s and gauges to Mr. Heaterbox. All the interior plastic/vinyl has been re-dyed.
Today, I spent the day removing old butyl from the rear window trim! Someone really loaded it on there! I found a combination of heat gun, scraping and using Goo Gone worked pretty well. I got all four pieces with 320 then 1200 just to get any major scratches out and ready for polishing. A couple pieces are pretty beat up.

 

[oldkimmer]

Thanks for the update. Keep plugging away at it. Kim

 

[westie47]

The day finally came! Got the car off to the shop for the first stage of body repair. My goal is to do all lll the restoration in stages, so I can drive it and enjoy it. First stage is fix around rear window, install vinyl top, replace floor pan, add frame connectors, install headliner and maybe replace trunk floor center if time/budget allows. My guy got right on it and started stripping the Tremclad that was brushed on the roof in a poor attempt to stop the rust. He also stripped the interior roof, floors not being replaced, firewall, etc. He melted the lead out of the seams and is going to weld them solid, then body work those areas.

 

[westie47]

There was a fair amount of surface rust under that Tremclad, in fact the car is covered inside and out with surface rust. Mental note, never buy a car from an island where it’s exposed to salt air it’s whole life!
Once cleaned up, the interior was epoxy sealed.

 

[westie47]

Today he started on the deck filler panel, found a few surprises!

 

[oldkimmer]

Yikes, looks like u will be busy for quite awhile. Kim

 

[westie47]

Finding a few surprises. Damn rust gets everywhere!!!! It was even under the lead seam on the passenger side!

 

[westie47]

After a long wait for the lower rear window frame from AMD, the shop was able to finish the rear window/package tray. I can’t believe how well it turned out!

 

[westie47]

Some close ups of the lower corner and frame.

 

[oldkimmer]

Looking good. Kim

 

[westie47]

What a difference!

 

[westie47]

My shop guy told me he’s raising his shop rate from $75 to $95 but he will continue to charge me at $75/hr so I’ve decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and do the trunk and quarters.