California Car Coronet R/T

[YY1]

I love that car! Even with that bad paint job it looks cool. Looks like it might have been white with a green int? Got any interior shots. What options? Still got the 440?

I'm doing mine about half resto and half driver. I'm trying to get it running, but also trying not to do too much that might need to be undone later on. I pulled the motor and painted the engine compartment body color, rebuilt the front suspension, and I'm converting to front disk brakes.

I've got a temporary running engine in place, and I'm in the middle of putting the brakes back together and hooking all the engine wires/hoses etc up. I plan on getting it running and driving before I start the body, and I'm putting some, but not a lot of time and money in the interior. Just enough to make it functional. I'll dump some cast at Legendary after all the bodywork dust is gone.

I put some "patch" type of paint on it while I was doing under the hood, but not anything expensive. Jst enough to get it almost all the same color. I also plan to revisit the underside, as it's pretty surface rusty.

Please keep us updated.

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

I love that car! Even with that bad paint job it looks cool. Looks like it might have been white with a green int? Got any interior shots. What options? Still got the 440?

Yes i have the 440 that it came with, we need to pull and rebuild it and then we have a start on getting it running, i want to get it running and drive it hard like the other people are saying, and then when older i will fully restore it to a weekend driver and show goer, the options it came with was a floor shift console car automatic 3 speed, it has a green vinyl top, green tinted windows all around, power brakes, power steering, power windows, AC, and fender-mounted turn signals. i will get more pictures up as soon as i can.

 

[OG max wedge]

Yes i have the 440 that it came with, we need to pull and rebuild it and then we have a start on getting it running, i want to get it running and drive it hard like the other people are saying, and then when older i will fully restore it to a weekend driver and show goer, the options it came with was a floor shift console car automatic 3 speed, it has a green vinyl top, green tinted windows all around, power brakes, power steering, power windows, AC, and fender-mounted turn signals. i will get more pictures up as soon as i can.

sounding better everyday!

 

[Joe Mopar]

Nice find, and good luck with it.

 

[YY1]

Sound like it was fairly well loaded with comfort options. Cool!

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

sorry for people who want more pictures, it has been raining for the past few days! its summer, not supposed to be rainy, but whatever, when its done raining ill post clearer pics of the interior

 

[813Demon340]

Very nice

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

More pics of the interior as i promised

 

[demonsizzler]

That is a really cool '68 R/T! And as others have said, get it running cheaply if possible but also take note of all parts you need to replace.

I have been buying as many things as possible used from ebay and Mopar sites with a parts for sale section. Good used parts that can be cleaned and detailed will work just fine. Again, very cool '68 R/T!

 

[Meep-Meep]

Yep, but you must have both plates and they must be legible because they will most likely want to see them. If the clerk insists on giving you the new plates ask to see a supervisor.

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

For the dash as you can see there is two different trims, is there anyway to know which it came with? wood or the black pieces? im not sure if the 68 coronet even came with wood grain, but if i wanted to do woodgrain is there a type of car with the same dash all together where i could get the wood grain? also to YY1, yeah you hit it right on the nose, it was ww1 alpine white with green interior, good job, haha

 

[YY1]

Hmmm, 120 speedo?

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

yeah its a 120, the guy gave us a 150 but its in bad condition

 

[70Fish]

Good car to start with! What I'd do, like the other responses, is get it road worthy and drive it for a while first. I'd also recommend going to local cruise nights/mopar shows so you can inspect similar cars up close to see how certain parts were finished and assembled...like the dash you asked about. You can ask the other mopar guys if they have any B Body parts around, too, and start the local networking!

PS the power windows option is kind of rare.

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

Update: got a new engine, takin the old one out very soon to rebuild, its a 1971 440 that im not quite sure how to find out what it came out of, it has flat top pistons and a steel crank and i heard those were magnum engines, but i do not particularly know the spectrum of cars that came with magnum motors in 1971, so if someone could fill me in id appreciate it, all the engine needs is a little tune up and honing of 2 cylinders, the man gave us a crower 282/292 cam for free, but im not sure if it would be smart to put it in and redo all the timing or leave the timing how it is and leave in the stock crank. any suggestions on that would also be nice, we built a shed to put garage stuff in so now the car is no longer in the weather and in a nicely lit and well kept garage, thank god. just wanted to give people an update.

 

[ChgrSteve67]

There should be a VIN stamped on the side of the motor just above the oil pan.

pleanty of chrysler vin decoders online that you can plug it into and it will tell you what it came out of.

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

the vin only showed the plant, year, and sequence number:/

 

[Big Jim]

Sweet find! Get ir running, get it safe, then enjoy it! Myself, after it was safe, I'd start on the interior- that's where you'll spend most of your time at this stage, so get it comfortable/"presentable". Then do your body work a little at a time. Main thing is to enjoy your R/T and build memories. Envy you!

 

[detmatt1]

Was it decided that the original engine is unuseable?
If you have this `71 440 on a stand, you should automatically hone all cylinders if they don't need to be bored, put new rings and bearings throughout along with timing chain set and oil pump. I also wouldn't reuse any camshaft unless you knew for sure how much time is on it. Buying a new camshaft and installing it in a fresh engine now is way cheaper then putting an old one you know nothing about in and finding it has to come back out for some reason, or at least have it inspected by a machine shop.

 

[17WithaCoronetRT]

Thanks Big Jim! the 71 440 ran 10 years ago and sat since being taken out, so the timing must be spot on that was all i was think about, but yeah ill tell my dad all the stuff you told us to do, and we are about to pull the other engine, and when we do i will tell everyone if it is useable or not, i sure hope so. thanks again for the info