nitro_rat
Active Member
This all started when I was just a baby. My grandpa had the local Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge dealership and my dad picked up a '69 Coronet 440 2-door hard top that they took in on trade. He also got a wagon with a 440 that came in on trade. The 440, big brakes, and rear end from the wagon went in the 2-door and "Red Hots" was born. It was red with a white top and white/red interior. Anyway, we ended up moving from Texas to New Jersey for my dad's work and Red Hots was sold to help finance the move. I've wanted another one ever since...
I have always been mechanical, I put together several hot rods for myself over the years and I usually daily drive old 4x4 pickups. I got laid off from my corporate job back in 2020 during Covid and opened a mechanic/muffler shop and ran that for a few years. I did a couple full builds for customers at the shop and cut my teeth doing floor pans and other panel replacement. But there was that shoe-maker's kids don't have shoes thing going on...
I'm now back to working full-time for a small company doing marine propulsion systems for about half goverment (Coast Guard/Army/Navy/NOAA) and half tug boat and commercial fishing vessels. Last year, I ended up picking up a rough '68 Coronet 440. After looking it over and doing some research, I decided that it wasn't really worth sinking the money into that car that it would take to make it a decent driver.
About the time that I was turning that corner two things happened. One, I saw an ad for a decently priced Coronet R/T shell on Facebook. Then, about a day later I saw a video of it on YouTube that showed the underside was actually pretty solid. I looked back on FB and found the seller. I sent him a message and we ended up working out a deal.
I usually always go pick up my projects, but my work schedule is killing my spare time right now. Plus my tow rig is in Washington state, the R/T is in Kansas, and my shop is in Texas. So...I'm arraigning transport for this one. Hopefully it all comes together, I'm starting to get excited...
I already have a good deck lid (about the only thing that's good on my '68 440) and I also picked up a cherry set of '68 R/T front fenders in Washington back in November of last year. My main hurdle with this one is going to be figuring out what to do with the quarter panels. I'm not much of a body guy. I kinda like the idea of straightening out the original metal but hanging a set of replacement quarters is more in line with my skill set. I guess I'll evaluate that further once I get the car into my possession. Hopefully that will happen by the end of the month!
I have always been mechanical, I put together several hot rods for myself over the years and I usually daily drive old 4x4 pickups. I got laid off from my corporate job back in 2020 during Covid and opened a mechanic/muffler shop and ran that for a few years. I did a couple full builds for customers at the shop and cut my teeth doing floor pans and other panel replacement. But there was that shoe-maker's kids don't have shoes thing going on...
I'm now back to working full-time for a small company doing marine propulsion systems for about half goverment (Coast Guard/Army/Navy/NOAA) and half tug boat and commercial fishing vessels. Last year, I ended up picking up a rough '68 Coronet 440. After looking it over and doing some research, I decided that it wasn't really worth sinking the money into that car that it would take to make it a decent driver.
About the time that I was turning that corner two things happened. One, I saw an ad for a decently priced Coronet R/T shell on Facebook. Then, about a day later I saw a video of it on YouTube that showed the underside was actually pretty solid. I looked back on FB and found the seller. I sent him a message and we ended up working out a deal.
I usually always go pick up my projects, but my work schedule is killing my spare time right now. Plus my tow rig is in Washington state, the R/T is in Kansas, and my shop is in Texas. So...I'm arraigning transport for this one. Hopefully it all comes together, I'm starting to get excited...
I already have a good deck lid (about the only thing that's good on my '68 440) and I also picked up a cherry set of '68 R/T front fenders in Washington back in November of last year. My main hurdle with this one is going to be figuring out what to do with the quarter panels. I'm not much of a body guy. I kinda like the idea of straightening out the original metal but hanging a set of replacement quarters is more in line with my skill set. I guess I'll evaluate that further once I get the car into my possession. Hopefully that will happen by the end of the month!
