Some Progress on my '68 Coronet

[EngineerDoug]

Hello all,

I thought I would post a couple of before and after photos of my '68 Coronet project. I've been working in it for the last 13 months. I stripped the entire car down to a shell, and began restoring major assemblies as they were removed. The car has thus far received new front floorpans, torsion bar crossmember, subframe connectors, and torqueboxes. I started at the front of the car, stripping down the engine bay and moving rearward. The old 383 has been rebuilt and runs on a stand until the day for re-installation comes.

I decided to paint and reassemble the engine bay & floorpans, because I got tired of staring at bare steel and boxes of front end parts all over the garage.

The next step will be to cut apart the rear of the shell so it can receive new quarters, trunk pans, etc. That is where the worst of the rust lived.

I will say that I am pretty happy with how the engine bay turned out. This project was never intended to be concours quality, as I would like to drive the car before I turn 60 (57 now). So I did not spend a lot of time fussing over every slight wrinkle in the firewall, because I will focus my attention on the exterior paint & bodywork.

Nevertheless I think it looks pretty good - hope you like the Sublime!

 

[oldbee]

+1. Thank god you have casters on the stand, doesn't have to stay outdoors 24/7! Lol

 

[EngineerDoug]

Yup - and I have the entire shell on casters. Put a cheap winch on the dolly so I can easily wheel it in and out of the garage for nasty work like sandblasting.

 

[Cncguy1]

Looks good!

 

[GetX'd]

You've got one hell of a project going and some sweet work to this point. Looking forward to seeing it progress.

 

[moparnation74]

Looking great! Nice progress and keep it coming!

Another smart man with an engine run stand!

ps from an OE type guy we don't fuss over the wrinkles either, they were there from the factory....

 

[JimKueneman]

Your lime green '68 along side my orange '68 would really grab attention!

 

[EngineerDoug]

Hey guys,

I thought I would post some updated photos of this project. The panel work on the shell is finally complete. I have the quarters, tail panel, and everything else welded in place. The trunk has just been painted, and I am happy with it. I will say that getting a spray gun in all the places it needed to go was difficult, and there are a few small boo-boos here and there. The trunk is probably on a par with what came off the assembly line. The next step will be to finish stripping the roof and rockers so the exterior can be epoxy primed. Then bodywork/prep for paint.

I had never hung quarters before, nor had I ever replaced so much of the rear structure. Thus far it looks like everything is straight - the doors and trunk lid will fit fine when the time comes. The AMD quarters fit with almost no tweaking - these are top notch pieces. Hope you like the photos!

 

[EngineerDoug]

Hey folks,

Here are a few photos of progress on my '68 project. It is finally back on four wheels and off the body dolly. All the suspension is done, and a Dana 60 lives out back. I hope to epoxy prime the quarters, tail, and roof this weekend. I have built a spray booth on my property, and am interested to see how that works out when I prime the body. My plan is to body work the trunk lid, doors, and fenders next. I will probably go with a fiberglass 6 pack hood, even though I do have a steel hood that appears to be in pretty good shape.

It has been a lot of work to get this far, but it does feel good to know all that hidden rust is gone. I have replaced/repaired what seems like a dozens of sheetmetal pieces just to get her solid.

Thanks for looking!

 

[JimKueneman]

Outstanding... my orange '68 next to this green one would look insane!

 

[BeeKool]

Cars going to be gorgeous.
After seeing a 68 Coronet in Sublime, it doesn't seem fair to paint any other car the same color because they don't compare

 

[EngineerDoug]

And now the entire shell is in primer, ready for final bodywork/blocking. I test fit the tail panel and lights just to be sure everything fits. So much of the back end got repaired/replaced I am amazed it all came back together.

No it's not a real R/T....