Hello Everybody!
As the title states, my Mopar is the 1967 dodge coronet seen in episode 126 (S10) of the Motortrend TV show Roadkill! Needless to say its changed A LOT since that day so ill start with august 18th 2021 onward, only because I didn't have much of a history with Mopars prior.
I'll start off with the car as it was when I got it: 1967 Dodge Coronet 440, 318 2bbl, 727 auto, factory A/C car (long since removed), 8 3/4 with 2.94 open, Power steering, Manual brakes. almost every chassis bushing or joint was on the verge of collapsing. the subframe and floors aren't soft but the quarters and front fenders are pretty crusty. The worst of it is the lower corners in the back of the roof, my guess that was the vinyl tops doing. Top that off with some generic 14x5.5 steelies with the wrong lugnuts, leaking radiator, and a leaking fuel tank, that's how I drove it home, barely!
When I got home the previous owner reached out to me with some additional parts he wanted to give me. I went over to collect the goods being: Passenger door skin, Edelbrock SP2P 318 and 600 cfm Carb with brackets and kickdown stuff, and some rad 14x6" slot mags. First thing I did to the car was slap on that manifold and carb, man it made a difference! So much so that it tore apart the drivers motor mount. I replaced both just to be safe. With a few paychecks saved up and my old Maverick sold I finally started to fix it up. I was 19 and going to college at the time so I didn't have too much to spare. I got a new fuel tank, radiator, headers, and solid motor mounts. I had finished all this around mid October but I had tests coming up so it sat.
Well now we come to December 2021, the beginning of the cars major change in attitude. with the car in my parents garage it was time to put it over at my place. I got it running, and pretty good at that, so I decided to move it over. Well me and all my genius couldn't leave the car be and I took it out with a buddy. I was doing a pull not paying a lick of attention to my oil pressure gauge and sent the #1 rod right out the pan. This was a real low point for me in terms of the car, I had barely drove it for 3 months and I already killt it. I still owe my father for this one, He sends me a 1970 318 with a "documented 37k miles" and says: "Your picking it up Saturday, I don't want to see you complaining to me about it" This was a huge weight of my shoulders, if only I had known what was in store over the next few months.
I get the engine and its just a bone stock 70' 318 2bbl. In between buying it and tearing it down, I bought a 4 door 67' coronet roller for $500, I ended up taking the whole front clip, and the bitchin 15" steelies with matching dodge division dog dishes. I then tore the 318 down and put all new bearings, gaskets and rings. While I still don't know if it really was 37K it was definitely a lower mile motor with no ring ridge to speak of and beautiful piston skirts for its age. Being young, I couldn't leave the thing stock. I put in a summit k6901 cam with comp lifters and that same SP2P and carb, along with the same headers (cheapie ones I got through O'reilly 1 5/8"). While it was out I also had the 727 rebuilt (Took forever but it was worth the wait!) and installed a B&M Holeshot 2400 stall converter. I installed the passenger fender, grille and bumper off the 4 door since mine always had a huge dent on that side. By the time I had all the parts and pieces together and installed it was late June 2022.
After installing all my new parts I made a big mistake that could've ended way worse than it did. I forgot to tighten the rear u-joint. I was cruising 50-55 mph and a loud BANG! at first I thought it was motor and I would've cried, but I had pretzeled the shaft pretty good. I drove it home (2 miles thankfully) and started measuring for a new shaft. Its now late July and I really wanted the car ready for Roadkill Nights which was August 13th. well I got the shaft July 28th and now I needed to address all the bushings and joints (yes I never fixed those event though I knew about them for 11 months) Carnage would be an understatement. When you took corners the top of the wheels would camber in and out, it was horrendous. New bushings all in the front along with welding the king pin tubes back in the k-member the car would now hold an alignment. Since I still had a few days I put new steering joints in it too along with a 3.31 rear gear.
RKN went really well, car did overheat once but other than that it did great! Even got some signatures! About a month later I decided I wanted to take it up to school. Well lets just say I didn't make it. Blew a head gasket and I towed it home with a U-Haul. On the hunt for cheap performance, it was time for a rerebuild. With the engine back out, I decided to get my 67' 318 heads ready, milling full valve job and even a little port work. they actually turned out really good. For a cam and being I'm still in college, I went with a summit K6920 cam with comp lifters and Melling performance springs. for the bottom end I didn't change much other than rings, bearings and a HV oil pump. I also got some better headers for good and cheap. I found out if you actually go the the summit racing location, you can buy display items for sometimes 65% off. I got some Hooker Competition 1 3/4" headers to replace the cheapies for only $140. Topped it off with a Holley 650 double pumper...
Which finally brings us to Present day. The car is way different now, but at the same time its not. I've learned more than any textbook or story could ever teach me working on this car and safe to say its only the beginning for this car. Sure its a small block, sure its rusty but in the end, its a 56 year old car that I choose to keep on the road and I take pride in that. I'm 7 days away from graduating college and I'm glad I'll have something totally bitchin' to show up to graduation in.
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