Yankee Express RestoMod Project

[ma mopar nutz]

lookin good!!! good start to a cool project !!:headbang:

 

[Rodney]

looking good.
It must be fuel tanks in Coronets this week! I have been installing the fuel system in my 66 as well.
I bought an repro. tank and found the 3/4 pipe for the vent that was soldered in the tank was just barley hanging on.
after I pushed the hose on the tube it came right out of the tank. Arg. I removed the tank and wire welded it in place after cleaning all of the solder off. now to pressure test it before it goes back in.
is there foam or baffles in the tank you are using?

 

[Brandy]

(is there foam or baffles in the tank you are using? ) yes but i'm just using that black tank as a mock up. It's only a 10 gallon. I found a company that will fab whatever you can dream up if you send them the details. The final tank will hug the ramp up from the trunk floor to the axle hump and over the hump to the cross brace behind the back seat. Then the top of the tank will come back out from under the deck hinge torsion bars and 90 degrees down to the start point behind the front edge of the spare tire. It needs to have a filler neck about 2 inches long, in the middle tilted up towards the center front edge of the trunk lid. I ordered a jet fuel aircraft fuelcap to place on the deck at the front center The black tank was just to sit and stare at while I thought about how I wanted the tank to look. I like the tank that is in the trunk of that 2000HP charger. The supply and return lines are cradled in grooves as they flow down the front of tank. I will try to copy that. Very neat and tidy. I decided on a name for my project....

YANKEE EXPRESS.

 

[tallhair]

I decided on a name for my project....

YANKEE EXPRESS.

Cool name

Keep working on the project

 

[Rodney]

I am sure you already have it handle but worth mentioning..
it is a good idea to install a piece of sheet metal behind the rear seat as a fire barrier when putting a fuel cell in the trunk.
and NHRA required, Sorry for preaching safety but being an NHRA tech in the past I can't help myself.
my wife named the Coronet the "other woman" I spend more time with her than the Wife.. So whats wrong with that?

 

[Brandy]

Hmmm.....nothing I can see wrong there..lol. Yes indeed it's on the list to weld a panel in there after I finish the tubs. And move the rear seatbelt bolts. toying with the idea of a roll bar...

I am sure you already have it handle but worth mentioning..
it is a good idea to install a piece of sheet metal behind the rear seat as a fire barrier when putting a fuel cell in the trunk.
and NHRA required, Sorry for preaching safety but being an NHRA tech in the past I can't help myself.
my wife named the Coronet the "other woman" I spend more time with her than the Wife.. So whats wrong with that?

Also the fuel tank cant be fabbed until the tubs are done.

 

[Rodney]

yes a roll bar and sub frame connectors are a good deal if your going to have some serious power and hooking hard on launch.

 

[Brandy]

My thought as well. I have been copying IQ52's thread about the 7.5/1 compression 440 that he had dyno tested with various heads and intakes etc. I can do what's needed all the way up to 540 HP. I feel like that's a sufficient amount of power to get the Coronet down the line. Plus, I like the notion of having custom valve covers with 540 EXPRESS on them.

yes a roll bar and sub frame connectors are a good deal if your going to have some serious power and hooking hard on launch.

 

[Brandy]

Mock up

So I feel a bit better today and decided to mock up the hood scoops that I drew up while lying in bed. I really liked the old RAMCHARGER '60s drag cars and tried to sort of mimic them. Not positive yet about the shape, I might cut them so that the inside edge of each scoop is lower than the outside to level them with the ground instead of the hood. I also am playing with the idea of sloping the center of the hood up and back from the front edge so that it bisects the inside face of each scoop about 1/2 inch below the top and then comes even with the top as it goes back to the end of the scoops. Sort of a cowl scoop but not as tall and not open on either end. I also want to keep the slight center line rise that the hood already has and incorporate it in the sloping center panel too. I guess it's a similar shape as the 71-74 challenger hood that I was going to buy and graft onto my hood. It's just more boxy and in keeping with the age and the boxy shape of the car. Plus, since i'm going for a MAX WEDGE clone 440 the air cleaners will be right under the scoops and i'll cut a hole under each for intake air. Any thoughts?

 

[Rodney]

I think both concepts would work.
very impressed with your drawing skills!
JMO I'd keep the height of the scoops the same as the hood {Symmetrical I guess}
having height different from one side to the other might be an eye catcher?

 

[HawkRod]

I really like your second drawing - it really nicely incorporates the body lines of the hood and the challenger styling - looks sharp!

As far as the scoops you have mocked up: I agree with Rodney to keep the sides the same, i.e. do not have one side of the scoop inboards of the body line. You light also want to measure a bit to be sure your air cleaners will fall under the scoops - maybe you already did that?

One other notion: If you go with one scoop and put it in the center, the edges can sit just outboard of the body lines on the hood. Then the body lines are like a "feed" for the scoop. If you want additional mods, you can lower how tall the scoop is, and then cut and lower the center part of the hood so it drops down to feed the scoop. While not exact, maybe a picture of this Mustang hood provides an idea of what I am thinking...

 

[Brandy]

I see what your saying. I think that if I made the top surface if them match the left-right slope of the hood they would look like they were out of whack. If on the other hand I were to make them flat, left to right and not follow the curve of the hood which is higher in the middle than the sides, they would be on the same line as the bumper, the seat backs, the roof, and at a 90degree to the fender top edges and the ground.

I think both concepts would work.
very impressed with your drawing skills!
JMO I'd keep the height of the scoops the same as the hood {Symmetrical I guess}
having height different from one side to the other might be an eye catcher?

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(As far as the scoops you have mocked up: I agree with Rodney to keep the sides the same, i.e. do not have one side of the scoop inboards of the body line. You light also want to measure a bit to be sure your air cleaners will fall under the scoops - maybe you already did that?)

The scoops would be aligned along the two body contours that flow up the hood. I'm playing with the idea of making those two lines continue straight down to the front edge instead of going off to the corners of the hood. I don't want a single scoop at all because I will be having two carbs so widely spaced on the wedge intake. No I have not measured yet and I intend to ask anyone in the FBBO membership who has a '67 with a MAX WEDGE engine to get me some measurement's for that. The placement will depend on where those air cleaners are. The second drawing was actually the first one I did because while I like the contours and the way it breaks up the huge hood area I don't like the swept back angles of the scoops and they aren't big enough. They would seem out of place on that huge surface and the car is so square and boxy the swept back look would be too modern. So I guess i'm trying to incorporate the spirit of the 71-74 hood while updating( or backdating) the look to more square and some what larger to eat up some of that hood surface and be symmetrical too. I'll keep playing around with it till i'm sure it's what I want .

Something sorta like this...

 

[Brandy]

FAB-FAB-FAB......got 1 side hammered out to a rough shape, on to the drivers side....

 

[showard]

I like following your work. I want to see how it will look. I think that you are doing a great job.

 

[Rodney]

the center power bulge thing you have going on might work?
build the back piece tall enough and you could mount a fuel PSI or other gauges in it?
might not be enough room?

 

[Brandy]

Hey there, yes I had thought about maybe a Road runner type of turn signal panel that they have at the back edge of the center hump. I think I would rather have shift light and tach inside the windshield as I have factory green tinted glass. I'm also not as enthusiastic about the center power bugle thing. Although if I decide to go with a tall ram intake and big *** carb I might need the height under the hood. Not at the point that I have to decide yet. On the matter of the trunk being flat I've decided to tear out the entire floor in-between the frame rails so that I can get to the rails to weld in the leaf spring mounts that I shift to the frame for wide tires. Be easier to work if I can see what's up from the top down. Will give me some room for my hands and drills and such too. I have a Dana 60 w/ sure grip locked up for purchase and still owe about half on it. It's a 1967 out of a Coronet. I think that if I do put a power bulge in there it will have to fairly low so that the outline of the scoop leading edge is not lost in the view. Maybe half of the scoop height or less.

the center power bulge thing you have going on might work?
build the back piece tall enough and you could mount a fuel PSI or other gauges in it?
might not be enough room?

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Thanks Showard, I appreciate that! I'm waiting on my finances to even out as I retire next month before I do a whole lot more to it. Plus it's damn cold out there!

I like following your work. I want to see how it will look. I think that you are doing a great job.

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I just had a thought about the center hood area.... I wonder if I could slant the entire center section up and back a little if I were to carefully cut along the two lines all of the way to the front edge of the hood and separate the skin from the frame of the hood. I bet I could lift up the back end about an inch or so and then weld in the side pieces from the scoop edge down to the front on each side and fill in the back end for turn signal indicators. I would have to modify the frame underneath to support everything as i'm going to have the hood tilt forward. That seems doable to me. It would have the right slope and I wont have to try to feather in the front edge and worry about it cracking or whatever down the line.



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Hey there hsorman, I see what your saying . You know I don't think it would look awful if I were to make the sort of dip in each side to "feed" both scoops! Just very shallow, almost a ghost of an impression in the hood surface maybe 1/8th of an inch deep at the deepest point in front of the scoop edges. Hmmm. I like that idea a lot! I think it would be symmetrical and look at home with what I've already decided to do there. Thanks for the input man! Cool beans..

 

[Rodney]

I don't see any reason you couldn't cut the hood and use the existing panel to shape the bulge.
I'd lay a straight edge of some sort for a guide and use one of these 1/8 '' cutter discs on a grinder..
we call them the Danger disc's for a good reason but they do make fast cuts

 

[Brandy]

hey 5.7, do you know anyone that can fabricate a piece of chrome trim to run along the front edges of my custom scoops? You know, like the ones on the 340 Demon hood scoops? I figure Cali is way out in front as far as auto stuff is concerned.

It took me 3 years to get IU, and that was with a 90% scheduler rating also. My CRSC is only 60 bucks a month, but I only had 2 yos, so yours should be more, but be mindful of the "glitch", which means you might get squat compared to your yos.

The car is looking good and if I can help out in anyway, just let me know, one Vet to another!!

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Yes sir, I have a air die cutter with those cutoff wheels. Very thin. That's what I was going to use, and yes I have a 7 foot aluminum 2" straight edge that will flex to follow the curve of the hood. I will have to fill in the area left to each side where the body lines go out to the front corners, never liked that anyway, should have been straight from the factory IMHO.

I don't see any reason you couldn't cut the hood and use the existing panel to shape the bulge.
I'd lay a straight edge of some sort for a guide and use one of these 1/8 '' cutter discs on a grinder..
we call them the Danger disc's for a good reason but they do make fast cuts

View attachment 235902

 

[Brandy]

Well, I took my own advice and cut up my hood. It looks awesome! I sliced up both contour lines front to back and separated the skin from the hood underbracing. I placed a one inch stick of wood under the skin just forward of the scoops front edge and it is exactly what I was looking for! Now I have to slice up some long triangle pieces to close out the sides of the bulge. After that I will tack up the rough setup and flip the hood and figure out the bracing situation on the underside. I suppose i'll cut some strips to match the width of the bracing and form them to fit the underside of the bulge and tack them in too. Then it's time to cut and place two curved panels to fit under the scoops and direct the air around and down into the holes in the hood. I am PUMPED that this mod looks so bada**!! I think i'll cut the piece of wood into two smaller chunks so I can get back the curvature of the center line before I tack it in place. It looks flat right now across there. Also I snapped a pic of the back of the scoops and the bulge. I have plenty of space now to place the roadrunner turn signal indicators there. I am going to also work on the two feed areas in front of the scoop inlets to make the slight depression across there to funnel air into them. At some future point i'll place/paint carbon fiber/flat black graphics that go from the front of the hood edge back up the center bulge and out over the hoodscoops and down to the edge of the hood on both sides. The rest of the design is still up in the air. Either flamed under the graphics or the new 2015 side treatment modified for this car. I included I pic of a Challanger hood graphic to give the idea. I need to do some more hammer work on the scoops to cleanup the angles and planes and edges some.

 

[Brandy]

Now that I have my car back, here is what I'm working on.... I am mini tubbing the rear wheel wells and also working on the hood and cowl/hoodscoop area. I have some grinding to do in the wheel well before I tack it in and I want to cut the filler strip first and tack that in before welding along the inside floor edge. I got the trunk hinge plate to set right by trimming the center and both edges and I also trimmed off the triangle stop on the underside of the hinge arm because it would not rotate back without hitting the tub. I chose to set up the trunk lid with gas lifts as the front hood will tilt forward and will have gas lifts as well. The hood scoop in these pics is one I made today out of 24 gauge sheetmetal. The heavyduty 18 guage ones I had were mock ups. These will be permanent.

I am going to slip a short curved wall under each scoop to direct air around and under the cowl edge to come out and down at the stock triangular hole in the hood frame over the carb. the inside vertical edge of each scoop will be cut and tacked into place crossing through and under the cowl edge to line up with that triangle shaped opening. That will make a "window" in the inside edge of the scoops which will direct the air flow around to the center and under the cowl edge and dump into the engine bay over the aircleaner. All other resulting gaps under and around this air tunnel will be closed up. I chose to stick a triangle shaped center post under the front edge of the scoop to give it some rigidity. I bent this scoop on my 30" sheetmetal brake. The back edge of each scoop has to be cut to follow the curve of the hood and it's a weird angle in two directions. The bottom edges also curve front to back slightly to follow the hood. I tacked up the cowl area ahead of the scoop today and ground it down. Still need to close up the rest of the line there and get some filler on it to shape the flow. I'll do that once the other scoop is built and I sand blast the hood underside and install stiffing pieces under the cowl. I have to cut another strip to finish the back of the cowl as well. Once I have the tub sewed up I'll start on the driver side. I picked up the metal locally for 36 bucks for a 4x8 sheet .View attachment 265668View attachment 265671View attachment 265672