I have never worked so hard...

[ViperMan]

 

[72 Challenger]

That looks sweet. 

[anlauto]

So you said seven months....give us the condensed version of what took place...the car looks great by the way, love the stance.

[ViperMan]

Air ride is functioning TOO well - the car practically hops when the rear-end lifts.  There are flow control settings I can tweak though (if I feel like crawling in and out of the trunk about a dozen times...)

She's still idling too high - I probably need to turn the distro but man I don't wanna mess with that...  Also she won't shift into gear, but I ran out of tranny fluid trying to fill it up, so I need to run up to the auto parts store again for like the 500th time... 

Watching that air ride system work though...  kinda makes all the effort worth it... 

[Spikedog08]

That's awesome!  Hope you can figure out how to get it to move!   

[CudaMoparRay]

Quite a unique project indeed congratulations 🎊🍾🎉

[Cuda Cody]

Okay, that is impressive!!!     Very nicely done.  Looks great. 

[ViperMan]

I might need a air-bag smiley, @Cuda Cody ... 

[ViperMan]

So you said seven months....give us the condensed version of what took place...the car looks great by the way, love the stance.

Thank you, Alan.    The project still has a long way to go, but this has been a pretty fun and challenging phase of it for sure!

I started disassembly of the car on January 6th.  It took about 2 weeks to tear the front end apart and get the engine out.  By the end of January I had setup all my measurements on the garage floor, and set apart cutting the frame rails, just in front of the firewall.

I spent most of February welding the new stub in place from FatMan Fabrications.  From there it was installing new steering, braking and suspension components.  I had my new Wilwood calipers powder coated, and purchased a GM-spec steering column to connect to the new Ford-spec rack & pinion.  Suspension is all tubular A-arms from FatMan.  I built new brake lines and plumbed new airlines from the front air bags using weld-on studs.

In March I was sorting out the engine mounts, which set me back way more than I expected.  I ended up having to notch the frame to clear the rotating assembly of the engine, and had a custom oil pan built by Kevko Racing.  That all took up most of April, too.


By May or so I was tackling the rear suspension.  I got some new leaf springs from Detroit Eaton Springs, but with several leafs removed.  I built a new cross-member with brackets from Universal Air to mount new, behind-the-axle air bags (though I placed mine in front!)  That took a lot of work too - trying to get it all lined up correctly.

Funny thing was, by June I felt like I hadn't accomplished a thing.  Nothing was truly "finished" yet.  Air lines weren't done, the air tank wasn't installed yet, the rear suspension wasn't finished, steering wasn't ready...  ...and then I tore out the dash so I could rewire the whole thing.  Even Spikedog thought I was nuts on that one. 

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind...  We got the column mounted, built the DD-linkage to the rack, finished the rear axle level sensors, ran a new fuel line, finished all the air lines, got the air tank mounted, finished all the wiring, and bled the master cylinder and all the brake lines...  Literally this morning I put the car back on the ground for the first time since January.  A few hours later I took her for her innaugural drive!

Ash and I agree that the Coronet should go to Carlisle, but she's really not road-worthy...  There's a nasty shuddering above about 20mph.  The power steering system puked out its fluid twice today - not sure where its coming from yet.  There's a weird wiring issue with the GM column - I don't have rear parking lamps and the front parking lamps blink with the brake lights...  The air-ride however works fantastic. 

Not sure if tht was condensed enough, but it's kinda hard to boil all that down!  I spent nearly every single weekend out in the garage since January, and have spent every evening out the garage since June.

[Spikedog08]

That’s amazing!  Great breakdown!   Car looks very cool!  Look forward to checking it out at the show!   On a side note, I really don’t think you should chop the top . . I like that look.   

[ViperMan]

On a side note, I really don't think you should chop the top . . I like that look.   

Well, if I do, it's not going to be a huge chop - the plan is to make it look more proportional.  I feel like, when she's all the way down, and you're standing there looking at it, the greenhouse becomes kinda cartoonishly tall...

[303 Mopar]

On a side note, I really don't think you should chop the top . . I like that look.   

Well, if I do, it's not going to be a huge chop - the plan is to make it look more proportional.  I feel like, when she's all the way down, and you're standing there looking at it, the greenhouse becomes kinda cartoonishly tall...

I agree, chop a few inches out would make it look better.  Not so much of a balloon top.

[MEK-Dangerous]

Jeff,

  I know you have a vision, and I get that. It's your car to do what you want.

BUT.... If I can be honest with you. That car looked great at Carlisle last year. I absolutely love the matte black paint job, and you made a great choice with the wheels too. So that would have been where I stopped.

I can't wait to see this modified version. I gotta give you credit buddy, to do sooo much work in such a short time is nothing short of amazing. I wish you nothing but the best in making it your dream.   

[ViperMan]

Jeff,

  I know you have a vision, and I get that. It's your car to do what you want.

BUT.... If I can be honest with you. That car looked great at Carlisle last year. I absolutely love the matte black paint job, and you made a great choice with the wheels too. So that would have been where I stopped.

I can't wait to see this modified version. I gotta give you credit buddy, to do sooo much work in such a short time is nothing short of amazing. I wish you nothing but the best in making it your dream.   

Yeah MEK - that's kinda the point though; it looked good last year, it'll look better this year, and it'll keep improving each year until I'm done.    When I look at it, I see where I want it to go and what it can be and I'm excited to make that next step.  Other folks can't see that - which makes sense of course - and so it's natural for them to say, "Yeah it's great - leave it..."

I appreciate the support.  At least this car won't scare you like my other one - at least for another year or so... 

Can't wait to see everyone next week!!

[ViperMan]

So here's the NEXT list of "now that she's done, I need to fix" repairs... 

Install axle shims to hopefully fix the really-bad pinion/driveshaft angle
If deemed necessary, get a new driveshaft
Install the new proportional valve I bought from The Right Stuff at Carlisle
Re-bleed brakes after proportional valve is in
Grease all the ball joints and tie-rod ends to see if the groaning noises go away when steering
Finish wiring horns and clean up front-end wires
Find final location for air-ride system computer and make installation permanent
Modify aftermarket paper-style air cleaner to fit engine
Adjust timing and/or carburetor to get the idle where it needs to be (lower)
Get front-end aligned
Finally take her for a cruise... 

I can tell you however that I won't be TOUCHING this car for a week or two.  We need a break from each other.