DodgeCoronet.com

Issued a new VIN when recovered after reported stolen and insurance already paid the owner out. The state decided they could make money by reselling the car. Legally it was considered as gone so the original VIN can no longer be associated with a registered vehicle. That's the quick explanation of what happened to this car. Hurts resale but I wanted this car to mod and keep for my son in 15 years so I don't care about originality. I paid less than it would have cost me to hunt down the parts and put together a running R/T clone so it works for my purposes.

mykenytemare Wrote:Well, it would be nice to know what I really have. Hell, if it looks very likely that its a real R/T it would probably motivate me to find a 67 440 block eventually and make it "right"

First order of business once I get the leaks and carb adjustment addressed is to deal with bulletproofing the ammmeter or completely eliminating it from the wiring.

"Well, it would be nice to know what I really have." I suggest looking in the trunk at the 1/4 panels to see if there are signs of holes filled from trim/emblems removed, to start with

Wouldn't there be the number on the radiator support?

67440Dodge Wrote:Ahh.. so you bought the one up in Milford, PA.

Post a picture of the engine compartment, it can help narrow some things down..

46844685

Well, there is a number on the radiator support, but I thought that was just a build date...plus it has the paint scratched off in the area so its possible someone added it after to look original or that the core support is from another car. This car is likely far from original.

As far as the trunk/quarter panels, it looks like the lower quarters were replaced some time before the car was painted (as it matches inside the trunk and out) there is lots of "overspray" or "textured patch material" that can be seen from the inside. More evidence that the car might not be a real R/T. Maybe I will pull a door panel and see if the door skin has been patched.

Hello mykenytemare,

Welcome to the DCR.

As far as your Coronet being a "real R/T" or not, other than for resale value and you've already clearly stated that you're planning on keeping the car for many years for your son to own someday, does it really matter? It looks to be a very good looking car that you and your son can have a lot of fun with in the years to come, so that's all that should really matter right?

My 1966 Coronet 500 was a "numbers matching" car with lots of factory options when I purchased it back in 1989 but as you can see below, I've made quite a few changes over the years, so many things are no longer still "factory stock". I built the car the way that I wanted it and if nobody else likes it, that will have to be their problem, not mine. When I cash in my chips someday, the next owner can do whatever they want with it.

Enjoy your "new" Coronet and most of all, build it the way that YOU want it and don't worry about what anybody else says or thinks.

Richard

I was prepared this time when Richard posted pics of his cool car, I had sunglasses on heheh

67r/t4speeder Wrote: I was prepared this time when Richard posted pics of his cool car, I had sunglasses on heheh

Richard

thebankerstoy Wrote:Hello mykenytemare,

Welcome to the DCR.

As far as your Coronet being a "real R/T" or not, other than for resale value and you've already clearly stated that you're planning on keeping the car for many years for your son to own someday, does it really matter? It looks to be a very good looking car that you and your son can have a lot of fun with in the years to come, so that's all that should really matter right?

My 1966 Coronet 500 was a "numbers matching" car with lots of factory options when I purchased it back in 1989 but as you can see below, I've made quite a few changes over the years, so many things are no longer still "factory stock". I built the car the way that I wanted it and if nobody else likes it, that will have to be their problem, not mine. When I cash in my chips someday, the next owner can do whatever they want with it.

Enjoy your "new" Coronet and most of all, build it the way that YOU want it and don't worry about what anybody else says or thinks.

Richard

Richard, I must say I am a fan of the coil mounting and plug wire routing as my car is currently a mess with the wires all made the wrong length with an MSD kit. I will use your car as my guide to go off of when I do a tune up in a few weeks. If the battery is in the trunk (looks possible from the angle of the photo) did you use any special kit? Im thinking to move mine and want to pick everyone's brain whenever I can as your engine bay is pretty awesome.

Thank you very much for your kind words for my car. I did spend quite a bit of time and effort to cleanly route all of the spark plug wires and all of the engine compartment wiring, as like you, it bothers me if it's messy.

You are correct regarding my Coronet having it's battery relocated in the trunk compartment. It's located over on the right side of the trunk compartment and I did this conversion back in 1991 or so by using one of the Mopar Performance battery relocating kits. I believe that the current part number is still P4349500AB but this kit is a little different now than it was back then as it looks to include a battery box in the kit now that wasn't included back then. I also made some modifications to the original kit by adding the following upgraded parts.

(01) Installed upgraded N.H.RA. legal (at that time) 3/8" inch threaded battery hold down j-bolts
(02) Installed upgraded battery tray to trunk floor mounting bolts, nuts and washers
(03) Installed a custom made heavy duty battery hold down strap
(04) Installed a custom made N.H.R.A. legal (at that time) aluminum firewall to replace the original factory cardboard divider that hangs on the X brace located between the back seat and the trunk compartment
(05) Replaced the Mopar Performance positive and negative battery cables that came in the kit with solid copper welding cable
(06) Installed an N.H.R.A. legal (at that time) external electrical system cutoff switch under the passenger side of the rear bumper.
(07) Installed heavy duty quick disconnect terminals on the positive and negative battery cables that fit the upgraded solid copper cables

Here's an older picture that I took of the battery set-up years ago, but if you need better pictures I can try to do that for you with my digital camera. The solid copper positive cable is run from the battery down through the trunk floor to the appropriate side of the electrical system cutoff switch and then back from the cutoff switch back into the trunk compartment up to to the front passenger side of the trunk compartment, then over to the drivers side of the trunk compartmen and then into the main body wiring tray trough on the drivers side of the car. From there out to the battery relay I don't remember the exact route that I ran the cable, but I'm sure that I found an existing hole as I don't remember drilling any holes. The negative battery cable is simply run from the battery over to a major metal brace on the passenger side of the trunk compartment.



I took this picture during the cars restoration back in 1991. It shows the X brace where the custom aluminum firewall that I made was placed. This is also where the positive battery cable came through from the trunk compartment into the interior compartment and then into the rear and main body wiring harnesses trough on the drivers side.



This last picture shows the electrical cutoff switch mounted under the rear bumper.



Richard

Here are a couple more pictures of the spark plug wires and coil from different angles. If you're wondering where all of the transmission kick-down linkage is, I'm running a full manually shifted valve body in my 727 automatic, along with a floor console mounted B&M Quicksilver shifter. Remember how I mentioned that I've made quite a few non stock modifications?

Richard