DodgeCoronet.com

The new RCI seat..



The new custom seat mount that I fabricated.



The new Simpson 5 point harness.



The newGrant steering wheel with the custom horn button that I made using a Chrysler Corporation wheel center cap emblem.
I also used these same center caps on my American Racing Champ 500 wheels.

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Completed interior pictures.

This first interior restoration will be changing again in the not to distant future hopefully, as I've been gathering LOTS of n.o.s. interior parts for
over 22 years now so that I will be able to do a second and complete interior restoration. This time around, I will also be working on the factory
power window system, windshield wiper system, complete dashboard restoration, all new weatherstriping and I will also be adding a brand new
dash pad from my friend Mike Ross who owns B/E&A Restoration Parts, new pearl white seat covers and door panels along with a new headliner
and new carpeting from my friends at Legendary Auto Interiors.

This new interior will be MUCH more factory stock looking as the only aftermarket parts that will be seen are the AutoMeter tachometer and auxiliary
gauges and the B&M shifter handle, as the current console mounted B&M plastic chromed shifter box cover will be removed and a reproduction factory
4 speed console body shifter top plate and 4 speed boot will be used to cover up all of the B&M shifter parts except for the handle and shifter knob.

I will also be doing another complete interior color change The new colors will be my absolutely favorite color scheme of pearl white and black that the
factory offered on these cars when they were new.

Here's just a FEW of the smaller n.o.s. and restored parts that would fit into my storage bins that I have waiting for this new interior.

Here's a few pictures of other 66 Coronets which have the similar pearl white and black color scheme that I will be going with on my car.









Next up will be information about the new engine, transmission and rear differential that was built and installed around this same time frame back
in 1990-1991
.
Richard

PART FOUR - DRIVETRAIN - ENGINE

As mentioned, my Coronet had a non original 383 in it when I purchased the car and that engine had seen it's better days, so it was removed and
sold fairly soon after I found a gentleman who had a very nice running 400 big block that he had rebuilt a couple of years earlier. He had sold the
vehicle that this engine had been in, so he had no use for it anymore. I picked up that 400 for a couple of hundred dollars and it served me well
while my search continued for the engine that I really wanted, which was a 1969 440 HP engine found that engine in 1990 when I saw an ad in one
of our local newspapers. A gentleman was advertising that he had a clean, freshly machined 1969 440 HP short block for sale, so I immediately called
him and said I'd be right over.

When I arrived, he did indeed have an beautifully prepped 1969 440 HP engine block that had been professionally hot tanked, checked for core shift,
magnafluxed for cracks and bored .30 over. This blocks matching main caps, steel crankshaft and a beautifully prepped set of standard 440 connecting
rods were also there. He also had a set of 12.5 to 1 pistons, a set of B-Body Hooker Super Comp headers and some other nice performance parts for
sale, but none of those parts were going to work for me, so I purchased just the block, main caps, crankshaft and connecting rods.

The next stop for my new 440 was at my favorite machine shop where I had everything double checked again and some custom machine work done to
the block. This work included opening up all of the main internal oil passage ways up to 1/2" Hemi specs, removed any internal factory flashing that could
pose any future issues, double checked all of the mating surfaces for flatness and cleaned and checked out all of the blocks threaded bolt holes for any
issues. After that, the block was hot tanked again and a fresh hone was performed. All new Mopar Performance brass freeze plugs and various other
block plugs were installed, as were a new set of Mopar Performance camshaft bearings. The rotating assembly was also balanced at this same machine
shop once the short block was assembled by me and a friend.

Here's a laundry list of most of the parts that I used.

Short Block Parts

(1) Mopar Performance block hardware package.
(2) Mopar Performance rear seal package.
(3) New crankshaft bearings.
(4) TRW .30 over forged aluminum pistons, rated @ 10.1 to 1 compression ratio.
(5) Seal Power piston rings.
(6) ARP high performance connecting rod bolts.
(7) Mopar Performance "thin style" steel crankshaft vibration damper.
(8) Mopar Performance crank bolt and washer package.
(9) Mopar Performance .284 - .484 hydraulic camshaft and lifter package.
(original design, part #P4120235)
(10) Mopar Performance camshaft bearings.
(11) Mopar Performance double roller timing chain and sprocket set.
(12) Mopar Performance chrome front timing chain cover, seal and gasket set.
(13) Mopar Performance chrome front timing chain cover bolts.

Cylinder Head Parts

I started with a set of the factory Mopar "452" style production cylinder heads that I already had in my parts stash and had my machine shop hot
tank them, magnaflux them for cracks, check the mating surfaces for flatness and check and clean out all of the threaded bolt holes. They were
then hot tanked again before having new set of bronze valve guides, hardened exhaust valve seats and a high performance valve job done to them.
A mild "gasket match" porting job was also done.

(1) Mopar Performance stainless steel 2.08 diameter intake valves.
(2) Mopar Performance stainless steel 1.74 diameter exhaust valves.
(3) Mopar Performance valve keeper locks.
(4) Mopar Performance "933" single spring with damper valve springs.
(5) Mopar Performance valve spring retainers.
(6) Mopar Performance high temperature Viton rubber umbrella style valve seals.
(7) Aftermarket hardened chrome rocker shafts.
(8) Mopar Performance heavy duty 1.5 ratio stamped steel Six Pack style hydraulic rocker arm package which also included new heavy duty rocker arm shaft
retainers and bolts.
(9) Thick Fel-Pro head gaskets. (which helped to bring my final compression ratio to the 9.7 to 1 that I was looking for)
(10) Mopar Performance brass freeze plugs.
(11) Older style Direct Connection chromed stamped steel valve covers.
(12) Mopar Performance valve cover accessory set

Oil System Parts

(1) Milodon 7 quart oil pan.
(2) Matching Milodon 1/2" oil pick-up tube and screen assembly.
(3) Mopar Performance windage tray.
(4) Mopar Performance high performance, high output oil pump.
(5) Mopar Performance hardened distributor and oil pump intermediate shaft and
gear assembly.

Fuel System Parts

(1) Custom blueprinted Holley 750 cfm carb with vacuum secondaries. A Holley
rear jet metering block was also added to replace the standard Holley metering
plate.
(2) Edelbrock Torker single plane aluminum intake manifold. (original design)
(3) Intake manifold was "gasket matched" ported.
(4) Phenolic plastic 1" carb spacer.
(5) Mopar Performance high performance, high output mechanical fuel pump
rated @ 80 gph.
(6) Mopar Performance mechanical fuel pump pushrod kit.

Ignition System Parts

(1) Mopar Performance electronic ignition conversion kit.
(2) Mopar Performance chrome ECU box used instead of the original orange ECU
box received in the above kit.
(3) Mopar Performance distributor intermediate shaft bushing
(4) Accel 8.8mm 300+ Spiral Core spark plug wires. (black in color)
(5) Two of the Accel 8.8mm Competition Spark Plug Wire Loom and Separator kits.
(6) MSD Blaster II ignition coil.
(7) Mopar Performance high output voltage regulator.

Cooling System Parts

(1) 1966 factory style stock cast water pump housing. (drivers side exit for lower
radiator hose)
(2) Moroso high performance, high flow aluminum water pump.
(3) Mopar Performance 180 degree thermostat
(4) Cool-Flex chromed and ribbed seamless copper upper and lower radiator
hoses with polished aluminum end caps.
(5) Custom fabricated 26" brass and copper radiator with a five row, off-set core
and factory 1966 C-Body upper and lower tanks. (upper tank #2582962, 1966 C-
Body with 383 engine and factory air conditioning and either manual or automatic
transmission) My Coronet's original factory metal radiator mounting brackets
were also used.
(6) Mopar Performance reproduction 67-69 B-Body Hemi and big block 26"
radiator fan shroud.(fits some 66 models also )
(7) Aftermarket aluminum fan (I would have much rather used the Mopar
Performance viscous fan package that I have used on all of my other Mopar's in
the past, but the thicker custom radiator prevented me from doing so :p)
(8) A 1980's Dodge Mini van coolant over flow bottle was also added.

I don't have any pictures of this engine being built, but here's a few pictures that were taken as we were installing the engine into my Coronet
back in 1991.

Richard

Here's a couple of pictures of my original hood to carb fresh air set-up that I fabricated.





Here's how the engine looked with the second hood to carb fresh air seal set-up that I fabricated.

More current pictures with and without the custom flamed billet air cleaner top that I added a few years ago.

Quote:67R/T4speeder
How did you like that cam when driving on the street? I realize you were mostly
1/4 mile back then with it but just wondering , and I noticed you added a vac.
pump to support the brake booster, was that due to the cam?

What did you use for foam on that hood seal for air filter?

Hello Andy,

The Mopar Performance .284 - .484 camshaft's power range from my experience with it, is from about 2200 to 6500 rpm range which
worked out very well on the drag strip, but it's 68 degrees of overlap make for extremely low engine vacuum output at idle and low rpm's
for a street driven engine which must provide engine vacuum for such options as power brakes and air conditioning, so I wouldn't recommend
it for a street engine. It's also a very dirty cam because of that overlap, so if anybody has to get their older Muscle cars through their state's
emissions testing program, this particular cam is NOT a good choice either! I may be changing it out myself, but I will most likely try replacing
my single plane Torker intake manifold first and see if that helps, but if changing the intake manifold along with the electric vacuum pump doesn't
improve this low vacuum problem, the camshaft change will be next. As far as the foam that I used for my hood to carb seal goes, I found it at
the Home Depot in my neighborhood. It's original use is to insulate a/c and water pipes and similar applications. It's a very heavy duty foam and
is sold in six foot lengths. The other fantastic features of this product, is that it has a split down the middle to allow you to fit it around the pipe
you're trying to insulate and to keep it in place once it's installed, there is an adhesive strip on each side of the split that is covered by a peel off
covering that keeps the two sides from sticking to each other until you're ready to install it, so this worked out really well for attaching it to my
aluminum brackets that I made for my fresh air system. I fabricated this system back in 1995 or 96 and I've only had to change the foam insulation
once, so I'm very happy with this set-up.

Below are a few pictures of how I set this fresh air system up and a parts list.

Parts used were:

Year One - reproduction fiberglass Shaker style single 4 barrel base plate.
Home Depot - aluminum "L" style angle bracket.
Home Depot - six foot strip of 3/4" foam pipe insulation.
Home Depot - mounting hardware.

Richard

Quote:ws27
Hey Richard, I do like your use of pipe insulation...considering that's part of my
trade. I might add one thing. There are two types of foam, on is more rigid and
will maintain it's shape if you hold it like a sword. That type is NOT what you
want to use as it will melt with reasonably high temps. The type you used is called
"armaflex" and it has a higher melting temp.

And after seeing your garage again, I remembered that I need to take a trip down
there...with an ummm,ummm, empty truck..Any chance you are going on
vacation???

Hello Rich,

I'd LOVE to have you come out for a visit my friend, but you might want to bring a large truck AND a trailer, because there's more parts
out in my storage sheds and in the house that you haven't seen yet and if you take the parts, you might as well have the correct car to put
those parts on!

Richard

PART FIVE - TRANSMISSION, REAR DIFFERENTIAL & REAR SUSPENSION

When I purchased this Coronet, it still had it's factory original 727 Torqueflite automatic transmission and 8.75 rear differential, but both
were in need of some serious performance upgrades to handle the amount of drag racing that I had in mind for the car.

I had originally planned on having a local transmission shop rebuild the cars original transmission, but I came across a freshly rebuilt high performance
727 when I went with a friend to look at some performance parts that he needed for his 1970 GTX. This transmission had all of the work already
done that I wanted by a well known race shop here in the Phoenix area and also had the aftermarket parts installed on it that I wanted, including a
Cheeta full manual, reverse shift pattern valve body, a heavy duty shift kit and a deep transmission oil pan, so I purchased this transmission for less
than I had been quoted to do the same style work to my original transmission. Other related transmission parts that I used included a 2200 - 2500
stall torque converter, a B&M Quicksilver floor console mounted shifter and a new heavy duty transmission mount.

I also had the cars factory driveshaft checked for trueness and balanced and all new u-joints and hardware were installed.

The original 8.75 rear differential was also in need of some serious upgrades, as it came from the factory with a 2.76 gear ratio and without a
Sure-Grip unit, so while that might have been fun for a highway cruiser, it simply wasn't going to cut it on a street / strip car!

Once again, I really lucked out while searching through my local want-ad's when I came across a gentleman who had a freshly rebuilt 8.75 center
section with 3.91 gears and a fresh Mopar Sure-Grip unit for a price that I couldn't pass up, so life was good! My brother-in-law and me pulled the
rear differential assembly from the car, cleaned up the housing, checked the axles for any issues, replaced all of the bearings, gaskets and other
misc parts and installed my new center section and Sure-Grip unit.

Since I already had the differential out, I decided that it would be a good time to replace the cars original leaf springs that had seen their better days,
so we installed a new set of the Mopar Performance XHD heavy duty leaf springs along with new poly bushings and new rear spring hangers. A new set
of KYB Gas-A-Just shocks were also installed.

Needless to say, swapping in the 3.91 gears and the Sure-Grip unit, as well as the new rear leaf springs and shocks, made a HUGE difference in
performance and the "fun factor" for driving the car!

Richard

PART SIX - FRONT SUSPENSION, BRAKES, WHEELS & TIRES

The front suspension on my Coronet has seen two complete restorations since I've owned it.

The first time was back in early 1990 when I had a local shop that I knew the owner of real well rebuild it. He used all new name brand parts and
oem style rubber bushings and I also installed a set of the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks which are still on the car today. Thanks KYB, you guys make one
heck of a good shock!

This rebuild started showing it's age around 1999 or so, so I decided to rebuild it a second time, but this time around I went with a complete
aftermarket rebuild kit with poly bushings. I really like the poly bushings much better than the rubber ones and the parts that were installed in
2000 are still in place today and have given me zero issues.

The brakes that Mother Mopar used on the 1966 and earlier vehicles were how can I put this nicely........SCARY! Those single chambered master
cylinders and single line systems did their job somewhat safely back in the days when that's all that was available, but with a 400 plus HP 440
big block engine planned to go into the car and a ton of quarter mile drag racing coming in this cars future, that lousy single line braking system
just HAD to go!

The first braking system upgrade that I did was back in 1990 when I found a very nice 1967 Coronet in a small local wrecking yard here in the Phoenix
area that had it's entire factory dual line braking system still in place and unmolested, so I purchased all of the brakes lines from the master cylinder
back to the rear differential along with the factory dual line proportioning valve and also a VERY nice steel hood from that car which I used to mount
my reproduction fiberglass 1967 WO23 Hemi style hood scoop on. This was basically a "bolt-on" transfer and I also added fresh new rubber hoses and
a new oem style dual chambered master cylinder along with all new wheel cylinders. At this point I hadn't really thought about upgrading to front disc
brakes yet, so I got a good deal on four new heavy duty brake drums and installed them with all new hardware kits.

This upgraded system worked very well on the street as well as at the drag strip until I'd roll into the burnout box at the race track to "clean off" the
rear tires. Well, lets just say that I took a LOT of the life off of those brand new rear brake drums and pads the first few races, so I decided that it
would be cheaper and a lot safer to buy a Line-Lock kit and install it rather than to keep burning up the rear brake parts! So a Hurst "Roll Control" unit
was purchased and installed and the rear brake parts were much happier campers after that!






The second brake system upgrade was done in 2000 after I had retired the car from drag racing at the end of the 1997 season and I wanted to make
it safer for street use. This was at the same time that I was going through the front suspension again and I was also having all of the front suspension
parts and front k-member powder coated semi gloss black, so I felt that this was as good a time as any to upgrade to front disc brakes. I started
researching the aftermarket front disc brake conversion kits and found that Master Power Brakes was having a really nice sale on their power front disc
brake kits, so that's what I went with. Their kit was pretty straight forward but the one part of their kit that I really don't care for is the GM Corvette
style power brake booster that they supply in their kits. I realize that they went in this direction to keep the costs down, plus the fact
that these style boosters are easier to find in larger quantities than older style Mopar brake boosters are, but this Chevy booster caused some installation issues on my car with the supplied mounting brackets and it also has a hard time living with my Mopar Performance .284-.484 camshaft with 68 degrees
of overlap. I'm still dealing with this braking issue and may have to swap camshafts if I can't solve the problem in a couple of other ways that I'm looking
into.

Below are pictures showing the Master Power Brakes supplied Corvette power brake booster and the Master Power Brakes electric vacuum pump I've
installed to try and boost the engine supplied vacuum to run the booster and other vacuum powered items on the car such as the heater and a/c units
that will be restored and reinstalled when I do the interior restoration.