Whats your story?

[Piper]

We've done this maybe once or twice before in DCR history. Watching the Americarna series with Ray Evernham is the inspiration to start the conversion with everyone..

So tell us about how you got your car and what it means to you or your family

Make us laugh, shed a tear or intrigue us..What's your story?

[65rbdodge]

ok, I`ll start.

as a child(about 8 years old) I was always going to car shows with my parents. they never had a car to take to the show though. I do remember them buying a 51 Chrysler Windsor but it never ran or got on the road they sold it in a few years. fast forward to when I was on middle school and used to go to a friends house on the weekends. his step father had a 70 charger RT, 440 4speed, hemi orange. I thought it was the coolest car ever! he took us for a ride one time and I was hooked on mopars since that day. in 1991(my sophomore year in HS) I bought my first car a 1970 coronet 440 w/318 auto, it had 42,000 miles on it. b3 blue, black vinyl top, b7 interior. I had it painted put some mags on it, headers, cam 4bbl. and drove it until it started to rust in about 1999, I sold it. then in 2000 bought my 65 coronet. it was a 318 poly 3 on the tree. I drove it that way for about 2 years before putting in the 440/4speed. about a year later I put the dana 60 rear in. its stayed the same since then. in 2003 i bought my 71 dart, /6 auto rusty 4 door. it took me about 3 years to fix all the rust, paint it, mini tub, move the leaf springs in and build the 400 and put it in. in 2006 I got married moved, built a garage, bought my 47 Desoto and was given a 69 valiant /6 auto 4 door by my best friend that moved to Arizona. I put the Desoto on hold to build the super rusty valiant for my step son. I finished all the body work, paint, frame repair, motor/trans work and everything else in 2009, he been driving it since then. I`ve been working on the Desoto since then, doing all the body/paint work, putting in an 87 Dakota front clip w/ a roller LA318 w/ mag heads, 833OD, and an 8.75 rear out of a 68 polara w/ 742 case 323 gears and a sure grip(all from junkyard cars) I hope to have it running this year.

everything I do I learned on my own, by trial and error. I have no formal automotive education.

my wife does not really get involved with my hobby but will go to local shows with me. my step son will help me when he can and also goes to every show he can.

[honcho]

Was looking at the exact same car that I have now but with a 318.The guy promised me to hold on to it till he got back into town. Sold it to a guy in Canada before he got back into town. Pissed me off bad, had a few s,had a few more s,got on line and saw 3 pics of the car I have now,called the guy,knew from talking with him he was and still is,a very good person,and bought my car. He is in upper New York, we be in Texas. Had it covered shipped down here,and he really down played how good the car really is. Got a big block 440, instead of the 318, with all the goodies. He had numeroius offers to sell her after we talked,I couldn't get the funds to him till the next day,he stayed true to his word,and now I have a true classic. We still keep in contact to this day. Thank you Charlie for being a honest gentleman and selling her to me Todd

[Joe mama]

After I sold the Hemi Bee I was going through Mopar withdrawal. I was looking for a 68 ~ 70 Charger. (It looks like Piper bought the car I was looking for) lol Everything I looked at was overpriced and needed more work than I was willing to do. After all , it took me 26 years to finish the Bee. If I did that again I would be dead before I finished it!
I was looking on e-bay and seen a Challenger that looked interesting. 38,000 miles, 440, tremec 5 speed, Dana 60. Drilled / Slotted rotors, aftermarket sway bars. There was only 20 min left on the auction. I wasn't going to bid on the car with out having it inspected first. Then I seen the car was from Livingston, TN. My brother works in Livingston. I gave him a call to see if he knew the car He didn't answer the dam phone! So I just let it go and the auction ended and the car sold. (No reserve) The next day my brother called me and I explained the car to him.
He said “ I know that car, that’s Jims car” I’ve judged it at car shows and have been in it. Then he bitched at me because I didn’t bid on it. He called Jim to ask him about the sale. Jim said there was a problem. The guy who won the bid didn’t want to give a deposit until he seen the car. It was over 48 hours and still no deposit. Jim canceled the sale because of no deposit and sold the car to me for the same price as the auction sale price. The next week I flew to TN. Spent the weekend with my brother. Then drove the car back to Michigan. What I great trip I had driving home. The car was better than expected.
I installed a six pack on it. This morning was the first time I fired it up with the new carbs. I ordered a serpentine belt system for it and vintage air for it this week. This is one of the first cars that my wife loves to go cruising in. Probably because I haven’t finished restoring her car. (68 Firebird convertible) I was planning on to Carlisle and going on the Power tour this year but my daughter is getting married in Las Vegas this year and that’s putting a bind on a few things. Mike told me if I didn’t buy the 6 pack I would have the money to go to Carlisle! lol

[67r/t4speeder]

Part1: Way before Max ( yes we had cars back that far)I just sold my `70 Road Runner to pay some bills and needed a ride with not much money to work with( ok lots of bills) I saw this sweet looking `67 Coronet 500 in gold for $350 bucks.
I grabbed it not even looking at anything mechanical just saw chrome interior and had to have it, it did run just barely but it ran. I decided I was a master hot rod mechanic over night so I took the carburetor apart to soop it up, well it never ran again with that carb , so off to the wrecking yard I went for another. There was a totalled `67 R/T there with one side nice one side trashed and I fell in love with that model. I grabbed the carb off it and noticed the interior was sweet gold and super clean condition so I ask how much for everything in it and we settled on $75.00. So out in the parking lot I swapped my interior for that one and chucked all my stuff in the dumpster. But when I had my carpet out I noticed I could see the ground instead of metal EEEEK!! Got rust !! It was bad real bad, and I had no idea how to fix it.

I soon sold it and bought a car I would rather not tell you the make or model but went on a quest to someday find a `67 R/T and it had to have a 4-speed, any color but my favorite would be red


Okay okay it was a Datsun B210 ...there I said it "I sold a Mopar and bought a Datsun B210" I'm sorry it will never happen again !!!

[harold prentice]

Oh boy, 67r/t4speeder, I did almost the same thing. In 1971, I sold my '68 GTX (full load - 440/4 gear, disc brakes, Magnums, white interior w/buckets & console, etc) for a new Datsun 510. I got $2500. for the GTX!!!! Was I nuts?? Should mention that the GTX replaced my first new car - '68 Runner coupe, 383/ 4 gear that I wrapped around a tree when it was 2 years old. Bought a VW beetle & couldn't stand it after 6 months and found the GTX on a car lot. Absolutely loved that 440 motor! If only we knew........Of course, back in the day, these cars were a dime a dozen. The local burger joint, where I lived, normally had my Runner, a friends Hemi Coronet R/T ( he carried slicks in the trunk), a 350/350 '66 Chevy II, a couple of 340 Swingers, a gasser style '55 Chevy and a bunch more I can't remember parked out front. What a great time to be young! I think the memories of those Magnums on my GTX made me push so hard to put them on my Coronet this year. Does anyone remember the "Hurst" shifters that the '68 Runners came with? Put a "T" handle on mine so I could "try" to power shift it & pulled it right out of it's holder in the attempt - my right arm ended up bent over the seat back - ouch. Those shifters were held in with a spring loaded clip and it failed, so I simply drilled through the shifter and holder and bolted it in.The GTX had the old, long, reverse lock out type shifter - managed to break off one of the arms trying to power shift that one. Supposedly the cure was to remove every second tooth from the synchro ring in the Tranny but I never went that far. Frustrating, though, because my Brother's '64 Impala SS had the Muncie four speed & you could hold your foot down and just fan the clutch for perfect power shifts."Coffee break" shifts were the order of the day for us Mopar guys, unless you had the Hemi 4 speed.

Sorry to ramble, but you guys got me thinking.

[67r/t4speeder]

Don't apologize Harold keep the stories coming.
Were you a weight lifter? yankin those shifters out haha

[David Hunt]

Oh how I aquired my superbee. It all started in the spring of 2000. I saw the doll setting in a Salvage Yard in Dodge city, Kansas. It was missing 50 per cent of its parts. No frames, no engine, no interior. But it was Love at first site. I tried for 7 years to buy it. Then he RELENTED OR FELT SORRY FOR ME AND SAID ITS FOR SALE. It took several months to save up the price. I called to tell Rod I was coming to get this bee. He stated too late , I sold the salvage yard. I contacted new owner and he sold the bee. I went home and cried to my wife that Life was not worth living. She told me to man up. Two weeks have passed and with theorpy I was getting along fine. The new yard owner told the Mrs. if I still wanted the superbee, that it was mine. I about pissed my pants getting down to the Dodge City salvage where bee was. I brought it home and am putting all stock parts back on. Can you put the word out one hood asnd a right front fender needed any condition? Thank you Inspector Mopar

[67wh41]

So, part of my story is in my introduction post. But if we start at the beginning, we have to go back many years. We will have to jump in the way back machine.

So my addiction, started when I was very young, cars are almost part of my DNA. ☺ My grandfather ran a wrecking yard in Beaver, UT from the 1920's to the 1950's. My father was recalling into Ford Skyliners, but he traded his last one in on a 64 Plymouth. From the mid 60's to present he has only purchased Chrysler products, but still had a soft spot for 58 and 59 Ford convertibles. He purchased a 1965 Dart GT vert (273-4/4Spd) in the 70's, later he picked up a 59 Sunliner (Ford Fairlane 500 Ragtop). Fast forward to the 80' when I started to drive, I was hoping the get the Ford running but my dad traded it to my cousin for a 66 Coronet 440 hardtop. I ended up with a 73 6cyl/3spd Nova, it was transportation and worked for a while. But it was not fast enough ☺. So it got a 71 350-4 lt1 installed, it was great until I blew up the clutch, and put a gm slushbox in it. I later traded the Nova for a RM 400 motorcycle. And then got into 4x4ing, I had to have a Ramcharger, except I could not afford to feed it. So my dad traded his 66 Coronet for my Ramcharger. Between getting that car and hearing the Hemi Coronet stories from my Uncle, I was hooked. Just a quick aside, my uncle purchased a used a Yellow 66 Coronet 440 Hrdtp ( 426 Hemi/4Spd ) in 1968. It had been a drag car for a while, he and my dad put it back to stock.

My 66 Coronet was a 361-2/4Spd/3.23:1, PP1 Red, with Red interior, no A/C or PS. It was fairly quick and had a lot of grunt. When it was running bias ply tires it would smoke the tires through 1,2 and partly 3, and bark in 4 th. After it was upgraded to radials it was 1-2 and barking 3 and 4th. The late 80's and early. 90's coronets were showing up in a lot of wrecking yards. So I started gathering parts and cars. The first one was a 67 Coronet 500 Hrdtp, It was a drivers ed car, Persian White with red bucket interior, 383-2, 727A, 2:94:1 SureGrip. It was very rusty, in places, and me not knowing what it was, and back then there was no aftermarket love for 66-67's, parted it out. I basically kept every thing except the body and one fender. A few years after it was gone. I found a Black 66 500 and a Gold 67 440 both hrdtps. And worked out a deal to purchase both of them for 1000. I ended up only getting the 67, because the owner of the 66 wanted it back after 6 years in impound. The 67 had been sitting for a very long while, the motor would turn with a breaker bar, but the starter found not spin it.It had a poorly installed 383-2. It was originally a 318-2/727A car, with PW, black interior, and a black vinyl top (Black Hat Special). I had recently picked up a 71 383 powered Polara, so I pulled the Polara apart, and put the motor and trans in the 67. It became my wife's daily driver, the 66 was too much for her, as she was light to light acing everything ☺.I converted the 67 440 into a repli 500. I love the 500 grill and 500/R/T tail panel.Then I picked up the 67 Sedan that is still own. I was going to be a driving parts car. And we had started a family, and my wife hated getting in and out of the back seat with a car seat.

Then life went south in a big way. My wife was laid off and then 9 mos later I was laid off. The 66 had developed some bad floor rust, and the motor needed attention. So it was parked, and we drove the 67's. I had put the work out that they were for sale. A guy that really wanted a 68/69 contacted me, about my hrdtps cars. It saw the 67 and really wanted it, I turned him down, and he settled with the 66. A few weeks later he contacted me again about the 67. This time we decided it was best to sell it. I ended up selling the pair for a measly 2200.00. A decision I have regretted ever since. Later I rank across the build numbers for 66 and then I felt really stupid. I sold a 1 of 160 for 400.00.😭.

Fast forward to when my son started to drive, he started with a Neon, and after it died, and I refused to put yet another head on it. He started driving the 67 Sedan. He leaned about old cars the hard way, first one of the front brake hoses burst. Then he was driving to school and the left torsion bar snapped. So it was put away in 2007. He had the fever and found a 73 Dart SE Sedan for a decent price and bought it. But the Coronet just sat and sat some more.
In 2012 after a hard Utah winter I was doing the monthly engine starting, trans running ritual. And found that it had a huge amount of water inside. So it was moved to the garage, and I started rebuilding the floors and resealing the firewall, the closer it got to running the more my daughters wanted to drive it. I had the sheet metal fixed and had cleaned up the dash and installed an unmelted wiring harness and installed the new carpet kit. All that was left was to install the windshield, the factory original windshield. I had put it in the rafters of my garage for safe keeping while I was working it back out, my coveralls bound up my arms and I lost my grip, it bounced off the rafters, but it was too much, it had a crack right up the center. I installed it anyhow, figuring that I could get a new one. Well I was wrong, they still manufacturer the windshield for the hrdtp and Vert, but the sedans and wagons are out of luck. I have found a few used ones, and have sourced a new one, tomorrow I'll be going to one of the old car yards in Northern UT. To see if they have one.

That brings us to present, I still love the looks and shape of the 66/67. They have always been my favorite, and always will.

[R/T68Rani]

Wow great stories here ....I like it. My car addiction started in 2001 when I was 15 and I was having a lot of downtime from a bad accident and my cousin who is a total mopar guy put a stack of mopar muscle magazines in front of me because I was bored and not able to go anywhere.

I fell into a different world with those magazines and every page was a new discovery......it was great. After going through a few years worth the magazines I made up my mind that I wanted to work on cars.

So after high school I went to auto school at my local community college .....and I started buying mopars as I found them and had access to a local salvage yard that had a great stock of parts. They were plentiful in the early 2000s and I live in a very dry place so rust-free cars were a dime a dozen here.....it was actually unusual to find a rust bucket and when you saw one.......you knew immediately that it was from somewhere else. I mainly zoned in on mopar A-bodies.....darts, dusters, and cudas. I tried E, B, and C bodies but found that they are far too large for my taste.

Although I was not really into B-bodies so much....my 68 coronet wagon came into my life and I could not pass it up. I wanted a wagon but in order to get an A-body wagon you have to get a pre-66 since they stopped making dart or valiant wagons in 1966. Well, that was a problem because I don't care for the pre-1966 (early As). So the only option to get a wagon in the 67-72 range is to move up to a B-body and this is one of the reasons I could not pass up the coronet.

The car has always been a local car and has been rescued from the scrapper 2 times. It was first advertised in the local paper as a parts car and the previous owner bought the whole car at that point but kept it together because he saw how complete and decent it was and didn't have the heart to part it out. He then parked it out in a rural area on a friends property due to lack of storage at his house and while it was out there, it met vandals who took the radiator and battery.....when they did that they tin snipped the battery cables and cooling lines. I say it was saved from the scrapper then too because there was evidence to show that the vandals actually attempted to load the car onto a trailer and steal it .......something must have spooked them because they ended up leaving it there and destroyed the car next to it.

So then it was moved to another location where it was mis-treated again because junk was piled on it and the land owner needed to move it one day but the tires had gone flat ........so he tied a chain to it and yanked it with a diesel truck.....which bent the front bumper and tore the exhaust apart underneath.

In the mean time mice got ahold of the interior.....it was not good.

So to rescue it from all that my cousin agreed to store it at our place where the cat took care of the mice and while being stored at my place we bought it and saved the previous owner a storage shortage problem.

Now, it has been cleaned out and the 318 has been replaced with a 440 and it has come a long way.

In a way, the horrible things that happened to it makes me want to work harder to keep it alive......people do such horrible things to old but good cars and it was often overlooked as a good car simply because its a wagon..... its criminal that many people asked if I was going to part it out even knowing that its a titled and very rust free car.