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Part 1



Chuck McJury had purchased Dave Strickler's 65 Coronet factory AWB car and campaigned it in the Northeast eventually replacing the body panels with 66/67 sheet metal and kept the roof.  At some point he replaced the front end with a fiberglass flip Charger nose as well.


 

John Hall purchased this project car.  After seeing the work we did on Flashback, he asked if we would help him rebuild this project car on a small budget with the goal of getting the car on the road sometime in 2011.  The original work was crudely performed and an evaluation of the project revealed a complete rebuild was in order to meet both safety and aesthetic requirements.

 

We started with the rear end and rebuilt the front spring boxes and rear shackle hanger points.  The rear axle has been moved forward approximately 11 inches from the stock location.  The 8 3/4 rear will house a 4:10 gear when complete on Mopar HD rear springs.


 

The firewall and floor pans were cut out and replaced during the process.

 

The front subframe was removed and stock frame rails and k frame were installed to get body panels correct for measurment and reference before altering the front wheelbase.  The car was then installed on a body plate for the modifications to take place.


 

It was decided to replicate the front AWB with a square tube subframe and modified torsion bar suspension on a stock K frame just like the factory did in the 1965 conversions.  At this point we have installed the new front rails, cut out the old shock towers and installed on the new subframe and built new mounting boxes for the torsion bars.  The car was put on the alignment machine and thrust line, toe, caster, and camber all are within factory specs, so this car will go down the road straight.

 

The next items include modifying the front fenders to accommodate the altered wheelbase and finish the inner fender panels.




Part 2



Here is the latest update on the John Hall Coronet AWB Project happening now at Auto Service.

 

The inner fender wells have been fabricated around the shock towers, between the frame rails and the upper fender mounting points.  The hood and fenders have been trial fit to the car to check for body lines/etc.  Looks good.










The Roll Cage was modified to make the driver's compartment easier to live with.



Next we trial fit a bare Mopar big Block in the engine compartment bolted to a 727.  The engine was adjusted for side to side clearance, setback and height as well as angle, and bolted to the rear crossmember.  New front motor mounts were built and welded in place to accommodate the K-frame forward postion.

















Part 3


The next phase of the project was to remove the engine/trans, disassemble, clean and paint all of the front end components and reassemble to a rolling chassis. 


John Hall, the car's owner, visited the shop on Saturday and was present as we refit the front end and rolled out the car to get a look in the light of day.  It looks just the way I wanted it and can't wait to get it finished.  Before John returned home, we discussed the next phase of the project which will focus on fitting a gas tank and completing the trunk pan. 






Stay tuned as we finish up the trunk, clean and paint the undercarriage, and fit bumpers, charger grill, and work toward selecting a motor and rebuilding the trans.  


John is working toward a running car mid-2011.


Part 4








Part 5      2/29/12



Updated 5/7/2012






Updated 8/19/12



Check back for updates.

Gary


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