68 Polara restore back on

HWYCRZR

Old Man with a Hat
FCBO Gold Member
Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
5,005
Reaction score
6,662
Location
Fargo, ND
Getting back into my restore which has been at idle for the last 4 years.
History:
68 Polara, DL23 (2-door hardtop/ fasttop) 383 2bbl, burgandy metalic, white vinyl top and chrome trim everywhere.
Been in my family since 1971; learned to drive in first grade on our 2 miles of gravel road.
Parked around 1977 due to transmission, but was used periodicly to drive the 2 miles to our bus stop (transmission would work while it was cold)
It became mine in highschool around the mid 80's,(was considered more of a junker than a classic) but it provided me projects in my high school automotive classes, taught me how to rebuild automatic transmissions, and how jacking up the rear leaf springs affects wheel alignment and steering.
Main transportation during highschool and college and even a few road trips between Montana and Colorado in the late 80's.
Parked again in 1988 and stayed there until 2007, when I decided it was time to bring it back to life.
It started up after 18 years, smoking like crazy and had enough power to drive on the trailer to haul from Colorado to ND.
Decided to do a full restore, and to my neighbors and wife's delite (not) started the disasembly in my driveway with a goal to make every thing factory correct & new again.
I rebuilt and renewed the drivetrain & suspension, got the body on a rotisserie and sent it off to get the gravel road dents knocked out, college fender dings repaired, and some rust cut out.
Due to kids, floods, moving, time.... Oh and the cost to fully restore I had to take a break.
It is now time for paint and re- assembly.

On wheels in 86 and in teardown mode in 2007
68 Polara in 1986.jpgIMG_1295_2.jpg

68 Polara in 1986.jpg


IMG_1295_2.jpg
 
great to see this happening!

Please keep us updated!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing. What next on the agenda.
It is about time for color on the underside and firewall, then make it into a rolling Chassis to mount fenders and doors for final spray. Have gone through most of the wire harness, wiped it down, but have a couple of connections to fix plus a melted bulkhead. I am doing / did all the mechanical work myself. Every thing that turns or moves has new bearings and seals - from the power steering gear to the rear end. I don't plan on recouping my investment, beyond the satisfaction of learning about every part of the car and having an almost 50 year old car that is brand new, and been part of my life since I was 2 years old.
Initially I wanted to to the body work, but didn't have the time, and was unsure of my skills to get the body and paint to the level I wanted it.
IMG_2145.JPG
IMG_3207.JPG
Front Engine clip finished.JPG
rearend finished.JPG
 
When I was a kid we had the same exact car. Same colors with black buckets and a console. A White Hat Special, loved that car and hated trading it in on the green '73 4 door Dart. Excellent work on the resto! Looking real good.. burgundy is one of my favorite factory colors
 
Oh the f'in HOA nazi's here would be all over it before the code enforcement would have a chance to see it.
At the time I did this, the neighbors were pretty cool. They were used to me doing all kinds of crazy different projects, like putting on an addition on my house... and I always made my self available whenever they needed help or advice on a home project.
The neighbor closest to me even helped me tear it apart, about a month before he put his house up for sale. (His Dad is huge collector of late 60's early 70's Mopars.. no C- body's though) I think I had it torn apart before the other neighbors knew how to react. It only sat there in that form for a couple of months before I hauled it off to get the body work done.
 
Back
Top