Samplingman
Old Man with a Hat
Nice job! Not for the faint of heart. So you fabricated the rails?
1969 300 Convertible - Repair or Part out?
- Thread starter amazinblue82
- Start date
rags
Senior Member
yes. that's one piece of steel down each side. 1.5 x 4? i forget. i could get the measurement if you're interested. key is that it fit in the rotten sub frame about perfect. trimmed out the toque boxes. welded plates upright on the frame connectors and through bolted them to the spring hangers. welded them to the toque boxes with the fronts hanging an inch under the sub frame then jacked them into and welded them to the sub frame. presprung the center of the vehicle up like a flatbed trailer.
Samplingman
Old Man with a Hat
Impressive, basically creating a hybrid full frame/unibody. That is an option to saving a car without the time and involvement of cutting out the old and replacing with donor rails, which is what I originally thought @amazinblue82 was looking to do. That 300 must be solid as a rock going over rough roads.
@Samplingman
yes, my guys wanted to cut sections of floor/trunk pan outta other cars. only way i ever authorized repairs .. good metal from donors. there was also some structure ("x looking thing") behind rear seats that one car was gonna give up.
my concern was I never(commissioned anybody) did (to do) a vert. i heard stories, my guys know the challenges, this forum is FILLED with smart people that also know how to do stuff .. figured i could get smarter, faster with a thread here before diving into a money pool.
BUT .. just because one CAN do a thing, doesn't mean one SHOULD do a thing.
putting the risk/reward on a "scale", I decided I may have bigger fish to fry .. and I have lived 60 years without a C Vert, i might be able to make it the rest of the way without one.
i am gonna show @rags work to my guys .. i had drag cars with similar-looking improvisation plus some side-to-side adds, plus roll cage stuff.
anyway, i dont recall their description of what THEY'D do included what @rags did to bullet-proof his Vert. they may have been trying to save me money (its not like the old days)?
I'll ask. one of 'em may have said it (what rags did) but it went over my head. will see if that shifts the plan for this one.
yes, my guys wanted to cut sections of floor/trunk pan outta other cars. only way i ever authorized repairs .. good metal from donors. there was also some structure ("x looking thing") behind rear seats that one car was gonna give up.
my concern was I never(commissioned anybody) did (to do) a vert. i heard stories, my guys know the challenges, this forum is FILLED with smart people that also know how to do stuff .. figured i could get smarter, faster with a thread here before diving into a money pool.
BUT .. just because one CAN do a thing, doesn't mean one SHOULD do a thing.
putting the risk/reward on a "scale", I decided I may have bigger fish to fry .. and I have lived 60 years without a C Vert, i might be able to make it the rest of the way without one.
i am gonna show @rags work to my guys .. i had drag cars with similar-looking improvisation plus some side-to-side adds, plus roll cage stuff.
anyway, i dont recall their description of what THEY'D do included what @rags did to bullet-proof his Vert. they may have been trying to save me money (its not like the old days)?
I'll ask. one of 'em may have said it (what rags did) but it went over my head. will see if that shifts the plan for this one.
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300rag
It's Not Going to Shift Itself
rags
Senior Member
you missed out. these cars are awesome. you should consider the frame connectors when you do yours. no cowl shake whatsoever. for the rear suspension i built 10 leaf spring packs. cop car sway bar. that whole car rides and handles great. 60 mph down the back roads here with the top down on a spring day in that big car, 440, you know...
@rags
you clearly have skills I personallly do not REMOTELY possiess, and maybe even my professional friends do not/do not want to do.
One of my friends did ask whether BOTH your rear frame rails were gone, as well as your trunk floor ... what did you do in back? You described some of that work so thank you.
This car of mine below? hell, the driver side rear leaf mount is through the friggin' trunk (pass. side is weak). It is car 3 of four, however, in the donor pool, that I had no plan to restore. I knew that when I bought it ... but secretly hoped it would come together.
Outta the FOUR I have, I did get a buncha really good glass (including two windshields), three working top motors, two working headlight door motors, buncha power window motors, three excellent dash pads, 2 1/2 69 "regular" 440's (but with higher compression), four complete rear seats, . three complete sets of "300" letters from quarters, etc...
NOT the plan going in (I exited and am staying out of the parts biz years ago), but maybe the only consolation prize from this adventure with the 69's. I may yet, and maybe should have, just bought a good, DONE car to start with.
I am sure these big ole verts are a blast .. I had an uncle who had a late sixties Caddie vert . maybe a '70. 500 cu. in. of "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
thanks for your input and sharing your fine work/skill at the hobby chief
ASIDE .. I have NOT abandoned C Vert pursuit yet if it turns out I am OUT of the fusie vert game.
I do have a 1967 Imp vert in the cue ... been collecting parts for it, getting member help privately with it, etc.. The photo below is the goal (not the actual car, but a similar one and the standard to which mine aspires).
Its a job but in many respects easier than with these '69's
you clearly have skills I personallly do not REMOTELY possiess, and maybe even my professional friends do not/do not want to do.
One of my friends did ask whether BOTH your rear frame rails were gone, as well as your trunk floor ... what did you do in back? You described some of that work so thank you.
This car of mine below? hell, the driver side rear leaf mount is through the friggin' trunk (pass. side is weak). It is car 3 of four, however, in the donor pool, that I had no plan to restore. I knew that when I bought it ... but secretly hoped it would come together.
Outta the FOUR I have, I did get a buncha really good glass (including two windshields), three working top motors, two working headlight door motors, buncha power window motors, three excellent dash pads, 2 1/2 69 "regular" 440's (but with higher compression), four complete rear seats, . three complete sets of "300" letters from quarters, etc...
NOT the plan going in (I exited and am staying out of the parts biz years ago), but maybe the only consolation prize from this adventure with the 69's. I may yet, and maybe should have, just bought a good, DONE car to start with.
I am sure these big ole verts are a blast .. I had an uncle who had a late sixties Caddie vert . maybe a '70. 500 cu. in. of "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
thanks for your input and sharing your fine work/skill at the hobby chief
ASIDE .. I have NOT abandoned C Vert pursuit yet if it turns out I am OUT of the fusie vert game.
I do have a 1967 Imp vert in the cue ... been collecting parts for it, getting member help privately with it, etc.. The photo below is the goal (not the actual car, but a similar one and the standard to which mine aspires).
Its a job but in many respects easier than with these '69's
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3175375
Senior Member
If you part out any of these, save the hvac actuators. They are made of unobtainium.@rags
you clearly have skills I personallly do not REMOTELY possiess, and maybe even my professional friends do not/do not want to do.
One of my friends did ask whether BOTH your rear frame rails were gone, as well as your trunk floor ... what did you do in back? You described some of that work so thank you.
This car of mine below? hell, the driver side rear leaf mount is through the friggin' trunk (pass. side is weak). It is car 3 of four, however, in the donor pool, that I had no plan to restore. I knew that when I bought it ... but secretly hoped it would come together.
View attachment 607759View attachment 607760
Outta the FOUR I have, I did get a buncha really good glass (including two windshields), three working top motos, two working headlight door motors, buncha power window motors, thrree excellent dash pads, 2 1/2 69 "regular" 440's (but with higher compression), four rear seats, etc...
NOT the plan going in, but maybe the only consolation prize from this adventure with the 69's. I may yet, and maybe should have, just bought a good, DONE car to start with.
I am sure these big ole verts are a blast .. I had an uncle who had a late sixties Caddie vert . maybe a '70. 500 cu. in. of "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
thanks for your input and sharing your fine work/skill at the hobby chief
ASIDE .. I have NOT abandoned C Vert pursuit yet if it turns out I am OUT of the fusie vert game.
I do have a 1967 Imp vert in the cue ... been collecting parts for it, getting member help privately with it, etc.. The photo below is the goal (not the actual car, but a similar one and the standard to which mine aspires).
Its a job but in many respects easier that with these 69's
View attachment 607761View attachment 607762View attachment 607764
3175375
Senior Member
All of the vacuum operated actuators are no longer available. AC or not. I am unsure if they are used in non-AC cars.where applicable (two of the four had AC) .. great. Thanks. Those were NOT on the list of "keepers".
BTW, what does this part look like/where located? Anyone?
shows you what I know then .... i might have already pitched a dozen of them the past 10 years in prior herd-thins ... .
Seriously, I don't know what they are/look like .. and my guys don't seem to know them by that name. Pictures/location? Anyone?
These? If so, where are they on the car?
Thanks in advance.
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3175375
Senior Member
They reside around the heater box under the dash.shows you what I know then .... i might have already pitched a dozen of them the past 10 years in prior herd-thins ... .
Seriously, I don't know what they are/look like .. and my guys don't seem to know them by that name. Pictures/location? Anyone?
Thanks in advance.
Here’s some pictures:
you're a scholar and a gentleman* brother ...
* (for just answering my question without giving me a buncha shyte-- which happens a little too much online IMHO, not by you of course -- about being "stupid" for not knowing something)
* (for just answering my question without giving me a buncha shyte-- which happens a little too much online IMHO, not by you of course -- about being "stupid" for not knowing something)
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3175375
Senior Member
Standby regarding Shyte ;^)you're a scholar and a gentleman* brother ...
* (for just answering my question without giving me a buncha shyte-- which happens a little too much online IMHO, not by you of course -- about being "stupid" for not knowing something)
rags
Senior Member
i thank you for the fine compliment sir. for me, the structural work is the easy part. like framing a house. i wish that i had started with something as nice as that red car. i could fix that in a moment. some 2x3 box and some plate. i understand why a licensed repairer would not do such work. straying away from factory repair procedure and parts puts his liability at risk and it's just not worth it. suffice to say my car was drivable. both the frame rails, such as they are, were rotten half way up the sides under the trunk floor and up towords the area over the axle. it's just straight tin. trim the trash out, cut some new pieces and weld them in. the rest of the structure was intact. the floors were bad/gone.
i did my car 30+ years ago. if i had to that all again, i certainly would not. putting my self in your shoes, i'd bail out of that fusie mess and buy a done car. if you were building a custom, i could understand it, but that's not your goal. a turn key car will likely cost less in time, money and aggravation. plus you can focus on that imperial. a far nicer car in every way. and i thank you for your indulgence and wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.
How about some "out of the box" thinking... Shorten the car about 10" and put it on a Crown Vic frame...
This comes to mind...
This comes to mind...
Same as this one? Can't be more than one of these I would surmise.
1959 Chrysler Imperial Speedster - Murray Pfaff's Custom Hemi-Powered Imperial Roadster - Hot Rod Magazine
Quote from the article:
'Here's the unfortunate fact about project cars: Many are never completed.
Sure, they invariably begin with high hopes, but they often end up as a pile of fail hidden behind the barn. No matter how much time, talent, enthusiasm, and money are allocated, one or all are bound to run out at some point.
Hot rods are never really finished, rodders like to say, not quite realizing how truly they speak. America's garage floors are strewn with permanently half-finished project cars."
Yep, with color and wheel changes.
I really offer it up as a bit of "tongue in cheek" humor, and that was a very ambitious project, but it does make you think about what could be done with a car that isn't practical to restore. There's been some older trucks mounted on Crown Vic frames and I have recently read of Ford Galaxy/Crown Vic chassis conversions. If you wanted to keep it all Mopar, that would take some creative thinking, but it could be done.
i knew you were havin' fun chief.
I have taken "detours" with stuff over the years. A guy (I just met that day getting new dual exhaust for it - a story for another thread) was naggin' me (to the point of geriatric name callin') about putting my '68 F-100 on a Crown Vic frame.
Never gonna happen though I have heard its relatively straightforward.
anyway, i am gonna punt on two of these '69's 300s and debate with the "brain trust" on whether we can get an arse under one of the two left .. gotta get a leaf mount outta the trunk first.
I got that at a cruise night... Some guy was telling me how I should put a late Hemi in my '65 Barracuda. It got to the point of where I had to say "I'm not going to do that because I like women" to shut him up.
fury fan
Senior Member
Putting it on a full-frame chassis is a decent idea, although the tub would still need significant fab work to restore its integrity.
And significant surgery to get it to sit properly on a full frame.
I would be surprised if any B-O-F cars have the body solidly attached to the frame, they all surely have isolation mounts to allow some squirm between body and frame.
But, if wanting to go this route, research an 80s-90s 1/2-ton frame, or maybe Dakota/Durango?
That pending marriage of 64 Ford and Vic frame looks absolutely impressive. Modern drivability in a classy 4dr body. (it helps that the body already looks nice)
And significant surgery to get it to sit properly on a full frame.
I would be surprised if any B-O-F cars have the body solidly attached to the frame, they all surely have isolation mounts to allow some squirm between body and frame.
But, if wanting to go this route, research an 80s-90s 1/2-ton frame, or maybe Dakota/Durango?
That pending marriage of 64 Ford and Vic frame looks absolutely impressive. Modern drivability in a classy 4dr body. (it helps that the body already looks nice)
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