The tail lights. This was the big one, the mod that would try my patience and frustrate me. Figuring this all out took awhile. I made starts on two different designs and scrapped both. It gave me an appreciation for what car designers go through to make something so complex seem so simple and elegant. So many variables go into such a simple stretch of metal. It seemed straight forward when I first decided to do it but as I got into it it snowballed. So many little details that interconnected. Such as;
The trunk seal rail being raised up above the tail lights seems easy until you try it and find out that the base the rail must sit upon has to do several things at once. It has to support the rail, provide strength to the rear face, provide a mounting /attachment point for the tail light bar, remain high enough for the tail light bar body to pass under/through it, to align with the tail extension openings, seal out the weather, appear correct, mate with the quarters, mate with the rails coming down in each corner, allow for the trunk latch to be mounted where IT needed to be and not interfere with the rest, and enable a close out panel to be applied to the inside trunk face behind the light bar while leaving enough space for the light bulb pig tails to hang out of the rear face of the bar. Whew. lol.
Easy right?
lol. I finally had to buy a rear section from a 67 Charger and cut out the parts I needed, like the seal rail and corners. Then I had a place from which to extrapolate the rest. All was fabricated by hand. From scratch. I tried, early on, to place various other light systems on there. 1968 Cougar, 1967 Charger, modern Charger etc... But the 66 T Bird set up appealed to me more. I liked the solid continuous look of it. I wont bore anyone with the details of the fabrication, suffice to say it appeared out of thin ( metal) air. It took awhile too. But, it's solid, it works, it looks right and that's what matters. Here's the photos..
What an amazing build but more importantly, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. You put yourself in harm's way to protect our way of life and we appreciate you!
Thank you ! It was an honor to serve. Thanks for the kind comment on my build too. I'm so caught up in building it don't really stop to take in the overall size of the project. But, it's nearing completion, paint going on the shell soon. Front clip already in color. Going to be a busy winter!
chandler said:
That's a lot of work, looks great
Thanks Chandler! It was lot of work, but enjoyable work.
Now for some cleaned up and painted stuff....
The color is Starfire Chestnut Brown Metallic single stage Acrylic Urethane which will be clear coated. The engine is a 1972 440 Magnum big block, bored 0.40 over, polished forged steel crank, Comp Cam 21-306-4, 270/470 @50, Comp springs, titanium retainers and 10* locks, new pushrods, new Speed Pro pistons, wrist pins and lightweight LY rods, swapped for the heavy six pack Magnum rods,, new cam bearings, mains and rods, stock valve train on fully ported and polished 346 heads with valves unshrouded and port matched to gaskets, positive Teflon valve seals and new brass guides, all engine machine work and prep performed by RPM Racing Engines in Georgia, VT. The water pump is a mobile home 440 unit because they have a drain inside like a sewer drain compared to the car version that has one the size of a #2 pencil.lol. Greatly increased cooling capacity,
Distributor is Mallory Unilite w/ electronic module, Taylor 8mm racing plug wires w/ 90* boots, brushed aluminum wire looms, plated timing cover, dual chain billet steel timing gears and chains, March polished aluminum pulley's, Black wrinkle painted valve covers and oil pump which is a Melling high volume, block painted in VHT High Temp Hemi Orange, Weiand Xcelorator single plane intake powder coated in Alien Silver with Black lettering, Holley dual feed 750 cfm electric choke carburetor with Summit chrome fuel rail with liquid filled pressure gauge.
This motor is expected to produce about 484HP/ 476 ft lb torque. Or more....lol....
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Forgot to mention the hand fabricated steel WO23 Hemi hood scoop I made...
I swear the inner fender wiring run channel looks just like my cpap tubing....
But now that i think about it, that would work! Especially to seal off the ends to stubs through the sheetmetal for preventing corrosion and water intrusion.....
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Good eye, that's exactly what it is. The metal tube is to keep it from getting shredded by stuff flung up from the tires. The CPAP tube is to keep the wires dry.
Hello again! I'm Baaackkkkkk....lol.
Lost touch with this forum over the last year and a half. In the interim i've gotten her painted and began reassembly. The motor is about to get dropped as soon as spring arrives in few weeks. I've gotten all the mounting bits sorted and got a load leveler for the hoist. I bought all of the door and windshield seals and the front and back glass are ready to go back in as soon as it's warm enough so I don't have to fight stiff rubber gaskets.
The tail lights are in place.
Here's the pics...
Really incredible build! I have to say, though, that last pic is a weird perspective. Makes the wheels look like they're waaaay inboard.
I love the black bumpers and the work you did on the tail lights.
Your project is really coming along! Please keep the pics coming.
Most resto builds are fairly vanilla with the body, even if they have updated running gear. You have avoided that with a few tasteful slices here and there on the sheet metal. It's great to see!
Excellent build. Happy to see it back and updated. Is this a labor of love or a love of labor? LOL. Spring is coming here to the Northeast, eventually.... Can't wait for the finished product. Good luck.
Excellent build! I missed seeing this thread until your latest post. It's really cool to see a custom build. Can't wait to see more of the reassembly.
In reply to jimgood :
yeah, I know. it's an optical illusion. They are centered in the tubs and 13 1/2" wide.
Thanks everyone. Not sure which it is, love or labor! lol. Lot of mods and a lot of metal work. 
In reply to 78CobraII :
Yup, what I did NOT want is yet another cookie cutter 67 Coronet. Sick of the lack of imagination and the bravery to cut into these old cars that seems to be the norm among home builders / owners of old cars. Nobody customizes much anymore on the local level. I can understand not cutting into an R/T or a Hemi 4 Speed car etc. But there's hundreds of thousands of plain jane Coronets and other models out there just BEGGING to be customized. IMHO.
Ghostrider67 said:
In reply to 78CobraII :
Yup, what I did NOT want is yet another cookie cutter 67 Coronet. Sick of the lack of imagination and the bravery to cut into these old cars that seems to be the norm among home builders / owners of old cars. Nobody customizes much anymore on the local level. I can understand not cutting into an R/T or a Hemi 4 Speed car etc. But there's hundreds of thousands of plain jane Coronets and other models out there just BEGGING to be customized. IMHO.
I know I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum from a really nice custom done car like yours, but i completely agree. Theres plety of nice/rare/significant cars that deserve to be saved stock. Rotboxes with 6 cylinders and no real redeeming qualities are gair game. Especially to do something different.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Agreed. If this one ever sells i'll buy a 65 Impala and graft a 69 Charger rear window and sail panels onto it. It's just begging to be done.
Ghostrider67 said:
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Agreed. If this one ever sells i'll buy a 65 Impala and graft a 69 Charger rear window and sail panels onto it. It's just begging to be done.
I really want to see that. It looks amazing in my head
In reply to Ghostrider67 :
i love your approach, subtle mods that are smoothly integrated so you notice something is different but might not put your finger on it right away. Carry on!
Let me say two things right away. Thank you sir for your service to this country! Next , I had one of these ,forest green with a black vinyl top, center console, 318 2brl, right out of HS back in the 70's....loved it. Now I get to tag along as you do your magic, which so far I must say, has some very interesting and well executed twists. My apologies, did you happen to mention a transmission of choice?
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Yeah, i've been planning and thinking on that one for decades. I think Chevy made a mistake not putting sail panels on that car and instead making it flow aerodynamically. It's the right width, the right curve along the quarter top edges and it's the same length as a 69 Charger and basically a perfect platform for it. I printed up a set of pictures of each car at the same distance and aspect and cut and pasted them together. It looks phenomenal.
In reply to 759NRNG :
Yes, I built a 1974 727 automatic. It has a load of go fast parts in it. You're welcome for my service. It's been a great life.
Some of the parts are: 10 springs, 5 disc and 4 disc clutches, 4 pinion planetaries, hardened input and output shafts, Red Eagle Racing frictions and Black Kolene Steels, 3.8 band release lever in billet steel, shift kit, all new bushings and bearings, seals and rings.
