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65 Coupe 289

32K views 134 replies 13 participants last post by  Jetfixr320 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought a 65 coupe a year ago. It ran and drove and cost $6500. At that point, I had just totalled my 02 focus and had about $7000 cash from insurance. Picked the 65 over a 98 GT vert that was only $5500 but I'm a mechanic by profession so keeping the 65 driveable wasn't a big issue. In hindsight I overpaid for this car but seeing as how it was costing me $40/day in rentals I bit the bullet and got the best one I could at that time!

Rust, pitted chrome, crappy paint, 6cyl, and a below average interior.

What I've done so far:

New front suspension, everything except springs. This was an immediate need, the front end was so worn out it was unsafe. Spring perch rusted through the control arm, idler arm was about to fall off. I bought 6cyl parts to get me by, what can you do? I'll get springs soon, still havent decided on progressive rate or not.

Rear Suspension. Installed a 3.00 8" rear end along with a set of 1" drop springs, new shackles. I found a 65-66 rear end on craigslist with brake parts and figured this would be cost effective vs. redoing the 6cly drums. I actually bought two rear ends, picked the best axles, and used the housing that had Timken bearings in it, and sold the other, almost breaking even.

Granada front discs. I was going to convert to 65-66 discs, I ordered complete front knuckles from a yard on car-part.com, only to find that car had already been converted to Granada!!! With nobody to blame, I went ahead and overhauled them and installed with csrp conversion tie rod ends. Chevy Monza master and a Granada porp valve.

07 GT wheels. I had trouble finding 14" steel wheels with the right offset, lug pattern, it seems most places just scrap them. I did get one steel rim for my spare ($80 wtf!). Bought these takeoffs on craigslist from a guy who switched to the bullit wheels. They're a bit flashy on this car and I would love to have the V6 wheels with spinners but can only find them in 16" which wouldnt clear my upper control arm. Oh well, they dont look too bad. 1.5" spacers and 235/40 17 Goodyears.

Duraspark Conversion. This one got me from 20mpg to 26 mpg...but I didnt notice any increase in power (on top of my whopping 60hp). Got factory connectors from the yard, and found out the hard way that somewhere along the line, the red and white wires on the module connector switched places. No complaints though, and it is useable in one of my upcoming projects!

General repairs. So far, the car has been very reliable. I had to reinforce the passenger side torque box where the leaf spring bolt goes through, of course I'd love to do new sheet metal but this is a daily driver and I had to keep it on the road. I'll get pics of the repair next time I have it in the air...and a camera at work.

SO. I have a 289 in my kitchen (dont ask) thats about two weeks from being ready. Bought a bunch of parts from a buddy and saved alot of time and money on small things, which I promptly spent on machine work for the short block. I got a truck a couple months ago, which really opens my options on how long I can have the car out of service, but the car is still my primary driver. Heres the build:

.040 over 289 block
line bored, balanced, chamfered etc
Stock crank, rods, Clevite 77 bearings
speedpro hyper pistons & rings
Comp XE250H (fuel mileage was very important)
Tri-state Floo-tek aluminums 2.02/1.60 56cc
Elgin valves
Comp magnum rollers, and all the other valvetrain hardware
Flowtech ceramic 1.5" long tubes
Knock off airgap intake
Pypes 2.5" full exhaust

Since I like the 65 gold/black combo I wanted it to look fairly stock, and I think I've done a good job, with the exception of the headers. The air cleaner and valve covers are sand blasted and ready to paint, intake is black and the heads will be black when I get them back. I'll send them off when the valves come in for a valve job and mill to 56cc. I have one more order to make once I get the parts in hand, should be just pushrods and paint.

Next up is an Ivy/white pony interior. I wanted to keep the cash in hand until the motor is in and running, you never know right? I'll go ahead and weld in a radio patch panel and paint the interior panels, havent decided on using a 66 woodgrain cluster or having my falcon style redone. The wheel may have to wait unless I come across a good deal.

After that is body work. It's pretty rough underneath, core support is trash, floorpans are pretty bad, and the trunk/cabin transition is worrysome. If things go well at work, I'll be ready in summer 2010. Sticking with wimbledon white. When I do the interior I'll get a full assesment of the rust and make a decision on floorpan (full, long) replacement and gear up the backyard body shop.

Along the way I'll be doing some roller suspension mods (thats the fun stuff), and get better about finding time for the swap meets. Luckily I have an awesome girlfriend that tolerates me dumping money and time into this black hole.
 

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#58 ·
Decided to get back on the body. I did some poking and prodding around the wheel wells and quarters, and due to at least two previous collisions and repairs, it just wasn't feasible to patch or do bodywork on the quarters, so I got full quarters and a trunk patch panel, the trunk crossmember and some outer wheel well patches.

I don't have pics from tonight but I have the filler panels removed, the rest of the crossmember out, some misc patches, and the trunk floor patch is about ready to tack into place. Please keep in mind this is not a restoration, this car is my primary vehicle and I don't want to spend oodles of time on a resto just to get rear ended, so I'll be cutting some corners here and there. Won't have a chance to work on it until next Weds and Friday though.



 
#60 ·
I got a little bit done the last couple of days, but all is relatively slow, I can really only work on the car for three hours most nights.

After finding out exactly where the welds were on the first quarter, the second came out much much quicker. Test fitted and while they aren't perfect, these Taiwan quarters aren't too far off either.








Welded in the trunk floor patch and trunk crossmember tonight, and put the quarters and taillight panel back on with screws to see how far off things are going to be. Right now my main concern is the decklid, it seems like there isn't much I can do to change the contour of it vs the quarters, and on a lot of coupes I see it does not conform to the body lines. We'll see.



 
#63 ·
Got the inner wheel well patches fitted and welded in, and started on my outer wheel well lip repair. I don't really have enough of the original to work with, so I think I'll clamp the patch to my new fender, tack some rod to the back and then weld it on the car. Not really sure how else to do it. Also a photo of another piece I patched awaiting cleaning.







 
#66 ·
Well, no progress the last few months. I drive it a bit, but I have golden gloves in January and that is consuming most of my spare time. It's starting to cool off and that will probably allow me to get some more work done. Still need to finish the bodywork on the quarters, and it looks like I'll have my neighbor paint it. I'll keep it updated when I do!
 
#67 ·
Alright, golden gloves are done, I have bought and sold a couple cars and I'm working on a hot rod to pay for the paint, so time is still a little thin. BUT I've managed to get some work done in the last month. Still have some welding to do, and some patches on the bottom of the doors, but I believe I can finish the last of the welding in a day, and my paint tip wont be in until mid March so I'll take my time cleaning things up. I'm not a bodyman, but I'll be damned if this thing isn't one color by summer.





 
#69 · (Edited)
Got my super professional paint area setup. Not really, This is just to get some of the stuff in epoxy while I wait to get my car in a booth. I know there are some awesome cars getting painted on this forum, so keep in mind...this is a daily driver, and I ain't no painter. I'm a decent sander so hopefully I can polish this turd!







 
#74 ·
Got the car moved to a covered garage while I paint it, it's nice to have friends that will loan you a shop! Got everything stripped off except the glass, need to do a little welding and then its time to clean up the jambs and spray them.

I've decided to spray the trunk with bedliner, not sure what product I'll use but if I buy enough I'll try to do the roof and maybe the floor, and probably the wheel wells.

 
#76 ·
Today I got my welding all finished up, so the rear wheel lips are done, the trunk fillers are welded in, and just a few small things here and there. Then I got everything cleaned up, masked off, and sprayed some epoxy. I hope to do a few dings and throw some filler primer on it tomorrow. Sorry for the blurry photos, long day.

























 
#78 ·
Alright folks, I need some advice. I've been flip flopping on painting the car white or metallic red. Specifically the single stage Wimbledon white which I already have, and HOK fire red Metallic BC/CC. The car is fine white, I know it hides blems, but I love my red/maroon F-150 when its cleaned up. The bodywork isnt perfect but so far block sanding has gone well. Keep in mind the white interior, and at $250 in materials the cost of red is not terrible. I will be spraying it myself, and I do have spare panels to test on. Any direction would help!
 
#80 · (Edited)
This is true to a point, but I find that a lot of this problem originates in the paint gun. For my antique siphon gun I throw a couple of clean steel nuts in the gun after mixing and then frequently shake the gun before spraying a section on the car. This helps helps keep the metallic particles suspended in the cup so that it sprays more evenly with the paint.

BC drys quickly as long as you do not pile it on and this also helps alleviate streaking. If you see streaking occur, allow the BC to set up a little more before the next coat and then spray it a little dryer. Sometimes I'll put about an ounce of the metallic paint in the paint gun to be mixed with the first coat of clear. Gives a little more depth to the metallic and can help mask a small amount of streaking on a panel. This is not a cure for a totally messed up area.

On the other hand, white paint will hide just about anything and will be easy to touch up later.
 
#82 ·
Little tip, mix it all together to ensure the shade is all the same between quarts, I have seen two quarts of the same color be a little different shade, you can buy gallon mix cups from your local lowes or Home Depot or paint shop tcp has them also
 
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