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History |
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I found the poor car in pretty rough shape,travelling the back roads of the Okanagan,it was sitting in some farmers field just rotting away, so I went to purchase the car from the farmer, I got it for $400.00, it needed a bit of work (but what classic doesn't) so I trailered it home and begun the long process of bringing her back to life(which as anybody who has done this knows it is a lifetime hobby). I started with the 318 and had the engine rebuilt with 10.5:1 pistons, bored .30 over,double rolling timing chain, and I installed a windage tray. I put a 340cam and a set of lifters which helped immensely with performance,very wise investment. I then put Dual exhaust on her(she was having a hard time breathing with single exhaust.) I put the Terminator Mufflers on ,and does it sound awesome, I would recommend those mufflers to anybody who needs a set of good mufflers. I then put on a Mopar Performance intake manifold and on top of it at the time was a Quadra Jet 4barrel carb,which ran fine for about 2or 3 years and then started to cough and sputter, so I had it checked out and it would have cost me allot of money to fix it, so I went and bought a Edelbrock 600cfm, which sits on there now. Everything was going fine and one day I ran across some J heads which supposedly had the 202 valves in it,but did not. So I went to see Mother Mopar at the Vernon Dodge Dealership and bought a set of 202 valves. I then took the heads in to Tri-Lake Engine Rebuilders and had the heads shaved and ported and had the 202 valves installed, WOW what a difference in performance, it was like driving a new car. It has a 8 3/4 Sure Grip rear end with 3:23 gears. For a transmission it did have a 904 with a stage 2 shift kit but she finally blew after 6 years of driving, so I cannot complain about it. I figured while it was out I would switch over to a 727, which is a far better transmission, I had it installed with a stage 2 shift kit and a 2500 stall torque converter, which is nice to have. It has front disc brakes (which I was told it was an option back then on those cars). It has the small bolt pattern all the way around. To help with the cooling of the mighty little Mopar, I had the rad rebuilt into a 3 core rad which has helped immensely, I just installed a clutch fan as well. After all that is done I figured it was time to change that rustic color. I have always liked the Plum Crazy Purple, and it is a favorite of Mopars, so to save a bit of money, with the help of a few good friends we stripped the car down the shell, and did all we could to save a few bucks. The body work was done by Accidental Collision here in Vernon, B.C., since it was not a rush job it took about 3-4 months. As u can see it was worth the wait, i am getting nothing but compliments on the body work done, they replaced the floor boards and both front fenders, as well as both rear quarter panels. With the help of some friends we pulled the engine so they could do the engine compartment, which by the way is done in the same color as the rest of the car. After it was finished getting a new look it was time to put some new rubber on it, i looked around and found that to buy a half decent set of tires at a decent price was next to impossible, luckily i have a buddy who works in a tire shop he helped me pick out a good set of BF Goodrich TAs 235 60r 14s for the back and a set of 205 60r 14s for the front. It looks really good and rides like a dream. Just this year i had the seats reupholsterd and cleaned up. They were done in a pearl white and boy do they shine.
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