rcknrolfender79

Hey guys I found a '68 coronet for a pretty good deal. Only thing thats kind of turning me away from it is that its not an R/T. It's just a regular old coronet coupe. Now the main reason I really want an R/T is the Tail panel on them ( they have the chrome strips that go all the way across it where as a regular coupe does not have that. Here is a pic of what I want:



Now does anyone know where I can find a tail panel like that and how much it is going to cost me? I have looked at yearone and ebay and I have not seen anything on either one. Or is it just crome trim that bolts on? It really doesnt look like it but I have never seen one in person lol. Sorry guys I'm not real familiar with B bodies all I know is I want one. Also will be looking for a big block K frame it has a small block in it now, I havent found one of those either. Also is the tail panel and hood the only things cosmetically that seperate an R/T from a basic coupe? I know the grill is blacked out on an R/T but like are the quarter panels and trunk lid and everything the same?

luke

There is http://www.dodgecoronet.com/ they have a parts wanted post..perhaps you will get lucky
I may be wrong but your looking for the Tail light bezels for a 68 coronet RT ?

I would get the car if I was you, said it was a good deal. Iam sure you will find your parts soon sounds to me like you fell in love
luke

1966sportfury

why do you want a BB, k frame? theres no real reason for it, a BB is only 140 more lbs than a SB,

my cousin has a 68 dodge r/t, not a coronet just a dodge r/t, looks like a coronet. with a 383, he wont sell it. or drive it. it just sits there all dirty with moss growing on it. id like to kick him in the head.

Silverick

I wouldn't let it go by..... you may regret it!

Here's a nice Coronet that's not an R/T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUQX70RA8Bk

rcknrolfender79

No... well I will be if they are different than a regular coronet. But If you look at the picture I have posted up there, I'm talking about the actual panel that is between the tail lights, where it has the chrome strips going vertically all the way across the panel. Here is a pic of pretty much what I will be starting with and I want the tail panel to look like the one above... This is not the car I'm looking at just (don't have any pictures of it at this time) an example:
And yeah I believe it is a really good deal, he want's 2500 OBO for it. And it is a project car, but the only rust is of course around the rear windshield and a bit one the bottom of the passenger side fender. And he claims It would be a running car with very little work. He said he parked it less than a year ago and it was running but poorly. It has a 318 in it now. Do any of you guys know what all would have to be changed cosmetically to make it look like an R/T? I know the hood and tail panel is there anything else I'm over looking?

OH and by the way yes I did fall in love lol, Not with the car I'm lookin at buying in particular, but with the '68 coronet R/T in general. I saw one for sale a while ago on carsonline.com and it was absolutely gorgeous, elegant and very bad ***. And I decided I wanted one so I have been lookin ever since lol. I'm just tryin to figure out how much I'm gonna have to put into it to get it as close to an actual R/T as possible. Really just trying to see if I would be better off just buying an R/T project I found one a couple days ago for 3,500 in Iowa but... that is a 10 hour or better drive away from me and the car is a lot worse off than the one I'm lookin at. I figure I can find a decent shape R/T car for around 5,000. So I maybe better off going that route.

rcknrolfender79

I have heard that you have to change the K frame and all the suspension to swap from a sb to a bb. And yeah I hear you on your cousin. i know plenty of people like that. For instance my best friends grandpa spent 17,000 on a 74 challenger a couple years ago, he drove for a few months, then he accidentally got caught in some hail, and it put a few minor dings.... nothing noticeable really at all. And he parked it and it has not been driven since or worked on. I also have a guy that lives a few miles up the road from me, that has 3 70 challengers and a 71 demon sitting in his front yard. 2 of the challengers are R/T's one is a 340 six pack car and the other is a 440 six pack car and the other is just a 318 car. But the 440 six pack car doesnt have the hood on it and it literally has a tree growing through it about to start splitting the frame! And they are all in about 3 feet of grass. I asked him to sell them to me I offerred him 10k for the 3 challengers... he said No I'm starting on one of em next weeked. I bet he's been saying that for the last 30 years they have been there lol. It drives you nuts and they I really believe they should pass a law that classic cars should be stored inside if they are not in running condition to keep some of our american pride and history from rotting away. I gauruntee all of those challengers and the demon will be dust before this guy wants to do anything with them.

rcknrolfender79

I am working on it trying to weigh my options here. And yeah thats a nice one. The coronet 440's are pretty bad *** too.

BuckNeccid

You do not have to change the K frame to go from a small block to a big block. At most, and I'd suggest it, change the Torsion bars to big block bars, you can get them from Mancini for about $100 a set. Brakes are larger on an R/T, 3/8ths fuel line, super stock type springs and some other stuff, but cosmetically, just the tail panel, I THINK the actual tail light housings and bezels are thicker stuff, and like you said, the hood. The price he's asking for the Coronet isn't bad at all if you are right in the amount of rust. If the R/T is in worse shape, for more money, you're really only buying a few more parts and numbers, but you're going to spend a lot more for rust repair and labor than for the coronet. If the numbers matching doesn't matter to you, I'd prolly go for the Coronet, unless the R/T has all the trim, a good 440 and tranny and just needs basically the same amount of rust repair. It's not a bad deal either way. You're going to have to be patient and watch sights for the correcct R/T trim, and then find a 440/tranny for the coronet, so you may spend more money on it, but have a solider car with less work.

rcknrolfender79

As far as I can tell the R/T has all the trim, and has seats in it that look decent. But both the quarters are rusted to crap (thats $1,200), he said the trunk and floor pans both will need full replacements. And the trunk lid will also need replaced due to rust. Also the front passenger side fender is dinged up pretty bad at the very front but it could be fixed with some body hammers and some putty. It is not a matching numbers car, it had a 440 magnum automatic set up originally, now it has a 413 auto in it. He wants 3,500 for it the way it sits and he will not take any less. So with the 1,200 in quarter panels and probably around another grand or so for the floor and trunk pans and I have no clue what a trunk lid would run for one. I would have a solid r/t project car for around 6,000 or 7,000 and lots of labor later. Also it is around 9 or 10 hours away from me the coronet 440 I'm looking at is about 30 to 40 miles away from me. lol. And with the 1800 to buy it and the 600 to replace that bad quarter panel and all the deductions I will make when I start selling a lot of the chrome trim and some of the spare parts I'm going to guess I could come out with a solid project for around 2,000. And no I really don't care about having the numbers saying it really is an R/T. All I care about is how good it looks and how good it runs. Also this one has A/C and an extra compressor in the trunk for it. The R/T wasn't an A/C car. lol So yeah at the moment its hands down the coronet 440, But am still trying to weigh some options and shop around a tid bit more to make sure I'm not missing a better deal.

rcknrolfender79

Oh I forgot to tell you guys I went and looked at it yesterday, It is a coronet 440, 318 2 barrel, A/C, Monotone yellow, 2.76 rear end, black interior, Split bench seat. And I just so happened to forget to look at the most basic two things that should never be over looked lol I didnt think to look to see if it had power steering or breaks! lmao I feel stupid. Without a doubt it is a matching numbers car. And he said he is the 3rd owner of it and was told it had 113k miles on it. I believe it by how great the interior looks, and how nicely the doors open and close and what not. It definatly wasnt driven into the ground. Not that it means a whole lot lol. Oh one other thing will an A/C compressor and brackets off of a small block fit onto a big block?