68polara

this is going to be a record of the journey of my car from near death to reborn bad-azz. This journey will not be a short one(nor will my narrative, lol), or easy, but it will be challenging and rewarding.

Before i get to far into this I want to say that if anyone wants to advise on something, or instruct, or just generally comment, please feel free. however, the intended outcome of this project is not traditional, or stock, so if this offends your sensabilities, i'm sorry. but that doesnt mean that i care to hear your whining about how i "ruined" my car, or how i have angered the traditional mopar gods, or any derogatory comments comparing my ride to some honda or other import car meant as an insult. its MY car and im building it for me. i am however a very skilled mechanic and if you want me to build the car you envision, i can. just not with MY car.

That said, my starting point is a 1968 Dodge Polara. red, primer, and rust in color. She has a 383 2 barrel and an automatic. i haven't decoded the fender tag yet, so i'm not sure which auto yet, but my hope is that its a 727. car shows 058xx miles on the working odometer, but i'm not sure if its 105k, 205k, 305k, etc. She rides down the road pretty well, but has a slight grinding sound when turning full right. probably bushings or maybe its the 16' wheels rubbing. i haven't looked at it yet. the body is mostly surface rust. some rust through on the quarters, but very little. there is some bondo on the passenger door, which will be removed, and the door fixed. the hood has been sprung back by wind and the cowl was damaged along with the hinges and one of the tension rods.

The throttle was sticking and she has a slight miss so the first step was to rebuild the carter 2 barrel and clean up the jets. i adjusted her out per the specs i got from an official chrysler corp document from 1968. i set the timing by ear as i don't have a timing light right now(my old one broke). i set to the highest idle i could get without pinging and then lowered the idle back down to a respectable level.

i finally got down to the dmv and got her tagged though there is an issue with the title(nothing that can't be fixed) so can drive her on the road now. i put in a battery intended for a semi, which fit into the battery tray like its what dodge had in mind. i need all the battery i can get because i am going to put one hell of a stereo system in her along with led underglow and interior lighting. i also plan on upgrading to h4 headlights with halos and building my own led boards to fit inside the stock tail light assemblies. so i need the extra power. i will also later upgrade the alternator to a high output unit and run 2 capacitors. one for the stereo and one for the rest of the electrical system. i removed the hood so i don't have to worry about it flying up. just until i get my hinges from arizona. they arent cheap(to me). i was thinking about removing the hinges all together and pinning all four corners or fabbing up a reverse opening hood hinge. pins are the easiest and cheapest, but how to lift off that heavy old hood by myself just to check the oil is a problem i haven't got a handle on yet. not sure which way i will go.

i went by the parts house today after work and picked up a few things for her that i will install tomorrow after work. a few things went on in the parking lot. the air filter, a fuel filter, and new wipers went on before i left the store. the fuel filter had about a tablespoon of dirt and grit in it.

the other parts were a new distributor cap, rotor, condenser, points, spark plugs and wires. i will convert the ignition over to electronic later, but for now i just want her to run optimally. i also picked up rubber gaskets to seal up the leaky valve covers and new v-belts.

for now this is all i have to report. let me know what you think.

68polara

Put my valve cover gaskets on today and pressure washed the engine and engine bay. Not completely clean but 100% better. After that I put in some new ngk plugs, wires, rotor, and condenser. When I got the distributor parts, the parts guy asked me if it was dual points and I said no, but he gave me the parts for that set up anyways. So I had to go back to the parts house and get the right parts. Between steps I started the car to make sure nothing had gone wrong. I changed the cap out one plug wire at a time but then the car wouldn't start. I checked my firing order, which was correct. I tried again to to luck, so I went back with the old cap. I'll take that one back tomorrow and see if it was just a defective part.

I also got around to changing the oil and filter. I put in Schaffer 10w30 semi synthetic. This oil has zinc and moly in it and I hope this will help with wear in the engine. Filter is a Baldwin.

Then me and the old lady and the dog went out cruising around for a while. I got lots of waves and smiles and nods and 2 offers to by the old beast. It was a good day. Belts are next, followed by Trans fluid and filter change, then on to brakes which is drums all around. I'll put discs in the front but that well be later. Brakes need shoes and a power booster.

I'm looking for a heater control valve and the control panel in the dash if anyone knows where one is.

all for now.

jacilynn_s

I know you hate my guts but have to ask. What heater control valve and which controls do you have? The two arms and cables or the push button/slide button vacuum system?

If you have the truck water control valve under the hood controlled by a cable order one for a 72 dodge truck d 100.

If you have a water control valve under the dash there is a kit available through napa to rebuilt it.

The only other water control valve was on the fifth aves in mid 80s by vacuum.

68polara

I don't hate your guts. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I have the 2 levers with cables set up and the control under the dash. I will check napa tomorrow for the rebuild kit. Thanks for the tip. As for the dash control, one of my levers has been broken off. A replacement is really the only option there I think. As soon as I figure out how to get the dash apart without breaking something else. Lol

jacilynn_s

It's tricky to remove since I believe its two small screws straight up under the dash pad area. Screws are phillips but are flush mounted. Then it drops back and out through the glove compartment which as has to be removed or remove the cluster. The cables are held by flat metal tangs that love to pop off and hide.

The control arms should fit off another c body car for 68-69 without many problems. If the arm broke there is usually a reason such as a mouse nest in the ductwork /heater box. I would remove the box, its not that hard, and check it out. It's also a good time to clean and test the heater core. I use some liquid toilet bowl cleaner into the heater core leave sit for about 15 minutes and then flush it back and forth. I plug one end iwth a cap and the other has an air fitting I made up. I test the cores at 20 pounds instead othe 15 most others do. If there is a pin hole it will only show at 20 not 15 in my experience.

The heater cores are available through napa or you can get them rebuilt. I prefer rebuilt as the napa cores are not always good. Nobody else seems to carry cores that are actually made for car mores the pity.

If you are absolutely stuck on controls with none available in your area I do know of a few cars locally for possible parts. However I am in Manitoba so shipping might be a killer.

68polara

Thanks for the info. I will dig into it as soon as it quits snowing again.

Do those cars where you are have good hinges with the tension rod set up? I nee these and have found them in Arizona but they are $125 plus shipping. Right now I'm running around with the hood off. I'm such a redneck. Lol.

TVLynn

Good luck with your project. The ONLY trans your car could have is a 727.
Some times you just need to step up and pay the price for the parts. Mopar still has the tan original
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-5007856

440roadrunner

68, if you are going to start "upgrading" the battery, alternator, adding some huge load such as a stereo, you need to SERIOUSLY consider going through the electrical system. The weak point in all these cars is the firewall bulkhead connector

Please read this excellent article from MAD which points out how this all comes down, and one way to repair.

Many of us have gone "other routes," by rewiring to eliminate the ammeter, converting to voltmeter and even using relays (boxes) under the hood for heavy loads, to relieve the strain on the rest of the harness.

Not only is there a real danger of electrical damage, but the voltage drop problems inherent in these old girls can cause overcharging, battery damage or at least short life, as well as acid/ battery gassing damage to paint, etc.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml

more articles

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml

Skwerly

wow, that is neat; looks similar to my six eight fury. cool project!

68polara

Thanks Skwerly. Haven't been on in a while but I have been busy on the car. Since I was on I have put on new shocks and brake shoes. Has drums all the way around now but later I want to do a disc conversion. I removed the old dented and rusted through exhaust and welded in a thrush 2 1/2" glass pack muffler that ends the system under the car for the time being. Later thus year I am installing duals with a crossover and dual glass packs running out the back. My starter quit working with the key and I changed the starter relay on the fender well, which solved the problem.

I didn't like the tune of the carb, and the mixture screws were loose, so I took them out and spread them apart. I out them all the way in and back out 1 3/4 turns. I put the air mixture screw in and back out 5/8 turns. This seems to be better as the car is more responsive and burns fuel slower.

She got a new pcv valve and another fuel filter. The new one from earlier had particles in it indicating tank contamination. Deal with that later.

I have been improving the looks of the car a little at a time on the cheap. Yes that means rattle cans. The color is flat black with the trim and certain chrome pieces taped to my taste of style. She's looking good. Even the old lady is starting to get on board.

When I traded my truck for the car, I took the system out. I have put the single din CD player in place of the old am, and installed Kentwood 6x9s in the rear panel. Soon to come is 6 1/2" two ways for the front door panels and the panels by the back seat. I am going to give my old sub and amp to the old lady and I am looking at kicker compR 12" 1600watt subs for the trunk with a kicker amp. That's all the progress for now. Pics tomorrow.

Mr. Fix it

This has some sweet body lines!

polara500vert

Hi,
I just purchased a '68 Polara 500 convertible and am wondering if you have found any good resources for parts. I need a new steering wheel, dash assembly and front bucket seats. The dash is cracked and the seats and steering wheel are like new but just not original. I your timeline is a couple of years old and you may no longer be in this forum. If you are would be curious to see how your project is going.
Thanks
Chris