Rob & Stu's 63 Polara 500

[RobTwin]

......Effectively, what is used is another headlight switch, and it works well. Fit a lamp so you know when the lock is activated.

Roll up, right foot brake, left foot set line lock, right foot hit gas, left hand change up to second, right hand grip wheel, left hand wave to Dave (Drogo), right foot lift off gas, left foot hit line lock off, roll forward, left hand hit drive, left foot brake, right foot gas, green light ... gone.

Colour Me Busy.

Think that makes sense for ours, with the pushbuttons on the left of the wheel

I'll have to get in some practice by rubbing my tummy & patting my head, while sitting at Drogo's drum kit, playing the bass drum & hi hat

[RobTwin]

Bit of an update in the form of a few pics Stu took down at Paul's last Sat 8th. Sod's law (can I say sod?) dictated that I was coming back from a week's hols on the day Paul could accommodate us there for a chat and to see how things are going with the assembly, so Stu went and took these pics.
You'll notice the heads are nowhere to be seen, they're still away having valve seat & guide inserts fitted & machined, and they're now what's holding Paul up. Hopefully they'll be back this week..... but we've heard that before.
Despite wanting to keep things as original as poss, we opted for a deeper sump just for a bit of security. Did manage to locate a deeper, more stock looking sump than the one we eneded up with (a bit less square looking), but not until Paul had already sourced & received this Moroso one. But that's only down to aesthetics, as long as Paul's happy this one's up to the job (re baffles, windage tray & capacity), that's good enough for us.
And if you're not colour blind or using a b&w monitor, you'll notice the different shades of the block & sump. The block is (we hope) the correct race hemi orange, which we now have some rattle-cans of (thanks again Jon!) to give everything a top coat once all the parts are present & correct. Paul's used the street hemi orange he already had as an undercoat to cover the black paint the sump came in. Once we can get the race hemi cans to Paul he'll go over the sump and anything else that needs it.
Paul's starting to get busy now with the start of his race season just around the corner so the next time I get to see it, it may be on it's way up to, or at Kenny Colemans dyno, so should be all buttoned up & ready to rock by then. Lookin forward to that day, I can tell ya!!

[RobTwin]

some more...

[Anonymous]

Great pictures Rob. Enjoyed those

[RobTwin]

Thanks Clivey, just wish there could've been more to take pics of.

What I'm really waiting for is an update on yours, or is it top secret till its great unvieling

C'mon, spill the beans....

[Anonymous]

Well, just for you mate, a small update.

My car will be back from the acid dippers next week. So, Saturday week, John has asked me to go to JPC to discuss exactly how I want the car painted. It will be bare steel when its back, so John wants the old gal primed up as soon as poss.

My gearbox is rebuilt, the engine, well, block completely machined in every plane - bored out +30 though, , and everyhting that can be replaced, has been. Crank, rods, pistons, rings, camshaft and bearings, timing chain and gears, rocker shafts, lifters, rockwers, pushrods, valves, fuel pump, oil pump etc. etc. Got brand new tripple holleys for it. All re-chroming done, all suspension up front and steering re-built 9still got backend and axle to do. all front end bumper supports stripped, shotblasted and powder coated. And so it goes on. Tracked down proper 70 6-pack rocker covers, 6-pack sump, HP cast iron exhaust manifolds, etc etc, yadda yadda yadda


The long and the short of it is, as of next week, everything that is done, goes towards putting the car back together. There is no more stripdown to do, so the only restraints on getting the thing finished, is parts location etc. etc.

So, the end is almost in sight (very much the optimist). As soon as I see the shell, I will start posting pictures. Its going back to white though.

[RobTwin]

Thanks Clivey, I feel honoured
Good to hear it's coming along, but seems a while since it went away for dipping/stripping?
So with your optimistic hat on, are we likely to see it out & about this year? Any deadlines in mind?
"Deadlines? Dont make me laugh", I hear you say... not worth the paper they're not written on etc etc
Trouble we got is Paul is trying to fit our work in & around his daily bread & butter work (servicing, MOT work etc), not to mention getting his Super Comp car ready for the coming season. And he's on his own.

At least John & his boys should be able to concentrate all their efforts onto your car once all the bits are there. Or am I being naive :joker:

[MrNorm]

VERY nice, engine looks clean! I'm sure it will be a rewarding experience to drive once back in!!!!

[TYREMAN]

Great Car..Great Engine...not a lot else i can say what has not been said.
You are luky to own such a SPECIAL car

[Anonymous]

Well Rob, optimistically, I would expect it to be running this year, but not finished, and back home with me. It needs re-wiring, re-plumbing, new exhausts etc etc etc. and mine is about one of 10 cars having that amount of work done (some are having more!). Then there are all the cars having little bits done. To be honest, I was fortunate to get it in there when I did. It I had left bringing the car down till later on, I wouldnt have been able to be fitted in. Thety are very much in demand.

If you get the chance, pop down there. Its like a mini mopar factory. Packed to the rafters with really nice, interesting cars.

[RobTwin]

If we hadnt had these engine issues I expect we would have had some more contact with JPC by now.
We have a few other options for when we get to the bodywork, some a bit nearer home and some a bit further than JPC but we've known John for as long as we've had the Satellite and are pretty confident without even going down there that he's the man for the job.
Hopefully bump into him at Brooklands so will have a chat there...

[RobTwin]

Great Car..Great Engine...not a lot else i can say what has not been said.
You are luky to own such a SPECIAL car

Well... I suppose it's all down to luck, dependant on when you're looking and what happens to be out there at the time.
I think we were lucky to be looking when a 'clone' was for sale that had a complete, correct date, 426 & trans (the vast majority of clones have 440 blocks with scavenged or repro inlets and exh manifolds, if youre lucky), but if we had been looking a couple of years earlier we may have got an original 426 Dodge or Plymouth for not much more than what we paid.
Would have loved an original Max Wedge car but they were $50k+ and rising at the time we got ours.
If our car came up for sale now in the states I reckon we'd have to stick another $10k on top of what we paid, just cos of the way the prices have been going.
So lucky? probably, and kinda honoured too

[RobTwin]

Engine assembled (again) & dyno date booked - 5th July

A longer wait than I was hoping for but it should give us a bit more time to get the brakes finished.

I'll post some pics if I get to see it before then.

Should be all back together in time for the Nats but not much sooner

[RobTwin]

Couple of pics just in from Paul Thanks Paul if you're looking in

Carbs still to be rebuilt, which will be done before d-day (geddit ). Exh manifolds will be left off till after the dyno session as Kenny will be using their own headers with all the sensor's plugs & wires.

[Anonymous]

Wahey!!! That is starting to look just the ticket!!!