Progress Thread 1969 Calypso Coral 428 Cj Mach 1 #1124

horse sence

15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Wile Coyote's stunt double
I bought this car several years ago ,it has been stored since 1981 .It is a factory calypso Coral 1969 Mach 1
R code .The car is #1124 from San Jose Ca., It is a 428 shaker car with a 4 speed close ratio ,391:1 Detroit locker ,disk brake .
It was backed into in 1981 and stored at a cousins shop . Some one broke into the shop and took the 428 ,the shaker and the rear end .They attempted to strip it ,removing all the interior but for some reason they left that behind .I want to restore this one as close to factory as possible ,if i can find another 428.
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It will need a tail panel ,floor and hood but is in pretty fair condition otherwise .
The factory AM FM is still in place .
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The clock panel is still in the car and in 81 it still worked ,i hope it still does.
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The instrument cluster was unbolted but still in the car ,the millage shows just over 60,000. The tack worked in 81 also and the trip knob is still in place
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The fold down is there and the dent free trap door ,The rim blow wheel is gone . going to take a while to put back together but that is alright .
 
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I got it pretty well taken apart today .The floor was full of cat poop, IT STINKS inside .The driver side front floor is rusted through ,i have a new full floor ordered . The tail panel is smashed in and the trunk lid had hit the rear window devider ,I ordered them also .Nothing inside the trunk was damaged ,not even the rear trunk brace so it will not be difficult to replace .Frame rails are perfect so the damage was just to the trunk lid ,tail panel and the window devider . I will get it up on the rotisserie soon as the new sheet metal is in place .I have a good trunk lid so i will not have to use a reproduction lid .I still need to remove the windshield ,broke my window tool so i have to get a new blade .
 
Spent $20 on new blades for my windshield tool only to find out that the glass shop that put in the windshield pushed the glass tight to the window lip .The tool would not go between the glass and the lip .Spent a couple of hours trying to cut it loose with a utility knife ,not a chance .I wound up breaking up the windshield to get it out ,they had used urathane to glue the ,was new ,windshield in.The pass side of the glass wasn't even glued ,i could lift the whole side .
Finished taking it apart .Soon as the floor and tail panel is in it will be ready to go on the rotisserie .
 
The front engine compartment area is in great shape ,nothing is rotted ,not even the battery apron or even the battery tray. The big block towers are perfect with no cracks or dents ,just a mild surface rust in places that will sand blast very easy.
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Here is something i always like to find ,body markings in grease pencil .The out side of the battery apron has
R 8 And 5D in yellow .The R8 must stand for 428 ramair V8
.Not sure what the D 5 is ,but i think the D must mean disk brake .
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Then there is a F on the front cross brace :thinking:This could mean Front :rlaugh:not sure what that is .
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The under side of the cowl and the back of the fire wall is still in brown primer ,but it has yellow glue sprayed on it .
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Found this pic on the net . This is what mine is supposed to look like , and will
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I got half the floor out today ,some one at ford did a good job spot welding it in .Lots of spot welds and BIG. I am having to take it out in pieces .The new panels are on their way
 
I got the rest of the floor out today ,i have a cut on nearly every knuckle .I have to do some small patches on the toe boards ,just the lip the floor spot welds to .
Spent the rest of the day scraping the old tar out of the inside . I will sand blast and epoxy prime before the new floor goes in . Every thing else looks really good ,the floor supports are in great shape and so is the floor under the back seat.
 
I got the roof and the quarters sanded down to bare metal today .The quarters are in pretty good shape ,just a few small dings that shouldn't even need bondo when i am done with them . the roof has a few dents around the outer edges ,kind of like a ring but they should pop out fairly easily .Was going to take pics but the camera pooped out .
The floor and tail panel should be in soon .I have to get some leaf spring U bolts so i can get it down to the sand blaster and get the inside blasted and primed .
 
The paint off the roof and the quarters ,i was looking it over to day .The lead in the roof / quarter joint looked a little funny so i picked at it with a screw driver ....It went through .Yep ,i get to do a roof :doh: Looking at the inside i find two nicely built, RATS NESTS:fuss:One on each side . The under bracing is like and egg shell ,but it is just the upper part of the brace so i should be able to patch it .The roof could be patched but it has about 8 dents around the edge .I figure it would be best to just replace it .That way i can blast the under bracing and prime it .The window openings will not be that difficult to drill out but the rain gutter has about 100 spot welds ,1/2 inch apart ,on each side .That will not be fun . :dammit:
 
Got the camera working ,just needed a good shaking ...works every time.
I sanded away some of the lead ,didnt want to get a bunch of lead flying . The rust holes only seem to be light ,i will have to sand blast the back side to see what all blows away .The rust i was feeling under side was just the very edge of the under bracing so i may not have to do a roof ,but you know how that usually goes .here is a few pics .
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No way to tell what is under the rest of the lead until i melt it out ,could be good ,could be bad