Returning member with a 67 Plymouth Belvedere wagon (with pics)

Decided to sign up again. I was a member for ten years, but then two years ago I was logged off the site. Couldn't remember my password since I had stayed logged in for so long, and my e-mail had changed in the meantime.

So now I'm back! And I'm hard at work (with my buddies helping) on my 67 Belvedere II wagon.

First, a little background. I originally joined about twelve years ago, hoping I would find a 67 Belvedere II wagon here. I did, and bought it sight unseen from a member in Massachusetts after having a buddy check it out. That white wagon was a 318 car and a bit rough around the edges. My buddy in Massachusetts rebuilt a 318 v8 for it, and rebuilt the suspension and then brought it to me in Virginia. Later I found a replacement tailgate for it as well, right here on Station Wagon Forums. But never got around to installing it. And I never got around to getting the body work, paint and interior done on that wagon either. It didn't have alot of rust, but the tailgate was completely rusted, and there was rust in the dog legs, corners of the doors and around the rear side glass.




Then, in 2019, I found an ad for a solid rust free metallic tan wagon that had been dismantled and sprayed in primer. I bought it sight unseen and had it shipped from Kansas City to Virginia. This one was also a 318 car, but the later model 318 would have needed a rebuild. I chose instead to buy the complete drive train out of a 68 383 4bbl Monaco that was being parted out in Maryland. Since this wagon appeared to need very minimal body work, I imediately sent it out for body work and paint. I ordered new OEM upholstery material from SMS in Oregon and dropped off the seats with a local upholstery shop. Then it sat. Occasionally, I would get something done. Engine and trans installed. Trim polished at Polish This in Pennsylvania. But, the seats weren't done anyways. And so, it sat some more. Decided to sell the white wagon to a local guy who had inquired about it several times.


But then last fall, a buddy started bugging me that "we" need to get that wagon together in time for the Chrysler show at Carlisle in July. And so, we've been hard at work ever since. But, as with so many project cars, every step is three steps forward, two steps back, or worse two steps forward and three steps back. First it was trying to get the big block into the space once occupied by a small block. Its a straight bolt in, but, not everything was the same for a 383 in a Monaco vs a 383 in a Belvedere. of course we had the engine in before we figured out the was a broken exhaust manifold stud in one of the heads, so out came the head. Then there was the time we tried rebuilding the front suspension and had to cut the upper control are to get out the old worn pieces. Of course there were new parts that didn't fit right like the tail pipes on the Accurate Exhaust. We had the cut and reweld the tail pipes to fit. Or the rebuilt starters that turn out to be junk. After two rebuilt starters we're now using a sometimes intermitent old used starter. Have another rebuilt one and a hopefully better used one ready to go in, but each change of the starter requires dropping the exhaust. We were hooking up the parking brake cable, and found that the torsion bar cross member that the cable goes through had been poorly repaired in the past and had rusted out. So, cutting out the bad parts (and parts of the floor) became a big project as new pieces were welded in (lucky for me, my buddy has a welder).

The seats came back from the upholstery shop. The trim came back from Polish This, and the car started to come together. There's still some issues to be resolved. My biggest headach at the moment is the tailgate window, window regulator, window motor, and rubber seals for the tailgate window opening. I had someone rebuild the original window motor. But, once we got it in the tailgate, it would work intermitently. First, thinking it was in the switch on the dash, or that wiring, we pulled the dash apart. After alot of trial and error, and trouble shooting, we decided it was the rebuilt motor and the thermal limiter inside the motor. So, I contacted the current owner of my old wagon. He brought over the spare tailgate that went with the white wagon. That tailgate had a manual rear window. We installed the manual window crank mechanism, handle and regulator. What could go wrong? Thats gotta be a foolproof system. The window went down, but then the coupler connecting the handle to the regulator slipped and the window became stuck in the down position. Had a buddy who does body work for a living come by last night. With much effort, a very long screw driver, and a few new chips in the paint, we managed to get the window back out without breaking. Next up is putting a different window motor in from a parts car.

The good news is, the car runs Great and the 383 feels stronger than any other 383 I've had!

 

Welcome back. I was wondering what ever happened to that white wagon that used to be your avatar. New one looks pretty sharp. Didn't you have an old Challenger too at one point?

 

Well the Challenger is "old' now. Its a 2014. The Challenger is my daily driver since the groundhogs ate the wiring on the vehicles I park outdoors (96 Ram and 99 Durango). The white wagon is still in my little town, but now belongs to someone else. My other old cars are 67 Coronet, 68 Barracuda, 68 Charger, 68 Dart, 66 Fury and 66 Polara. Some are on the road. Some are projects. All the cars are indoors, but the groundhogs only like the wiring on newer vehicles anyway.

 

About time..........!

 

Looks really great! Sometimes all you need is a buddy to give you a good kick in the pants. Haha. I’d spend a lot more time in my shop, but all my buddies have been lost in the shuffle. Welcome back!

 

Welcome back, Jim!!! We saved some parking spots for you.

 

Well, starter number 4 seems to be working perfectly every time. The nasty looking old power tailgate window motor, that a friend had sitting in an open parts car for decades, is now in my tailgate and is working perfectly every time. Found window seals that fit and work for the tailgate window even though they aren't the factory molded parts.

I have the rear folding seat back and filler panel, and the tailgate to cargo floor filler panel figured out and installed. But it took carefully studying the interior pictures in the 67 "Chrysler Master Parts" book, to figure out what parts go where and with what random hardware the previous owner left me.

The transmission was leaking enough to create a late lake under the car over night. A new seal on the drain plug, a little hammering on the edge of the drain pan and retightening the bolts holding the drain pan, has reduced the lake under the car to a few drops over night. Its a Mopar, its gonna leak something.

Still to go is the windshield washer assembly, the hood to cowl seal, the headliner, the rear view mirror and visors, the kick panels and interior windshield trim, the interior trim at the top of the rear side glass and at the back above the tailgate window, the luggage rack, and the wheel lip moldings. Problems to solve include non working gas gauge, non working backup lights, non working 4 way flashers, and erratic speedometer. Hoping to get more of the interior done this week.

Got the car out on the road today and took it to the gas station for its first full tank of gas. Got back and my buddy adjusted the timing a little and the toe for front end alignment after installing new tie rod ends today. Went to take it for a second test drive and the new motor mount broke. Two steps forward and one step back. I guess thats better than the two steps forward three steps back that has bee the story of this car up till now.

 

Working on getting the interior together on the wagon. Alot more complicated than it looks with all the moving panels and folding seat. But things are coming together bit by bit. Once the car is on the road, I'll be stopping by the upholstery shop for help or guidance in getting the rear seat cushions to fit, but the back seat looks good and is usable as it. Hoping to get a new motor mount installed this weekend (with the help of a buddy). The new drivers side motor mount broke the first day we got it out on RT 7 for a test drive and to get gas. We solved one transmisson leak, but the trans is still leaving a substantial size puddle on the floor. Might be time for a new pan and gasket. On the exterior, still need to install wheel lip moldings and luggage rack. Under hood the washer bottle and washer jets need to be installed, and the hood to cowl seal needs to be installed. On the interior, The headliner still needs to go in. The speedometer is eratic and the gas gauge doesn't work. I may look for another gauge cluster at Carlisle. The current one doesn't fit as well as it should anyway. Over all, I am very pleased with how its working out. All the setbacks are frustrating and frequently due to junk new replacement parts. I'm excited to finally get this thing on the road and going to car shows. But first, it will need a thorough cleaning. It's still covered in body shop dust.

 

very nice!!!!

 

With a buddy's help, the original molded hardboard headliner went back in today. Took a bit over three hours. We were both getting a bit of vertigo focusing so much on the headliner, above us, which was a big field of white with thousands of little holes. It helped that the previous owner, who had dismantled the wagon, had marked the original position of each bow. The original plastic snap on retainers were brittle and broken, so I was happy that I had found someone who had reproduced new plastic retainers for the bows. Need to clean up the visors before they go back in, but, the interior is mostly done now. I have reproduction hardboard headliner panels, but they need to be steamed or soaked in water to make them pliable enough to form into shape, and I wasn't ready to attempt that yet.

 

First time out with the fully assembled wagon. Even the roof rack, wheel lip moldings and washer bottle and washer jets are on the car now. This trip was testing it on it's ability to do station wagon things. A drive over the mountain for a stop at the hardware store in Purcellville, Virginia. No problem. The car ran great and drove smoothly and effortlessly. Then over to the grocery store with the grocery getter. Well, that didn't go so good. Came out, and it wouldn't start. Starter only "clicked". Eventually, the starter engaged after a cool down period. But then we didn't get a spark. Called a nearby buddy who took time out of his day to come to the rescue. A trip to Auto Zone to pick up a new ballast resistor and the wagon was back on the road. Car made it home, but then it was time to get a new starter (again). For starter #5, we went to O-Reilly's Auto Parts. Their starter was the newer style mini starter with an add on adapter to reposition the electrical connection. The adapter wasn't the right one, so it didn't fit. Starter #6 is now in the car and is an old one we found lying in the garage. It was likely the one that was on the old 318 that was in the car when I bought it. So far, it's working! Perhaps the car is now ready to make the trip to Chrysler Carlisle.

 

Took it out to run a few errands. It did great. Well, up to a point. Made several stops. The last stop was an auto parts store. The key turned too far in the ignition cylinder in the dash and wouldn't trigger the starter or even turn on power to the wipers and heater blower motor. I managed to sart it by using a screw driver to jump the starter relay. Made it to a stop sign and it stalled and again wouldn't restart. Decided I couldn't risk taking it out on the highway and having it stall again. So I didn't try to jump the starter relay a second time. The car came home on the back of a rollback.

 

I was wondering where you had been lately. I'm glad you found your way back.