1968 Where to start?

After 3 &1/2 loooong years, two painters, 1500 miles by truck, and 1500 more by ocean barge, my CS is finally painted and in my garage on Kodiak Island, Alaska!

Below are some pics: before, during, and after.

The car was stripped to bare metal, the bottom and engine compartment treated with POR-15. Then the entire car was prepped and painted. It's going to my fair weather driver and not a show car.

It's a J code, 4 speed, originally Candy Apple Red. And in the spirit of "do it the way you want it", I had it painted a brighter shade of red, and added the LeMans stripes.

I'm looking for advice on a reassembly sequence. I'll remove the trunk lid, hood, valances, and doors, and store them where they can't be damaged. The suspension has been temporarily installed, but not set up permanently.

I have a "new" rebuilt 350 hp, 347 stroker for power. The 4 speed has been rebuilt completely, along with the drive shaft, rear end, and steering gearbox.

So where should I start? Any and all advice gratefully accepted!

Doug in AK

Sound Deadener
Wiring
Lighting
Steering and remaining suspension
Drive train
Interior
Battery
Test
Drive

Basically follow your notes and reassemble in the reverse order of dissassembly. Think things out and try not to get things out of order. Re-do's are inevitable but you want to keep them to a minimum to save time, temper and possibly $$.

A couple of mine were, e-handle on backwards (installed when out of car) ended up having to driull it out and get a new handle.
Had to remove brake lines at the rear end to install fuel line.

If you like pm me your e-mail and I will send you a copy of my notes so you can compare with your own.
Good luck, it's looking great
Love the stripes. Not sure if you did, but I had a lot of should I shouldn't I thoughts, I'm glad I did and am sure you will be too. Really makes it stand out.

Why remove the doors & valances? If they're already aligned & painted it seems it would be additional/unnecessary work and potential for damage when re-installing. The only sheetmetal that needs to be removed is the hood. But that's just me.
The car looks BEAUTIFUL!

Neil

Wow

Amazing, the places you find GTCS's in-
When you're finished with it, you should ferry down to Seattle- Maybe Aemoo will have another GTCS get together next summer!
Your car looks great!- Looking at your cool stripes and the thought of a tricked out motor, I've been running over and over in my head if I should keep my CS or not. I hope to keep it, but I have the urge to go full out on my CS with an all custom setup. If I sell it now, someone will get a nice CS and I'll build the Mustang I've always wanted, on the other, i can image nothing cooler than owning a custom CS.
Oh dilemmas dilemmas
Tim

Timmknz said:

Amazing, the places you find GTCS's in-
When you're finished with it, you should ferry down to Seattle- Maybe Aemoo will have another GTCS get together next summer!
Your car looks great!- Looking at your cool stripes and the thought of a tricked out motor, I've been running over and over in my head if I should keep my CS or not. I hope to keep it, but I have the urge to go full out on my CS with an all custom setup. If I sell it now, someone will get a nice CS and I'll build the Mustang I've always wanted, on the other, i can image nothing cooler than owning a custom CS.
Oh dilemmas dilemmas
Tim

Click to expand...

...If I had a vote - I'd say build your "dream" CS. Trick and custom Mustangs are nice, but pretty common. A custom CS backed by a Marti (proof it's not a clone) definitely takes it to a higher level (admiration wise) IMO.

Doug - Very nice and Best of luck! I hope you enjoy the whole process!!

Doug,
ABSOLETLY GORGEOUS!!! I love the Lemans stripes. I am with Frank. Leave as much on if they are aligned. A trick some people do is to drill a small 1/8 diameter hole through the hood hinge into the hood to assist in lining up later. You can stick the drill bit back in and tighten up the hood and presto your back in alignment. "In front of you" is all over the sequence! TAKE YOUR TIME. If you are fighting something, leave and come back the next day.

What a great looking car. What color is the red? Amy and I are trying to set something up next summer. It would be awesome to see that car!!

Rob

Neil, we were in such a rush to get it finished before trucking it to Seattle that the fenders, hood, trunk lid, and valances were attached for shipping only and are not aligned, so I wouldn't be losing anything by removing them. My garage is not huge, so removing them will just keep them safe from accidental damage.

Rob, The red is actually 1985 Dodge Graphic Red basecoat/clearcoat. We used a bright white for the stripes and added a small amount of pearl to it. Makes the stripes kind of "glow" a little in the light. Cool effect.

Tim, There is nothing wrong with customizing your CS. Nothing I did is irreversible. I kept all of the original parts. The motor is an original J code 302 block and looks just like the original on the outside. The only non-stock external engine parts are the headers and a Hi-po style air cleaner. It's a real "sleeper". Aside from the color, I've tried to keep it looking like it just has a few performance things added: headers, air cleaner, racings stripes. As any cop will tell you, red cars go faster than other color cars, and the racing stripes add another 10 mph!