Mark writes from Texas: In 2007, I told my brother I was looking for a 1950's or 1960's car. He called me and told me he found a 1965 Dodge Coronet 440 with a 361 big block in Kansas. He said the Dodge had remained sitting for fifteen years in a garage after the last oil change and the engine had a miss. I said to send some pictures to see how the Mopar looked. |
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The story of the Dodge, as relayed by my brother, is this: the owner went to trade in this Coronet 440 because his wife did not like a two door. But he had a fatal heart attack...in the dealership! The family then set the car up for the son to drive to college. After that, the Dodge went into the fifteen-year garage hibernation. At that point, the Dodge was sold at an estate auction and my brother brought from that buyer the next day.
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As the title was not changed, I am the second owner of this Mopar. The Dodge itself was in good shape when I got it. There still were plastic seat covers still on car's driver's seat and the Dodge still had midwest wheat in the trunk when I cleaned it out.
Once the Coronet 440 was in my possession, I had the brakes redone and the transmission rebuilt. I did a tune up and tried to get the miss out of the engine. No luck there, so I decided it was a valve problem. I took the engine in to have the valves done and update the guides for unleaded gas; I was told the 361 had two bent valves. So I told them to rebuild the engine, put in a street cam and bore the engine out thirty thousandths for new pistons.
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I showed the Dodge for a year at car shows. Then I had the assorted small road scrapes repaired and the Mopar painted Ruby Red. A lot of people ask about the color. They also say they have not seen this year Coronet for a while.
Contact Mark: 