My Dodge Coronado 1968

My love with Muscle Cars started from early in my life, and it may sounds silly, but around cars, I have met and develop the most important relationships in my life.

First of all, I want to thank my Friend &quotViejo Pepe&quot. He was one of the persons that pushed me to start this project. He was a very skilled mechanic and Car Body restoration artist. I believe I will never met someone with such skills in life again. Pepe was a very good friend and I have learn a lot from Him.

Thank You Pepe! you taught me that perseverance and making small steps every day is the key to make your dreams reality. I hope you have sunglasses in heaven because you will need them when you look down to see the gang driving the Coronado which will always shine in your honor.

How it started

Back in 2010, I bought my first Car, a Dodge Polara 1977, As young and as a dreamer as I was I bought the car that had more problems in the world :palmface: that did not turned me down, and instead I started to learn how to fix it. Along the way I met Walter alias "Doyacu" which had a workshop in the City of Cordoba Argentina. He was the one who taught me the basics of mechanics and how to fix my car.

At the time I did not have enough money to buy the parts I needed to fix my car, so I did spend lot of time in His workshop working on other cars and learning, With every engine that I've clean, and every bolt that i tightened, I was getting closer to my dream. It took us a couple of years to re-build the mechanics of my Dodge Polara, but we did it, at the end We changed every bolt it and along the way I met my closest friends: Lucas, Mariano, Guillermo, Juan, and lot of beautiful people.

If you are seeing this post, Walter, It worth to repeat myself - a big thank you and a big applause, the Engine we built is a Missile

Once the mechanics of the Polara was Done, I took my chance and tried to start working on the body of the car. I did not have the skills, but I had the will, but will was not enough to make it happen. I did went withel Viejo Pepe as he was the master of car body restoration, and asked him to help me.

As we started disassembling the car we realized that it had "Too many" structural problems to be fixed, and that it was to cost me thousands of dollars to fix it

"El Coronado" Joined the party

Knowing that my Dodge Polara was going to be a very expensive project thrown me down. But Lucas and El Viejo Pepe , told me to start looking for an alternate car without so many issues to fix, So we Did.

Lucas found a Dodge Coronado 1968 in which the structure was good, and the engine was running, and I decided to buy it.

At the beginning, it felt like if we were starting all over again, but this time with a lot more of experience. Having a good and Solid body foundation was a great advantage, but still we had to re-work everything else.

In a record manner, with the Viejo Pepe and Lucas we swapped all the mechanical parts from the Polara to the Coronado in less than one week, we fixed some minor issues and did some maintenance to the engine

we took the chance to remove the interior ceiling, the carpets and some other interior pieces and replace it with retro-style but newer materials.

Furthermore, Pepe did a great job replacing the car front grill that was boring, with a Dodge 3700 GT front grill, which had 4 rounded lights instead of 2 square ones, which made the car look more aggressive and sporty which had been always my dream

Learning car body painting

The plans for having the car painted went south when the blobal pandemic started and the country went into a lockdown. Tired of waiting, I decided to throw my self into the task and do it by myself. I did have pretty limited experience painting using paint cans, but I did not have any experience using a spray gun, neither I had a spray gun. What I had instead was a lot of will, and great people supporting me.

Thanks Nico and Guada spending afternoon after afternoon sanding the car, doing any other task that needed to be done or just having the patience to listen to me

As mentioned earlier, I did not had any previous experience painting a Car, So I did actually spend some time into researching how to do it, but as I always say, better to learn practicing, so, saying and doing. After a couple of attempts in some parts of my Dodge 1986 Van that I've used as canvas, I did feel confident enough to start painting the car.

Choosing the color

I did not have a clear idea of what color I wanted to paint the car, I did have some ideas, but I was not sure about it. We did shared some good ideas with Juan Belmonte and He helped with some designs of the car in different colors and styles, but I was still not sure.

The inspiration come one day when I was working, Nicolas had bought me 1:20 scale of a Dodge GTX, This very similar miniature car was around me all the time, one day, I decided to go out put it in front of the Coronado and I've said to myself, "This is the color that I want for my car"

The next thing I did, was getting into the car, going to the paint shop with and say to the seller "I Need 4 Liters of this color" and handed over the miniature car.

Applying the Paint

Applying the Paint was wholesome and challenging, after so many, the car was ready to get a new shinny look. First I applied a coating of white primer, then I've applied a coating of my very own original and unique pink homemade pink primer, for the ceiling I used a black primer called "sport black" and for the final color I've used a red paint called "*fuck i do not remember TBD*"

+5

Painting requires technique and patience, if you rush or you go to slow you can mess things up, If you have the paint gun too close or too far things can get complicated. Gladly I master my tools very quickly and I was getting confident with every layer of primer

When the Red color started flowing through the spray gun and the Dodge Coronado started getting a bloody look, it felt amazing. Literally, one of my dreams was being shaped in front of my own eyes, made with my own hands. After Several hours working the car was looking awesome! but still, there was too much work ahead that needed to be done.

The final Details

Polishing the car was actually the most exhausting part of all, We spend dozens of hours using polishing tools, then manually and applying products to make the car shine, the end result was amazing.

Now that the car was polished, it was time to start adding back all the car decorations, new chromed wheels, a Dodge GTX tailpipes, new ceiling and interior, and some other details that made the car to look like a brand new car.

But you know, it never ends there, there is always something else to do or new problems to fix, like when Lucas had to replace the car hydraulic direction system. Or When Guillermo did a great job setting the original shifter with the central console.

I am lucky to have plenty of friends that always help me out with all the problems that I have. And this blog post

Extra! Funny Story:

Do you remember that I did mention not having a paint spray gun? well, I did not have a compressor either 😂😂. what I had instead was an electric paint gun that I've bought in a local store for painting walls.

People told me that it was impossible to make this work, but I did not listen to them. I have painted the entire car with this gun, and the result was amazing, you can see it in the pictures.

Never let someone question your methods if you have quality results

Special thanks and mentions

Tati

Not a single thing would have been possible without all your love and support. You were always there for me with my craziness and my dreams. You have seen me at my worst crying when I did not have enough strength to keep going, You were there to tease me when I got back back home covered on grease and oil, or with all my clothing with different paint colors. You took care of me me when I used to spend all day working on the car, and I was too focus to remember to take a break. words will never be enough to thank you for all the things you did for Me.

Guille "Road Warrior"

Your out of the box thinking helped me solve too many problems that were appearing with the Car mechanics This car would not be running as smooth as it runs without your been on my side. You always have a plan, you always have a solution, and you always have a smile. Thanks Guille, you are a great friend and a great person.

Nico y Guada

You guys are the best couple ever, thanks for the insane amount of hours you spent helping me with the car. Thanks for the patience and the love you put into this project. Thanks for the laughs and the good times we had together. Thanks for being there for me, and for being my friends. Congratulations on starting that new Project that will get out of the oven in 8 months now. as soon as it is ready, I promise to be there to buy His/Her first Muscle Car.

Lucas

Dear Lucas, you are the best friend that someone can have, you were always there for me, and for our group of friends. You have that will power that makes you go that extra mile and makes you special. You took over when I had to travel away and make sure to put these final touches that the car needed to be the most beautiful car in the entire world, thanks Lucas, you are the best.

Mariano "Nano"

Mariano, we have developed a strong friendship along the way, and I am very grateful for that. You have always helped me one way or another, and you have always been there for me. The best is that you were always there to help! You helped me soo much with soo many small actions that you probably already forgot, but made all this possible too. Thanks to you I have solved so many electrical problems that I had with the car!!, Thanks for being there for me, and for being my friend.

Walter "Doyacu"

Walter you were the first person that I've met in this world of cars, and you were the one that taught me all I know of mechanics. You were the one that helped me build the engine of my first car, You were the one that taught me to never give up, and to always keep going. I consider you my friend, and I am very grateful for all the things you did for me.

Juan

Dear Juan, thanks for being there along this project, thanks for the laughs and the good times we had together. Thanks to your willingness to learn and the challenge that this project presented to all of us, it ignited my will to take the lead and make this project a reality. Your designs of my Car in different colors and styles were the inspiration that I needed to keep going. Thanks for all the shared drinks and all the good times