I think I'm far enough along to post the progress of my car. I’ll start with a little back story and move into the pictures. This is an abbreviated version of how things went. I apologize for the lengthy story. If you can hang until the end, it gets good….I promise!

Years ago I raced an all white 63 Savoy. It had that period look but it only carried a 383. It was a fun car to drive and I had success with it. I moved from Phoenix to Ohio (don’t ask) in 2002 and my priorities shifted. Long story short, my stable of mopars evaporated along with the 63, but it was the last man standing. I dreamed of owning another 63 or 64 for years but it just wasn’t in the cards. I knew when the time came that it would have to be a max wedge and I would not settle for anything less. My dad and I collected parts here and there but we were missing the car. In 2009 our luck shifted and I was now on the prowl for a 63 or 64 post car. I put a wanted ad up on the HAMB and a fellow from Virginia rang me up and said he had a 63 post car in his barn that he was considering letting go of. We exchanged emails, phone calls and some photos. After some negotiating my dad and I were on the way to Roanoke, Va. When he opened the doors to the barn, it looked just like it did in the pictures. It was covered in an inch of saw dust (carpenter bees hard at work above the car), sunk into the ground to the quarter panel on the passenger side and someone used some type of roofing tin to make a floor board. This car was an old Virginia State Highway Patrol car. 383 with a 3 speed and about 12 coats of blue paint. The bubble gum machine bracing was still in the roof. She was rough around the edges but overall a very solid car. A deal was struck, we drug it out of the barn and on to our trailer. First stop was the self-serve carwash. What a difference that made! We hit Cracker Barrel on the way and we were home by midnight.

On our way home we discussed the plans for the car. It would be a nice driver with a max wedge that could get up and go when told to. This was a basic freshen up, updated brakes and address what was necessary to get rolling. We all know how that goes. One thing led to another and before long it was a bare naked shell. I did all the metal work and got it ready for body work. I painted the under-side and engine compartment, base coat clear coat. We had a friend of ours that completed all the body work and prepped it for paint. Another friend shot it and we were off to the assemble part. All the suspension had been blasted and powder coated with new front end components. I got it back on all 4’s and this is where the project had a sudden stop. It was now mid 2010 when priorities changed again and the car was pushed into the corner where it laid dormant until August 2011. During that down year I did little things like paint the dash, trim pieces and source parts. I found a fellow here that had some chrome that I needed and he was coming to the Nats. My wife and I headed to down south on a Saturday to pick the stuff up. We were walking through the race pits when she said “hey, they called the max wedge and hemi’s up, let’s go watch em.” Against my better judgment, I agreed. Now I haven’t been to the races in almost 10 years and I always made a better racer than a spectator. So we are sitting there watching all the beautiful early b’s make passes. As we were leaving the stands she told me she sure misses seeing me out there and I told her that I miss making laps too. Now folks, this is where things get REALLY interesting and I hope that you’ve made it this far. She tells me to scrap the idea of the street car and build a full on race car. I chuckled when I heard her say that because I thought she was kidding. I said, honey do you realize how expensive race parts are? She said, yup I know and I want to sit in these stands next year and watch you go some rounds! At this point I started to feel a little light headed and woozy and it wasn’t from the hot sun. I asked her again just to confirm that I wasn’t hearing anything funny. Her response to me was “let’s get it done!” Needless to say it was a very nice ride back home.

My goal was set. Take a roller that was to become a street car and turn it into a race car in 1 year or less and make it to the 12 Mopar Nats. I have a hang up about having other folks work on or build my cars so everything that was done to the car (minus paint and body) was done by me in my humble little garage. I had a lot of fun on this build and I am already looking forward to the next one! Thanks for taking the time to read my little blurb. It is a special story that I hold near and dear.
Now, on to the good stuff!!

As found








At home

New Floors

Back from paint

A few undercarriage shots

Cuttin up those nice new floors for connectors and a roll bar.

Black Friday sale at Summit. Gears, bearings, yoke, spool and axles.










The ever watchful eye of my pops up there.

So, Mr. Smarty Pants here decided to order a CM bar to save a few pounds. That's all fine and dandy but I didn't have a TIG to finish it up! After several weeks of looking for one to borrow I finally found a fellow local to me that could do it asap. I pulled up and this guy didn't look old enough to have a drivers license let alone have the ability to operate a torch properly. Boy was I WRONG! This kid can weld! Luckily it rained on the way home so all the bare metal had a chance to flash rust. Thank god for that!

So now we are at the end of March. Less than 5 months to go and I have brake lines, fuel lines, wiring, motor, trans...well everything left to do! The suspension and chassis were out of the way though! Almost all of this build was done on the fly. No mock up, just fab it as I go.

Undercarriage repainted after surgery. If you guys haven't painted laying on your back you are missing a world of fun! Let me say one thing, DeVilbiss DeKups! Unreal paint system that allows you to paint upside down with no spillage and constant flow to your tip. Best $60 I ever spent!

Brakes and shocks, check!




Polished Plymouth emblems, check!



Beauty mark, check!



On all 4's with an attitude, CHECK!!

This is the only picture I took of the front end chrome. I spent night after night working on every single part. Stripped the anodizing, tapped out dents, sanded from 80 grit to 2000 grit with everything in between and polished, buffed, polished, painted and polished again. My finger tips looked like they had been through a meat grinder after I was done. I wanted it to turn out better and I personally think it's the worst part of the build but I have had more compliments about how good it turned out. Folks have asked if I had it chromed. I guess the eye sore in my mind is an eye catcher for others. You'll see it all come together as things progress. I don't want to spoil the fun!



New headlights and restored wiring. Those are new PLYMOUTH letters too. Man are they nice!





Bumper filler done and in place.





Those oh so beautiful parking lights like no other!

These are the new reproduction tail light bezels. They are an absolute work of art and fit like a glove. If you are considering a set, just do it!

I wanted my MSD somewhere that was half way accessible and I didn't want it on the floor. I bent a piece of aluminum and mounted it in the glove box, problem solved.




I'm a stickler for having things neat. Everything has its place and every place has its thing. The tach's on the dashes of these cars have always bothered me. The side of the instrument pod is no place for it either. Since I wasn't going to use any of the factory gauges I figured I would try to mount the tach and gauges in the factory spots. The tach fit the in the speedo hole perfectly. The others fit in the oil/temp hole, ammeter hole and the shift light went in the clock hole like butta! Problem solved....not yet. How the L am I going to make them stay in the holes? No problem I said. A day and a half later I had a plate that will house all the gauges (minus the tach) and the respective indicator lights. Blue for water, green for fuel and red for my line lock. Viola!






Of course there was much wiring going on behind the scenes as well.

Let's have a look in the trunk. Fuel cell in, plumbed and wired. Cutoff switch is in and wired. Battery in and stationary. I'm almost into May and still TONS of stuff to do but I'm picking up speed now!






Got the boss going for a quick spin!

Got the boss and his helper out in my fire pit cleaning my mixer up.



Glass is in and chrome polished and snapped on. What a PITA!








And the front end bright work that has gotten so much attention.

First weekend of May and the motor is done. Stock Eliminator high compression max wedge. Original 518 iron heads, SS vavles, a nice vavle job HS roller rockers and a stock lift cam with a little extra love from Bullet.






To make a long story short, my machinist gave me the size for the pushrods, twice, and the 3rd set he paid for. Nuff said.




So that big empty hole in the middle of the car was now full of Race Hemi Orange iron and a funny looking intake!






I guess I should build my tranny now.

Line lock and brake system complete! Those Wilwoods are slick. No problems bleeding the 4 piston calipers at all.







Getting close now....






Wiring checks....OK!

So here we are in the first week of June ready to break it in. I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I had my wife inside watching the vitals, pops was the diver and I was on the timing light. The wife hit the key, it turned over about 3 times and roared to life! I set the timing, wife's eyes were on the gauges and pops was watching the floor. I love it when a plan comes together!



After all the glad handing and patting each other on the back, it was straight back to work as there was a LOT that needed done yet. Overflow tank, drive shaft loop, door glass, front bumper, you get the picture.

There was a lot of behind the scenes stuff that went on without pictures. These shots are after the first time it moved under its own power. What a feeling! We may actually make it to the Nat's after all! Still need it aligned, front bumper, shake down time and a few loose ends.

http://youtu.be/zbwBbKKa8VU

July 1 I got my bumper! Good lord ol Friday! Dude tells me 2 weeks, 2 weeks. Uh right man more like 9 weeks. Oh well, I have it and that's all that matters!



Ok, all loaded up and ready for a little TNT at Norwalk tonight! Had a few issues but the car went 11.01 off the trailer. It cooled down after the sun set and I blew the tires off on my last pass.

I had my fair share of problems over the next few outings but I managed to get everything sorted out the week before the Nat's. No pictures but a couple of videos from Quaker Friday night TNT. I worked all night trying to get the suspension dialed in but the track was crapola and I was fighting an uphill battle!

http://youtu.be/QT7TUmTZ8AU

http://youtu.be/wgIojVEdYcw

http://youtu.be/N99-OU7v4fo

All loaded up and ready to head to the Nat's! I did it....



At the fabled Mopar National's!



My beautiful wife! Without her I wouldn't have been able to complete this.

That was kool... Good looking car, I love that Body...

The interior isn't complete and that's a whole different story.

We did a little traveling this year and hit the big 3 events. Of course we were at the Nat's. We hit the Mopar World Finals at Norwalk (I won the Saturday night MW/Hemi gambler) and we made it to Indy for the Fall Ball to round the year out. I did things a little backwards. I told myself I wasn't going to worry about being competitive this year I was just going to sort things out. Well I got the car competitive and haven't made many adjustments. Hell, it was consistent enough to go 6 rounds for a win! It launches like a Chevy and I don't like that. The springs are to heavy and I will change those in the coming months. I'm going through the traps on the 7k chip with 4.56's. I'd like to change them to 4.30's or 4.10's. Another something that will need help over the winter slumber.








Final round in the MW/Hemi gambler at the World Finals.




Well there it is folks! I hope you enjoyed your journey with me. It sure has been fun reliving my trials and tribulations. I had a great year building the old girl. It has been full of ups and downs and I am already looking forward to the next one! If you see me out and about, please stop by and say hello. I don't drink beer but I'll have a handshake and a smile for ya!

Great looking car Jon. I think you picked up that trunk trim from me at the Nats? Glad to see your project came together so nice.

That's an awesome car, love those early b-bodies.

Fantastic build Jon! Love the team effort!

Thanks for all the comments guys! It means a lot to me.

That was you Josh. As you can see that chrome has been put to use.

that is a really great looking car - we have an original 63 belvedere max wegde car that is still getting raced down the track over here in west australia -great to see that shaped car off the line-it really defines mopar.
all the best
frank

Very nice. I agree it's nice to do your own stuff. When someone asks who did this or that you can say "Me'. Boy , wish mine was that clean when I started. Look forward to racing against you next year.
Doug

i realllly like this car!!! awsome job,, if anyone has a savoy,, project, i'm looking for one,, jc - columbus ohio

What a great story, and an even better job on your car! Thanks so much for posting and being an inspiration to many. So wonderful to have the family involved, creating irreplaceable memories like that.

Awesome job!


Mark

Wow! Huge inspiration to pickup where I left off on mine! Mini tubbed done, 12 pt Moly cage done, Dana done and subframe connectors done. Love the white with the red guts. Nicely done.

Great job. I love the '62-'65 B bodies.

Terrific story. Great photos and outstanding results. You are an inspiration to all of us.

One comment: take care to really appreciate having your Dad around and involved. Mine used to help out all the time when I was running my car. He passed away 7 years ago now. Lots of good memories but I still regret not appreciating his time and help more when he was around.

Thanks for all the great comments guys!

My dad and I have been building cars for as long as I can remember. Sometimes we don't agree on things but at the end of the day I still enjoy his input and support.

Doug,

Very that's really neat! I bet every 63 and 64 you see reminds you of your dad. I have followed your build very closely as well. Your attention to detail is second to none and I can't wait to see your car in person next year.

Great build and awesome story. Back to the top for a great build.

what a killer car.

very nice car!

I love the whole thing! Beautiful car

Very nice

Jon you know I love it as I love 63's. Thanks for all the great pics you took building it. I was thinking you spent as much time taking pics as building it and we appreciate it. That car is done right. If you dont mind I have a few questions:

What brand headers are they ?
And is it a track only car or will it go on the street any ?

Thanks again for all the great pics on the build of your awesome 63. Ron

Ron,

Thanks for the comments. It is strictly a race car. The headers are Hooker SC's with Flow Master merge collectors.

Casey,

That was a wild night for sure! Just a quick nap and back to it!

Congrats on your win at the BG race last weekend. Wish I could have made it but had converter problems at the Nats.

See you at Norwalk next month!

your entire story has inspired me...thanks...beautiful car!!!
What kind of HP do you think that motor puts out..?? Whats carbs are on it??