76 Volare, yes a volare.

Well, since I sold my Volksrod and my Coronet is in the tedious process of block -sanding plus waiting a big cube bullet.

I bought myself a cheap throw together type project. Every B-body that I looked at was way too much of a buy in, and I had no spare parts for an A-body so I got a pair of 76 Volares'. One is ok the other is toast but has some good useable and needed parts.

Pics coming

Pics of how it arrived. The landau quarter windows will be swapped to the standard glass.

I will be making it a Day 2 tribute to the 70's street car. Without the phsycadelic (sp) paint job.

Fitting in a 400 & 727 and I used a set of B-body SS leafsprings and a 8-3/4. I rebuilt spring packs using the F body main leaf and the isolaters went away with the swap.

Here are the mods done to the driver side motor mount as per Schumacher directions, with considerable more mods than they say.

The power steering box is getting swapped for a manual so i had to make the extention. The brake booster is going to be from a 75 Dart which is smaller in diameter to clear the big block valve cover.

The engine compartment is stripped of everything, and k frame will get cleaned up before reinstall. Lots of scraping cleaning then some paint.

I'll be making steel blocks to replace the shabby isolaters, I am going to rebuild the suspension once the car is complete again. I think it will be easier with the k frame mounted and above me on a lift.

The car was considerably rustier than the seller disclosed so I had to patch the frame rails and will be doing the floors soon.

That will make a nice ride.
Used to be a black R/T or RR (decals removed) w/ Centerlines near me. Sounded very healthy and looked very good. Never had the chance to stop by and talk to the guy.



Tim

Wow , that was the good one? I can only imagine what the other one looks like .

Have fun , looks like a great project.

Was able to fab and weld up my steel isolaters blocks, I decided to make them a little shorter than the originals.

They are supposed to be 1-5/16 but I used two 5/8 thick blocks with a 3/4" through hole, I welded them together and added a modified flat washer to make the locating tab.

New grade 8 hardware is shorter since there is no isolaters on the bottom of the k frame

In place, I will paint them and the k member before re install.

I'm not really going to put alot of horsepower or sticky tires or a steep set of gears, but since it needs some floor work I figured I would install frame connectors.

I used .125 wall 2" square tube, I did a lap joint on the front and matched the framerail on the rear

Since this car will never be worth too much, I am cutting a few corners and saving weeks of work and lots of money in some of the repairs I do.

The cowling had many holes, and overall was paper thin in alot of it. Seems the paint never reached the obscured areas so in rusted out pretty good.

There is no way I would cut the upper cowl off to properly replace the lower, so I opened up the cowl a bit and sand blasted the entire area, I used an epoxy laminating resin to coat and layup the entire cowl area, kinda like a full tray and then a coating of flex seal liquid to protect the resin.

I'm sure I'll hear blasphemy from someone for the way I fixed it, but otherwise the car would not be saved.

And so I don't spend a day driving to the steel shop for sheetmetal, I procured a bit from elsewhere

I did the same thing to my 76 Volare in 1988, I used a 440, Headman E body 2" headers and fabbed solid motor mounts. The car was new enough at the time I was able to get new quarters and a grill from mopar, with a little trimming on the front i can get a 30 x 10.5 to fit. If you want to save about 300 lbs make bumper brackets to replace the crash bars and energy absorbers at both ends.

I got my Volare for $150 from the back row of a chevy dealer, 73k on the clock.

Floors are patched, not pretty, but solid. Guys be thankful to have replacement panels for your common bodystyles.
because cutting & bending flat stock to fit sucks

Wow Henry nice job bro, i didnt realize how much work youve been doing on it.
dont get too carried away, i know the fabrication of the build is what you really enjoy but try to remember, its to be a fun driver not a show car ha ha ha.
(since Dan @performance only (RIP) isnt around anymore, someone need to pick on you to keep you in check.)
copper

After a couple weeks of working on other things I was able to dedicate a few days to the engine compartment.

First I did the bodywork to the repaired rusty areas on the firewall, then stripped the paint off the rest of the panels, primed with metal etch, and a bit of rattle can high build primer, sanded it completely then COLOR

Here are the shots in primer. These cars are seriously crap bags when it comes to the sheetmetal stamping and assembly.

We Got COLOR, LOTS OF GREEN. Sassy Grass, to be specific.

Single stage.

Couple more

They do look good in Sassy Grass green......

Between, installing Hurricane panels on my house and picking up endless amount of debris and junk so it doesn't become a projectile. I managed to get a little assembly done on the Volare.
Just a few odds and ends that have to go in before the engine, and the A/C & blower fan assemblys, and the front suspension assembly, it will get a rebuild kit and new brakes when the car is whole. Plus a brand new "Chinese" windshield. How or why the Chinese can make a 76 Volare glass cheaper than Americans is disgusting.

Glass pic

I did a little template porting to maximize the iron heads, got the motor reassembled and painted a very nice shade of race hemi orange.

Took the day to install the engine and trans and a few other items, I wire tied the headers into the engine bay and nestled the 383 down between them, then I installed the trans from underneath. Went in without a hitch, only one small scuff on the paint behind the right valve cover.

The headers are headman hustler #78030 for a 66-74 B/E-body. Fit really well.

nice!

Nice alternative body style!

The install is a little more complete and this is the next task once the drivetrain is finalized.

Gauges and gauge panels are installed, face trim is just sitting there it will be trimmed out in silver with body color edging, Still need to drop the fuel tank and install aftermarket shifter then it will be ready to do the engine run in and brakes.

You sure do nice work for a "throw together". Love it and will be paying attention to this.

gk

A little more complete and mock up. The only new items are the fan, pulleys and altenator. All else is cleaned up and painted used/swap meet parts

Henry,
What did you use to paint the M/T valve covers?
On both of my cars I used bed liner to simulate the textured pattern and hide the fact they were cheap swap meet parts...Looks good so far...

It is a rattle can called wrinkle plus. It is VHT brand. I get it at Autozone.

It takes some practice to get real even coats to get a consistent texture

Getting very close to starting the car and being able to drive it a little.

I have to rebuild the front brake calipers and rear brakes, plus hook up the shifter cable. The most recent mock up was my fabricated shroud. It still needs to be cleaned up a bit before I finish the install

Nice work.



Tim

Just throwing this out there. A front Duster bumper is a very close fit in the rear. I've been thinking about trying the swap for awhile.
Doug

Nice job. Sadly, the '76 F bodies came with factory installed rust. You could have avoid a lot of these repairs by going with a 78=80 version.

It's nice to see a F body getting some attention.

Holes and patches, I am cutting out the areas that are swiss cheese and making patches, I am lucky to have a parts car with a few of the areas solid where my project isnt.

Looks great so far, I reaaaaaally wanna paint my car Sassy Grass now oh well maybe someday...good luck on this Volare!

Well just about ready to send the car to the scrap heap, but I sold the rest of the car to a guy who has a 56 dodge, he is going to use the front suspension and what ever else he may be able to use.

PARTS IS PARTS.

Some of you guys may be wondering why it has no roof, well the crappy cardboard headliners with some heat and humidity like to invert themselves and be useless, so I used the roof upside down to create a perfect mold to reshape the headliner.

Some water and heat in the bed of my truck with a topper got it most of the way back, a few platforms and some weight plus my wife's iron got it the rest of the way.

From there, I repaired the cracks, patched the holes where the shoulder belts were, fixed the damaged edges. Then fiberglassed the entire part to make a hardend shell that won't warp with the elements.

I will cover it with a modern type of headliner material when I am finishing the interior.

Nice build!

Looking pretty slick there Henry. I didn't realize you had this thread going, looking great.

Yeah, Thanks. My 67 Coronet is on the back burner cause I was mislead in the purchase of these cars. Once I was in, I had to take it to the finish.

Been working alot but took this last week to work on the drivers quarter panel. Did all the rust repair and patches, filled,and blocked it, layed down metal etch primer then two med wet coats of high build.

Going to spin the car around and get the passenger side done next.

Great seeing this car saved. It's going to be a fun ride for sure.

I wish these cars didn't have to be Smogged in CA. Keep up the good work.

Started on tightening up the rear bumper, these things from the factory have a filler panel that warps and breaks plus stick out a good 2 inches on either side, the front is far worse.

I used the trim holes to weld temp brackets to 1/4-20 bolts for placement of the bumper, I will make a new mounting setup next with some built in adjustability

Found this great pic of just how large and bulky the bumpers are and look, not to mention they are 140 plus lbs with the self absorbing crap and the inner bumper structure

This is looking great! Could you post more pics of the bumper mods when you get a chance? I would like to do something similar but so far have only been thinking about it. Thanks!

Excellent to see you fiximg that car. There is a 76 Aspen RT up the road. It's rusty. But you give me faith. Keep up the good work.

If you can find a fiberglass bumper, you can mount it up tight like this.....

Thanks, here are some progress pics of the bumper and brackets. I cut through the absorbing tube to use the factory attaching plates, from there I bent my own brackets. I welded the stock carriage bolts to the backside of the bumper, they made it easy to fill the large square bolt holes.

Tucked it up and in and rebuilt the ends, I did it all with strategic cutting and piecing the the bits I cut off, only fabbed two pieces per side from 1/8 plate.

No fancy tools either, a cutoff disk, 2 lb hammer, bench vise and a welder.

More pics

I will grind them smooth and shoot with DP90. A little body work and they should look alright high and tight. Really updates the look.

Keep em coming. Nice work

Last pics, bumper is roughed in it needs some filler, prime and color.

Very nice.

bad ass work

Any updates? Awesome work

Thank guys, Actually been working a bunch and a few family things have not let me do much. However, I did get the go wing mocked up and the support brackets modified to fit the F body deck lid.

This is a factory b body wing and brackets that a friend of mine picked up at a local swap meet, got it for 175. I am really happy with it.

I love this build. Great work. Please keep them coming. When you once said they were the last pics, i got a little sad.

looks great

My first thought if I had seen this car was to say "scrap metal" and you have turned it into something pretty darn cool... Keep up the amazing work..

Nice work, good save.

did you find the tail light trims?

Thanks fellas, I did pick up two NOS tail lamp bezels from Len Dawson. Gotta tell you they are perfect NOS pieces still in original packaging. But holey crap what junk, those mid 70 cars are made of the cheapest, cheesiest parts made.

Although I really like many of the mid 70 early 80s mopars they are crappy.

Excellent, glad you found the bezels.

Tons O' plastic in the mid-late 70's up...yup.
The sun beats the snot out of most of it here so I dont wind up with much of it thats good.
But then I drag one it with some really nice pieces...oh well...lol

Nice work on the bumpers, I reworked a set on my 66 coronet and about the time I was finished I was ready to pull my hair out, but it was worth it in the end.

Looking good man! Love what you did with the bumpers, and the go-wing looks right at home there.

Appreciate all the comments and Jarrod I soon hope to be cruising this Volare around South Florida with you in that sweet 70 Ragtop you are finishing.

Henry

Well they did go bankrupt in the early 80's... Remember the K car... And you wonder why everyone was buying Honda's and "Datsun's"......

Had a friend buy ALOT of that $1 stock... He did pretty good on that stock buy....

I'm waiting for the windshield and the new top to be done... Very soon!

Well finally was able to set aside a few days and got the passenger quarter patched up and first coat of hi build, it still needs a bit of work on the body line around the quarter glass. Next few steps are body the doors and deck lid prep and prime the trunk and door jamb and the add color to the jams. I'm getting close, I hope to drive it to Garlits in November.

Well just more body work and primer, it sure isn't exciting but I do feel accomplished.

Got the roof, trunk jamb, and door jamb primed. Driver door is in really good condition only had to work a few small dings and a small wave about 6" behind the front edge in the middle.

I did get the trunk hinges and support braces painted as they can be masked easy while I continue priming and blocking.

Very cool. I like this build a lot. Looks great.

Laid down a couple coats of Zolatone. I had purchased it a year back for the Coronet, but it will be awhile till it needs paint. So for it not to spoil I used in in the Volare, I would have went with a gray if I had bought it for this car, but on the car is better than on the shelf.

Just continuing with body work, priming and blocking, in between of working a lot so not much progress but, I did make up a sample spray out of my color combo.

The gray is kinda like an Argent, I am real happy on how it is gonna look. The hood, fender tops and door tops will get the Argent color in a waterfall type two tone like Dusters

Looks Great. "Hold Your Head Up!"

I drove a /6 Volare through college, abused that little car. I loved it, best daily driver I have owned, took abuse and kept running.

Great project! I always wanted to do a Volare wagon! Anyway, I especially like your fabbed bumper work!

Scott

Does it have paint yet? I love this build

No, sorry. Been on deadlines and family matters. Only a few hours here and there
Nothing of consequence done. But. I have not mothballed or set it aside for something else I will post pics when the last of the body is blocked and ready for paint.

I will be making a temporary spray booth in my shop.

Finally have a week or so that I'm free to work on my car, I hope to get the front fenders and deck lid primed, I started today on tightening up the front bumper similar to what I did on the rear. Here are some pics and I will add more as I get stuff done.

Here is the refit bumper, the last pieces will be welded in once I put the bumper on the bench

One more for comparison

Your fabrication skills are incredible.

Xs 2

Thanks guys, appreciate the cudos.



Blocked the high build down with 180 and put two final light coats. I will block the entire car a final time with 400 right before spraying color.

I will however be jamming it (painting the jambs, under the deck lid and behind the doors) and attach the deck lid and fenders for the last time before final blocking and color.

2

Deck lid is blocked and primed ready for final blocking with 400. It was the easiest part, no through rust, only a couple tiny dings.

Next few days gonna try and get the car jammed.

My brother and a buddy of his came by and called it "Kermit" it is a serious shade of Green.

Got the jambs done and the bottom of the deck lid, trunk bolts are painted but will need to cure for a week before install them.

Looks awesome, after a few days I will mount the front fenders for the last time, then work up the energy to start the final blocking of the entire car.

Looks good.

there used to be a late '70s Dodge stepside Power Wagon around here with a pic of Kermit on the doors, sweet looking truck, and your car will be too.

Gettin' there.



Tim

Got the driver side jamb shot, and made two risers or benches to stand on to shoot the roof, put 4' flouresent lamp to add light at the rocker level.

Looking good Henry.

I agree: It is looking great, lots of progress.

Thanks guys, only had a day left before I'm back at work to 70 hour weeks, so I won't get much more done for a couple three months.

But I decided to start on my hood, since the big block with an rpm intake won't fit under the flat hood and I don't want the same Ole scoop that everyone else has on my car, a little fab work was in order.

The doner: wrecked 70 Challenger hood

Some slicing and dicing, measuring once and cutting thrice, some tape and green paint I have half of what I'm going for, working hard on keeping it from looking Pontiacish.

Once I get both sides mocked up I'll decide if I like it enough to do the bodywork to finish.

That would be a lot of welding.

I can't convince myself that it is going to look good. Any comments?

That looks great!
Plus excellent engineering and fabrication..
recycling a wrecked Mopar hood,
works with the Volare hood lines,
and helps with the clearance you need.

Heck,make a mold of that hood and sell fiberglass copies!! LOL
Better put a patent on that puppy,LOL
That would be Awesome!

I think you're on the right track. I think it looks way better than other hoods I've seen. The only thing I may have done different would be to remove the center pointed section and left it straight just behind the air inlets, similar to a T/A hood I guess. Kind of a hard thing to test though and not certain it would look any better than it already does.

Overall, you should be really happy with it. Very nice work. Always nice to see something different.

Edit: I think it looks very nice. Please don't take my input as a negative comment. It was just a thought and I hope it didn't come across wrong...
-Trent

Thanks guys, Trent, not at all, I asked for opinions and I appreciate hearing other points of view.

It isn't exactly what I envisioned but my idea is to build a hood that could have been designed had the "muscle cars" of that era continued.

As a matter of fact I was hunting a hood like yours (73-74 RR) to graft in instead of the challenger hood.

Different, looks good, although a bit fordish looking to me in some ways.

How will the underside end up looking?

not crazey about the front pointed section, but the rest looks good.

I AGREE, And stay tuned.....

Hell yeah that's cool. This is one of my old cars, a buddy did this with a damaged hood we acquired

Ucudant, that is nice, I thought about the Cuda hood but it didn't have enough clearance bulge in the center and the Cuda guys wanted way too much $$ for rust beat up hoods.


I just couldn't get past the pointy area that the challenger hood created when I made it follow the factory hood lines.

So I cut a couple more times and added a pie piece in the front. It is a Much improved look and I have no issue on moving forward into filler and finish work.
This is a kinda hack job, without being to overly concerned with quality work.

Lots of filler will surely hide the flubs.

That looks pretty good I think.

much better

Your'e "revisions" look much better on the hood! Great thread...keep
working on it, and keep us posted...good luck!

Yeah, thanks. I am happy with the hood now, once I get it in primer it should make a much better photo to see the lines and proportions.

I took the car to a shop to get the front suspension rebuilt and aligned. I could have swapped parts myself but I still would have sent it for an aligment anyway so I'm killing two birds.

Once I get it back. I will button up the top end of the motor and do the run-in and fill the brake system. It will be drivable in a month or so. Then I will prep for paint. Soon soon soon.

Cool!

Work seriously gets in the way of progress on these projects, unfortunately I'm not wealthy like most everyone else, so here is a long overdue update.

I was able to get about four consecutive days to get the hood pretty close, there is a lot of fabrication so there are a dozen or so small areas that need to be massaged and worked but I was able to etch prime and first coat of hi build.

Overall I am quite pleased

I don’t think you could’ve blended that combo any better.

Looks killer.

I think it looks nice. it will be the only one around like it!

Very nice

Did you make it functional or is it just for looks? As heavy as the Volare hood is I would cast it in fiberglass as i would your custom bumpers. This is an easy way to remove 200 lbs.

It is functional and actually looks almost factory from the bottom.

If there was any type of market that I thought I could make some money I would make fiberglass parts. But to actually make it worth the effort I would have to sell 20 units at about 500 each. I don't think there are that many interested in it.

As for the bumpers, the mounting brackets are removed and heavily modified so very few people would be interested in them. Unless I made brackets as well.

Hood came out awesome.
Great job.

I talked to Glasstek about a hood for my 1980, not gonna happen, not enough interest. Your project is pretty involved from this view, but way cool. Them side markers look early seventies chev-gmc truckish....?

This is a very impressive thread. Your fab skills are awesome. I look forward to seeing it done.

Finally blocked the top two more times and worked on the transitions from the stock hood to the scoop panels and sprayed last hi build.

Flipped it over and scraped,wire wheeled, sanded, and cleaned the bottom. I put a light coat of paintable undercoat for some texture, color and a med wet coat of clear.

My shop phone is black to show the contrast to my argent/gunmetal gray. I am quite happy with the look and am getting excited to get the car in color.

Glad to see you kept the transverse torsion bars. Overall, impressive build

Been thinking about the hood and it needs an engine callout, but I already drilled my fenders for 383 badges so....

I made my own fender badges to use the holes because I don't want to weld and bodywork the fenders any more.

Really just an excuse to do something different, I cut out a new name plate and added the angled return for strength and support.

From there I made a hi temp rubber mold.

Cast them in pewter, cleaned them up and sanded them flat and clean.

Painted the back shadow black, and cleared them, all they need is some double sided emblem tape.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone on here make their own emblems. Very cool!

that is a great idea. this car is lookin great so far!

nicely done!

Update, I took a week off to get the car blocked for the final time, built my make shift spray booth and got color on the car.
I still need to shoot the two tone on the hood and fender tops but that will be probably Sunday.

Here are a couple pics of it so far.

Some color shots.

This is Nason, Ful-Thane SS. Sprayed with a Devilbiss finish line with a 1.5 fluid tip, around 18psi

I did get a couple runs on edges and a couple of sags or hangars. I won't post those pics though.

Couple more

Those runs are paint flow meters! Looking good!

Car looks awesome, nice to see it in paint.

Nice! Single stage eh?

beautiful!!

Thanks Guys.

I was able to get the two-tone done today.

I am really happy with the results and the color is exactly what I was going for, it will have good contrast to black accent pieces.

Couple more

looks very nice. colors work very well. I like the old school wheels on front as well!!

better and better!

Back when I first began fixing this thing, I cut the cowl open to access the Swiss Cheese beneath. In doing so, The factory plastic cover doesn't fit so I had made an aluminum vent cover. Since paint is basically done went ahead and installed it.

It has panel nails to hold in down.

nice idea!

Looks awesome!!!

I did a little fab work on the head pipes going into the side pipes.

I used the kit made by the company who makes the side pipes.

Had to modify a couple tubes and I added a crossover or H-pipe.

Had a buddy come over and give me a hand installing the hood, it was relatively straight forward, just a bit tedious trying to get the alignment just right.

I still have trim parts, mirrors and scoop inserts to paint and the bumpers too.

sweet!

Finished wetsanding and buffing to where I was originally intended to leave it, got the brakes partially bled, and the exhaust buttoned up so I was able to drive it out of the shop and into the daylight under its own power, I need to raise the front a bit still and add the correct wheels and tires.

Now I can work on finishing the bumpers and interior pieces with the car outside. The side pipes have a cool sound but not as bad as some say with only hearing one bank at a time, I installed a h pipe so I think that helped.

getting closer to a driver and fully expect to have it at the Garlits show this November.

Love it. The Side pipes give it a bit of an AMX look. That will be a fun car.

awsome!

Bumpers have been ground down, filled/bodied,sanded and painted.

Couple days to cure and I can install them.

I'm also working on interior panels and parts going to take the seats to the upholstery shop so a bit of tuning and some adjustments to door glass, some weatherstripping and I'm getting closer to done.

Last of the larger details will be my custom grill.

Bumpers on!

Front.

WOW!! You continue to impress! The bumpers look GREAT!! Love how the paint ties in the front bumper!

great job!

Doooooooooood!!

A lotta work in those bumpers, and the final product looks amazing.

Great work on this build! Nice to see a Volare getting some attention. The bumpers look great!

Mighty fine job you have done there Henry.

Are you doing anything custom with the area between the tail lights? Or are you just doing a clean-up of the original piece? I see the holes for it are still in the body.

Thanks guys,

I am pretty satisfied with how it is coming along, a bit of a set back with drivability, the converter is too tight so I took advantage of the Mancini discount and bought a B&M holeshot 2400/2600.

Burdar, the factory finish panel will be scotch-brite and clearcoat and then repaint the black accents.

Is it screaming "70's Street Machine" yet?

Nice job...

I remember the cat in heat look, its 1976 all over again.

Wow, looks perfect! Great job.

that turned out fantastic!

Appreciate it guys, I still have the interior to do, seats and door panels haven't made it to the upholstery shop. Plus the converter, tuning, have the alignment readjusted, some trim still needs paint...... there is still a bunch that needs attention.

Persistence is key. I picked this up on July 2016 so bit over two years. It was supposed to be a quick throw together type job, Boy did that snowball.

Stellar job. Everything you did works. The wheels really look good and the 70's stance makes it on that car. Bumpers really cleaned it up without looking modified.

Looks fandamtastic! Sassy Grass looks awesome on that Volare!
Now I seriously wanna paint my Duster that color.... LOL!
Great job..

Here is the first little bit of my grill, I have to clean up the interlocks and adjust the depth a bit then have it welded up. I will do the inserts after it is one piece

Job well done!!!

The 70s look needs air shocks

No update, just wanted to add a pic.

sweet!

The car looks great in pictures, but I like it even more in person!

You've done a really, really nice job on that car. The side pipes are full blown retro, but I'd go with old school "turbo" mufflers dumping ahead of the axle. Cool piece regardless. Volare's get no love.

Not sure if anyone has asked yet, but are you planning on adding
a set of painted quarter window louver's from an F body Road Runner?
IMO, those would look right at home on your volare'...

Xs 2!

Nice work. The car looks great!

Was anything done to the bumper openings at the fenders and 1/4 panels where the plastic fillers original bolted on?
Doug

The Sheetmetal around the bumpers is as factory, all the modifications were done to the bumpers and brackets, if you look through the pages to this thread you will see most of the changes made.

I have owned a few Volare's and Aspens, always loved the grill and look of the 76-79 cars, the 1980 grill not so much. One thing to be careful of, and you are probably aware already, the gas filler location is a notorious "puker" so be careful putting gas in around that beautiful paint, especially on a full fill.

I haven't done much but I did get my grill a bit further along.

The inserts are not attached yet, just in place and it will be painted black and then I will polish the leading edges.

I'd love to see a mock-up picture of it on the car!

OK, I was planning on that anyway.

Here is the grill surround on the car.

Had to make left, right and center bracket.

Ready to do the finish work and paint next.

Added the wheelwell trim and the front and rear glass trim, still waiting on upholstery but I did get my insurance set up and next weekday off I'll be getting my tag to drive it without worry.

Finally able to finish up my grill and install it, still waiting for the interior. But I have an cam swap in the near future anyway so that will be next.

Here are some pics.

WOW!! That grill looks GREAT!!

Man that grille looks sweet in there!

That grill looks great, love the look. I love the Volare and Aspen body style from 76-79 and have owned a few (hate the 1980 gill). This is a great looking build.

You are an artist and a fine craftsman.
A lot of work has been put into the subtle details.
A car that Chrysler should have designed.

The car looks great Henry. Very nice work.

Thanks guys, I'm on someone else's timeline with the interior but when it's done I'll post a good amount of pics of the finished car and its details.

Upholstery is done, picking it up this weekend and hopefully get the install complete.

Pics to follow next week but here is a shot the shop sent me. Fits the 70s/80s theme perfectly

Love the Groovy Interior, great job and will fit the car perfectly....

At about 98% done, it's time to let the "Story" be told!

1976 Volare Volatile

                You are looking at a pre-production 1976 Plymouth Volare “Volatile”.  Specifically built for the Mexican/Austrailian market, the Volatile was meant to be a performance and trim package similar to an R/T or Road Runner that we had here in the states.

Performance

The export market was not concerned with fuel mileage so they opted for a true upgrade from the American market’s small-block 360cid to the big-block 400 4 bbl with an estimated 265 hp, which was alot to have in the gasoline restricted mid-70s. This was mated to a 727 torqueflight transmission w/ a Hurst “Stick Shifter” and then to an 8-3/4” banjo rear axle, gear ratios in 3.55 through 3.91 were available while the 3.23 was standard.   Like its American cousins it had standard power front disk, rear drum brakes but was equipped with an oversize front anti-sway bar and optional rear anti-sway bar, tires were 15” polyglass radials mounted on unique cast alloy wheels.

Interior and Accessories

The appointments were typical of all models of that era, but this car had a padded headliner with an overhead consolette but industry new, retractable shoulder belts were omitted. The interior color combinations were special to this model, the front seats were buckets with a floor shift center console, the inserts were cloth in either bold plaids as this car has or bright stripes with solid colored vinyl surround and the same combination for the door panels. Power seats, tinted glass all the way around and power windows were optional but air conditioning was not, surely due to the oversized engine in a mid-size package. 

Exterior Details and Colors

Being an export only vehicle the U.S. DOT mandated crash-absorbing bumpers were not installed on this model so smaller more form fit units were stamped but to keep costs down they were not plated but painted the body color or a contrasting shade to the body or trim, as all trim was colored to match.   Like the American market versions, the two tone paint scheme was very similar but only came in a few of the high-impact colors of the day, dual sport mirrors were standard, the side markers were similar to the ‘71 Charger units, the rear glass and quarter windows had louvers as an option but they were all equipped with a revamped “Challenger” style fresh air hood and dual scoops, also available was a go-wing from the ’70 model year.

Heritage and the Present

This super rare Plymouth was found in Mexico modified into a “Hot Rod” by what we believe was the original owner,    (A Chrysler Corporate, Export Division Principle) titled in his name but never registered as we would here in the states.  Seems the 80’s custom tricks were abound as it had a hole cut through the hood for a velocity stack, headers, side-pipes, traction bars, lots of stickers, air shocks and of course big and little 14” aluminum slots, the color was green but different than the factory made it plus had the two tone painted over.

We rescued it and brought it back to its “Day-Two” condition with just a few modern updates and improvements as some of the original, unique parts are no longer to be found. The wheels are an interpretation of the missing originals and are so period correct, the colors are as close as possible to the original and the mechanicals all have been rebuilt to make a fun and a reliable driver, a Cheetah Shifter, Performance Cam, Ported Iron Heads, an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake w/ Holley 750 carb and an aluminum Champion radiator are the upgrades

I hope this was an interesting story about a car that I think until now, nobody has heard of….

The 1976 Plymouth Volare “Volatile” 

               

interior, only missing floor mats and center console lid

2 more pics

Very cool!

Now thats a 70's street machine right there! Fantastic work and attention to detail on everything, and really love the interior.

fantastic job!

A very cool car ! Beautifully done !

Mark

Thanks all. It is getting a few changes, a 26" radiator and new shroud plus an 18" clutch fan and best of all, a new cam, comp XE268 to replace the completely junk Thumpr cam it has now.

Here is a pic of the console armrest, Interior is 100% now and the mounted 26" rad.

That interior looks amazing! I love it!

I am missing Carlisle because sometimes things out of ones control, happen. But I did manage to get the new/ upgraded radiator and shroud with 17" viscous fan installed along with a new XE268 Comp Cam. and did the Run-In.

The rainy season is here with the extreme hot and muggy weather, so the cruise ins and shows are almost non-existent or on days that are very tough to attend. but over the next couple months I hope to log some miles and vet it enough to drive it to the Garlits show in November. (4 hour ride)

We shall see. thanks for all the kind words, I will post a few more pics randomly as miles and time goes.

henry

I love what you are doing. With rising prices this is a great car to build.

Appreciate that. The buy in on most B bodies and every E body is out of my budget and (no offense) I'm really not an A body guy, so I start with what i can afford and that i think has good styling.

it does pose an issue for selling though as many buyers want that SuperBee or Cuda even though they only have a four door budget

Fantastic build!

Well. I'll cap off this thread with a Class win at a pretty big southeastern Mopar Show.

Tons of compliments and many guys thought the hood was a factory piece.

Congrats Henry! You did a great job.

Rightfully deserved. 👍👍😎😎

Congrats. 🍻

Great job. Love it!

Congrats! Love the car.

Why not a Volare'? Excellent job sir!

Now next folks, A Magnum? Yes a Magnum!

So what is different to allow the big block install? I know you can make one fit in a domestic F Body but not without a fight.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I used the Schumacher conversion motors mounts. Worked perfect for me. I also mounted a BB using stock BB spool mounts. That is a little harder. Had to drill the rubber till it had enough give to get the mounts to drop in. But that did offset the engine about an 1" to the passenger side.


Dan...