Barge on a Budget World Tour 68 Newport Custom

After 12 years on and off,My car is restored.
Finally functioning and road worthy.
Dry Dock and FCBO members know the BoaB and I very well.
My build is very well detailed on both forums.

For everybody else just tuning in,Thank you!
I just want to share my story.
The best way that I can share my story is actually hit the road.
So this summer,I am going to add to the zero's showing on the NOS speedometer.
I never drove my car the whole time I owned it until November 2017,yet it had been a long road to get her to where she is today.
Too many financial set backs,side projects,other cars came and went.
Then the marriage fell apart as I put the car back together.
That's life folks.
So,I am hoping to meet as many Moparts members during my travels at and/or between shows.
Here is a list of shows and keep in mind I holler from Canada,eh?
But driving a big C barge it was built to be on the long and winding roads!
-Mopar Madness Liverpool,NY June 24 2018
-Chryslers at Carlisle PA July 13-15
I am staying the whole time there and fudging at the Day's Inn in North Harrisburg.
From there,the rest of the week I will be driving to Washington DC to check out the Air & Space Museum.Then drive through Newport DE,see the Dupont Mansion in Willmingdon. Have a Philly Cheese-steak in North Philly.Visit an old friend in Wharton,New Joisey,then up to Boston Mass and then back home to Kingston,Ontario.
Automotion car show,Brockville Ontario August 5 2018
Moparfest,New Hamburg,ON August 18-19 2018
Then hit the road to Newfoundland between August 24 and back home by September 7th!
All told,close to 8-maybe 9 thousand miles for this year I hope!!
So of you see the BoaB in your area,get me to stop or at least give me and honk,smile and wave!!

Back in the day 2005...
Rescued from the second owner who bought it in 1970.
Parked in 1974 when too many speeding tickets cost him his licence.
Parts car at the time but I could see this car done.

anudder..

Original 383 ran but ended up getting rebuilt.

More tomorrow

Nice to see a Newport that doesn't end up smashed at the Demolition Derby

Thank you!
Shown here in primer.
Metal fabrication done 2006-2008
Bodywork done December 2013 to APRIL 2014

Original color done in water borne BC/CC sPRING 2017
New windshield and vinyl top..2015

Beautiful!! have a blast with it.

Nice car, time to enjoy it.

When the motor was out,I repainted the firewall and rebuilt the front end.
In my spare time this took place between 2009 and 2011

For 21 months,she was on axle stands and I scraped all factory undercoating off then epoxy primered and painted the belly of the beast..

.

.

Dash before and after..
A lot of NOS was used in here including all gauges,speedo head,all switches and Reverb sound system.NOS clock got upgraded with modern day quartz guts after it quit. Used AM/FM Thumbwheel works great.

Before and after..

congratulations !

Carsten

Freakin weather keeping me from pulling the Boab out.
Cabin fever is an understatement..

,

Got her out of storage on Sunday!!

Love that colour on the car.

Thanks! It is the factory original color..Turbine Bronze Metallic
Done in Dupont water-borne base/clear.
1.6 gallons of paint,and two full gallons of clear!!
Basically the clear was four coats and one coat was cut down during the wet sand,buff and polishing process.

Finally got the time to update this thread.
2018 has been an awesome year for me.
As i stated,I did travel as planned this summer in the 68 Newport Custom aka BoaB
Back in May my gf and I entered the Mopar Madness show in Liverpool,NY just outside of Syracuse where the BoaB took 2nd place in her class!

From there I drove the car back to show the previous owner who had bought the car in 1970.He was second owner and the car was a fresh trade in at West End Chrysler.
When I bought the car in 2005 the deal was to show the car and take him for a ride when it was done. He was blown away! Now in his 70's I did what he wanted to do to the car.

Next road trip was Carlisle! People Stateside whom had been following the build of the car for 12 years finally got to see the car in the flesh at Carlisle. I was humbled and honored by those who stopped to talk and enjoy the car. One FCBO member "CANTFLIP" even jumped a plane from Florida to be at the show!
It was HOT! But we managed,Maggie Dexter and I.
For the car's first national show debut,the BoaB got 2nd lace in 65-68 C body stock and also Celebrity Choice award!

Carlisle was just the beginning of the road trip.
We drove to D.C. to visit the Air and Space Museum!

Crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge..

Dexter at one of the frequent pee stops..

How about driving to Newport Delaware for a Newport in Newport???

We overnighted in Newark DE where Maggie busted me chamois the car after the freak rain storm that flooded Washington where we were hours before!
Next day visited the Dupont family Nemours Mansion.

Next stop was unexpected but no regrets.
Drove through the Brandywine Valley and we ended up adopting Pepper! A lab/beagle jack Russel mix.

This may sound crazy but this was on my bucket list..
Drive to eat the BEST cheese-steak EVER!
About an hour from the SPCA office...
We pulled out the lawn chairs and ate next to the football field kitty corner to the shop.
When locals tell you this is the best you believe it!

From Philly we drove to Wharton NJ to visit friends for a few days..

Got home without any car trouble.
Nest road trip was Moparfest,Canada's largest Mopar only show where the BoaB made her Canadian debut!

awsome!!

Thanks Dave!

For Moparfest 2019,I got invited to show the car in the arena.
Kinda like the Canadian version of Carlisle's Building T. where the best of the best are displayed.
Very Stoked!

A week after Moparfest,my childhood buddy Sheldon and I loaded up the car again and drove the BoaB to Newfoundland! Left the mainland August 24th and returned September 7th!
Shown here at a rest stop somewhere in Quebec.

Overnighted in Fredricton New Brunswick and an old friend stopped in when he heard we were in town..

Old friends from Newfoundland that live in Salisbury NB.
Stopped in for lunch.

After lunch we had to stop in and try the boat on the Magnetic Hill!
The girls that worked there loved the car!

At the toll border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
That bug screen was the best 10 bux ever spent---no cleaning of the grille!

The Canso Causeway,Cape Breton,NS

At North Sydney NS where we have to board a giant ferry for a 6 hour crossing to Newfoundland.We boarded at night and slept during the crossing.
Big thanks to the Marine Atlantic crew!
They loved the car and made sure the BoaB was on a deck where she will not get damaged.

Next morning we arrived in Port Aux Basque,Newfoundland.
Still had a 3 hour drive to get back to my hometown.

Parked here where my love of 68 Chrysler's started.
My Aunt and uncle's house where they always had big Mopars.
(64 Windsor,66 Windsor,67 Newport,68 300 440 TNT)
My Newport had to be the first big Chrysler parked in the driveway since the 80's!! My family were very excited to see the car and happy to go for a ride!

In the small community named Curling,this old barber shop was the hub. It was also the home of Tom the barber who also restored Model A's.
Tom and his son Joey inspired me and helped them tinker with the old tin during the 80's.
As a kid I had no money and no car but built model kits dreaming of restoring a car of some kind.
Going to shows with my scale model kits loaded in the runble seat,Tom gave me a trophy just for doing so.
Tom taught me about nice junk and bad junk!
I learned a lot by doing with Tom and his projects.
His attention to detail got me on the resto bug.

I moved away in 1993,visited Tom in 97 and 99.
One day I will show Tom what I could do.
But in 2011 he died suddenly of a massive heart attack.
I never got to say goodbye.
On my visit,driving my Newport to the graveyard,
The trophy Tom gave me all those years ago I placed on his grave.
Thank you Tom God bless you.

Great car. Nice to see you using it as intended 5 decades ago.

Time to pay it forward...
Growing up my Aunt drove us everywhere in her Chrysler's.
My parents did not have a car when I was growing up.
She is only 5 ft tall but had a heavy foot behind that 68 440 TNT.
She got the reputation as "Hot rod granny"!
"Boy that frigger could haul ass" she would say!

Now in her 70's and unable to drive due to medical reasons I promised to drive her to Botwood which is 3 hours drive from Curling to visit more of our family.
I was proud that she enjoyed the ride and we talked about the old times riding in her 68 300.

At my Dad's..He was very proud of the work I did to the car.

Some Newfoundland scenery shots...

.

My hometown..

At the Curling War Memorial overlooking the bay Of Islands.

At the historical Glynmill Inn,Corner Brook,NF
https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8579

With all the miles getting put on the car,luckily had no breakdowns.
The only issues i had was the pinion seal started to leak,and had to re-clamp the rear leaf springs.
It my Cousin's garage we used the hoist to top up the rear diff.
He got a special peak at the undercarriage and was blown away!
The BoaB managed to get back to Ontario without any problems and I have a pinion seal to go in

All good things come to an end and time to drive back to Ontario.
Pee stop at Codroy valley and then the Ferry in Port Aux Basques.

Just to give you an idea how big the ferry is..
And where I took a nap. cabins cost as much as the crossing itself.

On the way back,we utilized the trunk of the big C.
In Drummondville Quebec beer was on sale! 52.99 for a case of 48.
Sheldon here loading up the BoaB,LOL

2018 was a great year.
50th birthday and got to do some bucket list things.
Sold my house,got my divorce finalized.
My relationship with Maggie has grown stronger.
Doing these road trips she made them possible with her support of my passions, excellent planning skills and budgeting.
Since I no longer have a garage to store the cars,I booked them for storage 3 weeks after the NFLD trip. kinda early but money saved on gas and keep the cars in great shape for the 2019 season.

Thanks for looking.
Hoping y'all have a good 2019 year from Maggie and i and the furry friends.

Beautiful restoration on your Newport Custom. Chrysler did a nice job styling the Newport Custom. Lots of diecast alumnium, grill, dash etc, truly quality.
Our family bought a new '68 Newport Custom when we lived in Tampa. Mist Turquoise blue with blue cloth interior. Beautiful car with a 383-2 bbl.
Those rear wheel opening covers were a pain to remove for a young kid when washing the car. Bit me a number of times, lol.

Very nice looking ride

Awesome job! Love that C body

Good work Buddy.

HA

Just came across this thread.


Tom Basha actually cut my hair a few times lol. Swam with his son Joey at Cooks Brook, MANY MANY moons ago. My father's family lived on Woodbine Cresent after they moved in from Wood's Island. I was born and is once again living in Halfway Point.

SMALL world.

codfish