16x14 - Mopar for the Course

[bunniefuu]

When I hear Coronet, I think of a
diminutive crown worn by a lesser royal.

But there's nothing diminutive or lesser
about this muscle-bound meathead of a car.

This ex-trag racing monster
is simply not fit for public roads.

There's something
about it that's so terrifying.

It doesn't exactly turn.

I'm still going in a straight line.

Or stop very well.

Brakes! Brakes!

We don't need to bring
it back to its former glory.

Just violent, it's aggressive, it's noisy.

We just need to try and tame this
beast so that it's actually drivable.

Look at that, that is
one-fingered power steering.

Without sucking out all the fun.

When you think of American
cars, especially us Brits,

we think of a car that's like a Model T,
or a Jeep, or even a big thinned Cadillac.

But in my head, what
pops up is a muscle car.

I'm on my way to go and see a muscle car

that's never had the sort of
headlines that other muscle cars have.

And it's a car that's sort
of fallen under the radar,

but I do believe it's
got a strong following.

It is, of course, a Dodge 1965 Coronet 500.

A proper muscle car.

The Coronet was the biggest
selling car for Dodge in 1965.

They actually sold around
200,000 of the blooming things.

And they all come mainly with that slant
six-engine, just a little six-cylinder.

But if you was the smarter man
and you went for the Coronet 500,

it's got the 440 V8
engine, it's got the

exhaust system, we
won't need to change that.

Potentially, it's a proper
Wheeler-dealer car.

What a place! You must be Kyle.

Hey, hey Mike, how's it going?

Nice to meet you, sir. How are you?

Nice to meet you. Oh, living the dream.

Oh, you are living the dream.
Look at this. This is amazing.

It's going to take us ten
minutes to walk past it, it's so big,

to get to the other car.

Tell me a little bit about the history.

It started out as a semi-race car,

and we've been converting it
back into a daily driver ever since.

Ever since?

Brand new wheels and tires,

removed the roll cage
that it previously had,

brand new interior.

My favorite feature is
this line here in the roof.

And the fact that this sweeping
line down to the C-pillar

is so narrow, it's delicate,
it looks like a fabric top.

It really does.

Oh my God, look at the size of that!

So I can see some of the evidence of work.

Those plates there were the roll cage.

The fuel cell here has been
removed as well as the dual battery.

No signs of rust anywhere
or accident damage.

Very solid.

Very solid. Superb.

Now, you said you put
a new interior in the car?

Yes, the car has all
brand new interior in it.

All the buttons up on the dashboard.

Okay.

A little bit of play in the steering.

And does it have power
steering in this car?

It does not.

No.

And with that big block up front,

that's why you've got big g*ns.

Before we lift this up, what happened here?

That's when it had the
tunnel ram with the dual carbs,

so we needed the opening
for clearance issues.

Whoa!

And there it is.

We had built the motor
for a flat-bottom boat.

Simply didn't get much use,

so we found this and
thought it'd be a perfect fit.

So you put a big-block 440
V8 engine in a flat-bottom boat?

Yes.

Yeah. Why not?

So I bet you're thinking, why?

What's dragged me out here
to the middle of the desert.

to come and see this coronet?

At the moment, this
car, its marketplace is

this big, but the more
stuff you take off of it,

the bigger the marketplace gets.

So I know that although
this car has got a profit,

it's not a massive profit,

but this car has definitely got a future.

The steering, though, is so heavy.

Look at that.

I've come to the end of this bit of road,

and to turn it around,

I've got this Mickey
Mouse tiny steering wheel,

which is horrible.

There's this play in the steering.

I'm still going in a straight line.

And it's horrible.

So whatever we do,

we've got to address
the steering on this car,

because I certainly
couldn't live with it.

But that's all the bad bits.

The fun bit...

It's so exciting! It's so intoxicating!

But there's something about it
that's so terrifying at the same time!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

And the brakes, brakes,
brakes, brakes, brakes!

Brakes! Brakes!

Whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it.

But do I love it enough to buy it?

Kyle is asking, I think, a
very cheeky $17,500 for it.

I think that's just a little bit too much.

I'd like to see the car really at $15,000,

but I don't think he's going to buy that.

So, what do you think?

My face says it all.

I mean, there are some things
about this car I absolutely love.

That motor, that engine is so powerful.

It's just too much for this car, isn't it?

It's too fast.

Yes.

It's too snappy.

So, that's got to be changed.

Then I did feel like the
steering has got the wobble on it,

so that needs doing, and
it's really heavy to steer.

I don't think you're being
very generous with your price.

I think you're asking too much money.

What is the best number you
can do for me, the very best?

Since you're going to
finish it, I could do $16,500.

16,500.

She's beautiful.

I think she loves me.

I know.

Well, don't your hands.

I just bought myself a Coronet
500 440 nutty, jobby thingy.

What have I done?

I can hear you from
halfway down the street.

How are you, buddy?

Welcome to our 1965 Dodge Coronet 500.

And it's original patina, look at it.

I mean, it's just beautiful
the way it's aged itself down,

and it's remarkably straight,
which is a real surprise

for a car that spent
its life on the racetrack.

Well, this is a drag car.

This was a drag car, and the
previous owners have tried to

undo those modifications
and turn it into a pro street car,

but they've sort of given up
halfway through, and here we are.

Look at that interior.
Isn't that sumptuous?

What is that?

That is, well, that's a
nod back to its racing past

with those stupid dials
up there on the dashboard.

Was that done by a nine-year-old?

Yeah, I think it was, yes.

Not only is there a
ridiculous amount of play

in the steering column, that
needs addressing, and guess what?

I already know where
you're gonna go with this.

What? What am I gonna say?

It's got no power steering.

No power steering, yeah, with a
great big big block V8 under the front.

What is that?

That is a racing gearbox.

The car is just violent,
it's aggressive, it's noisy.

It must be undriveable.

It is hard work, but, you know, if
you're like me, you can drive anything.

Do you wanna see the engine now?

Yeah, I do.

Right, you're gonna get excited
when you... Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Just before you go to the engine,
though, I have to talk about this.

I saw it straight away.

Yeah, it's an option in the
1965 Coronet catalogue.

Is it done by a pigeon?

It's easy for me to just do away
with this bonnet and find another one.

It ain't gonna be that hard.

Pull your little pin out,
you have to take this off.

You're gonna love this.

So it's not a small block V8?

Oh, no, that's not a small block V8.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Ah, look at that.

Now you know why it was so
hard to drive with no power steering,

because that is a 440 cubic inch, 7.2 litre
V8 engine that was in a flat-bottom boat.

That's out of a boat.

Yeah, that was out of a boat.

You know what these Americans are like?

They like to go fast and loud.

Yeah, Americans love a V8.

Well done for buying this car.

Thank you very much.

It runs, performs, sounds
absolutely amazing.

Right, so it's solid in here,

cooling's been upgraded, engine's epic.

Steering we know about.

How does it stop?

Oh, right now.

Herein lies the problem with this car.

Oh, right, because this
is what a lot of people do,

is they throw loads of beans into it, but
they forget to throw the anchors down.

Look at that, look at that.

Big, nice discs up front.

2020, we are up front with the brakes.

Now look at the ones down at the rear.

Okay.

1965.

Drums.

Drums.

Drums.

This is going to be great.

It's going to be absolutely fantastic.

This feels like one of those kind of
managing expectations Mike Brewer's overpaid.

I did overpay for the car.

However, if we actually
put it in real estate terms,

I actually got this big slice of
America for not a lot of money.

I'll put it in English money for
you, because it sounds less.

Oh, right, because it's less.

Yes, £12,800.

Look at that.

Great big car like
this, 440, £12,800.

Is that in dollars?

In dollars, $16,000.

It's a lot of money.

It's a lot of money.

You're not going to get anything bad.

We're going to make somebody very happy,
and that is the reason for doing this car,

because it would end up
either the wrong side of a hedge,

in a scrapyard, busted and broken up,

but all we've got to do
is make it more driveable,

a little bit safer,
a little bit cooler,

get rid of that stupid bonnet on it,

and me and you, we're going
to put a smile on somebody's

face, and we can't say
fair and a Mac, can we?

Yes?

Totally agree.

Right, it's hot. Do you want a cornetto?

A cornetto?

Yeah, see what I've done there?

Look at it.

I mean, it is a boat.

I mean, Mike has
literally brought me a boat.

I mean, he's even got a boat engine.

See, originally, back in the day, this
would have had a 273 cubic capacity engine,

a nice, balanced engine to
get the owner from A to B,

because it's a family car.

And then some absolute lunatic did this.

440 cubic inches.

I mean, think about it.

That's a 7.2 litre.

That's a whole one and a half gallons
of combustion capacity in one engine.

Now, what I like to do as a mechanic
is I like to look at cars as a package.

So when you consider this package,

overpowered engine, aggressive
gearbox, underpowered brakes,

it's big, it's bold, it's
brash, it's so American,

I know exactly why Mike bought her.

But now this car is in
the hands of the British,

and our job is simple.

Make this package more user-friendly.

Now, for Mike to say the gearbox is
aggressive means it must really be aggressive.

That guy's been driving
cars his whole life.

And before I get to it, I'm just going
to take these headers off from above.

After the headers are unbolted,

I take out the aftermarket cross pipe.

It's a nice bit of kit that increases
power over a conventional system.

It sounds good, too.

Once the drive shaft is out of the way, I
can return my attention to the gearbox,

manually turning the motor to
get the torque converter bolts out.

Then the gearbox housing bolts off.

Then remove the gearbox mount.

and safely lower the gearbox.

Now, this is a Chrysler Torque
Flight 727 automatic gearbox,

and it's found in loads of
Dodge and Chrysler's since 1962.

Now, inside this pan here,

there's a valve body that's
obviously been swapped,

and this torque converter
that's also been upgraded.

We are going to change those bits.

to tone this gearbox down a little.

And I could tackle it
myself, but Mike has offered,

and I'm not one to look
a gift horse in the mouth.

Plus, I've got plenty of other stuff to do.

Right, steering.

Continuing the boat theme,

this thing steers like a boat.

Now, this car has had
a lot of things upgraded,

but one of the things that hasn't
yet been touched is the steering.

But when you consider it's a drag car,

drag racers don't care
about going round corners.

In fact, they want a fixed,
firm, stabilized steering,

which is also something that Dodge
thought was acceptable in the 60s.

With the gearbox out of the way,

I'm fitting a stabilizer bar
to hold the engine secure

so I can carry on underneath the car.

Once the engine is secured,

I can safely get under the car.

Back in 1965, car parks were enormous.

There was far less traffic, far more space.

You don't have to do those tight
parallel parkings you have to do nowadays.

Could you imagine trying to three-point
turn this in a busy high street?

After, I knock the tie rod loose.

I can remove the pitman arm.

and finally the mounting
bolts on the steering box.

I get the car on the ground so I'm
able to remove the box from the top side.

Pretty much every modern car nowadays

is fitted with power steering.

In fact, power steering's become so good
that you can turn the wheel with one finger.

Now, as Mike said, the reason that this car

is a big, bulky, heavy,
didn't have power steering

means it's hard to maneuver.

And partly, that's down
to this, a steering box.

Now, this part here, this is the input from
the steering wheel via a steering column.

Now, the key is that that's
joined to a threaded bar.

So effectively, when you steer the steering
wheel, that threaded bar's rotating.

Now, on that threaded bar is a piston.

So when you rotate the
wheel, the piston rides up

and down those threads
just like a nut and bolt.

Now, on the outside of that piston
is some teeth that join the output.

So when the piston's riding up and down,

it rotates against those
teeth, rotating the output.

In fact, it's probably
easier if I do a drawing.

This here is the body of our steering box.

Here is the input.

That input turns into a
threaded bar that joins a piston.

So turn the steering wheel.

That piston's gonna naturally
ride up and down on those threads.

Now, the key is the edge of that piston.

has some teeth on it,

and those teeth join the output.

So now you can see, as
that piston rides up and down,

the output is rotating,

and on this car, the output is 24 to 1.

Now, this was pretty good for back
in 1965, but things have moved on.

So this, it pretty much looks the same.

They have the same mounting holes.

They have the same
input and the same output,

so it'll bolt straight back in the car.

But crucially, the
difference to this one is here.

This is fitted with
pressurized hydraulic fluid,

and that fluid sits either side of
the piston and assists the driver.

So for every turn of the wheel,

the steering's just gonna
become easier, as if by magic.

Although, it's not magic.

It's hydraulics.

Now, obviously, I'm gonna
need some parts to make it work.

I'm gonna need a hydraulic
pump to create hydraulic pressure,

some hoses to transfer the hydraulic fluid,

a new UJ to join to the steering column,

and a new pitman arm.

First up, get the box in.

The new box is identical in shape to
the box that the car originally came with,

so it fits perfectly.

In order to securely bolt it in,
I need to remove the headers.

Next up, I need to be
fitting a new universal joint.

The spline on the end of the
new steering box is actually

wider than the one that's on
the end of the steering column.

But to get this to fit, I
first need to measure it up,

Mark the steering column,
and then cut it down,

which I can do in the
car if I protect the engine.

I'm just gonna tape up the exhaust ports.

so there's absolutely no risk of
anything going inside the engine.

And then I'm then gonna
double up some protection.

and put a blanket over the engine.

Right, that is just
enough space to work in.

Now the engine is protected,

I don't have to worry about metal
shavings falling into the exhaust ports.

So I cut off the old U-joint
from the steering column.

and press-fit the new U-joint onto the box.

Right, now one little drill hole here,

here, and here.

Now I'm gonna be using this.

See, this is called a roll pin.

If you see, it's a single
piece of steel rolled into the

shape of a pin, there's a
slight gap down the middle.

Now crucially, the hole has to
be slightly smaller, so when it's

tapped in place, it relies on
spring pressure to stay there.

Once the steering column
and U-joint are drilled,

the roll pins can easily
be tapped in place.

The great thing about roll pins
is because they're spring-fit,

they can't back out like screws can.

Now the pins are in,

I can start preparing
to fit the hydraulic pump.

I get the coolant reservoir out of the way.

Along with the fan,

the fan shroud,

remove the alternator belt,

plumb in the hydraulic lines,

and finally install the
hydraulic steering pump.

Right, well that is as
far as I can go up here.

I'm still waiting for a pulley and a
belt, which Mike tells me is in hand,

and I obviously need to get underneath,

put the pitman arm back on, the manifold
back on, and then start the engine,

but I can't start the engine
until I have the gearbox,

because it mounts the starter
motor, and Mike tells me that's in hand.

So as far as power steering's done,

I'm about 90% there,

because I'm waiting for Mike.

But I can get on with the brakes.

You know I know that you're there?

You know I like to
come in and surprise you.

I was hoping to give you a bit of a fright.

Well, normally you do.

How are you, brother? You alright?

Yeah, I'm alright actually.

I'm actually falling in love with this.

It's great, isn't it?

How is HMS Coronet?

Yeah, it's quite an easy job.

It's one of those jobs you
could do at home in the garage.

It's kind of bolt in, bolt out.

Lovely. So no trouble whatsoever.

No, and I'm in the
middle of bolting back in.

Fantastic.

So this will give you no trouble either.

This is the brake upgrade kit that we need.

It's got the vacuum, the
booster, all the hoses.

The one thing that is worrying me, though,

is the gearbox.

You know I need to be on to that
job right now, so if I get some tools,

I can give you a hand and
we can whip it out the car.

Two things.

Firstly, if you look closely,
the gearbox is gone.

But hang on a second, you literally
must have walked straight by it.

I put it out there.

Really? I didn't see it.

I mean, you must have tripped over it.

It's me, isn't it?

I'm just so focused.

I'm focused on getting
here, delivering parts,

doing the heavy lifting,
doing all the grind out there,

which is exactly what I'm
going to do with that gearbox.

Good luck.

Are you going to leave that there?

Like I'm in the middle of stuff.

Now, apparently, the
brakes on this car are awful,

and it's not actually the brakes' fault.

Now, when you consider
it's had a nice upgrade

on the front with discs
and four-pot callipers,

and on the rear, those
drums are actually sufficient,

the problem is, it's how
the pedal is pressed,

or more specifically, how
much the pedal is pressed.

Now, Mike complained
that the pedal is really high.

I mean, look at it.

That's a long way out.

But worse than that, you have to really,
really jump on it to get the car to stop.

And when you consider that Mike's
got some weight to put behind it,

that's a real problem.

Most cars have some sort
of brake pedal assistance,

unless, of course, you're
talking about a Model T,

which is just a series
of rods and linkages.

The vast majority of cars has
brake assistance created by vacuum.

What happens is the engine
naturally produces vacuum when it runs,

that enters into a brake booster,
pushes against the diaphragm,

and that diaphragm
assists the piston inside the

master cylinder, giving you
way more braking power.

Now, there are cars out there
that use vacuum for lots of things,

and I'm looking at you, Mercedes.

Things like door locks, wipers, windows.

The problem with vacuum is
that when it's spread across a

number of items, you tend to
lose a bit of vacuum pressure,

and when it comes to
brakes, that's pretty bad.

Our car doesn't make
use of the vacuum pressure

at all, and it doesn't
have a brake booster,

and bear in mind, this is a
big chunk of metal to stop.

Enter Mike's little box of tricks.

Now, this is an electric power booster kit,

and this is going to help
our car stop way better,

starting with this pump.

Now, this works in the same
way as vacuum-assisted brakes,

only this uses positive pressure
to push against the master cylinder,

as opposed to negative
pressure created by an engine.

This unit that I'm fitting
is a pressure pump,

and what it does is it takes
fluid from the master cylinder.

via a hose that I haven't fitted yet,

pressurizes that fluid and
moves it into the accumulator here.

So when you press the brake,
it releases that pressurized

fluid and sends it back
to the master cylinder,

amplifying the brakes to
bring the car safely to a stop.

This master cylinder's pretty standard,

it's just built and designed
to work with the pump.

The great thing is it bolts straight
back in where the old one was,

and it's pretty shiny, which
makes the engine bay look cool.

Once the master cylinder is in,

I need to remove the hard brake lines,

as the old connection fittings aren't
compatible with Mike's new power booster kit.

The good news is I can use these existing
lines by simply removing that flared edge

and swapping out the
threaded ends for these.

That just cuts that flare off.

Lose the big one, slide
the right size one on,

and using this flare tool,
clamp that down, lock it in place.

And it is really as simple as that.

New flared end, correct fitting.

Now, with a flaring
tool, that's super simple,

and all I've done is swap
the ends, big for small,

and I already know that
these will go straight back in.

Figuring out which parts you should replace

and which parts you can
reuse is a big part of any build.

Reusing parts that aren't wear items

is a great way to not only save
money but time on your build,

both things that quickly
become in short supply.

Now I need to run an extra line

from the rear of the master
cylinder down to the pump,

which means I need to nicely shape it.

using this really clever bending tool.

The trick is to shape it nicely

so it looks like it was put in
by the factory back in the day.

And that's the hard lines done.

Now I need to add this rubber
hose from the back of the master

cylinder there, and this is a
return line back to the pump,

and because it's low
pressure, rubber is sufficient.

I'm just going to cut it to fit.

And that is it, although, once again,

I'm left waiting for Mike,

which seems to be a
bit of a theme on this car.

See, I can't start the
engine until the gearbox is in

because the gearbox
mounts the starter motor.

The same starter motor is used
to put the wiring back together,

which means at the moment, I
can't test my power-assisted steering.

I also can't test my power-assisted brakes,

which means I'm going to have
to take a leaf out of Mike's book,

basically take the afternoon off.

The biggest obstacle to
overcome on our Coronet

was definitely the
gearbox at the moment.

It's just almost undrivable.

So I had the gearbox
sent to a friend of mine,

Mike's Transmissions,

and he said that he's got a way that
he can possibly dial back that gearbox

rather than leave it
where it is at the moment.

It's angry, it's noisy,
and I hate the thing.

I need the car to function properly.

So Mike said rather than go all the way
to see him, he's got some stuff to tell me,

and he's going to come and visit me.

So the doctor is making a house
call, and he's right on time. Here he is.

Hey, Mike. Nice one.

That's a bit flash.

Come on. Come on in. Come on in.

How are you, mate?

Very good, Mike. Good to see you.

And you. Good to see you.

It's very kind of you to
come out and see me today.

Very nice.

I've got your transmission.

It's always a bit of a
worry when you say to me,

Mike, I've got something to tell you.

I'd better come down
and do it face to face.

It's better in person, yeah.

Really? Okay. Let's get it out of the boot.

Oh, there's a lot of bits,

which is a bit of a worry
because the last time me

and you got together, I
took you a standard gearbox,

and I asked you to make a racing gearbox.

This time, I've sent you my racing gearbox,

and it looks like you've brought me
back 80 pieces of my racing gearbox.

It looks like we might
be in a bit of trouble here.

So is it possible to reverse engineer
all that good work that you do?

Sure.
We just need to kind of back engineer it

and make it a little more
driver-friendly for this street-driven car.

This is going to be great.

I'm looking forward to this.

Right. Where do we start?

Let's start with the case.

With the case.

This is the reverse servo piston,

and this is the second gear servo piston.

Putting this stuff together
is like smoking mirrors.

I haven't got a clue what I'm looking at.

Next one, the spring.

That's the spring for the reverse servo.

There's a snap ring
we need to put in there,

but it takes some
serious muscle to get it in.

You can do it.

Come on, Mike, get it in there.

There you go. Yes, it's in.

It's okay, yeah.

We can just slide that
guy in there right now.

And is this going in there?

Is that a ring gear or a planetary gear?

That's a planetary carrier.

I can see the grooves.

Line the gears up, and then
the big grooves on the outside.

Just like that.

What is the next big item to go in, then?

The sun shell.

There you go.

Oh, yeah, just like that.

You can see the groove there.

This actually goes down in it.

This groove here?

Got it.

Just like that.

Yep.

That weighs all this stuff.

It is a load of nonsense,
isn't it, this stuff?

Look at that, I'm on.

I'm turning.

I'm splined in.

Got it.

Nobody said gearbox
building was easy, did they?

Oh, no.

So this is the next belt.

Second gear band, yeah.

Band.

Does that go in any way?

Just like that.

Just like that?

Slide the tabs around
to face the valve body.

There?

Right there, yeah.

Next, we'll put the pump in.

It's all looking good.

Look at that.

I'm a Mike the gearbox builder.

Now I know what it feels like properly.

So valve bodies.

This one we're not using.

This one we are.

I can see the difference in the two.

This is different, the
plate at the bottom, isn't it?

Yeah, separator plate.

Do we need to take this arm?

Yeah, that's the park rod.

Park rod, so do we need to
remove that and put it over here?

Yep.

Okay, so that one goes on there.

Yes.

And then the linkage shaft
goes through that hole.

So we've got to kind of square it up.

Yes!

Like that.

Argh!

Well, today has been fantastic.

I've been scored on how
to take a racing gearbox

and make it a not racing gearbox

and make it something
that we can put into

our coronet and to
help make it a lot easier.

I've had a brilliant teacher today.

Thanks to Mike.

We've done a brilliant, brilliant job.

I just can't wait to get it fitted to
the car and see what Ant thinks of it.

Mike has finally left a gift for me.

And I've been patiently waiting for this.

And while the insides have had big changes,

the outside, apart from a
coat of paint, remains the same.

So dropping this back in the car,

should be super simple.

I use the Jack to get
the gearbox into place.

I then secure the gearbox housing bolts.

before I move on to the
torque converter bolts.

For these, I'll apply some thread lock,

not only to lubricate the
threads, but to make sure

that once they're torqued
down, they don't back out.

Now, the work Mike's
done inside the gearbox

is actually going to be
way less aggressive,

which is going to mean
a far more reasonable

and user-friendly drive.

Once I've initially tightened
the torque converter

bolts down, I'll grab my
torque wrench to make sure.

that they're tightened to
the proper specification.

The wrench clicks when I've reached
the correct torque so I know when to stop.

The old man's actually impressed me.

Not only did he paint a gearbox,

he's also painted the gearbox mount.

Now, swapping it means
the gearbox won't rev as hard

before changing gear, and let's be honest,

with this car, you don't want to be redlining
it when you go into the shops for milk.

And the cool thing is the
new owner can choose.

They can have a car where you can sit in

and shift the gears,
or simply put it in drive,

lay back and chill.

After the drive shaft is in,

I can reinstall the cross pipe that
runs from the headers to the mufflers,

along with the exhaust gaskets
from the header to the pipes.

Now, in addition, the
torque converter's been

swapped out for a far
less aggressive one,

and that's got to
improve the way the car

takes off, particularly
from standing still.

Now, a torque converter
is essentially two turbines.

One's driven by the power of the engine.

The other one is
actually driven by the fluid

within the housing of
the torque converter.

It's a kind of automatic
transmissions version of a clutch.

Now, if you adjust the
angle of those turbine blades,

the force they deliver
can also be adjusted.

You can actually dial back the aggression.

Right, the gearbox
and parts are now all in.

I've topped up the fluids.

I've checked the belts.

I've given it a cursory look-over.

Now I get to start her up.

Now, the new owner is buying a fast,
fast car, and you know what as well?

It actually ticks over.

It idles quite nicely.

So in fact, while it's idling, I'm
just going to do a few more checks.

I'm just going to take this opportunity.

just to double-check it over.

I don't want to rush into this.

I want to make sure there's no leaks.

Nothing's catching. Nothing's fouling.

Now, this thing sounds epic.

What a transformation.

Look at that.

That is one-fingered power steering.

Bear in mind the size
and weight of this vehicle.

Plus, I'm static.

The wheels are planted on the floor.

That has absolutely transformed
the way this car's going to drive.

In fact, the new owner's
going to appreciate that.

Wow.

We've taken this kind
of monstrous track car,

this quarter-mile drag car,

and actually made it really user-friendly.

Power steering.

Power brakes.

Lovely.

Lovely.

This 1965 Dodge Coronet 500
started out as a semi-race car.

Well, a bit dodgy.

Is it done by a pigeon?

The steering's so heavy.

It's raw, it's raw,

drag racing pedigree,
loudly on its sleeve.

I can hear you from
halfway down the street.

But that didn't make it a great driver.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Brakes, brakes, brakes, brakes, brakes.

That being said,

I couldn't turn down the opportunity to
put this stately monster back on the road.

It's so exciting.

It's so intoxicating.

And with a few modifications...
Power steering, power brakes.

So is it possible to reverse-engineer
all that good work that you do?

Sure, we just need
to make it a little more

driver-friendly for
this street-driven car.

It's all looking good.

We made this Coronet fit for a king.

What a transformation.

We've taken this quarter-mile drag car
and actually made it really user-friendly.

The Dodge cost us $16,500.

Power steering kit, $910.

Power brake kit, $870.

Trans refresh and torque converter, $850.

Used bonnet, $200.

Steering wheel, dash panel,
and gear selector, $160.

With a grand total of $19,490.

That's around 15,000 pounds.

All done in just 27 man-hours.

Hey, Joe, I absolutely
love that you've let me drive.

Well, look...

I don't now.

I'm sort of regretting it.

I'm sort of regretting the
fact that I let you drive.

Just drink it in.

I mean, that noise.

Easy, easy, easy.

Easy, tiger.

There is a little bit...

I thought, well, you put
the brakes in the car,

you should test them.

And I didn't.

No, I wish I was behind the wheel.

440 cubic inch, 500 horsepower
coming from that V8 engine.

Full on mopar.

This car is unbelievable.

By the way, we're on
a nice windy bit of road.

Oh, yeah.

Heavy car.

Heavy car.

And actually, look, I can
just caress this down the road.

I'll even leave my little British pinky up
for you while I caress it down the road.

That's why I bought it in the first place.

It's the only reason we bought it.

Exactly.

See, this car was destined to
spend its life on the racetrack

and father and son got hold of it and
they realised they needed to unwind.

some of that craziness
that was on the car before.

And they'd done a fantastic job,

but they'd just run out of steam.

And I knew that being you
could tip it over the finishing line,

so that's when I said, let's
put some refinement in it.

So talk me through it. How did it go in?

Yeah, it's one of those jobs
that's not exactly plug and play,

but it's plug and play.

So the physical steering box itself actually
just bolts in and out the same place.

Anybody can do that job on their driveway.

Nice.

Then you have to make a
modification to the steering column.

So, yeah, if you have a bit of confidence
on an angle grinder... You could do it.

Yeah, but you know what?

Steering's one of those things that I think
a lot of people don't like to toy with.

Well, it's a safety item, isn't it?

Well, yeah, going round
corners is generally quite boring.

Do you know why?

Oh, my God, this thing
is absolutely monstrous.

It's monstrous, isn't it?

And that's what's going to sell it.

The gearbox was... It
was a manual automatic.

It was brutal.

It was noisy.

It was brash.

It wanted to spin gears and
wheels in every single gear.

It was blooming horrible.

I hated the gearbox.

And I've been doing this for 35 years,
and I still have no clue how they work.

My half of the gearbox deal
was actually quite reasonable.

Taking the gearbox out of
this car was super simple.

Yeah.

And I have to say, I really
like that you painted it.

The refinement in this car is there.

The power steering, the gearbox,

we've still got the brutal nature of
that engine, but we've now got it all...

And we've now got it all wrapped
up with this amazing interior.

Also, when I bought the car,

there was those nonsense gauges
that were up here on the dashboard.

Sorry, they had to go.

They had to go, yeah.

But they didn't go-go.

What, the gauges?

Where did they go, then?

Well, they're still in the car.

Open that glove box.

Oh, brother, that is fantastic.

You know what?

I was torn because my instincts were like,

oh, get rid of them, they're awful.

It looks like a terrible addition
to a really beautiful interior.

But actually, there is
sense in having that data.

You want that feedback.

Oh, it's lovely.

Look at them all.

They're all happy, those gauges.

This is going to be
the easiest car to sell.

Exactly what I bought in the first place.

You can't not sell it.

Correct.

It had every single ingredient in
this car to make it a sellable car.

It was just missing the refinement.

We've taken it from a
marketplace that was so small,

it would never sell.

And with the work we've done to it,

we've put it into a marketplace
that's absolutely vast.

And it's a marketplace
right now that's thriving.

Right.

And that's Mopar, right?

Mopar guys.

Mopar guys love a car.

But we're looking for that guy
that doesn't want a Challenger,

a Roadrunner, a Barracuda, a GTX.

We're looking for that Mopar guy that wants

to be different from the rest.

When I first found this Coronet 500,

there was a couple of things about this car

I absolutely loved and
a few things I hated.

The bits that I loved is the styling

and of course that huge,
great big 440 V8 engine.

And of course now we've
got super light power steering.

And that means we've taken this car
from that market that was really tiny,

only people that want it to go up a
drag strip, to a market that's much wider.

And anyone would be proud
to drive this car to a car shop.

Now this chap behind me, he's called Mike.

And Mike is so keen to buy this car,

he's asked to meet me straight after

me and I have just tested
it on the side of the road.

And get this, look at him.

If he was to open up a dictionary.

and go to the page that says Mopar guy,

it's this guy right here.

Right there, Mike.

Let's go, Mike.

So, you've had a couple of laps of the car.

You impressed?

I love it, it's great.

Everything I could have hoped for.

Thank you very much.

We're really pleased
with the way it's turned out.

Couple of little touches, like the silver
bonnet matching the inserts to the wheels.

The interior of this car is knockout.

And of course, that engine, that 440 V8.

Very strong.

It is very strong, it's a k*ller engine.

I'm asking $20,000, that's
around 15,000 pounds.

What do you think?

I'd like to be closer to 19.

Of course you would.

I'd like you to be somewhere closer to 20.

Well, work with me here.

I'm out here, I'm a liar, I have cash.

I'll let you have the car for $19,500.

What did you say?

I think that's good.

Yes?

You just bought yourself a Coronet 500?

A rather large Coronet 500 goes to prove.

that you can move a
car from one marketplace

and put it in a completely
different marketplace.

And that's exactly what
we've done with this car.

Not only that, we've put
a big smile on Mike's face.

Also put a smile on this Mike's face.

If you want to see more cars being
turned around by me and this fella,

join us again soon on Wheel of Dealers.

Salut!