Ghostridersixseven
Member
The Yankee Express is a 1967 Dodge Coronet 500 that has been heavily modified and customized. It's a one off car built for my own enjoyment.
At present, November 2021, it is in primer ( 6 coats) with the front clip painted in body color.
The list of mods and fabrication is long and it's been in the garage since October 2014 with a brief period where I rolled it out onto the driveway in 2018 while testing my steering modifications.
This car, when I purchased it, was a 100% complete example that was running and drivable. It had the factory wheel covers and cert-i-card intact.
It's a 318 V8, A/C, tinted window glass, buddy seat, 3 spd column shift car with 69,000 original miles on it. Cream yellow color with black interior. Everything worked on it when I got it and the rust was minimal with three areas that had been smacked and repaired.
I paid $3750.00 for it.
Now for some back story:
I'm 63 yrs old and spent 30 years in the US Army in combat aviation. I was medically retired from the service in 2015. I'm a combat veteran OIF/OEF and 100% disabled and unemployable.
Knowing that I was about to be retired at 57 years old I made plans to fulfill a life long dream of MOPAR muscle car ownership and building it the way I had dreamed about for decades. I simply never lived in one place long enough to have a reasonable expectation of being able to start and finish a project of this complexity.
I had NOT planned on being retired with TBI and PTSD however and this has made it exponentially more difficult to realize my dream. I'm not a quitter, fortunately.
Prior to purchasing the car I had a lot of ideas banging around in my head about what I wanted to do to it, but, the plan only really came together after I had the old girl home and trapped in the garage.
My pal Rick and I walked around the car and sat around spitballing this and that for mods that COULD be done.
After compiling a long list of crap we tried to filter it by keeping those that would look like the factory did it, and that would blend in so well that anyone who saw the car and knew what it was supposed to look like in stock form would be scratching their heads trying to figure out what had changed. They also had to be symmetrical and not stick out like a sore thumb.
So, here's what I did to it.
Mods:
Front to back------ Front bumper sectioned, shortened, turn signal rectangular holes filled, recurved to fit the new fender noses and to hug the sheet metal. Also enlarged the center license plate cut out into a ram airduct.
1967 Charger grill and revolving headlights. Custom electric headlight motors, mounts and linkages.
Front fender noses swept back to a 90* angle ( Think 70 Road Runner).
Front disc brakes swap from a 76 Aspen.
All rubber bumpers and bearings replaced.
Inner fender close out smooth panels to hide wiring etc.
Smooth firewall with relocated wiper motor to under dash as is everything previously on the firewall.
Battery to box behind passenger seat.
Wiring pass through tubes running along outside of inner fender just below the fender mounting flanges and into the cab through the firewall.
Wiring passthrough boots in the door frames.
2004 Audi A6 Quattro dash/console /steering and center pull E Brake. And everything in/on the dash console too.
Audi door panel elements fabricated into new panels that align with the Audi dash.
Puddle lights and rear facing marker lights on the rear face of the inner door surface, so it can be seen when the door is opened.
Power everything.
Custom steering linkages.
dual M/C and new hoses/lines.
10 way, power/heated bucket seats leather.
1967 Plymouth Sport Fury rear seat topper mounted just behind bucket seat tops and close out roadster type panels from there to the back glass. (Think 59 Corvette)
Audi armrest with 4 analog gauges hidden inside.
GPS speedo
spare tire under the roadster panels in what would have been the center of the rear seat. Close out panel between cab and trunk.
Fabricated shift linkage and lever. Hand made pistol grip and reverse lock out.
Fake quarter panel side scoops opened up.
dual motorcycle pop up gas filler caps, one on top of each quarter near the trunk lid front corners.
fabricate the entire rear face of the car to accept 1966 Thunder Bird tail lights.
Trunk lid on gas lifts
17 gallon fuel cell with dual filler necks.
trunk close out panels
rear wells tubbed
leaf springs relocated to under the frame rails.
center pull E Brake cables
move spring perches
remove spare tire well
1970 Road Runner rear bumper lengthened 4 5/8" and recurved to hug the sheet metal. TTI exhaust to exit through those back up light holes.
Remote trunk release.
'shave gas filler door
ditch the 318 in favor of a built 440 Magnum, and build a 727.
All of these mods have been completed.
Ambitious, I know...that's why it's been under construction since 2014. I had planned on being able to hold a job while building it so that there would be a budget. But, alas, that has not transpired and even more money has gone towards other needs. So, this has been done on no budget in a single space garage bay with simple hand tools. Truly. By me, without assistance. The only part that got farmed out was the motor machine work which went to RPM Racing Engines in Georgia, VT.
So that's the story, pictures and commentary to follow.... thanks for reading.. Ghost.
At present, November 2021, it is in primer ( 6 coats) with the front clip painted in body color.
The list of mods and fabrication is long and it's been in the garage since October 2014 with a brief period where I rolled it out onto the driveway in 2018 while testing my steering modifications.
This car, when I purchased it, was a 100% complete example that was running and drivable. It had the factory wheel covers and cert-i-card intact.
It's a 318 V8, A/C, tinted window glass, buddy seat, 3 spd column shift car with 69,000 original miles on it. Cream yellow color with black interior. Everything worked on it when I got it and the rust was minimal with three areas that had been smacked and repaired.
I paid $3750.00 for it.
Now for some back story:
I'm 63 yrs old and spent 30 years in the US Army in combat aviation. I was medically retired from the service in 2015. I'm a combat veteran OIF/OEF and 100% disabled and unemployable.
Knowing that I was about to be retired at 57 years old I made plans to fulfill a life long dream of MOPAR muscle car ownership and building it the way I had dreamed about for decades. I simply never lived in one place long enough to have a reasonable expectation of being able to start and finish a project of this complexity.
I had NOT planned on being retired with TBI and PTSD however and this has made it exponentially more difficult to realize my dream. I'm not a quitter, fortunately.
Prior to purchasing the car I had a lot of ideas banging around in my head about what I wanted to do to it, but, the plan only really came together after I had the old girl home and trapped in the garage.
My pal Rick and I walked around the car and sat around spitballing this and that for mods that COULD be done.
After compiling a long list of crap we tried to filter it by keeping those that would look like the factory did it, and that would blend in so well that anyone who saw the car and knew what it was supposed to look like in stock form would be scratching their heads trying to figure out what had changed. They also had to be symmetrical and not stick out like a sore thumb.
So, here's what I did to it.
Mods:
Front to back------ Front bumper sectioned, shortened, turn signal rectangular holes filled, recurved to fit the new fender noses and to hug the sheet metal. Also enlarged the center license plate cut out into a ram airduct.
1967 Charger grill and revolving headlights. Custom electric headlight motors, mounts and linkages.
Front fender noses swept back to a 90* angle ( Think 70 Road Runner).
Front disc brakes swap from a 76 Aspen.
All rubber bumpers and bearings replaced.
Inner fender close out smooth panels to hide wiring etc.
Smooth firewall with relocated wiper motor to under dash as is everything previously on the firewall.
Battery to box behind passenger seat.
Wiring pass through tubes running along outside of inner fender just below the fender mounting flanges and into the cab through the firewall.
Wiring passthrough boots in the door frames.
2004 Audi A6 Quattro dash/console /steering and center pull E Brake. And everything in/on the dash console too.
Audi door panel elements fabricated into new panels that align with the Audi dash.
Puddle lights and rear facing marker lights on the rear face of the inner door surface, so it can be seen when the door is opened.
Power everything.
Custom steering linkages.
dual M/C and new hoses/lines.
10 way, power/heated bucket seats leather.
1967 Plymouth Sport Fury rear seat topper mounted just behind bucket seat tops and close out roadster type panels from there to the back glass. (Think 59 Corvette)
Audi armrest with 4 analog gauges hidden inside.
GPS speedo
spare tire under the roadster panels in what would have been the center of the rear seat. Close out panel between cab and trunk.
Fabricated shift linkage and lever. Hand made pistol grip and reverse lock out.
Fake quarter panel side scoops opened up.
dual motorcycle pop up gas filler caps, one on top of each quarter near the trunk lid front corners.
fabricate the entire rear face of the car to accept 1966 Thunder Bird tail lights.
Trunk lid on gas lifts
17 gallon fuel cell with dual filler necks.
trunk close out panels
rear wells tubbed
leaf springs relocated to under the frame rails.
center pull E Brake cables
move spring perches
remove spare tire well
1970 Road Runner rear bumper lengthened 4 5/8" and recurved to hug the sheet metal. TTI exhaust to exit through those back up light holes.
Remote trunk release.
'shave gas filler door
ditch the 318 in favor of a built 440 Magnum, and build a 727.
All of these mods have been completed.
Ambitious, I know...that's why it's been under construction since 2014. I had planned on being able to hold a job while building it so that there would be a budget. But, alas, that has not transpired and even more money has gone towards other needs. So, this has been done on no budget in a single space garage bay with simple hand tools. Truly. By me, without assistance. The only part that got farmed out was the motor machine work which went to RPM Racing Engines in Georgia, VT.
So that's the story, pictures and commentary to follow.... thanks for reading.. Ghost.