[matnetik]

Hello everyone!

Wanted to start a thread on my 1968 E-Style Coupe. (For those who HATE the E-Style kits and cars, please feel free to keep your comments to yourself, respectfully). Found a 1968 Coupe 6 hours outside of Houston, TX sitting in a barn for the past 10 years. The car had half an E-Style kit installed with the rest of the body parts sitting in the car, had a brand new crate 302 with aluminum heads, Holley carb and roller rockers as well as a built TCI C6 transmission.

The guy moved to Arizona and had a shop building the car for him, turns out the shop was just taking him money and not doing the work, shop went out of business, landlord confiscated all the cars and then he finally got the car back, that was 10 years ago, been sitting in a barn with the windows cracked since.

Anyway, going to post some photos here but I have also been doing a video series on YouTube tracking the progress. We are actually pretty close to being finished at this point and I'll be releasing more videos over the course of the next month. Will at least post a before and after here though and figured I could help answer questions for anyone else doing something similar. I myself will be asking some questions on things I'm not sure about or could use some help with! It's been quite a process since nothing is really made for an E-Style but the car is shaping up nicely!

Car is being built by Daryl White at The Hot Rod Shop in Kemah, TX

 

[kkupec02]

welcome. best of luck in your build

 

[Quicksilver66]

Don’t call it the “E” word. She’ll take it from you....

 

[matnetik]

Don’t call it the “E” word. She’ll take it from you....

Haha good point, made sure to avoid that in my videos as well, updated to “E-Style”

 

[Israel]

Welcome, I'll be following.

 

[GT_SCODE]

Great car, videos are too long for me. Was the car a California Special?

Don’t hate on the E’s at all. Mine was on its way to one when the seller gave up and I picked it up. Went a more stock look.

 

[matnetik]

Great car, videos are too long for me. Was the car a California Special?

Don’t hate on the E’s at all. Mine was on its way to one when the seller gave up and I picked it up. Went a more stock look.

yeah I am going to slowly upload photos here so everyone can see the build, also helpful for others on their builds, I’ll just sort through them because there are a lot haha. Oddly enough, the car had California Special rear panels and emblems (and they were real emblems with the holes punched out of the rear fenders). We were super stoked because we thought it was at first but after getting the car home and decoding the serial it was originally a standard 68’ made in Dearborn, MI with a 289 and deluxe package. I ended up removing the California special emblems and patching up the holes, didn’t want the car to be something it‘s wasn’t.

 

[matnetik]

Okay first set of pictures here, snaps from the listing and from picking up the car!

 

[matnetik]

Second set of photos, this is after we got it to the shop and started ripping it apart, definitely some rust we didn't know about, struts needed to be replaced along with tons of bushings and such. We thought it was rust throughout the floorboards but turns out when they put new carpet in, they used RED glue instead of stock yellow. Also most of it was just covered in dirt and grime and needed to be pressure washed. Overall the car was in decent shape! Also found some old service tickets that were pretty cool.

 

[matnetik]

A bit more from the tear down -

 

[matnetik]

One thing I could use help with is identifying this engine. We know it's a 302, I've looked up every number stamped on it I could find and don't come up with anything, it's definitely a crate engine but we have no clue what cam is in it.

Here are all the images and numbers I could find on it-

So I believe this one is RPM1386 or RPM1336

This one reads 9R157786 or 9R157736

I did find the heads, after reading they seem like they are decent but definitely not the best ones - PC3037-0904-2321 (Pro Comp PC3037)

And here are the comp rockers (little rust on some of the bolts we had to clean up)

 

[jonk67]

The engine casting/date code stamp should be on the oil pan ledge next to the starter. If you laid on your back under the car, removed the starter and looked up, that's where it'd be.

 

[matnetik]

The engine casting/date code stamp should be on the oil pan ledge next to the starter. If you laid on your back under the car, removed the starter and looked up, that's where it'd be.

Ah thanks for this!! Will check and see what I can find!

 

[matnetik]

Next set of photos here, fixing rust areas, grinding down rust to the metal, welding the new struts in. Also decided to swap out the hood for a metal one and ditch the fiberglass, aligned most of the panels as well and the seats cleaned up nicely!

Found some nasty rust behind the rear window seal here-

New Struts-

The grind-

 

[matnetik]

New Hood- Dynacorn E-Style

Seats after the cleaning-

 

[gspitale]

Nice to see another coupe!

 

[matnetik]

Nice to see another coupe!

If only I had your engine! Haha, I am pretty much done on my build, just need to post the rest of the pictures here

 

[matnetik]

Engine bay and underbody painted-

Engine valve covers, transmission and some other little things painted-

 

[matnetik]

Acid treatment and grinding done on the interior and floor pans, also painted-

New springs 2.5" lower in the front and 1" drop blocks for the rear also the Borgeson Power Steering and disc brakes getting installed

 

[matnetik]

And the painting begins!!