Congratulations Travis!

 

I must have had 50 guys come up to me and tell me to never paint it, that it was perfect as is. Lots of shock when the non car guys were around and I popped the hood. Pretty much what I was going for with that one. Honestly, I got more looks and comments in this wagon than I did in my 71 camaro on the tour, and it is pretty nice.

 

That was a great run for your wagon. I hope to be able to do that one day with mine.
So, what kind of reactions did you get about your wagon? Would love to hear about that.

 

This is the basic route we did. Stopped in branson to see my grandma on the way home.

Looks like we are due for an oil change.

 

We made it home. other than 10 states of bugs and some missing windshield trim we are not much worse for the wear.

I uploaded an album for some of the power tour pics I took. I have some more that I will upload to the same album later. It always feels like I am taking a bunch of pictures, but I am always disappointed when I get home....
http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/uu308/holmant/Power Tour 2012/

 

I am sure the wait will be well worth it. Glad that you made it to the PT being able to "Represent" the Chevelle "Longroofs"'. Hope you all had a lot of fun.

 

That is cool matt, midas is probably not up on 60snascar nascar spec. Sorry, still havent gotten any pics up. Too much drinking and watching burnouts in the parking lot. Might be home before I get around to it.

 

Man that sucks! No one like parts flying off when out on the move. But that happens to the best of us. At least you guys are enjoying yourselves.
Yea, It is nice being able to do alingments in my garage. I sometimes do some of other people's "Specialty Cars" for extra money. Ones that do not like to take to a regular shop and leave them there. Like this one.

That is the real deal. THE Holman & Moody Grand National Stock Car that ran in the 66 Daytona 500. So you can see how the owner did not want to just take it to a standard alingment shop. plus most "Alignment Techs" would not know what the heck to do with it. LOL!
I have a background with these types of cars.

 

Sorry, no pics yet. I took a bunch, but no time to post. We lost the top piece of windshield trim, and the handle came off on the tailgate. Still running strong though. Must be nice to be able to do your own alignments Matt. I may need to watch craigslist...

 

AWESOME!!!! Looking forward to the pick. Oh yes, I will have to do the PT one day.
I am going to be rebuilding the front end on my car this weekend. I am not going to take it to an alingment shop. No need to when I have a Hunter H111 in my garage. I was a front end and brakes tech for years. I always wanted my own machine and I found this one on Craigslist about 3 years ago for $400.00.
Have a great time.

 

We made it to Detroit! I had some minor difficulties that had me working on the car till 2i this morning. We loaded up and hit the road at 8 this morning. Took our time and made lots of stops. Took us about 10 hours running 75-80a on the interstate . We averaged about 13 mpg. We packed way too much and the wagon is sagging in the rear, no rubs or dragging though. Kinda went nuts as we are used to packing light in a camaro. I will put up some pics at the show.

 

Thanks Matt. It was pure economics for Hot Rod, they did not have nearly the participation out west. Look forward to seeing you out there some day. It is worth the drive.

On another note I ran into a bit of a snag today. I hit the exhaust shop and got the tail pipes put on, quieted things down quite a bit. Next I headed over to the alignment shop and dropped off the car at about 3. I headed home to take a nap, planning on pulling a long night and finishing up the car. A big storm blew into town. I get a call at 5 to let me know that the car is trapped on the lift because the shop lost power, and the boss can't afford to pay overtime to wait for it to come back on. They are supposed to finish it first thing in the morning. Looks like tomorrow is going to be a long day for me. I have to finish up the wiring on the A/C, charge it, and fabricate a panel for the controls. Then I need to finish putting the dash together, install a stereo, install the passenger seat (left it out for easy access to the A/C) and hopefully get the windows tinted. We were planning to take it easy and take two days to drive to Detroit, but if I need the extra day we will just have a long day of driving on Friday. No show stoppers at this point except the A/C, momma won't be happy without it.

 

Congrats on getting this sweet ride ready for the big P.T.! I just love what you did with that 68 wagon. You inspire me with mine.
It has been a dream of mine to go on that thing. I am building my 72 wagon for things like the Power Tour. But Hot Rod desided that they are never going to be coming this way again. Hope someone else does something like that in these parts.
Have a ton of fun and post a bunch of pics!!:beers:

 

Thanks everyone. I drove it a bit yesterday. Need to get the front end aligned, get some tailpipes put on, finish up the interior, and charge the air conditioner. I want to get the windows tinted and throw a stereo and some gauges in if I have time (gauges come first of course), and then its off to power tour on Thursday. I am thinking that I may just have to bring some stuff with me and finish up some small details on the road. Wish you luck on that wagon Steve, this is my first one and I am hooked.

 

Looking great Travis. Hope you get the wheel and brake fitment worked out. They look really nice.

BG

 

Nice project! Nice patina! I would definitely leave it that way. Love those 68's. I know of a 68 wagon in about the same condition as yours, 307/pg, not running. Nice interior and it does have the factory roof rack. Now I might have to go and drag it home!! Got a 68 L78/4-speed laying around that would work well in it. Been kinda looking for a nice 138 body, but maybe a wagon instead...........temporarily.

 

but maybe a wagon instead...........temporarily.

It will not be temporary once you have one. There are many advantages to having a wagon over a 2 door car.

 

Paint is just cosmetics, as long she is purdy and has cool shoes you can be seen together in public with no problem.

 

Really nice wheels and tires, what brand and size, they fit the car well.

 

They are Coy's C5 , 17x7 and 18x8. Should look great if I ever get around to paining this beast.

 

 

The shroud is just a universal put it together yourself kit, the spacer won't be too long, just need about another inch, I have run them that long in the past. The shroud is bolted to the radiator now, don't think spacing it from there would be practical or effective. I can move the radiator toward the engine a bit.

 

Is the shroud for a long waterpump setup?

Be careful about too long a spacer, as any out-of-balance with the fan on that effectively lengthened shaft could be bad for bearings. Maybe space the shroud away from the radiator?

 

I have been sick and running a fever, so I have not gotten as much done as I wanted. I did manage to drop the engine in and fab up the fan shroud. Looks like I will need a longer spacer for the fan.

 

So, these are the wheels and tires I had planned to use to keep my costs down, because I already had them. Unfortunately they are rubbing on my fancy new disk brakes. So now I am wheel shopping.

 

Forgot to mention, the top alternator bracket does not line up with the intake mount because of the header adapter. It lines up pretty well with the alternator on the outside of the bracket, like in the mock up pick. Should be fine mounted that way. I am thinking on whether I will just cut the intake mount off of it, or order the aftermarket one. If I had known that short water pumps caused this many headaches I would have just switched to a long pump and brackets before I spent money on this setup. I have always had long pumps in the past, I guess that when I had pre 68 vehicles that already had a long pump on them in the past I should have asked myself why.

 

I haven't had much time to work so far this weekend because my wife graduated today. So proud of her, now back to the wagon. The parts fairy came today with my new headers and fan shroud.

Then I got back to cleaning up and mock up. Finally got the power steering stuff cleaned and painted. I was kinda putting it off as it was an unpleasant job.
I found that the lower power steering bracket was pretty messed up by some "custom" repairs.

Then I discovered that short pumps and power steering do not mix so well with headers. This is why I like to mock up accessories on the stand and not in the engine bay. I guess I will just weld this bracket on here and be done with it as soon as I figure out how to get this belt off of the water pump pulley. I guess a slightly longer belt should do the trick, but I need to get one before welding.

Here it is all mocked up. Once I work out the power steering situation it should be ready to drop in tomorrow.