69 Dodge Polara 500 Convertible

polara10x500 said:

Thanks Jim, That's a lot of great info. Still researching this cars history. Meant to post VIN tag pic earlier but forgot. I do know that the interior was redone custom in tan leather including boot for the top, some things like the arm rest may have been dyed tan to match from what I can tell. They are flaking off and white underneath. I'm almost sure that the original top was white along with the seats probably but I like that new tan top and it's fitted very nicely. I've never bought a vehicle so extensively restored before, trying to figure out what's correct what's wrong what I like or don't like. I do like original looking and functionally correct vehicles to stay true to the history and hobby of restoring these cars. But I don't see nothing wrong with an upgrade in certain areas. This will be very fun to finish this car off down to the details.

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So the original car interior was medium poly green. Fender tag gives a lot of information about a car. I like the way it's done now. The contrasting color sets the car off . As my wife just called it "Eye Candy".

I would almost guess someone took the snorkels off because they didn't look "cool". Could be wrong.

SportFury70 said:

Gorgeous engine bay. Any fender tag pics?

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Fender tag decoded mostly.

dh23t said:

Can't a man get a little privacy?

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Not here. Everybody notices everything

Man, that is a thing of beauty, I love it, the grill is just lovely, the whole car is wow.

Kram Edyorloh said:

Man, that is a thing of beauty, I love it, the grill is just lovely, the whole car is wow.

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THANKS FOR THE COMPLIMENT KRAM, ANY FEEDBACK ON HIS MODEL WOULD BE GREAT I'M STILL RESEARCHING HER, FINDING OUT WHATS NOT ORIGINAL, WHAT IS, WHAT I MIGHT WANT TO CHANGE BACK. I LIKE WHATS BEEN DONE, BUT THERES STILL SOME FINER DETAILS TO ADDRESS. THANKS AGAIN..

LOL, everytime I come on the site I come look at this, I want to find a "bad line" on the car somewhere to make up an excuse not to come see it (want it LOL)....but I cant, its just perfect everywhere!
I could stand there and just look at this car all day its that easy on the eye.

Cool.

Kram Edyorloh said:

LOL, everytime I come on the site I come look at this, I want to find a "bad line" on the car somewhere to make up an excuse not to come see it (want it LOL)....but I cant, its just perfect everywhere!
I could stand there and just look at this car all day its that easy on the eye.

Cool.

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Thanks again Kram, I'm still geekin 15 to 20 foot away. But up close finding more to do all the time. Still researching cars history and who restored and worked on her, finding shorcuts made here an there but nothing major.

polara10x500 said:

Thanks Jim, That's a lot of great info. Still researching this cars history. Meant to post VIN tag pic earlier but forgot. I do know that the interior was redone custom in tan leather including boot for the top, some things like the arm rest may have been dyed tan to match from what I can tell. They are flaking off and white underneath. I'm almost sure that the original top was white along with the seats probably but I like that new tan top and it's fitted very nicely. I've never bought a vehicle so extensively restored before, trying to figure out what's correct what's wrong what I like or don't like. I do like original looking and functionally correct vehicles to stay true to the history and hobby of restoring these cars. But I don't see nothing wrong with an upgrade in certain areas. This will be very fun to finish this car off down to the details.

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Can repair this problem one of two ways. 1) get the spray primer, upholstery dye (like that sold at LMC). I know I mention a pickup truck place, but I have a Dodge D150. or 2) send them to just dashes to have them do the armrests etc.

Back again...., how you doing with "my car" LOL. Still amazes me, have you had chance to use it yet?

Kram Edyorloh said:

Back again...., how you doing with "my car" LOL. Still amazes me, have you had chance to use it yet?

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HAY KRAM, HOPE ALL IS WELL, YES I DID A LITTLE TEST DRIVING WITH THE POLARA AFTER RETUNING HER A LITTLE. I DID'NT THINK TENN WOULD BE MUCH DIFFERENT FROM FLORIDA BUT SHE WAS JUST TO RICH AND IDLE WAY TO HIGH. SOUNDED LIKE A HOT ROD READY TO DO THE 1/4 MILE ALL THE TIME. CLUNKING IN AN OUT OF GEAR REAL HARD. GOT IT CALM DOWN PRETTY GOOD NOW, IDLE'S GOOD IN GEAR HOLDING THE BREAK, NO STALLING. SHE DID BLOW A VOLTAGE REG BUT I GOT ALL THAT SORTED TOO I HOPE.

Hi guys im new here. Beautiful polara. Was this a recent purchase? I think i seen this for sale recently. Canadian model? As i am told the convertibles were made there 800 units. Side trim is cool and has monaco tail lights. The air cleaner looks like the snorkel is missing could be a Canadian thing. Beautiful and rare car.

69 supershark monaco 500 said:

Hi guys im new here. Beautiful polara. Was this a recent purchase? I think i seen this for sale recently. Canadian model? As i am told the convertibles were made there 800 units. Side trim is cool and has monaco tail lights. The air cleaner looks like the snorkel is missing could be a Canadian thing. Beautiful and rare car.

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THANKS 69 SUPER, GOT HER AT END OF JAN. FROM FLORIDA. CHANGING SEVERAL THINGS THAT WERNT CORRECT OR JUST OVER LOOKED, DONT KNOW WHY THOSE MONACO LIGHTS ARE IN THERE OR MAYBE 500S GOT THEM OR THATS THE BEST SET THAY COULD FIND WHEN RESTORING BUT I LIKE THEM BETTER THAN THE REGULAR POLARA TAIL LIGHTS.

69 supershark monaco 500 said:

Hi guys im new here. Beautiful polara. Was this a recent purchase? I think i seen this for sale recently. Canadian model? As i am told the convertibles were made there 800 units. Side trim is cool and has monaco tail lights. The air cleaner looks like the snorkel is missing could be a Canadian thing. Beautiful and rare car.

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MORE PICS PICS PICS

69 supershark monaco 500 said:

Hi guys im new here. Beautiful polara. Was this a recent purchase? I think i seen this for sale recently. Canadian model? As i am told the convertibles were made there 800 units. Side trim is cool and has monaco tail lights. The air cleaner looks like the snorkel is missing could be a Canadian thing. Beautiful and rare car.

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WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR ENGINE BAY ESPECIALLY IF ITS ALL ORIGINAL.

The pic i posted was a couple years ago. Unfortunately my storage is full of stuff and i need to get the car out and moved to a larger unit around the corner. Switching out the drums for disc conversion. I have a Canadian brochure and your engine looks spot on except the snorkels are missing and the pie tin. I think the tail lights are factory on the 500. A rare car you have. Maybe ive only seen a couple of yours and you might have the nicest one on the planet.

I hope this reaches the owner of this car. This is going off my memory. I dragged this car out of a field in San Martin, Ca about 20 years ago. It was full of rain water and had mushrooms growing in it! I couldn't let it rot. $500 and I took it home. Here's what I did to it. First to answer the air cleaner ??'s
It's the original 2bbl single snorkle unit modified to resemble a 70 340 air cleaner. I rebuilt the water trough behind the rear window as it was completely rusted out. 3/16 steel and stainless hardware. Otherwise zero rust on the entire car. 68 383 w/452 heads, balanced, Ultradyne cam. Stock intake and the correct 69 AVS carb. Exhaust manifolds are from a 69 CHP Polara. Trans cooler is from a 77 CHP Coronet. I installed a P/S pump cooler. The steering box is a 73 C-body unit. NOS at the time. Numbers matching trans. Four disk clutch pack, four pinion planetaries, rigid band, and a Trans Go shift improver kit. Precision converter. Fattest factory torsion bars made are from a 74 440 Royal Monaco wagon. U code 70 Newport rear leafs. Monaco grille and tail lights. I added power windows and tinted glass. Added a 70 full recliner pass seat. Installed a 69 Fury core support to fit a 26 inch radiator. I had horns from a 1955 International R190 mounted to the pass fenderwell. Probably more but it's been a while. Check out Google Maps March 2011 Street View 577 Rough and Ready Rd. You'll see it before it was the beautiful car it is now. I hope you are happy with this car. I'm so glad that it recieved a restoration.

Still stunning I see LOL, best car on here mate IMO, truly wonderful.
Have you had chance to put any miles on it yet?

Sorry Kram, Been at work the last 21 days an haven't checked the forum. Me and my brother took her in to town one evening visiting family and what not, it was crazy, people honking, waving, yelling,chasing me down. People in Clarksville love their classics, I see really nice cars an trucks all the time. Now I'm in the process of installing the correct AM radio in the dash and hiding a FM Bluetooth unit in the glove compartment. Also seem to have lost some illumination across my dash, ign. switch light, two lights in the climate control panel, ash tray, glove box light. Electrical is not my favorite thing to fix especially under the dash.