There’s something about a 1966 Coronet. When I was a kid and started thumbing through my dad’s old Hot Rod Magazines, I would always go check out the classified/line ads in the back of the book to see what was for sale back when the thing was published. One of the first cars I remember laying eyes on in the back of those magazines was a 1966 Coronet with a hemi in it and I thought it was about the coolest thing ever. Split grill, four big headlights, square shape, all the elements were there for that to really be a tough looking car. Well fast forward to today when I am sitting here waiting out the rain at the NHRA Maple Grove event and searching up stuff on eBay and I found this 1966 Coronet. While it does not have hemi power, it has all the attitude (plus some) that the elephant powered example did that I saw 30 years ago. Love! Oh, then I started looking at the photos.
Now I am not completely damning this thing as much as I am raising some basic questions. Does the performance seem like it would follow the looks? Do the welds (that you can see) on the roll cage look like they would withstand repeated blows from a 3lb hammer? Is it true that every single car in the known universe looks better with a mini-tub job and some big meats out back? Would someone want to spend the better part of $15,000 on this car?
The engine is a mildly warmed up 440. There a solid lifter cam, factory iron heads, and some upgrades to the valvetrain, exhaust, and ignition systems. How much power is it making? 440-460hp? Is that a fair estimate? Enough that it would be fun for a while but also enough that you’d be planning on pulling the engine apart again after a relatively short period of time to really give it some oats.
What do you say? Legit beastly creation or a paper tiger that needs lots of work?
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE COMPLETE EBAY DESCRIPTION AND TONS OF PHOTOS OF THIS 1966 CORONET – IT SURE LOOKS LIKE TOUGH STUFF –
1966 Coronet 440
Engine:
440 HP (1970 date code block)
-Forged crank
-Six pack rods
– Solid lift cam (unsure of specs)
-Adjustable rockers
-M1 single plain intake
-Hooker super comp headers
– Msd 6aL box with a billit msd distributor, msd 8.5 mm wires and new plugs
– New 1 wire high output chrome allternator
-New billet aluminum pulleys and brackets.
-Griffen aluminum radiotor with 16″ electric fan also
-New aluminum water pump and aluminum housing
-Dual holley electric Blue fuel pumps
-3/8 braided stainless fuel lines and A/n fittings front to back
-Aftermarket switch board for start,stop,fuel pump,radiator fans,and headlights/running lights
-Pro Series 4150 holley with black anodized billet aluminum throttle bracket and braided stailess throttle cable
-20 gallon aluminum race tank
-Yellow top optima Battery Mounted in trunk
Motor runs Strong and has constant 80lbs of oil presure and stays right at 180-190 degrees
Transmission:
-727
– Manual reverse shift valve body
– Hurst quarter stick w/trans brake switch
-Trans brake
-high stall torq converter(not sure on stall speed)
Suspension and frame setup:
-10 Point roll cage
-Mini tubs
-8 3/4 (not sure on gearing guessing around 4:10 on ratio runs really well on street not too steep)
-4 Link rear suspension with ladder bars
-QA1 HAL adjustable coilovers
-full subframe connectors and drive shaft loop
-Mickey Thompson ET street 30×13.5-15 fronts are moroso 7.10 – 15 front runners
Exterior:
-Fiberglass fenders(US Body)
-Fiberglass front bumper (Us body)
-Fiberglass hood(Us Body) with Ro 23 hemi hood scoop(sled city)
-New hood molding
-Front end was repainted this summer and a few spots touched up.
-Vinyl top in very good condition with no rips cracking or fadding
-Re-polished grille with plasti dipped center section(can be easily peeled off for oem look grille).
-Shaved Engine bay with wire tucked and hidden
-Trunk floor spare tire section was cut out and aluminum sheet bolted infor race tank
Overall paint is solid with a couple really small blemishes here and there . Trunk lip has some small rust bubbles showing on lower outer edge. Floors, trunk and frame are all solid
-Working headlights, dash lights, tailights and brake lights. No turn signals(turn signal switch removed from colomn but all wiring is there)
This is a Really good looking solid 66 coronet ready For The Street or Strip!Registerd and have a clear Indiana title ready for new owner
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK TO SEE THE EBAY AD FOR THIS DODGE CORONET 440 –
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DODGE CORONET 440 THAT HAS THE LOOKS AND ATTITUDE OF A REAL STREET BRAWLER
Cage sucks! I’m sure it was easy to put in, since no care was taken to tuck it out of the way. If that;s the case, one might wonder if care was taken anywhere else on the car. Personally, for me, a ’60’s Mopar without leaf springs is a non starter. For peole who’ve never driven a performance car with Mopar Super Stock prings, they’ll just never know…
I really like the looks of this car. Lots of weight saving parts make it ready for the strip, but ready for the street? How many states would let a car be registered without turn signals? You might be able to use hand signals, but 90% of the people driving today don’t know what they mean. Even less would see them while checking their cell phones every ten seconds. The cage would also make it less livable on the street. Rear view mirror looks to be worthless, why wasn’t that deleted as well?
They won’t seed the electric signals either.
I don’t like the roll cage. Other than that I’d take it. turn signals can be added.
Cage needs redoing, but other than that and the turn signals, looks like it wouldn’t be a bad weekend driver / bracket racer. More power could be added as time and money allows. It’s hard to go too wrong with a straight, clean ’66 Coronet and a big block.
Nice way to ruin a classic well you did it! You painted the grill “UGLY” and the rear trim on tail lights are missing poor, poor, poor!!! It might perform with your engine mods but you could have done that to a Pinto not a classic!