1968 Dodge Coronet Fitting Trim After Panel Replacement Before Paint V8 Speed and Resto Shop

We replaced many of the body panels on this 1968 Dodge Coronet in the V8 Speed and Resto Shop. Before the car goes to the body shop and is painted, we always check to make sure all the trim, door handles, bumpers, grille, and other items fit the car properly so there are no surprises after paint.

1968 Dodge Coronet Fitting Trim After Panel Replacement Before Paint V8 Speed and Resto Shop

Today, we're back here in the fabrication shop at the V8 Speed and Resto Shop with a really cool project we're working on. This is a 1968 Dodge Coronet 500, and it's gray, and some is bare steel, but it's kind of put together. So, what's that all about, right? Well, this car has had some extensive metal work done to it, and before it goes to the body and paint shop side, we always like to test fit all the trim – so the grills, the window trim, the mirrors, and all that stuff – while it's still in primer.

As you see, the car has been completely media blasted and sprayed with a gray epoxy primer, and certain areas are bare steel where we've been doing some welding and some panel gap fitment, and some fixing of rust in the back and things like that. But that's the point where we say, "Things look pretty good. Let's see how they fit," because the last thing you want to do is go through the metal side without test fitting the trim, send it all the way through the body shop, paint the car, and then go to put the trim on it and find out, "Oh, now it doesn't fit right." And why wouldn't it fit? Maybe it's a new handle, maybe it's a reproduction handle, maybe there's a subtle curve in a door or a quarter panel or something that just could be nicer, and you wouldn't have picked it up until you put those pieces together.

So here in the Fab shop is where we do this kind of stuff, and it's always neat to see a car mock- assembled before it gets disassembled again for paint. And this one's cool because it's a 383 car from the factory. It's 330 horsepower, 425 foot-pounds of torque, the engine's brand new, and the fresh suspension's all been redone, so everything on this car is going to be essentially brand new when it's finished. But taking this step helps make sure the final product is everything you want it to be.

If you've got a project car, some kind of restoration you want, or even a custom hot rod that you really want to fit nice, let us know. We've got a form you can fill out on our website at https://www.v8peedshop.com, and we're happy to chat with you. And who knows, maybe we'll shoot a video of your car in the state here in our Fabrication shop.

https://www.v8speedshop.com
V8 Speed and Resto Shop
817 S. Main Street
Red Bud, IL. 62278
314.783.8325

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