Reborn on the 4th of July

[meljr]

A buddy from my local Jeep club, his business partner and I went in together and rented a larger shop in Independence, Oregon yesterday. This give me access to a complete auto repair and body shop with 3 or 4 bays for my personal projects. After I move my 1989 Shelby Dodge Dakota and two Plymouth B Body convertibles (1963 Sport Fury and 1965 Belvedere II), my 1989 Base Comanche will go in next week to be repainted the original color and to begin a build that I will document in the proper section of the forum.

 

Here are a few pictures of what went on yesterday after we signed the lease:

 

This is my 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible, which has been sitting under a cedar tree at my farm for several years under a tarp. It has been basically mechanically restored, but needs a little body work, paint and an interior refresh. Originally from Texas, it is amazingly rust free. I'm going to paint it the original shade of white (the two tone was done by the movie production company I bought the car from) with a little pearl. To the left is my wife's 1965 Plymouth Belvedere II convertible with a Mopar small block crate motor. It too will get a respray in the original color with some added pearl highlights and a refreshed interior.

 

 

After removing the tarp, I put a charger on the battery in the hopes I can drive it on and off the trailer for the trip to our new shop.

 

Since my 1989 Shelby Dodge Dakota bracket racer that I recently recovered from a collapsed barn doesn't run, I winched it onto my car trailer and moved it to the shop first with my faithful 1976 Dodge W100 Club Cab Power Wagon that has a little less than 100,000 miles and still runs great.

 

 

Here are a few shots of the Shelby on the trailer before leaving for the shop.

 

Here we are after backing the car trailer into the new shop in Independence, OR.

 

Finally unloading supervised by Dewey the Dog, who is really the one in charge.

 

Today, I'll try to move one or both of the convertibles so we can get started on the Comanche refresh and build next week. Have a great, safe 4th of July.

 

-mel