79 Volare Woody Wagon refit!

[VWagon]

I am new to the forum and hijacked Raff's cool wagon post. Best to start my own post instead.

Had a friend coming to Eastern Canada back in the Fall with an empty trailer and the opportunity to bring me a winter project. Scanning Craigslist and Facebook marketplace I was able to find this gem... It changed hands since this feature but only had a few more miles on it.

Premier Condition! 1979 Plymouth Volare Wagon

 

[VWagon]

Home in the driveway! Then the work began!

 

[VWagon]

The car turned out to be pretty good. Other then some pretty good rock chips in the rockers and some splits in the pleats of the seats....the car is pretty much completely original....70,000 miles and all original

 

[VWagon]

Found a buyer for the slant drivetrain locally...so it was extraction time.

 

[VWagon]

Now for the plan...taking this wagon and making it a 360 cruiser.
Hope for good street manners with the occasional drag strip blast.
Something to pass the long winter months!

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Hey, very nice car and a great project idea.

My recommendation would be: get some help (if need be) and get that hood off the car, it'll make any job that much easier...and boy, it'll brighten up the engine bay...light everywhere!!

 

[VWagon]

Hey, very nice car and a great project idea.

My recommendation would be: get some help (if need be) and get that hood off the car, it'll make any job that much easier...and boy, it'll brighten up the engine bay...light everywhere!!

Yes the dark green along with light placement in my garage doesnt help!

 

[BudW]

The A/C compressor (if good) can be used on an 318/360. Both /6 A/C hoses are longer than what the LA uses - but heard they will work fine (not seen this first hand, though) for small block conversions.

If you are planning on removing/installing the engine from above, then hood removal is VERY HELPFUL.

If you are considering headers with your 360 install, I might suggest dropping the engine/transmission/K-frame/front suspension down (as an assembly, as shown below) and lifting the body up. If will give you more room to tidy things (or clean) on suspension and/or engine compartment (if going that route) and a much much much easier time installing headers.

Even rebuilding the front suspension is a lot easier (if needed to be done, that is).
With the powertrain/suspension out like that, the front end of vehicle is surprisingly light (but not light as a feather).
BudW

 

[VWagon]

I wish I could have done that. I am not comfortable that I have the ceiling height or the travel in my engine hoist to get the car high enough. With my luck....well we won't go there lol

 

[VWagon]

Blank canvas! V8 Kframe conversion coming up next. Would love to have found some Shumacher conversion mounts but no dice.... So the wagon gets a freshly blasted and painted K with poly iso bushings and all new ball joints and control arm bushings. Do it once and should be good forever right?

 

[Oldiron440]

In the 80s that wagon could have been my daily driver, I had a 77 and a 80. They never let me down....

 

[Aspen500]

Rust free, nice!

Cool, '62 Fury, Belvedere or Savoy (BudW's post).

 

[AJ/FormS]

In the 80s that wagon could have been my daily driver, I had a 77 and a 80. They never let me down....

76 and 79 for me; 318/904s both. Hauled my kids around for a few years, but rust killed them. My 76 was just like OPs, but the 79 was creamy-yellow.

 

[VWagon]

Cold weekend so it was time to put the interior back together. It's all original except for the seat bottoms where some carefully matched vinyl replaced the split seams. You can see a color variation in the pictures more then in person actually. Oh well best we could do. Mounting up a tach and will be moving on to an oil psi gauge next

 

[Aspen500]

Trying to exactly match new vinyl to 43 year old vinyl is about impossible. Looks fine to me!

 

[77blueonblue]

Your woodgrain looks in amazing shape!

 

[VWagon]

Wood was good except tailgate. Must have lived in a carport or a garage that had the door open a fair bit. A few treatments of trim restorer did wonders though. Here is the comparison after one treatment

 

[Kramer79]

Wow looks great! Nice wagon!!

 

[XfbodyX]

There is a roll of wagon wood grain on ebay this am for anyone looking for some or for repair... not mine.

NOS OEM Mopar Woodgrain Overlay Decal Part Number 4022309 for sale online | eBay

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www.ebay.com

 

[VWagon]

Well it fit! My biggest issue was lining up a good set of proper pulleys. All in all I'm pretty happy with it. Exhaust and alignment and shes ready for the road