1962 Dodge Phoenix

Chris writes from North Queensland, Australia: I bought my Dodge about two and a half years ago off a friend for $500 without motor/box.
The Mopar looked pretty good and was straight, as I finally started working on it a couple of months ago.

The original plan was a quick tidy up and a respray. I found a 1964 Dodge Phoenix as a donor car, again for $500.
All that was kept was the motor/box, most of the interior, doors and the rear screen.
The rest of the car was so badly rusted I couldn’t even keep any metal to use on the other ’62!

The good news was that the ’64 had only done 64,000 miles and the motor and auto was in excellent condition.

Once I had taken the front guards and bonnet off the ’62 Phoenix, the “quick tidy up” plan took a dive, big time!

This car had been in a big accident and had been repaired well — but not well enough.
The entire right side of the car (from the grill to half way down the front door), had been crushed.
Someone managed to straighten it enough to bolt the panels back on and get it on the road again.
The impact even bent the dash! All the damage is a bit heart wrenching but I’m determined to bring her back to life!

No big custom plans for this one. Standard 318 poly & Torqueflite, clean lines and a nice rake. A cool cruiser.

All photos above are pre-dissasembly, showing how I bought the Mopar.

Work is going well on the Phoenix.

The old girl is fairly well stripped now (so much for the quick tidy up, hey?).

I just can't believe how easy this thing is to work on! A real pleasure.

I’m planning to have the Mopar finished by the end of this year, so updates should be fairly regular on this project.