The GTX has finally started its journey...............

[ryangtogtx]

Car has finally returned from it's bath. The updated pictures show what kind of cancer needs attention. In some ways, I think it looks better than I thought it would. Definitely some surprises, both good and bad. It's nice to have a clean slate to work with. Here's a link.............

http://www.musclecarrestorations.com/ga ... g2_page=11

[luvmoparz]

doesn't look bad at all.

what kind of bath did it get ....exactly and what does something like that cost?

[ryangtogtx]

It's a phosphate solution that has an electrical current run through it. It takes approximately a month for the entire process. The last tank that the car is dipped in is a metal conditioner that prevents the bare metal from rusting. It's not the typical acid solution that most stripping company's use that can also cause problems later with paint adhesion.

[luvmoparz]

Good to know, I have a buddy that is doing a frame off on an old ford thats looking for options for dipping. I will send him the thread.

[RS23-71]

Interesting... thanks for keeping us updated. I'm really interested in the resto of your GTX.

I'm still impressed on how little rust your car has for being a car from the Minneapolis/St Paul area! I lived there for 15+ yrs and I still believe its the salt capital of the world for how much of it they dump on the streets. I crashed my motorcycle one yr in late june from hitting a patch of salt left over from the previous winter.

Any car there that lasts over 10 yrs even if only driven in the summer is completely amazing!

[ryangtogtx]

Thanks. Hopefully metal work will start somewhere around Feb. - Mar. I don't think we're going to need to cut up the donor car for metal since most of what we need is reproduced or can be made fairly easily. I talked to AMD today and they said the patch panels for the 1/4's should be available sometime in Feb. I'd like to use the patches and MCR would like to do an article about them in Mopar Muscle. Hopefully everything works out, but we've all heard it before about the patch panels. The car has a little under 60,000 original miles. (59,995 to be exact). I think the car was saved due to the fact that the original engine was supposedly blown early on in life and had a '69 vintage 383 installed. It's been parked for many years, albeit outdoors. Everything else on the car was original except the wheels and engine.

[71440 gtx]

nice 71 gtx 440 6bbl mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[72Rdrnner]

My .02 about DIY or paying a professional.

With the exception of the machine work on the engine, and things like re-chroming the bumpers I, with a buddy's help, did all the work on my car. The body had no rust, just years of driving dings and dents. No body metal had to be replaced.

Did all the body work and paint in my garage. Made a lot of mistakes and learned from them.

When it was all said and done I spent $20,000 with less than $1000 of that for labor. Remember it is a one owner car (me) so parts were all there, all in reasonably good shape, so my parts costs were less than had it been a rust bucket.

I did not add in the cost of all the beer that was consumed!

In my case my buddy, who is also retired like me, knew body work and taught me a lot...not to mention getting on me when I tried to shortcut! I did not take the entire body down to bare metal and even left the front and back windshield in.

Bottom like is, I did the work myself because (a) I had help (b) had a big garage complete with a two post lift, and (c) had all the time in the world. It was truly a "labor of love"....not to mention hot, sticky, and nasty work stripping Ziebart undercoating off! Took exactly three years.

Was it worth it? HELL YES! Will I do another? HELL NO! (fingers crossed)

In the end though, the labor hours were probably more than if an expert had done them. It makes no difference which route one goes...self help or professional...as long as some Mopar iron is preserved that is what counts.

[ryangtogtx]

72Rdrnner, nice looking car. You did a great job. Unfortunately, the diy route wasn't really an option with this car due to the metal work involved. If it was a rust free car like yours it would have been a different story. Trust me when I say it would be more fun than writing checks. It's not that we (my dad and myself) don't have all of the equipment to do it ourselves, since he owns a car dealership that has a body shop. For example, we're restoring a '62 Fury convertible max wedge (clone) ourselves. It was a southern car that had very little rust. I guess it comes down to knowing when to choose your battles. In the case of the GTX it came down to a few different factors. (1) We felt it was more than we could chew (2) We felt the car deserved a quality resto (3) The time involved in a project like the GTX is extensive and if we wanted to drive the car before we're dead, we felt it was best to have someone else do the heavy lifting.

[rr6pak]

"It makes no difference which route one goes...self help or professional...as long as some Mopar iron is preserved that is what counts"

I hope I did the quote right. I whole heartidly agree 72Rdrnner.

to ya

[72Rdrnner]

"It makes no difference which route one goes...self help or professional...as long as some Mopar iron is preserved that is what counts"

I hope I did the quote right. I whole heartidly agree 72Rdrnner.

to ya

You got it...and I'd add a personal caveat.

In my case I restored the car to be driven and seen, in public. While I have all the original parts, I added new generation stuff to it. Converted it to R134 with a Sanden compressor. Edelbrock manifold, Holley Carb, and Schumacher headers. Plus the Mopar Performance dress up goodies on the engine. Didn't worry about "correct" clamps and screws. The car came off the line with "warts" so IMHO there is not such thing as a "perfect" car. Back in the day, mass production led to a lot of little mistakes. The factory "form and fit" on my car was awful. You had to "slam" doors, hood and trunk to close them. (at least I did change that!)

To the "purist" however that's not a restoration but what I think they call "restumization" or something like that. No big deal...it's my car, and I'll do it my way.

I fully understand the professional or dedicated show car owner and give him his due for all the time and money they spend. The do a wonderful job and I enjoy seeing them at the bid shows. But I'm not into "trailer queens".

I want to cruise the Sonic, do the "cruise night" show and the local club and charity event shows. But I want to have the car out where it can be seen and heard! (sunny days only....Hah!)

The only downsides are the occasional rock chip in the paint, or the nervousness of getting on the road with the "cell phone in the ear" crowd who don't "drive" but simply "steer"! I'm sure if one hit me I would do time in prison for assault at least, murder at worst!