Started cleaning on the 71 today

1carcrazyguy · Post by **1carcrazyguy** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:42 pm

Got my 71 Dart tagged and "road legal" a couple of weeks ago so today I decided to dive in on my green 71 SSP. I still have no idea where this project is headed but I knew it needed a lot of cleaning.

One is a before and the other is after a few hours. I only got 1/3 the trunk floor done. I could have done the entire trunk floor but my back was ready to throw in the towel for the day.

CtownRunner · Post by **CtownRunner** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:23 am

Nice and solid! Worth the elbow grease. Wish mine was that good.

1carcrazyguy · Post by **1carcrazyguy** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:37 pm

CtownRunner wrote:Nice and solid! Worth the elbow grease. Wish mine was that good.

I hope to finish the trunk floor tomorrow and then start on the interior floor pans. I am planning on doing a color change to Curious Yellow or Plum Crazy with black interior. But even with the faded green color the new Weld Prostars made it look a little better!!

Maybe in the next week or so I will have the outside cleaned up and a full side shot of the car with the Prostars on it!

1carcrazyguy · Post by **1carcrazyguy** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:00 am

Spent a few more hours on the trunk floor today. I was pretty happy that I did not find any major rust that would need to be cut out!!! Now I just need to work on the wheel housings and the area below the package tray.

Post by **Eric** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:28 pm

wow...that's one clean trunk floor!

1carcrazyguy · Post by **1carcrazyguy** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:29 pm

Eric wrote:wow...that's one clean trunk floor!

I was VERY happy when I started cleaning it up!! The dark areas in the seams still could use some cleaning. But I noticed that some of the paint was getting loose in those seams and I did not want to take a chance on getting down to bare metal. The dark areas on the flat surface of the trunk floor (almost the left/center of the pic) are VERY light surface rust where the mat stuck and peeled the paint up.

But I didn't see anything even remotely close enough to need a patch panel. Hopefully this weekend I can get the interior cleaned up a little and bolt in the seats! Then I plan to wash it and clean it up a little on the outside so I can make a list of stuff I need for the car. Mainly it will be repop parts like marker lights, exhaust tips, seat covers, carpet, and things like that. Then I need to search for bumpers (front is twisted) and a motor! Still trying to decide on using a 360 (bare block and J heads) that I bought for my Duster, or trying to locate a 383/400/440??? The list never ends.......

CtownRunner · Post by **CtownRunner** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:36 pm

You will not regret a Big Block in a B body. I vote 383/400/440.

1carcrazyguy · Post by **1carcrazyguy** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:03 pm

I had a 71 RR in high school (1990-91) and LOVED it!! But the machine shop that is going to be building the motor keeps reminding me that "500 ft lbs of torque is 500 ft lbs of torque". I have read about people "loving" their small block B bodies because of weight saving, handles better and the extra room inside the engine compartment. Right now it is more about getting the car cleaned, making a list of parts needed/wanted

After that I will decide on a color and THEN send a motor of some sort to the machine shop.......which will likely be summer time...

rr6pak · Post by **rr6pak** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:12 am

IF you need/want a small block, what about the 360 crates?