Best course of restoration?

[RS23-71]

From my 1st post It rolls I have been trying to figure the fate of my '71 GTX. The poor thing has suffered from 16+ yrs of outdoor storage in the unfriendly environment of South Dakota summers and worse the winters. I wish this had never happened but that can't be undone. In fact I have spent the past few days looking at carsinbarns website and still surprised my car never showed up on that site since i seem to be one of those ppl that "its not for sale cause I'm going to restore it someday" and we know how that goes.

I have also spent quite a few hrs/days reading the many pages here on this site (some of the best info I have seen) trying to gauge how much time, cost and expertise it might be to restore her back to what I would like to see her at. 1st I thought about a professional restore that would take her back to factory condition until I saw this thread and after my jaw hit the floor and punched a big hole through it... I figured I was unable to do that. (Props to ryangtogtx on his decision and dedication) I figure I can afford that kind of restoration around 2187.

From chatting with the guy that is storing my car right now and has the 3 prize wining chevys he doesn't even bother with any cars that have any rust at all when he does his restorations. I dont have a clue how hard it it to fix cars suffering from cancer but from what I hear its very time consuming. I know he estimates 3 yrs for his restoration of cars without any rust so what is it with ones that suffer from it?

Needless to say even though the pics I posted look very good my car suffers from 1/4 panel lower rot (big suprise) but the rear window seal failed I don't know how many yrs ago and the trunk is a serious rust fest. I know that '71 GTXs are a bit more rare so I'm trying to get some sort of cost/time idea to see if I can ever afford to fix this precious up or if I have to let her go. =(

Any suggestions needed...

[moparmodeler]

In the all the different Mopar magazines there are several articles on 71 B-bodies that have been restored from basket cases. What they don't tell you is, is how EXPENSIVE it is.
You could try to sell your GTX to some one with money to spend, or you can try to afford the cost yourself.

[RS23-71]

Well I know the GTX I own isnt that rare but in some ways I feel like a person that owns a '69 Daytona that can only afford to make it into a General Lee clone..... (or thats all my know how)

[moparmodeler]

You shoul post some pics of the rusted plases, it might not be all that bad, A few patch panels and a new trunck pan may be all you need

[71440 gtx]

Well I know the GTX I own isnt that rare but in some ways I feel like a person that owns a '69 Daytona that can only afford to make it into a General Lee clone..... (or thats all my know how)

hud they are rare pm me for my number and i will help you

[fourforty6pac]

If the rot is that bad your gonna have to get yourself a rust free satellite for starters. You can sell the parts you dont use to recover some of the cash. If you cant do the work yourself, find a good body guy and open your wallet. The best way to save your budget is to learn how to do alot of the work yourself. Before you start spending your money have a bodyman check it out . He will be able to tell you what you need to put the GTX back together and give you a ballpark guestamit. Good Luck!

[Wizard]

I have to agree. Take it to or have a few body/paint guys go over what its gonna need for resto. Then check into reproduction parts and add everything up. Learn to don 85% of the work yourself, like I did and it will save you $$ I redid my 71 Road Runner ( still apart in a shelll after 7 years and its still not done and taking money ) do it right though the first time in whatever part your restoring.

Wizard.

[AZ-Nick]

Well I know the GTX I own isnt that rare but in some ways I feel like a person that owns a '69 Daytona that can only afford to make it into a General Lee clone..... (or thats all my know how)

hud they are rare pm me for my number and i will help you

As another owner of a 71GTX 4sp car, YES it is rare and yes you can get parts for it, will you get them at reasonable costs, maybe, maybe not.
You need to look at the whole car and document what is bad and needs to be replaced, what is bad and can be fixed and what is good on it.
Plan it out and start networking with other guys for parts and document anything you hear or read on how to fix things. If you are looking for a Showboat restoration, you might as well sell it now, but if you want a nice driver that looks good and is enjoyable to drive, then do it yourself.
But remember this...... DO NOT TAKE THE CAR APART UNTIL YOU HAVE THE PARTS AND A PLAN TO COMPLETE WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO...... I am not saying you cannot do small projects on the car, just have the parts to fix or replace on what ever small project you decide to do at that time.
Start looking at all the pictures you can find on the internet and save the ones you need for references later
Good Luck, if you need any pics or info from me, don't hesitate to ask.....

[RS23-71]

As another owner of a 71GTX 4sp car, YES it is rare and yes you can get parts for it, will you get them at reasonable costs, maybe, maybe not.

Well ok maybe I should have said it isn't an 'ultra' rare car... when I said rare I meant its nothing like 1 of 30.

Well I need to figure something out cause the place its parked at inside now it can only stay there about a yr then it will have to move. I wanted to take a huge amount of pics on the condition of the car now but I was mostly concerned on getting it moved inside. The weekend I did that I was up there for a family reunion so I didnt have a chance to get more then a few quick shots as I moved it. With the car being about 1100 miles away its kinda hard getting any info on how all the spots that might have rust except what I remember.

Being its a brown car in the pics I have the small spots of rust dont really jump out at you to pick them out easy. I just know the entire car has a hvy undercoating I had put on a few yrs before it was stored and the worst spots were the passenger lower rear 1/4 panel, the back edge of the trunk lid and the trunk itself. Even the inside of the trunk had a hvy undercoating in it but the seal around the rear window failed in each lower corner that allowed water to sit in the trunk.

[Eric]

You won't find many 71s that don't have rust, so just assume if you're going to restore a 71 X you'll be starting with some rust issues....unless you're lucky like Az-Nick!
Parts have been hard to find for these cars, and since they've become more popular over the last couple of years are becoming more expensive too! Fortunately, some of the reproduction parts manufacturers are stepping up to repop parts that have been very hard to find (like quarter panels). So it's looking better! Don't listen to the Chebby guy....they're a dime a dozen...not like our Mopars.

[RS23-71]

Well when I bought the car about 20 yrs ago she didnt have a spec of rust it my fault it has it now though cause I have been close to broke for the last 16 yrs and she had to sit the only place I could afford... outside at my uncles place for free.

Oh and AZ-Nick is quite lucky.... since it never rains in AZ I'm suprised the cars there dont just melt instead of rust....heh

[AZ-Nick]

Well when I bought the car about 20 yrs ago she didnt have a spec of rust it my fault it has it now though cause I have been close to broke for the last 16 yrs and she had to sit the only place I could afford... outside at my uncles place for free.

Oh and AZ-Nick is quite lucky.... since it never rains in AZ I'm suprised the cars there dont just melt instead of rust....heh

this is how I found here and yes, they do melt....

[AZ-Nick]

but with a little elbow grease and a few hours, things start looking better.

[AZ-Nick]

Don't ever be afraid of trying the impossible like this.
I found the car with the worst oxidation I had ever seen, even my friends said it was toast.

Before



And then after.....

[AZ-Nick]