Wrecks to Riches 71 GTX,,,sort of

[adauto]

Anybody see Wrecks to Riches tonite?? They morhed a 71RR and a 71 Satalite ito a Hemi GTX. Looked pretty cool ..kudo's to you 3rd gen guys. All the updated stuff. WAS the numbers they quoted realistic . they claimed roughly 50k or so into it (unless I missed something)?? But when they sold it at aution 75K.. Did they mention it was a clone?? ect??

[Dave22443]

I saw the show.  The car was sweet when they got it done, but I'm not convinced they made the right decision with the Ford rear. (And what was up with the painted marker lights???) 

I'm pretty certain they had to have mentioned that it was a clone, or as they call them now, "Tribute Cars", I mean, when the guy the that plunked down 75k saw a Satillite title, you know he would have been pissed if they hadn't told them that up front. 

I think the important thing to remember is that there are two types of buyers out there.  Some are puriest that won't take anything but an absolute original.  Others are modifiers (Hot Rodders) that are more interested in having a fully personalized ride the way they want it.  My guess is the guy that bought it saw something he liked and was willing to pay for it.

I only wish I had the money to do a fully custom job on my 2nd Gen.  I mean, I'm really proud of what I've done with it so far, but I've kept it very close to pure (as a true clone should be I think).  But don't think for a minute that I wouldn't love a kicking sound system, GPS navigation and Air conditioning.

We all have our own ideas of what our dream car's are.  And even if you hide that killer radio somewhere out of sight to save that crusty AM only box in the dash, you've already taken the first step to becoming a Hot Rodder.

I'm jealous 

[The Ghoul]

I think the important thing to remember is that there are two types of buyers out there.  Some are puriest that won't take anything but an absolute original.  Others are modifiers (Hot Rodders) that are more interested in having a fully personalized ride the way they want it.  My guess is the guy that bought it saw something he liked and was willing to pay for it.

We all have our own ideas of what our dream car's are.  And even if you hide that killer radio somewhere out of sight to save that crusty AM only box in the dash, you've already taken the first step to becoming a Hot Rodder.

I'm jealous 

The owner of the shop started off as a drag racer. He went with the 9" because of that, it was what he knew.

Your absolutly right about the 2 types of people in this hobby. The purests would have bid on the numbers road runner convertable.

The painted marker lights was because they forgot to tell the body people to shave the lights. So when the body and paint was all said and done and they were wraping things up and needed marker lights because it was too late to patch them in they had to find 2 good lights.
well, out of the parts pile they found 1 good one and 2 broken ones. So they cut the two broken marker lights where the bezel fits around them and glued them togheter. Unfortunetly one of the markers was from AZ and the other from some where where the sunlight was less intense. Soo, the marker light they pieced together had 2 light colored squares and 1 dark square. So they didnt have time to track down good ones and have them shipped by that time.


I think the price was realistic.
They put 3k into the body work alone.
The front suspension was $3500+ (looked it up because it looked hot)
Lord knows what they paied for that hot automatic transmission set up. It was push button gear selection on the consul with 'paddle' push buttion up and down shift on the steering wheel.
They shelled out $1500 for that 426 block that they couldnt use.
The ebay car was $1625
Who knows what they paid for the solid car.
You guys know how much more the mopar re-pop parts go for now.
You gotta factor in that they dont reuse any of the glass that is avalible new.


All and all I thought the color, and the stripe was spot on.
I loved the overall stance of the car.
I hope my car turns out 1/10th as nice as that one (1/10th the cost will be nice too )

[adauto]

Ya, I'm not real sure about the Ford 9in eiher, EZ to find and relatively cheap. I did think that k frame setup was hot! Personaly the Runner that sold right before it was more my style, I always liked the 70 body style. That was 45k as I recall. -I think he ended up with both cars for $2600, the project cars that is.......

[BigBlockSam]

cool show

[dads_69]

I'm in Alaska and watching the show right now somewhat. I don't think the guy doing the build who bought the car is very excited about it as I would be, seams more like a chevy guy to me. The bodyman is very lame as well, he said car is basically junk, stick a fork in it, what a spoiled ass he is. My Daytona clone to some people is a basket case, but to me, when I get it done, they can all kiss off. I've been doing body and paint for a long time now, turn a basket case into a street dream or a 4 door Coronet into a 2 door SuperBee is easy, just takes skill. I think the show so far, sucks, and I'm only into it 16 minutes now. Whats with the 9' Ford rearend mentioned earlier?

Mark

[Drache]

I just watched the show as well! They said that the Keith Black Hemi block came outta a Charger!

[SirNik73]

I watched it. And I would concider myself more of a hot rodder then a puriest. but that car just didn't do it for me. I think it was a nice car, and looked great, but the little stuff just didn't sit right with me.

The things I didn't like:

-The Ford 9in... you can get a 8 3/4 and build it just as easy as a 9in, or you can get a Dana if you think you have to much power for the 8 3/4.

-The Transmission setup... I may be a purest when it comes to this... or maybe my idea of a "Hot Rod" looks more like a 32 Ford 5 Window then a 89 Honda Civic, but that push buttion shifter setup with the Nentendo like controles, and the Star Trek like display in the console just looked way to trashy for a car of that calaber. my Idea of a "Hot Rod" transmission is a 6 speed manual... but thats just me.

-The Stereo install. they cut it into the cash, ans looked liek they used a black plastic spaver to get it to sit righ tin there. come on my if your gonna cut up the dash don't trash it up sitha  black plastic spacer.

-The Fule injection. I'm not realy agenst this idea, infact I liked it, but if justr dosen't feel right on a Hemi. I did like that it looked like carburators with the air cleaners on.

Besides all that, I liked the car. the Color was awesome, and i liked the upholstery was awesome.

[Chryco Psycho]

here was a lot of things not really done correctly , you could tell these guys do not usually resto mopars & the budget made no sense to me , he had 50K into it + 400 hrs at what ...... say 70 / hr so 28,000 , so he was into it for 78k & sold it for less 

[4402tuff4u]

here was a lot of things not really done correctly , you could tell these guys do not usually resto mopars & the budget made no sense to me , he had 50K into it + 400 hrs at what ...... say 70 / hr so 28,000 , so he was into it for 78k & sold it for less 

That's exactly what I was thinking when they kept giving you the total for the equipment into the car and the labor hours into the car restoration. At the end they just said " Oh, we have 50k into the car, if we get over that we are making money" ....I was saying to myself what happen to the labor hours/costs?

You have to admit the GTX did look impressive with the HEMI and running down the road - it was eye candy. I just did'nt really care for the push buttom transmission. For the money involved in that set up, I would of chosen a 5 speed manual and a dana rear.

Lastly, where can you find a 71 Road Runner for $ 1,625.00 ? better yet get two 71 Mopars for $ 2,625.00 Not around here where I am at!

[The Ghoul]

I'm in Alaska and watching the show right now somewhat. I don't think the guy doing the build who bought the car is very excited about it as I would be, seams more like a chevy guy to me. The bodyman is very lame as well, he said car is basically junk, stick a fork in it, what a spoiled ass he is. My Daytona clone to some people is a basket case, but to me, when I get it done, they can all kiss off. I've been doing body and paint for a long time now, turn a basket case into a street dream or a 4 door Coronet into a 2 door SuperBee is easy, just takes skill. I think the show so far, sucks, and I'm only into it 16 minutes now. Whats with the 9' Ford rearend mentioned earlier?

Mark

He kinda had all rights to be picky about it.
The premis of the show is to show how he takes cars, customizes them, and offs them for hopefully more money than he has invested. So if it were any of us doing a slow restoration we would say way not, they make re-pop or I can find donner metal...
Where as they are trying to find something solid enough to build in a month and turn a profit.
I can understand his prospective (the body guys) Looking at almost all exterrior pannels needing to be replaced and having a couple of weeks to get the patch pannels and get them in before it goes to the bump shop.

Still hurts me a bit  

[The Ghoul]

here was a lot of things not really done correctly , you could tell these guys do not usually resto mopars & the budget made no sense to me , he had 50K into it + 400 hrs at what ...... say 70 / hr so 28,000 , so he was into it for 78k & sold it for less 

That's exactly what I was thinking when they kept giving you the total for the equipment into the car and the labor hours into the car restoration. At the end they just said " Oh, we have 50k into the car, if we get over that we are making money" ....I was saying to myself what happen to the labor hours/costs?

You have to admit the GTX did look impressive with the HEMI and running down the road - it was eye candy. I just did'nt really care for the push buttom transmission. For the money involved in that set up, I would of chosen a 5 speed manual and a dana rear.

Lastly, where can you find a 71 Road Runner for $ 1,625.00 ? better yet get two 71 Mopars for $ 2,625.00 Not around here where I am at!

I think the labor has to be added into the grand total... thats the only thing that makes sence to me... But even with the hemi's, trick trans suspsension set ups, ect... I think we would be hard pressed to spend $50k on a restoration in parts alone...

some times deals just drop into your lap.
You wont find a deal like that on a forum!!
But, chargerkid just picked up 1 3/4 3rd gen chargers for $500.
One solid shell with a bunch of bits and one compleet car.. with alot of rare parts in em.
He told me that the guy that sold them to him saw him at a show, the kid gave the guy his card and a couple years later the guy called him up and pritty much told him to get them out of his yard..
Its all about catching the right people at the right time...
I still havent done it. Best deal I ever got was $600 for a solid 70 charger shell, dash, front suspension, rear suspension and 2 full doors.

[MassCharger73]

I didn't see the RR episode, but I did see last weeks show with the Chevelle. I did not think that the # that they claimed they spent to build the car added up. It seems as if they are fudging the amounts. I guess it doesn't make for good TV when the truth is that this weeks restification god can't turn a profit without the extra money the television production pays him.

[adauto]

Chryco I think you ht a good point!! Right ahter the show my brother called and we had the same discussion. Was the build with the shops labor or not??? We were wondering if they really did make any $$$$$

That Kieth Black Hemi was that savable Chryco???  Did the gu that sold it know it was a Kieth Black??

I slso think the body man was a big whiner- HE needed some cheese to go with that whine!

It was kinda obvious that these guys are basically BOWTIE BOYS

[The Ghoul]

I didn't see the RR episode, but I did see last weeks show with the Chevelle. I did not think that the # that they claimed they spent to build the car added up. It seems as if they are fudging the amounts. I guess it doesn't make for good TV when the truth is that this weeks restification god can't turn a profit without the extra money the television production pays him.

It just occured to me.
The price seems too high to be just parts.
It also seems too low to be parts and labor.
It just occured to me that they must get a discount of some kind dealing with these companys.
That and he had the owner of the company that makes the front suspension there helping him with the install. There has got to be some kind of discount for the tv exposure 
If you think about it, if he had an account with paddock, or year one he prolly could have had the corner marker lights over-nighted no prob. But, he mostlikley just has an account with sherman direct for the pannels he needs because it seems for the most part he does drag cars and full custome intirrors.
So if he is paying his people around $13/hour with an avrage of 3 guys working on the car and 500 man hours into the car (rounding up) thats $20k of the price tag.
That leaves $30K for the parts.
I think with a busness discount on every thing he buys (excluding the cars, and engines private party purcheses)

I think the numbers thrown around are money into the car including paying for labor and factoring in a discount.
The only exception to this that I can see is the body work and media blasting, that has to be factored into the doller amount because that is an external survice. ...

I'm wondering about the block too.
It seems to me something could be done to repair that? Like grind a V notch along the crack and weld?
I dont think the guy knew about the numbers. If you look its just a small stamping next to one of the bell housing bolts. I know I would have never noticed it unless I diped it and inspected the block after...
I have to admit even if I would have seen it I would have not known who keith black was or the significance of the block.

[hotrod98]

As soon as i saw the Keith Black and Roland Leong name on the pan rail, I knew the block was toast. I've been racing super comp dragsters since the early 80's and I know for a fact that the top fuel guys never get rid of a block until it's unusable.
You cannot repair a crack that runs throught the lifter valley. You would only be welding it on one side of the crack for one thing and also there is a lot of stress in that area...that's why it cracked to begin with. Sometimes a surface crack in an exterior non stress area can be welded up using nickel rod, but ex-top fuel blocks are rarely salvageable. A friend of mine in Tulsa had a top fuel dragster and he used to buy up used top fuel blocks and weld them up (he owns a welding shop) and those blocks never lasted no matter what he did. Too much stress.
As for invested dollars in that car, who knows how they came up with the totals. With various discounts, freebies, labor, sublet labor and etc, it would be next to impossible to figure it out accurately and besides...it's television.

[262chargers]

For those who missed it on T.V., here it is...

[451-74Charger]

Ok, so her is the $70,000....
Did the car sell as a Satellite (original VIN) or.... Did they sell it as a RoadRunner (swapped vins)
Unless the car was Really special.. as a satellite, it wont be worth as much on the block as the Roadrunner would be.

[The Ghoul]

Ok, so her is the $70,000....
Did the car sell as a Satellite (original VIN) or.... Did they sell it as a RoadRunner (swapped vins)
Unless the car was Really special.. as a satellite, it wont be worth as much on the block as the Roadrunner would be.

As far as I know they mearly used the road runner floor pan in the satalite shell. I dont know what dash they used. I think it all depends on what dash was used as to what vin was used.

man those rims looked alot better on that car on the show. In that pick they look horrid.

They were saying that it was a gtx in the auction I think?
I think any one that that matters to wouldnt have been intrested in this car any way (see how many stock parts were replaced by custom aftermarket ones).
The people that this car appeals to are the g-ride people.
The classic muscle car, with moddern drive train, creature comferts, and suspension. This gives you a classic look, clasic power under the hood, with improved handeling, dependibility, and drivability.
The people intrested in it will prolly look at the title and say 'hu, it sez satalite here... but its a gtx..' and then with a little digging they see that the satalite was the base model so they will just chawk it up to how its titled.. Much like how I look at the instruction manual that was in my glove compartment and say "hu, it sez this manual is for a coranet. but I have a charger".

This brings an intresting question to mind.
If this car was a numbers matching car with the hemi, correct transmission; and it was modified in the same way would it bring in more or less money than an identically optioned gtx restored to stock?
assuming that both cars had all matching numbers all around?

[MassCharger73]

For those who missed it on T.V., here it is...

Well just like with the Chevelle I like the look of the car .....but the stripes are awful.

[RT DAVE]

Did they mention what kind of paint they used?  It seemed to change from Blue to Purple when they were moving it.   Maybe dupont Chromalusion? 

[ChargerHound69]

On that car I don't think the numbers matter.  It is better that they modified a base model car like that, then starting with a true hemi car.

[BrianShaughnessy]

For those who missed it on T.V., here it is...

Didn't see the show this week.   I saw the Chevelle last week tho.      It's one thing to do the Pure Vision or Troy kind of custom car buildups but it's another thing when the motive is profit.   Looks like a bad episode of AHR half the time.    Maybe they can slap a chevy together with all the repro parts but mopes are a bit different.

Anyway,  for a 71 RR,  a local guy near here has a plum crazy 71 RR,  440-6, 4 speed that I'd much prefer over that.

[Charger_Fan]

.....but the stripes are awful.

I don't mind those stripes, they look sorta similar to the factory optional stripes...and since this car wasn't meant to be original in any way, I think it works.
The rim size is a tad large for my taste, but I wouldn't mind owning it.

[262chargers]

Did they mention what kind of paint they used?  It seemed to change from Blue to Purple when they were moving it.   Maybe dupont Chromalusion? 

On the show, they said Plum Crazy, which to non-mopar folks is a general word for "purple". It's actually PPG Passion Purple.

[RAWPWR]

After watching the show and then seeing the 70 RR going for way less. It makes me wonder if the guy that "bought" the car was a real bidder. This car was not a matching anything..nice custom, but to be worth the 70K. If the buyer was a plant, what was the actual high bid?? Maybe I'm just sinical but a numbers car should blow away a 71 what ever and are these really that desirable??

[262chargers]

The second highest bidder was a big name car collector, I forget his name. I think it was the real deal, the couple who bought it said they drive their cars, and hate it or love it, that car was built to drive...

[adauto]

One more question about this episode..... If you watch the show, and it's a different car every episode... were they all done in the course of a year lets say??? Or is there a collector car auction in Reno every week? (month???) THey don't give any dates but I dont know of ant collector auctions that go weekly/monthly.......

[262chargers]

There has only been 2 episodes so far, the "GTX/RR/Satellite", and a red Chevelle. The GTX sold in Reno at the 2005 Silver auction, which is a once a year thing, in August. The Chevelle sold at a Kruse auction, in June 2005.
As a side note, a member on Moparts bought the remains of the 71 Road Runner, and all "left over parts" from Barry White, minus the rear floor pan of course. I'm not sure what he plans on doing with it, but he says it's not too bad, very fixable.

[BigBlockSam]

i think it's a very cool show.

[Chryco Psycho]

The Hemi block Was toast , I agree that any race team uses a block until it is done & it was done , the same story here , I know of a few Hemi blocks but for 1 reason or another they are unusable , as soon as they started chasing a "real" hemi block I knew they were in trouble , they also installed the K frame & tried to stuff the Hemi in from above when it would have been far easier to have the hemi all ready to go with headers on & just either lift it in from the bottom or lower the body onto the K frame
the were very lucky to get a crate Hemi as fast as they did
from a finacial point they did OK the employees were probably paid $20 or less / hr but in the real world trying to build that car as a customer you would be charged $70 -100 / hr so the auction buyer got a deal with discounted labor costs
I would definatly have used a better K frame & Dana diff like a Moser or Strange for probably less then the 9" but I bet they couldn`t get one in 3 weeks
Nice touch on the side lights too 

[hotrod98]

Did they mention what kind of paint they used?  It seemed to change from Blue to Purple when they were moving it.   Maybe dupont Chromalusion? 

On the show, they said Plum Crazy, which to non-mopar folks is a general word for "purple". It's actually PPG Passion Purple.

I thought I saw them mixing "House of Kolor" in one scene.

[262chargers]

Did they mention what kind of paint they used?  It seemed to change from Blue to Purple when they were moving it.   Maybe dupont Chromalusion? 

On the show, they said Plum Crazy, which to non-mopar folks is a general word for "purple". It's actually PPG Passion Purple.

I thought I saw them mixing "House of Kolor" in one scene.

I think you are correct, it was bieng poured from a black can. Some other website I was on called it PPG paint... 

[262chargers]

It is House Of Kolor PBC65 Passion Purple Base Coat Shimrin Designer Pearl....
Here it is on a hot rod...

http://www.houseofkolor.com.au/feature_detail.php?num_cars=8&this_car=4

[RD]

i watched it tonight and thought:

"WOW, so this is how Chevy guys restify mopars!"  And now understand why, I will never do a chevy or a ford for profit.  You just don't give a shit enough to make sure you do things right (totally) the first time.  I bet you if it was a chevy, barry would have worked harder to make it correct (i.e. side marker lights hypothetically).

I do not like the 9" rearend, I do not like the half ass side marker lens, I do not like the pushbutton shifter (cant wait till something else is transmitting on that frequency and the damn thing shifts into reverse while going 55 mph), I do not like the cutting up of an original RR car (71 no less), and I do not like him thinking of the $$$ behind the KB block.  Kind of nice redemption to know he laid down 2K on a shit block though.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Don't know if any one caught this, but because I do body and paint,I notice things like this.In the test ride when they show the car from the drivers side front coming down the street,the sun is on it,and you can see the color of the fender does not match the hood.I did not catch if they painted the car with all the pieces at once,or were the fenders and hood done later at a different time.As good practice,you should be at least base coating all the panels at the same time in the position they will always be.If you then want to remove and clear that's fine,but anything with metalic in it,especially if they are ajoing panels they should be done together.This house of color paint,even more so! Your sealer color under the base coat,number of coats,reducer,and ESPECIALLY air pressure at the gun plays a big part in the final color outcome.How many times have you seen a B5 blue or plum crazy car be lighter or darker than others?And come on,$3000.00 for body work,what were those guys getting paid? Just like overhaulin,I don't care how many guys you have on the body work,I usually spend hundreds of hours on a car,(by myself),getting it straight as can be,and paying attention as to how a panel is actually supposed to be contoured.I did catch some ripples in the car as they were shooting down the side of it.End result,you can't rush the products,with all the coats of polyester primer,and urethane primer that have been blocked and reapplied to get a car straight you need time to let them do there thing,or basically settle out.Even after I paint a car,even if I bake it ,I will still cut and rough buff it to get the shine back,then wait a couple months,(while I am putting the rest of it together),then recut and do a time consuming final buff.

[71gtx]

The car was nice looking, but Barry White is a total *****. Taking a GTX emblem and sticking it in the grill does NOT make a GTX no matter what way you look at it. Do it right.. Call it a modified Satellite, which is what it was. Then take it to auction calling it a GTX and ask top dollar for it. No wonder Mopars are getting so over-priced. 

[Goldfinger71]

I personally did not think that the Roadrunner was beyond fixing.Actually as much work as they did  on the Satellite they could have just
transferred parts from the Satellite to the Roadrunner.Now had they done the same thing to the Roadrunner and installed a hemi in it it probably would have brought more money............................................and it is not that difficult to find side marker lenses for a 71 Roadrunner,if it was a 71 Charger,well that would have been a different story...I do think the Satellite came out nice!

[89MOPAR]

 Lets also take into account the 6% to 8% the owner would have to pay just to have the auction company handle the sale of the car.

I only saw the car at the auction, so I missed the hacking + slashing , etc.