greasyspider's 71 Charger Project

[greasyspider]

So I've been lurking on here for a few weeks now and realized that I never introduced myself.  My name is Mike and I live in VT.  I have just started restoring my 71 R/T.  When I was 15 my parents told me that if I wanted my own car, then I would have get a job a buy one myself.  So I worked that summer and nights thru the school year saving every bit of money that didn't burn a hole in my pocket.  By my 16th birthday I had about $1500 in the bank and my license. I needed a car.
    I hadn't talked with my parents much about what to buy aside from my Dad telling me to let him know when I had enough money saved up and he would take me car shopping.  I REALLY wanted an old car!  When I was 13 I even bought a rotted out 74 Chevy Nova from an uncle for $50 with the intention of fixing it up.  My Dad told me how much a job it would be to fix, but I bought it anyway.  I didn't know a whole lot about cars at that time.  But, I bought it, tuned it up myself, with a Chiltons Manual and some rusty tools that My Dad gave me.  I did the brakes and changed the wheel bearings.  I painted the wheels, and installed a stereo.  The whole time, my Dad was lecturing me about how I was "polishing a turd..." and "The stereo was worth more than the car...".  I figured that everything was fixable.  I was feeling pretty confident in my mechanical abilities. I fixed the brakes and bearings. What else could be wrong?  I had gotten a subscription to "Hot Rod" magazine and read all the articles on rebuilding engines, so I could figure it out. I was set.  This car was gonna be awesome!  
    Turns out Chevy Novas rust like its their job.   The only floor it had left was the rust flakes on the bottom of the carpet.     I junked the car and learned lesson or two.  But I still REALLY wanted an old car!

    A few weeks later, I was out riding around with some friends and spotted it.  An orange '71 GTO FOR SALE!!!!  "TURN AROUND!" I said.  A GTO was on my wanted list.  It was orange so I thought that it could be a Judge.  My buddy replied "There is no way you can afford to buy that car."  I still wanted to check it out.  As we pulled into the driveway I was able to get a better look at the car. It had some kind of a custom cowl induction on the hood.  I had never seen one before.  Not even in "Hot Rod" Magazine.  The paint looked fresh. It was really glossy.  I could tell from the overspray in the wheel wells that it had been painted fairly recently.  But it had been for sale awhile, I could tell from the faded cardboard "For Sale" Sign in the window.  It started at $5000, (I think, it was hard to tell)that was crossed out and beneath it $4500, then $3500, then $2500 crossed out with nothing else but phone number.  
     As it got to looking it over, I started to realize that it wasn't a Judge.  It had a Dodge emblem on the grill.  "Weren't GTO's made by Pontiac?" I asked my buddy.  "How the hell do I know?"  What the hell was this thing?  It had no emblems.  
    I started looking over the car, checking the floors for rust, looking for oil leaks, checking out the brakes. All things the Nova taught me.  When I looked inside I saw the "Charger R/T" emblem on the dash. What the hell kind of charger is this?  This doesn't look like the the General Lee to me.  Just then the owner came around the corner.  He was 2 and a half sheets to the wind with a beer in his hand.  "Can
I help you?" he asked.  "What kind of car is this?" I said.
"A 71 Charger." He said.  
"Is it really an R/T?"
"I think so. Its got a 440."

"How much do you want for it?"
"Well, I just had it painted a few months ago... then my son put it into a telephone pole doing doughnuts in a parking lot. So I had to have it repainted.....  I got it back and the motor blew, so I sent it off to have it rebuilt, they bored it, balanced and blue printed it..."  and on and on.

The whole time I'm adding it up in my head.  Rear end. Brakes. Radiator. Battery. This guy must have 8 or 9k in this thing. There is no way I can afford it.  As he was telling me something about how the drivers side door was "different now" he got down to brass tacks.  "This things a money pit, and I need a new lawn tractor. I can't take any less then $1500 for it."
 


"Heres 12 dollars. Don't sell it. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. I'm going to the bank."  
I was ecstatic.
I had 1550 dollars saved up.
I got the money. Bought the car. Drove it home. And got grounded.  

My parents were pissed.  It seems as though this wasn't what they had in mind when they said they wanted me to buy my own car.
It wasn't my fault they weren't specific.
"Your taking it back." My Dad said.
The next day, after I got home from school we headed back.
He wouldn't let me drive it there.
I had to ride with my Mom lecture me about "responsibility" and "What was I thinking?" "You can't drive that in the winter!" all to the drone of a 440 big block just ahead of us.
As we pulled in, the man who sold me the car was mowing his lawn, on his new lawn tractor.

   Mom and I sat in the car while My Dad was explaining things.  I was pointing at the car, grinning, shaking his head.  The man motioned to his tractor my dad motion to the car. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew what was being said.  I could tell by the nods and gestures.  
Then they popped the hood. I jumped out of the car.  My Dad wouldn't have wanted to pop the hood if I wasn't gonna keep it, right?  

They finally came around about 3 weeks later when I showed them what the book value was. After decoding the VIN and fender tags, i found out that it was an actual 71 R/T that was originally FC7 purple.

That was fifteen years ago. I kept the car thru college parked in my parents driveway.  When I bought my house I moved it here and parked it in the garage. I'd take it out every now and then to wash it, cover it up and put it away.  It needed brakes, exhaust, tires. The usual from sitting. It wasn't really on my radar.  I was busy with my family and any time I had for wrenching was spent playing with my jeep.  

I finally decided after seeing rust starting in a few spots that something needed to be done.  I knew it was worth some good money so I wanted it done right. I sold some toys and decided to get the car done.  I will be trying to keep this thread updated along the way.

I don't have any digital pics of when I first got the car, but these are from around 2003.

[greasyspider]

Just before it got stripped:


So that's what he meant by "the door was different":



The under carriage:



Motor:

Getting stripped:





The RT door that I got 2 yrs ago for 200 bucks:


Interior gutted:

I have been loading pieces into my Jeep and bringing them home one by one.  The goal is to go thru everything, and have it ready to go back in the car by the time the paint is done.   The shop is using the car as filler work during slow periods so it will take a while to get done. Might be done by summer. Its okay though. I need the time to get everything done, and I'm not in a huge rush.

I will not be rebuilding the motor. It doesn't need it. The tranny and rear end are fine as well.  I will clean, blast and paint them, But they have been gone thru since I've owned the car.  I'm starting at the front bumper and moving backwards. 

I am using electrolysis on as much as I can.  Its quicker and does a better job.  I drop a part in the tank in the morning, come home, clean it off (5 mins) spray it and repeat. This bracket was completely scaled:



I'm waiting for some new control arms for the suspension.  I have a poly graphite kit ready to go in as soon as they get here.  In the mean time, I'm cleaning the k-member:

[Dans 68]

Very nice.  Keep the photos coming.

Dan

[mikesbbody]

From one Mike to another Welcome!  nice! you have my Dream car right there like dan said please post more pics (espicially more of it before it was stripped if possible) can't wait to see it when it's finished 

[69bronzeT5]

Welcome! Great story. A '71 FC7 440 R/T=  in my books

[tan top]

Very nice.  Keep the photos coming.

Dan

[Finn]

Awesome story!

[TiMopar]

That's a great story, the car will look stunning when it's done, good luck!

[CDN72SE]

Welcome, great story and sounds very familiar. I'll be watching your progess. 

[Ben Stenson]

Great story! I think a lot of us here can relate! Keep the updates coming!

[Wicked72]

Great story! Awsome car!! Welcome to the site!!! Cant wait for more pics!

[XS29L9B2]

nice work 

[Silver R/T]

Nice project, keep those pics coming

[greasyspider]

Well, I got the k-member cleaned up and primed.  I ended up cutting the dented skid plate off, pounded the dents out, and welded it back on.  Its not perfect, but it looks a helluva lot better than it did

UCA's showed up today.  (One of my old ones had a crack).  I should be able to get all of the other pieces cleaned up and painted tomorrow.

[greasyspider]

Well, the body left yesterday. Soda blasting should be finished by next week. Other than that I've had my nosed pressed against the blasting cabinet.  I've been through 2 bags of crushed glass so far.  BUT, the suspension is just about done.  I also got the front bumper brackets blasted as well the fan and clutch.  Does anyone know what finish the flat channel steel pieces were that the sway bar brackets mount to?  Were the sway bar brackets zinc or bare steel?

[472 R/T SE]

Great project!    You can't go wrong with a FC7 big block GTO.   

Will you be reassembling the drivetrain/K member from the bottom like the factory?

[bull]

Great story! I know all about the wet blanket parents can be when it comes to muscle cars. I thought I was doing great when I got a '70 Charger at 15 until my dad told me he was going to put a slant six in it so I wouldn't kill myself.

I didn't see if/where you said what color you're going to paint it but please, God, tell me you're going back to purple.

[greasyspider]

LOL! I schooled myself real quick, as my Dad was always disconnecting plug wires or wiring up the secondaries on the carb so they wouldn't open .

It will be purple

[greasyspider]

I blasted more parts today. Got one of the LCA's on ( The other one is cracked ) Both backer plates are drying.  Once I find a new DS LCA, and clean up the power steering box it should come together quick.

[greasyspider]

So, the car is back from the blaster.  No real surprises other that a couple of nickle sized holes in the rear wheel house, the front fenders having more patches than a hell's Angels' vest, a couple of holes in the floor, on top of the issues I already knew about. The A-pillar rusted at the seam that will probably be the hardest fix.  Will have pics tomorrow.

[NYCMille]

Dude, this may sound like an odd question on a Charger site, but were you ever in a band called Chucklehead?

[BigBlockSam]

 

[68blue]

 

Looks good!

[greasyspider]

All in all its not so bad... The trunk floor needs to go, there are tons of pin holes.  The rear footwell is fine but under the seat in cheesed...We may use the good parts of the old trunk floor to patch that.  I definitely  need a driver side fender and probably a passenger side too.  If anyone knows of any lemme know..


This is gonna be fun to fix....


One of my RT doors..

The hood didn't come out too bad, but their are a few holes in the bracing..

backside of the door...



on the rotisserie...



corners under the windshield..



hole in firewall...


floors...

[greasyspider]

PROGRESS!!!!

New floor pan


Inner fender is in!



Doors fitted!