Today, a crew of friends helped in getting stuff re-arranged so I can work on my 1969 GTX this Winter. The object of this project will be to make the car roadworthy again: full brake service (master cylinder, calipers, wheel cylinders, hoses, etc..), new fuel tank/sender unit and steel line, carb rebuild, new engine bay wiring harness, battery cables, removal/replacement of the deep sump oil pan, all fresh fluids and get it to run. From there (all going well) it will be some new tires, maybe a new carpet for the interior, a good cleaning throughout and then some elbow grease to make the paint/chrome shine as well as it can. Updates will be made as progress is made- hopefully at least once a month.

The car: a 1969 GTX, black/black, 4 speed, Super Track Pac, Air Grabber car. Numbers matching engine and transmission with fender tag, assembled in the Lynch Road plant on 12/26/1968. Very solid car overall: the lower rear quarters and quarter extensions were repaired in the early 1980’s and it was quality work for it’s time. Rust was cut out and metal welded in- not packed full of steel wool and finished in Bondo. The car was then resprayed in the current paint job. For 30 year old body and paint work- it’s not too bad.

The story (very long story, short): I first saw this car in the Spring of 1985, when I was 15. It cruised into town and parked at the Citgo station, a place that Mopars were always welcome. In the late Summer of 1986, the car was for sale but far out of reach financially for me. By that Fall, the car was no longer seen in the area. Fast-forward 23 years: I get a phone call, that a friend-of-a-friend has a friend who has a 1969 GTX for sale (word of mouth/not publicly advertised). Without any real expectations of what the car could be, I went to see what it was. When I arrived, before even exiting the car, I knew it was the very same GTX I’d last seen in 1986, still wearing the same tires and air freshener on the rear view mirror from back then. After 9 months of being screwed-around by the seller (a story in itself..), I was able to secure the car in March 2010. It was last titled in the Fall of 1986, but has been through 3 other owners since then, all of them apparently doing nothing with the car.

The car will run with a splash of fuel down the carb. It sounds good and makes great oil pressure, but beyond that is all unknown. The fuel system reeks of stale fuel and the master cylinder is frozen (pedal doesn’t budge), but all else looks decent. With that, we’ll see how this project goes.

Pulling it out of storage:

Getting Washed- first time in who knows how long...:

Washed:

In the shop:

Cool story. Can't wait to see it come back to life! Thats a sinister GTX

yea,, very cool car!!


cant wait or this thread

Been making some progress on the car during the evenings this week. Under the hood, I’ve drained the cooling system and removed all the old hoses. With the fuel system, all the rubber lines have been removed as well as the large Fram filter housing that was bolted to the passenger side fender well. The cylinders are soaking in Marvel Mystery Oil after the plugs/cap/wires were removed. The spark plugs looked uniform- just black, but not sooty or oily.

On the exterior, I have begun cleaning the neglected paint. Instead of hitting it with polishing compound or other abrasive product, I am using Meguiars Show Car Glaze. Although it takes some effort, the results are excellent in getting the dirt lifted from the finish without destroying it any further than it is already. I learned this from an on-line article- the link is below:

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/car-article/Restoring+Single+Stage+Paint%3A+Part+2-65407.xhtml

The paint on this car is pimpled throughout- either from solvent pop or being cocooned under a wet car cover or tarps (or both). But the cleaning is worth it- it looks so much better. So far, I’ve done the driver’s fender and door.

Another pic:

Great story on a great car! I am very Glad that you were able to finally get it. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Matt

Ed, I've said it before, but here goes again, I LOVE that GTX!!!!!!! I wish I still had the yellow '70, so we could have them together as some sort of reunion Do you need a 402 oil pan? I have one for you in decent shape for the cause

BTW- who is that little odd looking fellow standing around with his hands in his pockets?

And Yes- I wish they could have had a reunion (the 70 FY1 RR and this GTX). I do finally have a name of the current owner for the 68 Hemi RR from that Citgo. The gold 70 RR hardtop is still elusive- I want to find it someday.

Nice ride. I absolutely love these type of no paint,barn find resurections.Good reading for sure.

Your garage looks familiar. Did you have another tore down car on here a while back?Just wondering.

Is that a black 60's Vette in the reflection?

-Daty

Great car! Is that car originally from Staten Island? If so, I know the history of that car.

Looks great Ed...Love the black rims with lots of rubber around em!!!!

Update, 12/27/2011: Been progressing on cleaning the paint up, doing it a panel at a time. We’ve all seen shiny paint, so I’ll skip the pictures of it.

Today I put the car up on jack stands in anticipation of getting to some of the brake work, pulling down the transmission to inspect the clutch and swapping out the deep sump pan. After it was up on the stands, I decided to clean out and vacuum up the trunk. The Airgrabber duct work was in there, along with allot of other scattered small stuff. The A/G looks good and is intact- but being my first A/G, I’m not sure what to watch out for (any pointers, let me know ). The air cleaner is chromed- a little old school touch:



I sifted through the dirt/rust flakes before vacuuming then up- some Hurst steel shifter bushings and clips, OEM nuts/bolts, screws and other misc stuff. They were all gathered up and then vacuumed the trunk out. Most of the trunk areas are kinda ‘tacky’- not sure if this is some kind of dealer installed rust preventive, but it is all around the trunk area- too much to think it is just something that was accidently spilled. However, the lowest areas of the trunk are not coated in this stuff- or it got wore/rinsed off somehow. There are a few perforated areas of the center pan, but it is better than I expected now that it is all cleaned up.





I’ve no idea why the A/G duct work was removed, but in addition to taking the underhood stuff off, someone made stainless steel ‘block-off’ plates for the hood vents:



Then, I hopped on the creeper with a drop light and spent a few minutes under the car. I’d taken a look 2 times before purchase, but this was the first time with the car fully up in the air front and back. No surprises were found- all solid and decent. The trans tunnel needs replacement (cut in the back for a Hurst ram-rod shifter) and I located holes in the floor pan from a bolt-in roll bar (which confirms stories I’ve been told about the car). Other than these things- all else is very nice. The car was either undercoated at the factory or prior to delivery: it’s been there forever and is everywhere (floors/wheel wells).

Will be dropping the gas tank out next- the shop reeks from the stale fuel sitting in it.

that ls sweet!

It is an awfully good feeling to get a new purchase up on the hoist, really look it over with a trouble light and find it's all as you'd hoped. Glad it's the case for you on this one. Have fun!

What a cool car! I have such a big project going on my Cuda that I shouldn't look any further, but a few rare posts such as this one give me the fever to snoop and look for something that could be cleaned up and driven as is. I LOVE IT!

Looking good Ed. Very cool deal that the trunk isn't rotted.

Update 12/29/2011: Thanks basketcase/peabodyracing/70B5Cuda (and everyone else) for the kind words. Although I am taking some time to play “Show and Tell”, seeing everyone else’s threads (past and present) on their projects has always provided motivation to get out in the shop and keep going on whatever needs wrenching, so this is my way of giving back too. Hope it provides some boost for your project as well.

Yesterday, I dropped the tank out. Yeech. The good thing was it only had 2 gallons of brown, smelly gas. The tank had already been swapped out once before, as it had yellow paint marker writing: a number (Hollander?) and “Roadrunner”. Also- the trunk has provisions for vapor recovery, so I guess it’s a 1970 one. The tank mat was stuck firmly to the tank and the trunk pan, but with some care was able to get everything separated without tearing it up.

Quote:

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Looking good Ed. Very cool deal that the trunk isn't rotted.

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Thanks James. It isn’t totally rot free, but decent. There are a few pin-holed areas in the front area of the pan (at the corners), and there is one rot hole at the rear left. Still- very good, all considered.




Next up will be getting the wheels off and tearing into the brakes.

man, that thing is RUFF, , you can drop it off at my place

Those AG screens would look good if they were red on that black hood!

Update 1/1/2012: Happy New Year to all of you. I’ve spent some time out in the shop the past few days, starting in on the brakes and other details. The rear brakes look excellent: clean and dry, meaty brake shoes and all of the hardware is in nice shape. I will only end up replacing the wheel cylinders (for peace of mind although they’ve not been leaking), the metal lines on the housing (they are bent up), the rubber flex line and adjusting everything accordingly.

Then the front brakes were pulled apart. The rotors- although rusty- have not ever been cut (OEM new thickness of .875). The calipers were a mess as expected: I will be ordering up reman stainless sleeved calipers and getting all new wheel bearings/seals/hoses/master cylinder/etc. One rotor has already been cleaned up using Evaporust and the other is now soaking in the product. Twenty four hours and the rotor cleaned up real nice. I’ll get them cut before hanging them back on the car:

I also pulled off the Dana cover to drain the oil and inspect everything. The aftermarket chrome cover was on the car the first time I saw it back in 1985, but they re-installed the factory 4:10 and Sure Grip tags (very cool). The ring and pinion looked fine- no chips- and everything was nice, clean and oily without trace of rust or moisture. Looking at the ring gear, it is dated 10-68, so maybe it’s never been apart or altered:

looks good Ed!
any plans on the ugly areas in the trunk???

Hi Frank- not planning anything now for the trunk pan. If I tear into that, in a week the car will be all pulled apart, knowing me. A Mopar driver is what's needed right now- sick of being on the sidelines. Been waaaaaay to long that I had one.

That Evaporust sure makes life easy doesn't it? You're doing great work, leave it a driver!

Looking good! I hope to catch up with you soon!

Very nice car!

What size are the rims on the back and what brand/size are the tires?

NV69B7RR- First time using Evaporust (or similar) product: so far I’m loving it!
MRVCODE- Thanks! We’ll be setting up something soon- good conversation the other day.
Fly- You and me both!
Gy3: The rear rims are Mopar factory 15x8 rims, used on Traildusters, vans and some other applications. You can find them at the JY if lucky- I picked mine up at a swap meet. The tires are shot Goodyear GT+4’s 255/50s that were lying around. They are just to hold the car up for now. Trying to decide on what rubber to run once it is ready.

Ed, only one REAL choice on tires, L60-15 Polys on the rear with E's up front!!!

Thanks for taking the time to post and taking all the pics.
That car just screams MOPAR!
Car looks just plain mean.

Dave

After 4.5 months, time for an update.

I've been picking away at the car over the past few months, but never able to get anything back together. Over the past few days, that's finally changed, and it feels good. Here's what’s been done on the car so far :

Brakes- Where to start...in the front I guess. I caught a break with the rotors: they must have been NOS units hung on the car back in the 1980's as they were OEM thickness (.875). So, after soaking in Evaporust, a light cut and they were ready to go. I replaced all the front bearings and hung them on the spindles. For the calipers, I purchased a remanufactured pair from Calipers Online in March. I pulled them out of the boxes 2 weeks ago and saw that one was not reassembeled correctly. The heads of outer bolts that hold the 2 halves together are to have 3/8-16 tapped holes so the hose bracket can be bolted on. An e-mail to Mark at Calipers Online and he mailed out the correct bolts. With that, I was then able to get the new calipers on along with the new hoses and pads.
For the rear brakes, the hardware and shoes were very clean and fresh- looks like everything was done a short time before the car was parked. I replaced the wheel cylinders though, just in case. The metal brake lines on the axle were a mess and the vent bolt, which also holds the Y Block, was broken off flush with the housing. I got new lines from Fine Lines and a replacement vent bolt from Mopar. After extracting the broken vent bolt, the new lines were fitted. One of the replacement lines fit perfect, the other not so much: the bends were sloppy and no matter how I tried to massage it to fit, it was over an inch short. A few e-mails and pictures later, Fine Lines set out a new one... which did not fit properly either . This time the bends were nice and crisp, but the line was now over an inch too long and the final bend at the Y Block was 90+ degrees in the wrong direction. I shortened the line, tweaked the bend and all was good. The rear flex line looked like the original one, so this was replaced as well.

The master cylinder was pulled and soaked in PB Blaster as the piston would not move. Once apart, it was clear the bore was pitted beyond what could be cleaned up with a brake hone so I will be sending it off to Brake and Equipment Warehouse to be sleeved.

Fuel System- At Carlisle last year, I picked up a replacement 3/8 fuel line from The Right Stuff, and a few months ago bought a new Spectra gas tank and sender unit from RockAuto. Today, I finally got them installed. With the car already on stands and rims off, the only things I had to do were to pull down the right exhaust pipe and remove the right side shock- after that the line went in. The fuel line required only a very minor tweak- otherwise it fit great. The tank was next- the sender unit was installed, using the lock ring off the old tank (not the new one with the tank). The gauge of the metal with the new rings is not as thick when compared to the original. This slight difference in gauge can cause the sender unit gasket to not be compressed enough once installed, resulting in a fuel leak. With the sender and filler neck bushing installed (bought from Herbs), the tank was then hung in the car.

Drivetrain- Back in January, I started pulling the car apart to inspect the clutch and swap out the scattershield for the correct bellhousing. It got as far as getting the trans out, and then sat. This week, the rest was pulled apart. The clutch is in excellent shape- little wear and the flywheel is/was a new Zoom piece. The replacement bellhousing was mounted and run-out checked: .017 total run-out . I ordered up off-set dowels from RobbMc and hope to have it dialed in this week. While the trans is out, I am also replacing the hacked trans tunnel: the old one is out and I just have to burn in the new one.

Once the trans is back in and the brakes completed, the next steps will be to rebuild the carb, replace the engine bay wiring and battery cables (for safety's sake..), new fluids/wires/plugs, etc. and see if this will fire up

You're making some really good head way on the project Ed! Nice

Thanks James!

That's a great car , nothing looks better than a Black B body ...

Thanks John: I've always liked your Bee!

The offset dowle pins arrived from RobbMc on Wednsday, so that evening I tacked the job of getting the old ones out. After attempting to twist them out using a pair of Vice Grips, I got serious: I welded a piece of metal to each one, and jacked them loose with a 3/8 bolt via a tapped hole in the metal tabs.

The following night, I indexed the bellhousing and managed to bring the total run-out to .003. Then the clutch was installed. Today I installed the bellhousing and transmission as well as welding in the new trans hump.

Tomorrow I'll install the shifter and driveshaft, as well as put the carpet back down over the new trans hump.

Update 6/11/2012: Been pecking away at various areas, with a lot of small tasks along the way.

After the transmission install, I dissassembled, cleaned, lubed and reassembeled the Hurst shifter. Using a video on YouTube, it was not too difficult and was well worth it:

After installing the shifter, it was onto the clutch linkage. The rods, pivots and z-bar were in decent shape, but the frame bracket was toast. Using an oversize 1/2" washer, I repaired it. A word of advice if doing such a repair: mock up everything before welding in the washer if you are going to put it on the inside of the bracket. The additional material (washer) might not leave adequate room for the z-bar to fit in the car. DAMHIK. Damaged bracket:

Repair piece made out of a 1/2" washer:

Welded in:

Also I've reinstalled the seats, replaced the rocker arms, pulled the Radiator/alternator/water pump for replacement and started replacing some of the engine bay wiring. The plan as of now is to fire it up on 6/23. There is still a bunch of things to do, but it should be ready by then.

Keeping good pace Ed Looking good so far for the 23rd, looks like I can blow off that HS grad party out on the island

7/1/2012- It lives again……

Over the past few weeks, I’d managed to get some steady time out in the garage picking away at several areas of the car- flush/bleed the brake system, new radiator /water pump, new battery cables, new alternator, new engine wiring harness, NOS iron single point distributor- recurved by FBO, carb rebuild, and primed the oiling system.

All this time while working to reach this point of getting it running, I’ve always been worried (worried sick) about why this car sat for so long. Short of pulling the motor out and tearing it down, I’d inspected and checked as much as possible (leakdown, compression, inspecting the old spark plugs, checking all of the fluids, etc..). Each inspection came out good, not finding anything wrong. Other than some worn, non-OEM rocker arms (which I replaced) everything looked decent. Still, I had concern- why has it sat, why was it parked?

I still do not have the answer, as today it fired right up. No leaks, no smoke, no funny noises. We let it warm up and then made a couple of brief launches down the driveway with it (rock hard old Goodyears). So far, so good. Below are a couple of video links with it running:
http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh110...9-24-07_872.mp4

http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh110...41183534202.mp4
Next steps will to finish the paint cleaning/polishing, reinstall the exterior trim (grill, etc..), fix a few electrical issues, install new tires and get it registered.

Cool car!

Cool stone along the driveway!

looking good Ed

One of my favorite cars. Hope you get it on the road soon.

Thanks all for the comments. Picked up 4 new BFG Radial TAs at Carlisle today along with some other stuff. Hope to have it on the road in a few weeks for a shake down drive.

Saturday I registered it and since then I've racked up 140 shakedown miles. It rides very well, and I've not yet mounted the new BFGs. The carb is really worn out (throttle shafts have alot of play) so there is some surging. The rear should have a new pinion bearing installed. The steering is very good- tracks straight and steers well. Trans shifts well and the clutch action is smooth and linear. In 90 degree heat, even out on the local highway at 3000+ RPM it never went above 200 dergees.

I currently have the dimmer switch out for rebuild (Board Member DEVINISM): once it returns I have the dash light issue resolved. I cleaned up the taillamp housings, resprayed the lamp buckets with aluminium paint, cleaned the lenses with Mequiars plastic polish and reassembled them with new gaskets from DMT. The taillamp bezels are decent condition for their age: I simply cleaned the chrome surfaces with 0000 steel wool and reinstalled them. The grill and tailpanel I still have to address: I want to correctly freshen up the paint on them before putting them back on. I also have to clean up and install the hood inserts ( what color should I paint the mesh?).

Glad to have reached this milestone with the car. There is still more to do, but at least it's a runner now

Looking good, must be a great feeling to be getting it on the road. Keep up the great work.

Dave

i'm jealous because it looks great..
good work ed

Dave/Frank: thanks for the comments!

looks awesome




ricks_RR

Paint the mesh red..

Ed thats a cool ride and cool story

Find me a dream car

Steve

awsome!

Nice car! What part of New Jersey do you live in?
Here is a shot of a 69 Roadrunner I used to own in the 80's

Thanks all.

Mounted up new tires last night: 245/60 on the front and 275/60 for the rear. The new carb, an Eddy 800 AVS came in the mail Wed- will install it tonight. Hope to put a new more miles on it over this w/e.

The car looks great, I am jealous that is an awesome car. You have motivated me to work on my charger, finally start on installing the motor and cleaning up the interior.

Update 8/4: I've racked up over 300 miles so far without any issues. The new Edelbock 800 AVS was a huge improvement over the used AVS-it had huge vacuum leaks around the throttle shafts. Been dialing it in using a Strip Kit.

No new pictures at this time, as I have not done any more work on the appearance. Pending items to do are the intall of the grille, bezels, tail panel, driver's door panel, quarter panel markers/reflectors and hood inserts. Mechanically the next things are to replace and aim the headlamps, and track down a charging issue: the amp gauge ossilates slightly at idle. Once off idle it is fine: not sure if this is "normal ". Future work will be to rebuild the driver's door hinge (using the kit from RestoRick) and to rebuild the 4 speed (needs bearings).