The Project: Completely Restore a 1971 Super Bee On a Budget of Under $5000

The Crew: Two 17 Years Olds; Stephen Sigel and Ryan Pastrana

The Goal: Have the car completely done for our 2008 Senior Prom

Basic Info: Myself and my friend are attemping to completely overhaul a 71 Super Bee and be able to take my 73 Challenger, and the 71 Super Bee to Prom. The idea is for us two to do the project ourselves with help only when needed(installation of componets etc.). The project car was found about 3 months ago in the middle of Staten Island, New York for a purchase price of $1500. The car was then put away until today when we have finally started to tear into the project. We will be working on the things non stop and updating weekly.

The Car: Originally a 383 Auto Super Bee, the plan is to make the car a 383 4 speed. The original Paint was White with a Black top and stripe. The new color Scheme is undecided.

Here is the Car as we pulled it forward to start into the project...

2 Hours Later...









Also discovered that the car had a 70 E-body 4 speed console in it, crack free to boot

As you know the more you take away the rustier they get








We are making some decent progress, although a lot of the bolts are extra crispy and may require the use of some power tools

Wow, good luck with that.

2008! Better get off the computer and get your azz out to the garage and start working on that thing.

Good Luck!

Man...to be 17 and have access to a workshop like that???? I spent my days and nights laying on my back on a usually wet driveway with a flashlight back when I was 17!

WOW!

Good luck with that. I'm not sure I'll have my Coronet ready for my May of 2008 deadline and all I'm doing is an engine swap.

FYI the engine swap is going to cost me about $1000 by the time it's back on the road and I already have about 85% of the parts including the engine and trans. Of coarse that includes rebuilding the front suspension since I have the k-frame out anyway.

Good luck guys!
I wish you well in staying under your budget!
It can be done with a little hard work!

Thats cool Good luck. I'm looking forward to those progress pics. By the way. I think the white with black top and stripe would look REALLY good!

$5000 on resto and your finding rust like that? Looks like you'll be having your prom at McDonald's!

Good for you, instead of just sitting at home, you and a friend are working on a mopar. That's too cool. Try to paint the car a bright color to hide any body flaws, incase you need to scrap on by the budget meter.

Looks doable for under 5k. Goodluck with it.

Sounds like a blast to me!! Good luck on the project!!

Good luck, it can be done. However I would be out having fun with my friends if I was still in hs. You can build cars your whole life, but only in hs for a few years!

Man, how many of us had dreams of gradure like this when we where in HS?

All the best. You will make 5 grand go further than I ever could.

But I thought a resto was a MINIMUM of $40,000...that's what I keep hearing???

Thanks all for the kind words and the encouragement. We do all the work on off peak hours (12am and on) Its about the only time we have between being with friends and working. Now we have the whole car pretty much gutted out except for a few problem nuts and bolts which we will have to get a little physical with.

Here is my friend, Ryan, wrenching away...





I think we will be needing a new gas tank! What do you think?




The parts pile is growing...





Just Gutted






More rust





Somebody Long ago started some bodywork on it obviously and never finished...




Tommorrow i think we are going to grab some parts cars for some donor metal, $500 for the pair, and we can resell some of the parts to try and elimate the cost of the car

Looks awesome dude! I think you can do it with some good part searching eyes I would love to do that sometime soon

Maybe you can get a few ppl to sponsor you A.K.A. Donate parts, etc. If I was closer I would be glad to lend a hand!

- Jon

Guys , this is so awesome.

I did the same thing back in highschool with my buddies 71 Charger.
It was a total basket case, and our neighbor was a body man.

We resurrected the body and painted it dark purple metallic, redid the interior.

Built a blown 383 ,727, sure grip 3:91 gears.
Rebuilt or replaced what needed to be, and took it to our highschool prom.
Dude, that was the best summer of my life in 1989.

The prom was great and we definitely had the coolest car, did not drive drunk, but did rent a motel room.


The car is now in Ohio and was converted for drag strip use only.

P.S. I am still married to my prom date.