69bronzeT5 - I agree with your new chart I cant wait until we have the thing moving on its own power, right now its just getting past the sheetmetal phase and then it will feel real good. I'm happy to say that with about have the work done it feels good

Nice work lads!
It is really cool to see you tackling a really tough job. You will walk away knowing more about these cars than a lot of us (well, certainly more than I).
Keep the pics coming. If I can find something to donate, I will let you know.

Thanks New Bee! Did a little more work, nothing special, just cleaned and prepped the rest of the area that will be covered when the floor goes in...



Since i dont have anything else to do in that area until i get the four speed hump and trim the floor i moved onto getting the dutchman ready to go in. Removed the parts of the speaker tray, quarter panels, and gutters and now its ready to go in after we do the trunk floor...



Since the drivers side gutter is pretty rough im gonna try and fab something out of this piece of dutchman panel off the parts car

looking good Steve.

Thanks Brian!

Havent been able to do much with out the hump and me working so much but so good news is we got in the order from dantes! Ordered a complete interior, trunk floor and extensions! Heres some pics...



I know lots of people are speculation on how they fit so i will let you know! Hopefully by the new year! Since we got this stuff here is the new project cost update...


Expenses:
Car Cost - $1500
Deck lid (thanks to moparmarks) - $100
Front Grilles (thanks to moparmarks - $50
Sidemarkers (4) - $60
383/727 combo - $300
Parts Car - $300
F/R Bumpers - $75
Trunk Floor - $230.85
Trunk Extensions - $150.48
Complete Interior kit - $626.72
Shipping for above three - $79.35

Total - $3472.40

Sold/unused items:
Front Frame Rails - $500

Grand Total - $2972.40

I saw your price list in your post. I didn't know you were looking for an engine, I have a date coded '71 383HP, what year is the one you picked up?

Man, this is quickly becoming my favorite thread.
Have you guys picked a color yet? White's great for your first paint job, but there are some really cool colors to consider. My choices, if it were my car, would include curious yellow or vitamin C.
Still, white would be pretty sharp.
Any idea what wheels you will use?

Brain - I think its a 69 or 70, not really sure, alls i know is we had it running out of gas in a 5 gallon jug, and that is all i know, but im pretty sure its on of those years...

new bee -Thanks! Well there was lots of factors behind it being white such as a great color for the first paint job and it being its original color but after some thought i think we are steering away from white. After all we did change the trans to a 4 gear and we dont have anything except for the VIN and body numbers so we might as well make it what we want. I think black would be awesome even though its tough to paint. But hey this is our first restoration and any dealings with bodywork so i think well just go big or home with the paint too. A huge benefit that we will have when it comes to painting will be that i am interning in the spring at the same old school guy that painted my dads hemi. The guy is an incredible artist and will help show me some more imperfections in the body that i wont see and show me the best techniques to paint the car. The plan is to use his spray area also but have myself operation the gun with his help. So thats what we have so far

I wish I had the metal working skills that you guys have. Thats crap scares me, thats why im selling the GTX to buy a solid car, have one in mind. Needs no rust repaired, even if I did it I think I'd drive myself crazy making sure the lines are straight.

You guys are doing a great job. Are you guys in liek a technical high school for it or have you just picked it up from your dad/family/friends?

GTX MATT - Thanks for the compliments! This is actually the first time we are dealing with metal. My dad was never into it either, we had to purchase a welders, compressor and run the lines to do all this. We never took any bodywork or metal work classes, just picked up the air tools, welder, and hammer and dolly and teaching yourself. I've read lots of Mopar Muscle articles in their tech section and watched a lot of american hot rod. Thats been my tutorial but really the best way to learn is to do it yourself. I teach myself new techniques every day when working on the car! So don't be scared because if were doing something like this with no prior experiences, anything can be done.

I agree, you guys have some great metalworking skills! It looks like the car is coming along great!!!!

I've had people tell me to get a small welder and start doing my '69 but I'm not going to...I'd probally cut the wrong thing off or screw up something, I know it!

Where in the world did you get a complete interior kit for $600? Are you talking new? Repop panels, carpet, seat covers, headliner?

69bronzeT5 - Thanks for the compliments guys but i cant stress enough that our "skills" have been gained by just starting in on the project. Its something that you have to perfect. The skills are nothing near these body shops. If you need to save money TRY it yourself! Looking at it and the hours into it i know this car could not have been done for less that 15k in body/sheetmetal work

monoptn - The kit consist of front rear seat covers, headliner, the insulation behind it, and the carpet. Got it from Dantes Mopar Parts (advertises here on the site). Keep in mind i got 15% off for a holiday and mass order sale.

Got a little more work done today and determined that replacing trunk floors and trunk extensions is absolutely horrible! A true pain! Here is the trunk before any work was done...



I got some of the drivers side out but there are SO many spot welds and they are in the most agonizing position to have to drill!


When taking the wheel off found some more rust, Yippe!


Does anyone know if you have to pull these brackets off to remove the floor? I am guessing yes because the rail runs right under them and there are most likely spotwelds there...


Heres the car as she sits, been awhile since i posted a full car shot

That trunk floor sure is a piece of swiss cheese. The rails look pretty good though.

DynoDave - Its unbelievable how the cars rust! The trunk is swiss cheese, even on top of the frame rails and the rails are still solid. Its crazy to see but a huge relief on our part! Last thing we need is to break into some frame replacement with the time frame we are trying to beat!

Thats looking great Steve!

Thanks! I am extremely annoyed right now as my spot weld cutters threads just sheared right off! I have a back up rotabroach but i only have one bit! Go figure over christmas break something like this would happen and just in time for the local supplier to be closed for the holidays!!!! Updates wont be a rapid as i thought Happy Holidays everyone!