Rescue Mission- '71 Dart GT saved from the scrappers!

-
72bluNblu

72bluNblu

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
15,120
Reaction score
9,233
Location
NorCal
Ok, so I need another project like a need a hole in the head. But perusing Craigslist the other night I saw an ad for a '71 Dart GT, so I had to check it out. Only 1255 (depending on who you ask) made after all. So I read the add, and the guy wants to part it out if there's no takers!!! For me that's pretty much the same as posting up a cute puppy that needs a home and then saying they're going to shoot it tomorrow if no one comes!

So I went and took a look at it. Body is straighter than my other GT, but the vinyl top stayed on so the roof is rusty. That and a small spot in the trunk extension and the right rear quarter (just a small spot). Unfortunately, some jerk with a '67 barracuda had already parted a lot of the car, no drivetrain, stole the buckets and console :angry5:, and the 3.55 geared 8 3/4 :angryfir::angryfir::angryfir:. Even worse, the guy selling it now says he was going to CUT THE VINS OUT, part the rest and sell the shell for a rebody.

Needless to say, I bought the car. The roof should be pretty easy, I already have a '74 Dart "parts car" with a bent frame, but otherwise pristine roof and floors, so I've already got the roof skin. I have an B-body 8 3/4 I can probably use for it (the rear end in the pics was just a temporary swap from the parts car so I could move it, a 7.25). The seats and the console will be pricey though. And of course someone yanked the '71 only GT trim off the rockers. Boy I wish I could look up the last owner!

Anway, here's a partial decode and some pics. The decode is kinda interesting, its a Los Angeles built car, and even though there's no call outs for them on the fender tag the car has factory AC and a front sway bar. No luck on the build sheet, most LA cars didn't have them to start with and since the buckets and glove box were gone I didn't have many places to check, nothing behind the rear seat.

So now I'm the proud owner of 2 '71 Dart GT's!

LH23:
Dodge Dart,Demon
High
2 Door Hardtop

G1E: 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1971
Los Angeles, CA, USA

E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D31: A904 3-Speed Auto Trans.
GK6: Dark Bronze Poly Exterior Color
H6X9: Trim - High, Vinyl Bucket Seats, Black
TX9: Black Int. Door Frames
428: Build Date: April 28
V1X: Full Vinyl Top, Black
U: USA Specifications
A01: Light Package
A61: Automatic Transmission Special Package
A65: Dart GT Package
C16: Console w/Woodgrain Panel

C55: Bucket Seats
G37: OS Dual Racing Mirrors
M21: Roof drip rail moldings
M25: Wide sill moldings
M31: Belt Moldings
M43: Grille Trim Moldings

N95: Emissions Control
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)
V5X: Body Side Stripes, Black
Y14: Sold Car
END: End of Sales Codes

IMG_0330copy.jpg

IMG_0333copy.jpg
 
Nice score, let us know how it works out, let's have some progress pics!
 
it was well worth saving that car. how is the interior? i think you did a good thing getting it. i like the color as well....:cheers:
 
nice save 72blu! cant believe the things people decide to tear up these days. that body still looks like its in great shape.
 
Progress on this one may be delayed a bit, I still have a ton of work to do on my Challenger and the butterscotch GT. The body is VERY straight, just the rust because of the vinyl top. The interior is pretty trashed except for the back seat, which looks pretty good. As I mentioned one of previous owners robbed the seats and console out of it.

Not exactly sure what the plan is, I think because its not matching #'s I may do some upgrading of the drivetrain and running gear. I'll modify this one and keep the butterscotch GT bone stock. :-D
 
You got that right!!!
Good find. Good luck with her!
Get her registered and refresh me on your Butterscotch 71 GT please.

Later,
Bruce B.

PS: No updates on the Registry due to no new GT's found in a loooong time.
 
Small update on some info I got. The A/C isn't factory, it looks like it was probably added by the dealer as the firewall is a non-A/C type, which is why its not on the fender tag. So no strange fender tag error.

And I found and bought a console. :cheers:

So one pricey/difficult to find piece down. 8)
 
DartGTDan said:
Nice save!!
Of course I might be partial to '71 Dart GTs!!
Click to expand...

Yeah maybe just a little :-D. That's ok, apparently I am too!

abodyjoe said:
Good looking color on it.
Click to expand...

You know, I keep getting surprised by some of these mopar colors. I really prefer TX9 (I know, black isn't very original), but of course NONE of my cars are TX9. And yet I really kind of like the colors on all of 'em. Of course all of my cars also need bodywork and paint, but I think the Challenger will stay blue (maybe not B5, but blue), the Butterscotch '71 is definitely going to stay butterscotch (gonna keep it all original and since its a plymouth color it actually had to be ordered that way). Not 100% on the bronze GT yet, but the bronze is really growing on me. 8)
 
Is the roof so far gone that it needs replacement, or is this simply surface rust under the vinyl roof, instead of rot holes there?

That's a nice car and the body looks excellent! Good luck with this one!
 
Vs29H1B said:
Is the roof so far gone that it needs replacement, or is this simply surface rust under the vinyl roof, instead of rot holes there?

That's a nice car and the body looks excellent! Good luck with this one!
Click to expand...

The roof is toast. There's quite a few holes in it. They're all pretty small, but the metal is pretty thin. If I didn't have another roof skin I might look into trying to reinforce it, but since I have access to another skin I'm just going to replace it.
 
Good score, it's amazing what some people want to chop up nowadays! The body looks pretty good just replace the roof and the big part is done. Keep us updated on this excellent save!
 
Thanks guys! :-D

The body is really straight, actually less dents than the butterscotch GT. Only real issues are the roof, and a small hole in the trunk floor, but that's pretty standard.

Hopefully I'll have the roof on it before winter, but the rest of the progress is going to be slow on this one. I have a 340/4 speed conversion to do on the Challenger soon, and I need to swap the original 318 out of the butterscotch Dart because of a bunch of bent valves. I've got another running 318 to go into it (other than the one in the Challenger), but as you can guess I've got my hands pretty full with all these projects. I just couldn't pass it up, its still if far too good a shape to be scrapped. Maybe once the engine swap for the Challenger is done I can toss the 318/904 that's in it now into this one. Still going to have a lot of other stuff to do though.
 
7071DartGTReg said:
You got that right!!!
Good find. Good luck with her!
Get her registered and refresh me on your Butterscotch 71 GT please.

Later,
Bruce B.

PS: No updates on the Registry due to no new GT's found in a loooong time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for saving another one from certain death & dismemberment.

Bruce, did I send you the info on mine to get it registered?
BTW, ignore the Swinger badges..

DSC_0015.jpg
 
Yup man, mine's almost identical to yours with the exception of a few options like console and the GT package
 
340_dart_power said:
Thanks for saving another one from certain death & dismemberment.

Bruce, did I send you the info on mine to get it registered?
BTW, ignore the Swinger badges..
Click to expand...

I dun't know for sure right now.... And I am presently lacking paid Inet service! Do me a favor and check the 70-71 Dart GT Registry and if your GT is NOT listed send me the info and I will get it posted, If it IS already registered send me the info that is missing and I will get that done....Please use the Registry Number in the subject line so I will know that I have the correct GT and owner matched. Several GT's have changed hands and nobody is updating me....UGH!.

If you all could do me a favor....... Check the GT's already registered and let me know if yours had been registered in the past and you now own it. I keep the actual cars original registry number with the car as it changes hands and just update the new owners info to that car.

Later All,

Bruce B.
Founder; The 70-71 Dart GT Registry
 
Soooooo, are you gonna continue this thread during the resto or start another? I'd like to follow along!
 
I'll continue this thread when I get going. :-D

But I have to warn you it may be awhile. I currently have 7 cars (6 mopars!) to my name, of which my Challenger is the only one currently running. I stay pretty busy just keeping the Challenger in daily driver form, but I also have a few other cars (my g/f's drivers) that I keep up. The Challenger is the newest one I have or work on, its a '72.

My next project is building a garage, carport and adding to my driveway, so that I have the space to work on all my projects. Or at least a couple of them. The butterscotch GT is getting close to running, after that I should be able to start work on the bronze GT.

So far, I've managed to find its last "real" owners, before it changed hands 3 or 4 times while being used for parts. I've acquired an 8 3/4 rear for it, and the '74 Dart I bought (with a bent frame) will provide the new roof and probably the rest of the running gear. But its a ton of work, and I have just as much or more to get done before I even get to it! But I will get to it, and when I do I've already collected a fair number of the parts I'm going to need, its mostly just getting the time.
 
Update! :-D

Ok, its a small one, but I found a set of original '71 Dart GT bucket seats for my car!!! They even had the seat tracks! Missing the seat backs, but that's ok, I can probably find a set of those. They'll need to be recovered, but they're even the same color as the originals were before they went missing in action. Still, I have to wonder about the coincidence of finding a set of GT buckets. Not a whole lot of them out there like this...

index.php
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top