1971 GTX (in the making)

I bought this car last year. It was originally a green 1971 Plymouth Satellite. The car had already been painted B5 blue with markings and tank tracks to make it a Road Runner clone.

The interior had also been done in blue.

It had the original 318 with 904 tranny. One diffence, the 318 had a six pack on it, which turned out to be an orginal 340 six pack. They were only using the center carb. When I took the engine out I sold the six pack. The hood has the air grabber and a hood mounted tach.


The interior has bucket seats and the instrument cluster has the 150 speedo. I also have an original shade screen for the back window.

The interior is really nice and that much less I have to mess with. It even has a working 8-track player mounted under the dash just like we did back in the day. I couldn't get that picture to upload.

I am shooting for a Pro Touring kind of car. This isn't a numbers matching classic so I don't have that to worry about. I want to update where I can to make it ride, drive, and run better and be more comfortable in the process.

I am going 440 big block and already have the crate engine from year one in my garage. You can see this engine on Youtube, just search on "yearone 440" it will come up with them running one up on the test stand. Pretty cool to see and hear one run. Mine specked out at 428 horses. Good enough for a start. Here are some pics

A quick note, the red cavalier in the background of the first engine picture, which was my favorite work car, cheap, comfortable, great gas milage, never caused a problem. I talk in the past tense since it was totaled a couple of weeks ago, first of March. Nobody hurt but lost a good car.

I was thinking about a medium dark blue (Deep Water Blue) for the paint since the interior is blue and in good shape, but now I'm leaning towards going back with the B5 blue. I looked at the new Challenger and saw one in deep water blue with black stripes. Didn't like the stripes, just didn't show up enough, looked dull. I think the B5 will still pop with black and keep me from having to change the interior. Gotta keep those dollars in mind. I've decided not to go back with the black vinyl top.

I planned on replacing the suspension and then painting the engine bay, then installing the engine. But plans have changed. I've spent a lot of time just sanding and getting down to the ugly stuff. It's not horrible, but it sure ain't perty either. I've had to re-think what I want from this. Money and time have forced me to do this. It really needs both quarter panels to be replaced but that is just too much money, taken away from the suspension that it has to have, etc. There is another reason that has come up that I'll go into later.  Here are some pretty much up to date pictures of what I've been up to.

I did get the front and rear sway bars from just suspension for Christmas. It's a start.

Pulled out the old 318 and the 904. Sold them.

You can't beat a good old tracter for moving heavy stuff around.

Started tearing down the front. The grill is gone.

All of front taken off. Came off fast, hope it goes back that easy!?

Engine bay still being sanded, trying to decide if I want to go back with B5 blue, or try something else. My son used Rino Liner on one of his cars under the hood and it looks pretty good and has a lot of pluses. Haven't decided on that yet.

This is after getting the fenders off. From here it is a lot of sanding.

Driver side and roof completely done. Uncovered patch panels around the wheel wells and some rust down there also. Correct thing would be to replace the quarters, but I just don't want to part with that much money.

This isn't really up to date. The passenger side is now completely down to metal. The rear bumper is off. Still wrestleing with the quarter panels, this side has some issues on the front of the wheel well. One hole all the way thru.

This is close to what I want mine to look like, painted bumpers but in the B5 Blue. But then again, that black sure looks sweet......

This is the exact stance I would like it to have. 

Now, for the money issue. Here is the big problem. I have decided I want a new Challenger. The picture I'm posting is pretty much it, R/T solid black, no markings, chrome wheels, loaded out. The impact this has is I  will probably be selling my engine. I know, I hate to do it, but I know I still have a long way to go befor I even get to the point of installing it. So my thought is to go buy an old 440 now and have it here. I won't feel quite so bad and I'll have it to start tearing down and building. And I can have the Challenger to have some fun in in the interim. Guess that makes sense. Things could change, but that's my plan for now. Meanwhile, keep sanding and figure out what to do with those quarter panels.

  This is the Challenger I want, hopefully in a couple of months one will be in my drive and I'll post a photo of them side by side.

 OK, new update. I decided against the Challenger. Just too much money for me. That's the bad news. The good news? I'm keeping the engine. Oh yea, I did get me a little something to help with any dissapointment about not getting the Challenger. I got an 05 GTO. Couldn't be happier! Great car, great price. Can't beat that combo. I'll post it when I get a chance. So it's back to the same issue, what to do about quarter panels and keep sanding till I figure it out. And I also have to figure out what's up with me and the "G" cars,,,, GTX, GTO.......