• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

A story about my '68 GTX trunk finish panel

moparedtn

I got your Staff Member riiiight heeeere...
FBBO Gold Member
Local time
10:20 AM
Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
17,064
Reaction score
31,960
Location
On the Ridge, TN
We all have stories about how this part or that one was procured or refinished, etc.
It's all the little stories behind fixing our cars up that make each one unique and make them come to life, after all.
I felt the need early this morning to share one of mine, so....

In 1968, Plymouth used a fancy, heavy potmetal trunk finish panel on the GTX and Sport Satellite models. Many are familiar with these; they're often pitted or someone has stripped off the rough argent paint over the years and they look horrendous after decades of neglect.
Upon occasion, someone like Metro will run a batch of repro's of them for north of $800.
Kinda pricey for folks like me, if you can even get one.
The alternative is to find a core in decent enough shape to have refinished.

So I did...and so begins one of those little human stories about a part on my car, one I haven't had the courage to tell until now.

The biggest debate you're going to encounter with folks is over the paint itself, with many insisting the darker shade is correct vs. the lighter shade. I dunno, but I love mine:
gtx tail 4-16-16.jpg

My trunk finish panel was actually restored by a friend in TX who has since passed. Bob was a professional and actually had a small, precious supply of the original correct Chrysler-supplied argent paint left over, which he graciously used on mine (despite my protestations).
The picture is of the finished product. That is the factory paint on it, fresh - well, freshly applied decades-old paint, anyways.
Whether or not that's the "correct" shade, I let others debate - but it is as supplied to Bob back in the 70's. He was insistent on making the panel as smooth as new and making the paint absolutely correct, including the rough texture:
1.jpg


Bob spent dozens of hours on my raggedy panel, which was heavily pitted, using metal filler and grinding and sanding on the thing. He replaced the broken studs with new all-thread, refusing to epoxy them in place and instead using a torch and doing some manner of funky soldering/welding/brazing operation that I still can't identify.

The finished panel fit really well (especially considering how much metal work had been done to the car); the reflective tape inserts were kinda odd colored to me in daylight, but at night:
13.jpg

Wow.
My amateur pictures truly don't do the panel justice; it POPS in the sun!
Bob also insisted on refinishing my taillights, too. Said he wasn't going to have them make his work on the panel look bad. :)

Bob wouldn't take a dime for his work from me either, much in spite of me raising hell with him.
His "payment" was to keep the other of the two raggedy panels I sent him - he hung it in his shop as-is as a sort of trophy, for "later".
Well, I didn't know it at the time, but Bob was pretty eaten up with cancer. I knew he wasn't feeling well, but he wouldn't talk about specifics and got mad at me when I'd pry.
I proudly mounted the panel on the car and bragged on him to anyone who asked, passing out his cards and such and showing off his work to friends and family on facebook.
8.jpg

Well...
He passed just a little while after he got the panel back to me.
I had no idea.
Floored me. :-(

Folks like Bob are why I keep working on the car to this day, refusing to quit even though I've gone through lots of health issues to this day myself (3x cancer, 3 other times "dead" in ER's).
I have to see this thing through - for my wife, so she isn't stuck with an unfinished car to deal with in my wake; for my brother, who is invested in the car even though he thinks he isn't; and yes, for myself, who needs to see a project through to completion, even if only just this once.

And yes, for Bob. I won't let his efforts go for naught.
bob.jpg


I pray for the strength to finish the car and for my work to do justice to Bob's.
12.jpg
 
Last edited:
Awesome storey. I sat on my '70 'Bee for nearly 25 years saying "I'll get to it..."
Shortly after New Years the phone rang with "the call".
My wife has cancer. After her surgery and chemo I needed to stay close by to help her. So I started work on the car. I've accomplished more in three months then in the previous 24. It should be up on it's wheels soon. I'll get the vanity plate "CANCER"" for it. If people ant to think it's because of rust that's OK.
My wife is doing well.
 
Awesome storey. I sat on my '70 'Bee for nearly 25 years saying "I'll get to it..."
Shortly after New Years the phone rang with "the call".
My wife has cancer. After her surgery and chemo I needed to stay close by to help her. So I started work on the car. I've accomplished more in three months then in the previous 24. It should be up on it's wheels soon. I'll get the vanity plate "CANCER"" for it. If people ant to think it's because of rust that's OK.
My wife is doing well.
That's great to read. Glad she's doing well.
Cancer is a motherfrucker. I got the scars and holes to prove it....but like you say, life tosses you motivation in odd ways sometimes.
How I got back up after the last bout was to start gingerly wandering off to the garage when things were quiet during the day, wife off to work and me alone.
Just me, the dog and the GTX spent hours out there, tinkering.
The car was my rehab.

Still is, honestly. :)
 
Your story touched my heart Ed! Trim restoration is a lot of time and effort and it's obvious Bob took it very seriously and did amazing work. Your write up does him -- and your beautiful GTX -- true justice. Thanks for sharing!
 
Your story touched my heart Ed! Trim restoration is a lot of time and effort and it's obvious Bob took it very seriously and did amazing work. Your write up does him -- and your beautiful GTX -- true justice. Thanks for sharing!
Well hey there Leanna. Long time no hear. :)
Hope all are well in your neck of the woods.
I do appreciate your kind words. Very sweet of you. :)
The GTX isn't quite up to Bob's standards since I move a lot slower these days, but she's getting there. Won't be from a lack of effort if she doesn't, but simply from my clock running out.
Best wishes to you and yours.
 
The car looks great.
I love how Ma Mopar went the extra mile with the ornamentation of these cars. The Argent in the shaker hood bubbles, grilles, wheels and taillight panels was beautiful.
 
The car looks great.
I love how Ma Mopar went the extra mile with the ornamentation of these cars. The Argent in the shaker hood bubbles, grilles, wheels and taillight panels was beautiful.
Thanks, my friend. Can you believe that was a half-dozen years ago?
I think of Bob every time I clean around the back of the car to this day.
Heck, Fred has stories all over him like that - which is why I could never part with him.
 
I'd have a heavy feeling if I learned that a craftsman like him passed away shortly after finishing the work. That says a LOT about his character. He stuck to it and finished the job despite his heavy burden.
 
I'd have a heavy feeling if I learned that a craftsman like him passed away shortly after finishing the work. That says a LOT about his character. He stuck to it and finished the job despite his heavy burden.
It's honestly an honor to own one of his last works and to tell his story. As much as we're stewards of these cars,
we're certainly also the keepers of the stories surrounding them.
Bob rides with us every time we take Fred out...
 
Fred’s rear looks great! See that’s why you don’t name your car a guys name
:rofl:

My car got named “Golden Goddess,” her rear end needs the same treatment. That’s what I like about the GTXs, they have just a little more trim decorating the amazing bodies.

D9FD57C3-41FD-44B8-84FA-67B504BEB53A.jpeg
 
Wow. This thread popped up as an update this morning and I saw my post from 2017 mentioning my wife’s recent (at that time) cancer diagnosis. Stage three.
I just told her I love her as she left for work a few minutes ago. From stage three to cancer free. I literally give thanks and tell her I love her every day.
On the same vein it’s great to see Ed still here, as well. Fighting cancer is hard.
 
Fred’s rear looks great! See that’s why you don’t name your car a guys name
:rofl:

My car got named “Golden Goddess,” her rear end needs the same treatment. That’s what I like about the GTXs, they have just a little more trim decorating the amazing bodies.

View attachment 1408744
Well, looky there! (Good point on choosing names BTW :) ).
One can always choose to refinish those panels, but to grind out and metal fill every pockmark takes so many
damn hours - I forget how many Bob had in mine, but it was a shocking amount....
I never did come up with a plan to get some manner of chrome put back on the raised edges of all those pockets
either, so they remain painted to this day.
Suits me fine; Bob's handiwork has stood up quite well in these years since. :thumbsup:
 
Wow. This thread popped up as an update this morning and I saw my post from 2017 mentioning my wife’s recent (at that time) cancer diagnosis. Stage three.
I just told her I love her as she left for work a few minutes ago. From stage three to cancer free. I literally give thanks and tell her I love her every day.
On the same vein it’s great to see Ed still here, as well. Fighting cancer is hard.
It's truly a blessing, my friend. I'm very happy to hear your update, thanks!
Yes, cancer is an asshole (I noticed I was at 3x when I posted this originally; I'm at 6x survived now).
Even though one may survive ("beat" is such a misnomer) cancer, every time takes so much life force
out of a person - you're never the same and the beat-down feeling from each fight never quite goes
away.

My wife says my thyroid one in 2017 was the one that made the most difference in my giddyap.
I'd tend to agree with that - they tell you the magic pill takes care of having it removed, but it doesn't
really - they don't have a pill capable of replacing everything the thyroid does, simply put.

But hey - I'm still here, beat all to hell and all - and I'm damn thankful for it.
Blessings to you and yours, sir. Give your wife a hug from me. :thumbsup:
 
Have you guys tried "Special-T Bill"? I haven't yet, but see his ad in Mopar Collector's Guide all the time. Check out his new web site or give him a call 847- 255-5494. Looks like this kind of work is all he does!:thumbsup:
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top