For the Love for my Father, My 69 GTX Restoration

[hunt2elk]

Great story and great car. You are a lucky man to have one of your Dad's old cars. Wish I could have ended up with one from my father.

 

[abodybill]

Just an awesome story, awesome dad and an awesome car!!
You have some great memories to keep for ever and you can sit back and relive when ever you want and think about the best times with dad.

 

[BeeKool]

Great story Justin. Between this restoration and supplying many of us with hard to find parts your life has to be busy.

 

[moparjohnny]

Great story Justin. Between this restoration and supplying many of us with hard to find parts your life has to be busy.

i will agree justin a great story and beautiful car,great dad and a great son,be proud of yourself.i know your father is.

 

[Sixtynine_Bird]

That is a story! I'm sorry for your dad but what a great tribute you're doing for him with his 69 GTX! Awesome car she turned out great keep us posted!

 

[Mike67]

Justin your dad had great taste! Im glad that this project has a deeper meaning to you.
But I mostly want to thank you for the reminder of how temporary the things that mean so much to us in our lives are.
After I shared some things about my Dad and the memories we had the other night, I was able to see him that Sunday, Mom & Dad came down to upgrade her flip phone shes had since 96 and to get Dad his very first phone...brought them both into the 21st century finally...but its a stark reminder of how fleeting time is.
My memories sometimes convince me he is still the DPS trooper who drives a big ol Polara/Fury cop car with the GTO as his personal driver and makes me forget he's 72 yo...
I will give him a call this morning, thank you again!

 

[moparnation74]

Justin your dad had great taste! Im glad that this project has a deeper meaning to you.
But I mostly want to thank you for the reminder of how temporary the things that mean so much to us in our lives are.
After I shared some things about my Dad and the memories we had the other night, I was able to see him that Sunday, Mom & Dad came down to upgrade her flip phone shes had since 96 and to get Dad his very first phone...brought them both into the 21st century finally...but its a stark reminder of how fleeting time is.
My memories sometimes convince me he is still the DPS trooper who drives a big ol Polara/Fury cop car with the GTO as his personal driver and make me forget he's 72 yo...
I will give him a call this morning, thank you again!

Mike

Thank you for your kind words my friend! The stories you told me about your father and father in-law were priceless. I enjoyed every minute of that conversation. Since your Dad knows your are the go to guy for modern technology that new phone will be a conversation between you two for awhile....Your turn to teach a bit!

Time does slide from us a bit and we realize the should have and wish I did...That is a given just like you I was taught family first and I never deterred from that.....When push comes to shove I had to bathe him, shave him, brush his teeth, wipe his azz, hold the manhood so he could pee in a urinal....That is out Love and respect....Crap, he did some of that when I was a baby.....

If I could trade the X in for one day....one hour....to have him back....Take the F###g car.....I could care less.....

Our time together was well spent and maximized but is never enough in the end....

 

[Richard Cranium]

Sounds like you and your dad had a great relationship & this restoration is a fitting tribute to him and that relationship. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[747mopar]

Love the story, if everybody had fathers like that the world would be a wonderful place. Congrats on making him proud although I'm not sure he'd be proud of the limited sun and short burst.... think he might want you to enjoy it but I understand the risk of damaging a priceless jewel.

 

[moparjohnny]

My friend thanks for the kind words! Good ole Frank B...you are correct!
Also, any and all input is welcome along the way....I can easily miss something and eyes like yours are great to have around!

justin i notice that on gtx pics there are three holes on inner firewall see pics below,do you recall what they are for? thanks

 

[moparnation74]

justin i notice that on gtx pics there are three holes on inner firewall see pics below,do you recall what they are for? thanksView attachment 404327

3 holes for the heater box, 2 for the core and one for the air grabber cable, smaller holes are for the insulation plugs

 

[69 GTX]

Great story.

 

[threewood]

Very touching story, sorry for your loss. The car is a great tribute and I can appreciate the cost involved as mine is being done for as little as I can get away with and it is still too expensive.

 

[Steve009]

Thanks for sharing this. Without knowing you it still brought a tear to my eye. My dad and I are super close as well bonding of course over mopars! Awesome car and don't worry he's watching and proud!

 

[MarPar]

Man, Justin. sittin here at my desk with tears in my eyes.

Condolences for your Dad. I know we all are going to end up there someday, but you are never prepared for it.

A very fitting tribute to your Dad. thank you for sharing

 

[Beekeeper]

Justin,
thanks very much for sharing your story with us it's great to have awesome memories like that of your Dad. the car is beautiful and looks like it's coming along very nice

 

[440+6]

Great story, thanks for telling it, that's a great thing you're doing with his car!
I too know what it's like to loose the greatest dad in the world, very sorry for your loss.

 

[rrTor-Red]

Great story Justin. I know your dad is smiling down from the Mopar heavens. I'm going to follow your build. My friend has a '69 as well and we work on his and mine as well at the same time (yea, that can get nerve racking).

 

[moparnation74]

Many people ask or wonder where to start on assembling parts to the body? There are many variations on how to tackle this daunting task at hand. First rule of thumb is save all parts, even if you got new ones and when the car is finished. Then get rid of them. Label and bag everything, take pictures, measurements, drawings...whatever works so you have a quick reference years later.....So, I have a particular process that works well for me. The first are I tackle are the brake and fuel lines. I was fortunate because all the original lines were removed without any issues and I save them to mate the new lines too. On OE cars the criteria is use what the factory used. Which was plain steel lines. This is an area that I just cannot do. I have tried in the past and no matter what coating was placed on them they still developed surface rust in areas. Mainly the line behind the engine due to heat and condensation. The last thing I want to do is to crawl over the motor and underneath the car to refresh those areas...

Stainless steel all the way

The vendor I purchase lines from was Inline Tube...

From the pics you can the the differences between the original fuel lines and the new fuel lines. So with a little cutting, bending, and flaring they now mate with one another properly.

 

[moparnation74]

Fuels lines finished and moving to the brake lines....