gmcgone*gtx
Active Member
[FONT=&] My husband and I have recently come into the possession of two 1967 Plymouth GTX’s. We’ve taken on the responsibility of caring for and restoring them rather than letting them decay and rust away from neglect. We love cars. We believe that these two old muscle cars should have a chance at survival. [/FONT]
[FONT=&] Since retrieving them from a thousand miles away we have put a lot of our time (along with hard work & $) into learning about “Mopars”. We’ve always been Chevy people but, don’t hold that against us. We don’t mind coming over to play on the Dodge/ Chrysler Plymouth team (if you’ll have us [/FONT]J[FONT=&]) simply for the love of cool old cars. That’s what it’s about after all. We hope that some of you are willing to put up with our newbie questions and our re-education. We grew up in the 60’s and 70’s so we haven’t accustomed to being schooled in a long time. Kinda thought we were past it but, here we go.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] This is a long story but, I will try to tell a condensed version.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] One of these cars originally was mine. The silver automatic. I bought it when I was seventeen from the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] owner. I had it for 2-3 yrs and sold it to my younger brother when I got married, had a child, needed money, blah, blah, blah.. He had wanted it from day one and never let up on me, always trying to get me to sell it to him. I finally did and he hung on to it from that day on. About six years ago when the economy tanked he was still living in Georgia and I had moved away via Montana-New Mexico- and settled in Texas. Our economy stayed pretty strong and he couldn’t get work there so we asked him to come to Texas. He came out, got a good job but, he still had his cabin, all his possessions & cars in Georgia. He was here for around 3 yrs and lived about 20 minutes from me. He was happy and he seemed to love it here,. Suddenly one day I got that call that we all dread that rips your heart out. He was at work in his job as a construction materials driver and radioed his supervisor telling him that he didn’t think he should drive back to the shop yet because he was feeling kind of dizzy. They tried checking on him a few minutes later and couldn’t raise him on the radio again. The EMT’s tried their best but, couldn’t get a pulse. He never regained consciousness. Man that was a tough one for me. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]I told my siblings that they could do whatever they needed to about his place and his things. I had already taken care of the ceremony. I couldn’t handle it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Three years past and they hadn’t ever been to his place in Georgia. I knew when he died that he still had the GTX I had once owned and probably his regular herd of cars (usually 6-8 at a time). My older sister didn’t care the least bit for old cars. (Like my Mom had been about my Dad’s old cars) Both of our parents were gone and none of the family lived there anymore, my sister and older brother were here in TX. Nothing had been done with his things in Georgia after 3yrs and I figured the cars were either stripped clean or gone.(a lot of thieves in the area)[/FONT]
[FONT=&] My son was going to GA to visit his kids so we asked him to go over and check on the place. He came back and said everything was still there. My husband and I decided to go and get my brothers things and whatever cars were salvageable and bring them to Texas. If we didn’t no one else could or would do it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] We took our 16ft enclosed trailer and headed out. We wanted to get his personal belongings and see what we might be up against if any cars were salvageable. The place was badly overgrown; the roof was caving in and had caused some really bad leaks. There was a nasty mold growing on everything in his cabin and it had sickening sweet smell that permeated everything in there. The cars were barely visible behind his house, covered in leaves, vines and brush. There was a surprise though. A second GTX, a four speed with a Dana. I have no idea when or where he got it but,from the looks of it, it had been there for a long time. The wheels were sunk into the ground and it was basically resting on it’s floor in the dirt. We were totally overwhelmed once reality struck and we realized that it was going to be a huge job to retrieve his things much less any of his cars. He had covered them when he left. After six plus years the car covers had disintegrated and the cars’ wheels were buried a foot or more in the dirt. We weren’t anywhere near having the equipment, tools, and planning to get them back to Texas. We loaded what we could into our trailer from inside his house. We hauled butt back home and that was our first 2000 mile round trip. We bought a car trailer about 50 miles from home and mounted a winch. We did four (almost back to back) trips total. We were pretty worn out by that last trip and have been working on the cars ever since. Just getting them cleaned up has made a huge improvement in my opinion. We’ve started both of them but, they have a ways to go before being road worthy.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] When we got home it was the first week in September. We did the last round in November and were usually there in a motel for 4-5 days. We had decided that it was more than likely they wouldn’t make it through another winter. The buildings were coming down already and next spring would be too late. The only reason they were still there intact was his friends and neighbors had been keeping the thieves at bay. Out of their fondness for my brother. For six years…[/FONT]
[FONT=&][FONT=&]That’s the kind of guy my brother was, everyone liked him.[/FONT]They told us that they recently had chased off a roll off wrecker along with stories of other times. A couple of the local cops had known him too and they kept an eye on his place also. Needless to say we got the locals stirred up when we arrived with a trailer and Texas plates. We had several visitors come by (more like roaring up) to check us out. I had brought documents of course but, it’s a good thing my brother and I look a lot alike.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] When we got home we scrubbed, cleaned and disinfected everything that we brought back. I’m talking about his personal stuff, his tools, a couple of motorcycles that he had stored inside the house, and all of the original parts from the GTX cars that he had taken off and locked up inside the cabin. Seats, interior trim, exterior trim, carburetors, all of the badging, emblems, wheels, and he had even taken off the hood ornaments. I found them neatly wrapped in cloth tucked in one of his cabinet drawers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] Time has passed but, it was still really tough. While getting his things packed I had my tears but, some good chuckles too. He had a great (kind of oddball) sense of humor and he always made me laugh. I miss that goofy grin of his.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] I said I was going to condense this story and I’ve already written three pages.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] I’m not much at typing and I didn’t mean to write a book though it’s a story worth telling. I will have to fill you in on the cars and how the renos’ are coming a little later. [/FONT]
[FONT=&] We’re making good progress even counting for our inexperience with renovating. I finally found a local auto paint supplier and picked up the paint (PPG) for my car the other day. I’ve never seen paint that looked so gorgeous just lying there in the can. [/FONT]
[FONT=&] The weather hasn’t been cooperating at all (it’s usually warmer in Texas) but, our body guy/painter still has some work to do yet.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] My car’s body was a little wrinkled but, (Thanks little brother) there were extra fenders from a Belvedere donor car my brother had there on the property. One fender for each GTX & each got the correct sides, too. My car has nice floor and trunk pans while the 4spd pans are really rusty from sitting in the dirt and having the carpet still in.(more leaks) But, the 4spd’s body is better than mine. Mine had dents all down the side. My brother was always a cautious and safe driver so; I don’t know what happened there.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] We’re doing mine first and then my husband says he’s just going to do a basic black paint on the 4spd and just concentrate on speed. Ha Ha But, I know him and he’ll have to make it look bad A** too.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Meanwhile the pictures will have to tell the story until I’m ready for more (slooowwww) typing.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thanks All[/FONT]
[FONT=&] Since retrieving them from a thousand miles away we have put a lot of our time (along with hard work & $) into learning about “Mopars”. We’ve always been Chevy people but, don’t hold that against us. We don’t mind coming over to play on the Dodge/ Chrysler Plymouth team (if you’ll have us [/FONT]J[FONT=&]) simply for the love of cool old cars. That’s what it’s about after all. We hope that some of you are willing to put up with our newbie questions and our re-education. We grew up in the 60’s and 70’s so we haven’t accustomed to being schooled in a long time. Kinda thought we were past it but, here we go.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] This is a long story but, I will try to tell a condensed version.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] One of these cars originally was mine. The silver automatic. I bought it when I was seventeen from the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] owner. I had it for 2-3 yrs and sold it to my younger brother when I got married, had a child, needed money, blah, blah, blah.. He had wanted it from day one and never let up on me, always trying to get me to sell it to him. I finally did and he hung on to it from that day on. About six years ago when the economy tanked he was still living in Georgia and I had moved away via Montana-New Mexico- and settled in Texas. Our economy stayed pretty strong and he couldn’t get work there so we asked him to come to Texas. He came out, got a good job but, he still had his cabin, all his possessions & cars in Georgia. He was here for around 3 yrs and lived about 20 minutes from me. He was happy and he seemed to love it here,. Suddenly one day I got that call that we all dread that rips your heart out. He was at work in his job as a construction materials driver and radioed his supervisor telling him that he didn’t think he should drive back to the shop yet because he was feeling kind of dizzy. They tried checking on him a few minutes later and couldn’t raise him on the radio again. The EMT’s tried their best but, couldn’t get a pulse. He never regained consciousness. Man that was a tough one for me. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]I told my siblings that they could do whatever they needed to about his place and his things. I had already taken care of the ceremony. I couldn’t handle it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Three years past and they hadn’t ever been to his place in Georgia. I knew when he died that he still had the GTX I had once owned and probably his regular herd of cars (usually 6-8 at a time). My older sister didn’t care the least bit for old cars. (Like my Mom had been about my Dad’s old cars) Both of our parents were gone and none of the family lived there anymore, my sister and older brother were here in TX. Nothing had been done with his things in Georgia after 3yrs and I figured the cars were either stripped clean or gone.(a lot of thieves in the area)[/FONT]
[FONT=&] My son was going to GA to visit his kids so we asked him to go over and check on the place. He came back and said everything was still there. My husband and I decided to go and get my brothers things and whatever cars were salvageable and bring them to Texas. If we didn’t no one else could or would do it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] We took our 16ft enclosed trailer and headed out. We wanted to get his personal belongings and see what we might be up against if any cars were salvageable. The place was badly overgrown; the roof was caving in and had caused some really bad leaks. There was a nasty mold growing on everything in his cabin and it had sickening sweet smell that permeated everything in there. The cars were barely visible behind his house, covered in leaves, vines and brush. There was a surprise though. A second GTX, a four speed with a Dana. I have no idea when or where he got it but,from the looks of it, it had been there for a long time. The wheels were sunk into the ground and it was basically resting on it’s floor in the dirt. We were totally overwhelmed once reality struck and we realized that it was going to be a huge job to retrieve his things much less any of his cars. He had covered them when he left. After six plus years the car covers had disintegrated and the cars’ wheels were buried a foot or more in the dirt. We weren’t anywhere near having the equipment, tools, and planning to get them back to Texas. We loaded what we could into our trailer from inside his house. We hauled butt back home and that was our first 2000 mile round trip. We bought a car trailer about 50 miles from home and mounted a winch. We did four (almost back to back) trips total. We were pretty worn out by that last trip and have been working on the cars ever since. Just getting them cleaned up has made a huge improvement in my opinion. We’ve started both of them but, they have a ways to go before being road worthy.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] When we got home it was the first week in September. We did the last round in November and were usually there in a motel for 4-5 days. We had decided that it was more than likely they wouldn’t make it through another winter. The buildings were coming down already and next spring would be too late. The only reason they were still there intact was his friends and neighbors had been keeping the thieves at bay. Out of their fondness for my brother. For six years…[/FONT]
[FONT=&][FONT=&]That’s the kind of guy my brother was, everyone liked him.[/FONT]They told us that they recently had chased off a roll off wrecker along with stories of other times. A couple of the local cops had known him too and they kept an eye on his place also. Needless to say we got the locals stirred up when we arrived with a trailer and Texas plates. We had several visitors come by (more like roaring up) to check us out. I had brought documents of course but, it’s a good thing my brother and I look a lot alike.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] When we got home we scrubbed, cleaned and disinfected everything that we brought back. I’m talking about his personal stuff, his tools, a couple of motorcycles that he had stored inside the house, and all of the original parts from the GTX cars that he had taken off and locked up inside the cabin. Seats, interior trim, exterior trim, carburetors, all of the badging, emblems, wheels, and he had even taken off the hood ornaments. I found them neatly wrapped in cloth tucked in one of his cabinet drawers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] Time has passed but, it was still really tough. While getting his things packed I had my tears but, some good chuckles too. He had a great (kind of oddball) sense of humor and he always made me laugh. I miss that goofy grin of his.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] I said I was going to condense this story and I’ve already written three pages.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] I’m not much at typing and I didn’t mean to write a book though it’s a story worth telling. I will have to fill you in on the cars and how the renos’ are coming a little later. [/FONT]
[FONT=&] We’re making good progress even counting for our inexperience with renovating. I finally found a local auto paint supplier and picked up the paint (PPG) for my car the other day. I’ve never seen paint that looked so gorgeous just lying there in the can. [/FONT]
[FONT=&] The weather hasn’t been cooperating at all (it’s usually warmer in Texas) but, our body guy/painter still has some work to do yet.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] My car’s body was a little wrinkled but, (Thanks little brother) there were extra fenders from a Belvedere donor car my brother had there on the property. One fender for each GTX & each got the correct sides, too. My car has nice floor and trunk pans while the 4spd pans are really rusty from sitting in the dirt and having the carpet still in.(more leaks) But, the 4spd’s body is better than mine. Mine had dents all down the side. My brother was always a cautious and safe driver so; I don’t know what happened there.[/FONT]
[FONT=&] We’re doing mine first and then my husband says he’s just going to do a basic black paint on the 4spd and just concentrate on speed. Ha Ha But, I know him and he’ll have to make it look bad A** too.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Meanwhile the pictures will have to tell the story until I’m ready for more (slooowwww) typing.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thanks All[/FONT]
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