69bronzeT5
Well-Known Member
- Local time
- 11:38 PM
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2008
- Messages
- 64
- Reaction score
- 29
- Location
- Mission, British Columbia
Just over a year ago, the 3rd generation (1971 Chargers particularly) bug bit me hard. In July 2015, a good friend had a beautiful Hemi Orange 1971 Super Bee replica with a 440 4 speed and he offered it to me for a screaming deal. I instantly became obsessed with the car, I had to have it.
I worked every night writing articles for the Mopar magazine I write for, anything to get extra money to buy the car. To get a good portion of the money, I worked a deal with another good friend to sell my Duster to him as he's wanted it for years. I had a good portion of it together when I got a message from him back in April of this year; he sold the car. It turns out he offered the car to another friend of his back in 2012 or so for the same price. His friend never said much about it and then out of the blue, showed up at his door with the cash and wanted it, so he honored his word and sold it. I was a bit heart broken but understood. However, the bug still had me good. I instantly starting searching for another 1971 Charger. Craigslist, Kijiji, you name it. I started looking for an equivalent car when I had a bit of a brain storm. Instead of dropping all of this money on a finished car at this point in the game, why not find a project car for a lot cheaper. I'm currently working on starting a career that needs a few thousand for schooling so I figured I'd put a portion of the money aside for that, buy myself a '71 Charger project to work on to cure the itch and then put the rest of the money in my '69. I decided I wanted either a R/T or Super Bee and wouldn't settle for any less. I remembered a Plum Crazy R/T project that was for sale a month or so before not too far away. I looked into it and found out it had sold. Darn. Then I remembered a buddy had a F8 Green '71 R/T project in storage so I shot him a message. He didn't want to sell. Another dead end. Then I decided to message a friend of mine in Alberta. Knowing he had a very vast collection of Mopars, I figured he might know where I could find a '71 R/T or Bee. He messaged me back a few days later and told me he had two Chargers he might sell. One being a white 383 4 speed 500 model shell and the other being a R/T. Instantly interested in the R/T, I asked more about it. The more he told me, the more I wanted it. After dealing on the car for a few months and having him send me pictures, I made the 12 hour trek out to this place and picked up the car this past weekend. I'm over the moon excited about this one. It's a cool feeling saying you own not one, but two Chargers! I sold my Duster that I've owned since 2009 to make this deal happen (and also for money for schooling for my career) but it went to a good friend of mine so it made it a lot easier to sell.
So, the skinny on the car. It's an early production car sold new at Crosstown Motors in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally GY3 Citron Yella, it came equipped with a black interior, black vinyl top and black stripes. Console shift automatic. At some point in the '80s, it was painted B7 Blue and big Appliance mags were installed. The original seats were recovered in a funky cloth material- black with blue inserts. It was definitely the definition of '80s customization. The original 440 is long gone but sitting between the fenders is a '69 date coded 440. The transmission is from a 1974 C-body. At some point it had a really bad 4 speed conversion and an even worse conversion back to automatic LOL. I have the fender tag and managed to recover most of the buildsheet from the back seat. On a side note, I found parts of another buildsheet under the front passenger seat but they are for a 383 powered '71. Unfortunately the sequence number isn't on the parts I found of that sheet so there is no way of knowing which exact car it came from. I decoded my sheet with some help of my friend Kori Alexander and this is what I found it was equipped with from the factory:
D53 3.23:1 gears
D91 Sure grip Differential
U86 G60x15 RWL Polyglass Tires
W22 Rallye Wheels w/ Trim rings
V01 Mono tone paint
47X9 Black 3 spoke Steering Wheel
Y13 Dealer demo car
C16 Console w/ buckets
C23 Rear arm rests w/ ashtrays
C55 Bucket seats
C93 Carpet
B41 Front disc brakes
B51 Power assist disc brakes
F56 Anti freeze (-35)
F25 70 amp-hr cold weather battery- red cap
G41 Inside day/night mirror
J55 Undercoat and underhood pad
A01 Light package
A09 Concealed Headlamps (hideaways)
E86 440-4 barrel HP engine
D32 HD A-727 TorqueFlite trans
D.-96X9 Buckets/ Vinyl- Black
V1X Black Vinyl Roof
GY3 Citron Yella
V6X Black Longitudal Stripes
L31 Fender Mount Turn Signals
L25 Trunk Compartment Light
S15 Hemi X-HD suspension w/ front sway bar(std R/T)
J41 Hood Pins
J52 Inside hood release
J25 3 speed variable wipers
J41 Pedal Dress Up (std R/T)
L72 Head Lamp Warning
H31 Rear Defogger
The story goes that my friend saw this car driving around all the time when he was a kid. The owner would stop and talk to him about the car when he was out riding his BMX. He became attached to the car and one day when it vanished, he always wondered after that where it went. The image of the shiny blue R/T (it had already been repainted blue at this point) was always in his head. Early last year, he found a banged up blue '71 R/T while out for a drive one day. He stopped and asked about it and found out the guy selling it happened to be the son of the original owner. He had passed away and left his son the car. The son didn't want it so he was selling it. He had just put it in the front yard with a for sale sign. Not too long after he put it out in the front yard, someone came by and smashed the passenger side and back windows out. My friend bought it right away and took it home. When he got home, he couldn't stop looking at it- he knew he recognized it somewhere from the wheels. That's when he realized it was the same car from his childhood, just in a lot worse shape than when he saw it last.
The car itself needs some decent sheet metal rust repair. The lower quarters and rocker panels are hooped. The doors need lower metal repair but thankfully the R/T gills are in good shape. The passenger fender will be replaced but the driver's side is useable. I do know the grilles in the car are from a '72
On a positive note, when I cleaned the car out, I discovered a flawless trunk floor and interior floor pans (with the exception of a small rust hole on the driver's front pan). The frame rails and torsion bar cross member are mint- they are the cleanest I have seen. My plans are to restore it back to it's original equipped form. I've decided since it's not the original 440, I will have some fun and add some go-fast goodies. I've been a member of the 2nd generation club since 1998 so I'm still getting used to being a member of the 3rd generation club now. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!!! :cheers:
I worked every night writing articles for the Mopar magazine I write for, anything to get extra money to buy the car. To get a good portion of the money, I worked a deal with another good friend to sell my Duster to him as he's wanted it for years. I had a good portion of it together when I got a message from him back in April of this year; he sold the car. It turns out he offered the car to another friend of his back in 2012 or so for the same price. His friend never said much about it and then out of the blue, showed up at his door with the cash and wanted it, so he honored his word and sold it. I was a bit heart broken but understood. However, the bug still had me good. I instantly starting searching for another 1971 Charger. Craigslist, Kijiji, you name it. I started looking for an equivalent car when I had a bit of a brain storm. Instead of dropping all of this money on a finished car at this point in the game, why not find a project car for a lot cheaper. I'm currently working on starting a career that needs a few thousand for schooling so I figured I'd put a portion of the money aside for that, buy myself a '71 Charger project to work on to cure the itch and then put the rest of the money in my '69. I decided I wanted either a R/T or Super Bee and wouldn't settle for any less. I remembered a Plum Crazy R/T project that was for sale a month or so before not too far away. I looked into it and found out it had sold. Darn. Then I remembered a buddy had a F8 Green '71 R/T project in storage so I shot him a message. He didn't want to sell. Another dead end. Then I decided to message a friend of mine in Alberta. Knowing he had a very vast collection of Mopars, I figured he might know where I could find a '71 R/T or Bee. He messaged me back a few days later and told me he had two Chargers he might sell. One being a white 383 4 speed 500 model shell and the other being a R/T. Instantly interested in the R/T, I asked more about it. The more he told me, the more I wanted it. After dealing on the car for a few months and having him send me pictures, I made the 12 hour trek out to this place and picked up the car this past weekend. I'm over the moon excited about this one. It's a cool feeling saying you own not one, but two Chargers! I sold my Duster that I've owned since 2009 to make this deal happen (and also for money for schooling for my career) but it went to a good friend of mine so it made it a lot easier to sell.
So, the skinny on the car. It's an early production car sold new at Crosstown Motors in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally GY3 Citron Yella, it came equipped with a black interior, black vinyl top and black stripes. Console shift automatic. At some point in the '80s, it was painted B7 Blue and big Appliance mags were installed. The original seats were recovered in a funky cloth material- black with blue inserts. It was definitely the definition of '80s customization. The original 440 is long gone but sitting between the fenders is a '69 date coded 440. The transmission is from a 1974 C-body. At some point it had a really bad 4 speed conversion and an even worse conversion back to automatic LOL. I have the fender tag and managed to recover most of the buildsheet from the back seat. On a side note, I found parts of another buildsheet under the front passenger seat but they are for a 383 powered '71. Unfortunately the sequence number isn't on the parts I found of that sheet so there is no way of knowing which exact car it came from. I decoded my sheet with some help of my friend Kori Alexander and this is what I found it was equipped with from the factory:
D53 3.23:1 gears
D91 Sure grip Differential
U86 G60x15 RWL Polyglass Tires
W22 Rallye Wheels w/ Trim rings
V01 Mono tone paint
47X9 Black 3 spoke Steering Wheel
Y13 Dealer demo car
C16 Console w/ buckets
C23 Rear arm rests w/ ashtrays
C55 Bucket seats
C93 Carpet
B41 Front disc brakes
B51 Power assist disc brakes
F56 Anti freeze (-35)
F25 70 amp-hr cold weather battery- red cap
G41 Inside day/night mirror
J55 Undercoat and underhood pad
A01 Light package
A09 Concealed Headlamps (hideaways)
E86 440-4 barrel HP engine
D32 HD A-727 TorqueFlite trans
D.-96X9 Buckets/ Vinyl- Black
V1X Black Vinyl Roof
GY3 Citron Yella
V6X Black Longitudal Stripes
L31 Fender Mount Turn Signals
L25 Trunk Compartment Light
S15 Hemi X-HD suspension w/ front sway bar(std R/T)
J41 Hood Pins
J52 Inside hood release
J25 3 speed variable wipers
J41 Pedal Dress Up (std R/T)
L72 Head Lamp Warning
H31 Rear Defogger
The story goes that my friend saw this car driving around all the time when he was a kid. The owner would stop and talk to him about the car when he was out riding his BMX. He became attached to the car and one day when it vanished, he always wondered after that where it went. The image of the shiny blue R/T (it had already been repainted blue at this point) was always in his head. Early last year, he found a banged up blue '71 R/T while out for a drive one day. He stopped and asked about it and found out the guy selling it happened to be the son of the original owner. He had passed away and left his son the car. The son didn't want it so he was selling it. He had just put it in the front yard with a for sale sign. Not too long after he put it out in the front yard, someone came by and smashed the passenger side and back windows out. My friend bought it right away and took it home. When he got home, he couldn't stop looking at it- he knew he recognized it somewhere from the wheels. That's when he realized it was the same car from his childhood, just in a lot worse shape than when he saw it last.
The car itself needs some decent sheet metal rust repair. The lower quarters and rocker panels are hooped. The doors need lower metal repair but thankfully the R/T gills are in good shape. The passenger fender will be replaced but the driver's side is useable. I do know the grilles in the car are from a '72
On a positive note, when I cleaned the car out, I discovered a flawless trunk floor and interior floor pans (with the exception of a small rust hole on the driver's front pan). The frame rails and torsion bar cross member are mint- they are the cleanest I have seen. My plans are to restore it back to it's original equipped form. I've decided since it's not the original 440, I will have some fun and add some go-fast goodies. I've been a member of the 2nd generation club since 1998 so I'm still getting used to being a member of the 3rd generation club now. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!!! :cheers:
very cool project 
