SFGT440
New Member
Hey all. I've always liked the Mopar C body cars. My first was a 1971 Sport Fury GT 440 which I bought in 1974. In a weak (stupid) moment I decided not only to build up the engine but to convert it to a 4-speed, which I did... it came out okay but I would never, ever recommend that project to anyone when an automatic with a stall converter is more reliable and consistent. Sold the car in 1985, and recently learned that the car still exists and has had some restoration, and is still the same 4 speed I installed in it. The person who spotted it and contacted me had all the right details to confirm that it's my old car - which I was told was once reported stolen for the insurance money so who knows what is up with the title etc.!
(By the way, for those who might wonder about it, at the time I bought the clutch linkage that was used in the 69-71 that came with the 3 speed stick. I went to a Mopar dealer, told the parts guy what I wanted and he said "Okay.... and started writing down part numbers. I forget how many there were but it was not a cheap proposition even back then, in about '76, but I did have all the right parts at least.)
About 15 years ago I decided to have another similar car. I bought a 70 GT that had been repainted but it was a huge mistake. The 'burnt orange' looked like rustoleum it was that dull, and the underside of the car was a rust nightmare. Big, big mistake. I sold it off and decided to buy a regular Sport Fury and maybe do a clone. I bought a rolling chassis 70 Sport Fury from out West and it's got minimal rust, the firewall and trunk and floor pans and doors are perfect. I've got a NOS deck lid and spare hood and fenders, there is a very built up 440 with a racing automatic installed, the car has been converted to front power disks. I have a ton of parts - carb still in the box. MSD high perf ignition still in the box, lots of lenses and valances and trim and you name it. I also bought a '71 Sport Fury grille because I think it looks a lot nicer, and I have never seen a 70 Sport Fury grille that had the 'ribs' in the grill line up properly on the hidden headlight doors. The 71 grille is much nicer, and most people, if you don't tell them, they won't know whether it's got the wrong grille for a '70. I might or might not use it but I do have it, it's an option. I also have a set of the front turn signal lenses which I'm told are scarce as hens teeth.
I've become a dad just a few years ago (rather late in life, but...) and don't know when or if I'll ever get the time to resume working on the Sport Fury so I'm debating on selling it off. I have a TON of parts and good stuff; the engine is installed and has a set of Hooker Competition Plus (?, they only sold one line of C body headers, they cost me $500+ in 1999) ceramic coated headers, I've got new leaf springs installed, the interior is out and the front end sheet metal is off, it's a work in progress that I wish I had time to work on. So, I'm debating whether to continue or bail out on it. It would help if I had a two car garage that was more than the minimal size for two cars.
This is my 71 Sport Fury GT as-bought and stock when I was a dumb 17 year old:
Here it is in my folks' driveway after conversion to a 4 speed. L60's fit neatly underneath it on the stock road wheels. I applied for a GT440 plate and got GT441, talk about sad. I had a 4.56 posi rearend in it and at ten or fifteen mph, flooring the gas would send them up in smoke. The car had a street hemi cam, was blueprinted and clearanced, Edelbrock Torker and Hooker headers, the whole thing was preposterous. The car apparently still exists, somewhere on the southwest side of the Chicago metro area.
Car Craft magazine came to my town to write up the local hot rod hangout for their 'Cruisin' USA' series in '79 or so, and I made a point of being there - my GT got into the magazine in this pic. Some friends and I (I'm the kid with the glasses sitting on the front fender) are hanging around the front end.
Here's the front end of my current project car. The engine and trans came out of a car that was being drag raced. The intention was to paint the whole car 'Ice Blue' I think the color is. I thought it would be perfect for this body style. (Standard color on this car was beige, bleah.)
Another view of the car with the road wheels I bought which are practically new. There's a small biff on the passenger side, the car had been being parted out and where it was sitting, someone didn't worry about bumping it. But it's very straight and has minimal rust for this series. The underside has so little rust that the original nuts and bolts came apart without much trouble - it's in better shape underneath than my '71 GT was in '74. This car came with factory vinyl roof but I like this roofline a lot better without, so I got the trim pieces for the rear quarter windows needed to do away with the vinyl. Talk about hard parts to get, and that was a long time ago. BTW the major problem with the body is hail damage - but I've got a different hood, a NOS deck lid, and the only thing that needs to be fixed for hail dents is the roof, if someone wanted to go ahead and continue de-vinyling it. Otherwise this car with ice blue and maybe a white vinyl roof would look really nice, though my preference is no vinyl.
So that's where I am right now. If not for becoming a dad I'd have time and probably money to work on and finish the car but I wouldn't trade my son for anything. Question is do I hang onto the car for years more and hope I have time to finish it someday, or...?
(By the way, for those who might wonder about it, at the time I bought the clutch linkage that was used in the 69-71 that came with the 3 speed stick. I went to a Mopar dealer, told the parts guy what I wanted and he said "Okay.... and started writing down part numbers. I forget how many there were but it was not a cheap proposition even back then, in about '76, but I did have all the right parts at least.)
About 15 years ago I decided to have another similar car. I bought a 70 GT that had been repainted but it was a huge mistake. The 'burnt orange' looked like rustoleum it was that dull, and the underside of the car was a rust nightmare. Big, big mistake. I sold it off and decided to buy a regular Sport Fury and maybe do a clone. I bought a rolling chassis 70 Sport Fury from out West and it's got minimal rust, the firewall and trunk and floor pans and doors are perfect. I've got a NOS deck lid and spare hood and fenders, there is a very built up 440 with a racing automatic installed, the car has been converted to front power disks. I have a ton of parts - carb still in the box. MSD high perf ignition still in the box, lots of lenses and valances and trim and you name it. I also bought a '71 Sport Fury grille because I think it looks a lot nicer, and I have never seen a 70 Sport Fury grille that had the 'ribs' in the grill line up properly on the hidden headlight doors. The 71 grille is much nicer, and most people, if you don't tell them, they won't know whether it's got the wrong grille for a '70. I might or might not use it but I do have it, it's an option. I also have a set of the front turn signal lenses which I'm told are scarce as hens teeth.
I've become a dad just a few years ago (rather late in life, but...) and don't know when or if I'll ever get the time to resume working on the Sport Fury so I'm debating on selling it off. I have a TON of parts and good stuff; the engine is installed and has a set of Hooker Competition Plus (?, they only sold one line of C body headers, they cost me $500+ in 1999) ceramic coated headers, I've got new leaf springs installed, the interior is out and the front end sheet metal is off, it's a work in progress that I wish I had time to work on. So, I'm debating whether to continue or bail out on it. It would help if I had a two car garage that was more than the minimal size for two cars.
This is my 71 Sport Fury GT as-bought and stock when I was a dumb 17 year old:
Here it is in my folks' driveway after conversion to a 4 speed. L60's fit neatly underneath it on the stock road wheels. I applied for a GT440 plate and got GT441, talk about sad. I had a 4.56 posi rearend in it and at ten or fifteen mph, flooring the gas would send them up in smoke. The car had a street hemi cam, was blueprinted and clearanced, Edelbrock Torker and Hooker headers, the whole thing was preposterous. The car apparently still exists, somewhere on the southwest side of the Chicago metro area.
Car Craft magazine came to my town to write up the local hot rod hangout for their 'Cruisin' USA' series in '79 or so, and I made a point of being there - my GT got into the magazine in this pic. Some friends and I (I'm the kid with the glasses sitting on the front fender) are hanging around the front end.
Here's the front end of my current project car. The engine and trans came out of a car that was being drag raced. The intention was to paint the whole car 'Ice Blue' I think the color is. I thought it would be perfect for this body style. (Standard color on this car was beige, bleah.)
Another view of the car with the road wheels I bought which are practically new. There's a small biff on the passenger side, the car had been being parted out and where it was sitting, someone didn't worry about bumping it. But it's very straight and has minimal rust for this series. The underside has so little rust that the original nuts and bolts came apart without much trouble - it's in better shape underneath than my '71 GT was in '74. This car came with factory vinyl roof but I like this roofline a lot better without, so I got the trim pieces for the rear quarter windows needed to do away with the vinyl. Talk about hard parts to get, and that was a long time ago. BTW the major problem with the body is hail damage - but I've got a different hood, a NOS deck lid, and the only thing that needs to be fixed for hail dents is the roof, if someone wanted to go ahead and continue de-vinyling it. Otherwise this car with ice blue and maybe a white vinyl roof would look really nice, though my preference is no vinyl.
So that's where I am right now. If not for becoming a dad I'd have time and probably money to work on and finish the car but I wouldn't trade my son for anything. Question is do I hang onto the car for years more and hope I have time to finish it someday, or...?
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