bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
Wow! That's a bummer. I'd like to see more pictures of the problem areas, just to see if it's obvious enough that Murray should have disclosed it on the ebay auction. When you go back and read the posts concerning this car, there must be some that are quite relieved they didn't bid the big money.
Sadly, you're going to need a complete donor car to fix that GT. Ideally, you would want a 1971 "23" body two door hardtop. 1969 and 1970 "23" cars will offer you the exterior sheetmetal that you need, but they are different underneath. 1971 was the first year for the rubber isolated stub frame on Plymouths, so the front frame, front floors, and some of the bracing will be different. With the amount of rust that's on your GT, I find it hard to believe that the stub frame is in good shape. I bet it's paper thin on top near the rear mounts, and the mounting points on the body may be rusted too. For that reason, I would look only for a 1971 donor car. Second choice would be a "29" body "formal" 2 door hardtop. This car will get you most of what you need with the exception of the sheet metal around the rear window. The 29's tend to be cheaper than the 23's, and seem to come up for sale more often. Next on the list would be a four door hardtop. It will still get you much of what you will need, and be easier and cheaper to find a rust-free example. The floors, cowl, a-pillars, trunk, fenders, and stub frame are all the same. The rockers will need some modifying, and you'll have much of what you need to patch the quarters. If you have rust over the rear wheel opening, some fabricating will need to be done there. The four door won't offer anything for around the rear window, but that can be fabbed using a shrinker-stretcher set.
Good luck. It's going to be a long road back to life for that one.
Jeff
Sadly, you're going to need a complete donor car to fix that GT. Ideally, you would want a 1971 "23" body two door hardtop. 1969 and 1970 "23" cars will offer you the exterior sheetmetal that you need, but they are different underneath. 1971 was the first year for the rubber isolated stub frame on Plymouths, so the front frame, front floors, and some of the bracing will be different. With the amount of rust that's on your GT, I find it hard to believe that the stub frame is in good shape. I bet it's paper thin on top near the rear mounts, and the mounting points on the body may be rusted too. For that reason, I would look only for a 1971 donor car. Second choice would be a "29" body "formal" 2 door hardtop. This car will get you most of what you need with the exception of the sheet metal around the rear window. The 29's tend to be cheaper than the 23's, and seem to come up for sale more often. Next on the list would be a four door hardtop. It will still get you much of what you will need, and be easier and cheaper to find a rust-free example. The floors, cowl, a-pillars, trunk, fenders, and stub frame are all the same. The rockers will need some modifying, and you'll have much of what you need to patch the quarters. If you have rust over the rear wheel opening, some fabricating will need to be done there. The four door won't offer anything for around the rear window, but that can be fabbed using a shrinker-stretcher set.
Good luck. It's going to be a long road back to life for that one.
Jeff
