Thanks for the kind words
the story behind the car is as follows: back in January of '04 I was looking for a black 71 Cuda when I saw an ad in Cudaworld.com for this 71 TX9 383 4spd all matching #'s project in Ohio. It was well optioned with PDB, PS, fr/rr sway bars, dual chrome mirrors, ralley dash, console, rear defrost among others. Upon contacting the seller I was told that he reconsidered and decided not to sell and that the ad was pulled. Disapointed I asked that he keep me in mind if he decided to sell in the future. I would call on occasion to stay in touch and talk about his black AAR and black T/A (he restores his own cars himself and my cuda was a future resto for him). Well two and a half years later I get a email saying he is ready to sell, although the timing was not good for me (my first daughter was only months from being born) I went for it. It went to my buddys shop in MI where resto began in earnest. I had no idea what I was getting myself into!
I guess patience and $$$ is the key because murphys law comes into play over and over.
I think the most expensive part of the restoration is the price of getting the subassemblies and such restored; $800 to restore the dash pad (Just dashes), $1900 to restore the dash assembly (RTE), $2200 for the level I suspension (XV Motorsports), $2000 for date coded glass (ECS), and on and on
. Then there is the cost of NOS sheet metal
NOS fenders, NOS inner fenders, NOS fr valance, NOS dutchman panel, NOS trunk floor and NOS extensions = $$$$$$. I had this car built for me, so it was a no expense spared resto, the craftmanship my friend Larry applied to this car is second to none! I would also like to thank board members moparDave (Rosevillemoparts) and AZ-Nick (Nick's Classic Parts) for there help in making my resto come to fruition. My advise to anyone contemplating a similar adventure is to save $$$$$$ and have ALOT of patience and don't get discouraged because sh*t happens...alot! But it's worth it!!!
