Black Sheep's 1969 Plymouth GTX

November, 2002: The forecast is for snow this week, soon it will be time to put the GTX away for the winter. I took it out for an afternoon cruise knowing it's probably the last time I'll get to do it for awhile. Before it gets too cold, I've got the Turbo Action valvebody, a fan shroud and 3" wheel studs to install. Once it gets too cold for my propane heater to keep up, I'll have to wait for Spring to come. It's going to be a long Winter...

October, 2002: Somehow the GTX managed to get 2nd place in the 3rd Annual Moparts Internet Car Show. What a shocker! Thanks to all of the Moparts members that voted for me.

August and September, 2002: not much new with the GTX. I went to the White Bear Dodge show "under the lights". Other than that, I've been enjoying cruising North St. Paul on Friday nights and cruising to Porky's. It's been a lot of fun meeting new people. I drive it whenever I can and have logged over 1000 miles since getting it back on the road. All I've had to do is clean it and put gas in it. The season is almost over in Minnesota, then it's time to put it away for the winter. I plan to install a new Turbo Action valvebody, shift light, line-loc and do some more detailing over the Winter.

July 20, 2002: Things have been working out for a change. So far the GTX has logged over 300 miles without any serious problems. Last weekend I took the GTX to a small show at the A&W in Little Canada. It turned out to be mostly street rods but I stuck around for a while then cruised over to Porky's. The Car Craft Summer Nationals were this weekend (July 19-21) Friday was a beautiful day and it wasn't too crowded.

Saturday started with a "monsoon" type downpour. Here I am enjoying the moment! The skies cleared about 11:30 and out came the sun.

It didn't take long to dry the GTX off, then it was time to enjoy the show. There were a lot of nice Mopars at the show. I managed to get pictures of some of them before I gave up and put the camera away.

July 7, 2002: My brother Chris and I swapped the torque converter on Saturday (7-6) It was hot and miserable so I'm grateful for his assistance. A short test drive was all it took to realize how much better the drivability was. Since the drivers side header had to come loose to pull the trans, I was able to fix a coolant leak around one of the header bolts. All that's left to do before Car Craft is a final buff on the paint with swirl remover and a thorough bumper to bumper cleaning.

June 2002: Most of June has been spent tending to minor details. The interior is done. The wheels are balanced, the front end aligned and the exhaust is finished. I just licensed and insured the GTX so now I can legally drive it. In the first two days I put about 50 miles on it without any serious problems.

The engine feels real strong and throttle response is awesome. But, the converter is way too loose. It will have to come back out for adjustment. I have another 10" converter to put in so the GTX will only be down for a day or two. The Car Craft Summer Nats are only 3 weeks away and there's still a lot to do....

May 2002: Here's what I've accomplished this month...
I found a nice used finish panel in the Moparts classified ads (Thanks Joel) I repainted the textured argent and black inserts then finished it off with flat red stripes. The GTX emblem is from Year One.

When I refinished the rear panel, I also refinished the taillight bezels. Though they are not perfect, they are certainly presentable. I used Totally Auto's textured argent in a can. In my opinion, they have an excellent product.

I had to remove the windshield because the lower moldings wouldn't lock into he clips. I found the correct ones at R/T Specialties. The back glass and moldings are in now too!

The repro door panels from Legendary Auto Interiors have been installed. They are a close reproduction but not exact in detail. My biggest complaint is that the rear panels are only stamped for power windows. The original seat belts were cleaned up with Oxyclean and the buckles repainted. Before I put the rear seat back in I glued sound deadener to the trunk divider panel and the rear package tray. I also put fiberglass insulation in the rear seat back and bottom, hoping to reduce interior noise levels.

The interior is finished with the exception of the armrests. If I can't find nice used bases at the swap meet this weekend I'll have to get some from Mr. G's. All that's left is tailpipes and front end alignment. I better take a day off from work so I can get this thing wrapped up...

April 2002: This has been a busy month. We've had some warmer weather so I can spend more time out in the garage. I installed the Moroso 8 quart oil pan that my mother in law gave me for Christmas (nice mother in law huh?) The factory tach is working properly now thanks to a MSD tach adapter. I still need to install the back glass and finish up the interior.

The rear bumper is on the car and I couldn't resist trial fitting the stainless repro tips from Mancini Racing. I'll have to take it back to "Ozzy" for tailpipes. Hopefully having a full exhaust system will tone down the noise level inside the car. The Flowmasters dumping right under the car are awful loud.

The tail light bezels are all refinished except for the textured argent paint. I'm waiting to paint them at the same time as the finish panel. The chrome shop destroyed my original finish panel so I 'm getting one from a fellow Moparts member. As soon as it arrives I'm going to repaint the parts with Totally Auto's textured argent in a spray can. I'll post a picture to show how it turns out. A new Plymouth emblem on the trunk lid replaces the heavily pitted original. I finally have the headliner in. It took a few tries to get it stretched tightly. Once in, the windshield and header moldings were put in place. I also installed the rear view mirror, visors and dome light. I'm pretty happy with the end result.

One of my favorite things about the GTX is the "Air Grabber" system. The underhood ducts draw cooler outside air and routes it directly to the oversize air cleaner. A "Carb Air" knob mounted under the dash controls dampers in the ductwork to allow closing the "Air Grabber" during bad weather.

March 2002: No progress this month.

February 2002: Got the parking brake parts from Arizona bead blasted along with the original parking brake cables. I pulled the rear brakes apart and got the parking brakes operating perfectly.

I chose to upgrade from the 3310 Holley to a Stage III Holley 750 double pumper from J.E.T. It has 4 corner idle mixture adjustment, a milled choke housing and the fuel curve is custom calibrated for my engine specs. All for about the same price as a new Holley HP Series 750 double pumper.

January 2002: X-mas in Arizona gave me a chance to look for some small parts that I needed. I found the parking brake parts that have been missing since I got the car and the door lock linkage I lost somewhere in the garage. Now, if the weather would just warm up....