Hello all, stumbled upon this site while doing some research for a project.  Seems to be a good place to share and gather some info.  Said project is a 1971 Grand Prix SJ.  Found it online and purchased it from the original owner.  Unfortunately it has sat outside for many years and has gathered a great deal of surface rust along with the typical outdoor fading and rubber seal cracking.  On the other hand it is exceptionally untouched and unmodified.  It is going to be completely disassembled and reassembled, new paint, mounts and seals.  The only rot is a couple of quarter panels.  I am on the fence in regards to the motor and transmission as they both are in good working order and all original.  Maybe slight mod to the cam and heads?  It has a 455 with the 400 turbo.  Interior wise, the bucket seats will be getting refreshed as will the carpet.  The back seat is exceptional although a very good conditioning / cleaning is needed.   Amazingly when I removed the drivers interior door panel, the original build sheet was still taped inside!  It was a fun find!  Looking forward to sharing updates and reading more about everyones Poncho projects!

All things considered it sounds like it’s not in horrible shape. Excited to see more on the coming build!

Great find.  Always liked that dash. Good luck on your project.

Awesome find! Gonna be a sweet ride once all the work is done. Good luck with it!

 

IMHO, since it has never been modified, I would restore it to factory original. You may have a somewhat rare '71 GP, considering the ton of options on the build sheet.... In particular the L75 455HO motor and positraction. 

Edited July 14, 20187 yr by stratman

Thanks for the input Stratman.  My thought is to do a complete restore to original.  It runs great, after cleaning up the points.  I already have the hood cleaned up and in primer.  Passenger side fender, door and wheel well are removed, it looks like a quarter panel needs to be replaced, bummer about the wheel well, just the outer edge is gone, the rest in great shape.  I was thinking new wheel wells anyway when i purchased.    Front bumper is off to be re-chromed and the rear bumper is almost off.  I suppose the paint should be redone in original color to keep it to spec , hoping for a very late winter or early spring but it may not be until next summer.