RE: 1971 Challenger R/T
Wow Andrew...What a great find! I am sure that replacing floorboards are a given for that...Trivia time, Kids! Does anybody know why our beloved Chryslers rusted out so fast? Back in the day, when this Red '71 (yes, it is a legit R/T Andrew!) made its transition from a stack of sheetmetal to a body unit, it was dipped by Chrysler SEVEN times in various chromate, acid wash and primer processes to protect the undercarraige. The pools that the bodies were dipped in to were only about 22" or so inches deep. Andrew, when you pull that dash off, you will see a definite line when the dipping process stopped and the overspray began about halfway up the firewall.
Anyway, back to the R/Ts journey to an assembled car. While the Chally was dipped in these wash processes, every other step was a vat of water. So imagine taking a bare piece of metal, dipping it in acid, then zinc, then primer and so on, with water in between...You got RUST! All those wierd ribs in the floorpan weren't stamped there because the engineers thought they were cool, they were there to aid in drainage (notice the rubber plug?).
As far as the reverse-manual valve body? That's an easy fix. Drag racers like the kit, because the shift arrangement went PRN12D as opposed to the PRND12 that we are used to. My advice? Yank the 727, hack out the tranny hump, get a T56, call year one, and get a manual tranny floor hump. Problem solved!
The floorpans can be cut out at the spotwelds, and retacked in if rust is that big a problem.
I can't think of the company that makes repro stainless lines, I want to say its Fine Lines, inc. The fuel tank is two 9/16' castle nuts on J-hook bolts that hold the tank straps. Drain the tank, and either douse the J-hooks with WD40, or take a propane torch and torch the hooks to dissolve the corrosion. There will be either one or two spring clamps on the fuel lines, a lead for the sender, and its out. If you cut the tank apart, you might find some funny stuff crayoned on the inside of the tank!
Later
Kelly