So this barn find finds me...

[Mike DC]

  
The grille plastic is an unusual situation.  It's made of 5 separate pieces and several of them call for very expensive toolings.  Most old car grilles in this much demand would have gotten a reproduction 15+ years ago.  But we may never get new Charger grilles, barring some unprecedented technological leap that dramatically drops the tooling prices.


When they did the "Dukes of Hazzard" remake movie in 2004, the film crew gave up on getting a whole fleet of '69 grilles.  The got some cheap fiberglass knockoffs (not usable for your car) to use on their stunt cars.  They painted the grilles entirely black on all the Generals to help hide the inconsistency.
 

[DTB]

 
The grille plastic is an unusual situation.  It's made of 5 separate pieces and several of them call for very expensive toolings.  Most old car grilles in this much demand would have gotten a reproduction 15+ years ago.  But we may never get new Charger grilles, barring some unprecedented technological leap that dramatically drops the tooling prices.


When they did the "Dukes of Hazzard" remake movie in 2004, the film crew gave up on getting a whole fleet of '69 grilles.  The got some cheap fiberglass knockoffs (not usable for your car) to use on their stunt cars.  They painted the grilles entirely black on all the Generals to help hide the inconsistency.
 

Care to explain to me more about the cheap fiberglass knockoffs?

[Baldwinvette77]

I think it was this

[Mike DC]

 
Yeah, that seems to be what they used.  Cheapo item, probably no provisions for the hardware, all the slatted openings are visibly blocked off flat to make it feasible to mold from fiberglass, etc. 

The DOH crew ended up drilling a bunch of holes in the blocked-off flat areas to get some semblance of airflow through the grille.  I'm not sure how they fastened them into the car.  (I wouldn't be shocked if it was a bunch of zip-ties or bailing wire or some other crude method.) 

[foobar]

When they did the "Dukes of Hazzard" remake movie in 2004, the film crew gave up on getting a whole fleet of '69 grilles.  The got some cheap fiberglass knockoffs (not usable for your car) to use on their stunt cars.  They painted the grilles entirely black on all the Generals to help hide the inconsistency.

Interesting.  Money is usually not a problem for those guys.

[Indygenerallee]

Interesting.  Money is usually not a problem for those guys.

Contrary, most movie cars are thrown together very quickly and usually the only one that looks good is the close up car and even then if you get close up to them in real life you see the multiple flaws, all about making a killer profit at the box office not making every car show quality.

[DTB]

Not to take this more off topic but after some digging I found this picture. Hadn't paid much attention to them before it was mentioned. Hiding behind the push bar, it wouldn't be as noticeable.

[Mike DC]

 
Yep, there's one of the fiberglass grille knockoffs.


Movie crews actually do spend a lot on muscle cars.  It just doesn't look like it because they just have practically opposite priorities from us.  They don't need the grille of a stunt car to look nice up close.  But that same raggedy stunt car might have a custom hydraulic E-brake that keeps working reliably after 25 hard slides in a row.

[Cooter]

There was a guy here doin em up. Hadda whole grocery cart full of grille centers for 69.
Then came all the 'opinions'..........

[Baldwinvette77]

There was a guy here doin em up. Hadda whole grocery cart full of grille centers for 69.
Then came all the 'opinions'..........

yeah i read about that, He did good work, and what were they like 800$? too much for me, but for one of those guys who run to amd...... 

Seriously though, why is stuff so expensive, the next car i do is gonna be a camaro or mustang  , Look good, are cheap, the end

[Indygenerallee]

Seriously though, why is stuff so expensive, the next car i do is gonna be a camaro or mustang  rotz, Look good, are cheap, the end

Basic economics, supply and demand....

[six-tee-nine]

There was a guy here doin em up. Hadda whole grocery cart full of grille centers for 69.
Then came all the 'opinions'..........

Remeber that one too. Plain sad for all the time he invested in those parts.

If you need a good quality repro part, buy it, pay for it, otherwise shut up.....

[Cooter]

There was a guy here doin em up. Hadda whole grocery cart full of grille centers for 69.
Then came all the 'opinions'..........

yeah i read about that, He did good work, and what were they like 800$? too much for me, but for one of those guys who run to amd...... 

Seriously though, why is stuff so expensive, the next car i do is gonna be a camaro or mustang  , Look good, are cheap, the end

Try $1500.00, but look how many would pay that vs how many wouldn't.  Buy once, cry once.
yep, it's sad. One can but the entire frt. Clip for Camaro, for what two fenders cost for Chargers.

[Bandit72]

I've seen a lot worse fixed (judging from the pics). Check the doors, make sure they open and shut ok. Check the roof and make sure it isn't dented or "creased" anywhere from the body moving. These can be tell tale signs real quick of bigger problems.

[fy469rtse]

Even if its worse, still a good pick up , rest of the car is in great shape for its age ,
Post some good photos once you go and inspect ? We are all waiting now 

[foobar]

I am able to see the car next weekend and will have to make a buy/pass decision.  Can some one point me to a 69-specific "before you buy" checklist/guide?  Thanks in advance.

[foobar]

Ok, so I spent a half a day looking it over and spent a couple of weeks thinking about it and I think that I am going to pass on this one.  Basically, the work required will amount to a frame-off.  I don't have confidence that I can find the right people (local to me) to help me with each part of the rebuild.

If anyone is interested in a real 69 RT, PM me.  The car is located in Long Island and the owner is looking for five figures...

[1965gp]

I have to say I have had pretty good luck getting old motors that have sat getting started. Done it to quite a few cars with pretty good success.

As others have said- soak cylinders with marvel mystery oil for a week. Drain oil and put in fresh with motor flush additive. Turn by hand a few times- soak again with mystery oil. Install new / rebuilt carb. Crank a few times with no fuel and plugs removed until all oil out of cylinders. Then new plugs, wires, points and get it to kick with a little gas down carb. New fuel pump run to clean fuel source- fire it up. It will smoke like crazy (all that oil on cylinder walls) ; let it in a couple minutes; change oil. Do this several times until oil stays clean.

Done this to probably 6-7 cars with excellent results

[foobar]

I am very comfortable w/ engines, too.  I wish it were just getting the engine started... 

Due to the length of time sitting and the climate in that part of the country, all systems and interior bits need a good deal of work.  Everything needs to be at least "freshened"-- this is a big project.

[66FBCharger]

Did you tell the owner you pass?
You said the owner was looking for 5 figures. Is that $10000 or more?

[foobar]

Ultimately, the price is between you and the seller, but yes, I would suggest higher than 10.  You would need to go that high to top my offer.   

Originally, I wanted to purchase and restore the car, so I read and posted here.  Because I am family, I was given first shot at it.  I don't want to pay what they want because I am not in the trade and I do not have trusted shops to take on this level of work-- this was in rougher shape than I thought it would be.  Financially, it would not work out.  Quality-wise, the results would not be what I would want for a car like this.

Again, because they are family, I am helping them out by posting it here.  The rest of the story is up above...

[Ghoste]

Have I asked you about putting it in the 69 Registry yet?

[foobar]

Have I asked you about putting it in the 69 Registry yet?

I did.  There is no 69 registry...

[Ghoste]

There is.

[foobar]

I PM'ed you about this...  Anyway, it is not my car to post.