special or not?

[aussieRT]

Hi everyone, I am just about to start a ground up build on my charger and am just trying to decide which way to go. Let me start by saying I know very little about chargers and any help would be appreciated. I bought the car a couple of years ago, it is a 69 with 440 4 barrel, 4 speed pistol grip with dana 60 rear end. The front sheet metal is good, as are the doors and turret, the floors are all good and around the glass is all good, but the rear quarters, inner rear gaurds, boot and rear valance is all rusted away. This didnt really worry me as i allways intended to go the pro street theme, narrow rear, mini tubs ec. Now i am ready to start the project, i had the panel beater come around to look at the car and give me a quote. He asked me if it was a real RT and i told him i didnt think so(the guy selling it said it was special, but everybody selling a muscle car these days claims it to be special), He offered to check the fender tag for me and do a check. He has since told me that it is something special and that i should seriously think before modding it, i did a bit of a search but depending on what site im on i get a different opinion. He decoded it as
1969 Dodge Charger RT SE Super track pac, 440 four barrel, 4 speed with low ratio (posi trac??) dana 60 rear end. Im not sure if it is the original running gear, but by looking at it if it was swapped out it was done a very long time ago. The interior is pretty sad but all there, and previous owner said he had replaced the low back front buckets with 1970 charger high back bucket seats but other wise its all standard, the engine bay seems unmolested with the only thing that dont seem standard are the aircleaner and possibly the headers. So my first question in whats probaly going to be many, is it special or not?

[70 sublime]

Can you post a couple of pictures of the car and one of the fender tag ?
If you have not got the picture thing figured out can you post the numbers off the fender tag in the order they appear ?

[Cncguy]

Special! If the car is a true R/T it should be restored. In my opinion there are to few of them left to chop and tub.

[TPR]

Hi aussieRT, welcome aboard.
I recommend before making any major decisions try and confirm what you have.
Go here and put in all your fender tag info:

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=87

If it is a '69 RT SE Super track pac, 440 four barrel 4 speed, personally I'd be putting it back how it was born, but of course it's your car, you do what you want.

What state are you from?

Oh yeah, and bring on the pics!
TPR

[polywideblock]

welcome to another aussie         if you post up your vin /fender tag you'll get all the info you need on here    

if it turns out to be an optioned up rt se then I'll add my vote to putting it back to stock   what colour combo do you have  

[six-tee-nine]

Some simple things to check :

If its a real RT, the vin # should start with XS29... NOT XP29...
Maybe check the last didgits on your vin # and see if the numbers that are stamped in the radiator support match. You can find these numbers on the top of radiator support on the right side of the support if you stand in front of the car.
If its a real SE the sail panels should carry the "SE" badge, not the "Charger" emblem.

A pistol grip was not factory for the 69 model year and was a 70 thing. So consider that as not stock.

Take a peek under the car to the rear end. If its a Dana you'll see a steel cover with bolts if you dont you might have the 8-4/3 rear end. (see picture i added for reference)
All 440 and 426 cars with standart transmission came with the Dana 60 from the factory

I could be mistaken but i think the fender tag should be coded D21 for the 4-speed
Also check : http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/

[tan top]

 hello & welcome  , A -R/T !! 

what the other guys say !!   

looking forward to seeing pictures as & when 

[fy469rtse]

You need to put this car in the charger registry ,
Photos please , yep needs to be restored
Very highly optioned car if legit
All new members need to be told we like photos  
It's a must  fender tag photo

[Dreamcar]

I agree with everything said:

1: Post pics including the fender tag
2: If its a true RT with its fender tag, it should be restored to stock/almost stock/lightly modified. Nothing permanent.  Just my but its still your car.

[Shakey]

Welcome to the site and as the others had stated, post some photos and some details on the car.

You've come to a great site with a lot of helpful and knowledgeable folks that won't steer you wrong.

Also as the others had stated, if it is in fact an R/T (numbers matching or not) consider restoring rather than modifying it to a point where your work cannot be reversed.  Of course it's your car and your free to do with it as you please but do not make a major decision that you may come to regret.

Keep this in mind, you can always find a bare bones Charger to "soup up" later.

All the best and of course we're all looking forward to photos and progress posts!  

[Mytur Binsdirti]

The front sheet metal is good, as are the doors and turret,

Belly or top turret?     

[six-tee-nine]

I knew someone was gonna come up with that.

I could have known you would be in for at least 60% of the odds....

[Ghoste]

Welcome to the site and by all means, it owuld be great to add it to the 69 Registry.

[Dino]

All Chargers are special!   

Unless the car was exactly as I would want it option wise, I would sell it and buy another to make it mine.  That's easier said than done though.  If this is the one to work with then you'll have to ask yourself if you want to modify it that much.  Yes it's pretty rare and although I really don't care about pedigree, others do and so I'd rather see it go to someone who'd restore it.  That's why I looked so long t find my car, a mutt r/t clone.  Would it be the end of the world if you turned it pro street?  I don't think so.  We'll survive.

[myk]

What do YOU want to do with it?

Don't let others convince you that there are mandated, almost biblical commandments on what you should do with YOUR car.  A lot of good it's gonna do you if you spend all the time, money and heartache to go in a certain direction only to find out you're not happy with the car.  The belief about a particular car being too rare to do certain things to other than a nut and bolt 'resto to original baffles me.  Why?  Because your own vision, desire and free will has more value and rarity than even the most coveted build sheet and the hunk of steel that goes with it.

Whatever you do, make sure it's what you want out of the project.

And post some 'pics!

[don duick]

was this car  bought on e bay from Sydney and is the sellers ID boulevardnights? 

[aussieRT]

Thanks for all the replies, i'll try to answer these in order. No i dont have any photos, but i will do my best to get some soon. I went around to where the car is stored and tried to get some numbers, but only achieved a broken bonnet cable. having no tools on me, this is now a job for another day. Definately a dana 60, the floor pan around the gearbox is unmolested so i believe the car is factory four speed. He might have got the shifter, centre console from the same 70 charger the seats came from, but comparing the consoles to pic on the net looks like a69 console(or are they the same as 70?) it does have SE badges on rear pillars. You are right and at the end of the day it is my car to do what i want with, but if if i cant build a car i will be happy with without messing with it too much, i could sell it and buy a base model to cut up. Allthough this is my first muscle car, i have been building custom muscle bikes and hot rods for over 20 years, and have come to appreciate not everything should be cut up, just because I can. it wasn't bought from ebay, i got it out of a cars for sale magazine, but seeing after it was advertised for over a year and i got it for half of his asking place,i was a bit skeptical as to its authenticity, but didn't care as i wasnt really chasing a real RT. Im from Brisbane, Queensland, on the east coast of Australia about 30 mins north from the Gold coasti if that helps. OK, so I guess you guys dont call the roof section the turret Ha Ha , thats OK it took me a little while to figure out what a Fender was. if I was better at this computer thing i would have thrown up a pic of a cool guitar.  OK i did my best to get the numbers of the fender tag the other day, but really hard to read so might not be 100% correct. Here goes:
26 END
M31, N85, R11, V1X,V8X
c55, G11, G33, J52, L31, M21
A01, A34, A47, B41, B51, C16
B5 CRD, B7, 310, 066017
E86, D21, XS29, L9B, 315708
The car was originally a metallic blue with a vinyl roof, but removed before i got the car
Will post up some more info when i get back out to the car again

[70 sublime]

Never knew you could get a inside hood release

Blue car  

[polywideblock]

so real rt  b5 blue with a b7 blue int.

ao1 light group
a34  4:10 dana
a47 SE package
b41 discs
b51 power brakes
c16 console
c55 buckets
g11 tinted glass
g33 LH mirror
j52 inside hood release
l31 hood turn signals
m21 drip rail molding
m31 belt molding
n85 tach
r11 am radio
v1x full vinyl roof black
v8x traverse stripe black
26 " radiator 
so a well optioned rt you've got there  
 

[fy469rtse]

Ok should be some numbers to match bottom right hand cnr of that tag ,
One on the dash,
On the radiator support ,
Left side under the boot seal , see what you find ,
Rt SE trac pack car ,
Next I would be looking for remnets of original paint colour , rear package tray, ,
Anywhere paint has been covered by trim of some sort,
It can't be all gone , let us know what you find  regarding paint and body numbers
That was a high price for a starting point needing full resto

[six-tee-nine]

Ok A B5 blue 69 Rt/SE 4-speed super trak-pack....... You just made a whole bunch of guys jaleaous.

And you did'nt even know what you bought until today.... As other guys said its your car to do with as you please, but i'm still gonna vote for an original restoration, heck, its even a nice color.

[Ghoste]

The car is rare and it is special and I for one think it should be restored as the fender tag tells.  There are plenty of great candidates for pro streeting a car, you would put a lot of money into pro streeting plus the costs of restoring some of it.  At the end though, if you were forced to sell it, it would be just another pro street car, the purist crowd are nearly always the ones who will spend the big money for a car and when it comes to highly modified RT S/E, nearly all of them would pass on it.

[bakerhillpins]

Ok A B5 blue 69 Rt/SE 4-speed super trak-pack....... You just made a whole bunch of guys jaleaous.

And you did'nt even know what you bought until today.... As other guys said its your car to do with as you please, but i'm still gonna vote for an original restoration, heck, its even a nice color.

You aren't kidding...  

The car is rare and it is special and I for one think it should be restored as the fender tag tells.  There are plenty of great candidates for pro streeting a car, you would put a lot of money into pro streeting plus the costs of restoring some of it.  At the end though, if you were forced to sell it, it would be just another pro street car, the purist crowd are nearly always the ones who will spend the big money for a car and when it comes to highly modified RT S/E, nearly all of them would pass on it.

   

[tan top]

The car is rare and it is special and I for one think it should be restored as the fender tag tells.  There are plenty of great candidates for pro streeting a car, you would put a lot of money into pro streeting plus the costs of restoring some of it.  At the end though, if you were forced to sell it, it would be just another pro street car, the purist crowd are nearly always the ones who will spend the big money for a car and when it comes to highly modified RT S/E, nearly all of them would pass on it.

   

yep 

[fy469rtse]

I'll make you a deal,
You know the prices here , have a look at my thread , mines just n rtse , none matching drive line
Most of the works done , put it on a hoist tub it to inner fenders , add cage and go for it ,
$ 50,000 and swap lol    wouldn't want you cutting up. Valuable car

[moparnation74]

The car is rare and it is special and I for one think it should be restored as the fender tag tells.  There are plenty of great candidates for pro streeting a car, you would put a lot of money into pro streeting plus the costs of restoring some of it.  At the end though, if you were forced to sell it, it would be just another pro street car, the purist crowd are nearly always the ones who will spend the big money for a car and when it comes to highly modified RT S/E, nearly all of them would pass on it.

Stated Perfectly, Ghoste

[aussieRT]

Wasn't so much that i didn't realize what i had, i didnt really think that it really was that special, even if it was a real RT, I was under the impression they made thousands of them. Our monaros for example were produced in the Performance GTS guise in a lot greater numbers than the base models that these days are worth as much as the hi po ones due to there rarity. So adding a  GT,GTS or RT to a car down here doesnt allways mean its worth more. i only bought it cause i  think that they are one of the sexiest cars ever made . Being a hot rodder i have never been concerned about maching numbers or option codes or what colour it was when it left the factory. Besides, every second add for a muscle car down here has a paragraph about how special it is so I just took the story about this one as another crock of shit. I might have paid a bit much, but considering that at the time a generic base model charger with 318 and auto that you could have driven home but still needed a full resto was a minimum of $15000, and knowing i was going to cut it up anyway,i decided to spend a bit  more and got one with big block four speed and big diff already there, save trying to source those expensive parts seperatly. A rebuilt(but standard)440 down here is worth at least $5k and i doubt that i would find a 4 speed for one for sale here, and shipping from US to Australia for such items would be beyond the realms of expensive due to the weight. Add to that the fact that i had just sold my hot rod for a very tidy profit that was in danger of being spent on renovations i didnt really want to wait too long to find another one.   i am very happy that i own one and have no regrets. Anyway, back to the car, i pulled on the bonnet release and instead of opening like the last couple of times, i heard a clunk from the front and now it won't open. As 99% of bonnets down here are cable operated and are prone to failing on older cars, i had just assumed thats what had happened. Whatever it was, it no longer releases and is going to require investigation.

[70 sublime]

Build it the way you want and enjoy it
I do not think in your part of the world there are too many Chargers to choose from so you should be happy to have found one
There are so many reproduction parts made now that anything you cut up and change can still be put back to factory by the next owner 10 20 30 40 years from now if they want it stock  

[fy469rtse]

Nah just old try pushing down on the bonnet as you push the release lever ,
Photos photos 

[Fred]

  Welcome to the forum 

[bill440rt]

The car is rare and it is special and I for one think it should be restored as the fender tag tells.  There are plenty of great candidates for pro streeting a car, you would put a lot of money into pro streeting plus the costs of restoring some of it.  At the end though, if you were forced to sell it, it would be just another pro street car, the purist crowd are nearly always the ones who will spend the big money for a car and when it comes to highly modified RT S/E, nearly all of them would pass on it.

Ding ding ding!!!   

First, welcome to DC.com!!!   

And congrats on owning a fine specimen of a '69 Charger. 
B5 blue, Super Trac Pack, Dana, wowee.
Seems like you posted looking for advice, you're going to get some mixed answers but it really looks like a no brainer. A car of that caliber & desirability deserves a correct restoration. For some people it would be their holy grail of Chargers. If this is your "dream Charger" then you've found your answer. There will always be lesser garden variety cars out there to go the pro street/modified route. Going by numbers, doing that to this car would hurt value, no question.
Best of luck!

[aussieRT]

Thought i would get up early and take a run out to see the charger this morning to get some photos and look for some numbers, and only succeeded in throwing no 1 rod out through the side of the block of my drive car(79 chyrsler regal with a 265ci straight six hemi) so the charger will have to wait till i get that back on the road. shouldn't take to long, it was dropped of at home on a tilt tray at lunch time, and by the time i got home from work, my wife allready had most of the engine stripped and nearly ready to lift out, just need to find a replacement block and get started. I can use the time to decided which way i am going to go with the build anyway. I did manage to find the VIN # for the charger in my paperwork though. The nos mach up with the fender tag so thats a good start
VIN:XS29L9B315708

[Ghoste]

Sorry about your daily drive but I have to add that I think its awesome your wife had the engine stripped enough to get it out before you got home.

[don duick]

I have a feeling this car was the subject of a post about a year ago. Cannot remember exact title but was along the lines of "charger on aussie E Bay". It has a lot of photos.  

[Ghoste]

Could have been, it is already in the 69 Registry but it's in there as still being in the US as of 2010.

[don duick]

I also remember New York was its last home before it was shipped to Australia. It was sold on E Bay

[polywideblock]

think this is the thread your talking about http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,107073.0/all.html

[don duick]

yes thank you that is the thread. Now I am only assuming it is the same car.