New to the boards -- Just bought a 68 charger rt matching #s project

[Mopar Nut]

I don't think upgrading to disc brakes would hurt the value if you kept the original drum set up. If it was mine, I would paint it the original red and keep the black carpet, white interior and vinyl top. And definitely upgrade the wiring.

[six-tee-nine]

You can get away with some mods if you keep it moderate, like say disc brakes or even a 4-speed conversion if you like. But by all means keep the original color combo and stripe delete because it is rare and is a desirable combo IF you might want so sell later on.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I have a few body work questions:   

 I'm going to hire this out

I would like to treat this like an investment 

I guess the main question is, How far do you go in order to keep its value? 

Be careful.

You are setting yourself up for a losing battle.

It will cost at least twice what the finished car will be worth to hire a shop to restore it. 

You can easily spend $20K on body and paint work...

NOT including any metal replacement. 

Then...

There's the REST of the car...

[bill440rt]

Do some research, pick a shop carefully. 
If you are not able to do bodywork, do other things that you can. Do as much work yourself as you can (disassembly, reassembly, etc). Pick up a service manual, they are invaluable. Bag/tag everything.
If possible, buy large items at swap meets to save yourself some $$ on shipping costs and/or sales tax on some occasions. You can actually save lots of $$ that way.
If you keep in mind this as a HOBBY you'll get great enjoyment out of it.        

[Dino]

Welcome to the board.   

As far as investments go be a bit careful with that because it's very easy to spend way beyond what the car is worth.  Sure the value on these will keep rising for a while but nobody knows for how long.  If you like what the fender tag says then by all means restore it to stock specs and enjoy the car.  Bolt on mods like disk brakes do not hurt the value, especially if you keep the original parts. 

[Troy]

If you ask me, taking a red/white/white 68 R/T and paining it some other color would be a sin. White tops are less common than black, white interior is way less common than other colors (68 has a large selection), and red is one of the rarest colors (late introduction). Not to mention, if it's numbers matching R/T and you have the fender tag then why deviate? If it were missing the drive train and documentation I wouldn't stress about it but you have a rare original car. Besides, B5 didn't come out until 1969. If it were that light green with a green interior I'd probably be on the fence but you've got one of the most desirable color combinations made already - and not everyone likes blue as much as I do (I also have a blue/white R/T).

You're going to pour (like dousing a forest fire) money into this thing and it may never be worth what you'll have in it. Sooooo, do what makes you happy because you'll have to live with the finished result.

"Mopar" is Chrysler's performance parts division - and also a generic term to describe Chrysler vehicles. They don't make sheet metal. AMD is an after market company that specializes in sheet metal. For most parts, they are the best available.

Troy

[HeavyFuel]

I have a few body work questions:  

Ive seen that a lot of people use the AMD panels then I read that they have "mopar" panels?.   Which should I use?   Im going to hire this out so I want to make sure we are putting good/high quality sheet metal and parts on this beast.  Since this is a #'s matching car, Im assuming its best to get it back to original everything?  Keep the original red verses doing ..say.. a b5 blue??  For value purposes, Should I be strict to the fender tag as possible?   I have thought about putting in good quality brakes than the old drum style that came with it.   Is that best or will it lower the value?    I have zero plans to flip the car, but like I do my other investments, I would like to treat this like an investment and raise and uphold as much value as I can in the car to keep it an asset while driving and enjoying it some of course.  

I guess the main question is, How far do you go, or DO you do anything different, if you want to upgrade things on this car beyond period correct specs in order to keep its value?  

I hope this all made sense..

No offense...but you'd better love this car and be spending money on it because you love it.

A real estate guy buying a car and mentioning value/asset that many times in one post?    

In all likelihood you will not make money on this car, especially given it's condition and the extent of your experience/ability to fix cars, unless you half-ass a lot of things.   If you do it right, you'll be pouring $$ into it, as Troy pointed out.


Do your homework and warm up the calculator before you dive it.  Do a search on this site for posts the discuss the money we've put into our cars.  My car was a cherry compared to yours when it's resto started, and I probably would come out ahead if I sold it now.  But I did a friggin' ton of the work myself.


Be prepared.......and welcome to the site!  

[Dino]

Simply put, this is the wrong type of car to have as an investment.  There are several classic cars that are good investments but this is not one of them. 

[forsy1979]

Troy: 
Thanks for posting.  One problem is there is no registry for the 68 chargers so I have no idea what I've got.  Kind of frustrating to not find much documentation anywhere online.  Things you are telling me are the first time I've heard that.  That's great!  I don't see myself deviating from whatever the fender tag says to be honest.  If its rare, then I will make it stock outside of maybe newer brakes and some other small mods.  I would love to know how to get some data for the car and what's out there.  Do you have any records of what 68's are out there now? or how many were made of each color, type, etc?  I know there's a fb registry site but that's all I know.

HeavyFuel:  This is the car I've been wanting for years.  It was a dream of mine to restore and have a collection of muscle cars someday since I was in high school.  The strange part is I never grew up in a car family or knew anyone who could teach me anything about cars.  I've really never had a hobby before this so this has already been fun for me.  I appreciate your candid and friendly feedback.  I want to go out to the garage, drink a beer or three, turn on some tunes, and start figuring it out.  This is completely new and out of my comfort zone, but im already enjoying the new adventure and hobby! 



 

[fy469rtse]

I say go for it , you will get a lot of satisfaction from learning on this car ,
As others have said get the factory service manual,
It's the tech age , read digitalphotos of before you pull anything apart, and photo of all parts label these on your computer file , remember to back this up , ie save to disk,
Will help you when you reassemble much later
It's your car , you decide on the level of modification, look it all up on here ,
It's on here and been done in many different ways to suit all tastes and levels of performance
Do you have the factory numbers matching drive line
Post photos of fender tag ,
Experts on here will decode it for you, and let you know exactely what you have
Like others have stated , very good project by the look of it

[forsy1979]

Thanks for the encouragement fy469rtse!!   Everyone on here has been very nice, willing to throw out some wisdom, and answer questions.  So far i've got all of the seats out of the car as well as the rear mirror and vizors and some trim pieces.  Taking the seat belts out looks like fun lol.  I feel like i've gotten quite a bit done for the first week of owning it.  Still no build sheet found anywhere. 

I love the idea of photos for each part because Im definitely a visual learner.  I do better seeing it, then doing it verses reading and doing.  I know I have to have a system to follow so i can understand it to reassemble.

[fastmark]

Man you real estate guys kill me. You treat our beloved muscle cars only like they were something to make money with. I wish...oops,  wait a minute. I'm in the real estate business, too! Never mind. Seriously, though. I'm glad that most car owners don't look at these cars ONLY as an investment. We would never spend a penny on them. Last week I bought food, gas, clothing and spend some money on ammo, just so I could go out and enjoy a hobby with some friends and family. Guess what? I had fun and will never get anything back in cash value for my efforts. I look at cars in a similar fashion. If you get back some of your money, then you came out good, if you enjoyed it. I've been doing this a long time and have never lost a dime on any of my muscle cars. In time, that may change, but for now, I have spent wisely and had plenty of fun.
This kid of 32 ( I'm and old dude of 58) sounds like he is really on the right track. First of all, he bought one of the top two most valuable Mopars out there. The fact that it is a great color 68 and a R/T really helps. He is going to the right place for help, too. My advise is similar. Take a picture of everything you can think of and bag and label EVERYTHING. Research a body shop very thoroughly. Look at finished cars and talk to the owners of finished cars and ones under construction. Do as much of the car as you can, yourself. That is half the fun. If you don't enjoy that, it will get old very quickly. I hope you have an understanding wife that either approves of your hobby or better yet participates in it. If she resents all the time and money you dump into your car, the nights can be rather cold! My last advise is work hard at your real estate job, your gonna need all the money you can get!
My only concern on this car is the fact that it needs so much metal repair centered around the integrity of the frame. Man, it needs to be done right and that cost LOTS of money.  I think I'll send you a PM about some things as well. Good luck with this one and keep asking questions.
 

[fy469rtse]

Get in the habit early of photo's share them with us , as we see your car come apart people on here might spot point something out for you,
I agree with troy, keep it as factory built colour scheme red with white top and interior white , will be a stunner, but our car. ,
You've done well to get back seat out, seen lots of guys struggle with the lower catch , keep it up 

[Homerr]

Welcome!

Yes, we love to see pics!

[forsy1979]

Thanks guys!!
I will take pictures of where the interior out of it showing the floor pans as they are right now.  I saw a guys website from the Netherlands I think.  He's got almost the exact same car except its a black vinyl top.  Great color!  the car looks awesome!  I like those 'dukes of hazard' wheels on them, too!  Id like to get those for mine.

Heres what it would look like only with a white vinyl top.  I love this more and more as I look at it!

[Fitz73Chrgr]

Welcome!     Keep the pics coming! 

[PocketThunder]

Trying to post pictures, but files are too large I guess.  ?  

Photobucket.com can help.  Upload your images and then copy/paste the IMG link...

myk you are a bastard!.....