68 charger body but 69 vin?

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Others have told you THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!!! so I will repeat because you seem to keep missing it THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!!!!!

one more time just for good measure,  THAT DID NOT HAPPEN WITH THE VIN. 

Sound like happenstance to me.   

[cdr]

"CRAP! I misspelled welcome, dang it!
Now see what happens..."

I didn't see nuffin.

[cbrestorations]

someone just swapped the dash was all...

[Troy]

Troy, let's say it was a late 68 car and they did the new vin change, is that realistic? That's another possibility that Chrysler may have done is to designate 69 vin to late 68 models....this is at least what a mopar guy tells me here. seller may have had front end accident and done front end swap then, I personally don't care for the years but curious if vin designation was another possibility

No. No. Possibly.

Factories shut down for a few weeks for "changeover" between model year production. This allows them to retool, and restock the parts bins. They knew exactly how many 68s needed to be built and would have had the parts required to build them. They would not have jumped ahead on a slow day and started building 69s. It's possible that some "leftover" parts hanging around for 69 production (not the correct term since manufacturers were required to have a certain amount of "spare" parts for each model to go to the dealers). There are certain things like door handle buttons that changed within a model year and new or old parts could have made it into production BUT, in that example, the part is physically the same. That's a gigantic difference from the wrong side markers and tail panel.

We have people on this site who like a certain year's tail lights or grill and ask about changing them so I know it's within the realm of possibility that someone just liked a mismatched car. The usual response to such a question is that they better hope they never need to sell it. Again, it's much more likely that someone had a title for a 69 (and some parts I guess) and found a good 68 body - thereby saving themselves a LOT of work. I was at a show a few years ago and a guy was bragging that his car was rebodied for exactly that reason. FYI - it's illegal in all 50 states (which is why people are advising you stay away from the car).

For identification purposes... other than the obvious marker lights, the front fenders are different at the front edge where they mount. The hood is different at about the same point. The grills are interchangeable (only the center and trim are really different). It would be very easy to put an entire 69 front "clip" on a 68. Again, the rear sheet metal is much harder as it's all welded on. The unibody has numbers stamped on to it so *IF* this were a factory mistake, the body numbers will match the VIN. Again, it's the easiest way to figure out what's going on.

People are lazy. If someone were to go through the trouble of swapping numbers then, surely, they'd have removed the 68 specific pieces to keep people from poking around. That's why I'm leaning towards a dash swap only (and grill if it's a 69 grill in the car). At one point these were just old, beat up cars that nobody cared about so swapping numbers just to have a drivable car was common and not too many people cared. Certain states don't require any inspections and, even if they do, aren't familiar with all the specific model year differences. Unless it's obvious they'll just compare the VIN to the title and pass it.

Troy

[cbrestorations]

just slap a 68 vin on it and done...

[kz1980]

Thanks Troy, very good points made, the seller did mention that the vehicle was first used as a dealer model car too, good point you made there. All those are possibilities as well and my mechanic who's been mopar and dealing with junkyards for 30 years also mentioned all these things, here in Florida he said it's required that DMV buy your car back if they give you registration and something happens down the road....that's a long story. I'm trying to see if the body truly is a 68 with dash swap, the way I see it is that you can take a risk and gamble, i want to keep the car if I get it and don't really care about reselling so it's all good.

[hemi-hampton]

Then just buy it & have fun with it. Never mind what we say. Good Luck.

[kz1980]

Deposit made, will update the info later, very solid car with, low rust

[Tom68]

I think there was a car on ebay a few months back.  It was a 68 but there was no title for it.  The guy had a 69 total rust bucket and made the vin swap.

If memory served, it was actually not bad shape.  Could this be that car?  Anyone else remember that?

[charger01]

The seller knows exactly what the deal is, and feeding you a bunch of crap!  That is all there is to it. I can see buying it if his story sounded somewhat legit, but it doesnt.......stay away, far away

[kz1980]

The guy has a clear title under his name, matching its vin, I know exactly what's going on now regardless what the buyer states, there are those who take risks and those who walk away, this is something that's easily fixed.
Good advice from all, thanks guys

[alfaitalia]

In the UK that would be known as a ringer.......Swapping IDs (Vins) in the UK is illegal...rightly so and would probably be picked up at its first annual inspection (MOT). Now if it was a car made for many years with a vin one year out you MIGHT, just might get away with it. But where there are so many changes from 68 to 69 they would just laugh at you and probably report you to the vehicle inspectorate! If its got any small dents on it, its probably where people have been poking it with a very long barge pole (Old English expression....google it!)......but I would not even do that.Avoid IMO !

[charger01]

Is it the blue one that was on eBay 102 times?

[Troy]

Thanks Troy, very good points made, the seller did mention that the vehicle was first used as a dealer model car too, good point you made there. All those are possibilities as well and my mechanic who's been mopar and dealing with junkyards for 30 years also mentioned all these things, here in Florida he said it's required that DMV buy your car back if they give you registration and something happens down the road....that's a long story. I'm trying to see if the body truly is a 68 with dash swap, the way I see it is that you can take a risk and gamble, i want to keep the car if I get it and don't really care about reselling so it's all good.

How does he know it was a dealer demo car? The 69 or the 68?

There is one 69 car that has 68 parts on it that I know of. It is very well documented. I doubt that is what you have.

Troy

[kz1980]

Troy, he claimed that he's the second owner of vehicle and first owner picked it up after it was used as a demo, taking that with grain of salt however but that may be easily varifyable, are you saying that each dealership had only one or that there was only ONE altogether in USA?.... because that'd be like a unicorn lol and am sure would drive its value up.

[68 RT]

Run away fast and find another car. Its not the only one out there?   

[cbrestorations]

buy it cheap slap a 68 vin on it and roll with it, there are no body numbers to match on a 68 so you could swap vins for every day of they year if you wanted

[DAY CLONA]

The guy has a clear title under his name, matching its vin,

All that matters, a vehicle is legally defined by this, nothing more, if the DMV/RMV is happy with the "paperwork"....then carry on and do what you may with the vehicle

[charger01]

It appears you have already made up your mind, but keep in mind.  It may be different where you are, but when I bought my 69 out of state. I had to haul it to the bmv so they could check the vin and markings before they issued me a title.

[70 sublime]

If you are never going to sell it then why does this matter

because that'd be like a unicorn lol and am sure would drive its value up.

Everything is for sale sooner or later so make sure you have everything sorted out first before you start spending too much money on it

[kz1980]

Most states don't get into that depth of checking markings etc, my previous GM classics here in Florida they just transfer the title and done, my friend who's collected, worked and restored mopars has told me worse stories and the crap people do to cars from junkyards etc. I'm offering seller what I think it's worth based on these factors.

[cdr]

all this & not ONE picture!!

[kz1980]

Tried to, says "file too large" max 200kb, don't they know pics nowadays are massive files?

[alfaitalia]

Resize it first...or, far easier (no file naming or resizing) use photobucket . Each photo will generate various links for various jobs. Just copy the link for forums...the bottom one...and paste it.....job done.

[tan top]

Tried to, says "file too large" max 200kb, don't they know pics nowadays are massive files?

try this  , follow instructions   click custom size ...  just type in 600 width  , that works for me   


  http://picresize.com/results