repro fender tag and rare options?

[Lord Warlock]

Before anyone gets upset, yes I've searched (for hours)

I was wondering if there is reputeable firms that can reproduce the fender tags for our cars.  Mine started to rust due to a hole in the fender behind the battery so I removed it, it was rusted into two pieces, I still have both original pieces but the break does bother me.  About 10 years back I asked this on another charger registry site and they said to contact Galen, who would want the a rubbing of the original tag plus the build sheet to rebuild one, since I only have one build original build sheet I wasn't about to send it off to someone through the mail and take the chance I'd never get it back again.  So I'm asking if someone makes fender tags to replace ours in mediocre condition??? 

2nd question is:  through reading a myriad of threads, you hear of some options being rarer than others, is there a thread I'm missing that someone has broken down the rare options with production figures so we can identify if what we think is rare is truly a rare option?  Since i bought my charger r/t se in 78 with 60k miles on it, I've never seen another like it so always thought it was rare, which is one of the reasons why I always kept it regardless of how poor I was or needs of the family, I had sold it to my father when I joined the military and the whole time i didn't have it I was looking for a replacement.  Needless to say when I got out of the service I bought it back from my dad who had stored it in his 10 car collector garage behind his house.  Since the mid 80s, I've had the car stored in either temp storage or in my own garage and it is 99 percent rust free (except some behind the rear window which was there when I got the car) I removed the vinyl top when i noticed a bubble forming under it, and ground out the forming rust spot so the whole top is almost perfect still.  Floors are still great, trunk is solid. 

I've heard some of these were uncommon options:
Y3 paint code, buddy seat, right side mirror to match the remote drivers side mirror, SE options like the woodgrain steering wheel and woodgrain dash, power front disc brakes, power steering and AC, rear deck speaker (has a fader knob under the ignition switch area).  My website has a listing of all the B body options and which ones my car came with corresponding to the build sheet and fender tag, so I won't go into every option,  I'm just trying to determine just how rare the car actually is after holding on to it for so long.  I'm told there are 5 Y3/V1T cars in the 69 registry, and one other RT SE built before mine was (9/04/68) and long ago learned that the early production 69s (before 12/68) had bucket seats without head rests like mine does. 

I'll be spending alot of time online here, so you'll get a sense of who I am (a 45 year old fart holding on to his first teenage car) I appreciate the information anyone can provide, and will be more than happy to share what knowledge I have to those that will read it.. 

Lord Warlock

[jwilk01]

www.martiautoworks.com
You may have to get the form faxed or maybe able to email it to you but it is well worth the effort.  I had mine made there and it is perfect and only cost me $75.

Later
Josh

[JimShine]

Tags Backeast makes them for Galen. They cost around $55. You need to provide a pencil rubbing and pic, or a clean copy of the broadcast sheet.

[Lord Warlock]

Thanks, I can get a clean rubbing of what i have, plus I have a couple scans of the original broadcast sheet.  So I'll try to contact them and see if i can get another made. 

Now, the option question is still open. 

[JimShine]

I don't know how to answer the options rarity. I mean, how many cars are rare because they have a specific combination of options? I think most of our cars would fit into a low number bracket if we compared it to other cars optioned identically. The pre 1/69 cars were available with headrests, but it was an option (my 11-68 has them) not a standard feature like post 1/69.

The remains of an R/T SE with passenger side mirror, rear speakers (the fader control is all that is left), and AC is left up in my local junkyard. The VIN was stolen, but if its something you would like more info on, I can try to get the stamp on the radiator support for you. That car was gold with black top and tan interior.

[tan top]

not trying to hijack , but  i would be intrested in that info maybe a picture  also  ,  as  i am trying to find out the same sort of thing as ( lordwarlock)

[Lord Warlock]

No worries of a hijack,  to tell the truth, the inside of my car is pretty awesome still, if i can get the smell of dead rat out of it (when stored in a canvas tent) other than a bit of pitting and rust spots that can be polished off the column shifter and turn signal knob, you'd think it was only 5 years old.  My door panels and back seat look great still.  I will need to reupholster the seat cushions of the front seats in leather and maybe get new foam when i do.  I do need a few of the seat knobs (6 way drivers seat) and the tilt handles to fold both seats forward. 

Also, my car has holes in the headliner where it looked like shoulder belts would install, but when i got the car it only had lap belts (with the seat connectors) any idea what went in these holes?  I can post pics later if needed, they are on the lower ledge of the headliner just behind your head of the front seat person's heads, and they are threaded.  I imagine they wouldn't have them if they weren't installed at the factory.  I just doubt someone would toss the shoulder belts and leave the lap ones in  place.

I have an extra AC compressor for a 69, as well as other misc parts, once i get the car back together I'll probably put up the leftovers for sale. 

Tan top, based on your avatar I assume your RTSE has a tan top, what color was the car itself? 

[Lord Warlock]

As far as the options go, I'd be willing to set up a thread using the different options available for 68-70 (they are on my website) and those that have already figured out what the production figures for specific options could post their information to it.  Not sure if this site allows someone to edit the original post though. 

[JimShine]

Your car had shoulder belts. The holes just confirm it. Shoulder belts were manditory in the front seats after Januray 1, 1968. People took them out early on because they were sloppy and when that underwear elastic like snap thing wore out and broke, they would hang down in the way and look crappy.

[Lord Warlock]

But if you had shoulderbelts, wouldn't you have the large plate that goes around the visors where they clip on? or was this easily removed?  Mine doesn't have anything on the visors like a shoulder belt car would have. 

[JimShine]

Those are removeable. The visor just mounts like normal and holds those clips in place.

[tan top]

Tan top, based on your avatar I assume your RTSE has a tan top, what color was the car itself? 

            V1T-  Y2  - CRX -  shedualed production date  November 22nd  68 .        there is another guy on here some where with a Y3 no vinyl top   R/T se , i think  he painted it a different color  though  . 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

When the word "rarity" is used for 69 Chargers, I think the term should be used very lightly.

Think of it.... they built almost 21k 69 Charger R/T's in all different combinations.   Sadly MaMopar didnt keep good records of how many of each combo etc....thats a job for a registry

Obviously the less produced of a certain model (RT/SE for example) the more "rare" the car becomes due to the limited production number.   Believe it or not B7 blue is "rarer" than Y3 cream (at least so far in the registry)

In the registry website, there is a production stats page.   It states that there was only 207 Chargers out of the almost 100k total built that got coded with the G31 r/h mirror option.  I find that hard to believe only because I have 43 of those 207 cars already registered.......I only have almost 1000 cars in the registry and I have almost 1/4 of them with the G31 option registered already?   I think not.
Where those stats came from I have no idea....they were borrowed from others.

LW, I agree your Charger is rare to me because I dont personally have any other proof that there is more than one other optioned like yours.....YET hopefully.  That is the purpose of my registry.

As far as other options go like 6-way seats, REAR seat shoulder belts etc, they are hard to pinpoint because those options were not listed on the fender tag, only the broadcast sheet.

Now if you want to talk about rare 69 Chargers....get your handy decoder out and check this badboy out

This is truly a 1 of 1 creation.  sadly all I have is this tag rubbing....no pics of the car.  It is currently in need of resto & the current owner will not sell.....

[tan top]

wow thats a highly optioned  charger  , is  that the  Bahama yellow  R/T se   sure would like to see a picture of that one .

[MOPARHOUND!]

99 paint code?  What color is it?

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Yes its the 99 99 Bahama Yellow RT/SE Charger

It has a power sunroof, black leather interior, black vinyl roof, black stripe, V21 hood performance treatment, luggage rack, power windows, cruise control, tach, wide sill moldings, r/h mirror, tinted glass with no A/C (odd) and has the Y39 Special Order code found on all Daytona's....

I have one other 99 99 color car in the registry as well....its a Rallye Green R/T that is not nearly as heavilly optioned as the BH yellow one.....

Sadly I have no pics of the BH car.

here is the Rallye green one.....originally coded for white interior but the owner changed it to black

This one doesnt have the Y39 code on the tag but the "930" S/O # designates it as a special order

[472 R/T SE]

Is that a reproduction tag on that green car Chris? 

[69CoronetRT]

Yes its the 99 99 Bahama Yellow RT/SE Charger

here is the Rallye green one.....originally coded for white interior but the owner changed it to black

This one doesnt have the Y39 code on the tag but the "930" S/O # designates it as a special order

? Chris, I see Y39 on the tag. I think you'll find most 97/99/999 paint cars are coded Y39 when applicable.

[Lord Warlock]

well, getting a rubbing may be problematic since some of the codes are only readable from behind.  Which is why I need a replacement made.  If I'd left it on the car it would have rusted to nothing by now.  Researching a car has always been a pain, when i first got it, we did an owner search, but only got back as far as two previous owners, the earliest being a female.  It could have been an Alabama car originally, or a Florida car.  I'm just lucky that there really isn't much rust on the car other than the rear window and pinholes in the lower rear quarters (sides of trunk)  Although the sail panel probably could use a replacement panel, the rest is solid enough to just repair. A couple drain holes in the trunk aren't perfectly round due to rust, but they've long since been cleaned, Por15'd and sealed with fiberglass resin. 

While I'm interested to find out rarity, I don't do it to determine false valuation, with the car being my first car, it will never be sold even if it was worth 50k or higher, but with a non matching number motor I've never considered it to be a future show queen, certainly not a potential concourse car.  Its a survivor and nothing else.  I do regret giving away the extra instrument cluster (complete with tic toc tach) that showed the original mileage of the motor and tranny.  I opted to keep the original dash that showed the mileage on the body (113k) it looked better overall, and all the gauges worked, although the clock only worked if you pulled the stem out and let it snap back into position.  The tach shows 2x the actual rpms, not sure why.  I've always been interested in rarity because I've never seen one like it elsewhere, I've seen Y3 cars before but not one with a tan top, and none were an RTSE.  Its always looked somewhat tame for an old charger rt with its creme coloration, except the big tires out back.  I figure an adult bought it originally, as it was optioned for comfort not performance.  (3.23 gear/auto on column) I found two build sheets on the car when I started looking for one, the one under the drivers seat was complete and is the one I still have, the one under the carpet (drivers side rear footwell) was disintegrated badly, but matched the first one in what parts you could read. The sequence number matches the fender tag, so I'm pretty sure its all real. 

It looks like your rare tag is only one or two options higher than mine. 

[Lord Warlock]

Anyone know what the 7 means on the broadcast sheet between N85 and N96?

[Brock Samson]

What's this Rally Green color?.. I've never even heard of it before...
looks like the "Spring Green"..

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Yes its the 99 99 Bahama Yellow RT/SE Charger

here is the Rallye green one.....originally coded for white interior but the owner changed it to black

This one doesnt have the Y39 code on the tag but the "930" S/O # designates it as a special order

? Chris, I see Y39 on the tag. I think you'll find most 97/99/999 paint cars are coded Y39 when applicable.

DOH!  You're right!  Looking at these things makes my head hurt sometimes.    The "930" S/O # also indicates this as well.

As far as the tag being a repro??  I dont know   Its possible.  It looks pretty clean to me

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

What's this Rally Green color?.. I've never even heard of it before...
looks like the "Spring Green"..

The Rally Green was a special order color along with the Bahama Yellow on 69 Chargers.  It is a bit darker than the F6 Bright Green matallic

[69_500]

I still wanna know how many cars had the rear window defroster. That isn't a common option that I've seen over the yeras. Especially when its combined with the rear speakers.

Sounds like you have a pretty sweet RT/SE. Get it back on the road and enjoy it. You've had it this long its about time to start enjoying it.

[Brock Samson]

damn that's a lot of greens they offered,..  Five?... some of them bronzes look a bit green as well..

[Lord Warlock]

yep, way too long letting it wait.  Biggest mistakes over the intervening years was a cursed 70 camaro, and spending 30k on the stealth after it hit 100k.  (total interior/driveline/paint redo) Although the paint jobs were primarily to learn what i was doing BEFORE i started painting the charger.  Should have stuck with a single color instead of stripes, flames, and metalflake with house of kolor custom poly pearl paint.  I always wanted to do all of the work on the charger myself instead of relying on a restoration shop, although I wouldn't mind a full rotisserie bead blasted body to start with.  At least i know it has the original paint still and no body damage other than minor dings.  Some things I plan on farming out, such as suspension work and electrical reworks, but mechanicals I'd planned on doing that myself as well as the interior and paint.  I finally got the storage garage built and now have no excuse not to pursue the charger rebuild (other than limited funds due to being between IT jobs right now) I have the time, but not the cash, but that will come in time i'm sure.  Of course I could always sell the stealth but I have a problem letting old cars go.  Especially ones I've driven for 10 years.

[Lord Warlock]

figured i'd comment, car isn't finished still, but it is a lot closer than it was.  Still haven't called or ordered a replacement fender tag...seemed unimportant until it got further along.  Original posts were back in 2006 when I first built the garage it sits in, this week I just had a driveway poured to the back garage, now the charger can drive on concrete to the street.  I fully expect to get the car on the road in the next two months...I hope. 

Rare? yes it is, not much of a survivor anymore, original paint was stripped to bare metal and repainted using single stage polyurethane enamel. Interior was redone with a legendary set of covers, and front door panels.  My upper door panels were always a different color than the lower door panel, but looked saddle, I opted to paint the upper panels to match the dash in bluebird brown, not stock, but works for me.  New headliner is in, new windshield, new trunk floor, patch panel on right rear lower quarter, new brakes, brake lines, fuel line, fuel tank and sending unit. Right now, i'm working on new seat belts, glove box, stereo system, engine bay wiring, new alternator and distributor.  Still have a few things to get finished but am hoping to roll it out soon.  I'll post a picture or two when it rolls out under its own power again.  Shouldn't be too long. 

[ht4spd307]

i have the same car well sort of y3 rt se on the other side of the big pond  not that helps your cause in any way