what do you think

[bear]

i am looking at a 68 charger project car. the car is very solid except for the quarters being rust but he already has replacement panels for those the trunk would need to be replaced and the driver side fender is messed up a bit. the car is taken apart right now and he started to do a little body work (sanding down the old paint) he says that all the parts are there i wouldn't know if hes right because there are some many of them. laying around in his garage. the story goes that this car has been in his family since 1968 when it was bought by his uncle and then his uncle sold it to his other uncle in i think 72 who started to store it in the 80s it sat inside for most of the time but was outside for about 5 years then it was sold off to him. the car has 25,000 miles on it. he still has the original 383 2 barrel for it. he is asking 5000 for it. i want to know if it would be a good starter car for someone who is 16. if i left anything out just let me know. any input would be appreciated

[bear]

some more

[bear]

some more

[John G]

Bear, unless you are totally familiar with the Charger, it'll be hard to tell if you have all the parts. Look for the major pieces and go from there.

If you can do the work (body and engine) you will save a good deal of $. If you have to go to shops to do it, then you are in for big bucks. Then it'll be the parts that'll cost you. 

It's really hard to give you a solid answer. There is so much to consider but if you have some $, time and patience, it'll be worth it.

Maybe some other members can offer some advice for you.

John G

[ChargerSG]

There is a guy here who sells a good 68 for $4500(sure its with engine) but the car is untouth besides that...

[ChargerSG]

Missed a word out there , its without engine...

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

Sounds liek a steal of a deal my friend GO 4 IT

[blackcharger]

the only things I didn't see in your pics were the fenders and one bumper, as far as major body parts. And you mentioned he had new 1/4s, didn't see those. Besides the seats, is the rest of the interior there? Dash (including pads, intrument cluster, glove box door, wiring- for the dash, engine, tail lights)
Is it a floor shift car? Is the shifter and console there? How is the frame? Make sure he has the gas tank and drive shaft.
All in all, I'd say &5000 is a good deal. Jump on it.

[bear]

i found the email and here is how the fender tag decodes:
CAR: Dodge Charger 2 Door Sports Hardtop
ENGINE: 383cid 2-bbl V8
TRANSMISSION: 3-Speed Automatic
TIRES: Unknown tire code
BUILD DATE: March 29.
AXLE: 2.94 Rear Axle Ratio, Sure Grip
INTERIOR: Charger Trim Grade, Vinyl Bucket Seats. White on Green Interior.
PAINT: Monotone Racing Green Metallic Paint.
OTHER: White Upper Door Frame Color.

MOLDINGS:
25: Drip Rail Mouldings
30: Body Belt Mouldings
78: Wheel Lip Mouldings

ABC OPTIONS:
D20: Unknown Option
H1: Power Brakes
P6: Rear Seat Speaker
S6: Unknown Option
X2: Tinted Windshield Only
Y7: White Vinyl Top

abc OPTIONS:
b4: Bucket Seats
h7: Fender or Hood Mounted Turn Signal Indicators
m6: Driver's Outside Remote Operated Mirror

[rt green]

by the looks of it, if you had to start from scratch, the parts i see and you said there are more, the sum of parts are worth the asking price.  did a title get mentioned?  must admit, that is one hell of a starting point. how did the grill look in person? a charger is a good investment. if you had to baill on it  [ i hate to say it, but i have to]  you could always recoup your cash on the parts.

[terrible one]

I think that price seems pretty fair if the car really is all there. However, what about the trunk pan? And the rear frame rails?

[Brock Samson]

yeah there's a ton of details besides it looks like the cars at the sand blasting stage to me,.. so you got an expensive paint job and interior and motor re-do ahead...
  kind of a pig inna poke if ya'; dont have instructions and a complete idea of what it may need...
figure 20 k to get her running again approx... i have no idea if you or the 16 yr old are up for that...
maybe by comparing the parts you have to the major componants written up quite well in the excellent book "charger, road runner, coronet restoration" book by John L Herd would give you a better idea of what ya nned and wanna do...

keep us posted it looks like a good one dark green and white 383.

 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-Runner-Super-Restoration-Authentic/dp/digital-features/0879388897

[blackcharger]

I disagree on the $20 grand. Not everyone is looking to make a show car, especially a 16 year old. Put it together, get it running, but do the best job you can. I sure don't have that kind of $$ in my car, and I'm sure it shows it. But a father of two,one just starting collage, I don;t have it. But I do have fun with my primered beast. plenty of pretty cars gather dust in the garage. The better the job, the longer it will last and look. You'll find plenty of help here. Do it and have a blast with it.

[Brock Samson]

by all means if ya' have the resources to do it yourself and it's all there you could cut that by half.
but.. when i was 16 i didnt have them and would have farmed it out...

[moparguy01]

by all means if ya' have the resources to do it yourself and it's all there you could cut that by half.
but.. when i was 16 i didnt have them and would have farmed it out...

I didnt have the money and thats how I learned how to work on cars, driving old junk and fixing it up as a necessity. Mommy and daddy never bought me a reliable car. I had to build mine.

If you do buy that car just be aware that you are going to be in for one hell of a ride, and it will more than likely not be completed until you are out of college. These things are real pricy and while you would have the majority of the big stuff you need, in my experience its the trinket shit that kills you. The last restoration we did at the shop we had over 3500 dollars into little trinket parts that the owner insisted on having replaced.
You'll also need to spend many many hours with the car, and then realize that you will in fact loose at least 2 girlfriends to working on the car an extended amount of time. Think of it as a mistress. a really demanding mistress that eats all your spare time and money.

[73rallye440magnum]

Hopefully this will help you out a little bit bear; If you are willing to take the time to learn how to do a few things, you can take the time to do these things yourself and save yourself a lot of money. I purchased my car when I was 16. IF YOU DO THE BODY WORK AND PAINT YOURSELF, you can have a nice job for $1500-$2000. Do you know anyone that works in a body shop or owns one and would be willing to let you work on the car there? They could help you with the metal repair and guide you along on pulling dents and filling. You could learn how to paint by spraying the primer, blocking, and then spraying base/clear. Ask yourself if you have the time to do this. When I purchased my car, the engine and transmission were rebuilt already, the car runs and drives like new. I can't give you a price on something like that, does the guy have EVERYTHING in the engine compartment? (Radiator, wiper motor, other firewall items, how is the wiring?) If you have someone do the machine work on the 383, IF YOU DID THE REST YOURSELF, you could probably have one hell of a 383 for $2500. Does your auto-shop teacher at school know anything about engine rebuilds? Use your resources, you can learn a lot if you buy this car. Is the interior complete? You can recover your seats IF YOU DO IT YOURSELF for about $400-$500. Headliners are easy, so is carpet. How is the dash wiring? Door panels? Does he have everything for the brakes? Fuel lines and tank? DOES THE CAR HAVE A TITLE? How is the exterior trim? Is the grill in good shape? Does he have all the glass, door handles, locks? Everything adds up. Here is where you may lose interest, I will be 19 soon. The car will be done and on the road EXACTLY 3 years after I bought it, and my project was further along then this. But, other factors come into play, do you have a girlfriend ($$$$) Dump her ass and buy the car if you do. Do you have the money? Do you have a steady job? Do you have a place to work on the car? Are you at all interested in working on the car? I knew I wanted to do something with old cars when I bought mine, and I will be graduating tech school this spring with a diploma in auto collision repair and refinishing. I plan on restoring cars for the rest of my life. Bear- if you have the patience and persistence to restore this car (it's not easy, learning body work can be frustrating) go for it. You cannot put on a price on what you will learn. The price seems fair, but offer the guy less, and compromise on a price that works for both you and the seller. You can probably have a nice driver for $12,000. Keep us updated, best of luck.
Jake

[bear]

as for all the real expensive parts they are all there and just need to be cleaned up. the title for the car is clear and he has it. as for a place to work on it my dad knows a lot of people who went into working on cars and one of which owns a body shop and i remember that a few years ago my brother was going to have his skylark painted and the body had a lot of rust issues on it and he was only quoted i think 2500 for it hopefully i can get the same deal. thanks for all your input so far

[moparguy01]

If they can do the bodywork and rust replacement and paint a car for 2500 I'm gonna quit doing my own paintwork and subcontract it out to them. I cant hardly buy materials for that price anymore.

[Charger_Fan]

i found the email and here is how the fender tag decodes:
CAR: Dodge Charger 2 Door Sports Hardtop
ENGINE: 383cid 2-bbl V8
TRANSMISSION: 3-Speed Automatic
TIRES: Unknown tire code
BUILD DATE: March 29.
AXLE: 2.94 Rear Axle Ratio, Sure Grip
INTERIOR: Charger Trim Grade, Vinyl Bucket Seats. White on Green Interior.
PAINT: Monotone Racing Green Metallic Paint.
OTHER: White Upper Door Frame Color.

That almost sounds like the twin to Bull's car. How similar is yours, Bull?

[blackcharger]

If they can do the bodywork and rust replacement and paint a car for 2500 I'm gonna quit doing my own paintwork and subcontract it out to them. I cant hardly buy materials for that price anymore.

then you sure don't wanna know what it's gonna cost me to have mine painted.

[moparguy01]

If they can do the bodywork and rust replacement and paint a car for 2500 I'm gonna quit doing my own paintwork and subcontract it out to them. I cant hardly buy materials for that price anymore.

then you sure don't wanna know what it's gonna cost me to have mine painted.

The last gallon of paint I bought was RM and the gallon of base only was 650 dollars. Granted thats red, but thats it. Which puts it at around a grand or so per sprayable gallon. Then the high quality clear coat which is mostly clear and not yellow is around 550 a gallon sprayable, then your primers and sealers which you can figure a minimum of 4-600 bucks for depending on how much you use, and if you use a primer surfacer.

[blackcharger]

I'm getting mine done, some body work, no rust repair, but the new 1/4s need finishing up.And the doors and fenders have moldong holes that will be welded. I have to buy the paint, bout $125 from the body supply. A buddy is going to do it for $700. Does great work.

[moparguy01]

125 for paint? what is it implement paint?

what brand of paint is it? cause 125 doesnt buy hardly anything. Hell the pearl in the gallon of orange sitting next to me cost more than that. and thats just the pearl

[blackcharger]

pretty much anything around here, Ditzler, SW,etc

[moparguy01]

find me another gallon og PPG's DCC line in 2001 prowler orange for that price, and i'll buy at least another 2 gallons. I paid 476 bucks for a gallon of it a few years back.

[Brock Samson]

01 you gotta example of the orange you got for sale?.. 

[TylerCharger69]

I can get basic single stage Centauri package (Dupont) here for about 125 bucks for a paint with red in it including the activator.....i.e....Hemi Orange.   A base coat-clearcoat package runs about 250 to 300  and includes activator and everything.   These are prices for a gallon.   The paint supply here gives you the whole gallon of paint alone plus the activators, instead of 3/4 gallon of paint and a quart of activator like some supply houses do.    Now custom paints?.....Well...bring in your own Vaselive, KY, or Gojo...because they won't furnish that either.   That's where the big buck paints come in to play!!!

[deputycrawford]

I would carefully look over all the parts. I am skeptical  lately since the HLPAG people have been cheating people. I look at the pics and wonder why a 25,000 mile car and engine look so rough. If it is still in your family then it must be true and go for it. Just continue to store it inside to keep it from looking any worse. I have a 69 383 two barrell car and have built it up. I don't regret a thing. Just take your time and don't get hasty to drive it before its done right.

[moparguy01]

I can get basic single stage Centauri package (Dupont) here for about 125 bucks for a paint with red in it including the activator.....i.e....Hemi Orange.   A base coat-clearcoat package runs about 250 to 300  and includes activator and everything.   These are prices for a gallon.   The paint supply here gives you the whole gallon of paint alone plus the activators, instead of 3/4 gallon of paint and a quart of activator like some supply houses do.    Now custom paints?.....Well...bring in your own Vaselive, KY, or Gojo...because they won't furnish that either.   That's where the big buck paints come in to play!!!

The clear coat they give you is the generic cheap crap. Do this. Buy some cheap clearcoat like what they give you for that price. Mix it up like you were gonna spray it, and stick a wood paint stirer in it. Leave it alone for a week, and do the exact same with the Good quality clear. I guarantee you will see the difference right away. It will look extremely yellow, because clear coats are one of the "you get what you pay for things" Ask anybody who does this for a living and they'll agree. If you want a real nice driver paint use the cheap stuff, If you want a high quality show car you use the good stuff.

[bear]

for those that are wondering i have already looked at the car and all the major parts are there for the car the rails on the car are fine the trunk pan has a few holes in the middle and it gets wores going off to the right side the only things that i can see sre muissing for the interior is the carpet and headliner i would put up more pictures but i forgot to take the camera out with me

[blackcharger]

and you haven't bought it yet?

[bear]

still got to convince my parents to let me get it

[blackcharger]

still got to convince my parents to let me get it

good pratice for when U get married

[Lostsheep_01]

Amen to that!  Patience, time and money...a whole lot of all three and the help of people here will get you far.  Get the car!

[blackcharger]

just show Mom & Dad what some of these cars are worth, even in pieces. Should be an easy sell.

[terrible one]

just show Mom & Dad what some of these cars are worth, even in pieces. Should be an easy sell.

Yep, worked for me!

[bear]

my dad sort of knows how much they are worth. my litle brother told me that after i went to work he went onto ebay to look at the prices that chargers getting.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

u couldnt find a #'s Match car that complete with parts for 5g's anywhere, thats one helluva deal, i say go 4 it, i know i would if i had the $-MATT

[Brock Samson]

just show them  combined fender and grill prices on this board...
that oughtta do it...