If You Had To Do It All Over Again.............

[h76]

If you had to do it all over again,would you guys out there have just bought a charger ready to drive or tackle a project(for those of you who have done a charger)? 
I mean when you consider all the things that go into a project car-initial purchase,missing parts,hunting for parts,body work,all your hours of labor,materials other than just parts to get resto done,space the project takes up,all the time you spend fixing instead of driving,etc.-it really makes you think about why the driver/finished cars are going so high$.
I don't blame anybody for wanting to do a project-but I also can't blame anybody for wanting to spend bigger$ to get one that is done.
Any thoughts? just kind of curious as to people's thinking on this.

[dkn1997]

I would have gone south and found a rust free car.  I paid 4100 for mine in 1994.  and it was pretty clean.  just needed lower quarters, rear valance, and a couple of small patches on the doors, but now it's coming back some.   for 6K I probably could have scored a much better car. 

[69bronzeT5]

Well since the fact that Ive had my car for 8 years and it still isnt finished.....Im deffintley gonna buy a restored Charger next time. And if I could go back and change one thing...I would deffintley TAKE pictures of my car when it was in the field.

[moparguy01]

i would have saved more money and bought a more complete car. But i do all my own work and restore cars professionally so not much scares me rust wise.

My advise for anyone is buy the best body you can afford, because the drivetrain is usually cheaper, unless you insist on a hemi.

[h76]

It seems that a lot of the project chargers I've seen lately for sale are ones that guys started on and lost interest in or no money to finish or the resto work has sucked all the fun out it for them.

[moparguy01]

alot of people just get in over their heads. Ive seen guys who have never changed a battery out of a car, yet they go buy a rust bucket because its cheap enough. then the car sits for years because they have no idea how to do bodywork.

[70charger_boy]

To be or not to be that is the question.....  I bought a piece of junk that the seller stated was a driver.  Yeah right! I payed 6,500 for a 75 318.  I thought it was a deal, but I see some 69's for that price, so maybe I was ripped off. The way I see it is if I had 20 or 25 grand to buy a done up charger, how long would it be before I thought I was ripped off.  I would bitch no matter what so I'm happy I bought a piece of crap, because when I'm done with it it would be a nicer piece of crap

[694spdRT]

More often than not it is much easier and often cheaper to buy a finished car. The big plus is that you can start enjoying the car right away and not 10 years from now. Taking on a major restoration is not easy or cheap and it will test your fortitude and make you wonder what you were thinking many times.

The one wrench for me is if I find a particular car the has certain factory options that make it rare and more appealing to restore. If you look for a restored car fitting you tastes and it does not come along you may be tempted to buy a project car. At that point you have to make a decision to wait or buy the project. I am not talking just about the obvious Hemi's and Six Packs cars either. For me any factory 4 speed Charger is worthy of restoring because they were rare when new and really hard to find now. In addition to a 4 speed tranny any popular color combo or other option makes a project even more appealing IMO. These kind of things really matter to people that consider originality important. Not all do and that is fine too.

IMO if you are not concerned with what the car was originally and just want a car to drive and enjoy....buy the best quality car you can upfront as you will be time and money ahead in the long run.

[The70RT]

I would do what I am doing now. I bought mine in 78 for a grand and it was a nice driver. I am now on the 5th month of the resto. Since I had this so long it only makes sense. I could have sold it for MAYBE 20 and then took the money I have for the resto and bought a real nice driver...........but 20 years down the road It would maybe need redone and prices then and in a wheel chair wouldn't have been a good senario 

[h76]

It seems like the gap between projects and done cars has has widened considerably($) the last few years.
You don't get much for $5-$10k now.It takes $12-$15k to get something even close to resembling finished.

[694spdRT]

Demand for these cars has increased but, keep in mind the cost of restoring them has went up quite a bit as well. Parts that I bought 10 years ago for $200 are now $1,000. Also, if a project is going to a body shop the costs will obviously be much more than doing the work yourself. It all depends on what time, tools, and talents you have to complete a project vs buying a turn key car.

[Silver R/T]

most of the resto is fun (for me its bodywork)

[Back N Black]

Interesting, i was at the body shop on Friday and was chatting with the body man about the type of restoractions that is coming in his shop lately.The cars are in terrible shape and you would not give it a second look at 10 years ago. Some guy have attempted the bodywork and dropped it off(bastardized) Then there others that expect a full restro for 6 to 8 grand. He said most people don't do their homework before taking such projects and thats why you see so many FOR SALE due to lack of interest or lack of funds.His estimation was take 1 square foot on a car and expect to spend 10 hours on it and then move on to the next sq ft.
To answer your question yes i would do it all over again, because when I'm driving down the road i know that the car is built exactly the way i wanted it to be built.

[h76]

Seems like the nice projects that are popping up are the 318 cars.They haven't been beat to hell-but they are getting up there in $ too. It seems like a lot of people aren't too concerned whether their small or big block cars-but rather if it's a 68-70 charger. A lot of the ebay chargers(projects) look to be stripped down(take the parts off and throw in boxes),but when it comes to start bodywork-that seems to be the point when people throw up their hands and cut their losses.

[69bronzeT5]

5 months? Thats it.....my cars been in resto for 8 years!

[Khyron]

I wouldn't change a thing. Dan sold me a great car for a very good price, it was everything he said, he was fair and honest.

The body had a nice new coat of paint, and to be honest, I could have left it alone for a few more years, but some of the little things just started bothering me over the years. So thats were I am not. I'm in the 4th month of the restoration. The body is straight as an arrow, the body very very close to paint. I've learned a great deal and the guys at Vintage Motorsports have basically held my hand through every aspect of my restoration <and ever did a lot of work on the quarters for me>

I'm loving it. If I saved up, and bought a compleated car to begin with. How could I ever truly call it my own?

[Dave22443]

I wouldn't mind having this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Modernized-Muscle-1968-Dodge-Charger-440-R-T-Clone_W0QQitemZ260099696590QQcategoryZ6199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[70charginglizard]

Wouldn't have changed a thing. I'm glad I went thru all the work myself. I always wanted to built a big block up from the block up and restore my own car and I have no regret doing it.
If I had the space I'd do it all over again with an e-body car. Just got to find a decent one and the space to do it in. 

[Bones68charger]

I bought my 318 Charger in 97 for about $5000 no rust pretty strait body. No one wanted the car because it was only a 318. I could not give a rats arse. These same guys are probably kicking themselves now.

[bull]

At the moment I wish I would have purchased one that was finished or nearly finished. Maybe once I'm done I'll be happy I did all the work myself and have first-hand knowledge of what went into it but I'd rather be driving it instead of working on it.

[Arigmaster]

I think I would probably look for something clean and ready to drive next time. Even though mine wasn't too horrible to begin with, I wanted to end up with the cleanest body I possibly could. (thus, no patch work)

The lesson I learned was that it would have been pretty close in comparison to getting a completed car in the long run. (price wise) The advantage is that I know whats under the paint where it would be unknown if you bought a completed one. The disadvantage is the car was in pieces for 4 & 1/2 years to get it this far. (no enjoyment time there)

I think most people look for projects because they think they might save money that way or it may be easier for them to budget the stages of the cost. Unless someone bought their car several years ago, I don't think there is a true savings either way anymore. "It is what it is"

[Ghoste]

I'd spend more and be more patient about getting what I wanted.  I got a good deal on my car and I obviously must like it, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

[Charger_Croatia]

I don't mind doing work on charger but I don't know when it will be ready for the road. 
Maybe I shall feel much better knowing that I did most of the job on car, but right now I'll probably save some more and go for cleaner car.

[Neal_J]

I bought mine in 1994 and it needed work.  Over time I've restored it and it's been largely done for about three years now.  The process was great fun overall but the one thing I'd do differently is to go with a cheaper paint job.  Mine cost $5 grand in 2000 and it still looks great, nearly flawless.  However, the downside is that it looks SO go that I'm often hesitant to park it for fear of damage.  I have a 68 Cutlass with the fair original paint that I'm much happier driving and parking because I don't care much if I take another door ding occassionally.   Otherwise, it's been great fun. 

Neal J

[Magnumcharger]

Same as all of the above, I shoulda grabbed a better car when they were reletively cheap.
Instead, I burdeoned myself unnesscessarily re-doing a car that in the long run, needed far more than I had anticipated.
Pictures speak for themselves...

[1958300]

My bottomless money pit has been at the shop for almost a year now, and I am already at the point in my budget that the paintwork should be finished. You guessed it! I'm still replacing panels. I'm not too unhappy because the car is one of 28 built, and is probably the only one with the N96 package. So it's not a car I'm going to see on every street corner. Yes, I will probably spend twice what I thought I would, and if it was not a very rare numbers matching car, I probably would have ditched it months ago. I'm still going to have to wait a few years for the car to appreciate to the point that I won't lose money big time if I sell it. Projected finish time is 12 more months, and I'm getting to the point that I probably need to buy a finished car if I am going to live long enough to drive it. So, next time, (after I finish my Barracuda convertible) I will buy a finished car.

[The70RT]

Same as all of the above, I shoulda grabbed a better car when they were reletively cheap.
Instead, I burdeoned myself unnesscessarily re-doing a car that in the long run, needed far more than I had anticipated.
Pictures speak for themselves...

WOW.....you had a lot of work to do. Looks great now No window rust? Thats sweet!

[h76]

Looks like a lot of time and effort has been put into that one.
You have to have lots of time,patience,skill,and of course$$$ to do a good job on a project car.

[Lowprofile]

I would have NEVER sold all the other Chargers I had! 

[Magnumcharger]

Same as all of the above, I shoulda grabbed a better car when they were reletively cheap.
Instead, I burdeoned myself unnesscessarily re-doing a car that in the long run, needed far more than I had anticipated.
Pictures speak for themselves...

WOW.....you had a lot of work to do. Looks great now No window rust? Thats sweet!

Well....not window rust on the top anyway!

[HeavyFuel]

I have had my car for 15 years, and have put a total of 200 miles on it.  The rest of the time it has been sitting around, waiting for me to raise my kids and get the time/money to work on it.  And it was a turn key car, its just that I won't drive a classic car around that is not up to snuff.

It will probably cost me $20-25k to make it the way I want it......right now it's in body shop hell.

If I would have taken about $15k in 1991 and bought a done car, I could have been driving a nice 6-pack 4 speed car around for the last dozen years.

Hell yeah, I would do things different....

[Mefirst]

I should have bought myself a Chevy

[SeattleCharger]

I wouldn't mind having this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Modernized-Muscle-1968-Dodge-Charger-440-R-T-Clone_W0QQitemZ260099696590QQcategoryZ6199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If I had the dough, I would buy that,  maybe a diff. color, but car has  a lot done and going for it.

[70charger_boy]

[qu :flush:ote author=Mefirst link=topic=26596.msg290750#msg290750 date=1175034208]
I should have bought myself a Chevy are u crazy?  You have one of the nicest charger on the planet

[Troy]

So, next time, (after I finish my Barracuda convertible) I will buy a finished car.

Exactly! Yes, I have four projects and could have just as easily had two "driver" quality cars or one very well done restoration. I bought my Barracuda solely because I could drive it and I was sick of having a garage full of cars that were only good for taking up space and money. I'm going slowly but surely though so I hope these don't turn into retirement projects. My advice, buy a finished or mostly finished car that you can drive right away or - at the very least - buy the cleanest, straightest project with as many good parts as possible.

Troy

[chargerboy69]

I would still do my car. Even though it probably should have been scraped, when you tear them apart and restore them, they become a part of you.