Decent Charger resto parts..it only took 40 yrs!!

[Dan T]

How do you guys feel about the fact that it took 40 yrs to finally get decent Charger parts?? I myself am very pleased, because I haven't started my resto yet, so all of this makes it easier for me..
But how about others, who had to beg, steal, borrow, and hack up otherwise good cars to complete their project.
It's kind of upsetting that so many Chargers & Mopars in general, were parted out, or junked in the last 25 yrs due to parts unavalibility. I'm sure that there would be plenty more Mopars, thus making the world a better place to be, had these parts been released, say, 20 yrs ago when all the  Mustang & Camaro parts started coming out. It's almost like every car has already been restored or is gone, and NOW they come out with all this stuff!!
Any thoughts out there??
This is just my 

[tan top]

yeah i was thinking some thing like that ....    ..............

[JimShine]

There are PLENTY of rot box Chargers out there to restore. The trick is going to be finding enough people willing to invest more into bodywork than the finished product will be worth. I have no problem doing it, but I don't see people knocking down the doors to be one of them.

The rot boxes should be valued for their potential now versus their parts value. I suspect that the major projects values will come down to a reasonable level as the values will not be driven up by people needing parts.

[Shakey]

I'm pleased and all that there are more parts now available but to be honest I'd rather restore an original part than go with a reproduction part.  That's not the case with all items but with certain items.

For example, rather than try and fix my cracked console, I'll get a new one and transfer all my parts however with the woodgrain steering wheel, rather than pay $400.00 USD for a reproduction, I'll be spending the $800.00 CAD to get mine restored.

[Chatt69chgr]

I've been collecting parts for my 69 Charger restoration for about three years now.  When I started, it appeared that certain parts would never be available.  Like seat belts, even regular steering wheels let alone woodgrain ones, instrument panel and dash plastic, etc.  So I haunted junkyards looking for anything and everything I could find.  I discovered that certain parts were used in other models and was able to find things from those cars since in all my looking I only found one charger in the junkyard and it was a 68 that was pretty much gutted.  So this plethora of new repop parts is a godsend.  I would warn folks who are restoring Chargers to buy these parts now.  Do not wait.  They won't be available forever.  There is a window of opportunity and when they do dry up I don't think they will appear again.  Particularly with the changing economic conditions in the US and the world today.

[1969chargerrtse]

I paid 90.00 for my repro gas cap and ring.  Had I been told 500.00 I probably would of been forced to pay it or get it re chromed and painted and still not be a nice.  These repro parts made my charger look nice for a lot less than I expected.  Though the remote mirror was a little pricey.   I had always thought the reason Mopars brought such big bucks was because they weren't as common as the Camaros, Chevelles, Stangs?  So the rarity helped in a way.  If it took a fortune to have a nice looking Mopar, then thats what they were worth.

[Spike]

Unfortunately most of them are made in China  I'm not jumping on the look at all the parts we have band wagon. These parts are being made for peanuts and they are getting top dollar for them and then some. Sell them for what they are, import replacement parts for American cars.

[suntech]

I am super happy that these parts are getting available in these days, and i will use a lot of them on my car. 
The discussion about where they are made has been on here earier, and i think they are very reasonable priced. 600 usd for a new front fender is very far from "top dollar" in my opinion.
As for beeing upset about cars that has been shopped up for parts, since nothing was available back then, i think is waste of time. If we knew what was going to happen in ten years, we would all be multi-millionaires, right??
Let the past be the past, and be happy about that somebody actually has done something, to supply us with parts.

[CB]

...and i think they are very reasonable priced. 600 usd for a new front fender is very far from "top dollar" in my opinion.

600 bucks for repop fender doesn't sound not much for us here in Europe and more up north. Only shipping this big volume could leave a bitter taste.
As for the restored cars, how many have allready used repop parts? And if you bought such a restored one only time will tell what corners they've cut.
Nevertheless it's nice to see they start reproduce some hard to find parts but putting Chinese stuff on a genuine American Muscle car doesn't feel right to me. 
CB

[Hansson]

I got one of those rot box Chargers, its a plain Jane 318+727  8 3/4 open rear. Will change that to 440+727 and diff, power disc*4 and other fun stuff.
The only outer panels thats going to be reused is roof and hood, the rest are going to be AMD stuff from firewall to rear bumper and fender to fender.
The fun with it is that i can build the car my way, the way i want it to be. Many of you might call me crazy(all my friends does) but i don't give a s#¤t.
And yes i am also wondering why it took this long to get hold of re pro parts in nice quality to a fair price. why should the Ford and Chevy guys get all the fun.

/Henrik

[suntech]

but putting Chinese stuff on a genuine American Muscle car doesn't feel right to me. 

Gotta idmit that i could´nt care less, about where they are made, as long as the quality is right! And...............There is absolutly no reason for claimbing they could not make the same quality in Taiwan, as in the US. The factories can do the exact same thing. 

[defiance]

on the non-american parts issue...  just a hypothetical, but it the charger had been a japanese car, but NOTHING else was different about the car itself, would you still want one?
I know personally, I'd still love my car just as much, even if it were made in beijing.

[jaak]

Unfortunately most of them are made in China I'm not jumping on the look at all the parts we have band wagon. These parts are being made for peanuts and they are getting top dollar for them and then some. Sell them for what they are, import replacement parts for American cars.

Thats why I get a laugh at re-body threads, the purist believe putting chiness repo parts; fenders, quarters, trunk floors, tailpanel floorpans, etc.. and the only original mopar parts are the roof and if your lucky the frame rails...keeps it legit, but using a solid all mopar body is not? thats horse-shit!

Jason

[Ghoste]

Yeah, until you pay top dollar for the numbers matching ultra rare convertible Hemi whatever only to find out the only thing Hemi in it is under the hood and all the rest was genuine 100% pure 318 car. 

[CB]

it's just the idea guys...

Don't get me wrong, I do love some of the Asian stuff. Like the martial arts I am practicing, some of the good food they cook and (some of) the Eastern type of girls are sweet 

But leave the American Muscle cars to the American history and culture.
It's like drinking a good bottle of French or a Californian(.../Spanish/whatever) wine. You don't mix em up you just enjoy each for it is own.
Because it's a free world I am free to buy an American car or any car.
But if I buy a Mopar I chose an American one not a mixed one.
Just doesn't feel right. Hell I am paying enough to own such a car.
CB

[Old Moparz]

I never expected to see all the repro parts being made either, & yes, I am happy about it. For the longest time I envisioned putting nice, clean, used parts on my cars, but now I have the chance to get some of them new. Although not a Charger, the '71 Cuda grille I bought a few years ago is a repro that I paid 1/3 the price of a decent used one. I'd rather have a repro of a plastic part like that since it hasn't been subjected to 40 years of vibrations, UV rays, parking lots, & whatever else that damages them.

Unfortunately most of them are made in China  I'm not jumping on the look at all the parts we have band wagon. These parts are being made for peanuts and they are getting top dollar for them and then some. Sell them for what they are, import replacement parts for American cars.

Yeah, it would be nice to have parts for an American car made in the USA & not China, but what can you do? Nobody in the USA did squat to make anything the average person can afford.

[JimShine]

Plus the outer skin doesn't make the car. It is the element of form that beautifies the function. Since the Asian made components are done true to form, there is no harm in my book.

[Dan T]

Plus the outer skin doesn't make the car. It is the element of form that beautifies the function. Since the Asian made components are done true to form, there is no harm in my book.

Nicely put!!

[hotrod98]

If the same repro parts were made in America, they would be ten times the price. Tooling costs are extremely high in the U.S..
And, just so you realize it, many of the parts being offered are only going to be available for a limited time. Many of the items that BEA Parts offers are a one time only run. For instance, when those beautiful 70 cuda turn signals are gone..they're gone. No more...ever. I'm gathering many of the parts to restore a few of my cars now while they're available. I spent several hundred dollars on 71 Cuda parts last week even though I won't start on that car for another two years. I'm not waiting. I'm trying to talk Mike into making the 71 cuda grilles. There will be an extra one stored away in my closet if he decides to make them. The current ones available are cast and won't hold up well. His grilles are injection molded just like all of his plastic parts.
When the superbird back glass moldings are ready, I'm planning on buying a set since only 100 sets will be made. The tooling costs for those moldings will be well over 60 grand and that's overseas. That's why the moldings will be around $1200 a set.
One more thing. Everyone talks about good old American steel. Guess again, they've been melting those foreign cars down for over 50 years. I think there's a whole lot of foreign steel mixed in with our good old American steel. Most of the American steel is going to china along with our concrete and just about everything else.

[six-tee-nine]

Well It's easy to just buy evertything new and throw the junk away. But IMO "restoring" a car is trying to keep as much of the originality in it.
But how far does it go?
I just happen to have ordered me a pair of repop bumpers for my 69, simply because my bent and badly rusted originals will cost me over twice the price of the repop's to get them staigtened an re-chromed. And they possibly still won't look good for that price.

On the otherhand, my woodgrain steering wheel needs restoration but is very fixable, so i'll have it restored even if the price of a repop is lower....see the difference.



Imagine a guy restoring a unique 1 of 1 1920's Bentley roadster and the complete body is rotted away. He has no alternative than making new body panels himself. So in fact when restored the car is not truly original anymore, but does it harm the value? No sir.

[suntech]

Imagine a guy restoring a unique 1 of 1 1920's Bentley roadster and the complete body is rotted away. He has no alternative than making new body panels himself. So in fact when restored the car is not truly original anymore, but does it harm the value? No sir.

Exactly!!!!!!

There is a thread here now, with pictures, there the new fenders from AMD are fitted on, and fits and looks awesome!!
Does that car have a reduced value because he putted on this fenders, instead of paying a sheet metal guru thousands of dollars, to almost "make" a new fender, and then get it e-coated?? don´t think so!!!!!

If somebody wants to check that the sheet of metal, welding wire, etc is actually made in America...........fine by me!! I am not going to do that.
If somebody had the parts made in Europe, in a country that had long traditions in quality work, lets say Swisserland, would we have this discussion then??
They would ofcause be at least 3-4 times the price, but nobody could call it "chinese junk" !!
What would we bitch about then?? Quality, price or country of origin??
Sorry guys, but i just don´t get it!!!
If somebody can make the same quality part in US, and sell it for the same price, great!!! But till that happens................. Well, you know the answer!!!!

[jaak]

Unfortunately most of them are made in China I'm not jumping on the look at all the parts we have band wagon. These parts are being made for peanuts and they are getting top dollar for them and then some. Sell them for what they are, import replacement parts for American cars.

Thats why I get a laugh at re-body threads, the purist believe putting chiness repo parts; fenders, quarters, trunk floors, tailpanel floorpans, etc.. and the only original mopar parts are the roof and if your lucky the frame rails...keeps it legit, but using a solid all mopar body is not? thats horse-shit!

Jason

I should have been a little more specific, I guess.  If need be I would use Chinese repo parts, heck I have I had to replace 1 floor pan and the trunk floor, what I was referring to in rebody threads is to me there is no diffence in rebodying a car or replacing everything with repo parts... the only difference is one is a rebody on another car the other is rebodying the car with repo parts. but either way putting an old mopar back on the road is great no matter which way is done. My 

Jason

[suntech]

to me there is no diffence in rebodying a car or replacing everything with repo parts... the only difference is one is a rebody on another car the other is rebodying the car with repo parts. but either way putting an old mopar back on the road is great no matter which way is done. My 

I agree to some extend, but there are limits for how much you could change, and still call it the same car, but that is just my opinion.
I am not in to the "number matching" stuff anyway, so i will change whatever need to be changed, to get the car like i want it, and put the engine i want in it, and it will be "my charger", and that will do for me!!

Rolf

[charge69]

Well JAAK, there is one difference in rebody vs. new sheetmetal.  Rebody is ILLEGAL in all 50 states! Cutting the numbers off a genuine HEMICAR and welding the pieces onto a different car is not called restoring. I feel very lucky that there are enough new sheetmetal parts to put my car back together and keep the original numbers on the body intact even though it will need a lot of new sheetmetal to make it right. I, for one, would never put my numbers on another body and call it a restored HemiCharger.

[jaak]

Well JAAK, there is one difference in rebody vs. new sheetmetal. Rebody is ILLEGAL in all 50 states! Cutting the numbers off a genuine HEMICAR and welding the pieces onto a different car is not called restoring. I feel very lucky that there are enough new sheetmetal parts to put my car back together and keep the original numbers on the body intact even though it will need a lot of new sheetmetal to make it right. I, for one, would never put my numbers on another body and call it a restored HemiCharger.

I wouldn't either.

Jason