Converting Chargers to Different years?

[BrianShaughnessy]

It's perfectly fine to convert a 68 into a General Lee stuntcar or jumpcar...   just be sure to smooth over those dopey sidemarkers and get the correct grill and tail panel     
Bonus points for a DMCL 

[WingCharger]

Has Wingo replaced Cody yet?  What do you think Krylon, anyone?

He is just like Cody, only 1/8 his size. We call him Cody's mini me. Cody that makes you Dr.Evil. 

Shagadellic!

The thing with these cars is, my dad basically says if I can buy something or not. Period. He doesnt know about all the repro parts (Hes a chebby Camaro man ), and at the slightest hint of rust, he says no. Just the rust, not what the car is underneath! It really burns me up.
Saw this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Dodge-Charger-RT-Body-XS29L-Clean-Title-Project_W0QQitemZ230281734531QQihZ013QQcategoryZ6199QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

He says it has a original 440 with it, but the XS29L says it had a 383 2 barrel on it. It also has no fender tag or build sheet, and he didnt post the full Vin.

[Mike DC]

   

Look, the short answer on the whole subject of year-swapping . . . it all generally boils down to this:


It's worth doing if you just want to change all the exterior body differences, and you intend to just change the seats/door panels on the interior.


But if you want literally EVERYTHING changed, then forget about it. 

There are literally hundreds of annoying tiny little changes between the years.  Stuff that will drive you insane.  Like the grain patterns on the vinyl, the type of brackets & fasteners on certain body parts, electrical components, etc.  There is NO SENSE in trying to change all this stuff.  The stuff is functionally hardly and different from one year to the other, but you'll end up having to re-purchase almost the whole damn car if you insist on getting it all. 


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1968-69 swap:

--  The taillight panel (and of course the whole taillight assemblies) are different from '68 and '69/70. 

--  The grille plastic (but not the metal framework) is different.

--  The seatcovers look different but the foam & frames are the same.

--  The rear valance got lights for 69/70.

--  of course the signals on the corners.


      ---------------------------------------


The '68/69 cars are much closer to each other than the 1970s. 


      ---------------------------------------



1970-to-69:

--  The ENTIRE front clip is visibly different from '68/69 and 1970.  The whole outer skin of the car ahead of the doors. 
(This swap was traditionally not cost-effective at all, although it may get better because more of the '68/69 stuff is being repro'd lately.)

--  the 1970 front bucket seats were 100% different from 68/69.  Even the metal frames inside.

--  The ignition key moved from the dashboard to the column in 1970.  It doesn't look like much, but you'll swap the ENTIRE dashboard and steering column to make everything match.

--  of course the signals at all four corners. 

[Todd Wilson]

Lets say I found a 1968 Charger, but I want a 1969. what would it take to change the years over. I know big stuff like grille, sidemarkers, dash, and tail-light panel, but what else would it take?

A Dana 60



Todd

[bull]

For the life of me I can't understand why people feel the need to do this. It's about as intelligent as buying a ranch-style house for $2,000 less than a two-story and then spending $20,000 to add a second floor because you prefer two-story houses.

Regardless of what any expert says, I seriously doubt the '68s are that much cheaper than the '69s, at least not enough to make it cost-effective to convert one. And it's not like you'd be adding value to a '68 by making it look like a '69.

There are enough 2nd generation Chargers out there that you don't have to convert them, and yet there are not enough of them out there that you should. IMO it's unnecessary and unethical. How about we put the cutting/welding tools down and try converting double-digit IQ scores to triple-digit scores.

[G-man]

If you like the 68 but like the tail panel of the 69, buy a 68 and change the tail panel. Im putting a 70 tail panel on my 68, that way i got the bad ass front and rear and the nice circle marker lights and the 1st year of the 2nd gens.

Thats how I swing and im driving the car not the ppl that complain. SO.... do what u need 

[KMPX2]

Likeit was stated in the long run it will be cheaper to save up and buy what you want

[terrible one]

Get a job while you're young and still living with your parents and don't have other things to pay on. Save it ALL up for a year, then buy a driver Charger that isn't perfect that you can work on. There's really no other way when you're young, in my opinion. Don't waste your time with rotten shells.

[Harlow]

Get a job while you're young and still living with your parents and don't have other things to pay on. Save it ALL up for a year, then buy a driver Charger that isn't perfect that you can work on. There's really no other way when you're young, in my opinion. Don't waste your time with rotten shells.

Thats what I would advise as well.

[dpm68]

leave it a 68 they are the best year anyway ,  then just buy a 69

What he said.

[hotrod98]

I advise all of my customers to buy complete cars. If I started with a shell and built a complete car, I would have 4 or 5 times more money in the car than what the car could have been  bought for complete.

Here's the plan for buying a musclecar.
Save up for the car.
Look for a car.
Buy a car.
Never sell the car.

[tan top]

I advise all of my customers to buy complete cars. If I started with a shell and built a complete car, I would have 4 or 5 times more money in the car than what the car could have been  bought for complete.

Here's the plan for buying a musclecar.
Save up for the car.
Look for a car.
Buy a car.
Never sell the car.

good plan  

[suntech]

Bad thing about the green 68 is that after I added all the prices thogether for rpro sheet metal, it came out to well over $10,000. I would never have that kind of money

If 10 K is something you will never have, to spend on a car you don´t really need, i would say that the smartest thing would be NOT to buy a Charger, and avoid getting sucked in to something that you wount be able to finish.

[Ghoste]

Focus your search on the year you and stick to it.  There are still plenty of them left and deals too.  Be patient, hell you don't even drive yet do you?  In any case you have LOTS of years to get this project right.

[WingCharger]

Bad thing about the green 68 is that after I added all the prices thogether for rpro sheet metal, it came out to well over $10,000. I would never have that kind of money

If 10 K is something you will never have, to spend on a car you don´t really need, i would say that the smartest thing would be NOT to buy a Charger, and avoid getting sucked in to something that you wount be able to finish.

What I meant was I am not going to have 10k as a kid anytime soon, unless I get a really good job, which I am looking for.

[suntech]

Then it is different

Then Ghoste had a good plan for you.
But...........remember that this hobby is a money pit, and restorations / buildups are ALWAYS ending up costing more than you expect!!! The upside is that in the end, you will have a car you can be proud of, and enjoy.   
Another upside is that you can spend your money on something "wise" instead of going to town and blow them "out the window"!!!

[WingCharger]

Then it is different

Then Ghoste had a good plan for you.
But...........remember that this hobby is a money pit, and restorations / buildups are ALWAYS ending up costing more than you expect!!! The upside is that in the end, you will have a car you can be proud of, and enjoy.   
Another upside is that you can spend your money on something "wise" instead of going to town and blow them "out the window"!!!

And something that can shut those ricers up. Kids in my computer class look over my shoulder and ask "what you lookin at?" and I say "A car to blow your mitshubishi away"  and its a Daytona or Javelin.
Then they yell from their computer "this would kill that car" and its a freakin mitsubishi.

[Troy]

Then it is different

Then Ghoste had a good plan for you.
But...........remember that this hobby is a money pit, and restorations / buildups are ALWAYS ending up costing more than you expect!!! The upside is that in the end, you will have a car you can be proud of, and enjoy.   
Another upside is that you can spend your money on something "wise" instead of going to town and blow them "out the window"!!!

And something that can shut those ricers up. Kids in my computer class look over my shoulder and ask "what you lookin at?" and I say "A car to blow your mitshubishi away"  and its a Daytona or Javelin.
Then they yell from their computer "this would kill that car" and its a freakin mitsubishi.

Who cares which is faster? None of you (kids in your class) are old enough to drive so your just "bench racing" any way. Other than it being a stupid idea to street race, in the real world, you'd all get pummeled in a race by someone slightly older with more money and experience. There are fast ricers out there as well as slow muscle cars - some people know how to build them and some don't. No matter what, someone will always be faster - unless you have unlimited funds and know some mighty talented people.

The Charger is going to look better and be more unique no matter what.

As for converting a Charger, don't bother. I don't believe that 68s are noticeably cheaper than 69s and the amount of work involved to convert one would eat up any savings gained by buying the wrong car. Keep looking, I found a 69 383 Charger within probably 20 minutes of where you live and the price was very reasonable. It lasted about 4 hours though so you better have cash in hand when you find one.

Troy

[Finn]

I agree on the save and buy deal. Though it took me about 2 years of saving which meant two years of working two jobs while going to school...it was worth it though even when I got to drive it in it's pos beater condition.
Plus it gives you time to shop and research.
Also, to be fair, not all "rice" is slow junk. Ive driven a Mitsubishi Evolution and seen them perform. Those suckers are very hard to beat bang for buck wise.

[WingCharger]

I agree on the save and buy deal. Though it took me about 2 years of saving which meant two years of working two jobs while going to school...it was worth it though even when I got to drive it in it's pos beater condition.
Plus it gives you time to shop and research.
Also, to be fair, not all "rice" is slow junk. Ive driven a Mitsubishi Evolution and seen them perform. Those suckers are very hard to beat bang for buck wise.

Yeah, but one fender bender and that fiberglass and super thin sheet-metal on is like paper. (Not all are like that) Ever seen a muscle car on Ricer crash? One is still there, one not.

[skip68]

 

[squeakfinder]

Sigh....

Troy, you might be wasting your time. My sons is 19. He's now,maybee,sort of getting out of this 14 year old stage.


Listen to Troy,




young,dumb,fullacum.

[Brock Samson]

 (must stop viewing t his thread,.. must stop... oh but it's like'a train wreck though... must stop...    )

[WingCharger]

(must stop viewing t his thread,.. must stop... oh but it's like'a train wreck though... must stop...    )

Even i'll admit the thread is a train wreck. My Fault...

[Brock Samson]

   Wing - you could save yourself and us a lot of trouble by researching these questions yourself...
there have been many threads on this topic over the past few years, generally, it's not a wise idea for all the reasons above, (besides which the dash pads are different, the '68s is peaked in the center with a slight point and the '60/70 is flat.)

listen to troy, he's our leader for a good reason.