First Charger... Please Help

[Wift]

Hi.  Ever since I was a kid, I told myself I would own a '71 Charger.  I can take that off my "bucket list" as of yesterday.  I must admit I am not a gear head.  I understand some of the basics and have the good fortune of being a salesman at a dealership/repair/body shop.  Great expertise and resources are at my disposal.  I will greatly need these resources.  This is a huuuuuuuge project (see pics).  I found this forum hoping that guidance for my rebuild will be found.  I am not sure of my "big plan" yet.  Enough background... lemme tell you about the vehicle.

1971 Dodge Charger
VIN wh23g1a142442
318 Motor (original, condition assumed poor... should I rebuild or replace?)
Three speed transmission (on the column) (original, same condtion as motor... If I replace motor will I replace trans too?)

It is at body shop now.  Car will be stripped down and blasted.  I have the wiring harness but do not trust condition.  Any feedback on what route I should take next (say a $10k budget) would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

[skip68]

Welcome to the site Wift.      You will get all the info you need here.

[G-man]

I dont know toomuch but judging by the car, 10K wont get you anywhere.

[68charger383]

If you have a $10K budget, you aren't mechanically inclined, then I would agree that you might want to dump this project and get a better car to begin the process.

You should be able to buy a car that is 80% to 90% restored for $5,000-$7,000. You will probably spend $15,000 and two years of your time to get your car into a similar condition. So unless you want the project, it would make more sense to buy a car which is in better shape.

You can use the $5,000-$3,000 left over to finish the project.  

Here's an SE painted and ready to enjoy with a 383, 4 bbl, auto for $6,500
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/1241366444.html

SE with 318 body work done and ready for paint $8,000
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/1243152811.html

[69bronzeT5]

$10k should help you for sure get alot of the missing parts and get it looking like a full car again

[mopar_nut_440_6]

Welcome Wift,

This is a great site with good people and lots of knowledge.

I would have to agree that 10 g will not take you far on a resto when you need to do as much work as it appears that your car needs. Paint and body will be the big one. You seem to have some good resources which will help a lot but a decent paint job is a lot of work and time which as you know costs the bucks.

It is possible to find a decent running engine and transmission for a decent price if you look around and are patient but that is only part of the equation.

The small stuff, or overlooked pieces is the killer. These old cars will eat up a ton of cash in a hurry!

For instance:

Engine/transmission will cost a minumum of 1000 for something which runs. This is nothing special just something to get it going for a bit.
Exhaust 1000 +
Rims/Tires
Radiator
Driveshaft/U Joints
Front end pieces
Brakes and related components
Fuel Lines
Fuel Tank if it leaks
Interior parts
Trim

Just food for thought but in this economy car prices are down and you can find a decent car for much less than I think you could buy one for. I am not trying to turn you off of your project but if it was me I would make a list of all of the parts you think you need and start to price it out. Once you have done the math add an extra 25 percent because stuff just happens.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cheers,

[Troy]

I have to agree and disagree at the same time with some of the other posters. It appears to be a large project, it's not rare/desirable (318 column shift auto), and prices are down right now for finished/driver quality cars so I'd say you'd be a lot further ahead by buying something else that you can enjoy right now. However, if you want the feeling of satisfaction from doing it yourself AND you have experts on hand to help (especially cheap ones) then I'd have to say build it the way you want. If I only had some good sheet metal and paint guys locally I wouldn't have so many disassembled projects! The biggest downside (and unknown) about this approach is that 3rd gen parts can be tough to come by (not as much after market support) and expensive when you do find them. Drive train parts are plentiful though so if the 318 is sick then I'd consider a swap to something with more power/torque. A Charger is a big, heavy car and you'll appreciate as much low end torque as you can get.

Troy

[chargergirl]

Take the money and buy the driver. Then take your time with this car and have the best of both worlds. If it takes you years to build who cares...it's yours.

[Foreman72]

i dunno dude...i agree with troy that getting it done, the before and after pics, ect, will be crazy satisfying...but if you stick with this one, be prepared for the long haul...plus, "they" say that you'll spend 3 times what you buget...

my vote, get one that you can start off a little further ahead with...

welcome tho, and best of luck either way

[KS71owner]

Welcome to the site!

As a fellow '71 owner I can tell you that it's worth it - I've had mine for 15 years, and probably spent about 15k so far, and that's without a total resto. My best advice is don't get discouraged. Some stuff will be hard to find, and most of it will be expensive. The end result (and stares, stopped traffic and frantic offers to buy) make it all worthwhile. You'll find plenty of useful info here.

[Sublime69]

Maybe I'm nuts but the body of the car really doesn't look that bad. I know your missing parts of the grille and bumpers but if the rest of the car is reasonably complete, I would do it knowing ahead of time it's going to take a little longer to complete it.

Alot of parts for these cars you can snag from other "cheaper models" like C,F,J,M platforms so I have to disagree and say 10K would get you along pretty well, just not all the way. Maybe if you want to clone an R/T or Hemi car 10K won't get you far, but a nice driver 10K should be sufficient for now. Look at it this way, anything you don't know how to do now, here's your chance to learn. Almost anything you do can be undone anyway if you want to try doing bodywork etc. Try painting just a fender and see how it is, maybe you can do it. You would need a compressor and a gun, you may already have the compresspor and you might be able to borrow a gun so what would paint, primer, sandpaper cost to try it out on a fender, $30?

What you have to do is take LOTS of notes and pictures when you disassembe things AND try to clean up the parts and repaint/rebuild them as you take them off so they're ready to go back on when it's time. Plus, it's not as much of a hassle than it is to go through boxes of parts repainting/cleaning everything all at once. 

[Foreman72]

You would need a compressor and a gun, you may already have the compresspor and you might be able to borrow a gun so what would paint, primer, sandpaper cost to try it out on a fender, $30?

man let me know where your getting all that for 30 bucks please

[Sublime69]

You would need a compressor and a gun, you may already have the compresspor and you might be able to borrow a gun so what would paint, primer, sandpaper cost to try it out on a fender, $30?

man let me know where your getting all that for 30 bucks please

I was obviously referring to enough of paint, thinner, primer and sandpaper to try out on a fender. Most people have some sort of a compressor available and a paint gun is a good investment if your going to get into this hobby, I did mention he could possibly borrow one though. And if he doesn't have a compressor, he might want to invest in one and some impacts also if he's going to be working on his car.

[Foreman72]

You would need a compressor and a gun, you may already have the compresspor and you might be able to borrow a gun so what would paint, primer, sandpaper cost to try it out on a fender, $30?

man let me know where your getting all that for 30 bucks please

I was obviously referring to enough of paint, thinner, primer and sandpaper to try out on a fender. Most people have some sort of a compressor available and a paint gun is a good investment if your going to get into this hobby, I did mention he could possibly borrow one though. And if he doesn't have a compressor, he might want to invest in one and some impacts also if he's going to be working on his car.

yeah i know you ment for just the fender but isn't that alone going to be like 75 bucks? i mean its all good really...its totally up to him anyways