74' Dodge Charger

[Chad]

Hey everybody, i have been looking for a good car to buy and really invest some time and money into it, however im a college student, so time and money isnt something i have in abundance, which could make this option a mistake. At first i went after a jeep wrangler for off-roading fun, however i stand at 6'6'' and i was literally unable to drive a wrangler. After searching for cars for tall people i was delighted to see that Dodge Charger was on the list.
I do not know alot about cars, but im looking to learn, and my dad used to restore muscle cars before he started farming, and so its been 20 to 30 years and he cant remember all the specifics. Bascially what ive narrowed my car choices down to is this:

'74 Dodge Charger
440 Magnum
Slap Stick on the Floor
Supposedly factory edition racing package? (Rallye im guessing?)
Dual exhaust out the rear
Interior needs a floor, and runners, the seats need re-done, basically not much there, but interior is on the bottom of the list
Some rust damage in the usual spots, we were planning on re-fabricating the rusted out parts, at most there's dime size holes on the bottom of the panels near the tires.
Cant tell you to much else, we havent done a total evaluation of the car, but it runs, we drove it down the highway and no smoke blew out the tailpipes when started up, dad feels the engine is mechanically sound.

It's been nearly 2 months and they are still working on getting us a title for the car, they bought it from an Icelander who bought it from someone else, so we cant get a clear history on it.
Negotiated the price to $4,000 + usage of their paint room so we can re-paint it.

Also found a red charger that doesnt run, a 74 as well, for 2 grand, the body is in the same shape and the interior is slightly nicer, however seems much more of a project car, and no idea what could all be wrong with the engine

My question is this, Does 4 grand seem like a good deal, and judging by the pictures, what edition would you say it is? They claim its a racing package from the factory, and after googling for a while, i am guessing a Rallye package? however we arent sure if they are telling the truth or just throwing a hood and tail-light package on and calling it original, what are other little details to look for to see what the truth is?
It comes with a flat black hood scoop, with Magnum 440 decals, and a taillight package which i have not seen on most other chargers, also i recall reading something about mirrors being different, and these appear to resemble other package pictures.

My apologies if i appear ignorant.

Here are some pictures.

[jaak]

The car in the pics is a 71 not a 74. If its the one for 4 grand, sounds like a good deal to me.

Jason

[1970RT]

You mentioned your height and being able to fit into a car.  I'm 6-4 and I barely fit in my 70 charger.  My head just touches the headliner.  The 3rd generation chargers might have more headroom but I think anyone 6-6 would have a hard time in a 70 with stock seats.

[Chad]

Thanks Jason! We havent been able to get the title and so we were unsure the exact year of the car, we figured it was a 70s the people selling it were saying 74 or so. What gave it away that it was a 71?

Also the car has a half vinyl top to it, which would need re-done as it has completely fell apart.

I have driven the car and i found it to be a good fit, i sit in it as well as i do my current car, which is a 1988 Lincoln town car, talk about a boat. Getting in and out is a little tricky, but anything thats not a truck i have problems with, you get used to it.

[jaak]

Thanks Jason! We havent been able to get the title and so we were unsure the exact year of the car, we figured it was a 70s the people selling it were saying 74 or so. What gave it away that it was a 71?

Also the car has a half vinyl top to it, which would need re-done as it has completely fell apart.

I have driven the car and i found it to be a good fit, i sit in it as well as i do my current car, which is a 1988 Lincoln town car, talk about a boat. Getting in and out is a little tricky, but anything thats not a truck i have problems with, you get used to it.

71-2 Chargers have a different roof than 73-4, and the side markers that are on the car in the pics was only used in 71, 72-4 used different side markers (like on the ones in the pic of my 73 in my signature.)

Jason

[Dodgecharger74]

tail lights & grill inserts are 71

[Chad]

  Awesome, good eyes!

Does it appear to be standard stock 71 charger? And they just slapped on a different hood? Or is it Rallye? Also i was reading and if its a 71 does that mean its a R/T or is that pre-70s only? I read the R/T was replaced with the Rallye edition but i was unsure the exact year this took place.

Curious to know so that we can restore it as accurately as possible to the original condition.

Thanks for all the help!

[jaak]

If you get a chance, open the hood and look on the left inner fender, there is a tag with option codes...if you can write down those codes and post them on here, we will decode it and find out for sure what you got there.

Jason

[Chad]

Gotcha, the car is in town so we'll go get those codes after lunch, Also i forgot to add that it has AC/Power Steering and Power Brakes, would these 'luxury' options mean its an SE?

I suppose the easiest route would be to just get the code and find out all the information from that, however it would be nice to have the knowledge to be able to pick out small details and be able to know what it exactly would be.

Thanks! 

[rav440]

get the VIN TAG # also . just in case the fender tag is missing . it wont tell you a whole lot as the fender tag but still it will tell what motor and such it has 

[mikesbbody]

Chad, Jason is right for the price its a steal! Im looking at it thinking it might be a Charger 500 since it has the RT style Tailights. However, the 500's biggest motor was the 383 not that it matters (better off with a 440 imo) the Rallye did replace the RT but not until 72. 71 was the last year for the RT Charger. 

[Chad]

I went into town to take more pictures, and feel like an idiot for not noticing CHARGER SE on the console 

Yeah we just arent to knowledgeable on the charger specifics, and the tail light style, along with the hood and the 440 and the fact that the guys selling it are claiming it to be a racing package deal sorta just confused us.
The motor is a 440 but we dont think it was stock, and since they suped it up, they had to put a different hood on to make room, from what i've gotten from reading, SE editions seem to be sort of a wussy version of the Chargers not 'luxury' however hopefully the guys before us did us a favor by dropping in the 440.

Any tips/info would be helpful!

Thanks! 

[69bronzeT5]

Here's the fender tag decoded....

Code     Description
E44   318-2 Barrel
D31   Light Duty 904 Automatic Transmission TorqueFlite
WH23   
W = Dodge Coronet / Charger
H = High
23 = 2 Door Hardtop
G1G   
G = 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1 = 1971
G = St. Louis, MO, USA
173813   Sequence Number '173813'
GY9   
Paint Code: Dark Gold Metallic
C2X9   
Trim Grade/Style/Color
C = Charger
2 = Vinyl Bench
X9 = Black
TX9   Upper Door Frame: Black / Black Velvet
204   Date Built: 2 / 04 / 1971
049866   Order Number: 049866
V4X   Roof Type OR Color:  Black Canopy Vinyl Roof
U   Built to Specifications for USA Order
A85   Charger Topper Package
G11   Tinted Glass All
G33   Left Hand Outside Mirror - Manual / Chrome
H51   Single Air /w Heater
L31   Hood / Fender Mount Turn Signal
M21   Roof Drip Rail Moldings
M25   Wide Sill Molding
M31   Belt & Hood Molding
M44   Hood & Fender Molding
R11   Music Master Radio AM
26   26 in. Radiator
END   End of Codes

[jaak]

Even though it is not an RT, its a nice 71 for a nice price... not to mention its already got a running 440 plus that bulge hood (those things are worth $$$$$). You need to get this car before someone else does, 4k for a running charger in that shape is a steal.

Jason

[Chad]

I live in a town of 700 and they havent posted that they wanted to sell it, been sitting for a month or two, so im not worried about competition 
That is Awesome that you decoded that for me, i really appreciate it! We are curious that since the Tranny is Light-duty and that a 440 was thrown in, that we will have to upgrade the tranny.

Also found the color to be more of baby puke than "Gold Metallic" 

Here are some pictures of the Interior and Motor: 440 w/650 duel pumper holly

[Chad]

More Pix

Only thing i dont overly like is the color, and repainting is a bitch with door jams, i was looking to do sorta metallic/dark green, black half vinyl top and interior.

[mikesbbody]

Chad, I would go buy that car a.s.a.p   the bulge hood is worth some bucks (its off a 73 Rallye) you have a 440, with console if it were mine I wouldnt put the vinyl roof back on I'd probably put a 750 D.P Holley on there you also have RT Tailights (worth some $) you cant go wrong for the price! I'm not too good with decoding Cody has done that for you my 72 SE has "wp29" maybe it was different in 71? I would really love to know if it is  SE, or a 500, or something else you say it has the SE badges? yup, you need to go buy it!

[mikesbbody]

One other thing Chad, if it were a SE it would have the hideaway lights which it doesnt. This does not mean it never had them if I knew the codes better I could tell you for sure what model it is someone here will know and will chime in.

[jaak]

I live in a town of 700 and they havent posted that they wanted to sell it, been sitting for a month or two, so im not worried about competition 
That is Awesome that you decoded that for me, i really appreciate it! We are curious that since the Tranny is Light-duty and that a 440 was thrown in, that we will have to upgrade the tranny.

Also found the color to be more of baby puke than "Gold Metallic" 

Here are some pictures of the Interior and Motor: 440 w/650 duel pumper holly

The tranny had to be upgraded, because the 904 that was bolted to the 318 will not bolt up to a 440, the tranny in it now is a 727 TorqueFlite.

Jason

[Chad]

I know a guy selling a 3rd generation Dodger if you guys are interested, its in Denver Colorado, and its exterior/interior is better than this one, however motor problems, and we dont know whats all wrong with it, he wants 2k for it, and if you could fix it and get it running for what he says is wrong, it'd be the deal of the century, however we dont feel like taking that gamble

Yeah, the dash says SE on it, and it has certain features that are luxury items, i am not sure if i want to put on SE taillight covers and a different hood, try to make it more original, or just roll with it.

Also i was looking on the forum and someone's charger had a two tone paint job, a silvery color on the top half and then a strip of black in the middle and the bottom was red, it was gorgeous, and im going to try to do something similar to that hopefully.

Sweet! Thanks Jason, we were worried that we had a tranny re-build ahead of us.

[jaak]

I'd consider green for color......Here's a pic of Mike's car for inspiration!

Jason

[Chad]

That is a purty car!

We were going to do the paint job ourselves, and so dad refuses to paint it far from the origional, so we dont have to tackle the major problem of door jams/hood, trunk, etc. So that kinda limits me, however i still think it'd be worth it. .

I yanked this picture from some guy on the forums   and then did a poor quick job of changing it to something that looks like what i want to do, black interior, think it would look good?

Edit: I also did a shitty job doing another rendering with a white stripe, and black playing a larger role so it plays off the interior better.

[mikesbbody]

Chad, thanks for the kind words about my Charger  if I were you I would keep the Bulge hood and the RT tailights both are expensive and sought after items (and they look better) I'm still hanging out to put my bulge hood on my Charger I have RT Tailights which may go on someday. Also, check out the 3rd gen Charger website
                                     www.1971-1974dodgecharger.com    great score btw! 

[Nitrox]

That hood is off a '73.

[Chad]

We are contemplating lining the inside and outside of the floor with Rhino liner, to help stave off the rust that i'll possibly get moving to Missouri, hope this idea doesn't mortify anybody.