Hard, Impossible, or crazy

[beware the sleeper]

I just recently bought a 72 coronet that needs a lot of love (was clipped, rear end needs to come off, then was in a field for about a year) and its to the point where I am gonna have to take this car down to the frame, everything I have seen so far (besides the engine and transmission, it actually still runs really healthy and most everything is under 45k miles) about the body and the interior needs either serious repairs or outright replacement. 

So I thought of three options, I could tear it down and rebuild it back up as a charger (which I would love to do, and I am talking buying all the panels and actually building the body from the ground up on the coronet frame, which if it is a 72 coronet to a 72 charger I believe the tranny, engine, and frame are identical, it is the 5.2 v8 318) and just repair what I can and sell those panels and parts to help finance the restore.

2. trying to find a donor body and just swapping out the good mechanics into the good body (this would be easiest, but I am really trying to learn how to restore cars, and even though it is the cheapest and fastest method, it is also the one where I learn the least) or,

3. I can try and do a straight forward restore and just repair what I can and (hopefully) find peices for the coronet, I am leaning a bit towards a charger just because finding peices is 10 times easier than a coronet for some reason as well as being able to truly know what every nut and bolt of my car does, I plan on maintaining and keeping this car till one of us is completely beyond repair. 

Now what I was wondering is about the frames and the level of difficulty, I was hoping I might be able to strip it down and start gradually getting the body peices and what not and just build it up over time, however what has me scared is if I am not going to be able to get some core peices, or if there is core peices where I would have to find another car, like a base body that I would have to modify the frame for, because right now I can afford a panel or two a paycheck, but I would have to start by waiting a few months and then adding in another car and thats just frustrating as far as having to wait. 

Basicly, is it feasible (not easy, but feasible) and just like a rough out line of how hard.  I have done like car repair before (fixing water pumps, chainging oil, fixing door handles), and some minor body work (minor dents, a little bit of puddy work), but never anything near this scale, I have a complete tear down and build up manual which actually covers both cars coming, and I am really big on studying really hard before I make moves. 

I have allready committed to a few years work and over time like 10-20 grand (the engine and tranny and most of the mechinc work is fully functional, just needs maitenance from being in the field, it wasnt abandoned out right, just not really "protected". So I discounted my expected costs a little, though that is well over my estimates, I just want to tabulate it pessimistic, cause It is a pay over time thing, fix it as I can afford it, so it will sting a whole lot less.)

but yeah, that was me wondering, hope to hear from you guys.

[beware the sleeper]

for the record, it is running right now, I drove it home 7 miles, it isnt pulling at all, no stalls, no back fires, handled a little sluggish, but it needs fluid changes really bad (I topped off the transmission fluid before driving it home), but it handled like a decent car that needed its fluids changed.

[Mike DC]

 
I don't even have to read every sentence in your story to come to a conclusion - get another donor body of a Charger.  (BTW, you do realize that these things are unibody cars, right?  There is no separate frame underneath the whole thing, just a big bolt-on subframe under the front end.) 



Trust me, you will learn more than enough about rebuilding a car, and a body, just trying to get this thing back together using another body shell.

Really re-skinning the entire body is a pretty thankless task that is typically only undertaken out of necessity and/or sentimental attachments.  If you know how to replace one full quarter panel then you know how to do it all; the other remaining 100 square feet of sheetmetal on the body you've got is mostly just more practice and more opportunity for further problems.


I understand if you wanna build the one you've got.  But if you are not already sentimental & committed to redoing it then I would point you in the direction of a rebody.  Third-gen Chargers are an easier car to find a decent donor body than the 2nd-gens.  There probably won't be any shortage of serious work to be done on it.

[beware the sleeper]

yeah, I was afraid of that, I am pretty much gonna have to  either find one to transplant to, which means waiting, or rebuild the coronet

[beware the sleeper]

actually, really looking at it, I think I am ok with that, I will rebuild the coronet and get all my mistakes made (yeah, right) and then grab a 72-73 charger and rebuild it after, that way I can give my (hopefully wife at the time) girlfriend this one and we can kind of have a matched set, shes a gear head too.  Is posting here for help gonna be a prob if it is a coronet?  I know its a charger board, but you all seem pretty adept and I would like to lean on you all for advice (i have taer down manuals and stuff, so not everything), if so I can start a thread and take some pics and what not

[lisiecki1]

a lot of us are into mopars in general....and I think I speak for everyone when I say yes, we'll help you with the coronet as much as possible......hell, the worst thing we can say is "I don't know"....

[bill440rt]

Please forgive me for raising the question, but isn't a '72 Coronet a 4-DOOR? 

1) Tearing it down & rebuilding as a Charger would be impossible (different wheelbases, unibody platform, etc...)
2) That would be better.
3) That is the next best option.

A Coronet 4-door isn't the most desireable or collectible Mopar out there (not trying to be insulting, but it is what it is...). Sounds like you're going to put in a huge amount of work in this car. If a '72 Coronet 4-door is your thing, you might want to try & find a better candidate and use the one you have as a parts car.

[beware the sleeper]

well at this point, its mainly about the experience, and honestly, i think the 4 door coronets have a certain swagger to them, but they still have that little bit of dangerous, you can get them moving pretty nasty, and my master plan is to get all the work down and then refocus on a charger in the end game, I did a little research and yeah, I would be better off just fixing it up and then getting a 72 charger to fix up as well, Make em play off each other ya know.  I saw a coronet taking a few mustangs right out at the track a while ago, so I know there is potential.  one of the main things is I want to just build it up so I will have a car where no matter what breaks, I can fix it, so it will be around for a long time, and then I will kind of have the charger for raising hell.