68 HEMI 4 SPEED

[68RED4SPEED]

Hi! New here on this page, my name is Sven and living in Sweden, I have a 68 HEMIengine 4 speed tranny and k-member out of a red 1968 Charger, last for me known location was New Jersey, anybody here on this page maybe know anything about this car? I know there was a fire in the dashpad 1976-77 and thats why they took out the engine, I also has the name on the owner at that time hes first name is Richard M, VIN is XS29JB434??? I should really appreciate any info about this car, if its still around or crapped  .
Thanks Sven

[moparstuart]

 

[tan top]

Hello & Welcome Sven   

   

[hemi68charger]

Welcome Sven...
Hope you find what you're looking for.............

Troy

[nascarxx29]

Do you know what town in NJ car was from.Also check the vin and name with the  northeasthemi owners assocation .I had my 68 hemi runner listed with them as a club member.So they might know your car if guy was a former club member .Also check with the National hemiowners assocation.And the hemi registry

http://www.nehoa.org/
http://bfghemicuda.com/WebStore/
http://www.thehemi.com/seo/hemiregistry.php

[68RED4SPEED]

Hi again and thanks everybody!Address is 327 NORTH MAIN ST  HIGHSTOWN NJ
Will checkout these links also.
Thanks Sven

[nascarxx29]

Im familar with part of NJ

[Hemidoug]

Im familar with part of NJ

Yea, I know that area too....I  remember a red 69 Hemi charger from back in the day but not a 68.....

[Hemidoug]

VIN is XS29JB434???

You are missing a number in the VIN......between the J and the B.....

[XS29J8]

Hi! New here on this page, my name is Sven and living in Sweden, I have a 68 HEMIengine 4 speed tranny and k-member out of a red 1968 Charger, last for me known location was New Jersey, anybody here on this page maybe know anything about this car? I know there was a fire in the dashpad 1976-77 and thats why they took out the engine, I also has the name on the owner at that time hes first name is Richard M, VIN is XS29JB434??? I should really appreciate any info about this car, if its still around or crapped  .
Thanks Sven

Hi Sven, where is the VIN located on this engine?  68 HEMI engine VIN numbers were only the last 8 of the VIN and located on the block rear top close to the oil pressure switch also. 69 location would be on the pass side lower block above the oil pan and behind the fuel pump. Sounds like you have a 69 HEMI???  More info please...........

XS

[68RED4SPEED]

Hi! VIN is on block rear top, just looked, engine is casting date block 1-15-68 short block assembled on 4-17-68 completely assembled on 4-26-68 rest of info have I found on the title.
Thanks Sven

[68RED4SPEED]

between the J and the B is an 8.
Thanks Sven

[XS29J8]

Hi! VIN is on block rear top, just looked, engine is casting date block 1-15-68 short block assembled on 4-17-68 completely assembled on 4-26-68 rest of info have I found on the title.
Thanks Sven

Thanks for the additional info Sven! Glad you have the title, but that means the car was probably cut up and parted out. I'd like to know what the build date of this Charger was as I know it would have been June or July 1968 and if so it could be one of the HEMI 4spd Chargers designated to be a Charger 500........ ............any chance of a broadcast sheet or fender tag???

Also, does the Transmission have the VIN on it? Very important to my perception.............

Cheers,
Steve

[68RED4SPEED]

 No broadcast sheet or fender tag but the tranny has the VIN, Peter sold the original Dana and then later on bought another from a SuperBee 6-pack 1970 so I got that one but now with all new 4.56 Traction Lock and I also have the original 4.10 Power lock.
Sven

[RD]

Hi! VIN is on block rear top, just looked, engine is casting date block 1-15-68 short block assembled on 4-17-68 completely assembled on 4-26-68 rest of info have I found on the title.
Thanks Sven

sorry, but aint that date kinda cool!  see above bold

[Hemidoug]

Awwwww...it was born on Hemi day....

[Charger RT]

My 68 was born the next day too bad mine is a 440. I always wished it would have been built the day before t was.

Good luck on your search Are you sure the last 6 digit start with 434? mine was built the next day and it starts with 361
Tim

[XS29J8]

My 68 was born the next day too bad mine is a 440. I always wished it would have been built the day before t was.

Good luck on your search Are you sure the last 6 digit start with 434? mine was built the next day and it starts with 361
Tim

Charger RT are you referring to your engine build date or the Charger's build date?? A build date in April would fit a VIN with the last 6 beginning with 361...........? I was hoping to know the build date of Sven's Charger as the MFG VIN 434XXX would have been built in JUNE or JULY 68, the engine build would very probably be April 68. 4-26 is a cool build date for the HEMI  ............

Cheers,
Steve

[68RED4SPEED]

VIN is XS29J8B4347?? on both engine and title, didnt the 500 start with XX29, can you please give me more info about the HEMI day.
Sven

[Hemidoug]

VIN is XS29J8B4347?? on both engine and title, didnt the 500 start with XX29, can you please give me more info about the HEMI day.
Sven

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.


Hemi day is April 26th, In the US that date is expressed as 4-26, hence Hemi day!

[twodko]

Welcome to the site Sven!

Tom

[XS29J8]

VIN is XS29J8B4347?? on both engine and title, didnt the 500 start with XX29, can you please give me more info about the HEMI day.
Sven

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.


Hemi day is April 26th, In the US that date is expressed as 4-26, hence Hemi day!

Doug has it right, except Chrysler sent a bulletin out in late May or June 1968 to all Dodge Dealers stating that all new orders for the 68 Charger with the HEMI & 4spd option would be shipped as the new Charger 500. Whether this meant you would receive a 68 HEMI 4spd Charger 500 or you would have to wait for a 69 Charger 500 to get these options I don't know. There is only 1 documented  68 Charger 500 that I and others on this site know of. Your Engine VIN puts this particular Charger in a very unusual category to say the least. Hope you find the original owner at some point and maybe he will have pics & a story to tell............

Regards,
Steve

[Hemidoug]

VIN is XS29J8B4347?? on both engine and title, didnt the 500 start with XX29, can you please give me more info about the HEMI day.
Sven

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.


Hemi day is April 26th, In the US that date is expressed as 4-26, hence Hemi day!

Doug has it right, except Chrysler sent a bulletin out in late May or June 1968 to all Dodge Dealers stating that all new orders for the 68 Charger with the HEMI & 4spd option would be shipped as the new Charger 500. Whether this meant you would receive a 68 HEMI 4spd Charger 500 or you would have to wait for a 69 Charger 500 to get these options I don't know. There is only 1 documented  68 Charger 500 that I and others on this site know of. Your Engine VIN puts this particular Charger in a very unusual category to say the least. Hope you find the original owner at some point and maybe he will have pics & a story to tell............

Regards,
Steve

Well....if it is/was a white one with a red stripe and red gut I know of that one....if it isn't that makes 2.....I doubt the car is around anymore but it might be. The springs were through the trunk. The odd thing was it still retained all the 68 stuff...seats, dash pad and panels, doors, and the gas cap.....

[XS29J8]

VIN is XS29J8B4347?? on both engine and title, didnt the 500 start with XX29, can you please give me more info about the HEMI day.
Sven

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.


Hemi day is April 26th, In the US that date is expressed as 4-26, hence Hemi day!

Doug has it right, except Chrysler sent a bulletin out in late May or June 1968 to all Dodge Dealers stating that all new orders for the 68 Charger with the HEMI & 4spd option would be shipped as the new Charger 500. Whether this meant you would receive a 68 HEMI 4spd Charger 500 or you would have to wait for a 69 Charger 500 to get these options I don't know. There is only 1 documented  68 Charger 500 that I and others on this site know of. Your Engine VIN puts this particular Charger in a very unusual category to say the least. Hope you find the original owner at some point and maybe he will have pics & a story to tell............

Regards,
Steve

Well....if it is/was a white one with a red stripe and red gut I know of that one....if it isn't that makes 2.....I doubt the car is around anymore but it might be. The springs were through the trunk. The odd thing was it still retained all the 68 stuff...seats, dash pad and panels, doors, and the gas cap.....

Hi Doug, do you remember much about this white and red Charger? Was it a HEMI 4spd car? The known 68 500 has all 68 equipment except tailpanel, this 1 Could be the Unicorn I've been searching for........

Steve

[Hemidoug]

No, it was a 440 auto 8 3/4 car....it didn't have very many options as I remember it. I only saw the car once or twice probably...oh...20 years ago. The car came from Texas...I remember my friend telling me about his journey from NJ to Texas in the middle of winter. The car ended up in a dispute and disappeared...I do remember it was white and red, and rotted to hell. The trunk floor was so rotted that I can remember opening the trunk and looking at the spring hangers popping through the floor. Of course back then the car would have been a basket case, but for the fact that is was one of the first 500s. It definitely was an original car, as the rust patina was thick and all the 68 stuff was original. It even had the door locks in the right place for a 68. It would have made a nice car if someone restored it, but I doubt it. Parts were as rare as hen's teeth back then...and expensive. That's all I remember as well as having an XS VIN. Next time I talk to my friend I'll ask him about it and get back to you. I wish I had taken some pictures but back then it was just a passing interest....they were still "just cars" back then....Man I can remember back then all the special cars we had and trashed....I gutted two V code 70 'Cudas myself...ahhh...those were the days!

[Ghoste]

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.

Must have been really late since they didn't start 500 production until August. 
AFAIK there is only the one 68 that was used as a prototype/mockup car for the 69 500.  It was first shown to the press in June of 68 I believe.  I've heard rumors about one other one but I've never seen any proof of it.  Regular production 69 Charger 500's began at the end of August and it is only the first handful that still have an "XS" in their pedigree.  Danny will know the exact number.

[Hemidoug]

There were a few late production 68s that were taken off of the assembly line and turned into 500s. The early one's did not get the XX in the VIN.

Must have been really late since they didn't start 500 production until August. 
AFAIK there is only the one 68 that was used as a prototype/mockup car for the 69 500.  It was first shown to the press in June of 68 I believe.  I've heard rumors about one other one but I've never seen any proof of it.  Regular production 69 Charger 500's began at the end of August and it is only the first handful that still have an "XS" in their pedigree.  Danny will know the exact number.

Well Ghoste....I can tell you for fact that I laid hands on one of them...see my post above.

[Ghoste]

I read it Doug and don't take it as me saying you are wrong.  This is one of those conversations I wish we could do in person so meanings aren't lost in the keyboard.  All I meant was word for word what I wrote; that I've only heard rumors about and I haven't seen the proof.  Not meaning there isn't proof just that I personally haven't seen it.  The topic came up in the aero forum once too and there was someone on there (was it you?) with a similar post.  Of course, now I can't find it.
The 69 C500's have been my dream car since I read the issue of Hot Rod where they road tested a pair and I have been fortunate enough to drive the four speed one from that story but unfortunate enough to not own one of any flavor yet.  So many cars, so little money.  I have seen the other 68cum69 C500 from Michigan several times although not in recent years.  I would love to know more about the Charger 500 development but it barely registers a footnote in Daytona history.  I need to talk to someone who was intimately involved with them to get some of my questions answered.  Their NASCAR record wasn't nearly so bad as the collective memory implies but the sister car so overshadowed it that it's become somewhat forgotten in a way.

[XS29J8]

I read it Doug and don't take it as me saying you are wrong.  This is one of those conversations I wish we could do in person so meanings aren't lost in the keyboard.  All I meant was word for word what I wrote; that I've only heard rumors about and I haven't seen the proof.  Not meaning there isn't proof just that I personally haven't seen it.  The topic came up in the aero forum once too and there was someone on there (was it you?) with a similar post.  Of course, now I can't find it.
The 69 C500's have been my dream car since I read the issue of Hot Rod where they road tested a pair and I have been fortunate enough to drive the four speed one from that story but unfortunate enough to not own one of any flavor yet.  So many cars, so little money.  I have seen the other 68cum69 C500 from Michigan several times although not in recent years.  I would love to know more about the Charger 500 development but it barely registers a footnote in Daytona history.  I need to talk to someone who was intimately involved with them to get some of my questions answered.  Their NASCAR record wasn't nearly so bad as the collective memory implies but the sister car so overshadowed it that it's become somewhat forgotten in a way.

Hi Ghoste, here are a couple of good threads on the possible 68 500 that might have been built as I have searched and talked with people about this for years..............

Doug, any info you can provide on this white Charger 500 would be greatly appreciated!!!


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,38863.msg638808.html#msg638808

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,41072.0.html


Steve

[Ghoste]

Thanks Steve, I have been searching like mad all morning for that second thread.

[nascarxx29]

Try a search under Jerry Service in the aero section and in here

  Re: Red Book anomaly? '68 Charger R/T w/exposed headlights?
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2009, 11:51:34 AM » Quote 

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

Quote from: Dans 68 on January 16, 2008, 11:17:21 PM
Quote from: bull on January 16, 2008, 11:07:26 PM
They are describing a '69 Charger 500. It's probably something that made print but was never a reality if they're talking about something else.


Bull,

I did take that into account but no mention was made of the flush back window. And specifically hemi's with 4-speeds? They were probably talking about something else. Were there any 1968 Hemi 4-speeds made after June 1, 1968??

Dan


I must chime in here as I own one of the last 68 HEMI Charger 4spds built. May 28 1968 is her birthday. The original owner tried to order a HEMI 4spd Charger in June of 68 and  was told he would have to wait for a 69. He then searched for a 68 and found this one in July of 68. I am the second owner.

I have read documents from Chrysler stating the cut off date for the 68 HEMI 4spd Charger would be June 1st.

There is at least one 68 Charger 500 (with flush back window) originally owned by Jon Weible a former Chelsea Employee from the late 60's early 70's and the car is now owned by Jerry Service who puchased it from Jon in Michigan in the early 70's.

It was originally a Burgundy color with pearl upholstery and Dodge Main had it painted Orange to take better photographs after an unproven original orange pilot car was destroyed or stolen. I have tried to find documentation of any other 68 Charger 500s having been built but the closest I have found is a white or light blue one that was destroyed in testing at the Chelsea proving grounds. Once again All this is speculative based on conversations with MOPAR fanatics over the years and several Wing Car members will say this is all bologna but a few are open minded and will not totally dismiss this as anything could have happened in testing these cars. 

Conversations such as this are sometimes what it takes for more evidence to surface and it can educate a few who were unaware of some of the facts.

I will always say "never say never with Mother Mopar".



Steve

[Hemidoug]

Doug, any info you can provide on this white Charger 500 would be greatly appreciated!!!



Steve

After I posted last night I got on the horn to another friend who had seen the 68 and we compared notes..(including a few laughs about the guy who originally bought it and brought it back from Texas). He remembers the same things as I did, how unusual the car was being a "69" 500 but having all 68 stuff on it and having an XS VIN. The reason I (we) remember it so well is we busted poor Tom's chops for years over that car....why someone would drive all the way down to Texas, during an ice storm, to drag something back that looked like it spent most of it's life in Jersey (rust) was most of it. The things I remember about the car stand out. I can remember walking around the car in stunned disbelief as he related the story of the trip to me at the same time I'm seeing things that didn't make sense...like 68 marker lights and the gas cap missing "fuel" on it. As we dug deeper into the car one of the controversies was the VIN....it was XS. We argued back and forth of it's significance for quite some time. I gotta tell you that in the end, I was convinced it was a 68 that the factory made into a 69 500...no doubt about it. Now wether it was an actual 68 that was converted or a very early 69 is anyone's guess....but what I saw I have no doubt about....it was a 68 that was converted into a 69 500 before it was sold to the general public....no doubt about it. I'll try to call Tom, maybe he can recall the VIN or some other detail about it.

[nascarxx29]

You mean Tom M white 69 charger 500 early cars had XS later had XX

[Hemidoug]

You mean Tom M white 69 charger 500 early cars had XS later had XX

YES! Is that the car? It's still around? It looks like a recent photo......it sure does look like it...but I remember a red stripe and red gut. Last time I saw that car was 20-25 years ago....The whole trunk floor is rotted out right?

[68RED4SPEED]

This is rocknroll  all photos and info, after they took out driveline they or him put it in a 1971 Challenger where it sat when Peter bought it 1977 dont know for how long he drove it like that but I can ask him if anyone have interest of it, Peter lived and still lives in Brunswick NJ.
Sven

[XS29J8]

This is rocknroll  all photos and info, after they took out driveline they or him put it in a 1971 Challenger where it sat when Peter bought it 1977 dont know for how long he drove it like that but I can ask him if anyone have interest of it, Peter lived and still lives in Brunswick NJ.
Sven

Great to know Sven! The DANA wouldn't fit the Challenger correctly & probably explains why he sold it. Hope you are able to get hold of the original owner and find some more history about this 68 Charger! 

Cheers,
Steve

[XS29J8]

You mean Tom M white 69 charger 500 early cars had XS later had XX

Dave did you take these pics & have you anymore info on this Charger 500, is this a red trim car with 68 features as Doug remembered or is it a different car? The date on the pics suggest it still survives?



Steve