If I am down-sizing my collection, why did I buy this 69 Charger R/T?...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

My top-ten reasons:

(10) The car would make a neat driver to take to shows or just drive around  
(9 ) Real Charger R/T bodies for restoration don't come along that often anymore  
(8 ) The car was nearby, allowing a thorough inspection before purchasing  
(7 ) I had not bought an old MoPar in about 5 years  
(6 ) I really like Chargers!  
(5 ) I already have some of the needed parts  
(4 ) The basic Uni-body was pretty solid     
(3 ) The VIN plate, Data Plate, and body number stampings were all intact  
(2 ) The price was $750  
(1 ) I couldn't help myself...    

Here are the Data Plate codes:

VIN #   XS29L9GXXXXXX

E86 - 440 4BBL Magnum Engine
D32 - 727 HD Automatic Transmission
Y2 - DY2 Sunfire Yellow Body Paint
Y2 - DY2 Sunfire Yellow
C6X - Trim Code, Black Standard Bucket Vinyl Seat Covers
X9 - Black Upper Door Frame Paint
830 - August 30, 1968 Build Date (will need to verify, picture is not clear)
079224 - Vehicle Order Number
A04 - Basic Group
           Music Master Radio
           Power Steering
           Power Brakes
           3-Speed Wipers
           Deluxe Wheel Covers
           LH Remote Mirror
B51 - Power Brakes (Drum type in this case)
C16 - Console
C55 - Bucket Seats
G33 - LH Remote Mirror
H51 - Air Conditioning
J25 - 3-Speed Windshield Wipers
M21 - Drip Rail Moldings
M31 - Belt Line Moldings
R11 - Standard AM Music Master Radio-
V1X - Black Vinyl Roof
V8X - Black Transverse R/T Stripe
26 - 26 Inch Wide Radiator
END - End of Option Codes

Below, and in the next two posts are some pictures of the day's events...

Well, whadda think?

XS

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Next four pictures: (BTW, the guy in the top picture is the seller of the car...)

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Last four pictures:

[Blown70]

Because at 750 you would be insane not to buy it...

Looks pretty good. 

BTW you having an antique chair collection in the back...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Because at 750 you would be insane not to buy it...

Looks pretty good.  

BTW you having an antique chair collection in the back...

Thanks, I believe it was too good to pass up... although I really did not need another project!!!

The first pictures are at the seller's shop, he seems to dabble in several hobbies... I didn't ask about the chairs, hardly noticed them!

Unfortunately, the car will spend a while behind my workshop until I can make room for it inside...

XS

[Blown70]

Well you will not find them for that price often, and if you do I will buy the next one you find..

I will assume you are not in the north you need an indoor place I have a spot.

Anyway.... Looks good and who cares if it is another project you do not stumble upon them everyday...Take em when you can find em.

Tom

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Well you will not find them for that price often, and if you do I will buy the next one you find..

I will assume you are not in the north you need an indoor place I have a spot.

Anyway.... Looks good and who cares if it is another project you do not stumble upon them everyday...Take em when you can find em.

Tom

I live just north of Fort Worth, Texas and the car came from near a small town by the name of Azle...

I will be able to make space for the car in my workshop by next Spring... right now I too much floor space taken up by parts, and need to set up the shelving units I purchased.

Allen

[694spdRT]

Glad you were able to get it. I think $750 is a good buy considering it is an R/T.

BTW: You guys down south sure have it rough when it comes to "rusty" projects. I haven't seen a project car that solid up here ever. Congrats on the find.     

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Glad you were able to get it. I think $750 is a good buy considering it is an R/T.

BTW: You guys down south sure have it rough when it comes to "rusty" projects. I haven't seen a project car that solid up here ever. Congrats on the find.       

Thanks... On the subject of rust, I remember finding a guy from Iowa a 1969 Hemi Charger body in Austin, Texas in the 1980s...
I warned him that it had a "lot" of rust, and he responded by asking if a basketball would stay in the trunk while the car was trailered...
When he came down and saw the car in person, he said it was the cleanest one he had ever seen... he said he was dead serious!

Well, this car is worse than that one was... but my perspective has changed!

XS

[hemi68charger]

Cool score Allen.......

So, what's with the '68 Coronet grille laying inside? Was he going to make a '69 Charger 500 clone.. 

Hope ya have fun... I think I need to take a trip up North and visit.... lol

You going to try and get a bonded title off the bat? It didn't come with one right?

Troy

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Wow that is in amazing shape compared to the crap here in the east.
Good luck with it! 

[CNH 320]

Cool car dude

And.. it's a R/T 

[RT/SE]

Congratulatuions on your buy!!!!  I can't believe you picked that car up for $750  .  The rear quarters look pretty solid.  What a great Christmas present for yourself.  Can;t wait to see it come back to life.

[chargervert]

Theres no such thing as downsizing! I was downsizing too,thats how I went from 7 to 11 mopars! Looks like a good score! I would take every one of those I could get at that price! Good luck with it!

[Ghoste]

I thought there was some sort of Lone Star law about being from Texas and using the word "downsize"

[BigBlockSam]

$750 for an r/t, duh!

[79JON]

I noticed the 68 Coronet grille to,       They were probably gonna clone it into a 500.    Or they just had a stash of parts inside of it.   HAHA

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Thanks everyone... The car is going to be a long term project, I have a lot of missing parts that I need to locate... I may even try to find a rotted out donor car for the bulk of them.   I have a hood, valence, front bumper, fender, and some of the missing trim for the car from my parts stash, but other items like the grille assembly, body wiring, seats, interior parts, etc are going to have to be located.   I am going to clean the car up a bit and take inventory of what is needed.   Also, I have so many projects in work already that I don't need another one going until I finish a couple of other ones.   Right now the dis-assembly of my black 68 Charger R/T has started and I have three other Mopars already in work...

The guy told me that the car almost was destroyed by the previous owner... its a sad story.   It seems the previous owner decided to make a dirt track racecar out of the Charger     ... so thats what happened to most of the missing parts.   The car was being stripped (looks like all the side and back glass was simply broken out from the amount of broken glass left in the car), and even a lot of the body wiring has been cut out of it.   There seems to be a number of totally unrelated parts in the car like the seats and Coronet/C500 grille... when I walked up to the car the "C500" grille was the first thing I spotted, and my head snapped back to look at the back glass... I was quickly brought back to reality when I saw clearly that there was not a window plug... wishful thinking  

hemi68charger - The seller gave me a bill-of-sale stating that he was the full and rightful owner of the car, so I will have to look into what it will take to get a clear title... I am not going to spend any more $$$ on the car until I have clear title.   I will still try to gather some parts, but they will not be put on until I have the title.

Just 6T9_CHGR.... - Thanks, yes I have heard we have it good down here in that respect... I guess that is why I see so many out-of-state car haulers driving around down here...

CNH 320 - Thanks... Yes its being an R/T with the VIN plate, data plate, and body stampings intact on a decent uni-body is what sold the car to me

TripleX9 - Thanks, it looks like the quarters are solid enough to just use patch panels... I won't be doing a concourse restoration because I plan to drive the car  

chargervert - sadly, I must downsize... just too many projects, and too little time and money to finish them all

Ghoste - Ya might be right about Texas law, better watch what I say about "downsizing"... how does "reorganizing to increase shareholder value" sound...   I think I have gone through one too many company brain-washings where I work  

BigBlockSam -      Yeah... I agree...

79JON - I think I am going try to find out exactly where it came from... who knows what else might be found out there

Thanks again everyone, its great to have enablers to help fight off thoughts of reason and continue to hoar... ER, collect...    

XS

[Ghoste]

Enablers.  Great.  Like I don't have enough problems with the people I associate with in everyday physical life, now I have to explain to my wife that some guy on the internet says...
And there are thousands more of you than the people who encourage my addictions here in town.

[73rallye440magnum]

very nice project... wish i could find myself one like that.

[The Ghoul]

I think the main reason you bought it was so you dont feel bad when you give one away to me 

[ChargerAndy]

Take your profit now....... I'll give you $775.00  for it     Nice score dude! I woulda done the same thing    Andy

[Brock Samson]

  what do you you envision?
 

Great Score, cool post!

[xs29j8Bullitt]

  what do you you envision?
 

Great Score, cool post!

I would like to make the car into a good quality driver, mechanically perfect, but not a "show" car by any means...  Probably built stock with light gearing, maybe a 3.23 SG.  Also will probably do some hidden upgrades like the radio conversion to a stock AM to have a stereo FM with a hidden CD player.  Air conditioning will be a must, as well as the original power steering and power brakes.

Other upgrades like a concealed electronic ignition will be done, but the idea will be that these changes are practically invisible.  I am not a real fan of the original color, but will probably stick with it.  Also, I will go with Magnum 500 wheels, probably the chrome rim type instead of the trim ring version.  Tires will definitely be radials...

Miy goal will be to make it into a great cruiser, local and long distance!

At the moment thats my plan...

XS

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Enablers.   Great.   Like I don't have enough problems with the people I associate with in everyday physical life, now I have to explain to my wife that some guy on the internet says...
And there are thousands more of you than the people who encourage my addictions here in town.

Sorry for the baggage Ghoste... 

Use me for an example to your wife of how you have your addiction under control! 

XS

[xs29j8Bullitt]

I think the main reason you bought it was so you dont feel bad when you give one away to me  

... Probably would be better for me in the long run, but I guess I am just enjoying doing this so much... 

XS

[BigBlockSam]

Air conditioning 

that would be wonderful

[hemi68charger]

Allen,
The way it was explained to me is that you can get a bonded title. That basically puts the car in your name, but not ready for registration to drive. Once you have finished the car or have gotten it driveable, you get insurance and go down to the local DMV and apply for a regular title....... That's what I was told by Austin...

Troy

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Well now that the weather has warmed back up to tolerable, I spent most of the day working on cleaning out the Charger.  I filled a contractor trash bay with some of the junk that was in the car, and filled about half of the shop vac tub with sand and other small clutter in the car.

The car is looking better and better to me, but it still will need a lot of work.  The trunk floor is toast, but the extensions seem fairly solid.  About half of the passenger compartment floor is toast as well, but the remainder is very solid.  Some of the usual problem areas have turned out to be in good condition, such as the rail at the base of the windshield and the door sill areas.

I plan to keep cleaning it out, and later plan to wash or high pressure clean the car body.  Then, after I have it as clean as possible to make sure moisture is not being retained anywhere, I will apply rust inhibitors and even car wax on the approriate areas.  I am trying to clean the dirt out of all the hard to get to areas, its a long and tedious process... a license plate in the car indicated 1979 may have been the last year the car was driven, so in might have 26 years of grunge on it.

XS

Here are some pictures taken today:

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Four more pictures taken today:

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Last four pictures today:

[cudaken]

 I have been wondering why I bought mine for going on 18 years now.

                  Cuda Ken

[Charger_Fan]

Geez, I don't know where I was during the first part of this thread, but let me be about the 37th to say...GREAT SCORE, MAN!!!

That's a great car for a great price, can't balk at that!

[Silver R/T]

good deal for $750

[joedotts]

ill buy it from you if ya want!! hahaha