New User - 69 Charger

[XP29H9]

.

[XP29H9]

Only 82,765.8 Original Miles.

[XP29H9]

The engine bay.  383 with a 4bbl Holley.  I took the carb off a couple years ago and had it rebuilt thinking that might encourage my Dad to put some effort into it.  But, it didn't work.  The carb is still sitting in the garage with a towel over it and the engine has a rag down in the intake with the air filter sitting on top of it. 

I went to clean out the engine bay the other day and found a whole NEST of brown recluse spiders living in, on and around that white rag that I stuffed in the intake manifold.  Sucked them up with a vacuum and haven't seen another one since.  I do, however, keep my eye out for them while I'm working on The Charger now ha.

No battery, took it out a couple days ago.  Had probably been in there about 7 or 8 years.  The water you see on the right is sitting in the tray that the battery was sitting in. (which has some kind of OLD oil can or coffee can up under it... for support for the battery??)

[kokxville]

Welcome and you have a nice charger.

[XP29H9]

So here's the Fender Tag.  It's rusted up pretty bad but you can still make out a lot of the codes.  One pic is the natural colors and the other are INVERTED colors.  I thought maybe we could read it better that way?   Any help or input would be greatly appreciated!! 

Here's what I've got so far:

26   END
J25  L31  M21  *** G11  V1X
A04 G51  C16  C55  G03  H51
X9   X9   C5X  C03  098410
E63  D32 XP29 H96  1*2858

*astrik stands for unknown

[daveco]

.... (which has some kind of OLD oil can or coffee can up under it... for support for the battery??)

That's the vacuum reservoir for the headlights, you'll be needing that. 
Looks like cloth seat centers, another uncommon option.

[Brock Samson]

 Hello HP29H9!  
 I want too also welcome you to the site... It looks like you've got a decent project '69 there... some times doing a rubbing of the fender tag with paper and a soft leaded pencil will show up additional fender tag info...
Lots of folks desire a triple black '69 so you kinda' made out there... Looking forward to your progress. 

[tan top]

  *** EDIT  opps just realised already J25 on there  ****



 have you looked for a broadcast sheet behind the rear seat back  

good pictures JT thanks for posting  

[resq302]

The unknown *** next to M21 appears to be M31 code.  I would certainly restore that back to factory stock if it was my charger.  You do NOT see too many cloth insert seats on 69 charger.  Hopefully Chris with the 69 charger registry will chime in with how many of those were produced like that.

[BigBlockSam]

howdy , that car's all there . very good project.    you think that motor will run?

first thing i always do is to put a battery in it and see what works and what doesn't . good luck with her 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Welcome to the site

First off you have a few codes wrong/out of place in what you typed...

Should look like this (bold face are your errors)

26 END
J25 L31 M21 M31 R11 V1X
A04 B51 C16 C55 G33 H51
X9 X9 C5X C03 098410
E63 D32 XP29 H9G 182858

In a nutshell starting from the bottom...

E63---383 4bbl engine
D32---727 Auto trans
Body Type:   X  =  Dodge Charger
Price Class:   P  =  Premium
Body Type:   29  =  2 Door Sports Hardtop
Engine:   H  =  383 330HP 1-4BBL 8 CYL
Year:   9  =  1969
Assy Plant--G--St. Louis assy plant
Sequence Number: 182858  =  82858th Vehical Built

X9---roof color (black)
X9---body color (black)
C5X---Black cloth & vinyl buckets
C03---Scheduled Production Date 12/03/68
098410---order number

A04---Radio Group
B51---power drum brakes
C16---console
C55---bucket seats
G33---LH remote mirror
H51---A/C

J25----3 speed wipers
L31---hood mounted turn signals
M21---drip rail molding
M31---body belt molding
R11---AM radio
V1X---black vinyl top

26---26" radiator
END---End of tag codes

Please take the time to register the car as well.
www.1969chargerregistry.com

Chris

[greenpigs]

Yep a factory triple black Charger is a sweet combo & even more of a reason to go back stock.

  Not sure on your budget but I would do one body panel at a time starting with the doors. They are the easiest to remove & get behind to work the dents out or replace as the one looks a little crunched. Plus it will help you get up too speed on hammer &  dolly work for the rest of the car, but the drivers quarter will need replaced.

Still as long as you don't rush yourself & stay focused on getting one thing done at a time before starting on something else you will see results.

Why was it not running when it got parked?

  I guess seeing if it will turn over is a start. BEFORE trying to turn it over change the oil & any filters & pulling the gas tank & having it cleaned may be a good idea. Then I would swap out the spark plugs but before putting them back in turn the motor over by hand with a breaker bar.

[BIGBLCK11]

Welcome to the site!  Nice project and great history.    Good luck getting it underway!

[XP29H9]

Alright well I've done a little bit more work.  Nothing too serious or anything.. just busy work.  Today consisted of taking all of the hubcaps off as well as the front two wheels.  Behind the hubcaps proved to be another nesting spot for the brown recluse spiders and a black widow, so I sprayed them all down with an alcohol based wasp killer.  Then I rinsed all of the hubcaps and the two wheels with the water hose until they seemed to be spider and bug spray free and sat them in the sun to dry.  Next, I used some Blue Magic polish on the hubcaps to shine them up a bit.

Not too hard of a job.  I just like seeing stuff like chrome and polished aluminum get its shine back!!

So, here are a couple more pictures... a group shot of the hubcaps before and after and a single shot before and after.  A side shot of what the car looks like now and a front grill shot.. with the headlights open!  

daveco  -  Thanks for the info man!  I was wondering why something like that would be in that spot. And I guess I've never really thought about it, but I haven't really seen those vinyl/cloth buckets in but maybe one or two chargers I've seen.  The cloth looks blue now.  I wonder if it was black originally?  resq302?

tan top  -  I have NOT looked for a broadcast sheet behind the rear seat.  I'm really just not quite sure how to get that back seat off or if I'm going to be able to get it back together once I do get it off.  But, it has been on my mind.  If I do end up getting out, I'll be sure and post a picture or two!   :thumbs up:  

BigBlockSam   -   I truly believe it won't be too hard to get that motor running.  Supposedly it was rebuilt or refurbished about 600miles before it was parked right before my Great Uncle died.  I took off the valve covers a couple years ago and everything still looked like it was all oiled and greased up to me.  So, maybeee the engine won't be completely locked up.  I've got a friend who's an older Mopar fanatic himself who's supposed to come over and see what we can do with it.  I've unbolted the fan shroud so I can get to the crank bolt.  I'm just waiting on a socket and a bar to find out if she's locked up or not! .... Also, I think there may have been a problem with the starter at some point.  There was a mechanics ignition ran in through the corner window and just layed on the dash in front of the steering wheel.  That's how the car was started for the longest time (or so the story goes.)  I've been told that may be a regulator problem in the starter and I may need a new starter.  Fact or not I don't know.....  I do know that in about 1997, by Dad and his friend were out there trying to get The Charger started one night and they hooked up two batteries to it and got it to turn over, but not start.

Just 6T9 CHGR   -   Wow!  Thank you for that information and for taking the time to do that!  It's absolutely great to have that Fender Tag code readout in its entirety!!  I came across your site (1969chargerregistry.com) in the same night that I found this one!  You've got some great information on there!  Also, I sent you an email to Admin@ with all the registry information in it!  Thanks for your help and I'm glad to be a part of your registry!

greenpigs   -   Definitely agree with you on going stock.  That's always been the plan for that car in my Dad's mind, and I carry that same dream in my own.  I don't have any kind of budget to go along with this restoration.  I just kinda started doing what I could to it to preserve it in hopes of getting it started soon.  The body work is definitely on the list, but my wallet will regulate when and how much I can do haha.  I'm not sure if it wasn't running or had a problem when it was parked.  I just assume that it was running (could get it started) when my uncle was alive, and was parked when he died.  From what I've been told, it was in great shape up until the last couple years of his life.  I think the few spots that are messed up on the car are from him getting drunk and driving it or backing into things.

Much thanks to everyone else's welcomes!  It's great to be here!  I'm really enjoying all the reading and sharing going on!




Before:

[XP29H9]

After:

[XP29H9]

Before:

[XP29H9]

After:

[XP29H9]

This is how The Charger currently sits.

[XP29H9]

Eyes Open

[doctor4766]

Eyes Open

Definately has potential man.
Little at at time....

[resq302]

Eyes Open

Ah, the re-awakening after a long winters nap! 

Yes, chances are the cloth seat inserts started out as black and faded to the blue over the years.  I know a lot of the repro carpets do the same thing.  The hub caps also look to be in very nice condition with no dents or dings.  There is some areas that will probably need to be repainted on the as I think the center medallion was red if I remember correctly.

[bill440rt]

Wow! That's a nicely optioned '69 you've got there. Time to start making a list, figuring out a budget, and rounding up parts!! That would be an awesome car once finished.

The black interior parts fading to blue is a common one, seat belts will do the same thing. Talk to Legendary for new covers & other interior stuff you might need.

Good luck! 

[BigBlockSam]

when i started working on my roadrunner , it was in worse shape then your car. i threw a batt in it and watched some of the lights and wipers come  on . it made me so happy to see some life back in her . it also inspired me to get more of the stuff working . 

[qwick68]

Good luck with your 69! Just be careful with those jackstands on that gravel, I would lay down some wood to stablize them, you dont want them sinking into the ground and your 69 ending up falling off..........

[XP29H9]

Hey guys!  Thanks for all the comments and appreciation!  My Charger does seem like its slowly but surely coming back to life.  I've been doing a little bit of work, again, but nothing major.  I took qwick68's advice and put something to better stabilize those jack stand.  I figured some concrete squares might do a good job so I used them.  Wallowed out the gravel and got the squares sitting level before I put the jack stands on them. 
Also, I took the two front wheels to a tire shop and just had them put on some cheap tires.  I said just something that will hold air so the car will be up off the rims.  So they matched me 2 185/65/14's to the FR75-14's that were on the rims.  They hold air great, but it sure does look like a big difference in sidewall height.  After I got them home, I sanded down the front facing of each wheel and shot them both with primer, then a coat of some rustoleum gloss black spray paint.  To me, they look great!  And it gave me something to be focused on all while adding a little bit of life to the Charger.  And yes, I took pictures.

So, I also took pictures of most of the "BAD" spots on the car.. fender corners, top/quarter seam, door dent, floor pans, trunk pan, etc.  What I'm wondering is if I should keep posting the pictures in this thread or start a new one?  I just don't know how ya'll do your posting round here 


resq302  -  It's definitely supposed to be red in the center of those hubcaps.  You can still see some of the paint on a few of them, but most are almost completely worn off!  I figure a professional paint job on them is in the distant future at some point.

bill440rt  -  Thanks for the compliments Sir!  And for the reference to Legendary.  I'm sure I'll be needing their help!  I'm really looking forward to seeing it all back to black again as well! 

BigBlockSam  -  That's pretty cool about your roadrunner.  You can put a fully charged battery in mine and a few of the dash lights come on as well.  But that's about all she does! ha  I agree though, it really is an inspiration to keep on going!  I swear to you, I probably look at these pictures I've posted more than anyone else on here haha!  The Charger has just been a part of my life for such a long time and has been in mostly the same condition since as far as I can remember.  Now, here I've got pictures of it FINALLY getting some attention and it's really making it look a lot better!  I just love it!  I can't really explain how I feel about it, but I'm sure all of the other "car guys" out there pretty much catch my drift.

qwick68  -  Thanks for the advice!  It's most assuredly been put to use.  Those jack stand had already sunk over an inch into the ground!  It was a bad accident waiting to happen.  Not to mention damages to the car.  Fixed now for the better though, I hope!