Identify 68 Charger R/T

[Plum Crazy]

Hi gang. You've got a newby here who is looking at buying a project 68 Charger. I found one a couple hours from the house and it needs a ton of work. Floors, trunk, both quarters, one door, both fenders, dash, buckets, .... The price is $1600 with some room to negotiate. The seller claims this is an R/T car but there is no VIN to be found. The instrument panel is gone and the passenger fender is gone. I can't find a tag on the driver fender. The owner says this car can be confirmed as an R/T because it has a sway bar in the front, the heavy duty rear end, and of course a Charger R/T emblem on the tail light panel . I am not convinced. Plus the car is a column shift. Did they make R/T's with column shift. In addition, the paint appears to be original but there is no stripe around the rear of the car.

Is this an R/T or just a regular Charger? Is it worth taking on? 

Thanks
Tod

[Dans 68]

Welcome! As far as your car being an R/T it is difficult to say for certain without a vin or fender tag. All those items the seller says that confirm it as an R/T can be added after the fact. What does the car have on it? Does it have a Dana rear end??? A column shifted R/T is perfectly legit. No tail stripe could mean that it was a deleted item. Post some photos if you have them or post a link. Is the drivetrain still in place? I'm guessing not at that price. If so are the partial vin stampings on the engine and transmission? My personal take is that it will take a lot of money to restore that undocumented R/T, and you are better off buying an actual R/T (vin and tag in place) if having one is important.

Dan

[Troy]

In 68, the only body VIN would be on the dash so if that's missing you'll have a tough time identifying it or ever getting a title. All 68 Chargers had a sway bar but an R/T would have a thicker diameter one and larger torsion bars. What does he mean by the "heavy duty rear end"? Most came with an 8 3/4" rear but some high performance models would have had a Dana. An R/T would have stiffer springs (an extra leaf on one side). Not all R/Ts had stripes (neither of mine do). Column shift was actually more desirable back then than it is today and it was available for every trim grade. It's pretty common for badges to be added. In the case of the rear emblem though, the studs are in slightly different locations than the standard emblem so you may see evidence of an extra hole or where it was filled. The fender tag would be on the inner fender inside the engine compartment. Basically, if you stand on the side of the car by the driver's front wheel and look down you'll either be staring at it or at two holes a couple inches apart where it was removed. This would be very nice to have on a 68 for trying to decode what you actually have.

R/T or not you'll have a fortune into getting it on the road. So the question is, do you want a Charger or do you want a Charger R/T? Do you have the skills, time, and money to take on such a massive project?

Troy

[69charger2002]

this isn't the car in texas that's been plastered on craigslist for months is it? if so i wouldn't touch that thing with a 10 foot pole!! please save yourself some misery if this is the car!

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/2385018121.html

[Plum Crazy]

Yeah, there is no drivetrain other than the rearend. The seller mentioned that it had the extra spring on one side but I didn't know it was a way to confirm to I didn't look. He showed a number on the radiator support but I did not see the XS29 in it.

I've attached a couple of poor pics for your review. Beleive me, these pics do not fully describe the bad shape this car is in. I have the capabalities to build this car, but do not want to throw money away. I would be camping out on eBay for at least a year. Plus the title issue. It would be a Builder's Title.?? I have no idea if this is legit.

And yes, this is the car on the Texas Craigslist. Have you looked at it?

[69charger2002]

i don't need to look at it... it's missing everything important, and with no VIN it's just a pile of metal. you would spend $30k just making that car complete, and it still wouldn't be legal or legit.. just trying to help a newbie out, that's a parts car, and a bad one at that. good luck in your search..   

[FLG]

i don't need to look at it... it's missing everything important, and with no VIN it's just a pile of metal. you would spend $30k just making that car complete, and it still wouldn't be legal or legit.. just trying to help a newbie out, that's a parts car, and a bad one at that. good luck in your search..   

I agree! Find something better!

BTW dont you have a 68 project for sale? 

[tan top]

i don't need to look at it... it's missing everything important, and with no VIN it's just a pile of metal. you would spend $30k just making that car complete, and it still wouldn't be legal or legit.. just trying to help a newbie out, that's a parts car, and a bad one at that. good luck in your search..   

[doctor4766]

You could always look for build sheets in the usual places.....

[Richard Cranium]

Run Forrest Run!!!

[Plum Crazy]

You guys confirmed my instincts to run from this car.

If anyone has a project 68 or 69 please let me know.

Thanks
Tod

[69Charger_440]

this isn't the car in texas that's been plastered on craigslist for months is it? if so i wouldn't touch that thing with a 10 foot pole!! please save yourself some misery if this is the car!

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/2385018121.html

If this is indeed the car you were thinking about, then you did yourself a favor by running away from it.  I saw this car in person (appx 1 yr ago) and it did have a VIN when I saw it.  If I do recall correctly, it was in fact an R/T.  VIN started with XS.  Anyhow, that car was in extremely poor shape.  Make that very, very poor shape.  I really could not find anything salvagable on that car when I looked at it.  Are you in Texas?  If so, there were a couple of chargers for sale not too long ago.  May want to hang on for a little while and see if they pop up again.

[Plum Crazy]

I live in the Houston area. I've only recently started searching for Chargers. I've been hooked on Fords the past few years and have been focusing on my 70 Torino GT vert project. I'm ready to start the search for my next project and then I'll shove it in the barn until I'm ready. No rush.

My second car, as a teen, was a 69 Charger and I'm ready to get back to my roots. Plus my boy is a big fan of the Chargers.

I'll keep an eye out for a decent project.

Thanks