Wait to restore or drive now?

[azfrench]

Im in a little bit of a dilema.  I bought my 68 Charger 2 weeks ago.  It needs to be restored but I really want to start driving it.  I can't afford to do the restoration now but I will be able to in about 6 months.  Should I start driving it or wait?  After seeing all of your nice rides here on this site, I really want to get it going.  ?

Rick

[Charger-Bodie]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

[moparstuart]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

drive the heck out of it now while u can , things happen you take it apart and its 20 years later and still apart and you have never driven it .

[76charger]

I got a 64 impala convertible that needs some resto done on it. But I can't keep from driving it. I'd say drive it and enjoy it. wait till winter to do some resto on it. In the meantime you can enjoy it and fix any small things that it may need.

[Tilar]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

drive the heck out of it now while u can , things happen you take it apart and its 20 years later and still apart and you have never driven it .

I bought my 68 in 1986 and have never had it moving under it's own power. I did see it drive when the previous owner had it, I also heard that 318 grenade while he was spinning tires.

[Troy]

You answered your own question. If you can't afford to restore it now then why let it sit? Go drive! And while you're driving, save about double what you had planned for the restoration.

Troy

[sixty8charger]

I'll tell you this, I was in the same dilema...  unfortunately I began to tear it down, and now I have completely blasted an empty shell on wheels.

I wish I would have just drove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!  and as i drove it, continued to save until I could go from start to finish in a shorter amount of time.  Now, it has been 8 years since I drove her... and once i had it shipped across country to me, last year, I started the tear down....  it will be many, many months until I can enjoy her again...

now as it sits in pieces, I am saving to buy necessary metal.  I probably have about $6k to save up until it will start and drive again.  ... Maybe next December!  ... sucks.

[Wicked72]

I'll tell you this, I was in the same dilema...  unfortunately I began to tear it down, and now I have completely blasted an empty shell on wheels.

I wish I would have just drove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!  and as i drove it, continued to save until I could go from start to finish in a shorter amount of time.  Now, it has been 8 years since I drove her... and once i had it shipped across country to me, last year, I started the tear down....  it will be many, many months until I can enjoy her again...

now as it sits in pieces, I am saving to buy necessary metal.  I probably have about $6k to save up until it will start and drive again.  ... Maybe next December!  ... sucks.

I feel the same way.... If I could be driving and saving I would. SO DRIVE IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!! lol Get the parts here and there, maybe pick things that wont stop you from driving it to poke at and save one big thing at a time. I did that with my first charger and I have to say I enjoyed it more and then anything but now I have my second tore down to an empty shell getting the full work out and it sucks.... gl! 

[71wrenchhead]

drive it, absolutely, save up a whole lot more than you planned on, cuz those gremlins love to jump out and surprise you at the most inconvienent times.
if mine was driveable at the time i got it, id be doing the same

[billssuperbird]

 

[SRT-68]

It all depends on how much garage space you have. If you have plenty of room then take it apart and start doing all of the grunt work that takes more time than money. If you don't have space then get it running well and drive!

[azfrench]

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing.  Start the grunt work now and in a few months start the purchasing and building.  I think I just made up my mind, thanks to you all getting my gears turning...I will get it drivable since I have never driven a charger before, then tear it down in preperation of purchasing parts and building.  I will keep you posted.  Thanks.

Rick

[Skyview69]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

drive the heck out of it now while u can , things happen you take it apart and its 20 years later and still apart and you have never driven it .

I agree...

drive it now while you can...otherwise you may find yourself waiting for a long time 

[tan top]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

drive the heck out of it now while u can , things happen you take it apart and its 20 years later and still apart and you have never driven it .

I agree...

drive it now while you can...otherwise you may find yourself waiting for a long time 

 

[FLG]

Im going to go slightly against the grain here...

Drive it, but only if i can drive it without putting money INTO it. Looking now, if i didnt drive my charger for 3 years before finally taking it apart....considering gas and parts ive put into it...id bet id have a few extra thousand to put into it now.

I drive my cars A LOT more than most, i put nearly 20k on it in the near 3 years i was driving it just looking at gas...figure i spent a few grand over those years, i know that would sure come in handy now.

I figure your car has been sitting? or is it drivable as it? Figure on changing brake lines, hoses, oils...etc etc...

[tan top]

Im going to go slightly against the grain here...

Drive it, but only if i can drive it without putting money INTO it. Looking now, if i didnt drive my charger for 3 years before finally taking it apart....considering gas and parts ive put into it...id bet id have a few extra thousand to put into it now.

I drive my cars A LOT more than most, i put nearly 20k on it in the near 3 years i was driving it just looking at gas...figure i spent a few grand over those years, i know that would sure come in handy now.

I figure your car has been sitting? or is it drivable as it? Figure on changing brake lines, hoses, oils...etc etc...

  yeah that makes sence too 

[FLG]

Mhmm,

Look at gas...lets say i got 12mpg (and i think thats REALLY pushing it)

20,000 / 12 = 1666 gallons

And lets estimate i spend $3.50 per galllon

3.50 * 1666 = 5833

Thats nearly 6K in fricken gas 

[doctor4766]

Yeah maybe, but you'd have to have been driving something  for the last 3 years so ya gotta factor that in too.

[dodgey68]

I would drive it in the mean time. They are pretty fun to drive in that condition,you dont have as many worries.

drive the heck out of it now while u can , things happen you take it apart and its 20 years later and still apart and you have never driven it .

drive the shitout of it, write a list ofthe things that need attention, like he said it couldbe 20 years before you can

[Troy]

Im going to go slightly against the grain here...

Drive it, but only if i can drive it without putting money INTO it. Looking now, if i didnt drive my charger for 3 years before finally taking it apart....considering gas and parts ive put into it...id bet id have a few extra thousand to put into it now.

I drive my cars A LOT more than most, i put nearly 20k on it in the near 3 years i was driving it just looking at gas...figure i spent a few grand over those years, i know that would sure come in handy now.

I figure your car has been sitting? or is it drivable as it? Figure on changing brake lines, hoses, oils...etc etc...

Only 20,000 miles in 3 years? I average 18,000 *per year* on my old cars. That little jaunt to Carlisle racks up over 1,000 in 4 days.

I do have to agree that a running/driving car does tend to eat into the savings. I think I've spent about $500 so far this year on maintenance parts. Gas is a killer too if you drive a lot - or if you like rapid acceleration! I don't have any other hobbies or bad habits (unless you count Mountain Dew) so it's really not that bad. I could blow the equivalent of a tank of gas by playing a round of golf or going to the bar with my buddies.

You can strip a car down in a weekend so what's the point in tearing into it if you don't have all the parts/materials on hand (and the time to devote to it)? I guarantee I'd be a lot happier if I got to drive my cars just once for each month they've been apart in the garage.

Troy

[Khyron]

spring - summer - fall = drive

winter is for restores

[mpdlawdog]

spring - summer - fall = drive

winter is for restores

I  bought mine in oct and spent all winter getting it ready for now...enjoy it now!!

[nvrbdn]

i bought mine, pulled the motor (a worn out 400 someone dropped in there) and started working on it since i was waiting on the motor rebuild. now 12 years later, it will cruise this august to a car show/pic-nic. i vote drive it.

[Plum Crazy 68]

Drive it now.  I have to pull apart the front end of mine and replace all of the bushings soon.  I'm waiting until the summer is over before taking on the project.  In the meantime I drive it every weekend and enjoy it.  It's one of life's little pleasures to burn gas, drive with the windows open, and get a little attention.  I just ignore all the creaking noises and the right hard pull when I stop knowing that it'll be fixed by next year.

[HPP]

Drive it!


Faced with the same situation with my Challenger, I chose to drive it. You know what, even though it would qualify as a "rat machine" because it is so rough, I still get thumbs up, people stop to talk to me about it, I get offers to buy, and I have people chase me down to talk about it. You know what else, when they aren't perfect, then you aren't afraid to use them like cars, ie drive them to places and park them and leave em to go about your business. you might also find out they are dang fun to drive too!

[XS29LA47V21]

Consider driving, even years prior to cutting and down the committed financial and time monster.  I would never recommend selling to any real car guy, but if it ever had to be peddled it is way easier to sell driving cars.  I vote go play.

[westcoastdodge]

Im in a little bit of a dilema.  I bought my 68 Charger 2 weeks ago.  It needs to be restored but I really want to start driving it.  I can't afford to do the restoration now but I will be able to in about 6 months.  Should I start driving it or wait?  After seeing all of your nice rides here on this site, I really want to get it going.  ?

Rick

as long as the steering is ok,brakes work and the frame rails are not hanging out of her i would say drive it,got any pics

[azfrench]

Here are some pics of current condition.  Not much to look at right now but, I see some great potential.

[aussiemuscle]

sounds like you're talking about no-sex-before-marriage (well, probably a good analogy anyway).

[nvrbdn]

i think there is a bit of work to get it driveable, time to start playing

[mpdlawdog]

I would give it a rattle can paint job like "terrible one" here on the site and get it running....looks like you have some stuff to get done before its back on the road but nothing a weekends worth of knuckle busting can take care of!  Good luck

[XS29LA47V21]

I would revise my opinion to add.  To that level off the road and scoping your photos, you may consider going all the way, because it is not likely that you will be driving cheaply even with rattle can with old parts and by the time you gather it up to be bullet proof you will spend a good amount towards a nice car.  So maybe the real question is, do you want to stay cheaper with the beater thing or go nice, budget is part of the question I think ?  I did the beater thing with one of my old cars about two years ago and although essentially restored driveline, wiring and components to make it bullet proof.. I likely spent 1/3 of a resto , but that's what I was wanting to do . and drive it as desired and worry less about it when playing.

[gtx6970]

Biggest mistake I ever made was take this part to restore it. I wish I left it alone and just drove it, might even still have it if I had.
Before I took it apart , I was avereging 2 or 3 thousand miles per year. Yet once restored, I barely put 500 miles on it in 3 years

[sixty8charger]

Thats what i don't want to happen.  Once I get this thing back together.. the only days it doesn't see the road is when I can't afford to fuel it!

[elanmars]

good thing about driving it for a bit is you can find out quickly what you'll need mechanically unless you're a knowledgeable and can figure it all out by taking stuff apart.

my current car was bought as a driver, I use it as a daily driver but I've had to restore pretty much everything mechanically on the poor car. Currently down as the rear end, transmission, need major replacement/upgrades, also discovered the car had a bent flex plate on it and all kinds of other goodies...

[azfrench]

Well,  I think that the car looks a lot worse than it is.  I have most of the interior in my garage.  It actually drives  but I need to go throught the fuel system and put a fan on the motor.  We did drive it on and off the trailer when I brought it home.  I have the headlights and actuators but no grille.  So, it is kinda a toss for me.  I can spend come money on getting it ready or just dive right in.  I'm back to the thought of just diving in and restoring it.  We did my brother-in-law's challenger in 5 months.  That included metal work and paint.   It is not a show car but a very solid driver that looks great.  This is what I might do to this car.  I will go as nice as I can go but im not going to go overboard for show quality because I do want to drive it everyday.  Hmmmmmm.....

[mpdlawdog]

In 5 months is will be winter and you can sit and look it at in the garage...I would get it safely running and driving...enjoy it for the summer and fall...then pull it apart this winter...you will have a nice one this spring!!