'72 Charger SE 400- Cody x2 project

[69bronzeT5]

Thought I'd share some photos of a car me and my friend Cody (aka 72SE400) have been working our asses off on the last few weeks. It's a '72 Charger SE. 400-2bbl automatic. Buckets, console, tuff wheel, A/C, tinted glass, Rallye gauges, hideaways, Rallye wheels, fender turn signals, dual chrome Rallye mirrors. It was originally HT6 Gold with white interior, white vinyl top and the white SE body line pinstripe. It's all there......100% complete minus the rear valance! Everything that was missing (console, shifter handle, trim, emblems) we found in the trunk.....right down to the missing Rallye wheel center cap!! The bumpers have no rust what so ever, actually they polished up VERY nice! It apperentley ran and drove when it was parked a few years ago. It still has fresh oil and transmission fluid in it! It needs some standard rust repair such as the lower quarters, one lower front fender, drivers side floor pan and the trunk floor. The hood is also f'ed. The passenger floor pan, rockers, frame rails, torsion bar crossmember etc are mint!!! For now we got the seats out of it and put in a dry place and got the car up on blocks. We also put a heavy duty tarp underneath it with plywood on top of that to keep the weeds and grass under control. Enjoy!

[69bronzeT5]

 

[69bronzeT5]

This is where we've gotten to so far. Our next project is to vacuum all the crap out of the trunk, interior and engine compartment. There are A LOT of nut shells from squirrels.

[moparstuart]

 

[tan top]

  ......    

[RallyeMike]

Vines growing out of the ac ducts in the car. Crazy! Looks like a decent project car.

[Rocpar]

Looks like a great car to work on.  If you need a hood, I have one that you can have.  It will just be a logistical nightmare for you to get it.  Unless, you know someone that can ship it for you cheap from Michigan to your place.  Any way...good luck with the car.  Great pics too!

[CrAzYMoPaRGuY]

Great to see younger guys taking on stuff like that.


Let me know if there is any bits and pieces needed I might have that I could chip in, or supplies... grinding stuff, paint, whatever.... I have SOME stuff still... lol or if you need anything I might be able to dig up from friends.

I'm in Langley, off for the next week too.

[69bronzeT5]

Thanks for the offers guys

[six-tee-nine]

You remind me of me almost 15 years ago when i started wrenching cars... I worked on cars before I was old enough to drive them legally (since we have to be 18 to get a licence over here).
Its kinda smart of you to learn the skills on a buddys car to. By the time you get going on that 69 of yours you'll know alot more and that helps to keep the number of screwups a litle lower.....How I know? I screwed up alot of stuff in my still short career. Keep up the good work but beware its addictive....

[TUFCAT]

If you need a whole car for parts, my brother Mike has a green 4-speed. You can probably get it pretty cheap. 

[69bronzeT5]

If you need a whole car for parts, my brother Mike has a green 4-speed. You can probably get it pretty cheap. 

I posted on Mike's Facebook asking for pictures of his car but he never replied

[TUFCAT]

If you need a whole car for parts, my brother Mike has a green 4-speed. You can probably get it pretty cheap.  

I posted on Mike's Facebook asking for pictures of his car but he never replied

Dude, I was pulling your leg....you know his car is perfect and he'll never sell it!  Right?

[Tilar]

 

[69bronzeT5]

If you need a whole car for parts, my brother Mike has a green 4-speed. You can probably get it pretty cheap.  

I posted on Mike's Facebook asking for pictures of his car but he never replied

Dude, I was pulling your leg....you know his car is perfect and he'll never sell it!  Right?

Of course, thats why I wanted to see lots of pictures! His SE has always been one of my favorite 3rd gens.

[69bronzeT5]

Just thought I'd post up an update on what's going on with this car. I'll start with some back history to the car. It belonged to my friend's dad's best friend. They cruised around in it back in high school. His friend passed away and left the car to his son. His son didn't have a place to store it so my friend's dad took it and stored it at his place until the son had a place for it. The son let the car sit there for YEARS and never called to ask about it. Back when this thread was first posted, my friend's dad was trying to buy it off the son so he could restore it in memory of his friend. The son kept saying maybe maybe maybe but would never give an answer. Yet the car still sat where you see it in the pictures I posted.


Finally about a year ago, the son randomly came and picked up the car. I was out for a drive last summer and happened to spot the car sitting in a driveway. Over the summer, more and more parts were taken off the car until it was almost a bare shell. I got the son's number off my friend and sent him a message asking if he wanted to sell it and sent a picture of my '69. I got a reply back with "no". I also sent him a message saying I had the fender tags for the car if he wanted them back (I took them off to preserve them) and never got an answer back. Back in the fall, I noticed it got pushed out of the driveway into the yard and put under a tree. The hood and fenders got bolted back on and the rest of the parts got thrown into the car. Since then it's sat and hasn't been touched. I took a picture the other day of it covered in snow that I'll post up with this. I sent the son another message this past week asking how the car was going and he replied saying it was going very slow and then asked if I wanted to trade my '69 for WEED. I replied saying no thank you, not interested and got a reply back with "Not even for a pound ??". After telling him no again, I never heard back from him. So, that being said.....the car is sitting and who knows when it'll be worked on or if it will ever be finished.

[JB400]

What a shame

[Ghoste]

Sounds like he's too busy with his pharmacology business for car projects.  Sad.

[bill440rt]

If that's the case I would return the fender tags. They're not doing you any good.
If he doesn't want them, just screw them back on yourself.

[69bronzeT5]

If that's the case I would return the fender tags. They're not doing you any good.
If he doesn't want them, just screw them back on yourself.

Being its a completely fenced yard and I don't really know the guy, I don't really feel comfortable in doing that however I was considering wrapping them up and mailing them or trying to see if there's a mail box I could stuff them into on the fence

[Ghoste]

I'd bet he just tosses them in the trash.

[myk]

 To us, these cars represent some of life's greatest treasures, but to others they're just piles of steel that deserve nothing more than to be negligently discarded in a forlorn yard.  He doesn't care about the car or its tags, neither should you or anyone else.   Some things are better left alone...

[bill440rt]

If you don't really know the guy, how did you end up with the tags to begin with? And then why would you have removed them & kept them if it wasn't your car??
Sounds like if you gave them back to him personally, stuffed them in a mailbox or just randomly put them somewhere he probably wouldn't have any idea what they are. I would just go over there, tell him you have some "parts" off his car and you wanted to return them, and reattach them like they were supposed to be.

He doesn't care about the car or its tags, neither should you or anyone else.   Some things are better left alone...

I don't necessarily agree. What about the other neglected cars? Should they just be left to sit & rot away? 

[myk]

If you don't really know the guy, how did you end up with the tags to begin with? And then why would you have removed them & kept them if it wasn't your car??
Sounds like if you gave them back to him personally, stuffed them in a mailbox or just randomly put them somewhere he probably wouldn't have any idea what they are. I would just go over there, tell him you have some "parts" off his car and you wanted to return them, and reattach them like they were supposed to be.

He doesn't care about the car or its tags, neither should you or anyone else.   Some things are better left alone...

I don't necessarily agree. What about the other neglected cars? Should they just be left to sit & rot away? 

If it's someone else's property, yes; we don't have a choice about it.  Better to walk away and forget than to agonize over something we have no control over...

[Ghoste]

I endorse fully that the tags should go back on the car, I just have the suspicion that this guy couldn't care less about them.

[bill440rt]

I endorse fully that the tags should go back on the car, I just have the suspicion that this guy couldn't care less about them.

Exactly.

If it's someone else's property, yes; we don't have a choice about it.  Better to walk away and forget than to agonize over something we have no control over...

Maybe in this case there's nothing anyone can do. But this is how many projects and restorable cars are discovered and brought back. How many members here have found projects this way?
Just sayin'.

[69bronzeT5]

If you don't really know the guy, how did you end up with the tags to begin with? And then why would you have removed them & kept them if it wasn't your car??

Like I've said, the car sat in the same spot for years and years wasting away. I took them off when we were working on cleaning up the car because the tags were deteriorating badly. I figured I'd take them home, clean them up and scan them before there was nothing left of them. The car didn't seem like it was going anywhere fast so I thought I'd keep them safe until a decision was made with the car itself and then they'd go back on. I didn't expect the kid to randomly come grab the car. I'd love to have the tags back with the car however I'm not comfortable in walking onto his property when I know he's into drugs like he is. Its really something I don't think is worth getting shot over. I'll keep trying to message him about them and see what happens. However I know if I didn't take them off and clean them up etc, there would be nothing but rust particles sitting on the inner fender now 

[Ghoste]

Yeah, I'd agree trying to preserve them was the right thing to do.

[bill440rt]

I could see that, too.

[F8-4life]

Hmm, trying to trade a pound for a 69 charger..
wow. My bet is he's on more then weed talking like that.

[69bronzeT5]

Hmm, trying to trade a pound for a 69 charger..
wow. My bet is he's on more then weed talking like that.

This is also after he asked me if I smoke weed and I told him no never have and never will.....

[F8-4life]

Sounds like someone you don't want to be around.
Send him the tags and run. Lol
It's a shame about the car but better cars have fallen into the wrong hands before.

[69bronzeT5]

Strange how we were just talking about this.....


Just drove past the house and the car along with everything else on the property is gone....

[Ghoste]

Police raid?

[TUFCAT]

Just drove past the house and the car along with everything else on the property is gone....

Well I guess that solves your problem with the tags !   I'm betting it was hauled to the scrapyard for its weed value.  

[bill440rt]

Quick cash for dope? 

[TUFCAT]

Its probably already in the crusher. I hate to be a downer but a 1972 Charger SE in that rough of shape is not a restoration candidate. Its a Parts Car!  Yes, a PARTS CAR!

Its ready to donate anything still nice and usable - for somebody else's project.  They must've been heavily stoned to think of restoring something that far gone.... a Charger SE 400 (M-code) 2bbl automatic is nothing special.

Okay, I can hear people now, "come on dude"...."stop being such a downer man" ...."My Dad can fix that"  

[69bronzeT5]

I got a hold of the guy. Apparently he just towed it to another place that had better storage so he can restore it himself.

Tom, upon taking the car apart, the body itself was in surprisingly good shape. It wasn't too far gone.

[TUFCAT]

I got a hold of the guy. Apparently he just towed it to another place that had better storage so he can restore it himself.

Tom, upon taking the car apart, the body itself was in surprisingly good shape. It wasn't too far gone.

Good....that makes it more valuable for parts. 

[TUFCAT]

Breaking News: The 1972 Charger SE is been sighted! ...but unfortunately, its on its way to: : http://devour.com/video/car-grinder/    






(those smilies mean I'm making a joke)

[VegasCharger]

Breaking News: The 1972 Charger SE is been sighted! ...but unfortunately, its on its way to: : http://devour.com/video/car-grinder/    

(those smilies mean I'm making a joke)

The man sitting in the crane is a lucky dude. That's my all time dream job destroying cars and engine blocks all day long
Look out for the "Red Giant"

[TUFCAT]

The man sitting in the crane is a lucky dude. That's my all time dream job destroying cars and engine blocks all day long
Look out for the "Red Giant"

I'm with you VegasCharger!    Actually, I wonder if we shred cars like that here in the USA?? The video appears to be from Europe I think

The reason being those cars appear to have the large Brittish/European"oversized" license plate openings. I also saw what appears to be British spec'd cars parked there.

Finally, "Red Giant" is spelled in our good old fashioned English language - so it doesn't appear to be an oriental rice crusher operation.  

[69bronzeT5]

I thought I'd update the saga on this Charger one final time. Unfortunately, it's not a good ending. I tried to keep in touch with the owner (the original owner's son) of the car over the years through Facebook. Around two years ago, he messaged me and asked if I wanted to buy it. He said he had taken the car apart down to a bare shell to restore and never did anything after that. It was sitting in his garage as a bare shell with no front suspension but he had all the parts still. I asked how much. He replied "$5,000". I told him no thank you, I wasn't interested. Eventually, he dropped down to $3,500. I still wasn't interested. This past August, he messaged me and said he was being kicked out of the house he was renting and needed the car gone and that I could have it for $500. I didn't really need it but I couldn't pass on it so I bought it.

The car was a real pain to load with no front suspension. I ended up strapping furniture dollies to the front frame rails and winched it onto the trailer. All of the parts were either in his garage in a literal pile or under his deck. It took two truck loads to bring the parts home. Once I got it home, I took a good look at the car and decided it wasn't restorable and nowhere near as good as I remembered. The floor pans were absolutely gone as well as the inner fenders, rear frame rails, quarters, roof skin and even the inner roof structure and package tray. On top of that, he cut the radiator support with the VIN stamped out when he removed the engine and lost it. He had no title for it either.

I made the decision to cut the car up. The rocker panels and numerous parts such as the glass, center console and etc will go to my '71 Charger R/T. I cut the front clip off and sold it to a local young guy who really needed it for his '72 Road Runner project. The tail panel section will be going to Robin (Magnumcharger's) '71 Charger R/T. A chunk of the roof went to another local guy to fix the roof on his '73 Charger SE where someone cut a sunroof in it. I'm saving the 400 and 727 for a stroker build eventually. A ton of the other parts went to a handful of other cars too so everything is going to good use. It was sacrificed to a good cause.


Here is when I first saw it again in the guy's garage as well as a picture he had on the wall of it from the '80s. Sadly he didn't do the car any favors over the years with his storage choices and then the choice to tear it apart (literally) and leave it...

[69bronzeT5]

Loading it up and bringing it to my grandpa's shop.....

[69bronzeT5]

As you can see.... it was really rotten.

[69bronzeT5]

More rust....

[69bronzeT5]

Chop chop.....

[Daytona R/T SE]

I was going to ask about the SE quarter window inserts and trim, but I can see the sawzall took care of them.

[69bronzeT5]

I was going to ask about the SE quarter window inserts and trim, but I can see the sawzall took care of them.

Yeah, that it did. I had someone that wanted the entire roof and asked to cut it there. Then they bailed on the roof... 

[VegasCharger]

I NEVER cut body panels that have special requests where usually other surrounding areas will get violated UNLESS he/she pays in full first. And depending on what surrounding areas will get damaged, I charge more to make up at least some of the money that I would've made to the un-damaged panel.

[CDN72SE]

Thanks for sharing the story.

[RallyeMike]

Can't save 'em all... so we just save as much as we can.

FYI - AKcharger has posted a wanted for an AC dash frame.