Update: After 24 years, finally starting the restoration of my 69 Charger R/T SE

[DixieRestoParts]

Hey Guys,

I'm excited to announce that after 24 years, I'm finally starting the restoration of a car I bought back in 1987. Lots of cars have come and gone since then, but I've kept this one through the years. We have shared a lot of blood, sweat, and tears together. It's a 69 Charger R/T SE, 440, 4-spd, R6 red with white top and tail stripe. Black interior. Kinda rare combo for a Charger.

I first saw this car driving down the road and the owner hammering it. It was Red, primer, rust and Green.  I thought, "What a pile". Later there was an ad in the local paper for a Charger for $500. I went to look at the car and it was the same car. It still had the Dana and for $500, I thought it would make a good parts car for another car I had.

The owner of the R6 car said he had smoked the clutch. I wanted it for the Dana, so I really didn't care about much else. As I walked down the length of the car looking at the bondoed up quarters, something caught my eye. The sail panel had 2 small holes close together. Could this be an SE? Yes, the owner said he had the emblems in a bag in the house. This was a R/T SE 4spd, R6 Red car. I knew it was something special and decided to buy it. I told the owner I'd be back the next day with the cash. Can you guess what happened?

Yep, I was beat to punch. Someone else bought it. A few months later I was sitting at a gas station and an older guy who looked like the main character in Sling Blade approached me while I was in another Charger I had, and started asking questions. He said he had one like mine only Red. This happened a lot and typically didn't pan out, so I thought, "sure you do". Still, he seemed to know about cars and asked about parts. I got his name and number and said I'd see what I could find.

Turns out he was a distant relative. I got a kick out of that one. He and his brother were big Mopar guys from back in the "day". His brother had (and the family still has) a 69 GTX he bought new. Several months later, either he called me or I called him about buying the car. Can't remember which now, but I bought the car for $900 with a ton of parts. Sold off most of the parts like an idiot a year later. The car sat untouched for a couple years while I finished college. Then, I sent it to a buddy of mine to build the engine. Three attempted engine builds and several years later I got the call to come get it.

It's a long story, but basically the car sat neglected for the better part of 10 years while I played with other cars.  My buddy that was building the engine piddled with it in his spare time and something would always go wrong in the engine build to prevent me from picking it up. Like the 400 flywheel on the 440. My buddy didn't bother to check prior to putting it in the car. Can you say, "beat the bearings out of itself?" Then there was the Mopar 509 cam that self destructed, and the Crane adjusters for the pushrods that would just snap. Anyways along about late 1996, I picked the car up and took it home. 3 engine builds later, it ran ok.

Shortly after getting it home, I did a title search through my home state of Tennessee. I got a record of every owner, including the original owners name, address, and MRO for the car along with the bill of sale submitted to the state. It is a bunch of great info. I could not reach any of the previous owners (20 or more) except for the original owner. He still lived at the same address and had the same phone number. He remembered the car and told me he had ordered it optioned the way it was for racing. He originally ordered it F8 and went back and changed it to R6. Whew ! Good move dude !

He said he street raced it and was very successful along with a friend who had a 70 440-6 Cuda. After an engine fire (which he suspects was sabotage from a sore loser) he traded the car on a Roadrunner. He said he always missed the car. Unfortunately, he had no pics or parts left over from the car as he'd had a house fire some years before and lost everything. I hope the guy is still alive, I need to make the time to go meet him. He bought the car new at Burgin Dodge in Knoxville, TN. and lived South of there in Tallassee, TN.

Anyway, back to the car. I have had it back in my possession since 1996. I am finally ready to begin the restoration, 24 years after I first bought the car. As a side note, I did have the car at my wedding along with some Mopars of my friends.  As you look at the link with photos, I first found her multi-colored. When I got married, I sanded and primered her in Flat Black. It rained the day of our wedding and the fresh paint in the rain actually looks good. LOL. Today the paint doesn't look so good. Time has not been so good to the primer. LOL.

Here is a link to the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dixierestorationparts/

I'll try and keep this post, a post on Moparts, and the flickr site updated with photos as the restoration progresses, and hope to add a section to our own website. I'm a working stiff like most of you, so this won't be a big money OE restoration. I am going to try and build it as correct as possible using a mixture of original, NOS and repro parts that I have. My plan is to show it for a couple of years and then DRIVE IT!

Of course, any big name parts vendors reading this that want to donate to the project will be much appreciated.   LOL.

[hemi68charger]

Congrad's !! 

Good luck on the project and have fun........

[Lennard]

Nice story and good score back then, would be a lot of $$ if you wanted to buy that same car today.
Good luck with the resto.

[tan top]

   awesome charger !!   project going on there  !! red ! white , black !!  tri color combo eh     thanks for sharing the story , looking  forward to seeing pictures of the strip down / resto & stuff as & when    

[1969chargerrtse]

If you do work as well as you write and tell a story the car is gonna be awesome.  Great story, love the car.  Awesome color combination and options.  Hard core Mopar guys like you always have nice stuff you saved from way back when most of us didn't realize how special the cars were.   

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Good luck with the resto

[mightywing7]

Best of luck to you on the resto!  Great story.....look forward to seeing more pics in the future.

[Charger-Bodie]

Very Cool!

[DixieRestoParts]

Thanks guys !!

It's been along time. I didn't know if this day would ever come. Attached is a pic of the car back in 1988. When I took it to my buddy's shop for the "first" engine rebuild I towed it with my Dad's 73 Dart Sport. Green 4 door slant six. Triple Green with high back bench seat ! I rented a tow bar from a local rental center hooked it up and down the road I went with my best friend, Jimmy. I had Jimmy ride in the Charger and help work the brakes when we stopped. Yeah, didn't work out too well. In the middle of a turn on a backwoods county road, a sub-standard grade bolt failed on the tow bar. The bar collapsed and pushed my Dad's Dart into a ditch. Totally killed the passenger side quarter panel. Oh, he was not happy about that. The Charger, unhurt.

Well, they were lodged together too tight for Jimmy and I to separate and we were blocking an intersection with cars piling up. I guess the looks on our faces told the other drivers they had better get out and help if they wanted to get anywhere. So, several folks got out and helped us separate the cars and get them pulled off to the side of the road. Gotta love living in the country.

We drove a short distance up the road and found a heavy equipment repair shop, that I think gave me a bolt. Then we went back hooked it all up and continued our journey. Dropped it off for what I thought would be a few months. 10 years later, I picked her up as stated above.

My Dad is not a Mopar guy. I think he got the Dart because it was cheap, but this killed any affection he had for the car. I remember it being a pretty good car. The rental company did not want to make good on the failed bolt. However, my Dad the insurance agent, was well connected with  local attorney's. The rental store paid for the repair (I had saved the failed bolt), and the little Dart was sold. It's probably still running around those mountain roads, or either chicken's are living in it.

Ok, I better go do some work now. Talk to y'all later.

[1969chargerrtse]

Please post lots of pictures.  We like lots pictures.

[charge69]

Well,  that is a fine combo to restore and mine is also R6 and is being restored right now. Mine is a lot like yours on the outside but it is white interior , not a SE and has a 727 auto from the factory. You can Kinda see the combo in my Avatar as that pic was before the resto started. You can see the incorrect road wheels on it then but I still have all 5 of the correct ones.

Good luck with yours and keep us updated with pics as everyone likes pics!

[DixieRestoParts]

Found these Andretti mufflers on the car. The last time the car ran was about 5 years ago, and they still sounded good at that time. Typical turbo muffler sound.

Never heard of these, don't know how old they are. I got the car in '87 and they looked old then. There is a c-5 on the muffler, maybe that means 1975?

[DixieRestoParts]

Original fuel tank pad.

[ChargerSG]

This gonna be great restore thread, pictures pictures
I dont think im gonna wait 24 years before i restore my 4speed RT/SE

[XS29LA47V21]

Thanks guys !!

    bet you finish before me, we can bet a SE dash if you like? 

[A34]

 

[A34]

 

[Fred]

GOOD LUCK! and just remember.............Rome wasn't built in a day.   

[tan top]

Found these Andretti mufflers on the car. The last time the car ran was about 5 years ago, and they still sounded good at that time. Typical turbo muffler sound.

Never heard of these, don't know how old they are. I got the car in '87 and they looked old then. There is a c-5 on the muffler, maybe that means 1975?

  keep the pictures coming 

[DixieRestoParts]

My car had period correct exhaust tips on it for a GTX. I pulled one of them out of the tail pipe tonight. Looks to be in good shape. I have posted a pic of it below. You can see how it is made different from the reproductions. Note the metal hanging tab runs down into the tip and is not just welded on top. You can see it bent up along the top inside the tip. Don't know why they would go to so much trouble to make it like that instead of just welding it on top like they do today. Anyone know? Luckily I have some correct Charger ones I picked up many moons ago. I'm told today's gas will eat the chrome up.

Hopefully, it'll make it a couple of years before that happens.

[DixieRestoParts]

New pics uploaded here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dixierestorationparts/

[RAC95054]

That will be one sharp car when done!  One of the few R/T SE 4-speeds remaining!  I nice club to belong to. :-)  Good luck in the restoration!  Keep the pictures coming!

[maxwellwedge]

I bet you know where you can get a correct alternator and starter for it! 


Good luck with the resto - A COOL COMBO for sure!

[DixieRestoParts]

I bet you know where you can get a correct alternator and starter for it! 


Good luck with the resto - A COOL COMBO for sure!

LOL, well finding the right part number and date code can be tricky. 

[DixieRestoParts]

I loaded a bunch more pics tonight if you want to check them out. They are from a few months ago. I should get some more current pics loaded this coming week.

[hatersaurusrex]

Sweet ride.  What part of TN are you from?  I'm from Clarksville originally.  My 68 is up in Portland at my bro's house waiting for the resto.   Found it on Craigslist over in Lafayette and he picked it up and offered to do the work for me.

[DixieRestoParts]

Sweet ride.  What part of TN are you from?  I'm from Clarksville originally.  My 68 is up in Portland at my bro's house waiting for the resto.   Found it on Craigslist over in Lafayette and he picked it up and offered to do the work for me.

Thanks, I'm from Southeast TN. A little town called Etowah, where you can't swing a stick without hitting a Chevelle or Camaro. Guess that's one of the reasons I liked Mopars, they were different, and of course, better. 

[DixieRestoParts]

I'm been a little remiss in posting new pics of the restoration. I just added 50 pics today. Going slowly, but going.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dixierestorationparts/

[Ghoste]

Wow, sure has come a long way.  Whats the deal with the GM trim tag?

[DixieRestoParts]

Wow, sure has come a long way.  Whats the deal with the GM trim tag?

LOL, guess I missed those on editing. That's what happens when your body guy's helpers take too many pics of other cars and don't sort their files properly. I got a bunch of pics once of a 72 RR. Which was nice, but I since I don't own one, didn't do me any good. LOL.

[tan top]

  looking good !!      

[JB400]

You've come quite a long way on this one.  Good job

[Silver R/T]

Cool car, you're doing great job on resto.

[Homerr]

I was just reading the OP and was floored that back in the day a red 4-speed Charger R/T wasn't good for more than parts - until it was also an SE!

[Ghoste]

Times sure have changed huh?

[XS29LA47V21]

Thanks guys !!

    bet you finish before me, we can bet a SE dash if you like? 

Your still winning....(got side tracked..my bad, the others move under their own power...LOL).  What's up with photo link ... want to see some updated photos

[DixieRestoParts]

Thanks guys !!

    bet you finish before me, we can bet a SE dash if you like? 

Your still winning....(got side tracked..my bad, the others move under their own power...LOL).  What's up with photo link ... want to see some updated photos

The first 10 or so you see when you click the link are from last week. It's not important when you finish the race, just that you finish the race. So, keep chugging along on your cars. 

[timmycharger]

Looking great!

[DixieRestoParts]

Well, I started this 4 years ago and am still working on it. My body shop has worked on it off and on in between other cars. Which is fine, I agreed to it. It's finally getting close to being painted.

Unfortunately the body shop lost many of the pics of the body restoration. They recently sent me some recent ones which I added to my flickr account.

You can see them there along with some of the first pics of the car.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dixierestorationparts/

I wish I could say I'd spent this time wisely and had all the sub assemblies ready to go, but no such luck. I did do a few, but still have a lot of work to do before reassembly.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

[PlainfieldCharger]

  Great bunch of photos!! Is the red primer on the rails a weld thru primer?

[DixieRestoParts]

Great bunch of photos!! Is the red primer on the rails a weld thru primer?

Yes, I do believe it is.

[tan top]

    looking good (DRP)     looking forward to seeing it painted , love R6 

[DixieRestoParts]

Well, she's finally painted. Pretty happy with the results. Now the fun/hard part starts, I have to reassemble. The pics aren't that great as they are from my phone and the booth was kinda dark. But you get the idea. I'm picking it up Sunday and I'll take some when she's in my garage. I'm pretty excited. Bought her way back in 1987, originally intended as a "donor" for my Green one. Then when I was looking her over, I realized what she was. Score!

[DixieRestoParts]

One more.

[myk]

Lookin very nice.  That will be one sharp car when it's done...

[Dino]

Looks great!  Looking forward to more pics and the reassembly.   

[Dino]

Looks great!  Looking forward to more pics and the reassembly.   

[DixieRestoParts]

Looks great!  Looking forward to more pics and the reassembly.   

Thanks!

I hope it's not several more years to get her back together. 

[keepat]

 Color looks awesome, congrats! I'm so looking forward to having paint on my car.
Good luck with the reassembly
Pat

[tan top]

Well, she's finally painted. Pretty happy with the results. Now the fun/hard part starts, I have to reassemble. The pics aren't that great as they are from my phone and the booth was kinda dark. But you get the idea. I'm picking it up Sunday and I'll take some when she's in my garage. I'm pretty excited. Bought her way back in 1987, originally intended as a "donor" for my Green one. Then when I was looking her over, I realized what she was. Score!

   looks awesome      ..........

[qwick68]

Love the red.....

[fy469rtse]

As a rtse owner , mines an auto,
But nice to see another saved , nice job , looks great 

[Ghoste]

Now you'll have two great cars