new to forum..need help on do's and dont's buying my first charger

[69general]

hey guys, i am looking to buy a 69 charger....within the next two months....wife said i have to keep it under 20,000 as this is coming out of settlement money from an accident we were in and she got a broken neck...been on ebay and different sites looking...i need this car to be a running fully functional car as it will be a daily driver...anybody have any words of advice or tips....maybe some good leads....im set on a 69 ...i like the grill and taillights....just trying to get a feel for what im up against.

[Dans 68]

Welcome to the site. 

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,52323.0.html

Dan

[tan top]

hello & welcome   

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

$20k ought to buy that orange 69 car on eBay right now... And leave you change leftover

Sounds like your wife is really behind your purchase. Cool!

[BananaDan]

Welcome to the site!  Good luck on your purchase.

[69general]

thanks guys,i have been looking on ebay and i saw the orange one.....the grill looked like it was missing pieces.....i do like the red one for 14,000...but have alot of questions about it.....says it has low oil pressure and engine has a small knock....but who knows.....and my wife is very cool and inderstands what having this car means to me.....she just dont understand the prices.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Engines are cheaper to rebuild than a body to repaint...

[Kern Dog]

Some members here would caution you against buying from a dealer. There are some that are real hacks and pictures never tell the whole story. Obviously the more original the car, the better. Agreed that the engine and running gear are simpler to fix or replace rather than floorboards, quarter panels or roof skins. Unless you are looking at the car as an investment, give NO importance to guys who use "Numbers matching" as a means to ask a premium price. I'd take a strong running upgraded 440 over an original 180,000 mile smoky 318. Since I mentioned that, also pay no importance to the numbers matching claims for any slant six or 318 car. I know I'll sound like a dick, but nobody with any sense would build a slant six or 318 Charger for performance. Scratch that. A 318 stroked to 390 could be cool....Still, with 383s and 440s still within reach.....
Buy a car that is as complete as possible. It sounds obvious, but it bears repeating. There are several parts that are unique to Chargers and finding them could take time and money.

[Dans 68]

...and for your own sake go see the car you want to buy before you buy it. 

Dan

[69general]

thanks,im getting alot of good feedback from you guys.....i will make sure i follow it all.....you guys have been involved in these cars alot longer than i have......in the long run my car will be an investment but for now it will just have to be running and driving so it can get me back and forth to work....but when it starts snowing it will be garaged and ill be able to really make my list of what i want to do to it.

[super77se]

 ....my two cents worth, if it were me , i would most definitely focus on the body , the doors,fenders, deck lid ,hood ,grill ,bumpers, trim trim trim . are the grill surrounds and pieces all there and uncracked, the taillights and trim all there and uncracked ,bent ,broken,the bumpers straight and not rusted and bent, the chrome window trim ? the fuel door , the front and rear lower valances and parking lights, mirrors , all the interior trim , all the little things ... some will argue that ,ya, well all the sheetmetal can be replaced, but i know when it comes right down to it ,it can be all the little detail items that can end up biting you in the butt. 383s and 440s can still be had all day long but all the trim items are the hard parts to find. having bumpers and such sent out to get rechromed can be very expensive and finding replacement grill pieces and taillights that are decent are getting very pricy and hard to find. you can hide an awful lot with pictures and paint .although you have to decide if you are going after a possible resale value or if you just want a charger for yourself, to keep for yourself, and to build the way you want to build it . if thats the case then it really wouldnt matter if it was an R/T or a base 6 cylinder charger. if you want some sort of return for your investment then you better plan on spending a little more than 20Gs . but there are some nice chargers out there for that kind of money if you are patient, do your homework and visually inspect them ,yourself,in person, and steer clear of any charger on a dealers lot ,because remember they get paid on commission and that vehicle he is showing you? he really knows nothing about and they just gave half of what they want for it today - IMO

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

thanks,im getting alot of good feedback from you guys.....i will make sure i follow it all.....you guys have been involved in these cars alot longer than i have......in the long run my car will be an investment but for now it will just have to be running and driving so it can get me back and forth to work....but when it starts snowing it will be garaged and ill be able to really make my list of what i want to do to it.

Honestly, I haven't seen anyone drive a Charger daily in decades. Last guy I knew who did, was in 1990 and his car took a beating from daily use. He knew how to keep up with the repairs - which you may, or may not be able to do...

Buy a $3,000 P71 Crown Vic for daily beater use and put the rest of your money into the Charger. Just being realistic - these cars are not really for daily use anymore  

[Mike DC]

 

Using one of these cars as a daily driver is a luxury for when you have the money, not a way to save money.

Daily driven cars come apart much too fast to be able to keep a restored car together very long.  And classic cars are nowhere NEAR as durable in the long term sense like that.  It's true that there are lots of metal parts in them, but the design was very "quick & dirty" and the production tolerances were crap by modern standards.  

[bill440rt]

Welcome to the 'site! 

All good things here.
Buy a car that is complete as possible. Some parts are hard to track down, and model year-specific. For a first-time purchase, focus on a sound body & good mechanicals.
Check the unibody/underside structure completely. Make sure that is solid. Like a house, you need a good foundation on which to build from.

Best of luck, & happy hunting! 

[super77se]

i saw a listing on craigslist (go figure) someone selling a 1969 satellite 4 door 318 car for a mere 11,000 thousand bucks stating ,"grandma owned clean , with ONLY 158,000 miles". there was a reason the odometer does not read 7 digits . these cars can last and be driven everyday,but the theory of restore while you ride is pretty much redundant because you will probably be spending your loot just to work out all the mechanical bugs before you get a chance to tear it all down and begin the process of rebuilding it which really is like pissing in the wind. i have always had my good ole reliable to take care of daily drives while my projects are warm, naked and dry while i take my time and pour the love on .... if you are going to spend 20 grand, take 5 ,by a decent driver and spend the rest on something you can take your time with instead of nickel and diming it to death ,and worrying whos gonna come around the corner and smack your 20 thousand dollar investment broadside on one of those cold slick mornings....another IMO...

[69general]

i will be smart about it...i will put it away for winter....but i will drive it alot the rest of the year...if i get it here in the next 2 months....it'll already be winter....and it will give me some time to get it ready for its debut in the spring....as you guys can tell by my screenname my intentions....im gonna make a general lee.....but i do love a pure chargeras well....i wont be adding some of the stupid shit like the brush guard or the roll bar ....just color ,rims,and decals....but i agree finding a solid foundation with as much parts as i can is the best way to go....i wouldnt mind a 318....but id really be happy to have a 383.

[skip68]

Good luck and welcome to the site.  I love my GENERAL LEE but, I always feel nervous leaving it in a public parking lot.  Toooooo many people will be drawn to it and leaving a car like mine unattended is not a good idea.   
Buy a solid driver and have it painted and graphics applied.   I wouldn't buy any GL from any shop these days.  HAVE THE CAR INSPECTED BEFORE YOU BUY. 
Good luck brother.      
Oh, just curious as to how old you are?   Did you grow up watching the Duke's back in the late 70s early 80s like I did.         

Chuck .....

[skip68]

1 more thing, don't worry about getting parts, lots of guys here sell them and have what you need (bill, sal, and some others seem to help out lots of guys here with parts and they have good reps here)

[stripedelete]

If there's no title get a notorized bill-of-sale and a copy of the last registration.

[69general]

thanks,i am 38 and i did grow up watching dukes every friday night and thats when i fell in love with the charger....girls watched the show for bo and luke some guys watched the show for daisy....but i watched it for the car....the sound of that motor

[Budnicks]

thanks,i am 38 and i did grow up watching dukes every friday night and thats when i fell in love with the charger....girls watched the show for bo and luke some guys watched the show for daisy....but i watched it for the car....the sound of that motor

Welcome to the forum & good luck with your search, do some serious research before you buy any vintage or muscle car era car... I watched Duke of Hazard for Daisey & the Charger, not my favorite looking car, paint sceem or wheels for that fact, but it was a 2nd generation Charger non the less, my 1st car in 1974 at 15 years old, it was a 68 Charger R/T 440 w/727 & 3.55 gear, I bought it for $350 from some 40+ year old woman in Antioch Ca., it was well used but still in great shape, those days are long gone for sure...