Wolfie's 71 restoration

[chargd72]

73 fenders will not work. Only 71/72 will work for your car.

Thank you for the answer. Why will it not work may I ask? Is it the body liners or what? If you don't mind educating me.

Yes, body lines will not line up correctly unless you have a front quarter, rear quarter and door off a 73/74.

[NHCharger]

I have many friends who can help me for a 24 pack.

Love to see the beer budget at the end of this build.
Don't want to sound like a dickhead but I agree with Skippy. I parted out a better looking 72 five years ago. You should try to make a list of all the missing and rusted parts and get a total cost together.Then double that and that will be what all the parts will cost you.
Where are you located?? I still have pieces from my 72 parts car kickin' around. I have a front bench seat, 904A tranny and a 8.25/2.71 open rear end you can have.

[billfury]

I would pull the car apart and see were your sitting. There might be a lot more rust that the eye can't see now. Cowls on these things love to rot under where the fenders bolt to. Hood hinge arias like to rot as well. You also need to check the t-bar cross member and make sure that's solid. I can tell you just from looking at the pictures that you are going to find more things that might discourage you. Tackle one thing at a time. Start with the body after you strip it down & take it from there. Good luck.

[Wolfie12B]

Wisconsin. Ok if i strip this thing down. And i discover it aint worth it. Do you think i might be able to make the money back? I paid 600 for it. And if scraping it out is better. Then ill scrap it/part it/do whatever. I dont want to. But if i have to i will.

The only things its missing is an engine, trans, and 1 side marker. Parts it needs so far is 1 quarter panel for sure. A engine trans and axle if the one i have wont work. A new seat. driver side floor pan. And thats really it. As I went through everything and as far as i can tell thats all its actually missing.

[RallyeMike]

Ok Wolfie, here it is straight as I think you suspect: Unless you have some sentimental attachment to a generic rusty 318 car, find another car with less rust to start with. Be patient. It will come.

[Wolfie12B]

Ok. Ill take your advice. But for the time being. Im going to take it apart and try and access how bad it is. If its not as bad as is thought. Then I think im going to try my hand at it. The guy im buying it from said he had the fenders off and that besides the rust thats visible now. Its solid. The guy i bought it from restores Road Runners. If i remember correctly he is on his 7th RR.

I understand its a POS. But I mean... Its a serious pain in my arse to try and get a Charger. But thank you for the advice. When i get it home, stripped down, and have the fenders and such off Ill take pictures and ask for your opinions again. Thank you.

[Dino]

The way I see it, the car is worth very little and that's what you paid, so you're good so far.   

Bringing it back to stock specs will make it about 10 times more expensive than what it is worth so restoring it is not going to be lucrative BUT that sucker is a prime candidate not only to save another but to do one hell of a restomod as well.  318 3rd gens are plentiful and I wouldn't hesitate to drop a big block in there.

You're looking at extensive work on anything below the door handles.  Rockers, quarters, fenders, wheel wells.  They will all need work and lots of patches but that's exactly the stuff I like to do.

It is extremely rewarding to take a pos like that and make it look better than new but it is going to take an immens amount of time and money to do it right. 

What is the goal for the car?  What is the product you want to end up with?

[billfury]

This was my first Charger I started to restore. I was to excite to take the time to go over everything. When I got it home I noticed a few more things wrong with it. This car was rotting from the inside out. I had nothing to weld to. The metal was so rusty that it was to thin to weld. This was the cowl and door hinge area. I had to buy another car for the body parts. Well when that parts car came in, I used that car and cut mine up. I didn't listen to what people said when they told me to junk it and find another. I wasted a lot of time on polishing a turd. When you're done polishing a turd, you still have a turd.

[Ghoste]

What Dino said (and you), you're not out a lot of money so strip it down and see what you've got.  It's the only way you'll know the next step.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I've fixed worse.

And will again.

There is no better way to learn than by tearing into some worthless piece of junk and trying.

At $600 invested so far, you've got nothing to lose.

Some people will blow $600 on a night out,

and have nothing but a hangover to show for it the next day...

If, after you tear it down it's too far gone, junk it and move on.

It might not be too bad...

[71_Charger_R/T]

73 fenders will not work. Only 71/72 will work for your car.

Thank you for the answer. Why will it not work may I ask? Is it the body liners or what? If you don't mind educating me.

Yes, body lines will not line up correctly unless you have a front quarter, rear quarter and door off a 73/74.

That is absolutely wrong! They WILL line up!  the difference is that the wheel well opening is taller and the bolt holes in by the radiator saddle are different. if you hang a 73-4 fender on a 72, most people would never know it. If you put a 73-4 fender on a '71 people would notice the different marker light but probably nothing else. Now I do agree the 73-4 doors and quarters are vastly different and don't line up with the 71-2s.

[Ghoste]

and have nothing but a hangover to show for it the next day...

If, after you tear it down it's too far gone, junk it and move on.

It might not be too bad...

But remember, you can get a car hangover and they can be much worse than a booze one.

[skip68]

I've made mistakes building my car that were well over $600.       I bet I've wasted around $2,000 or more that didn't need to be wasted.   

[JB400]

I've made mistakes building my car that were well over $600.       I bet I've wasted around $2,000 or more that didn't need to be wasted.   

No kidding.  I had quarter skins put on and now I need to buy whole quarters because the guy that put skins on f ed up and rust has formed where his screw ups are at.

[Daytona R/T SE]

and have nothing but a hangover to show for it the next day...

If, after you tear it down it's too far gone, junk it and move on.

It might not be too bad...

But remember, you can get a car hangover and they can be much worse than a booze one.

Yes, but...

I've never woken up after an all night drunk with a fat, ugly car in my bed.

[Ghoste]

    Touche.

[Daytona R/T SE]

 

[1973rallye]

 Not to discourage you from wanting to build your dream charger, but alas if all you have in it is $600 I agree that it will be a lot of work and money to get it to where you want it. I am sure you can get something back by parting out what it useable. ie glass Whatever you decide will be the right decision.

[Ghoste]

But all considered, for 600 continue stripping it and if it is too far to reasonably save, it will be an excellent learning platform on tearing one down and there have to still be at least 600 dollars worth of parts on it.

[Wolfie12B]

Holy cow! Gone for drill (in the National Guard) and I get alot of feed back! Any ways thanks for the encouragement. I will hopefully get the Charger home today. I will strip it. I will take the fenders off. I will take pictures. I will ask for opinions again. BUT! I will not give up just yet. I know its only a 318 car. But I dont see it like that.  Its a piece of history. And it might take me forever to restore. BUT! I will not give up just yet.

[skip68]

    Right on! strip that bad boy down.   

[Wolfie12B]

Got her home the other day. Havent started stripping because at the moment shes sitting outside under a tarp... Working on getting a place to put her thats in doors. I will post pics of progress later.

[Patronus]

I like to start from the inside out. So floor and trunk, then the main body and roof, and finally the bolt on body pieces. $600 is pretty cheap, I'd probably buy it all day for that. I think it needs a bi-wing and nosecone. 

http://www.71wingcars.com/page.aspx?id=1

[Wolfie12B]

Got a friend who does body work for a living. I supply the stuff it needs. Hes gonna do it free. So I got the quarters covered. Im going to look at an 318 and 727 soon. Im redoing the brakes on my 8.25. Then im going to see if itll fit. I was reading of using a Dakota axle for a Charger. As far as i know the Charger and Dakota axles can be swapped. So im gonna see what happens sometime soon. When its not super cold.

To start im taking the trunk lid off and figuring out why it doesnt close. I did alittle bit of taking apart the interior. It needs a new set of seats. The front bench is crap. Not saveable. The rear seat im not sure about. I might have a set of buckets for the front. I just need to see if they will bolt in.

[billfury]

Go to Costco and buy the big box of Ziploc bags. Buy a bunch of sharpies and bag & tag everything. Make a list of what you have and another list of what you need. Try to use one of those notebooks that the pages don't fall out. Check out all venders for the parts you need to get the cheapest price. The forum sometimes has discounts that will save you some money you just need a code. Good luck and have some fun.