68 Charger R/T restore or sell?

[dlinson]

Hello everyone.  I'm new to this board but I want to ask some Dodge guys for their opinions on the 68 Charger R/T I got from my brother.  I got the Charger from my brother with plans on gutting it and creating a Pro-touring style Charger and design a new custom front and rear suspension, mini-tub it, custom interior, etc.  I've got a 62 Chevy II that I finished a few years ago and now I'd like to start on this. 

After talking to a few local Dodge guys, they were sure that I had an R/T Charger since it was a 440 4spd car.  My brother told me that it was not the original 440 in it but it did have a 440 in it from the factory.  After several Dodge guys bustin' my chops about making it a pro-touring car, I finally looked up the vin code. 

It is a 68 Charger R/T with the 440, 4 barrel, 4 speed, with a medium blue metallic paint and white interior.

My dilemma,  is it worth restoring back to an original?  I don't care for the colors of the original car.  Will it hurt the value if I went to a different factory color scheme?  I'm not a factory stock kind of car guy so my plan is to restore it and sell it and use the money to put into another car that I can be creative with. 

As the car sits, the body work looks pretty good except for the hood.  It has been garaged for the past 20+ years.  The engine has been rebuilt already slightly more cam and compression that stock.  The interior is all there but needs new to be restored.  The owner before my brother started the project, lost intrest and sold it to my brother.  My brother lost interst and now I have it.

I know this would be better with pictures but I don't have any at the moment.  I'll be moving the car to a new storage spot soon so I'll take pictures then.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Dennis

[Charger-Bodie]

You would most likely be better off to sell it in its current condition and then buy a 318 car or similar to use as a basis for your build. IMHO 

[Troy]

Yep, it starts to get pretty rare when you add in the 4-speed - even without the original motor. That's definitely not a car that I would make any irreversible (or hard to reverse) changes. I have one similar to it. Oh, and if the rear wheel wells are solid then please, please, do not hack them out to install mini tubs. You can fit 325s in the stock wheel wells and very few cars remain that solid.

I have a similar car but mine is bright blue. I think a color change would slightly hurt the value of the car (possibly not if you go with red or black). I personally like the combination. I'd say change the color if you're going to keep it but make it original if you're going to do a real restoration (not just a cheap clean and spray).

Troy

[The70RT]

If you were to restore it then sell you would be better off restoring it to it's original glory......you don't like blue & white combo?.....just don't turn it into a GL!

[Belgium R/T -68]

Is it possible to restore to sell with a profit? I will not have my money back for sure.

Per

[nvrbdn]

If you were to restore it then sell you would be better off restoring it to it's original glory......you don't like blue & white combo?.....just don't turn it into a GL!

not much money making in a resto and sell. i agree to sell the project car to a collector and use the money to get one that will work toward what you want. let a collector invest the money to save her while your time and efforts are directed toward your passion. 

[bull]

You would most likely be better off to sell it in its current condition and then buy a 318 car or similar to use as a basis for your build. IMHO  

Please do not hack it up! And thanks for asking. Too many guys would have started carving on it already.

I'm not well-versed on the pro-touring stuff but what does a mini tub have to do with touring? I thought mini tubs were for drag racing.

[TeeWJay426]

That definitely sounds like one that should be done as close to factory as possible- certainly NOT done up as a pro touring car. You'd probably have pretty good luck selling it as is right here- a lot of guys on this board would love to have that one as a project starting point!

[Long Island RT]

I'll go just a little against the grain here...
It's your car now - do what you want to it.  Especially if you plan on keeping it - You'll always be like "I should have... I wish I.... ".

My advice:
Sounds like your looking at it to make money - If that is the case just sell it now the way it is - no matter what you do to it at this point - you will not get that money back in a sale.
If you like and want to keep it - see above.

[Darkman]

I'll go just a little against the grain here...
It's your car now - do what you want to it.  Especially if you plan on keeping it - You'll always be like "I should have... I wish I.... ".

My advice:
Sounds like your looking at it to make money - If that is the case just sell it now the way it is - no matter what you do to it at this point - you will not get that money back in a sale.
If you like and want to keep it - see above.

You will never get back the money you put into it. Either sell it now as is or keep it and hack it up. It seems to me that you have already made up your mind to get rid of it.

[tan top]

if it were mine , would never consider  anything but !! looking  stock  or as close to  ,

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Is it possible to restore to sell with a profit? I will not have my money back for sure.

Per

Probably not.  I agree with those here who are saying that you'd probably be better off selling it as is, and then putting the money towards a solid, but non-rare, shell.  Use what's left over for your giant wheels and other "pro-touring" ...um... stuff.

[dlinson]

Thanks for the advice guys. 

I don't think I'd have too much in it to restore it.  It looks to be a rust free car. It's in storage right now, I'll be bringing it back to my house next month after the SEMA show.  The car was in primer when my brother got it 20+ years ago so I don't know about what's under the primer.  My brother stripped the underside and painted it a high gloss black enamel.  From what I've heard from others, that is wrong for an original and it should be primer with overspray from the body.

When it comes to restoring the car, I can do just about all of the restoration myself except for the paint.  It needs a new hood and wheels but the rest is all there in boxes.  I haven't inventoried everything yet but my brother took most of the car appart. 

My 12 year old has been telling everyone it is his Charger and he get when he turns 16.  I don't think so.

I'd prefer to build another Pro-touring car.  My Nova is and I have been taking it to competitions like Optima Batteries Face-off at Road America.  I also got invited to bring the Nova to SEMA and compete in Optima's Ultimate Street Car Invitational after the show. 

Someone asked above about mini-tubing, it's to fit a 335 wide tire on the back and I'd put a set of 285's up front.  I also wanted to design an adjustable 3 link for the rear and a new front suspension with coil over's and better geometry.  All things I probably should not do to an RT Charger with a 4 speed.

I'll take some picks of the car when I bring it home and post them up to bet give you a better idea of the condition of the Charger.

Attached is a picture of the type of build the Nova is and kind of what I'm wanting to do with a Charger.

Dennis

[Dans 68]

Great decision!    We're looking forward to pics and details. 

Dan

[Mike DC]

 

It is a 68 Charger R/T with the 440, 4 barrel, 4 speed, with a medium blue metallic paint and white interior.

It looks to be a rust free car.

Don't hack it up for any reason.  Period.

   

[Bob T]

Hi Dennis,
You sound like quite a reasonable guy and also like a guy thats been around car scene mods for a while.
Be they  SS's Chevy's or GT500's or GSX's the rarer Charger R/Ts that are not basket cases as starter projects are just too rare and hard to find to justify cutting up and modding into a Prostreet project.
It is very unlikely to see even at a guess 65-70% of your costs back because as  anyone will tell you, original unmolested cars or rebuilt cars will hold their value with an enthuisast where the highly modded car has an appeal to only a small section of the intended sale market.

I really agree with the others in saying that sell this one as it is and buy a 318 car to build the weapon out of. And likely it will cost you less to get to the same build stage with a base model car after factoring in the return of the sale price of the R/T in

Cheers Bob T