charger value

[deathcharger71]

im just wondering what my charger will be worth in about a year or so when its time to move out of los angeles, and that will require a freeway friendly vehicle 
vin:WH23GG1G223730
1971 charger....s.e. i believe. originally came with 318, 904 tranny, 8 1/4 rear end, column shift
i now have a 360 rated at 400 h.p. new brakes all around, new master cylinder, lots of suspension replaced, all shocks new, new power steering pump, new 2.5 inch dual exhaust with older headers and new piping all the way back with cut outs and spin tech mufflers
within the next month 727 tranny, same rear end rebuilt with 4.10 gears and a trak lock, interior looks very good all black with original bucket seats...back seat is not great but everyone who sees it says it looks great, no tears al all. has black paint that looks good from far but is far from good, just has no clear coat so i need to wax it a lot and it is starting to fade some. no body rust on the outside, some rust by the feet and a little in the trunk. no bondo or anything on the body, did the magnet test, magnet stuck to every square inch of the car and i looked from the inside of the panels and it has never been worked on. was a texas car and is now a california car so no much in the way of rust happening. has hide-away lights, krager mags from the 70's that are in great condition, 8 inch tires up front 12 inch in the back. car is all black in and out.

I know ill never get what i put into it back, im pretty much just curious, im sure after all ive put into it the answers im gonna get will make me cry lol but hey, your only young once! hoping to get enough out of it to buy a 1998 5.9 grand cherokee for when i move out to whatever forest i can become a firefighter at...taking classes, emt, academy here in so cal. my life revolves around the outdoors and snowboarding so to me crappy pay in mammoth is better then 100,00 a year in los angeles! feel free to tell me exactly what you think, all thoughts are more than welcome 

[ChargerBill]

I'll tell you if you can tell me how much gas will cost next year, who will win the 2006 World Series and the winning lotto numbers for tomorrow nights Super Lotto. Otherwise, I'm as in the dark on this as you are...that's probably why you haven't got any responses yet. What did you pay for it? How much you put into it? Any pics?

[triple_green]

pictures?

[deathcharger71]

i paid 6 grand for it and have lost track of how much ive put into it...engine 4 grand, brakes 600, radiator 400, tranny-rear end 1200, not to mention labor on the stuff i couldnt do myself. i dont know how to post pics but ill try.......

[ChargerBill]

It looks like a nice car. I'm not totally dialed in on 3rd Gen values, but with that flawless paint and 400 under the hood, and if the rest of the car is clean and functional you should be able to get somewhere around the mid teen$ for it IMO.

[deathcharger71]

like i said...paint looks good from far but is far from good lol. basically it was a great paint job that never got a clear coat and after i was gone for a month with no washing or waxing it went to crap. after a good cleaner wax and polish it looks good, but im really anal about that kind of stuff so its not really good enough for me. im thinking ill either get that paint taken off and get a black primer for a while or just throw on a clear coat....it is in good condition but its not perfect. im hoping ill get 10-11 grand for it, like i said enough to set me up with a nice 1998 5.9 grand cherokee. and who knows in the next 1 to 2 years i could make this charger a little more perfect. im hoping i can earn enough money to keep it and still buy the jeep, ill have two 5.9's that way hehe. one running low 13's one running high 14's  and a 400 dollar gas bill every month haha. one thing ive noticed is this is the ONLY charger ive seen so far in my area, so that should help for when i finally sell it.

[deathcharger71]

and i would like advise on one thing, now that you all can see the car. i was thinking of painting the grill black and leaving the bumper chrome...anybody think this will look as good is i think it will?

[ChargerBill]

With marginal paint 10K to 11K sounds about right...I was thinking the paint was as perfect as it look. IMO though, I wouldn't strip it down to primer if you're going to sell it. Let the buyer see the paint atht's on it, because even if it's marginal, it will look better than primer would.

As far as the grille going black..is the chrome bad? If the chrome is bad, maybe... if the chrome is decent or good, I'd leave it alone....I think it looks good the way you have it, but that's just my opinion.

[twilt]

i looked thru completed auctions on ebay for 71 chargers that have sold. based on that ,in my opinion.... i`d have to say that 10-11k might  be rather optimistic for your car.  the real reason being.... that it is what it is.... an original 318/bench/column car that has been tastefully modified. for the most part, there are few 3rd gen Chargers fetching 5 digits. The ones that are, are in most cases 71 R/T`s, 71 superbees, and BB 72 Rallyes. other exceptions might include  BB 4 speeds. also, much of the money that you have stated to have  in the car really isnt particularly value enhacing, just basic maintenance/upkeep  items.  i can only speak for myself, but if i had 10k laying around to sink into another 3rd Gen, i`d be putting it into something a little rarer/collectable/more desirable such as a 71 R/T or Supebee even if it was a lesser condition car. please dont take offense to any of that, its by no means in any way a put down of your car. its a great lookin car.   

[deathcharger71]

i take no offense at all, i know a 68 or 69 is much more valuable of a car. im just curious to what everyone thinks. i drive the charger becuase i love it, not to make money off of it  every once in a while when i start to miss the jeep i just drive around town for a couple minutes and look at everyones face as i drive by haha cheers me right up!