Good intentions...1966 383 4bbl 4-Speed Charger

[FastbackJon]

What can happen when you sell a car to the wrong person...

First picture.... taken by me in 2003 when I was 18. I found a '66 Charger 383 4bbl 4 speed in town, no engine. Didn't offer to buy it as I had four other '66-'67 Chargers at the time I was working on.

Few years go by and the car ends up owned by a friend in a nearby town. He puts it up for sale. Doesn't look too bad. Original paint car. Second couple pictures from 2005.

Now it's 2013/2014, 10 years later. I see a local Craigslist ad "1966 Charger auto parts". I call to see what's up and it turns out another guy had bought the car and started tearing it apart, used paint stripper on the body, couldn't afford to restore it so he was parting it out. He had sold off the seats and the center console (and apparently parts of the grille and the trunk medallion) and let someone cut out the 4-speed hump, and then said everything left wasn't worth much so he was "going to junk it out now" (I assumed send it with title to the local pick and pull lot.)

So I paid cash, got the title, and brought it home.

[polywideblock]

looks like some work ahead of you      nice "bluey " by the way   do you tire before it  does     

[TUFCAT]

Sad story. So are you parting it out?  I can't see it being a restoration candidate at this point...maybe to far gone?

[ITSA426]

First gen guys are a pretty dedicated group.  I've seen a lot worse brought back.  Jon if it fits into your plan go for it.  I know all the parts are out there.

[FastbackJon]

Yep a dedicated group is right (and we have Coronets and Belvederes as parts cars). This one is nowhere close to too far gone. Solid pretty much everywhere with only minimal rust around the driver's wheel well. The biggest thing it's missing that I don't have is front bucket seats. I think I have pretty much everything else, and he didn't actually sell off a lot of the valuable interior items like the dash cluster, steering wheel, radio, interior panels. The doors are laying in the car too.

In my mind a car that's too far gone is one where it's got a very large amount of rust in the body and frame or it's been in a fire or hit really bad. This one doesn't have any of that. Very solid.

As for the dog, you notice he's not docked either. The only time he gets tired before I do is when I hit the baseball for him and he chases it. We haven't told him about cricket and rugby yet. Very smart dog, takes to training well. I'd love to see what he could do with some sheep and cattle but we don't have any.

[FastbackJon]

I guess the point of this thread was that it just irks me that someone can take something nice, rare and valuable and devalue and deface it, then decide it's not worth anything except for the sum of a few of it's parts, then attempt to discard it. I noticed in the comparison pictures they even damaged the front bumper since the middle pictures in 2005.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I guess the point of this thread was that it just irks me that someone can take something nice, rare and valuable and devalue and deface it, then decide it's not worth anything except for the sum of a few of it's parts, then attempt to discard it. I noticed in the comparison pictures they even damaged the front bumper since the middle pictures in 2005.

I once got a call from a friend to check out a Corvette which was supposedly available for sale. Called the seller, set up a time to see it, and was shocked to find the car in a pile - literally in a PILE on a dolly. Now, so what, a Corvette, right? How about this car being one of only 58 factory Twin Turbo Corvettes built that year 

Anyways, all the good parts (including engine w/ turbos) were gone, and the guy still wanted $9k for the frame, hood, and cabin portion of the body. I think one of the doors was still good, too. It was destined for the junkyard, sans VIN. Dash plaque and VIN were still present, but even the frame crossmember which fed the turbos was gone  Sad, what some people do.

[Ghoste]

Now, so what, a Corvette, right?

You nailed part of the problem right there, people get these cars that aren't maybe their own area of interest and don't accord them the respect they would if it were.
It is sad isn't it?

[ITSA426]

Yeah it's just too bad you can't line up the right car with the right owner.  There wouldn't be so many of those cars someone is going to restore someday.  Good intentions get smacked by financial reality, skill level or ambition.  Looks like a good project though.  Makes me want to get to work on my next project; which would be too far gone if it was a more common version of the same car.

[JB400]

It's a shame the guy that bought it and stripped it, didn't do his homework.  Not everyone can wave a magic wand and make that jalopy a beauty.  There's actually a lot of work involved. Most people just don't understand how involved it is

Hats off to you for rescuing it .

[TUFCAT]

I guess the point of this thread was that it just irks me that someone can take something nice, rare and valuable and devalue and deface it...

   That's the part that of these stories that always pisses me off as well. 

[69rtse4spd]

Nice save, if you need a set of buckets for it let me know. Got  66 Coronet roller I need to get rid of, either whole or part out, to many projects.

[RallyeMike]

Unfortunately a lot of cars are given up on after tear down. Lucky you saved it.

[ws23rt]

It is a shame when a car with such good potential degrades and falls to the side however it happens.  Wrecks and poor storage are the other two of the most common.

These are the ways our cars age. Not unlike we do

The up side is the cars that are left generally increase in value because of this.  We however not so much  

Our kids can play with our leftover toys and if they were plentiful it would be less fun.

[tan top]

good stuff FBJ    looking forward to seeing progress pictures & stuff  

I guess the point of this thread was that it just irks me that someone can take something nice, rare and valuable and devalue and deface it...

  That's the part that of these stories that always pisses me off as well.  

yeah me too , I can appreciate not every one is lucky enough to have the skills to to a nut & bolt resto  or ....   no offence meant  to any one  , but you see the projects on ebay etc that someone has started & made it worse ,  not good !

[FastbackJon]

Pictures... first one from early September, last few from late September. Mostly just sanding the partially chemically stripped paint down to bare metal then using zinc-rich primer on it.

I also got the parts out of the car and noticed that in addition to cutting out the floor around the 4-speed hump, they also took the rear cargo shelf (behind the rear seats) and also cut out all the mounting brackets for the center console.



Check out the "Charlie Daniels Band" and "NUSBAUM AUTO SALES" bumper stickers.

[HANDM]

I fail to see why anyone wanting a four speed hump could happily hack up a 66 Charger for it..... sad really

[FastbackJon]

I fail to see why anyone wanting a four speed hump could happily hack up a 66 Charger for it..... sad really

The guy who did the cutting and who took all the seats and console and parcel shelf called me wanting to sell me the rear seats. He said he put the front seats and console into a 1960 Dodge station wagon. The back seats required too much engineering so he was going to find another set of front bucket seats to put in the back of his wagon...

I asked him about cutting out the floor pan for the hump because you can just go buy a 4-speed hump new, and he said (speaking of the guy I bought the car from)... "not for the price he sold it to me for".

Still all around... 

[ITSA426]

I see red and black interior parts.  I assume it's supposed to be red.  What color is the exterior supposed to be?  Good potential.  Easier than my next project.

[Homerr]

Glad this is getting saved.  I watched that seller spamming CL with his ads hoping someone in the DC community would grab it.   

[Ghoste]

Check out the "Charlie Daniels Band" and "NUSBAUM AUTO SALES" bumper stickers.

And the trailer hitch.

[hemi-hampton]

Whoever bought this car, then cut it up to be a parts car is a total IDIOT

[myk]

I guess the point of this thread was that it just irks me that someone can take something nice, rare and valuable and devalue and deface it, then decide it's not worth anything except for the sum of a few of it's parts, then attempt to discard it. I noticed in the comparison pictures they even damaged the front bumper since the middle pictures in 2005.

Agreed.  Good intentions and ambition should have an acccompanying prescription of logic and forethought also.  A little bit of that may have kept this car from becoming a derelict in the first place.  Kudos to you for taking this on.  I agree, the car doesn't look too bad off at all.  Personally, it would be even easier to bring back because I would tastefully install aftermarket bits anyway.  Keep us updated...

[FastbackJon]

I see red and black interior parts.  I assume it's supposed to be red.  What color is the exterior supposed to be?  Good potential.  Easier than my next project.

Interior parts were painted over. Original interior was P4W white. The exterior was QQ1 which is the darker red. Nice color combo.

[Homerr]

FastbackJon, are you giving up already?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4713549924.html