1970 Charger R/T- What do you guys think?

[JR]

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The entire point of the question is "is this car a good restoration candidate considering the purchase price?'

Not "would YOU restore this car?".

If you don't want to go through restoring a vehicle, that is totally fine and understandable.

But, it's also completely and totally irrelevant.

[INTMD8]

Yeah, it's easy for people to say "just go spend 40-50 grand and be done with it." But no one is taking into account someone just wants to restore a car themselves. What would this forum be if everyone bought finished cars and no one bought a project they've always wanted? I think the 12-15 k range is max for that car if thats the one you really had your heart set on. I also don't like the P.O.S. label some guys like to put on every car thats not a rust free example. Bottom line is buy it for what you think it's worth to you, put the dollars that you feel it's worth into it to get the car you want, but don't expect anyone else to pay you for what you think it's worth at the end of your journey.

I agree. When I bought my 68 many here said, oh great you bought someone else's hard work. Had I bought a project they would have said why did you waste your money on that heap when you could have just bought a restored car 

[chargervert]

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The entire point of the question is "is this car a good restoration candidate considering the purchase price?'

Not "would YOU restore this car?".

If you don't want to go through restoring a vehicle, that is totally fine and understandable.

But, it's also completely and totally irrelevant.

The seller is very optomistic on his asking prices,but the whole second generation Charger market is crazy right now.  I believe that the green matching numbers car is worth 15k,but in this market,it would probably bring 20k,the other car is probably worth 12k,but it will probably bring 15k.

[RallyeMike]

He's a dealer so he's going to ask top dollar. Maybe somebody bites... maybe not. There are better deals out there from private sellers if you can be patient.

[darbgnik]

Some people take great pride in a Charger that they restored themselves. Personally,I never drove one that I didn't build. I am glad to see more Chargers being saved,and that the parts are available to save them. Not all reproduction sheetmetal is junk or poor fitting. I have been building these cars since the late seventies,and I have run the gammit on Charger sheetmetal. I lived the days when there was not a single piece of reproduction tin for these cars. I remember when the only way to build a Charger in the rustbelt was to part out three or four cars to build one good one. While it may not be perfect,the AMD parts are a giant leap from the days when I made hand formed trunk, floor pans and lower quarter panel sections out of flat sheetmetal. I remember when I bought the first hand fabed Sherman lower half rear quarter repair panels when they first came out in the early eighties,and we were extatic that they finally offered some sheetmetal for us. The hobby has come a long way,and having fit everything from those crude Sherman panels to new AMD panels,to NOS sheetmetal,I can tell you they all needed work beyond just dropping them on to fit and look properly. I personally test fitted a bunch parts for AMD,and they have gone to great lengths tooling and retooling parts sometimes as many as 15 times on a single part to achieve the best possible fitment. The parts can only be as good as the parts they are tooled from.and most of us Mopar guys hoard their NOS parts like they are made of gold. I offered what I had for templating,as did some of my friends,so that is why some of the parts fit so well,and others not so much. So when you 70 Charger guys bolt up your new front valence pans from AMD and they fit perfect right out of the box,you can rest assured that I had your backs,by offering up my NOS valence pan for templating,and test fitting it on several 70 Chargers. I am glad that we have reached the point where almost any Charger can be saved.

Wow, if you read my build thread in my signature, you'd see that front valence you contributed to, was my last piece of metal bought for my resto. It wasn't even available when  the car was started.

Thanks for your help!! 

[DAY CLONA]

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The entire point of the question is "is this car a good restoration candidate considering the purchase price?'

If you have the coin, the time, the skills, the shop/equipment, and can do it in a timely manner (months not years) sure, but if your living the fantasy hoping to restore a Charger like either of these on a Champlain taste/beer pocket money budget on the weekends, with minimal skill sets, little to no equipment, a one car garage, a wifegod and rugrats and work as the stock boy at the GAP in the local mall, then no....

[chargervert]

Some people take great pride in a Charger that they restored themselves. Personally,I never drove one that I didn't build. I am glad to see more Chargers being saved,and that the parts are available to save them. Not all reproduction sheetmetal is junk or poor fitting. I have been building these cars since the late seventies,and I have run the gammit on Charger sheetmetal. I lived the days when there was not a single piece of reproduction tin for these cars. I remember when the only way to build a Charger in the rustbelt was to part out three or four cars to build one good one. While it may not be perfect,the AMD parts are a giant leap from the days when I made hand formed trunk, floor pans and lower quarter panel sections out of flat sheetmetal. I remember when I bought the first hand fabed Sherman lower half rear quarter repair panels when they first came out in the early eighties,and we were extatic that they finally offered some sheetmetal for us. The hobby has come a long way,and having fit everything from those crude Sherman panels to new AMD panels,to NOS sheetmetal,I can tell you they all needed work beyond just dropping them on to fit and look properly. I personally test fitted a bunch parts for AMD,and they have gone to great lengths tooling and retooling parts sometimes as many as 15 times on a single part to achieve the best possible fitment. The parts can only be as good as the parts they are tooled from.and most of us Mopar guys hoard their NOS parts like they are made of gold. I offered what I had for templating,as did some of my friends,so that is why some of the parts fit so well,and others not so much. So when you 70 Charger guys bolt up your new front valence pans from AMD and they fit perfect right out of the box,you can rest assured that I had your backs,by offering up my NOS valence pan for templating,and test fitting it on several 70 Chargers. I am glad that we have reached the point where almost any Charger can be saved.

Wow, if you read my build thread in my signature, you'd see that front valence you contributed to, was my last piece of metal bought for my resto. It wasn't even available when  the car was started.

Thanks for your help!! 

You're welcome.were you happy with the way the part fit? I want to see the best parts available for us Charger restorers. If more people would offer up parts to be templated,the results would be better on what's out there. AMD has really stepped up for us Mopar guys.

[hemi-hampton]

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The entire point of the question is "is this car a good restoration candidate considering the purchase price?'

Not "would YOU restore this car?".

If you don't want to go through restoring a vehicle, that is totally fine and understandable.

But, it's also completely and totally irrelevant.

Then the Answer is NO.

[Challenger340]

Some of you guys are missing the point.

The entire point of the question is "is this car a good restoration candidate considering the purchase price?'

Not "would YOU restore this car?".

If you don't want to go through restoring a vehicle, that is totally fine and understandable.

But, it's also completely and totally irrelevant.

Relevance is merely to sober second thought offered in financial perspective ?

BOTH candidates are absolutely restorable candidates, NO question !
But IMO,
and supported from experience by many, that "restoring" is a far greater financial undertaking versus just buying one done, and often overlooked if it is one's first restoration ?
and financial perspective only offered,
given....
there was some rationale offered that "can NOT afford to buy one already done" ?

My apologies here, NO slag intended on anyone,
but on at least some level that's like saying I can't afford to go out and BUY a turn key $60K House that is fine to move into and I CAN LIVE IN .....
so,
I will BUY the $20K House that I CAN afford.... but the Roof leaks, the Plumbing & Wiring needs replaced, the Walls and Flooring are rotten... needs Bathroom & Kitchen reno, the Furnace is MISSING and I can NOT live in it until I spend another $90K in renovations doing all the work myself over the next 10 years ?
Forgive me....  or anyone else for suggesting... that depending upon your skillsets/resources ? you may potentially be better off staying homeless until you can afford the turn key $60K House ?

Just say'in here....
if you can NOT afford to buy one done, there is merit in suggesting that you can probably NOT afford to "restore" one ?

[timmycharger]

"Just say'in here....
if you can NOT afford to buy one done, there is merit in suggesting that you can probably NOT afford to "restore" one ?"


Not sure you can compare the two.  A Charger is a luxury item for most people vs. a need for transportation.  You could compare if you were buying a second home for pleasure and took your time to restore it w/o the need to live in it right away.  

There was no way I could afford the 30-40K that it took to build my Charger on a lump sum payment. It took me 20 years to build it and that money was spread out over time.  

[darbgnik]

You're welcome.were you happy with the way the part fit? I want to see the best parts available for us Charger restorers. If more people would offer up parts to be templated,the results would be better on what's out there. AMD has really stepped up for us Mopar guys.

Yeah the valence fits great, up to two factory fenders. Although I didn't do the fitting, the body shop didn't say they had to do any work to it.
It's good to hear they test fit on multiple car to verify.

Surprised they are interested in making the valence, and front bumper for a 70, but still not the fenders or hood......

[darbgnik]

I think it's worth noting, that there is more than one buyer for a restoration candidate.

I could have bought a Charger done already, and be well ahead on costs. But I knew that going in. I strictly bought this car as a Mechano set. In that regard, this car will never be finished. Sure, it's shiny, and it drives, but the list never ends. And I am in no hurry to finish it. I pick at the car when I have the time or desire, then I let it sit when I don't. I have nice cars to drive, and while I do enjoy driving this Charger, it is not the primary reason I bought it. If it were finished, I'd probably sell it.

I also hired out all the body work and paint. And while buying one painted and done would have been cheaper, there still would have been mysteries, as to what was done correctly. At least with my money in the drivers seat, it was finished the way I wanted. I didn't pay to have every body line narrowed to 1/8 of an inch, but I did pay to ensure no rust was going to bubble up through the paint in a few years......

[VegasCharger]

.....a wifegod

Never heard that term "Wifegod".

Now that's funny. 

[chargervert]

You're welcome.were you happy with the way the part fit? I want to see the best parts available for us Charger restorers. If more people would offer up parts to be templated,the results would be better on what's out there. AMD has really stepped up for us Mopar guys.

Yeah the valence fits great, up to two factory fenders. Although I didn't do the fitting, the body shop didn't say they had to do any work to it.
It's good to hear they test fit on multiple car to verify

Surprised they are interested in making the valence,and front bumper for a 70,bit still not the fenders or hood..... (qoute)

I did the test fitting on several of my 70 Chargers. AMD wasn't really interested in doing the 70 front valence,but I told them I had an NOS one,and offered to loan it to them if they would consider making them,they took me up on my offer. I also offered to let them borrow a pair of NOS Challenger convertible rear quarter panels,they declined my offer,saying that there wasn't enough cars made to justify tooling them up. As for the 70 Charger fenders and hood,they tooled up the 68/69 fenders and hood,because other than the marker light and one bracket on the fenders,the fenders and hood covered two model years,the 70 stuff is one year only,and had half the production numbers of the two previous model years,so once again the tooling costs verses the projected sales of the parts,is what is keeping them out if production.

[JimmyDean]

 Based on my purchase this past year, I would agree this is priced too high. I purchased a 69 R/T four speed that had new quarters, new floor, and new trunk installed. It has new glass, a non numbers matching built 440 out of another 69 charger. The previous owner told me he had about 40K into the car and I paid him $26,500 for it. I know I am still going to dump abouther 50k into it and cant imagine paying what I did for that 70 that still needs everything my car already has.

[chargervert]

It sounds like you got a good deal on the car you bought, most sellers in this sellers market, are not going to take a 15k hit on a Charger. But the guy who sold you your car,was probably in the spot that some people doing restorations get into, he had to either pony up the cash to finish the car,or take the hit by selling it unfinished.  You still did well on your buy in,that car should have brought atleast 30k in this market.

[JimmyDean]

It sounds like you got a good deal on the car you bought, most sellers in this sellers market, are not going to take a 15k hit on a Charger. But the guy who sold you your car,was probably in the spot that some people doing restorations get into, he had to either pony up the cash to finish the car,or take the hit by selling it unfinished.  You still did well on your buy in,that car should have brought atleast 30k in this market.

His original asking price was 32k

[chargervert]

You did well congratulations on your new project!

[hemi-hampton]

Based on my purchase this past year, I would agree this is priced too high. I purchased a 69 R/T four speed that had new quarters, new floor, and new trunk installed. It has new glass, a non numbers matching built 440 out of another 69 charger. The previous owner told me he had about 40K into the car and I paid him $26,500 for it. I know I am still going to dump abouther 50k into it and cant imagine paying what I did for that 70 that still needs everything my car already has.

Did it come with a new Paint job or in Primer? LEON.

[JimmyDean]

Based on my purchase this past year, I would agree this is priced too high. I purchased a 69 R/T four speed that had new quarters, new floor, and new trunk installed. It has new glass, a non numbers matching built 440 out of another 69 charger. The previous owner told me he had about 40K into the car and I paid him $26,500 for it. I know I am still going to dump abouther 50k into it and cant imagine paying what I did for that 70 that still needs everything my car already has.

Did it come with a new Paint job or in Primer? LEON.

Just primer.

[tan top]

It looks like he cornered the market on Green 70 Charger R/T project cars!

yep think your right   XS29U0G141298  nother Green R/T that's 3  



https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Dodge-Charger-R-T-440-Numbers-Matching-Project/254217391880?hash=item3b30898f08:g:yIcAAOSwo6hcyed9&vxp=mtr

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[chargervert]

I repeat my previous statement about this guy cornering the market on green 70 Charger R / T project cars!  He has a green 68 Charger project car for sale too. They are all going to look great when they are restored in Plum Crazy Purple!