Charger Convertible...am I sick????

[kab69440]

The thought of a removeable hard top keeps crossing my mind. With a set of sub-ties, and frame boxes from Harm's, I think it would work. Should be solid as a rock when all is said and done. I really want T-tops, though...

[Andrew]

i wouldnt do it, charger 'verts look awful with the top up

[jaak]

Its funny, one night a few weeks ago I took a general lee picture off ebay and removed the general's badging, painted on some steelies with dog dish caps and took the roof off...just to get an idea of what it would look like... i saved the pic.. here goes..

[bull]

I've never liked the look of 2nd gen convertibles. It makes them look about 8 feet longer than they are. A little too Boss Hogg looking to me.

[CB]

I agree, you'll loose those typical lines by cutting 'er up.
But it is your car and you decide how far you wanna go. 
Just my

Good luck

[6pkrunner]

Hey - do what you want, its your car. But remember that you will narrow its market appeal significantly if you get into financial trouble and have to sell off assets. The market for a homemade ragtop is very small compared to that for regular cars.
The one off Daytonas and Superbirds where neat the first time viewed, but a little goes a long way.
However the orange 1970 Charger is a very slick piece.

[Lowprofile]

If thats what you really want, go for it! Its your ride....you gotta drive it! Might as well be something you like!  Good luck!

[chargervert]

Hi,I'm Pete,and I did the orange 70 Charger convertible.I thought I had come up with an original idea when I saw a Coronet,that had a Charger nose,and Doors on it,in 1984.I thought that if the nose and doors were a complete bolt on, that the same concept could be applied to a convertible,and the rear clip of a Charger could be grafted on to the vert shell.So I bought a 70 Charger parts car and cut the rear clip off it,in 1985. The search for a donor convertible body began.I didn't want to cut up a good convert,I wanted one that was solid underneath,but needed all the sheetmetal.I went to the Papas Dodge show in 1987,and it was there that I first saw Peter Veights sublime green Daytona convertible,done exactly as I had envisioned doing mine! Not only did he have the same idea,but he had already constructed it! His workmanship was awsome! Needless to say,after I told him that I was building one too,he wasn't real enthused about it! But after talking to him, He was helpful,and answered my questions about what would be the best way to go about building the car! Petes a great guy who has a beautiful Daytona,and that sweet white Hemi Superbird! He told me that the Daytona vert is his daily driver!!!! I have seen about 4 Charger convertibles done,two of them are done as Daytonas,one was a Charger to begin with,and the top dosent fit right,and the gut put lexan windows in cut at an angle to compensate for the two inch difference in windshield height,from a Charger to a convertible! I think you are better off starting with a car that was a convertible to begin with,not only will the top fit and function proplely,but they have all the braces,gussets,torque boxes,and internal rocker box support beams,that Chrysler engineered into the convertibles construction! The other Charger convertible was a removible hard top version,it was kinda of a hack job,not to badmouth someones work,but it was crude.The Charger convertible is a really fun car! You won't be sorry if you build one. Its easier to start with a Satelite,than a Coronet,but either will work! The car baffles a lot of people,some people even think it came that way from the factory! I even had a guy tell me he had one brand new! That would have saved me a lot of welding! Good luck with your projects!!! Pete

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Welcome to the site Pete

I always get a kick when Pete "V-Eight" says the 'vert Hemi Daytona is his "beater".

Post some more pics of your car will ya?

[chargervert]

Hey 6T9, Thanks for the welcome! My computer is a little screwed up from my daughter down loading music,so I am having trouble with posting pics! I will ask Gary(aka G Series) to post some for me, on this thread. Thanks Pete

[ChargerSG]

I think that Charger convertible dosent look that good, it destroy their look in my opion....

[chargervert]

Everyone is entitled to there opinion,I have four Charger hardtops,and I didn't go hacking the roof of a Charger! I took an old rusted Satelite convert,and made a really cool cruiser out of it! 99% of the people who have seen the car,love it! I belive if Chrysler would have built Charger convertibles,that they would have shared the same construction as all of the other B body converts did. I also belive if they had built them,that they would be highly sought after like all of the Mopar musclecar ragtops are! Thats just my opinion.

[Brock Samson]

personally (and I concidered it too) I'd have a triple black '69 GTX convert. if I went topless..

[chargervert]

I did breifly consider doing a Road Runner vert clone out of the car,but the entire rear clip of the car needed to be replaced,so I decided if I was going to have to change the whole rear clip,that I might as well go ahead and do the Charger,and have something really different! After we did the Charger convertible,our dare to be different approach(which is not usually accepted to well in the Mopar circle) we decided to push the envelope,and the 71 wingcar prototypes that my friends constructed,became a reality!And a replica of the missing 70 Daytona(the watermelon)was our next project! I belive that these one off cars are helping to keep the Mopar hobby interesting! The one thing that makes these projects more Mopar influenced,is the fact that all of these cars that we built were seriously considered for production by Chrysler during the muscle car era! The watermelon Daytona was constructed and photographed by Chrysler in late 1969! I know it is not known if the car was built in house or not,but it was definately photographed at Hamtrack assembly plant! My convertible Charger was the car that got us started on this track,and the one off cars just keep coming! It has been a blast watching all these cars go from photos to finished cars!

[Ghoste]

Well, I agree that you folks are keeping the hobby interesting and you have built some very high quality pieces.  I'm not crazy about convertible Chargers personally but only because the Charger roofline is one thing I really like about it across the all of the first three generations.   I guess, as I said earlier, I'm not a huge fan of B-body verts in general but that's just me.
I do have to repeat though, the job you guys have done on all your cars but in this case the Charger vert (I forget where I saw it, likely Columbus) is nothing but perfect.

[rollingthunder]

Me and a friend was talking the other day about  what to do with a rusted out 70 ply. satellite vert. top down stored outside for 10 years before he bought it. thinling about making a vert. 68 charger out of it. Me for one likes the looks of a vert. charger with the top down.

[Charger_Fan]

What's the emblem on the passenger door?

[DC_1]

I don't think it is a emblem

[Charger_Fan]

I don't think it is a emblem

Bird poop then? You know, the strafing-run kind of birds.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Its easier to start with a Satelite,than a Coronet,but either will work!

Pete, Why is the Satellite body better for this conversion than the coronet?

[Brock Samson]

it kills me how they went to all the trouble to make that '68 a convertable and then put the emblem on the rear so freakin mis-alaigned 
IMHO it would'da looked a whole lot better in B-5 blue..

[mustanghater]

I don't know.   Might as well paint them orange and put a flag on the roof and 01 on the door and take them ditch jumping.

and you would put the flag on what roof?!?!?!

I was thinking the same thing.

you can stich it to the top

[1958300]

I hate to muddy the already muddy water, but I just can't help myself. Has anyone ever seen a 3rd gen charger convertible? I have played with some computer graphics, and the result is stunning (you can take that any way you want). Anybody know if this has been tried?

[Brock Samson]

I' d sure like to see that!

can ya' post yur work!?.. 

W E L C O M E ! ! ! !   to the site BTW!.. 

[chargervert]

That 68 vert looks sweet,I have always loved Chargers in yellow!I like seeing more Charger converts around!The reason I said to use a Satelite over a Coronet,was because the Coronet trunk lid has body lines in it,that makes it not useable to graft the back half of the Charger lid to! I suppose if you had a Coronet you could always pick up a Satelite trunk lid,and bolt it on the Coronet!