I am at lost with what to do about my Charger...UPDATE

[DarkAngel0816]

First of all this is me for the past two weeks...

I have had people tell me to use this car as a parts car and try TRY to get my money back from it.   I have others say good luck you are going to pay thousands to get it fixed.   I have those telling me I am screwed.   And right now I feel like a plain dumb arse and I am so not knowing what to do.

Short story.   Saw this car on moparts.com for sale.   Went to see it.   Took a guy...end result I bought it.

Got it here...within the first three miles the U Joints went out and realized no brakes on this car.   Brought it to a shop (Had it towed mind you) with people I trust and asked them to go ahead and do a full inspection.   I have frame rot (Whatever it is called as I am told this car is a unibody) and have been told to get it fixed asap.   I have spent the last three weeks talking to shops all around the Indianapolis area and on Friday I am taking it to have a free estimate.   But I am being told by others who have classics that I am pretty much screwed.

Now mind you when I called the person who sold it to me he did send me back a grand, but I have been told I am looking at 6-10 grand to have it fixed as well due to I am not a welder and this is beyond me.

I cannot even look at this car right now without tearing up.   This was my dream to own one...and when I went past my year mark of battling cancer I thought what the heck...going to go ahead and do it for my 30th birthday.   And now I am scared to even drive it in fear I may hurt it more.

IF this is the wrong forum to post this I am sorry...new here...you all are so darn experienced and unlike me KNOW what you all are doing lol...I just need some advise...reinsurance...or a "Well you are screwed and learn from this one."   Which I doubt I will ever buy a classic again.  

What do you all think?     Should I call it a day on this car or should I rack up a credit card to get it fixed if it can be?   Anyone around the Indy area that want to take a peek at it?   lol

Thanks for anything you can tell me even if it is a smack in the head or a kick in the rear.

[Drache]

Put it this way...

I am sorry to hear what has happened with you and your Charger! Let me just tell you to put your trust in the men and women of this community... they are to be trusted with the life of your Charger. They will let you know the best course of action to take.

[DarkAngel0816]

Thanks.  I think I posted this on the old board, but then it went bye bye before I could read all the responses. 

[beenaround]

can you get some pictures up???

[DarkAngel0816]

I only have photos of the outside...none yet developed of the underneath, but if it all goes right when I get it to a garage on Friday I will be taking some.   The only digital camera I have is on my cell phone and I have no clue on how to transfer it to here.

I can say the shop told me that someone filled it and covered it with fiberglass and painted it over.  They scraped it off after realizing what was done so I could see it as well.  I have to admit...makes me sick to see it.  They told me they thought I could have someone sand it down to get rid of the rust and etc and buy those SAFE T CAPS, but I honestly do not know.

[Telvis]

Beenaround beat me to the punch! Some pictures would be helpful. This is definitely the place to find help. Unfortunately when you buy an old car you run the risk of rust and other issues. The good thing is that repair estimates can vary greatly. Don't lose hope. It might not be as bad or as expensive as you think.

[DarkAngel0816]

U know what?   I may go ahead and try to get some right now with it on the ground and get them developed tomorrow so I can upload it.   I just thought I would wait until I get it to the shop and get it lifted.  I think what makes me the most upset is the shop told me it was well "hidden".  I am just lucky the guy doing it knows Chargers somewhat as he worked on them long time ago...(sadly they do not do body work there or frame work) and he knew what to look for.

[Plumcrazy]

Cheer up.   First good sign, you did drive it.   There are people that bought cars that couldn't do that.
Like Beenaround and Telvis said, get some pictures up of the worse rust.
It might not be as bad as you think.

[Mefirst]

Sorry to hear about this.. The truth is that these are 30+ year old cars and you will encounter problems.. Though it sucks that the seller didnt tell you the truth about the condition of the car.. But dont loose hope yet, post the pics so we can see in what shape your ride is in, like already stated, it might not be that bad..

/Tom

[PlumBad70]

Yours probably doesn't look as bad as mine, and mine is at the body shop right now getting done, no one told me mine was a parts car...you have to go with your heart, to me your heart says keep strong and stay with you charger..heres a couple pics of my bucket..lol

[DarkAngel0816]

PlumBad...with yours at the body shop and is that the frame that has the rust on it?   Out of curiousity what kind of estimate did you get?   You can email me at DarkAngel0816@aol.com .   Mine does not look like that as far as the floor boards go.   It's rusty...they told me at the place that did the inspection that some spots of the frame is soft while other you can push your finger through.   And the worst is in the front end...and the engine I know is heavier-440 in it so there is a lot of weight up there.   The car is not sagging bad-I do have a picture up in the show your Charger topic of it on the outside.  The rails part might be the same though.

I did not want a full project car.   I wanted something that needed some work that I could do over the years...did not expect this.   I would have asked for a lot lower price.   lol   All the same I do not want to give up on this car...even though this all is new to me.  

I am going to get those pictures and worst case have them up by the weekend.   I really wish I had a digital camera.   I may go up under it tonight and try to get some, but I want to wait until it is in the air to get good ones of the entire underneath.

Thanks guys!     

Here is some of the outside...not help but the body is fine for now...

http://photobucket.com/albums/b124/crazygirl1975/My%201970%20Dodge%20Charger/

[tomonty]

 Everyone on this board is here to help wherever and whenever we can.  I have been fixing up my car for close to a decade and it was all painted when I bought it. It won't happen overnight. Just stay positive, set yourself some goals, learn as much as you can about the cars, and dive in without fear.

Mike

[Mefirst]

PlumBad*** In the frame rails.. Are those two lumps whats left of two dead rodents? Damn, that looks kinda scarry...

DarkAngel*** Some of the guys here have rebuilt their rides from less metall than you see on Plums car... You didint buy your ride from Halphag (spell check?) did you??

[Telvis]

I just went to look at the hlpag website and it's not there! I don't know if it's a temporary thing or not. Interesting!

[DarkAngel0816]

LMAO No I did not buy from them but I wonder if this person was an agent of them.    lol I was warned against them people big time and wow!   Have you seen the prices of their GL sky rocket?   Holy cow is all I have to say!   I have heard many horror stories about them.   They being the professionals they are cannot even spell right in their ads.   

Now I have something dripping under it that is reddish in color.   GRRRRRRRRRR!   It is located on the passsanger side more about where the windshield runs.   What could that be?   Transmission?

Thanks guys!   The worst I have is these rails.   At least I think I do.   Now this new leakage has me wondering.

[Mefirst]

The red colour stuff is oil from the tranny.. It doesnt have to mean its bad, probably just a bad seal.. Most old cars drip a little oil..

[DarkAngel0816]

I actually thought it might have been something with the transmission.  We are going to check the seals.  I think the car did set for quite a while so that is not something surprising.  Good size spot though...Size of a silver dollar pancake.  I took pictures of underneath, but with it being on the ground I am not sure how they will turn out.   Plus it is fiberglassed under there and painted over. 

[jaak]

Sounds like my first charger, after about a year of wondering what to do, I found a nice solid body so I bought it and wound up using my first charger as a parts car, although rusty there wasn't one thing missing from it, and the second one was basically solid body with a drive train and a pair of buckets in it that was it, no trim ,nothing. So I'm basically building one out of two. Good luck with your project whatever route you plan on taking your resto.

[BigBlockSam]

good luck with your car. they sell all the parts to fix frame rails. you just gotta find a good welder. Rene

[Silver R/T]

well shit happens, but you gotta remember to inspect any car you buy before you buy, if you dont know shit about car urself ask someone who would know.

[DarkAngel0816]

Silver-I did take someone with me, but the thing was it was a very well hidden problem that unless you had the car in the air and started to go at the areas that typically go bad then you would not know.   Even the guy who found it for me told me straight forward that it was not some run of the mill hide the bad spot job.   It is hard to crawl under the car and they only found it after lifting it and realizing something looked TOO GOOD.   Shoot the guy who towed it for me has old cars himself and told us the frame looked great.   He was surprised after the fact when he found out there was issues with it.   The person whoever it was that did the hide job knew what they were doing and this probably was not the first car they did it too.  

I wish I knew how to weld lol.   But I know YEAR ONE and PADDOCKS and SAFE T CAP sells things for it.   I just got my YEARONE Catolog in the mail today.

Thanks again to those who have made me feel a little better that I can save this mopar. 

[Silver R/T]

guy who towed it? in my book tow truck drivers are usually assholes, idiot and dumb**8ts, I worked for one. I wouldnt trust some idiot tow truck driver. Id get a screwdriver and poke floor pans, trunk, frame whatever, check it out myself.

[DarkAngel0816]

No I actually had my Dad come with me to look at it.   The tow guy came and got it after the fact...when I drove it once it was home (had to take my Mom and 8 year old bro for a ride in it) and the U Joints went bad on me I parked it and towed it to the shop.   The shop that fixed that and the brakes also inspected it and they are good people who we trust for 15 years on our vehicles.   They found the rust.

This is a young guy who has a SuperBee I think he restored?   And we did poke it, but obviously not the right spot.   My Dad went under it and was messing with it when I was talking to the guy I bought it from.   But the actual holes was filled in.   You know   I have no clue what the hell the people who did it to the underneath did...and the shop who did the inspection had never seen such a thing before.   It actually pissed them off when they saw it they called   me bitchin' at me about it...to the point I called the previous owner not too happy.   I even spoke to Paddocks about it (I was in there getting a few things when my shop called) and they were floored.   Could not believe the whole thing.   And I have to agree with you on tow truck drivers...majority of them scare the crap out of me.   But there are a few good ones out there.  

So how much cost wise do you all think I am looking at if I have all the frame rails replaced in a body shop?  

[Drache]

Well it looks like the only thing we can do is await a picture or two to see how bad things are. I told you people would try to be helpful here.

I have a few questions of my own though:

1. How much did you pay for it? This can help to distinguish whether you payed for a lemon or payed for what you received.

2. What did the guy tell you about the car? Did he tell you it needed work and sat for awhile or did he pass it off as good restored car?

[PlumBad70]

Hey Darkangel, My estimate was for 5-6K for all body work and paint..I'm getting new rear frame rails, new outer wheelhouses, 2 new quarter panels, new trunk, new trunk extensions, new rear valance...everything preped primed and painted sublime..The guy its at now is real good too so I'm excited. Heres a chanllenger he did, it turned out awesome..

Mefirst...lol those aren't dead mice, thats pieces of rust