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@Wayrightofcntr where in the east bay area are you ?
I lived in/born in Concord, lived in Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek & Antioch
for most of my 1st 27 years of 38, mostly Concord
left in 1997, never looked back
lots of great advice here, in this thread
here's mine
68-70 Chargers especially R/T's
especially 68's have gone nucken'futts for well over 15 years now
Depending on your actual skills 1st,
tools 2nd, place to store & work on it 3rd
try to find something as complete as possible
spend more up front, I'll say it again too
Stuff like grill, trim, interior, dash
or the huge undertaking of
fab/rehab/metal/rust repairs, welding & true fab skills projects
with floorplans wheelhouses quarters rockers etc.
are very time consuming & very costly part of these cars
nothing $50k-$70k (or $100k+ doing it twice) wouldn't cure,
& that's doing most all of it yourself
$75k+ to $100k+ to pay someone else, reputable shop maybe even more
to do a wreck/full-on project like discussed/shown
(yes you can do some stuff on the cheap too)
& a ton of lil' parts will
nickel ($10-$20+) & dime ($25-$50+) you to death
if you can even find them, shipping parts, especially bigger parts
is expensive too, probably 15% of the project cost is shipping
lots of repop stuff out there
a lot better than 20 years ago
lots of 1/2 finished projects too, people bail on
because it takes a long time & a lot of $$$
or various other reasons
IMO you're better off to buy a $25k to a $35k project
that needs a few things done, complete most all the hard parts
already there, you can drive it & fix lil' stuff as you go
more you spend upfront, that you can afford the better off you are
all of us here see it all too often
people get way in over their head
if that's still too much, save more & get the 'best wreck'
project you can afford
don't buy a rustbucket that sat uncovered for decades
especially on dirt, "RUST" will be a huge issue
money spent upfront for a running driving car, especially a complete car
(you can always change drivetrain/engine etc) is money well spent
good luck
I lived in/born in Concord, lived in Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek & Antioch
for most of my 1st 27 years of 38, mostly Concord
left in 1997, never looked back
lots of great advice here, in this thread
here's mine
68-70 Chargers especially R/T's
especially 68's have gone nucken'futts for well over 15 years now
Depending on your actual skills 1st,
tools 2nd, place to store & work on it 3rd
try to find something as complete as possible
spend more up front, I'll say it again too
Stuff like grill, trim, interior, dash
or the huge undertaking of
fab/rehab/metal/rust repairs, welding & true fab skills projects
with floorplans wheelhouses quarters rockers etc.
are very time consuming & very costly part of these cars
nothing $50k-$70k (or $100k+ doing it twice) wouldn't cure,
& that's doing most all of it yourself
$75k+ to $100k+ to pay someone else, reputable shop maybe even more
to do a wreck/full-on project like discussed/shown
(yes you can do some stuff on the cheap too)
& a ton of lil' parts will
nickel ($10-$20+) & dime ($25-$50+) you to death
if you can even find them, shipping parts, especially bigger parts
is expensive too, probably 15% of the project cost is shipping
lots of repop stuff out there
a lot better than 20 years ago
lots of 1/2 finished projects too, people bail on
because it takes a long time & a lot of $$$
or various other reasons
IMO you're better off to buy a $25k to a $35k project
that needs a few things done, complete most all the hard parts
already there, you can drive it & fix lil' stuff as you go
more you spend upfront, that you can afford the better off you are
all of us here see it all too often
people get way in over their head
if that's still too much, save more & get the 'best wreck'
project you can afford
don't buy a rustbucket that sat uncovered for decades
especially on dirt, "RUST" will be a huge issue
money spent upfront for a running driving car, especially a complete car
(you can always change drivetrain/engine etc) is money well spent
good luck
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