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68 Charger dream car

I too have dreams about a car like that. Sadly, I always wake up sweating profusely and gasping for breath.

Good luck with the rebuild. :thumbsup:
 
Since you mentioned that the firewall and cowl are damaged, you would be wise to have an experienced, long time collision tech look at the car. From my time running a body shop, a hit like that affects way more than just what you can easily see. You need to look at the floors, rails, windshield frame all around, the door hinge pillars, rockers, roof etc as one or more of those most likely moved too. You could just drill out spot welds and swap the firewall/cowl when you do the front clip but you need to see how the doors fit when installed, windshield in, fenders on,core support, hood, grille, bumper etc. You can get a good reading from the targets on a frame rack but that doesn't tell you anything about the rest of the structure and bolt on part fit. We had several where the frame showed good but the bolt on stuff didn't fit unless the techs did upper structure pulls and check fit of the bolt ons or glass. Before you end up with the Titanic version of a Charger, seeing you funds sink into an abyss, get some experienced eyes on that car. Our early cars were state of the art back then with the unibody construction but are nothing compared to the rigidity of the new ones. And we didn't work on old stuff, just late model. If we saw those kind of issues on newer, can you imagine what primitive tech looks like? I don't want to quash your dreams of landing a Charger, but I would find something better especially if you don't have skills or resources.
 
ckessel said:
Since you mentioned that the firewall and cowl are damaged, you would be wise to have an experienced, long time collision tech look at the car. From my time running a body shop, a hit like that affects way more than just what you can easily see. You need to look at the floors, rails, windshield frame all around, the door hinge pillars, rockers, roof etc as one or more of those most likely moved too. You could just drill out spot welds and swap the firewall/cowl when you do the front clip but you need to see how the doors fit when installed, windshield in, fenders on,core support, hood, grille, bumper etc. You can get a good reading from the targets on a frame rack but that doesn't tell you anything about the rest of the structure and bolt on part fit. We had several where the frame showed good but the bolt on stuff didn't fit unless the techs did upper structure pulls and check fit of the bolt ons or glass. Before you end up with the Titanic version of a Charger, seeing you funds sink into an abyss, get some experienced eyes on that car. Our early cars were state of the art back then with the unibody construction but are nothing compared to the rigidity of the new ones. And we didn't work on old stuff, just late model. If we saw those kind of issues on newer, can you imagine what primitive tech looks like? I don't want to quash your dreams of landing a Charger, but I would find something better especially if you don't have skills or resources.
Click to expand...

Whether you like to hear it or not, that dream car is a complete nightmare. Someone's got to tell you this instead of telling you what an awesome project it is. If the body work is going to be done by a professional shop, which it really needs, I see a minimum of 100 large being invested on that car by the time it's done. There is at least 500 hours needed to put the shell together, including body and paint, because there is virtually nothing left of the unibody structure to work with other than the roof and cowl (possibly), and some sub-structure. Now, multiply those 500 hours by your shop rate. Then add the additional tens of thousands that will be spent on the interior, drivetrain, grille trim, fuel system, brake system ... and the list goes on. If you're thinking about doing all of the panel replacement yourself, be advised that these cars do not go together like a jigsaw puzzle.

My advice would be to strip as much as you can from that car, junk it and get something else that is not a rotted wreck. You and some others here may call me an A-hole for saying this, but listen to what I and a few others are subtly saying, because it's for your own good.
 
Richard Cranium said:
Whether you like to hear it or not, that dream car is a complete nightmare. Someone's got to tell you this instead of telling you what an awesome project it is. If the body work is going to be done by a professional shop, which it really needs, I see a minimum of 100 large being invested on that car by the time it's done. There is at least 500 hours needed to put the shell together, including body and paint, because there is virtually nothing left of the unibody structure to work with other than the roof and cowl (possibly), and some sub-structure. Now, multiply those 500 hours by your shop rate. Then add the additional tens of thousands that will be spent on the interior, drivetrain, grille trim, fuel system, brake system ... and the list goes on. If you're thinking about doing all of the panel replacement yourself, be advised that these cars do not go together like a jigsaw puzzle.

My advice would be to strip as much as you can from that car, junk it and get something else that is not a rotted wreck. You and some others here may call me an A-hole for saying this, but listen to what I and a few others are subtly saying, because it's for your own good.
Click to expand...

seriously, that 500 hours is at least double (just for the body); other than that.......

 
Last edited:
@alecb
Richard Cranium has had a few cars that needed some work, and his intentions are good, as I would say all forum members should be.
My 70 Roadrunner was not a Best in Show car, and never would be, BUT it did win quite a few "Top XX" along with other cars that looked nice but weren't perfect.
I still put a lot of time, effort, and money into it over the 10 years I had it.
Unless you have an enormous budget and/or many years of patience and skills to do work yourself, you would be better off buying a Charger that is closer to being finished than the one you have.
If anyone with hands on experience with cars that need a LOT of work disagree with this post, I submit that their opinion is more valid than mine.
 
popcorn (2).gif
 
Richard Cranium said:
My advice would be to strip as much as you can from that car, junk it and get something else that is not a rotted wreck. You and some others here may call me an A-hole for saying this, but listen to what I and a few others are subtly saying, because it's for your own good.
Click to expand...
Do not strip and junk that car! There is no such thing as a second gen Charger parts car! Clean it up as best you can and put it up for sale. In the current market someone will pay up to 15k for the car. take the money,save it and add to it until you have enough cash to buy a better Charger.
 
Last edited:
chargervert said:
Do not strip and junk that car! There is no such thing as a second gen Charger parts car! Clean it up as best you can and put it up for sale. In the current market someone will pay up to 15k for the car. take the money,save it and add to it until you have enough cash to buy a better Charger.
Click to expand...

hook up the trailer and go rescue him......... and don't forget his 15K :poke:
 
I already have several of them! It's not my fault the Charger market is insane. I recently saw one of my former 68 Charger rollers I sold for 5k sell for 17.5K.
 
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