Is this worth saving at this point?

[MustangAndy]

You go to shows and see DOZENS of Mustangs, Camaros/Chevelles, etc. Chargers seem to be the '69/'70 model year and if there's 10 in one show at least half are General Lee knock-offs. '71 - '74s are something of a rare breed.

I do miss my '70 Mustang and this Charger has really grown on me but after today's tear down I'm thinking of cutting my loses here. What do you guys think? Is it worth me trying to salvage this car? It's like everytime I turn around I see daylight through another piece of the body that I shouldn't.


Needs:

• First and foremost legal docs. NJDMV is severely pissing me off and giving me some new BS excuse everytime I go in as to why they can't title the car.
• Engine
• Possibly trans
• Both rockers
• Both quarters
  -Driver's side suffered a bad replace job once. whole panel is cockeyed and off. 200lbs. of Bondo in it. Passenger side is just 100% SHOT
• Both front floor pans - leaky heater box took out the passenger side
• Lower A pillar rebuilt driver's side not much left of it - previously bondo'd and failed
• Patches for random holes upper floor board
• Both hood hinge plates
• Inner wheel house passenger side.
• Both doors or at least re-skins
• Hood braces patched
• Roof repaired - has holes and is rough as a get out
• Patches around winshield
• Whole bunch of other stuff

It's a base model '71 Charger Topper. 318 with a 904 auto trans. GY9 Dark Gold with white/gold interior with bench seats.

 

[MoparMikey]

Unfortunately, I think you will have way more money into that car then it will ever be worth.

 

[eastyorker]

What do you estimate it to cost to fix? Are you doing the repairs yourself? Once it all said and done will it be worth your time, effort and money?

These are what I ask of my projects.

 

[detmatt1]

I think only you can truely answer that. You plan on doing all the work yourself? If so it will have to be a labor of love to make it worthwhile. If you plan on paying someone to do it the love you have for the car wouldn't even be a question.

 

[MoparBill]

Unless you have a personal connection to this car or really love drilling spotwelds, I think you should part it out and buy something more solid. In the long run you will be better off!

 

[roadrunnerman]

what were your plans/ideas when you first got the car?What are the reasons that the dmv is telling you that they can't title the car? Did you start feeling overwhelmed when you saw all the repairs that needed to be done and thought you couldn't do them?Yes,some of the members here are working on cars worse off then yours, but they may have the funds/knowledge,space to do all that.I have just started working on my own project just recently that i have owned for over 20 yrs,i didn't have the knowledge or money till just lately.I still have 5 projects waiting in line. Will i get them done b4 i die,good lord willing i hope so, but that is for HIM to decide.I'm not saying you should sell or keep it but that is for you to decide one way or the other.If you do sell it maybe you can find another car with less work to do on it that will be better in the long run.I got lucky on one of my cars and found the previous owner and was able to get a duplicate title for it to go in my name.Yes replacement parts are not cheap,but you will have to decide what you think is better in the long run.Stand by the car and just think everything over and you can come to the decision that is right to you.

 

[tpodwdog]

LET ME START OFF BY SAYING THAT I love THE BODY STYLE OF THAT CAR......ok,,,,now that thats been said.....dude,,,,that car is a rat and will probably take alot more time and alot more money than you may be willing to give. the list you listed is alot and might as well be the entire car on that list. if you have the will to bring it back....then by all means do it......if it were me....i would dump that car...salvage any good ( if there is any) parts off of it and get yourself another one WITH A TITLE!...

 

[Donny]

You can get a title for it, there's title services out there that will help -- for a fee, and maybe a bonded title is in order initially. This car is very fixable, most if not all the parts are manufactured, if you love it, don't set it free, you will have to work it to bring it back! But, blasting the car is going to be at least 1500 bucks, primer/sealer 500, new metal 3000, your labor; 300 hrs, yeah, that will work.

 

[QTR MILE]

Here in NY the DMV allow's you to do a VIN tracing and picture along with the normal form's and they will first give you a NON- transferrable Registration than after 2 weeks they complete a VIN check to ensure the car is not stolen or whatever. After thats complete, they mail you a Transferrable Registration and you are done. I am not sure if NJ will do the same thing? Good luck though.

 

[65affair]

Here is my thoughts.... First, do you want this car? Would you build this car and then will you sell it? So, here I go... I have tackled much much worse, so I would save it. If you do all your own work it would be worth it. And you build to the way you want... and keep it. If you don't know how to do everything to repair it you can learn. Will you have thousands in it? YES... try to buy one complete and the way you want it.... yep thousands!

 

[iraqivet01]

Will you have thousands in it? YES... try to buy one complete and the way you want it.... yep thousands!

Ten's of thousands.

 

[jessipup]

Sorry you got one in such tough shape. It might be the thing to get another in a little better shape and use that one for a parts car. What parts you don't use could even pay for one of them. Parts on the 71-74s can be harder to find than an iceberg off the coast of Panama.
I have a 74 Satellite Sebring plus with a Roadrunner Bulge hood and it is a fantastic car and I love it. And no you won't see many around. for so long they were forgotten or dismissed, but now they are some of the few that are still on the way up price wise.

 

[Moparsmitty]

LET ME START OFF BY SAYING THAT I love THE BODY STYLE OF THAT CAR......ok,,,,now that thats been said.....dude,,,,that car is a rat and will probably take alot more time and alot more money than you may be willing to give. the list you listed is alot and might as well be the entire car on that list. if you have the will to bring it back....then by all means do it......if it were me....i would dump that car...salvage any good ( if there is any) parts off of it and get yourself another one WITH A TITLE!...

Agree. It would take TONS of labor, money, and parts hunting to bring this rust bucket up to the standard of a 25 footer. Unless there was something really special about this particular car, such as being a factory race car, original hemi car, or something like that, it's not worth the time & trouble. I see lots of mopars for sale in much better shape for less than it would cost for patch panels for this car. JMHO.

 

[fla 66 cuda]

My son and i are building a 73 charger was 318/904 car becoming a 440/727 car i thought ours was a rust bucket but compaired to yours it's a gem,we had our share of rust issues and have been doing metal work for the last year just now starting body work.I have to agree with the previous statements to use it for parts if it were me i would never have touched it with no title [but thats me] it would be in your best financial intrests to part it or use it for parts for another one [this time check out the car for rust and a title] i hope you did not pay too much for it. It can be fixed but for a price even if you do it all yourself it will be expensive and you'll never get back what you invest,we keep our builds low budget and clean acceptable drivers [we are not in this hobby to make money] to have fun with them when we are finished. Good luck with yours best wishes.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

We started off with generally the same body condition. Yes, it looks like it is a tremendous amount of work (and it is), but when (or if) you can purchase all new panels for a few thousand dollars, floor pan, trunk pan, and work with sheet metal it makes for a much easier build. I had fifteen thousand in ours in a eight month period and did ALL the work ourselves. I have another five in it since then, but we really cut it close and I was budget minded where I could be. If you wanted to do it "factory correct" with "show" quality craftsmanship, I would tack on another ten thousand to that figure at a minimum. It is NOT a value to build your own car anymore, it is a buyers market and you can purchase very nice Mopars for $25,000. If you had the car, and want to build it your way, then I would undergo the project but if you are just looking for a factory style build then you are better off purchasing the car outright.

 

[wannadrag]

Cant save them all.Find a better one and use it for a parts car.

 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

part it so others will live

 

[Propwash]

As far as recovery of money if it ever came to that point, you would never get what you put it in it, even if you did it yourself. Parts are gonna be hard to find (especially certain sheetmetal), you're gonna need sharp fab/welding skills and the facility/tools to do it right. My point, unless this is your dream car and will hold all kinds of sentimental value, don't bother. Like mentioned, hundreds and hundreds of labor hours, hundreds of hours of research, finding parts, and documenting and tens of thousands of dollars.

I think most of us seen the guys that pick up cars in this shape thinking 5-10K to restore and hey...Just an easy winter project. Wrong! Months later we see the same guy and car being sold as a project in pieces or being parted out. In the meantime they wasted countless hours and have flushed a few grand down the toilet. Cars like this are pretty much like having a full time job and do not take months, but years to bring back.

So, it's pretty much what Matt said..it's truely up to you. She's gonna need a lot of love. Every classic mopar is worth restoring in my book. Question is how deep do you want to dig into yourself, pocketbook and lifestyle to make it happen.

Good luck whatever route you go.

 

[Bruzilla]

Unless you have a personal connection to this car or really love drilling spotwelds, I think you should part it out and buy something more solid. In the long run you will be better off!

I agree. The problems with "labors of love" is they're like any other relationship we have... we can fall out of love at anytime, and when we do it's gonna be expensive.

Aside from parting it out, I would consider finding someone who's a bigger hopeless romantic and selling the car to them, then take their money and use it to buy a better project.

 

[super-bee_ski]

NOPE
Sorry, just my opinion.