Help with a 68 Charger

[Phantomsi]

Quick Intro: I'm originally a mustang guy. Own 70 Mach 1 and 67 coupe. Fell in love the what dodge was doing with the hellcat, now own a 2018 destroyer Grey challenger hellcat. Now I'm wanting to dip my feet into old mopars and am hoping get some opinions on a particular car I'm looking at in a few days.


The car: NOT an R/t. Original 383 auto car. No fender tag or broadcast sheets. Currently has a 440 and a 727 torqueflite. Don't know what kind of rear end but has 4.10 gears. It's does NOT run currently but says it's not far. It does turn over.


Needs rear panel and valence, Dutchman panel, trunk floors, roof skin, a patch in driver floor pan, and some degree of quarter work on both sides. Rails and everything else structural is reportedly solid.


Has tons parts stripped from a full 68 and 69 parts cars (two full sets of doors, 3 sets of bumpers and grills, 2 dashes, etc..) . So should be enough to put one running charger together there.


Asking 12k obo. I think that's really steep. What should I be paying for it?

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Well not to talk crap the car but by comparison check out this one. You would easily throw 10 grand at fixing that car. Not saying its not worth it but for 10 k more you are already closer with this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Dodge...6e5a12bc:g:1eYAAOSw-nRbxi89:rk:9:pf:0&vxp=mtr

 

[66 Sat]

Mate what are your intentions for the final product? What is your budget? To make a really nice car out of that you will be spending maybe $50k if you do all of the work yourself, and $100k plus for a restoration shop to do it. What's the interior like? It all depends on what you're looking for. If you want a huge project or an expensive professional restoration, then check the whole car including the chassis very carefully and make an offer. If not, keep looking.

 

[jamie]

I wouldn't want to be into that for more than 4k. Icky.....

 

[beanhead]

Welcome to the current 68-70 Charger market It's crazy...personally I would offer them 6K and let them talk me up to maybe $7500 max. Still a lot for a project, but what's a couple thou in the big picture if it's what you want. It could be a great car with lots of work. Good luck!
And yes look at the one Beep posted above...almost 25K, also needs lots of work. Chargers are just crazy these days

 

[Phantomsi]

Well not to talk crap the car but by comparison check out this one. You would easily throw 10 grand at fixing that car. Not saying its not worth it but for 10 k more you are already closer with this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Dodge...6e5a12bc:g:1eYAAOSw-nRbxi89:rk:9:pf:0&vxp=mtr

I did see that one! Even that is probably at a 10k+ premium being it's a 68 and it's being offered by a dealer. I'd probably pay the 12k for that car tho.

Mate what are your intentions for the final product? What is your budget? To make a really nice car out of that you will be spending maybe $50k if you do all of the work yourself, and $100k plus for a restoration shop to do it. What's the interior like? It all depends on what you're looking for. If you want a huge project or an expensive professional restoration, then check the whole car including the chassis very carefully and make an offer. If not, keep looking.

Honestly it's not anything worth a "professional" restoration imo. I'm thinking over a year bring it back to solid metal, decent paint, freshen up the drivetrain/suspension and then put it back together with all the parts off the two parts cars and just make a driver/running restomod out of it. I do everything but metal work myself. And I've got a friend that does it for me at a well below market rate. I don't know that that'll cost 50k ‍ Not saying I wouldn't spend it but seems like you can find tons of the finished product all day for 50k.

Welcome to the current 68-70 Charger market It's crazy...personally I would offer them 6K and let them talk me up to maybe $7500 max. Still a lot for a project, but what's a couple thou in the big picture if it's what you want. It could be a great car with lots of work. Good luck!
And yes look at the one Beep posted above...almost 25K, also needs lots of work. Chargers are just crazy these days

Exactly! It reminds me a lot of the 67-68 fastback market. There are absolute clapped out Fastbacks going for 15-25k everywhere but you can't sell a coupe for more than 5-6k. It's just inflated by popular demand for the car. That 6k price is exactly what I'm thinking I'd be comfortable with. I'm more than ready to walk away otherwise. But for say 25-30k could you have this one in driver condition?

 

[beanhead]

Exactly! It reminds me a lot of the 67-68 fastback market. There are absolute clapped out Fastbacks going for 15-25k everywhere but you can't sell a coupe for more than 5-6k. It's just inflated by popular demand for the car. That 6k price is exactly what I'm thinking I'd be comfortable with. I'm more than ready to walk away otherwise. But for say 25-30k could you have this one in driver condition?

Doing the the work yourself, I think you can get it close since you have most all the parts..for driver condition. (Depending on how much beer your metal guy charges!!)

 

[spoolinhard]

Looks decent to me. Chargers are expensive. I would need to know the extent of how much extra goes with the car.

Also, look the car over in person before any money is exchanged. How are the front and rear frame rails? Torsion support; under seat pan?

 

[Runner 68]

What most Ford and Chevy guys don't realize when they get into restoring old Mopars is that the parts are typically 2-3 times more than a comparable Ford or Chevy part.
Mopar guys get fucked on parts. Be prepared for it.

 

[PP1RT]

If you dont buy it someone else will. How bad do you want one and how big is your wallet?

 

[Phantomsi]

Doing the the work yourself, I think you can get it close since you have most all the parts..for driver condition. (Depending on how much beer your metal guy charges!!)

A lot. But he welds better drunk than I do sober.

Looks decent to me. Chargers are expensive. I would need to know the extent of how much extra goes with the car.

Also, look the car over in person before any money is exchanged. How are the front and rear frame rails? Torsion support; under seat pan?

I'm going to look at it in a few days. I'll be getting a good idea of what comes with it as well. What I'm hoping is that I find the fender tag among the tubs of parts he's got.

I'll post pics, apparently all those areas are fine. If it is as advertised what do you think is a good price?

What most Ford and Chevy guys don't realize when they get into restoring old Mopars is that the parts are typically 2-3 times more than a comparable Ford or Chevy part.
Mopar guys get fucked on parts. Be prepared for it.

Very quickly realizing that just pricing out replacement metal on AMD.

 

[eldubb440]

the average semi rusty 68-70 B Body will require 500 hours at a minimum and up to 1000 hours of body labor....... there is no getting around it

 

[hunt2elk]

Kind of surprised by all the rust on the rear of that car for being from Texas. Be prepared to find more hidden underneath the primer. Personally I would look for a more solid starting point unless you can do all the metal work yourself. You will be upside down real quick if paying labor for metal replacement/repair on that one. But, as previously mentioned someone will pay $10K for it if you don't.

 

[jamie]

the average semi rusty 68-70 B Body will require 500 hours at a minimum and up to 1000 hours of body labor....... there is no getting around it

THIS^^^^^^

Even at a modest $50 an hour and 750 hours your still in at 37,500. Then add in the cost of the car itself,going thru the drivetrain,brakes,suspension,interior and sheetmetal.

If you don't mind cobbling it back together,you could have the quarters patched and bondo the other rust holes,etc. You could scab this thing together crudely and with pitted chrome stuff and a quick paint job.

MAYBE you could have that car for under 25k all in.

It really depends on what you are looking for in the end. I personally wouldn't snub my nose at it either way you did it, still cool to see it on the road.

I stay way far away from primered and multiple (thick) painted cars. Too many hidden surprises.

 

[eldubb440]

THIS^^^^^^

Even at a modest $50 an hour and 750 hours your still in at 37,500. Then add in the cost of the car itself,going thru the drivetrain,brakes,suspension,interior and sheetmetal.

If you don't mind cobbling it back together,you could have the quarters patched and bondo the other rust holes,etc. You could scab this thing together crudely and with pitted chrome stuff and a quick paint job.

MAYBE you could have that car for under 25k all in.

It really depends on what you are looking for in the end. I personally wouldn't snub my nose at it either way you did it, still cool to see it on the road.

I stay way far away from primered and multiple (thick) painted cars. Too many hidden surprises.

dude..... we could hang

 

[eldubb440]

it appears amd makes pretty much everything charger, which is a major plus; even at the prices...... if that were a bee, you'd be playing with junk fenders, junk hood, junk tail light panel, and junk deck lid

 

[Phantomsi]

I'm really not afraid of the metal work so long as it's not structural which I'll confirm in a couple days. My guy just bangs in the new panels and welds it in for far less than even $50/hr. And the body work of course. I can cut rusty metal and weld in unseen patches (mine just aren't as pretty). I've done this dance with a few rusty mustangs. Granted the aftermarket support is far better, and less cost preventative. This isn't going to be a concours GYC resto garage queen. Just a decent looking, 50 year old, structurally solid driver.

I'm really hoping to get a good idea of it's fair market value if it is as advertised. Sounds like 4-7.5k based on the responses here, in that range I'm ok with what I'll have to spend. I'm also ok waiting and finding something finished to my standards for a bit more.

 

[spoolinhard]

You would be lucky to get that car in the 4-7k range. It all depends on how complete the car really is. Is the dash complete/console/buckets? All big $. I would search sold listings on eBay to get a good idea of what they sell for. I hesitate to put a price on any charger as they are constantly bringing crazy prices.
I'm not saying 12k is a good price, I just don't think you will get that kind of car for much less

 

[Phantomsi]

Everything complete but it is missing the buckets. That's the only thing. At 12k, I'd rather pay 25k and get one less far gone. I'll post an update here soon as I see it in person.

 

[PP1RT]

it appears amd makes pretty much everything charger, which is a major plus; even at the prices...... if that were a bee, you'd be playing with junk fenders, junk hood, junk tail light panel, and junk deck lid

Agreed. We Coronet lovers have a much bigger struggle finding front clip parts. Sucks. It is really important to find a solid car and/or parts car for those. Chargers you can pretty much just write checks for what you need.