Hemi Charger Restoration thread (Updated 2/17/2010)

[moparstuart]

Well, I have a sort of update:

 Geoff, has found two prospective rolling bodies with completed body work with no drivetrain that we will (sorry) chop up and use what we need to get the charger back together. 

Cough...cough ... REBODY... cough...cough....

sound exactly like what they want to do    , that car was not that bad ,yes rusty but no that bad

[FJMG]

    I'm with 69 500 on that cut up issue, I purchased a 383 auto rolling body to cut up years ago when they were cheap and plentiful. Everytime I looked at the rust-free body I couldn't cut it. I ended up buying the required components piece by piece and now have the (ahem) "problem" of restoring two chargers.

[69bronzeT5]

Yea, I wouldnt cut them up IMO. 

[TUFCAT]

Now since they're available.....buy the full quarters!! - - they will fit better than hacked off OEM quarters any day of the week. In the short run, you'll pay more for parts, but in the long run, labor cost will be a significant savings.  Doing it "His way" you'll be paying double.... pay him to cut off AND pay him to install.....plus you end up a with a hacked up car that you can't sell afterwards?   Sounds goofy to me.  A good metal fab guy could probably fix those old ones....that is, if the nice new full quarters weren't an option as they are now...   

[bullit68]

PLEASE DONT CUT UP THE OTHER CHARGER!!!! you know they dont make them anymore.i have a friend who has TWO nos 69 charger quarter panels,TWO nos front fenders and an nos rear valence.i could see if he wants to part with any of them.he knows what they're worth,so they wont be cheap.pm me if interested.

[moparchris]

Just my  , but please think twice about cutting up a good 69 383 4 speed car.  Just from a monetary stand point lets dissect this:  Shop time to drill out every spot weld to remove the original panels and then the fitting to your car.  Now purchasing NEW full quarters,  no cutting from the old car, no surprise rust that you didn't see before you started cutting etc......  It's your car and by all means its your decision to make, but think twice on this approach.  If you buy the 383 4 speed car and just remove the date coded parts you have a whole lot more car to sell to someone else and recoup you initial cost.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I agree with everyone else.  Not that you posted looking for everyones opinion, but isn't the whole point of this hobby to bring as many possible back onto the road?  There are NOS panels out there, as you can see since 2 people who know of some have already posted, as well as very high quality reproductions. 

[Charger_Fan]

I agree with these guys, cutting up a good Charger to use body panels that are available elsewhere is just nuts.
I can't even make myself cut up my '70 383 4-speed SE car that has already been halfway parted out! This thing's in a lot better shape than what other people have started with on their resto's & I just can't bear to do it.

From what you've said, it sounds like the body guy is just seeing $$ signs & nothing more.

[bzabodyn]

Wow, I hang christmas lights for a day and don't check the board and I have a ton of hate mail waiting on me!

I have done more numbers-crunching in the last two months than anyone would even care to hear about... so please don't criticize me for making a smart financial decision - I knew I was going to get hassled about cutting up another charger, but when the numbers are looked at, this $16k investment (what we ended up paying for the car shipped) is going to save me over $30k when you look at all the NOS/date coded parts I'm going to get out of the deal as well as the metal fab work we're avoiding (we're not chopping it up just for the quarters as many are making it seem)... has anyone tried finding an entire roof section that's straight with no rust lately? Good Luck - and that involves hacking up a car regardless...

Again, I apologize for being "selfish" or however else people are making me come across, but in the end - we're talking about a lot of money here that I work very hard for and I just want to get the best end product out of the deal - I'll post pics of the new car when we get it in the next week, and you can make whatever judgments you want after then... just please realize that buying this car has allowed me to actually do the resto under contract (fixed $ amount) vs. a monthly billing and not knowing where the end number would end up... and that contract amount is easily $40k if not more under the figures I ran into elsewhere....

Regardless, I plan on keeping everyone as updated as possible so I can have a forum for sharing all the information about this project as possible... hopefully my experiences will aid anyone else in a similar situation in the future...

Have a great day!

BZ

[69bronzeT5]

 





btw, if you have any usuable parts left from the parts car...send em to me

[bzabodyn]

Cough...cough ... REBODY... cough...cough....

uh, I don't think so - don't worry, the shop is photo-documenting everything possible on this project, so you'll get to see everything from start to finish... so please don't come on here posting that kind of stuff... we are going to save/refinish/refurb everything we can on the car to keep it as "original" as possible, but there are inevitably some things you just can't do that with...

all I can say is that this is going to be a high-quality resto that otherwise couldn't be achieved for the price or timeframe any other way... just for perspective, the gentleman that is doing the work, Ken, has also done a ground up resto on a Merc 300SL Gullwing that is on their showroom floor ($600-800k car) - it has won numerous awards and has been called the 3rd best Gullwing in the world (the #1/#2 cars are owned by Merc) - I have never seen attention to detail quite like that before...

BZ

[TUFCAT]

Brandon, I just read an article this month in one of my all-time favorite magazines "Hemmings Muscle Machines" which documented the worlds finest restored 1970 GTO Judge Ram Air IV currently in existence.  The owner spent countless thousands making his car as perfect as possible - as it started out a basket case. It also involved using a 1970 Tempest donor car which was needed for its virgin factory correct parts and panels currently not being reproduced. 

Nobody here can see your car... or possibly know the extent of body work that's needed. That's between you and the restoration shop. I think we all realize how important it is for you to make this car 100% right, which is crucial for a car like yours.  I think the guys who posted (like me) are not looking to bust your balls, but rather, just making sure you explore every avenue (both financial and quality) before choosing to go the donor car route.  I still appreciate your dedication to making this car as perfect as it can be and I realize, you, myself and lots of other guys, have budgets to adhere to.  Sorry if you were insulted.....its just that most guys around here still get all gushy over virgin sheet metal  . I still wish you the best of luck. 

[69bronzeT5]

Nobody here can see your car... or possibly know the extent of body work that's needed. That's between you and the restoration shop. I think we all realize how important it is for you to make this car 100% right, which is crucial for a car like yours.  I think the guys who posted (like me) are not looking to bust your balls, but rather, just making sure you explore every avenue (both financial and quality) before choosing to go the donor car route.  I still appreciate your dedication to making this car as perfect as it can be and I realize, you, like myself and lots of other guys, have budgets to adhere to.  Sorry if you were insulted.....its just that most guys around here still get all gushy over virgin sheet metal  . I still wish you the best of luck. 

 

[Charger_Fan]

Well then, so be it. That's just how it is with old cars...you can save some, but you can't save 'em all. At least there will be a Hemi car making a comeback after the dust has settled. 
Looking forward to future progress reports.

[69_500]

Just curious but what all parts are you needing to get from the 383 car for the HEMI car? Is it mainly interior pieces? Small fasteners? Wiring harness? Just curious. I wasn't trying to pick at anything for cutting up a car, just making an observation. And just to clarify and this might come accross as a smart ass but not meant that way. But parts from the 383 car wouldn't techincally be NOS, they might however be the correct date coded pieces. slight difference.

[bzabodyn]

Actually - the car we've bought had been completely stripped (bodywork complete - mainly just sanding/filling) - but most interior parts are present - to clarify, the previous owner purchased many NOS parts for his resto and they are part of the bundle... I've seen a couple of pics of the body panels/floors/roof and they are all in good condition...  the shop should receive the car by the end of the week with body work starting soon after...

Also talked to the owner of the shop a couple of hours ago and they have pulled the engine/tranny - engine was being disassembled and each component was being inspected and sent off as needed for machine work (machine shop's just three blocks away, so that's nice to know) - and they have actually rebuilt/detailed the transmission already as they said it was in very good condition and needed little work outside of cosmetics... progress is nice!

Brandon Z.

[bullit68]

does this mean you are going to sell it at barrett-jackson 09?

[bzabodyn]

nope - actually don't plan on selling it for a very long time - it is my 9- month old son's college fund!

[bullit68]

good to hear.i hope you and your son get many years of enjoyment out of it.he'll remember it for the rest of his life.i too have an original 69 hemi 4 spd charger although its not numbers matching.i plan on doing a driver type resto with a big stroker hemi so me and my son can drive the heck out of it.he's 4 1/2 now and tells me to "smoke the tires dad"when we drive in my other chargers.have fun.

[Ghoste]

I hope he finds his college funding through some other (legal) source and tells you that he intends to keep the car and pass it on to his kids one day.