I have a clean 69 Charger SE that I want to restify to hot rod/daily driver status. My vision is to treat this project as if, all I had to start with was a clean body. I vision her with a new, turbo or super charged Hemi, new interior, more in the line of my wife's 300M or possibly Viper styling with custom dash with modern gauges, Viper buckets etc. and with updated suspension and braking to 2004 standards.

My only condition on this project will be to maintain the Classic Charger's style, and am open to just about anything else. The only problem is that the more I envision the project, the more I realize it is outside my shade tree mechanics abilities and time. I am looking for recommendations on who might be able to handle a job like this? Time is not an important factor other than I can't wait to get it on the road.

I do not have a budget in mind yet, but figure it would be at least as much as the 300M my wife drives (probably closer to a fully equipped 300C if I am lucky. I will justify this as "my new car" not just a weekend show queen.

What should I be looking at for something like this. $$$ and time wise? What ideas do you have that would make this a too cool project? What experiences would help before I step into this?

Dan
Louisville, CO

The more experience you have in fabricating, Upholstery, body and paint work, engine work, suspension work, wiring, Cooling, etc., etc., etc. The more work you can do the cheaper the cash outlay will be. If you can't do any or most of this then I would expect you to pay about 3 times what your wifes 300M was new... Just a blown hemi is going to run at least 15 grand... Then you have to add in the trans, rear end, brakes,and any suspension "upgrades" you decide to do. Just having someone build you a chassis, done and painted can run you 10 to 15 grand...
Do some research, look on line and start working up prices. I don't want to discourage you but you need to look real hard at what you want (or can afford) to pay and if you want this to be "your" car or a check book car...
Mark

subscribe to popular hot rodding. they do nothing but what you are talking about. lots of money and hard to do stuff. the easier something is to install, usually the more it costs. like brakes. you can rob from other cars (usually) for cheap, or, buy baer or wilwood bolt ons for about $1700 an axle. i would definitely get front brakes for my tempest. i would love 4wdb but dont have the money. i am trying to get the 4-sp peices together to convert from an auto. i would like a 6 sp. @$1800, but will settle for a muncie i found if it's okay for $200, which is cheap. a 455 is way down the road. very spendy but not nearly what a hemi will run you. you should be able to do image search on google for your car to get ideas. lots of people have websites for their cars.. i would get all new bushings too. f and r sway bars, 17's, etc

Depending on what you actually decide to do, this car could cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, but I'll give ya my two cents. My step dad, Wally Elder, used to own a shop called Custom Auto Works in Eurkeka, Missouri, where he worked by himself at the time. He had a friend who had a rusted out shell of a 69 Charger from the firewall to right in front of the trunk. No interior, no frame, no engine, tranny, nothing, just the rusted out frame, but luckily no holes. He removed the rust and what not and built a blown injected Hemi for it, had a racing chassis built for it and totally re did everything in the car. For the exterior, being a body man, he re worked the front and rear ends of the car turning it into a replica Dode Daytona with full spoiler and rear stripe included. The car was featured in magazines across the world including the obvious like Hot Rod, PHR, and what not from the states. In about 1993 I think, it may have been as soon as '97, I'm not sure, Hot Rod ran a special on the Top Ten Cars of All Time, and the 69 Charger / Daytona Replica placed. It placed tenth, but for all time, thats not bad. He also had a full aluminum interior and had tubbed the rear end, forgot to mention***Anyways, for being that nice of car, you'd expect it to cost quite a bit, but when he built it, he only spent $20,000 in it. The last I heard, someone was racing it in the California area after he sold it. Just so you know, it was a true Hemi and the WHOLE CAR WAS ONLY 20K. So you know it can be done. Depends on how much of the work you do yourself I guess. You'll learn some from schools, and shows and what not, but you'll learn the most from experience.
-Josh