Mopar Muscle Association UK

Hello wonderful Mopar community...

Well you guessed it... I brought the infamous St Albans car. Crazy ain't I?

Although I overpayed for this car (don't want to go in too much detail on price, but it wasn't nowhere near the 20k he wanted) it was within my budget for a project and a project is what I was after! maybe more of a project than id hoped for but she's home now and il do my best to do her justice.

A bit about me... Although I'm new to Mopars, I'm not new to Yanks. Iv owned and restored before (Firebirds mainly) and to be honest, Mopars seem easier to work with as the panels are a slightly thicker gauge steel (I believe, haven't measured but just by eye) and there's definitely easier accessibility. I am an electrical engineer by trade, and the electrics seem so much easier than anything I have worked on before. At least I have this in my corner.

Decoded by the wonderful Matt Hollingsworth, (who I can't possible praise enough, will post more about this on a separate post in due course) it is a 1969 Charger, 383 2BB, originally bright metallic green, white top special car. It is a column shift car, and it was well on its way to rotting away. I have inspected thoroughly and even had it running. It does sound awesome and I feel I have enough passion to restore her completely.

Current status, needing rear frame rails, some patching or replacing front torsion, new floors to front (centre section of floor is fantastic, strange huh) and trunk floor. Also rear valance and rear light panel. Interior needs covering but is complete (Obviously needs a carpet!). Transmission also seems good but I guess that will be confirmed over time as I progress. As you have probably guessed, there are some repairs needed to front wings and sills but they are completely salvagable and plenty of Chrysler steel to work with. Doors, engine bay, hood, deck lid and and stainless steel are all fantastic and don't need much. original glass is great all round, The front of this car is in fantastic condition with the rear taking the corrosion. However the firewall will be patched in certain places- minor repairs are needed here.

Over all, in a restorable condition and I feel I may have got to it just in time to save it from Mopar heaven.

Oh, one more thing I'm up against....

The car needs to be registered. This is a task as, as it stands all I have is a VIN and a letter from Matt from this wonderful club. Waiting on Nova confirmation from HMRC in order to submit an application for a V5. I will not be spending money until this is complete. The future of this car is currently dependant on this. So within the next few months, this thread will either take off or il post upsetting news. I refuse to fib, so if the registration does not for some reason get approved, il be keeping this as a parts car and will look for another, or I may sell with the complete honesty of its situation. If the worst does happen, il lose money but I refuse to sell this car to someone with false hopes, hence my honesty here. Lets stay positive for now. Fingers Crossed.

Trying to work out how to post pics...

Nice to meet you all!

Welcome! Glad to see that car will be restored. You'll get lots of support and encouragement here. Keep us posted, and good luck!

Welcome on board, hopefully all will go well with the registration process and we can look forward to another great rebuild thread

Nice one, nobody better than Matt to sort out your registration woes, it should work out Ok. You have found the best place for knowledge and help with your project. I find it surprising there are still so many American cars in the UK that have never been registered, I can think of one off the top of my head that's been here since '76 that could have gone straight through an MOT and yet still sits unregistered.

Chargingatchya wrote: Mon Jul 27, 20 11:35 am the wonderful Matt Hollingsworth, (who I can't possible praise enough,)

Yeah. He gets that a lot...


PS - Welcome. Looking forward to this one. One quick question - why did it end up just sitting there ? Did it do its rotting while it sat there or was it needing work when parked up ? Such an odd situation for a 2nd gen Charger.

Thank you for your replies. I am roaring to go with it now- but I need to contain myself until i get the V5. I don't want to start stripping it down just yet- that's the hard bit... Waiting... Waiting... Waiting...

"One quick question - why did it end up just sitting there ? Did it do its rotting while it sat there or was it needing work when parked up ? Such an odd situation for a 2nd gen Charger."

Honestly mate, your guess is as good as mine. I think it did majority of its rusting just sitting there. Id love to know more about this cars history. its wasn't respected much, the dripping rattle can orange spray says a lot about at least one of its owners! As I understand, the owner who wouldn't sell it in St Albans passed on, hence why it ended up getting sold. I purchased it from the buyer and collected it from from Portsmouth. I honestly have no idea of its past.

Hopefully it'll not take too long to get registered. Good luck with the resto, looking forward to the build thread

Blue wrote: Mon Jul 27, 20 12:52 pm I can think of one off the top of my head that's been here since '76 that could have gone straight through an MOT and yet still sits unregistered.

I'm waiting for the letter request, but I suspect he may not register it? At least I have already inspected it should it need doing, matching numbers and all!

Chargingatchya wrote: Tue Jul 28, 20 7:27 am , the dripping rattle can orange spray says a lot about at least one of its owners!

My Charger was painted orange with a roller. They couldn't even roller straight up and down and slipped side ways in several places!

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Passed this a few times without seeing it until tarp blew off

I’d love to know when it got here and history before it got to that spot... thanks for the pics!

Currrently awaiting rear frame rails to be installed. Will post pics.