Dynacorn or original E body

[norfla71]

Wanting to start an E body project next year and don't know which route to take; I have no welding skills and limited body work experience. Goal is to have a 70 Challenger with some Cuda trim (grille, valance and gills). I would like to start with a decent car, but most of them were treated worse than cabs or rentals back in the day, so that's going to be a large obstacle. Considering my lack of skill I'm thinking of starting with a Dynacorn shell and going from there. Either way I'm potentially looking at close to $17,000 as a starting point, including any metal work the original may need. I see several for sale well within my budget, but probably need tons of rust or collision repair. Mechanical and interior details are already ironed out. I understand any year E can be transformed into a 70, and would consider that option; the later cars look rather ungainly to me. Probably looking at a 225 or 318 automatic with some miles.

Not knowing is why I'm here; if anyone has a resource for finding good project cars within a couple of hundred miles of Pensacola/Ft Walton beach area that would be a start. All in, I have about a $40,000 budget regardless of which way I go, so no crazy big displacement race hemi's or exotic mechanicals; looking at building a resto-mod driver that I can wrench on with a small box of SAE tools. I can do some body work, including paint, so that's handled; don't care if the panels are laser straight (can't be worse than factory fit and finish).

Should have bought 20 years ago; could have gotten my pick of 72-74 rust free original drivers for under $2,000 all day long.

 

[Adam]

Check Florida DMV laws. If you build a Dynacorn body as a "Special Construction" in California they will treat it like a 2014 and it will need to comply with smog and other regs. If you build it as a 1970 you are good to go, but you need a donor car for the title and VIN. Lastly, Dynacorn bodies are a good way to go, but they are not exact copies of originals; I believe they weld the door hinges on, istead of bolting them on. There might be other differences too.

 

[challenger6pak]

I'm in Fl and the way I understand it is that you can't take a donor car VIN and use it on a Dynacorn body.

 

[Adam]

That may be. Out here it can be used as a replacement part if you have the original car.

Dynacorn has a useful link on their website: http://www.dynacornclassicbodies.com/stateseal2.html

 

[moparleo]

I have a question about your statement that you want a Challenger to put a Cuda grille, valence and gills. Body parts are not interchangeable between Challengers and Barracuda's.
You would be better off finding 70 Challenger driver and then upgrade what you want. To start from nothing but a body is more complicated than you might think. A complete car is made up of 1,000's of individual parts and when you start with a body only and have not done a restoration yet will be take a lot of research and patience. You will also need help with the project from someone who has some experience with this type of build.

It is hard to stay motivated when you realize how much work it is. That is why I would recommend upgrading a driver. You can do one area at a time and still have a complete car.

 

[norfla71]

Didn't realize Cuda grille and valance didn't fit; measurements are similar, so maybe mounting holes? I can modify things to make them fit.

Dynacorn shells include doors and trunk lid, so half the battle is already won; plus no rust repair. Sure, there will be a ton of work, but I have years to complete it, and don't want to rush and screw this project up. As far as amount of work, I believe it would be more work to buy a driver and discover it needed floors, trunk, cowl, etc. Which is my dilema; should I roll the dice and hope my pick is solid enough or just take the "easy" way out and get a fresh shell. Tough decision, as a lot of potential cash is on the line. To make it harder all the decent looking cars are no closer than a few hours from me, which means a lot of time and energy just getting to see it.

The only thing that would discourage me is if suddenly everyone discovered how great these are and there are no good cars left, and parts prices skyrocket accordingly. Anymore than $40,000 is a no-go for me. At any rate, maybe luck will (for once) smile on me like Joe Dirt and I can get the car of my dreams for the cash in my pocket.

 

[Adam]

The Dynacorn website says the Challengers wont be available til 2015, so you have some time.....

 

[sheetmetaldan]

Am I missing something? Unless you are dead set on making this Challacuda? With a budget of $40,000 you can buy a real nice Cuda or Challenger turn the key and go today! Plus you wont spend months/years building your project or worse yet losing interest and selling it incomplete for a fraction of what you spent!

 

[moparleo]

Exactly.

 

[challenger6pak]

I believe he means $40,000 total paid in payments due to purchases for the car over a time of years. It is better to buy a done car so you don't lose interest.

 

[Bill]

$40k sure would buy a nice car... "NOW". I'm currently almost two years into my rotisserie 73 Rallye project. My budget started out at about 18k to finish and now its looking to be more like 23k. I think we all have this perception that if we do it our self that it will cost less and it will be more affordable. Statistically that is not true if you compare it to purchasing something that is already done.
The pluses of doing it myself I am finding are.
1) I love working on this car and learning stuff about it.
2) When it's finished I will know every nut and bolt on the car.
3) There will be no hidden damage or flaws that was done by someone else.
4) It will be the color I chose and built to the best of my ability the way I want it.
5) I will be able to say "I did that" from bumper to bumper (except the motor rebuild).

The minuses are.
1) I have owned this car for almost two years now and that is two years of not being able to drive a Challenger.
2) I probably could of purchase a very nice already done 73 Rallye Challanger for 23k and been driving it from day 1.
3) I don't think it's a disadvantage but some may that I have many, many hours put into this car with may more to go. I love
working on my car but it does take time away from my family and other things I could or should be doing (like exercising or spending 1/2 hour typing this note to you lol). My
goal is to get it on the road by end of summer 2014 (goals are not always met).

I am enjoying things like building my own rotisserie and being able to turn the car on it's side. Not being a gear head all my life that has got to be one of the coolest things I think I ever did in my life.
One thought is you said you are not looking to do this until next year so maybe you can find a local auto body class to take at your local trade school??? I know I would love to do that. I found a local guy that has been restoring old mopars for decades and thought about asking him if I could work for him for no pay when he is doing auto body on old rigs (he has a nice 67 GTX original 440 on a rotisserie now).
I have found that there are 4 key things that are needed to take a project all the way to the end.
1) Money
2) A good place to work on it
3) Desire.
4) Your spouse needs to be on board with the idea of putting a lot of $$$ into an old car. My wife is not but she realizes how happy
the project is making me.

The car I am restoring (73 Rallye) is a partially done project where above item #2 and item #3 were lost.
I traded a guy a snowmobile I was not riding any more for a 74 a few years ago for a parts car. He lost above items #2 and #4 (divorce and she got the house)

Buy one already done and enjoy NOW.
or
Learn how to do it yourself, be prepared for a long time to see final results but if you get a reward as I do by doing it yourself then go for it. I don't know where your 40k figure came from but almost 100% of the time whatever you figured statistics show that you will wind up spending more. I look at my 73 Rallye project kind of like a train set in the basement or model airplanes. But WAY more fun and cool for me anyway.

Whatever you do... Good luck and welcome to FEBO.

 

[norfla71]

All valid points. However, I'm running into severely used up donor's that require lot's of new sheet metal. So far I haven't found any good drivers in my area for what I want to pay; most are a lot of miles away, and are questionable at best. A Dynacorn body is a solid platform to build on; time is not a factor as it will take many hours and years to get it on the road. As for purchase costs; when I get ready most good cars (73 and 74 included) will be heading way north; again, taking a chance of spending major cash for a basket case is not something I can afford.

I'm mainly doing this to day I built it as a matter of pride.

 

[challenger6pak]

A decent 1970 318 car was just on the south Florida Craigs list. It sold for $14,000. They are out there. I'm going to look a 71 RT next week. It needs work but will be had for around $5,000. A neighbor of mine just sold a rusty 318 numbers matching 72 Cuda for $1,200. I bought a 73 running and driving Charger Rallye recently for $500. Go to car shows and local cruises. Talk to people. Beat the bushes, have cash ready, and you will find cars. I personally almost never buy cars that are advertised. The deals are with cars you find unadvertised.

 

[ramenth]

Don't be afraid of looking further afield than what you're used to, either.

As challenger6pak just pointed out some in his area. If you run across one, don't be afraid to see if someone here will take a look at it for you. Most of us won't poach the car. Shipping costs really can be had low. Just had a member of FMJ's buy an Imperial from NC, he's in Ohio. Total shipping cost was $800, but shop around and see what prices you get.