1968 Dodge Charger Factory 383 Original Motor Buddy Seat Column Shift

1968 Dodge Charger Description

Hello, thanks for looking! I am helping some good friends sell their charger. This has been in their possession for over 30 years. It had hit a cow in the late 70's as the story goes (see pics of front end damage.) The current owners husband bought it at that time and had it fixed.
Video here:Go to youtube and in search box type "1968 Charger 454284" That should bring this car right up.
ALSO! in description area of that video is a photo bucket link to over 240 photos. Please check them all out carefully.
Odometer is at 68k but has turned over, so 168k. Lots of old receipts to show this.

Body:
Due to the front end damage from the cow, the hood, both front fenders, grill, and core support were replaced. All straight rust free pieces from a donor car. One of the driest almost rust free chargers around! I believe this car hailed from Nevada before California so dry climate its whole life. Has an RT badge on grill. Not an RT. This car has had a repaint and a vinyl top replacement a while back similar to the original color which was green. (see photos of inner trunk or front end damage photos for og paint reference). Paint is ok, has some areas of small scuffing marks and scratches. Possibly from car cover blowing around. Some chips here and there. All shown in photos. Thetrunk has typical rust though not as bad as many. Could just use as is after addressing rust, or cut out. Some pinholes and thin material. Some small rust holes under rear window. Hidden behind trim. There was also a hole drilled through rear deck behind glass but before trunk. not sure what or why. The body filler is cracking there, and the panel a bit wavy besides. That panel on chargers have a large factory brace underneath it (above trunk cavity area) and that has some rust gathering inside it. See pictures. Right rear lower corner below bumper has a ding. Also below rear license plate the panel has a little denting under. One ding above passenger side front fender above wheel right at top of fender. Very small. On passenger side the door handle is slightly pushed in and a small dent below the handle has also cracked filler there. The passenger quarter panel has a couple small dents just before wheel, also body filler cracked. It appears prior to these dents, the filler was put there to cover some old damage. If you look inside trunk into quarters you can see lots of heat marks and dent repair. Not major crush damage but dent repair nonetheless. Original quarters! Aside from the lower half of the passenger quarter having some past damage I do not see any other damage when looking deep into the quarter wells from the trunk cavity. Some light damage on valance under front bumper. Front bumper has some damage and slightly tweaked. One crack in grill on passenger lower part, right next to factory split between headlamp section and grill. Missing driver side A pillar stainless trim with small piece to turn corner onto trim above window. Also missing lower passenger side rear window corner trim piece. the chrome trim on vinyl top where it meets rear deck lid on rear, where panel by rear window meets rear deck, is cracked in center. (near where that rear window trim is missing) Chrysler pentastar by passenger front wheel has been painted over green. Missing Data tag in engine compartment. Due to hitting that cow, the front inner fender wells and front frame horns have been cut and welded. The frame rails had plates welded on each side to support new section as well as some welding, though they did not weld the bottom of cut, as seen in pics. This was not a restoration fix, just a fix in the 70's or 80''s. Therefore, the front radiator core support numbers do not match the car. I don't see any obvious frame damage otherwise, but study pics. Original wheel covers. Underneath and in wheel wells is virtually rust free, everywhere -floors, frame rails - everywhere! Rockers and quarter lowers etc. also appear solid and rust free as far as I can tell as they are painted but they do not show bodywork. Tons of original undercoating. Inside rear passenger wheel well you can see some of the afore mentioned quarter damage from some point in it's history. Side mirror is a cable controlled unit but mirror has broken out of housing. Vinyl top is a decent job, some of it has not been trimmed you can see it sticking out next to rear side window rear corner on one side. Not sure of any rust under there or how well the roof metal was addressed before putting on. A piece of trim above driver rear side glass popped off while cleaning and it looked like factory green with surface rust. So I am guessing they just redid top without any fresh paint. I popped the trim back on. It may need some tweaking to stay on tighter though. Passenger rear side glass has factory AC sticker. Signal light on driver side of hood is missing ther backing and housing. Driver side lower valance light is broken. Other lights in good shape all around. Glass is good with exception of rock hit in front windshield. Not cracked but has a round bubble appearance. See pics. Rear trunk body stamp matches build sheet shipping order # 206856 so no rear clip issues. The four fender well trim pieces are not on the car but I have it. The right rear one is beat up, I expect from the damage that was bodyworked there. One of the two torsion bars to hold trunk up by itself is out for some reason. I have it and will need to be put in. Driver front lower fender near valance has some body filler and cracking. Driver door could be adjusted. Sags a little.
Theoretically you you could polish the paint, do the bodywork on the door handle area, passenger quarter, rear deck, and paint those to match and have a decent driver paint job. Oh, also a couple spots on top of passenger rear quarter that look to be bird dropping marks in paint.

Interior:
Front seats have been redone but not to original style. Tape on driver side covering issues. The owners had two 68's at one time and were identical interiors with buddy seats. They swapped all seats from that car to this one as these were nicer. Thankfully the original build sheet for this car was saved from the other seats! Not brittle and in very nice shape. It's too bad the data plate for fender well is missing but at least this build sheet exists to show it's options. There is cracking here and there, especially on dash. Black tape was put over these areas at some point. The dash has some surface rust as well. A black dash carpet is currently laid over dash. Dash facade plastic is flaking paint and silver in appearance under that. Radio was cut for cd player that does not work. An alarm is currently on car. Not sure if or how well it works. So wiring and electrical items are in engine compartment and in dash. This is a factory AC car, but you can see through ac vents and see alarm components so ducting is not there. The control switches for heater and AC on dash seem stuck. Steering wheel is cracked in three places. Carpet and headliner are nice. Headliner replaced in '05 I think. Rear seats I believe are original, cracked on top, and a one inch tear on passenger lower. Door panels are great. Drivers armrest has tape covering some cracks. Right rear passenger window crank is off. May have that. Have to check. Rear view is loose in its ball joint. Doesn't stay in adjusted position.

Drivetrain:
383 with a 2bbl carb. Single exhaust. Motor appears to be original. The stamping on block near distributer is D383 7/10. The build sheet shows a shipping order date of 7/10. The block casting number is 6-28-68. Below motor near starter is a number I am not sure what it means. Looks to read PT383R25390027. No stamping of vin on rear top of block as Mopar did not make that a practice all of '68. All of '69 they did however. Have not looked into trans markings. Standard 727 auto column shift. Have a receipt showing rebuild in '86 with odometer showing a recorded 14,019 (could be 114k obviously) That would be about 54k ago. Visually the trans appears to have been gone into with painted pan and new gaskets showing. Factory cruise control with original dealer cardboard ad that slips over selector handle on column. That piece, the owners manual, and car maintenance schedule are in glove box. Have not tested cruise control but assume like many that it does not work. This car had sat in a garage for some years. Recently the owners pulled it out for a couple of short trips. AC pump has seized, then pulley bearings came apart and the pulley seized and belt burnt and broke. I have pulley off. Also clutch fan is a little worn on its shaft, it makes a little noise. In the above youtube video I show the car running without those belts for the sake of hearing it run without peripheral noises. I only ran temporarily without that fan belt as it turns water pump. Just ran long enough for video. With belt on and water circulating I did a couple of small drives. I drove under battery power for ignition as belt for AC is off and was not therefore turning alternator. Runs good and still has some power however motor has a slight knock. In video I brake torque it a little to make it apparent for you to hear. The motor had some fouled plugs and I replaced those but also did a compression check all around. With choke and throttle plates open and with all plugs out I turned it over about 10 times each. Compression is low. 100, 105, 105, 100, 105, 97, 85, 120 psi. Motor is tired and should be checked out and perhaps rebuilt. Radiator is leaking down low on passenger side. More of a weep then a leak. Vacuum diaphragm on distributor was shot so I replaced that. Leaks a little oil, trans leaks as well. Not emergency but leaves its mark on floor. Rear differential covered in grease and gunk. Ball joints rubber protecting joints are old and deteriorated. Freeze plug on motor appears thin and corroded. Not leaking yet though.

Brakes
Tires are fairly new tread wise but 17 years old. Great name though! Pos-A Traction Radial Twister!Car does not have posi traction sadly haha! Front brakes have been replaced with disc some time ago, single piston calipers and they are 11" rotors. Power brakes. The brakes need to be pumped and if you just stay on the pedal with your foot it slowly goes to the floor. The fluid is dirty and the rubber lines are aged and cracking. Needs brake attention. 14" rims.
Gauges and Electrical
The headlights open up and the low beams work. When you click the foot switch for high beams they all 4 go out. The speedo works. The tach (tic toc tack!) and clock to not work. The alternator, fuel gauge, and oil pressure gauge appear to work. The Temp does not. Dome light does not come on. The e brake warning light works. The blinker switch only stays to one side you have to hold it to the other. The flasher may need replacing as well. The brake lights and rear blinking work. Not sure about all side marker lights. Hood marker lights do not work.

Misc.Missing spare tire and hardware.

Well that is whats known. The owners are selling as is. No warranty no promises. I have described as faithfully as I possibly can. I may have forgot a few things. Please ask questions. All sales final. $500 deposit (non refundable!) due within 48 hours of auction end. (preferably paypal). The remaining balance due in cash or check within one week of auction close or you lose your deposit. If paying with check the check will have to clear before picking up vehicle. The title will be signed with actual sale price. Honesty in everything I do so please do not ask me to write a fictitious sale amount to save on taxes. Located in Lebec, CA 93243 about 1.5 hours north of downtown L.A. right off the I-5 freeway. Will store for two weeks until you can arrange pickup. After two weeks its $100 a week to store. If you do not honor that timeframe and refuse to pay $100 per week after you lose your deposit and sale. Please no exceptions. Full sale amount must be paid within one week even if waiting two weeks or more to pickup. Do not bid until you see all pictures and video on youtube and photo bucket. Bidders with less then 3 feedback need to contact me before bidding. Otherwise I will cancel your bid. Currently registered and up to date. Clean title ready. No reserve. No buy it now. The auction will run until the end.