I was on craigslist today and I found a 66 dodge charger, all original except paint. It has a 318 engine, automatic transmission. It was painted last summer, and has had some rear quarter work done. The guy is asking $7800. What is a good price on one of these? What are some problem spots to look out for? Any other advice would be great!

 

That would be a 318 Polyshere engine not a 318LA. Price sounds fair. Just look it over good to make sure there is no hidden rust and the Quarter panel work was done right. I know a guy who bought a T-Bird that looked good in the pics, but was reconstructed out of chicken wire and bondo with fresh paint. It was so bad he scrapped the car. Of coarse the seller refused a refund.

 

problem spots are the normal ones- quarters, etc.
some places you can look is where the control arms bolt to the car- make sure that area is not rusted out. that is a common problem with mopars

make sure that the area under the rug, right in front of the passenger seat is not rusted out. when the heater starts to go, that area gets a lot of coolant and water that can get trapped.

I would try to haggle the price down

 

I think so often we look at the body integrity and forget to look into things like the frame itself, or things like ball joints and such.

Sitting outside in the grass for years will rot a frame out like nobodies business. And grease seals rot go bad and all that stuff is $$$ to find and replace.

Find out when the car was last licensed for the road.

Good Luck
Joe.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I may be able to talk the guy down in price some, There are a lot of cars I could choose from for $7800 so I wanna make sure i get what I want! and I definitely don't want to end up with something that has been repaired with chicken wire and bondo...lol

 

i LOVE that year charger. so sharp.

 

I know, I think they look sharp too and you don't see many that year! I'm just torn between buying something else, or keep the 880 and build a nice 4 door cruiser