I’ve looked at a lot of Dodge Chargers over the years, but I hate to say it, I have never noticed the door scopes on the ’70 R/T. I know I’ve seen ones with it before, but I never really payed it much attention to the details until I was looking at this rusty project and that’s when I realized how much they change the look of the car. I’m not sure what kind of barn this Mopar was stored in, I’m thinking it might have actually been a chicken coop, but it’s still a desirable R/T 440 car. Find it here on eBay in Scarbro, West Virginia with bidding already up to $9,600.
This sure seems like a lot of debris in the engine bay for this car to have been in the shelter of a maintained barn. At first I thought perhaps mice had just moved into the engine bay, but if you look where the hood meets the engine bay you can see that debris (most likely bird droppings) have accumulated. There are of course plenty of signs that mice also made this their home for the 25 years it was parked in said barn. The seller doesn’t offer any information about the condition of the 440 V8, but the lack of an air cleaner makes me a bit nervous. It looks like the flaps on the carb are closed, so hopefully the engine was never turned into a rodents dream home!
The interior is, well, rough and appears to have been gnawed upon by a few mice over the years. I can only imagine how this Mopar must smell and I’m going to say it isn’t a pleasant scent. Finding replacement part shouldn’t be too difficult though, as these are quite popular cars to restore. I know I would love to own one! Heck, I’d just be happy to have a Charger with a set of door scoops like what’s on this R/T! So would you leave this Mopar looking rough on the outside, but install a new interior with reworked mechanicals or does it deserve a complete restoration?
Graveyard cars was working on one last night during a new episode and showed them putting some of the final touches to it and one was installing the door scoops and putting the self sticking R/T badges on. Pretty desirable car and worth quite a bit when finished but you better have deep pockets or the ability to do most of the work yourself.
Normally I’m not a big fan of patina but the ’68-70 Chargers seem to be only second to the tri-five Chevys in that there’s always at least one or two nice shiny ones at a given show. Before buying I’d check on bulk prices of 5-gallon cans of Ozium though…
“CONSIDER THIS CAR TO NEED COMPLETE RESTORATION”
Should say ” Consider this car to be a bio hazard when any of that mixture of bird and rodent crap gets airborne”
Looks like they lived in every inch of this thing. The pic of the console and shifter really brings it to light.
Wear a hazmat suit.
I have to agree with you Mark when this bird and mouse crap become air born you could get guide sick Crome breathing in the fumes.even a rain suit and auto body mask with some hepa filters would be better than going in this car un protected. For me personly I would not even bring a car like this into my shop until it got a complete clean out first. As for the car if you can look past the mess this is a restoreable car, the engine would have to go to a rebuilder anyway so if there is bird crap in there it won’t matter. It would be a nice car when done.
It really makes me wonder what people are thinking when they store a car, I know that back in the 70s when a car quit running for whatever reason no one could have guessed some of these old cars could be worth a fortune now but they kept the car for some reason, why not at least make some effort to preserve it?
That is a filthy car.
This car may end up smelling like mouse pee forever. No matter how much you clean and clean that smell permeates everything it touches ,especially when there is so much of it and it sat so long.
Filthy as all get out. Better get a HASMAT suit before you go near it. That, and that half-acre of sheet metal that is the hood might make me keep looking for my next project.
I’ll chime in, to me, it looks too far gone, we have no idea what the underside is like , the leaves, etc underhood shows somebody didn’t give a hoot, EVER the windows must have been left down by the way the seats/dash look good thing we don’t have ” smell o vision” would also have liked to have close ups of the roof , but that is just me
I was wondering what a door scope was but reading on I found they are scoops. No worries.
Guys really? You’re worried about mouse crap? There isn’t a surface of this that isn’t going to be blasted or replaced.
Exactly what I was thinking.Except maybe the dash pad.
Agreed 1000% Whoever gets this pile of rust will most likely acid dip it so no worries on the mouse pee/poop smell.
Bob,
Yes the car will likely be blasted, and I don’t want to worry people, but……..
There is something you can get from contact with mouse urine, saliva and droppings. It’s called hantavirus and it can cause some serious health problems. There’s info here from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/hps/transmission.html
Whenever there’s the possibility of contact with those things I always wear rubber gloves, outer clothing that gets washed separately right after I finish, and a nose/mouth mask.
You do not want to get this virus. I hope everyone will take it seriously. There are already enough risks in life….we don’t need more just because we work on old cars. Don’t mess with a car like this before it’s sent to be blasted, or if you have to clear the interior, protect yourself. Stay safe and healthy, everybody.
Well if we’re going to fret about the crap then keep in mind that all crap is potentially dangerous. Pigeon and raccoon are at the top of the list.
More concerning to me is that this stands out as a safety risk. If this was just dust and grime am I to understand you would all throw caution into the wind?
The health concern of basic dust and grime is a CERTAIN health risk and I bet most of you don’t wear protection in those circumstances.
I wouldn’t want to restore this car because of all the work that it is and I know this because I have built several cars from worthless parts cars when I was younger, but it absolutely can be done. This will make someone a valuable piece to have someday being a 440 RT car. Much more return on the investment than my 1965 f-85 cutlass which was upside down halfway through or my 1973 caprice by the time it was done. Cars like these are love affairs that you restore without caring what the market values them at. Mopars are not cheap to collect, but someone will turn this into a nice car again definitely.
I agree w/Gary I, there’s enough there to restore, but it’ll take $erious ca$h…
Once finished, it’ll be a nice ride
Not saying I’m afraid of rat crap, just couldn’t be bothered with this mess. I’d spend a little more money, buy a driver or something that’s close to a driver and fix it as I go. Life’s too short.
I agree Mark. Spend a little more money for a better car.
Been there, done that.
Too much “fun” restoring this car.. Seen an episode on Texas Car Sharks where Margaret picked up a 64 TBird and it had dead rats in it.. Her hired hands pulled the entire interior out to clean it.. If I remember, none of those guys wore masks..
Anyway, this car has to have been sitting in a pigeon coup or burried under a cypress tree full of White Ingrets nesting.. In any case, it’s only for those who are not faint of heart..
Wow, This car is really in pretty good shape considering how it’s been stored. A 440, air conditioned 70 Charger R/T in that shape is pretty hard to find. Given even a #2 restoration, this car could pull $50 – $70K. I’m currently restoring a 69 Charger R/T (which is my favorite) but a 70 R/T is my second choice. If I weren’t working on the one I’ve got, I’d certainly be bidding on this 70.
I find it odd that even though the car has an a/c compressor, there are no vents in the dash?!? Also, from what can be seen of the controls (not obscured by the dangling shoulder belt) appears to be the basic control panel for non-a/c cars. As has been stated, the body metal appears to be in good shape, but EVERYTHING would need to come out , and the whole CARcass be stripped/dipped/blasted!! :-)
Here is a picture of an air conditioned Charger, showing the dash controls, and center vents.
Well the Body Looks Fairly Straight but the Interior Is Going to have to be Scrapped completely as It’s a BIO HAZARD. However NOT WORTH 10K$ the Guy is outta his Gordita. That & Judging the Level Of Neglect it has suffered I’d say the Engine is Probably Seized. It’s Fixable But Gonna need a $$$ PILE of work.
This car is not plumbed for A/C; no lines, fan shroud, or receiver dryer present. The compressor and A/C fan clutch came with this big block they pulled out of a Chrysler (Chrysler blue paint?) I’m pretty sure the Thermoquad carb didn’t arrive for a couple of years after this car was built.
The car is worthy of restoration but clearly not numbers matching car.
I would hate to be the car behind this thing on a trailer, I would be worried about what was flying off of it as it goes down the road!!!!!