Survivor R6 1969 Charger Garage find-383/727

This 69 Charger was originally from my hometown of Newton, Kansas. The 2nd owner bought it in 1978 and drove it to high school and college and even took it on his honeymoon to Colorado. He took it off the road in 1985 and parked it as his parents house in a tiny town of about 300 people which is 12 miles east of me. It sat there, stored inside, for 20 years. The owner then began leasing a building for work and moved the car there for the next 10 years. I asked my father in law (who lived in the tiny town) if there were any cool old Dodge/Mopar cars. He thought there was a red Dodge Charger parked in a chicken coop but he hadn't seen the car in years. Since my father in law is not a car guy I was incredulous but I got the owners name and tracked him down. I stopped by the owner's house (now in Wichita, Ks) and the owner's wife answered the door. I said, "I'm sure the car is long gone, but my father in law said you used to have a red Dodge Charger but he had't seen it in 15 years. Is there any chance you still have it?" She said, "We just moved it into our garage. Would you like to see it? It was so cool to see! The owner was at work and we spoke on the phone several times. He was torn about what to do with it as far as restoration but he was adamant he was going to keep it since he'd owned it for 38 years. I told him not to repaint the car because the paint was quite nice. I told him to just rebuild the brakes and suspension and enjoy it as is. I told him that if he was ever interested in selling to please call me. 6 months later I see that he has viewed my profile on LinkedIn and he requested to connect on the site. I accepted and the next day I get an email through Linked In. He had lost my number but he might be interested in selling. We made an arrangement to meet on Saturday. I showed up with cash and a trailer and was again blown away with the condition of the car. It is VERY original. It has its original 383 that has never been out of the car. The 727 has been rebuilt. The interior is all original except for 2 things. The carpet was replaced and when the instrument panel clock broke, he replaced it with a tach. The body has door dings but it is 90-95% original paint!! The dutchman's panel showed a little rust at the corners in the early 80's so he had the corners leaded in and only the dutchman's panel was repainted. He also had a dent on the leading edge of the hood that was worked out, and then paint was spotted in. It has 110K miles but it looks like 50K. The headliner is in great shape and the entire trunk floor is still R6 red!!!!

More pictures soon, but here are a few....

That's crazy nice.

Congratulations.

Thank you!

I got to see this car firsthand yesterday. It is a spectacular original example!

Of course it happened to be less than 3 miles from my house!

Very very cool, great story, great car, congratulations awesome fine!
Pat

Really nice car! I am hoping you just fix the broken things and give it a good detailing. That is too nice to do a rest on Very nice find!

I'm with you. Although the factory paint crazed and shows wear, it's too nice to do a restoration on. There is NO WAY I could bring myself to pull it apart for a restoration. My plan is to have it professionally cleaned and detailed. I will overhaul the manual brakes (drums all the way around) and replace the fuel tank/sending unit since the fuel is really old and smells. The only thing I'm seriously considering is upgrading the front drum brakes to front discs.....I've got a set of front disc brakes from a 69 Charger R/T that I bought a couple days ago off craigslist. I plan to occasionally drive this to work and back (35 miles each way) and 4 wheel drums would scare me.

That is a great find! Your homework paid off. I would do exactly to the car what you have planned. I love survivor cars and own a 70 Duster 340 survivor car now. Enjoy!

Wow What a great find! Congratulations! That looks like a great color combo. I'd def. drive it as is.
KID

oh that's just a column shift car..not worth bothering with ..I'll be right over and take that off your hands..... and what lotto numbers do you play?
sweet find! and don't let the four wheel drums scare you. I've been driving Chargers and road runners with 4 drums since '83, and never had a problem. just R&R, keep adjusted properly and they work fine.

Excellent !!!!! A real nice find indeed... Hopefully the trunk pan is as good as the rest of the car. With the air and 383, that would be a real nice car to drive... Hope your intention is to preserve the car.......

The trunk pan is PERFECT! It doesn't even have surface rust!

You are a lucky man,great car

Thanks everyone! The last couple days I walk out to the shop a couple times a day to make sure I'm not dreaming.....and to open the door and take a deep whiff of the Mopar scent;)

Luck has nothing to do with it!

Kelsey is hard core Mopar and beats the bushes to get deals like this. It's amazing what he digs up locally by following up on leads!

Nice!

Holy crap man; such a great find. So happy to hear of someone getting a car like this who has good plans for it.

That is quite the car...congrats

Dave

A few pics of the trunk floor

I pulled the fuel tank today, which has never been out of the car. The fuel strap J bolt threads were still covered in factory undercoating. There were no holes in the tank so i may restore the original at some point and install it again. I bought a new replacement to use in the mean time. Here are a few pics of the rear frame rails. I CAN'T BELIEVE this thing was kept in a chicken coop with dirt floors for 20 years....

Awesome!

That masked undercoating area near the shackle looks exactly like a 50,000 mile RR that I own.

What an AWESOME car !!!!

4 drums stop plenty fine.What an awesome car. Very nice

A thorough cleaning, detailing, and putting some original tires, hoses, belts, and its ready for the Survivor tent at the Mopar Nats.

There was a 68 Survivor in Osawatomie, KS I looked at about 15/16 years ago before chargers took off. Charger red, can't remember interior color, but it was a extremely solid car with similar miles. The owners dad bought it new if I remember right.

I spent some time going through the fuel system yesterday. I replaced the gas tank, fuel pickup, fuel filter, all soft fuel lines, and the fuel pump. I ordered a carb rebuild kit, which should arrive early this week. Next up is a complete brake overhaul and tires.

I rinsed the car off too so I took some pics

looks like an early car, no head rests. Great car!

I replaced the master cylinderr and all 4 wheel cylinders. My buddy Mark (GY3 here on moparts) was nice enough to rebuild the carburetor for me. He found that it was clean with new gaskets (30 years old but never used) and that the two needles had different diameters and were reversed so the plungers were bound up and didn't work at all. Mark is guessing that the carb was rebuilt and wouldn't run so that's why it was parked! Swapping those different diameter needles may have been the reason for the car being so well preserved!!

I started the car up and it ran nicely but it ran hot so I pulled the radiator and took it to a local shop. The radiator was plugged and had multiple leaks so I had it recored by a local radiator shop. Good radiator sops are getting hard to find, but this was a father and son that are pretty old school. The only thing I didn't like was that they use a glossy black radiator paint so I told them just to leave it unpainted. I ordered some satin radiator paint from Eastwood's and sprayed it yesterday in the back yard. I replaced the water pump and thermostat while I was at it.

Got the radiator, water pump, and thermostat installed Saturday afternoon and took my two oldest daughters out for the first cruise. It ran and drove great! Can you tell I like to drive Mopar products?

What a neat cruiser... Unbelievable find... Enjoy and have fun with it..

Don't get any better than this!

I have to give you a third thumbs up

That's a great car, congrats

Killer Charger!!

It's been awhile since I've updated this thread. Replacing the alternator was the last mechanical fix I've made. I had a local guy polish the original paint for me, clean/treat the vinyl top, and clean the interior.

Here are a couple early pics to show the contrast. Some better finished pics coming in a few minutes.

The professional detailing made a world of difference.

Looks great!

It's like you walked onto a used car lot in ~'72 and bought this car. It's that clean!

Now that brings back some memories......

Looks fantastic !!

Thanks! It's been a lot of fun. The first 40 miles were spent doing 30-40mph and it's a joy to drive. Since it has been reliable, I finally ventured onto the highway for the first time and if I go 55mph or faster it runs hot. When I slow down it cools off quickly so I think my exhaust is so restricted, it's forcing the exhaust back into the engine. It's 2 into one exhaust with one solitary glass pack....so I guess new exhaust is up next!!

Been a while since I have been in Newton! Check the lower radiator hose and see if collapses when accelerating, seen this a few times. Just have someone stab the accelerator when you are looking at the hose in your driveway.

It has been a long time since you've been here-maybe 4 years already??? I will check the radiator house out-thanks for the suggestion!

Man, that's the kind of find that most of us only get to dream of. Congrats!

I love what you've done to keep it original. Thanks for posting, it gives the rest of us hope that there are more out there waiting for us to find them...

Looks amazing!

Sweet car! Amazing find!

Great find, great story.....looks like a keeper!!

I'm a fan of discs too, though the drums are perfectly suitable for the driving you plan to do.

Our fifth baby arrived last week. Her first ride home was in the survivor 69 Charger....of course! My amazing wife and daughter are doing well.

Very cool!! Now you can never sell that car ;-)
What is her name?
Congrats!
Pat

Her name is Grace/Gracie. She joins Ella, Katelyn, Chloe, and Olivia....five of a kind!
I don't plan to ever sell the car!

Congratulations on your latest addition

The Charger looks great

Finally rebuilt the thread after the photobucket extortion attempt. Here's a few new pics...

Awesome story . You are a lucky man in so many ways .
Thanks for sharing.

Greg

Wow. That car is impressive! Great find. It appears there are still some out there!

SWEET!

Beautiful Charger. I really like how you are bringing it back to life and preserving it a the same time.

Christmas Eve Day was a rough day. It was such a nice day that I was determined to take the 1969 Charger out for a short drive. I was on a four lane blacktop and at the intersection ahead, a truck was on my left and he was signaling to turn right and drive north (opposite direction). As he pulled out, a late model GMC Sierra behind him pulled out at the same time. The young guy who was driving, decided to gun it across all 4 lanes of traffic. Because of the truck between us, I couldn't see him and he couldn't see me. His Sierra slammed into my front left fender and our vehicles' back ends swung around and clapped together. I slid sideways into the ditch. I hit the steering wheel and am bruised/beat up but I walked away, which I am grateful for. I have a wonderful wife and 5 children that need me; so I feel pretty lucky. That being said, the old Charger did well. I was doing 55mph and I'm not sure how fast the other guy was going be he was in a hurry.

Horrible news, glad to here you didn't sustain serious injuries..

A horrible waste but the Charger gave her life to save yours.

I know it sucks, but I hope the car is saved. Take the bad parts off, and a few hours on a frame rack, and it will not be as bad as it looks now. The car is salvageable.

glad you're
OK. Damn shame but you can rebuild it.

*oman*

Glad that everybody is ok.

This story breaks my heart.

But that is the risk nowadays of driving any classic car or daily grinder..
Bottom line glad you are OK.

If she can be repaired,she will still be a "True Survivor" instead of a cherry picked parts car shell of her old self.
She deserves to be fixed but that's my opinion.

Feasablity,insurance may be big factors

Such a sad deal. Glad for you getting out safe. Please fix that sweet car, or get it to a new owner who will fix it. Easier than rust repair. Won't be cheap. Need a good frame man to make it happen.

and sitting in a garage a tragedy can still happen. Might as well drive them and have fun with them. And we only have some many heart beats. Again, get them out and have fun with them.

It was a shame but your statement above is more true that you know. More details to come.
I don't regret driving the car that day at all...

Well, The last couple months have been nuts. I am finally prepared to share...I declined medical attention At the scene of the accident but a few hours later, my lovely wife convinced me to go the emergency room, where I received a chest x ray and a head CT scan. The ER Doc pronounced me healthy and sent me home but two days later I received a phone call. The head of radiology was home on the day of the crash. Two days later, he was reviewing the work done over the holiday when he came across my chest x-ray. He spotted a bump on my right humerus (the big bone in the upper arm). Several x-rays/MRI's and 14 days later I was told I have bone cancer in my right arm. I'm only 36 and a father of 5 little ones so it hit me hard. The surgeon/oncologist said that I needed to have the top third of my right humerus cut out and replaced with a cadaver bone. It took 3 weeks to find a cadaver bone that had the right size/profile since the head of the humerus needed to fit my existing rotator cuff/shoulder. It took three weeks of taking it easy because the bone was so thin that it was close to breaking. The picture of the x-ray shows how bad it was-the black void is where the cancer had eaten out the bone. As soon as the bone came in, I had surgery. Before the bone could be removed, the surgeon had to cut/unhook and peel back all the muscles that attach to the shoulder (bicep, tricep, deltoid, pectoral, and 4 back muscles) before cutting the cancerous bone out and grafting in the cadaver bone section with a 6" plate and screws. After the graft, all the muscles had to be sown back in place. I spent 5 days in the hospital where the pain was BRUTAL. The first 5 days at home were pretty rough too but things got much better after that. I've been in a sling for 6 weeks now and I've never sat still so much. The surgeon thinks he got all the cancer, but I will be doing body scans every 3 months for the next 5 years. The bone was sent off for pathology and upon inspection, the bone was hairline fractured but the tissue above it tested clean. The surgeon says this bone can take 6-9 months to heal fully. If it's not healed by 9 months I will have to have another bone graft done so if you're a praying man/woman, please pray for healing. I have to take it really easy for the next year which is NOT MY STYLE!!
I'm not sure why this had to happen, but I believe that all things happen for a reason and I'm truly grateful to God have survived the crash and to have a solid chance at beating this cancer. I do know that without this wreck, cancer would not have been found in time. This type of cancer does not respond to radiation or chemo so it can only be cut out. And when it spreads, it usually goes straight to the lungs....so all in all, I feel fortunate. If you pray, please keep me in your prayers. Enjoy the pictures...
The tumor....





One of my favorite pics from inside the car...

I saw your post on FB yesterday and thought, wow, God works His miracles in so many different ways. No one would ever think you would be lucky to be in an accident with a survivor 69 charger, but you were.
That car accident saved your life and though wives can be a pita, lol, sometimes they're right about us making sure we get ourselves checked out health wise. Thankfully you took her advice.Sounds like you have a great support system. If losing one 69 charger means the hobby gets to keep a great mopar enthusiast and these 5 kids get to keep there dad, then take the car all day, every day. Best of luck to you on your road to recovery. Keep the prayers flowing because God obviously works! And who knows, if cutting out the cancer and bone can get you back to 100%, maybe you'll decide to cut out the damage in that charger and get that looking good as new too! Good luck and you will be in my prayers.

God Bless you and your beautiful family

Prayers will be sent

I don't want to say you're a lucky man because all of this sucks but good thing you got in that accident. It sounds like they got the bad stuff out of your arm

we usually don't understand why some things happen, but like you said, if you hadn't been in that crash, it may not have been caught in time. God is watching over you. Prayers sent for a good recovery.

Stay Positive!!

God Bless You and your Family

I'm happy you're OK. I'm so glad the the misfortune actually helped you find the cancer. I have a very similar story, I got very lucky myself or I wouldn't be here.... God bless you and yours brother. (oh and I stopped at 3 girls LOL)

Sending positive thoughts your way - and a thank you to the head of Radiology! I am thinking that seeing your family everyday is also translating into some powerful medicine as well

WOW! What a crazy turn! I am glad they caught it in time. I pray for a speedy and full recovery for you!

I remember when you first found this 69 charger (as your not too far from me) and was shocked at the accident you were in on a facebook post. The saying that "That the Lord works in mysterious ways" is a good lesson here. Had the accident not happened, how long would you have gone before discovering the big C?


Praying for you, your family and a full recovery!

I dont know what to say, I am not much of a religious man but have to say someone was on your side and I will pray that whoever it may be, is still watching over you.

5 years ago today I had that horrible first surgery...so I'm 5 years cancer free!!! I finally got around to making a couple youtube videos about the purchase and the wreck.

Part 1: The purchase

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Part 2: The wreck...and the cancer that was found by E.R. imaging