Hello from a C-Body / General Mopar Freak from Denmark

Holy S_t. I must say that I admire your positive attitude throughout this whole experience.


Ha ha, thanks man.. Well, I figure there's enough sadness in the world, without me adding mine.. and after all, it's about how getting back in the horse, that decides how fast your'e gonna reach the goal..

That said, the goal HAS actually been changed, both by financial, and part-related reasons, AND having all this BEHIND me, I have a much more positive approach to the whole thing now, than I did during several of the stages, that we're going through in the next part of;

"The Adventures of the Wreck" :-D

Thanks for reading guys.. I'ts fun to share this with like-minded people!
 
The thought of a fire in these old cars scares the hell out of me. I'd be surprised if you told us that you don't keep a fire extinguisher in that car after that many incidents.
 
I think that the fear is dampened after the first few fires.. maybe if follows the value of the car, and the rate in which the remaining combustible materials diminishes :-D

A 2 Kilo device is law here for "classic vehicles".. or rather, it's a "demand" from the insurance company, so yes.. I DO have one..!

Actually, when the fires were at their highest, I went all "Defcon 1", and had a FULL SIZE 10 KG extinguisher in the car, as opposed to the 2KG, the insurance demand, but now.. I'm back to the 2KG, and Defcon 4. (Increased intelligence watch, and strengthened security measures)
 
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I had a pretty slow day, so i managed to type the rest of the Polish ordeal ;-D

Guessed the name yet? ~ "The Poland Ferry".


At this point, I had spent an already silly amount of money, and LOADS of time on eBay, buying and importing the needed parts to make the car "a very decent driver", and decided that it should be sent to Poland, for a proper and complete paint, and interior restoration down to new fresh chrome, and some NOS emblems". It was my intention all along, to save this yacht.. and restoration in Poland was super much cheaper back then, as EVERYTHING in Denmark is ALWAYS crazy expensive. As "EU" came along opening up for cross boarder services and such, having restorations done in Poland, was very a good way to save money.
I found a Danish "Poland-broker", and to make sure everything would go well for my baby, I searched out THREE of his previous customers. They all were nearly 100% satisfied, so based on these findings, I agreed to his terms paid about 5000 USD, and off went the car.

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About a year og missed deadlines later it was clear, that everything went wrong. At first, the Danish / Polish married broker lost all his company funds, as a middle eastern customer simply drove off without paying him for a VERY costly restoration. As a result, I had to drive down there, and arrange for the car to be transported from one garage (where he owed money), to another. I also had to have a lawyer write threatening letters before they would give up the car. It was not only tedious work, but also a complete waste of time. THIS was what I was paying the broker to arrange, but at this point, he was to far out in debt, and acted like a little child. The garage was closed, so I had to dump the car in the yard of another company, near the "new garage", and unload the parts in another private garage, in a big old house, owned by of the mother of the brokers wife. After unloading, I went back to Denmark, and thought that now everything would be OK.. but no..


The broker was bankrupt, and about two long years of frustration later, (and after several attempts to help him back on his feet) he suddenly died. It was a sad, and unreal experience. I realized that with his passing, the almost 14.000 USD I had invested, was lost. (At this point the total cost of the car was about 22.500 USD), so of course, I was deeply frustrated when this happened. He had just arrived back from Poland, and wrote me on Skype about a "breakthrough in his fight with the Polish garage about funds", and then he went to bed to rest after the long drive, and passed away. I went to his funeral to get some sort of closure to the whole ordeal, and ended up at his wake.. comforting the widow. (Very kind and sweet Polish lady).

Some time and a few letters later, I got word from some other "victims" that the Polish garage was closed, and after nearly another a year later, trying to find the car through emails with the polish family and lawyers, I freaked out one night at 22:00, filled my cooler with ice and cokes, made some sandwiches, jumped in my van, and drove down there again.. all the way down to the Polish / Czech boarder... a 12 hour drive.
I had never been in the actual garage, and thus I didn't know where to go exactly, so at first, I just drove around, asking random in the town (in broken German) about a "garage somewhere a bit outside town", but no one spoke a word of German, nor English. I did however remember, us driving by the garage two years before, to see if anyone was there.. at night.. not knowing that I would have to find it by myself two years later, so my memory was murky.

I went back to the family house, shut the engine off and just sat for a while. The house where the widow had lived before, was a big old apartment building, and like so many other buildings in that town, it was mostly abandoned. I just sat there for an hour or so.. looking at ppl passing by, kids playing, dogs running around, while I tried to reconstruct the route in my mind, from what I COULD remember from my last visit, and then patch it together backwards.

Luckily, I had some pretty good ones, like "a long straight, going up hill out of town", and "crossing a river, followed by a right hand/left hand combination", "crossing the main road going south", "a railway crossing", and "some big sinister looking abandoned factory buildings", marking the industrial area, and a few blocks away from the street where the garage was. After driving around for a while, I finally managed to track down the garage.

The garage, had been converted into... a popsicle factory.. , but I immediately recognized some of the mechanic's from my previous visit to Poland.. now wearing white aprons, producing Popsicles. I managed to learn through more broken German, that the owner of the Popsicle factory, was identical to the owner of the now closed garage, and that he knew where my car was.. So I got his address, and found his house. I brought some gifts from Denmark, to lighten up the mood, and after a good talk, I managed to get the address, and an agreement to how much I should pay to have the car released.

I had to pay him about 1300 USD extra for the body work he had done, (as the broker took my money to his grave), and the guy took me to the location where they towed all the unfinished cars. When I arrived to the farm where the car were, I was happy at first, to see my car. The "guy" had promised that all my parts were there, but I got a bad surprise.. All the parts I had bought, and had shipped from the US to Denmark , and paid stupid import tax for, was either stolen, smashed or simply misplaced in other cars...

Here is some of the (very fine) bodywork that was done...

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Looks great, but unfortunately, the car was dragged outside, and left under that tarpaulin for a year, after the death of the broker, instead of contacting me.. When found, there was plenty of other parts in the car, but not mine.

Looking for my own parts, I found a 1970 Charger in the "chest high grass", belonging to another Danish "victim", with whom I later became friends. Inside his Charger, were a bunch of my parts, but "inside" my 300, was only a HEAP of "Euro-crap-car-parts", (and about 15 cm of rusty water). The hungry Polish mosquitoes attacked me vigorously the next 3-4 hours , while I was packing the two Mopar cars, with all the parts I could find. Unfortunately, it was only my 300 that was parked on grass.. the other cars, were parked in some super tall weed, that covered up everything laying on the ground. I did find my seats, gas tank and some other bigger parts, but as the dark got darker, I shifted my attention to the two cars. At that point, I already needed a bath, and missed my bed.

Seen in the rear view mirror, (and from a financial point of view), I probably should have left it right there... but as I mentioned in the beginning of this "brief introduction", I REALLY LOVE C-Bodies... so I didn't.. and what can we learn from this.. Persistence CAN work against you sometimes. :-D

I finally got it home again, (and the Charger too).. on the same transporter. Those two cars, told each other some cool stories on that transporter, I'm sure.. ;-)

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All I can say is wow !!!! and it's at least a good thing that after all of the money that you spent and aggravation you went through you still ended up getting your car back, which did not happen in my case however it did lead me to essentially my dream car so it's all good in the end. I can not wait to see more of the progress on your car as well as the finished product. :VB toast:
 
Holy F*^! Kasper. You went through hell. The silver lining is that with that level of dedication the car will sure to be finished to a high standard. Thanks for relaying the story.
 
I'm out of words. Simply out of words.

And that has nothing to do with English being my second or third language...
 
Ha ha.. Glad you guys found the adventures of "The Wreck" somewhat entertaining.. :)

I had much more fun recalling, and typing it, than I had experiencing it... and I am glad, that the whole ting is over..! I wont say that it destroyed the relationship between me and the wreck, but it sure "changed things" between us. These last pictures are 3-4 years old.. and was taken before is was left outside in the "biting cold winters of the Polish mountains" for at least another 1½ year..

As for the engine, it had not been started for the approx 5 years it was gone, and surprisingly, is was seized up when I got it back.. so I emptied a industrial size WD40 into the cylinders, and waited patiently for a month or so.. after which I tried to break it free, but without much luck.. So it had another can of WD40, and another month.. plus some diesel oil.. and I tried again.. and then, it broke free.. and subsequently started and ran, like I had just stopped for gas. That's something I always liked about that car.. Ever since I had the motor fixed, it seems like it's been grateful to me, and has started every time ever since!

As for the plans, I feel like I've been through a lot with these particular car-emotions. I lost hope several times over during this, so now, it's all about getting it assembled, (which also seems to be the only way top find out whats missing.. :). I'm not going to do that "full resto" I initially intended, as I already spent the money, but I still plan to do the car.. and I already got a new windshield, and installed a complete set of front end with all bushings, and also disc brakes from a New Port (from New Mexico), and so on... but no more money for chrome, and glitter. Now, it's about getting her / him back on the road.

As for the type of restoration, the plans are now probably more towards "Rat-Barge", but in immaculate mechanical condition. Most of the parts and interior has either disappeared, been stolen, lost, or just ruined from sitting outside, AND I already paid for the restoration once. No more money in this pit for now...! Even the "Rat-barge project", will takes more time than I have right now, so it quietly rests in my garage, waiting for... "time".

I am sorry that you lost your car Ironwolf.. but same as you, this (temporary in my case) loss, also propelled me of in a new direction, buying MORE American cars.. which has been something that I REALLY had, and still have MUCH joy in. This joy has been enhanced by the fact, that I have managed to make some money doing so (in your FACE wife.. ha ha), but the pain of selling Mopar's is horrible. The bigger the car, the bigger the pain when they drive away.

First one was bought as a "band aid", to cover the wound left by the Polish failure. It was a 1970 300 Coupe - out of West Virginia, bright gold exterior, with Gold/Beige interior and cloth (bench) seats.. Beautiful car.. and I still hate myself for selling it, but I found a good guy who wanted THAT particular year and coupe, and he planned a nut & bolt restoration. He chose to paint it in another color, but the care, love and attention it got was more important I guess. Pictures.. well of course..:

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The other one was a 1970 Hurst (The one from Mopar Muscle Magazine back in 2005 I think it was...). I had it for about a year, and loved everything about it, except for the condition of the body, and the interior color... but it was sold on, and has now been restored, and has a happy owner here in Denmark.

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SO.. now, I'm down to my 68 Charger, and of course "the wreck" :-D

But owning the two hardtops, has left me with a big hole in my "fuselage heart".

Apparently, it turns out, that I need to own another full-size car.. one with a "real roof". The converts are great fun, but the beautiful sporty roof line is not quite the same..

Is it wise to buy another C-Body = NO..! Will I have to build a bigger garage = YES..! Does the wife approve = NO..! Has the hunt begun = YES..! :-D

Recently, I missed out on adeal that would have landed what in my opinion, would have the pinnacle ofFuselage cars.. The 1970 ImperialLeBaron Coupe with black bucket seats. It was the white one recently oneBay, the one that never made the reserve. I was the high bidder, but after theauction was over, I contacted the seller, and negotiated an acceptable price (7500) with the assistant who repeatedly confirmed that it was still available, so Ithought it was mine... while in reality, the owner himself, unknowingly was making anotherdeal with a UK buyer.. When I talked to him, and he sounded like a really nice guy,and I would have been a happy 3 times Mopar-owner, if I had only called him instead of writing on Facebook. I wasequally down, after I learned it was sold... A friend and I had planned a roadtrip from Colorado, through Vegas to L.A. and round up the trip with someextensive parts-shopping in Classic Industries. My friend had managed to get offrom work, all of January, and I had fought and won some wife-wars, right hereat home. We were ecstatic... until the news about the car being sold :-(

The 70 Imperial Coupe, is carthat I have dreamed about for a long time - and I LOVE the "one year only 70 buckets" from when I had my 300 Hurst, but the tan colorinterior.. NOT so much.

It was actually while searching through the internet for a substitute Imp bucket coupe, that Icame across this fine site, which to me seems like a true smorgasbord fora C-Body lover. I will hang tight in the "Cars-for-sale-thread", andhope to find another one soon, but I know they are few, and far between.

OK.. Thank's for reading this far.. I'd better shut up now, before someone inhere thinks I'm a freak..

Oh, that's already to late..? Crap.. :-D

PS: If any doubt, all possible "70 Imp Coupé, w/Black buckets 4-sale" hints / information / tips, are VERY welcome !


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Here is a little extra post, to show the progress, and current state of "The Wreck".. although not much is to be seen.. I should have included pictures of "the front end sessions", where it also had the disc brakes installed.

I am working a lot, so it's coming back together very slowly, and work is done for this year.. The guy owning the garage I rented, sold the property and the Realtor kicked me out.

My own garage is to small / stuffed for working on such a huge car.. or any car for that matter, but next summer, I will do anything I have to, to make it ready for safety inspection.

Note the classy Hurst rims.. They were on the trailer, owned by the guy selling the two Hurst 300's.. They only made 1940 of these rims.. which is just 7 more, than total production of the car :-D

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great stories.
I think I saw your 70 300 in FY6 gold in Roskilde back in 2010.
Saw several Hursts in denmark but they are hard to identify because they look all similar with only minor details changing.

Carsten
 
great stories.
I think I saw your 70 300 in FY6 gold in Roskilde back in 2010.
Saw several Hursts in denmark but they are hard to identify because they look all similar with only minor details changing.

Carsten


Hi Carsten

That would have been me behind the wheel at that point.. I wish we had chance to talk C-Body.

I miss that car badly, and shouldn't have sold it, but on the other hand, I was unable to touch the original paint because of my "preservative ways" with original Mopars, and it was beginning to bulge and bubble under the vinyl roof, in fact.. so bad, that the bulging A-pillar caused the windshield to crack, and the Dutchman panel was pretty bad too... The new owner, told me, that he found several more rusty spots during disassembly. I haven't seen it quite done yet, but I am sure it's "killer" now.

It hurt VERY bad when I sold this car, and as a result.. I was "couched" for about a week... just laying there on the couch, with a sad face, unable to find joy in everyday activities.

I sold a very well preserved 14.000 miles 1971 Charger about a year ago, but it didn't couch me that much.. maybe I was "staggering a bit" for a few days, but no couch. Maybe, it's not as bad, when you have another fish on the line.. because at the point, I was negotiating to buy the 68 Charger.


I wonder how bad the "couching" would have been, if it had been an 70' Imperial Coupe..
 
( I am sorry that you lost your car Ironwolf.. but same as you, this (temporary in my case) loss, also propelled me of in a new direction, buying MORE American cars.. which has been something that I REALLY had, and still have MUCH joy in. This joy has been enhanced by the fact, that I have managed to make some money doing so (in your FACE wife.. ha ha), but the pain of selling Mopar's is horrible. The bigger the car, the bigger the pain when they drive away. )


Thanks, The way I look at it everything happens for a reason good or bad ...... and life will always go on.
 
A great story teller and a very welcomed addition to the board! Very enjoyable reading. Now lets see that '68 Charger, my favorite B body.
 
I liked it.
And it was one of the don't touch it v-roofs.
It just gets bad if water runs into the interieur and trunk all the time.

We visited the show with a 69 T&C and were on our travel back from Rättvik/Orsa Moparshow in sweden
 
Thank you very much detmatt.. 68 Charger is definitely also my favorite B.. Pic's brewing :)

Oh.. fc7_Plum.. theres a Mopar meet in Rättvik..? I am even closer than you, and didn't know.. how embarrassing .. I will have to attend next summer! What did you mean with the "Do not touch it V-Roof" ?

The 68' Charger:

I have not had the 68 for that long, but it's gonna be a keeper, and I am still shopping the most necessary parts.. so it looks like.. well.. "very original", and the interior is.. "Somewhat used".. ha ha.

I guess I should try to keep up the information level on the 68.. But we have not yet had any "ground-shaking experiences" together.. or actually yes, it's pretty "aggressive", so it tore up the differential and doing so, also broke the rear u-joint.. dropping the spinning drive shaft, onto the exhausts... so it actually shook the ground a bit, and I almost "soiled my pants".. :-D

This grounded the poor thing, for the last "month & ½" of the season. It was bought with the original 741 housing, with a "PowerTrax Lock Right", and the original 2.76 gears, and I am afraid that it's all toast now.. I do not like that PowerTrax thing one bit. It made the nasty classic offroad-locker grinding noise when those "castle-tops slip n skip" during turns, that will make a tractor sound like a harp, and with less than 1000 miles on it, and already looks like this:

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I guess it had a disagreement with the engine.. :-D

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So I bought a fresh 489 case, and a "Detroit TrueTrack" from Eaton,



paired with "Strange" 3.55 gears, and will fit a new "Strange" drive shaft instead of the old one with the small u-Joints.

Also, as it was born a 318, I will upgrade the torsion bars to 0.94, and also new HP leafs, and since this is done, of course I'll also do a complete front end overhaul.

I will also install a rear sway bar, but no other modifications, except for removing a set of retrofitted, and pretty ugly traction bars. The HP leafs should hold up.

I plan to buy the suspension parts from FirmFeel.

The engine runs like a dream!

Body, paint and interior needs a lotta love. It's nearly rust free, but dented all over, so I am on the hunt for a good body-guy, who can straighten it up, before it's ready to meet new white paint.

As for the plans with the Charger, I think that I am gonna keep it white, and also re-install a black vinyl top (The canopy is currently painted flat black).

Oh yes, and I'm gonna weld the trunk shut, and shave the handles and ALL lights.. delete the doors all together, and.. ha ha.. HELL NO, but I AM going to find a body guy, who can actually work with metal, and rectify the dents that some little old lady put on it!

I will fill in the history of the car later, but here is a few pic's, from when we picked it up.

Imagine how great this Charger would look next to a 1970 Imperial Coupe.. :sSig_thankyou: Somehow, my wife is unable to do so..!

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Thanks for all the positive comments on the thread.. It's.. lovely !!

Apparently, it's not possible to embed more than one video, so here is "the other video".. ;-)



I hope I don't get kicked out, for posting B-Body stuff.. :love7:
 
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Nice Charger, what a beautiful car those are! Did you import this one? Can't wait to hear more about it.
great vid, she sounds really good!
 
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