GM person making the switch. A few questions
08-29-2008, 03:13 PM
#1
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GM person making the switch. A few questions
Hello everyone, I have been a Chevy guy since my youth. I am now looking at a 1973 Dodge Dart Sport and never owning a mopar have a few questions. It has a 318 not original with an automatic. Extremely clean older resto with a few small blisters on the rockers and lower 1/4. Somes chips , dings, But nothing major. A very nice driver. Red with a black bucket interior with console. Interior is an 8.5 out of a 10. Rally wheels. Drives nice but the car drifted alot and had to keep correcting the steering. Owner told me they all do this. Solid trunk, floors etc. Nice glass all around. Original black vinyl roof perfect. Both bumpers dull with pits but solid. Tail light trim dull and pitted. Again it looks perfect from 20ft and is mostly solid . What is something like this worth in todays market and what should I know about these cars? Any help is appreciated.
Last edited by TheKneeBita; 08-29-2008 at 06:49 PM.
08-30-2008, 11:31 AM
#3
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Any pics of it? Any way you can test drive it? If it is "drifting", then I would take a close look at the whole front end and see if anything looks bent, worn, broken, etc.
08-30-2008, 05:02 PM
#4
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What do you mean by drift, does it float (move left and right easily while going straight), or does it pull/ wander (in a certain direction only)?
My car used to float until I adjusted the power steering to be a little tighter.
My car used to float until I adjusted the power steering to be a little tighter.
08-30-2008, 06:22 PM
#5
Mopar Lover
First of all Welcome to the upper class of cars 
hehehe anyway if you could show us a picture or two we could help you out alittle better and they do go from anywheres from 500.00 / 8000.00 depending on the style and condition so please give us a pic; if you can k, try and get the underside by the tranny if you can
hehehe anyway if you could show us a picture or two we could help you out alittle better and they do go from anywheres from 500.00 / 8000.00 depending on the style and condition so please give us a pic; if you can k, try and get the underside by the tranny if you can
08-31-2008, 01:16 AM
#6
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DRIFTING ? ... that MH that I have a pic of does that. It is not dangerous at this point - but it is kind of a pain in the butt. BUT it is due to the change of the caster angle in the suspension due to age. To correct that -- I have to REbuild the springs and that will give me the POSITIVE caster you need to maintain straight-line driving. I am planning an RV trip in a couple of months that should be about 7k miles. I would NOT want to drive that kind of distance with that going on.
09-01-2008, 01:33 PM
#7
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mine "drifts" too....
my charger was real sloppy too. i know what your saying by "drift". is it pwr steering? i did a complete front end rebuild, i mean every piece is new in the susp., poly bushings on lwr and upper arms, uppr arms are tubular. stepped torsion bars up to .920" and converted my pwr steering to a manual box. still a bit sloppy. so to a degree yeah it doesn't drive like a new car. but as far as normal im not sure, i would check things out. the steering coupler i think is the big source of slop. ive seen flaming river? upgrades for 140$ haven't done mine yet. they are for the pwr to manual setups. its the only piece i haven't changed in the steering so im thinking thats the fix in my case.
f.y.i. schumaker enterprises. im not sure of the spelling, make easy cheap 318 to 340/360 and even 318 to BB engine mounts. all bolt in no cut/weld.
f.y.i. schumaker enterprises. im not sure of the spelling, make easy cheap 318 to 340/360 and even 318 to BB engine mounts. all bolt in no cut/weld.
09-02-2008, 03:45 PM
#8
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Thanks for all the replies. This is where I am at. The car is extremely clean underneath. No rot or rust. The body is straight and is driver quality with a few blisters, scratches and nicks and dings. The front end looks good and everything feels tight when grabbing and wiggling but the car does drift and the steering needs to be corrected while driving. Getting out of my new Toyota and driving the Dart Sport doesnt help with the feeling. The car has a rebuilt 318 that has from what the seller tells me 280hp and has a rebuilt 3spd automatic with a mild shift kit. The black interior is extremely nice and shows well. I did see a little rust between the windshield and dash on the passenger side but it was just a little and not bad for a driver. dash was cut for a newer 1980s radio and rear deck for some 80s plate speakers. Wipers did not work and was told that the arms needed to be clipped on the underside and everything was there just not connected. I did not have time to verify this. Older resto with a full set of pics shows everything that was cut out and repaired before paint. Bumpers are solid but not gleaming with chrome. A little dull and pitted. Again, It is a nice driver quality car. I am working on price with the guy. He was asking what I think and others think was way too much. I am thinking the magic number would be $5k. Any opinions on this??
09-06-2008, 12:52 AM
#10
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First you need to take a look at the wipers under the dash. It is hard to do that when the car isn't yours. The 70 model a-bodies are bad about the splines stripping where the linkage attatches. Next does it just drift when you are accelerating? Because if that is the case it is probably just the leaf springs. I have a 73 340 duster that has one leaf just a little weaker than the other and when you accelerate you better be on your toes. There is no telling which way it is going. My father is a chassis expert and he has the front end buttoned up tight and aligned perfect and it is still a ride.
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