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Old 07-01-2002, 12:56 AM
rollin63 rollin63 is offline
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Default budget car?

I am an avid muscle car fan and would like to build a mopar. I am on a pretty low budget as I am a college student. Right now I am driving a 1989 Ford Mustang 5.0 thats is fairly quick but want to get into a weekend warrior of classic mopar style. I am looking at darts, demons, dusters and such as I think that they would be fairly cheap and are also fairly light cars. But I am totally open to options. I am looking for a nice street car that will challenge most anything and give it a run. Any suggestions on motors, cars and what to look for would help a ton. Also I am a pretty good mechanic so I can do all the work myself. Thanks
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Old 07-01-2002, 02:07 AM
bwlizard bwlizard is offline
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Biggrin

I think you are on the right track. I picked up my 74 Duster for 2000.00 I would look for a 360 in it or buy a crate motor. As far as being able to challange any car on the street, do that at your own risk.
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Old 07-01-2002, 12:52 PM
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sbuc72 sbuc72 is offline
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Gripe

Unfortunatly, "cheap" and "mopar" are never used in the same sentence, if you wanna do a cheap build up, i'd recommend a chevy. but the least expensive way to go for a mopar, would be a 67-70 Dart, without an engine (i found one here in Ontario for 600$), and pickup a motor out of a motorhome/truck (steal the rear end too) for another 500$, and you could have a start to a killer build up, for just over 1000$. Now you'd still have to get the engine done up the way you want, but if you've got some money, and some free time, thats all it takes.
.sbuc72
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Old 07-01-2002, 01:37 PM
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dave571 dave571 is offline
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In a recent hot rod top ten list"Top ten budget street project cars"

The front wheel drive turbo mopar(lasers, datona's, shadows, sundance, ect.) was selected as # 9 or 10. The cars can be gotten for a few hundred dollars, and they're stacked 3 high at the wrecking yards.

Also can be made into 11 second cars with affordable modifications.(I think the article may have even said 10 second cars)

I'm just quoting from the article, I don't know exactly what mods they're talking about.

Not quite as styling as a classic mopar, but very fun to obliterate ricers with.
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Old 07-01-2002, 03:26 PM
Doug Wilson Doug Wilson is offline
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What you want to do is something I've been contemplating. I think I'll be looking for a '67-'69 Valiant or Dart, 2 door post (or maybe even a 4 door) - cheapest 8 3/4 rear end I can find - and a stock rebuild on a 440. Cheapest headers and a rebuilt 727.

I think that is a baseline you could do for under $4,000, which you could later improve as your budget permitted. I would think that would put you in the mid-to-low 13s. Not a bad deal.

If you want the car to handle nicely on the street, a stock 360 rebuild with carb, headers, cam and rear end would get you about the same place. But, for follow-on improvement, and orienting more to street/strip performance, I believe you'd be better off with a big block.

The motor home drive train approach sounds very good, also. Wish I had thought of it!
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Old 07-01-2002, 03:33 PM
Doug Wilson Doug Wilson is offline
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By the way - atoetl on this forum has a 440 '67(?) Dart that runs low 10s, and I think he would have a LOT more money in it to get a small block to run like that.
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