GM person about tomake switch. 73 dart sport Questions

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KNEE

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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.
 
Well, these cars usually don't "drift" when the front suspension is in good shape, but they are known to have a light feeling power steering. Bias ply's, although I can't imagine this car has them, would make it all the more noticeable. The taillight trim is a ***** to find in nice shape. They typically rust in the lower 1/4's, spare tire well, and the tops of the fenders from the inside out. Also check the torsion bar mounts at the rear of the bars. A bad wiper pivot seal can cause the floor to rot out above these and rust the frame for the mounts on what otherwise would be a solid car. Value, without seeing it it's unfair to judge. A good running one like you describe could be anywhere from $1500 to 10K.
 
you should know everything about Mopars. im not gonna say chevy sucks.. but i am gonna say they really stink. my s10 just blew up. screw that. ummmm the Dart your talkin bout im thinkin maybe 2500 to 4000. depends on how clean everything is. if you read thru this site youll start to learn about the a bodys quicker then you could by doin research or wikipedia or any of that crap. we got one hell of a site here. and you should go ahead and buy that Dart. stop askin questions and GET IT! before its too late :X your makin a great transition.
 
Welcome away from the dark side. Remember, real race cars don't wear bowties!
Seriously, you'll find a great deal of information and great people here. Ask away.
 
Welcome to FABO,
nope they don't all wander.
Could be alignment, could be a worn part. They are pretty straight forward to correct with some good advice. which you can find here.8)
A couple questions?
How many miles on the car?
Power or Manual steering?
any idea if front suspension has been rebuilt?
 
Welcome!If your that interested,ask to take it to a mechanic.He might find something that you might have overlooked.Check torque boxes and rear frame that,s usually where these cars rott.By the way MOPAR stands for MoveOverPeopleAreRacing.Have a good look at the forums there great info.
 
Thanks for the replies. Car has about 80k on it. Non original driveline. Clean underside. Power steering is the only options and it does have older bias ply tires.
 
These guys are not kidding you, KNEE, this is the best site I have ever come across concerning MoPar information. Whatever you can think about doing to your MoPar has likely already been tried by any number of memebrs here.

I have never seen so much expertice in one location. Body work, finding parts, engine/trans/rear end swaps, brakes, fabrication...ask about it and chances are that you will get a number of responses.

Do yourself a favor and look through some of the older posts in the various categories. You will get a flavor of how much knowledge resides under this one roof.

Grab a MoPar...you will never go back. Good luck with your project.
 
The older bias ply tires are hard to drive on by compare to the new radials you should have on there. Also, the front suspension can be tweaked alittle to help the drift you feel. But he is right, they all do that because the parts are more likely a bit old. Once you tighten up the steering and suspnesion parts, it should ride well. It seems to be a Mopar thing you wil have to get used to. Driving with a light hand bobbing to and fro on a overly powered steering pump.

When I get into a GM, I'm like "This thing is overly tight in the wheel!"
By compare, the Mopar front end and steering does feel like it drifts. Take some time to get used to the new front end feel. T-bars are not the same feel as coil's.
 
FISHBREATH said:
These guys are not kidding you, KNEE, this is the best site I have ever come across concerning MoPar information. Whatever you can think about doing to your MoPar has likely already been tried by any number of memebrs here.

I have never seen so much expertice in one location. Body work, finding parts, engine/trans/rear end swaps, brakes, fabrication...ask about it and chances are that you will get a number of responses.

Do yourself a favor and look through some of the older posts in the various categories. You will get a flavor of how much knowledge resides under this one roof.

Grab a MoPar...you will never go back. Good luck with your project.
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DAMN STRAIGHT. i dont think anyone could have said it better. but it took you at least half an hour. us MoPar fans gotta get it perfect. or not at all. lol
 
Yep. What they said. With 88K on the clock, there is a fair chance the front end hasn't been rebuilt. They are simple to work on. Always remember to release tension on the torsion bars before disassembly. The upper ball joints screw in to the control arm which requires a special, but not to expensive, socket.

Also, those bias plys will want to follow any grooves in the pavement which will make it feel like it wanders. My bro-in-law's F150 does that with the Mich's he has on it now.

You will enjoy many aspects of your new toy, including NOT dealing with that GM starter shriek you get some times. From a slant six to a Hemi, (except for the HP rating) all Mopar starters are the same. And there are many parts that are interchangeable throughout the engine families.
 
Welcome. Dart Sports are cool cars. I would love a 340, 4 speed car with a sun roof. Heres one a friend did a few years ago.

10_G.jpg
 
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??
 
Pictures would really help, but it does sound a tad high. Then again, it may not be. Hard to judge from words. If you feel it's a little high, shop around somemore. Stall him a few days and go look at others.

New metal may be driving his price up and not for nothin, unless your doing the metal work and painting yourself, it is worth it to purchase it allready done.
 
Sounds like a good car, Like others have said this site has a ton off good people and lots of good advice. The front end is fairly straight forward and should be easy to fix. Like Adam said take a look at a few more (on line or in person) and if you still like it go for it. They are great cars and the MOPAR family from my experience are a lot more friendly and excepting. Welcome to FABO
 
Too High from what i'm reading. Bubba C. has a nice one in Georgia in the for sale section for $3000 and he'd probably come off of that $1500 or so if that's close to you. Just kidding Bubba. It is a nice car though. Needs a motor. You've come to the right place so welcome aboard and ask all the questions you want and somene will come to your rescue. Good to have ya Knee. Where are you located?
 
Welcome by the way, like the guys here say, there ain't many (if any) surprise questions that can't be answered on this forum (some answers might be BS but asker beware), anyway I digress, I'd offer 3500 for the Dart and see if he bites, who knows ya might get lucky.

Terry
 
demon seed said:
Welcome by the way, like the guys here say, there ain't many (if any) surprise questions that can't be answered on this forum (some answers might be BS but asker beware), anyway I digress, I'd offer 3500 for the Dart and see if he bites, who knows ya might get lucky.

Terry
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Already tried to offer less and no way he was biting. $5k seems to be the number.
 
after seeing these pics id say we were all a little low on our guesstimates. NICE CAR. nice paint. interiors pretty sweet. and if its all as clean as you say then yea up around 5k would be it. show up one day with cash. he should let it go. get 5000 in 100s or 4500 in 100s he should bite at that. the day you bring cash is the day the deal is done. id like to hear this car. got about the same output as my motor in my Dart Sport. mines not as sharp. but its gettin there. hopefully you can get it and be over to the Mopar side of things. parts are a little more expensive. but the Dodge side of the auto market is wayyy higher then gm and ford. dont be affraid to spend a few bucks
 
Mopar318Guy said:
after seeing these pics id say we were all a little low on our guesstimates. NICE CAR. nice paint. interiors pretty sweet. and if its all as clean as you say then yea up around 5k would be it. show up one day with cash. he should let it go. get 5000 in 100s or 4500 in 100s he should bite at that. the day you bring cash is the day the deal is done. id like to hear this car. got about the same output as my motor in my Dart Sport. mines not as sharp. but its gettin there. hopefully you can get it and be over to the Mopar side of things. parts are a little more expensive. but the Dodge side of the auto market is wayyy higher then gm and ford. dont be affraid to spend a few bucks
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I actually know a few parts people and engine builders who swear it is cheaper to build a mopar to go faster then it is a chevy.


Wow that is a really nice looking dart sport.
 
Very nice! I was going to chime in even before you posted pics to buy it. Do you know how much a "nice" paint job cost these days??? It looks great and will make an awesome driver while you find the little things like the missing bumper guards.
Good luck with the purchase!
 
well i just found out i got ported and pollished heads on my 318 along with the 484 284 cam .30 flat tops edelbrock street fighter intake and hedman headers. witha 650 crb. what kinda numbers u think its pushin?? 71 318 with 318 heads
 
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