Advise: Going to look at a scamp

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scott2683

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Location
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hey folks, its been a couple years since I sold my duster, and I really miss having a weekend cruiser, or something to take to car shows on the weekends. I've been looking since the fall for another A body. This scamp came up for sale around October, and I put it off, well it just recently came up for sale again by the same owner, so I'm taking it as a sign that I need to at least go look at it. I've not had great luck with traveling to look at cars, it seems very few people are honest about what they have.

The car is a 1974 Scamp,
1978 360 .060 over (6000 miles on rebuild)
Saginaw 4 speed
3.91 sure grip moser axles
new door seals, interior (I'm putting the seats back to factory), brake booster, gear box,
Working AC and Heat, all gauges work as well
From the pics the car looks very well maintained. The guy that owns it is older, he said he's getting rid of it to buy a camper so him and his wife can travel.

My questions are, what were the common rust issues with this car? Anything specific to the scamp I need to look for specifically? Providing the car looks as it's pictured with no issues, what would you assess the value?

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Looks like a fun car. I'd advise to ditch the traction bars. They do nothing to help a Mopar leaf spring suspension except to stiffen the ride.
Rust is most common in the trunk in the spare tire well. Chrysler must have picked the absolute LOWEST bidder for trunk weatherstripping because even here in California, most of the A body cars I see have wet or rusty trunk floors. Vinyl tops trap rust too.
 
Thanks for the advise Kern Dog! I'm not a fan of the traction bar look. Would I be better off with a rear sway bar? I'll take a good flash light with me so I can see into the trunk crevices really well. I'm pretty stoked about going to look at it. 360 4 speed has to be pretty fun! Probably not that great on gas LOL
 
He's asking $9000. I can't tell for sure, but I don't feel like he's overly negotiable on the car.
 
Nice looking car there! Make sure you take a cheap magnet with a thin towel to check it over good for bondo! Best wishes on your travels to view it!
 
$9K seems really high to me for a 74 Scamp.
Maybe if it was an earlier year Scamp, Duster or Dart...maybe with the running gear

I think that is more like a $5K car tops... and that is IF it is a real runner. My opinion only, of course...
 
well, body to me is the most important. check for rust in the trunk, floors, under the hood, frame....
I personally like the traction bars, and I can tell ya through many, many years of experience, they work on mopars. There are systems that work better, but traction bars work. I have them on a duster right now, and when you brake torque just a little, the back end raises up about an inch. That's because the axle wind-up is applying pressure on the back tires. This pressure is what helps the traction, like adding weight to the trunk ..... without adding weight to the trunk :)
 
I would hold off if I had 9k, but I'm not in Indiana. DON'T let that 360- 4 speed- 391 talk you into a 74 scamp with blue bumpers and a funky swapmeet red steering wheel !
If you're willing to travel a bit I'd bet you could find a 71 demon for the 9k ?
 
$9K seems really high to me for a 74 Scamp.
Maybe if it was an earlier year Scamp, Duster or Dart...maybe with the running gear

I think that is more like a $5K car tops... and that is IF it is a real runner. My opinion only, of course...
The price may be high but add up the money you'd spend to duplicate the car. A solid body, great paintwork, 360, a 4 speed (Have you priced the cost to buy everything to swap to a 4 speed setup???) 8 3/4" axle, a nice interior...
You'd easily be over $10,000 building another like it.
These cars can handle quite well with a 1 1/8" front sway bar, 1" torsion bars, 5 stage leaf springs and a 3/4" rear sway bar and a set of Bilstein shocks. The cars are light and nimble with this combination.
 
9k sounds real high on that car.. probably why it didn't sell the first time around..

as stated rust is the issue you need to look for.. quarters, t-bar cross member,trunk, trunk extensions,floors...etc..etc..etc. also check the paint out real well.. make sure its done right. not some fly by night crap.. pics can hide a lot..

.060 over 360? make sure it runs cool.. i'd look around and see how things are done under the hood.. make sure they aren't hacked.. under hood for that money shopuld be painted nicely like the outside of the car.. none of this rattle can black crap..

look and see what kind of job they did installing those seats and all..

check the finer details.. thats where you'lll know if it was thrown together or put together properly.
 
The price may be high but add up the money you'd spend to duplicate the car. A solid body, great paintwork, 360, a 4 speed (Have you priced the cost to buy everything to swap to a 4 speed setup???) 8 3/4" axle, a nice interior...
You'd easily be over $10,000 building another like it.
These cars can handle quite well with a 1 1/8" front sway bar, 1" torsion bars, 5 stage leaf springs and a 3/4" rear sway bar and a set of Bilstein shocks. The cars are light and nimble with this combination.


thats wonderful.. in the end its still a not so desirable car.. which is probably why it didn't sell in oct..
 
If we all owned 1970 340 Dusters, it would be a boring world.
 
Look for ripples in the roof. Check closely where the roof meets the quarter panel - common spot for rust and bondo repair. Check all the gaps - if they aren't pretty even all the way around, try to determine why. It's a nice car as far as we can tell from the pics on here - the bumpers are either fiberglass or have been filled and smoothed. Customized interior - looks nice and comfy.
He's asking $9000? That's not too far outta wack.. if everything checks out. It's not original and never was factory hotrod so, if it were me and I liked the car after driving it, I would start at $6700 and see if you can grab it up for high 7's... good luck!!
psssst... nice ones are getting harder to find for a decent price.
 
Car has been posted for over a year. They rot bad in the quarters, outer whee house, trunk extension, lower front fenders. Check the bottom of the doors (both mine weren't amazing). Engine bay being black is a big turn off on the car, bumpers would be expensive to rechrome if desired.
 
Car has been posted for over a year. They rot bad in the quarters, outer whee house, trunk extension, lower front fenders. Check the bottom of the doors (both mine weren't amazing). Engine bay being black is a big turn off on the car, bumpers would be expensive to rechrome if desired.
Check the torsion bar cross member to make sure its not cracked or rust repairs. If you like the car than buy it. Doesn't matter if its a collectable or high value car. I built my Scamp years ago when not to many people wanted an old cheap family car.
 
hey guys, I appreciate all the advice! I completely understand where everyone is coming from. I'm not going to rush into this car. But I feel its at least worth the 2 hour drive to go check it out. It definitely needs a few cosmetic touches like chrome bumpers put back on. My main concern is rust, and I feel confident in where to look for that now. A buddy of mine who owns a restoration shop just said he could go with me to help me spot any issues so that will be helpful. Also I don't want to end up buying a car that I could potentially take a big loss on in the future. Other than the price being a little high, I don't think the owner has marketed the car very well in order to sell it, he doesn't list which engine it has, it took 5 phone calls and voicemails to get him to answer the phone, he responded to my email 2 weeks later, his main picture is the engine. Marketing is everything!

Again thank you all!
 
Haha, when I asked if it had a sure grip ... I did have to restate my question as posi track!
 
$1200 for a 4-speed, $1200 8 3/4. $400 "74" scamp and $600 garage paint job. It's a very tacky 74 Scamp. Painted bumpers funky steering wheel aftermarket found at the junkyard seats this car has been cobbled together cheaply very obvious. I will agree that he's probably into it at least nine grand but he'll likely see his buyer coming from a long long long ways away.
The price may be high but add up the money you'd spend to duplicate the car. A solid body, great paintwork, 360, a 4 speed (Have you priced the cost to buy everything to swap to a 4 speed setup???) 8 3/4" axle, a nice interior...
You'd easily be over $10,000 building another like it.
These cars can handle quite well with a 1 1/8" front sway bar, 1" torsion bars, 5 stage leaf springs and a 3/4" rear sway bar and a set of Bilstein shocks. The cars are light and nimble with this combination.
 
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