Advice on buying a '75 dart.

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Logan Haun

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Hey All,

Back in '16 I bought a 1971 plymouth duster that was in pieces as a project car. I had neither the time nor the money to finish it so I sold it so I could get married.

Recently I just finished school and I have some money saved up. I'm going to look at a 1975 dart sport that is 3 hours from me this weekend. Supposedly it is a one owner car with 60k original miles. The original owner passed away and his son in law is selling it. It is a slant six/3 speed automatic factory ac car. The paint looks great. The seats have been replaced with seats from a Lincoln which i'm not stoked about(i'd rather have the original seats). All the trim looks like it is there. The guy says he doesn't know much about the car and will take $6,000 cash. He has the original receipt from when it was purchased in 1975. The owner installed a back up camera and gps in the car.

I would need to drive this car 3 hours back to my place. My plan would be to drive the car and enjoy it while building a small block for it. I've got a small block 904 and some other parts.

What kind of issues should I be looking for when buying this car? I've read on Mopar1.us Rears that all darts from the years 73-76 have the 8 1/4. This would be great news. Any advice is appreciated.
 
It would have to be one heck of a 75 for me to pay $6k.
1 owner? Should have more documentation than a orig receipt?
Original buyer would NOT put Lincoln seats in it in my opinion.
Be very leery, take someone knowledgable about cars with you.
 
4spdragtop said:
It would have to be one heck of a 75 for me to pay $6k.
1 owner? Should have more documentation than a orig receipt?
Original buyer would NOT put Lincoln seats in it in my opinion.
Be very leery, take someone knowledgable about cars with you.
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The title should also indicate that it is one owner, correct?
 
A bodies (Dart, Dart Sport, Valiant and Scamps) from ‘73 to ‘76 either had 7 1/4 or 8 1/4 rear ends. Since you know it has a slant 6, unless it has the HD cooling package or another option, it’s quite likely that Dart has a 7 1/4 rear end. Even 318 Darts had 7 1/4 rear ends. Surely the seller has a photo or two of the car, best to post those up so we can provide you with educated responss.
 
Here are some pictures. Do you notice the front grill. It looks like there is a prospector emblem on there?

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Looks like a nice weekend drive to go check it out and a chance to get out of the house. If you fall in love you can negotiate the price. The seats are a bit weird.
 
Even though you don't care for the Lincoln seats, that's a pretty neat installation. But in my opinion, 6,000 might be a little high on the price. Just my .02, no offense intended.
 
Demonracer said:
Even though you don't care for the Lincoln seats, that's a pretty neat installation. But in my opinion, 6,000 might be a little high on the price. Just my .02, no offense intended.
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None taken. Can you elaborate on why you wouldn't pay $6,000?
 
Those rear seats look comfy as hell! Would have to do a 60 to zero stop to launch my fat *** out of them lol.
Yes same emblem as my 84 D150 Prospector.
 
Nice car! But 6,000 does seem a bit high, especially now. The seats ruin the originality of it too. Looks like he changed most of the interior color to match.Hope you can get him down some.
 
So what areas should I look at on these cars? I've heard rust is common in the engine bay on the inner fenders. I'm sure I should check floor pans and the trunk. Any particular areas on the frame?
 
Front frame rails, especially where they bend down to go under the front floor boards. Torsion bar crossmember, lower quarters and trunk extensions, trunk floor, front floor boards. Those are just the first places to check for rust.
 
Logan Haun said:
None taken. Can you elaborate on why you wouldn't pay $6,000?
Click to expand...

I can.
we paid 2k for this 72 all original and I fixed the motor.
318/904 with a new rebuilt trans with receipts.
This is a sweet little driver/survivor.

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TrailBeast said:
I can.
we paid 2k for this 72 all original and I fixed the motor.
318/904 with a new rebuilt trans with receipts.

View attachment 1715518757
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That seems like a steal. I'm not finding anything in the Midwest like that however. Perhaps i'm not looking in the right places.

I find that most v8 cars for 6k in the Midwest have copious amounts of rust and the bodies are really rough. That's just what I have found.
 
Logan Haun said:
That seems like a steal. I'm not finding anything in the Midwest like that however. Perhaps i'm not looking in the right places.

I find that most v8 cars for 6k in the Midwest have copious amounts of rust and the bodies are really rough. That's just what I have found.
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It came up on Craigslist 2 blocks from our house, and the sellers Wife was driving it to work.
Just so you know, he was asking 4k for it and we showed him 2k.

Did pretty much exactly the same with this 59 Ranchero and got it for 2k.
Drove it home as well.
I'd like to Rat Rod this thing, but the Wife won't let me.:D

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Logan Haun said:
So what areas should I look at on these cars? I've heard rust is common in the engine bay on the inner fenders. I'm sure I should check floor pans and the trunk. Any particular areas on the frame?
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areas to look. RUST,RUST and RUST.

is that original paint? if its claimed to be look for any signs that its not. check floors, trunk rear quarters, fenders, frame for rust.

if its original paint and as clean as it looks then runs well i think 6k is probably at the top of the market. be worth more to me with original interior. it is a 75 so its not exactly a desirable year but atleast its a dart sport. i'd think at this point in time it should be more a buyers market. whats this guy know about the car? does he know cars or just some schmuck that is sell the father in laws old car?
 
Take a floor jack and a jack stand or 2 with you so you can get under it and check the frame and floor pans. The rest of it looks clean, and the Lincoln seats...although kinda fugly, look very comfy! They fit well. It looks like it has a disc brake master cylinder, but it's hard to tell if it's big bolt pattern or not. The biggest thing you will be able to pick on it to get the price down is loss of originality with the seats and add ons. Maybe offer $4K and see how bad he whines.
 
Here's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.
If the car is worth 6 grand to you, then buy it.
The car looks to be in good shape according to the pictures you posted. (thanks for that!)
I don't like the interior, but it looks like it fits well and would be comfortable.
I would check on the underside where the front seats are mounted to the floor (from the inside under the carpet) to see if there are reinforcing plates on there, they do need them to be safe. Other than that, plan on finding some original seats and have them reupholstered.
Look for rust or holes in the torsion bar cross member, front frame rails especially under where the upper control arm mounts, inner fenders, rear frame rails, trunk floor, and floor pans.
The body looks good from the pics, but use a fridge magnet to check for bondo especially in the bottoms of the rear quarters, rocker panels, and bottoms of the front fenders.
Check closely at the front of the roof where it meets the windshield trim for swelling or softness when you push on it.
These are all of the usual rust out places on these cars.
The engine would probably be good seeing that it's a slant 6, but listen for any unusual noises or smoking while it's running as well as oil or water leaks.
Drive the car and make sure the car steers and stops the way it should without clunks or wandering.
The car most likely has a 7 1/4 rear end in it and looks to be big bolt pattern from looking at the wheels and would have disc brakes which would be a plus.

I think that 6 grand is top dollar for this car IF everything checks out okay.
Don't look at it as an investment, because the more money and work you put in it, you will not recover.
I am really into these years of A-Bodies and have owned several of them (still do), and they just don't bring big bucks and are generally hard to resell, but are fun to own and modify.........

BTW, the prospector emblem in the grille looks to be off of a '80s Dodge pickup, it's not original to the car!

I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Many of you have been very helpful.

The seller doesn't know much about the car. He does know the car was repainted 5 years ago?

I do find it odd that there is a prospetor emblem on the front. I wish I could ask the original owner why he did that.
 
Looks clean! A/C, looks like disk brakes. 6K for a rust free car in Illinois sounds like a good deal to me. I've thought about trying to have my snowbird father bring something back to IL from AZ but you have to be in the right place the right time to find deals like above. Check for rust underneath!
 
Looks like a disc brake master cylinder but no power brakes? I think it is well worth the coin and the seats look comfy. Stock seats from that era are not hard to find though. My daily driver is a 75 Dart SE 4-door with factory A/C and it has an 8-1/4 because of the air.
 
If the car is as solid and clean underneath as it appears on the outside, he is spot on with his price. Illinois is in the rust belt, trust me, I know LOL. These cars are hard to find, especially clean, solid, nice paint, and a great running car for 6k or less. I'm "always" looking... lol.. and there isn't much out there. I realize folks in Arizona or New Mexico might differ in view, but that's what that car is worth here Again, look "under the paint"
 
I'd want to see pictures of BEFORE the repaint...but at this time it's a buyer's market, and as said allready, it's a '75 so not a desirable year
 
Painted 5 years ago huh Better go over the body very closely. God knows what fresh paint could be hiding.

He knows nothing then start at 3k. Lol
 
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