Trying to finally get my first Muscle Car - I’m nervous

Hey guys! I post every now and then on this forum, thinking this is the time I’m going to get my Mopar. However, there is always financial difficulties. I’m finally at an income where I think I could pull the plug. I’m 28 years old and have been waiting for this since I was 10 haha. The girlfriend gave me the OK! and we both want kids and I know for a fact I’ll be using this money for a minivan in a couple of years so I really want this.

I’m set on a Dodge Demon (71 or 72, doesn’t matter to me) with a 340 or higher. It doesn’t need to be the fastest or the best looking. I’m thinking my range is $20,000 and $25,000 would be really pushing it.

Here is a Demon near me and I wasn’t sure if it was a good deal or not. I have zero mechanical skill (I can change oil, an alternator, and small things like that) and have no body work skills. I want a car that runs and maybe when I get time I can tinker with it. Besides that, I’ll be paying people to fix the major issues (over a period of time. I’m in no rush to fix this one up, as long as it drives)

Sorry for the rambling. I would really appreciate any tips on buying a Demon. And unfortunately, I have no time to work on engines or take on massive projects. I want something that runs and I could work on over a period of time

Thank you guys so much.

Yeah, that looks like a 10-15K car to me, tops

Keep your eyes open, there are much better deals out there, and you should be able to find a street legal turn key demon in your price range

diymirage said:

Yeah, that looks like a 10-15K car to me, tops

Keep your eyes open, there are much better deals out there, and you should be able to find a street legal turn key demon in your price range

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Thank you very much! I’m gut was saying the same thing.

No problem

I just now noticed he's asking 11k
It may be worth it, but im still not sure if that's the right car for you

I think it is easily worth $11K in NJ. But, if you don’t have many mechanical skills, it may be a pass for you as paying someone else to make the repairs could quickly grow the cost.

I’m in San Antonio if you ever need someone to go look at a car with you let me know.

If you have limited mechanical skills, that is not the Demon for you. There's a ton of work there. Maybe a blown head gasket? Maybe it is, or maybe it's a cracked block. Can't know until you tear into it. Former race car in the '80's? Means it's chopped up. Fuel cell in the trunk? Again, chopped up. Only rust is where the door closes? That's structural rust, and if there's rust there there's rust elsewhere. Rust is a killer, especially if you'll be paying someone else to fix it.

If you have $20k to spend, spend all of it. $20k should get you a pretty decent Demon. It will not get you a perfect Demon by any means. Which brings me to my next point- your money would go a lot farther with a Duster or Dart Sport. You're also much more likely to find something like what you're looking for - a running, driving, maybe not totally beautiful A-body if you expand your search to include Dusters, Dart Sports, and in general cars that are '73 up. That does not mean they have to stay that way, it's EASY to swap front clips on most A-body's. Meaning, especially if you use a '73 or 'mid to late year '74, you can buy something that's not a Demon and make it one. It is far easier for someone with limited mechanical skills to swap a front clip than it is to rebuild an engine. Or even install a rebuilt engine. And all of those things are MUCH easier than fixing a car that has even relatively minor rust issues.

Believe me, I know. I love '71 Demons. But I also spent quite a while looking for one, and realized that you're looking for a low production numbers car that was only built for 2 years. Which translates into them being harder to find and more expensive. So I bought a '74 Duster and turned it into a Demon. I bought an almost completely rust free '74 Duster for $2k. Every Demon I looked at in similar condition was well over $5k, and "similar condition" is a stretch. I bought an entire '71 Dart from clip for $500. The tail panel conversion wasn't as cheap because Demon tail lights are so darned expensive, but I still turned my '74 Duster into Demon clone for far less than I could have bought a comparable Demon.

I'm not saying that's absolutely the route you should go, because to really turn a 73+ Duster in to a '71 Demon takes some more extensive work (tail panel swap). But with your skill set and finances, all I'm saying is that you're going to be more likely to find something that fits your bill if you don't make your choice one of the lower production Mopars made. By comparison, there were more 1970 Challenger R/T's (13,796) than 1971 Dodge Demon 340's (10,098). And it would be easier, even paying someone to do the work, to turn a clean '73 Dart Sport into a '71 or '72 Demon clone than it would be to fix a real '71/'72 Demon that's rusty or chopped up.

My '74 as I bought it

Polished up and daily driver ready

Lean, mean, '71 Demon tribute with a 340 and a T56. And making it look like a '71 Demon was by far easier than everything else I've done.


So, I guess what I'm saying is look at your priorities. You could buy a SUPER nice '73 Dart Sport for $20k. I mean, gorgeous. And you could drive that for a few years before you need to worry about a mini-van. It's true, it won't be a Demon. And I'm not saying you can't get a decent Demon for $20k. But the Demon you could get for $20k would be a $10-12k Dart Sport. And a $20k Dart Sport would probably be $35k as a '71 Demon. Just depends on what you really want to do.

Hey man, I remember seeing some of your posts. Glad you're still searching.

When I was searching for another car, I HAD to have a 66 Barracuda. It took me 1.5 years to find one and it was 900 miles away. I paid to have an inspector look it over. He took 60 photos and made a video of it running. After that I traveled to look at it in person and bought it.

I know its tough to wait, but keep looking and you'll find one. I found mine using nationwide Craigslist, believe it or not!

Awesome offer by @loganscuda to go with you if you find one in the San Antonio area!

Maybe pass on this one OP. My golden rule for finding the right deal is timing, position, and patience. The last one is where you focus your main attention. Be very disciplined in your selected search engines and be ready to make a purchase. There are still deals out there and it may take a while.....

Good luck in your search,
JW

IMO. With limited mechanical skills and paying someone to do the work that 11k will turn into 30k really quick... get the nicest driving car you can find and enjoy it.

I decided to get into A bodies eight years ago. I had played with trucks for twenty years before that. So, I bought a very solid 70 Duster with a 340, 4 speed and 8.75” rear end. Non-running. Enter starting a family the following year and eight years later, it’s a bare shell! The car was solid but did need floor pan patches, a new trunk floor and a tail light panel. It can be overwhelming, but I’m just taking it one day at a time. In retrospect, it would have been much easier to buy a good solid driver! Don’t get discouraged!

This may be helpful, at least, its what I did

I looked at my skill level and my wishes and made a point system

A duster, was 5 points, a demon 10 a dart sport 0

EL5 paint was 20 points, black or red 10,

A v8 was 10 points, a slantie 5

By this a red 71duster with a 318, is 25 points, but a EL5 dart sport with a 225 is also 25

Those cars had the same value to me, based on my skills and the cars assets
(My dream car was a EL5 demon with a 360)

But this point system allowed me to quickly put a value on a potential car

I ended up buying a orange 71 duster with a 225, and later swapped it out to a 360

I think 20 will get a nice car with some effort. Last year I saw a 72 H code car almost complete. For what was left it was more of what remained to finish a good erector set. It sold for 14.5. On ebay a few months later for mid 30's not that it sold for that but it was a basically restored car with nice paint. And within the last 3 months anothe 72 H code came up for around 18K. I saw that car 2 years ago and needed little to complete and was another garage car needing to get wrapped up that was really nice...

JW

Stash your cash! Slow and steady wins the race. I’ll keep an eye out for you.

I believe @KnuckleDuster lives around Austin. Really good guy may be of some help too. A lot of members are willing to help and may look at a car for you out of town.

DentalDart said:

IMO. With limited mechanical skills and paying someone to do the work that 11k will turn into 30k really quick... get the nicest driving car you can find and enjoy it.

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Read this ^^^^^^^^^^ carefully, that's from someone who was in almost the exact same circumstances as you described in your original post. He had little to no mechanical experience when he bought his Dart, but has learned a great deal about the car, not always the easiest way. Read his thread Dartin for Divorce, you will find it very interesting and helpful.

Sorry but I gotta say dont do it. Not trying to be an ***, but..
1. You have limited mech skills
2. Both you want kids so you hope to sell it for a minivan in a few years?
3. Worldwide pandemic.
Sorry just my opinion, if my friend and we were shooting the **** and he had the same scenario as you I would tell him the same thing.
You got a good looking girlfriend, ride her it will cost u less(hopefully)
Just my opinion.

You too can be a certified YouTube mechanic. That’s the best part of fixing one up yourself. You learn as you go. This is how I look at paying someone else to do something. Labor is more than the parts. What I save on labor I use to buy the right tools to do it.

I would stay away from the one you posted. I have been trying to get a former street/strip car back to being a good reliable driver for the last two summers. I have a lot of experience in automotive, been working on cars for close to 50 years now. It is never as simple as it would appear to be, there are always some things that need attention that you didn't expect to find or plan on. Paying someone else will get old really fast. Before very long you will have spent far more $$ than the car is worth when it comes time to sell it.
Like the other people who have responded have said, find the best car you can afford to buy, and learn about how it works and what you need to know about it to keep it and your family happy.

4spdragtop said:

Sorry but I gotta say dont do it. Not trying to be an ***, but..
1. You have limited mech skills
2. Both you want kids so you hope to sell it for a minivan in a few years?
3. Worldwide pandemic.
Sorry just my opinion, if my friend and we were shooting the **** and he had the same scenario as you I would tell him the same thing.
You got a good looking girlfriend, ride her it will cost u less(hopefully)
Just my opinion.

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1. Gotta learn somewhere...
2. Minivans suck
3. ... I will refrain from this one
4. If he rides her she will end up pregnant... wive's and kids are more expensive than a car lol

missing linc said:

Read this ^^^^^^^^^^ carefully, that's from someone who was in almost the exact same circumstances as you described in your original post. He had little to no mechanical experience when he bought his Dart, but has learned a great deal about the car, not always the easiest way. Read his thread Dartin for Divorce, you will find it very interesting and helpful.

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Yea my 8500 original purchase has been quite a. It more $$. Its a blast and wouldn't change a thing. Would have been easier to buy a 20-25k finished car though.

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for learning and DIY and cool cars. But to sell in a couple years due to you and wife wanting kids to get a minivan? Who knows what the heck the economy will be by then?? I didnt think my opinion would be popular lol.

4spdragtop said:

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for learning and DIY and cool cars. But to sell in a couple years due to you and wife wanting kids to get a minivan? Who knows what the heck the economy will be by then?? I didnt think my opinion would be popular lol.

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I'm not sure if that was the op's intention or not from his original post, I read it as he was looking at spending the money on a Demon now, rather than it going to a minivan in a couple of years after the family started. I may be wrong about it, wouldn't be the first or last time.

4spdragtop said:

Dont get me wrong, I'm all for learning and DIY and cool cars. But to sell in a couple years due to you and wife wanting kids to get a minivan? Who knows what the heck the economy will be by then?? I didnt think my opinion would be popular lol.

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I didnt realize he put to sell if for a minivan lol.

Bench seats ftw! Keeps you from needing a minivan lol.

that car for 11k looks like its a mess just going by those shitty pictures.. if you have 20-25k to spend on one my suggestion is to find someone who knows these cars and take them to go find the nicest one you can find for that money.. not that **** box you have pictured.