10 Classic Muscle Cars That Are "Easy" To Restore.

[adriver]

Two MOPARS, one Ford and the rest GM cars.

10 Classic Muscle Cars That Are Easy to Restore
1970 Dodge Dart Swinger | Dodge

There are plenty of other Mopar muscle cars that could’ve made the list (Super Bee, GTX, Charger, Daytona, Superbird, et al.), but we had to include the Dart for because A) there are still a ton of them on the roads, and B) they’re generally dirt cheap. The good-looking fourth-generation Dart arrived for 1967 and could be had with anything from a thrifty 170 cubic inch slant-six to a big-block 440 V8 over its nine-year production run. Pick one up for a few thousand bucks, and build it your way; you’ll be hard-pressed to find a cheaper entry point to muscle car ownership.

 

[dukeboy440]

nice

 

[Deleted member 40550]

Don't know about the dirt cheap part? Helping my youngest daughter out on her first car a 69 dart custom 2dr I/6..

 

[Bulldozer]

6 cylinder and 318 cars should be reasonably cheap until you get these meatheads with Barret Jackson disease, and baam , suddenly they are worth what a 68 charger R/T is worth

 

[d5667]

24cans of krylon and you are"smokin down the road"!!!!!!

 

[GTXperience]

Hmmm ... interesting article. I wonder who their target audience is vs who would actually be able to afford the purchase and resto/restification of these cars. Their (the writers) criterion mùst be based on the availability of aftermarket parts and not so much on the costs associated with actually purchasing them. Having the E-bodies on this list is almost laughable (even for the base modes). I don't think they're taking into account the production number differences vs their counterparts which make them even more difficult to attain. Good ol' supply & demand.

 

[d5667]

Hmmm ... interesting article. I wonder who their target audience is vs who would actually be able to afford the purchase and resto/restification of these cars. Their (the writers) criterion mùst be based on the availability of aftermarket parts and not so much on the costs associated with actually purchasing them. Having the E-bodies on this list is almost laughable (even for the base modes). I don't think they're taking into account the production number differences vs their counterparts which make them even more difficult to attain. Good ol' supply & demand.

These articles are to be taken with a grain of salt, or more than likely a box of salt. Cheap is definitely a relative statement

 

[GTXperience]

These articles are to be taken with a grain of salt, or more than likely a box of salt. Cheap is definitely a relative statement

Their grains are big enough to choke on.

 

[goldfish65]

Usually the writers of articles like this don't know what they are talking about, bordering on drivel...

 

[LocuMob]

They are cheap to build if you are a magazine writer with all the advertisers donating parts.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Usually the writers of articles like this don't know what they are talking about, bordering on drivel...

You got that right, David. More like borderline retards, because there are NO easy restorations.

 

[needsaresto]

Don't know about the dirt cheap part? Helping my youngest daughter out on her first car a 69 dart custom 2dr I/6..

Agreed. The asking price on a mass produced car is getting ridiculous now.

 

[ir3333]

the only easy restoration is the one you pay someone to do...

 

[TrailBeast]

Patience and time are critical to an affordable restoration.

No patience and/or time = $$$

 

[GTXperience]

You got that right, David. More like borderline retards, because there are NO easy restorations.

Yes, as ir333 mentioned, the only easy resto jobs are the ones someone pays to have done. I'm not bad mouthing those who pay for it because I'm sure many of them spent there lives doing other things to earn the money to do so.

 

[adriver]

I'm just "happy" to see Darts get some love.

My son wanted to do another "father son" three years back.
He's a YUPPIE now and I'm old.
I told him to get a Corvette.
You can get parts out of a catalog and he could put his golf clubs in the trunk.
(I won't tell you what he said about Corvette drivers.
But I'm proud of him. )
He picked out a 67 B body.
A car they only made 15K of.
Against my better judgment we took it on.
Point being compared to that car, a Mustang is a piece of cake.
Both in parts availability and complexity.

 

[cosgig]

....and exactly which Dart was available with the "440 V8"???

 

[GTXperience]

....and exactly which Dart was available with the "440 V8"???

The 69 GTS M-code Darts.

 

[cosgig]

The 69 GTS M-code Darts.

Oh yeah, forgot about those!! However, I highly doubt that whoever wrote that list knows anything about those!!!

 

[rumblefish360]

(the writers) criterion mùst be based on the availability of aftermarket parts and not so much on the costs associated with actually purchasing them. Having the E-bodies on this list is almost laughable (even for the base modes).

I agree there. E body parts in the resto catologs are a plenty!

Don't know about the dirt cheap part? Helping my youngest daughter out on her first car a 69 dart custom 2dr I/6..

Are you looking for a V8?

 

[moparmat2000]

I read the article, and i think y'all are missing the point of the article. The article never said it was cheap to rebuild any of these cars. Come on, they show a 70 chevelle, cudas, challengers, 57 chevy belair etc.

The story written was about the fact that the aftermarket has made enough repop parts for each of these vehicles to make restoring one of these 10 cars relatively easy to do from a locating the parts standpoint, not inexpensively by any means, but easier due to parts availability.

As a matter of fact every part is available to build a new 57 chevy out of nothing but repop stuff. Ditto for a 69 camaro, and ford mustang. Well everything that is except the VIN plate, and a thick wallet. People have been building "harley davidsons" out of nothing but all non harley parts for years. CCI, and Drag Specialties have both offered for at least 25 years bike in a box kits , unpainted, unassembled, complete with everything to build it including certificate of origin for the kits frame and engine.

I'm not sure how many of you had to slog thru junkyards in the late 1980s and early 1990s looking for mopar parts that were better than what you had that you could restore for your ride because NOS was either very limited or just unavailable. Repop parts werent even a thought on anybodies minds yet back then.

The yearone catalog back then for mopar was about 25 pages and was limited to a small score of NOS parts, and some carpets, headliners, package trays , trunk mats, and decals. Ask me how i know!!

The golden age for the mopar resurgence in the late 80s was a mixed thing. It was great in the fact that the cars were cheap to buy, and A,B, E bodies were all over the junkyards. The sucky part was that parts availability for new stuff was pretty much limited to non existant.

Nowadays you can damn near reskin a charger, road runner, cuda, challenger, and darts. All with brand new repop panels, plus everything else. Not cheap mind you, but available brand new if needed. Contrast that with doing the junkyard crawl now to try to find decent parts.

Knowing these cars are hitting the 50 year old mark or past it in some cases already, nowadays id rather look through a catalog for new, as opposed to looking through the boneyard when it comes to looking for exterior body sheetmetal, bumpers, trim etc.