Butters "Winter Upgrades". . Starting a Little Early

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Dantra said:
I toy with the idea from time to time. A few guys have called my bluff this time and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I really want a RR/GTX but also really like my Dart :rolleyes:
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I had someone in a C8 Vette offering to buy my Dart at a stoplight when I was leaving work a while back. Guess he used to have one in high school and it was still his favorite car. My wife gave me grief for not even shooting him a stupid number, but I wasn't sure what would be considered stupid on the spot, lol. I'm also not sure what it would cost to build it again in today's money. I have an idea what I think it's worth, but that's the value that it's accrued over the years of me putting it together, so it's never really adjusted for what it would cost to buy parts again. Some things are definitely cheaper, others more expensive, and some you can't even buy anymore. On one hand I'd love to start over knowing everything I know now so I could try to do it right from the start instead of redoing it all 3 times, but on the other my car is so unique and special/tailored to me that I don't know if it would suit other people or not.
 
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Thankfully, I don't struggle with this issue because I ain't got anything anyone would want. :D

That doesn't change the fact that I have often thought about listing my '74 just to see. And it doesn't help that it has some steering issue that has me pulling my hair out. So sometimes I want to give up and send it down the road and buy a newer Challenger and be done with it all.

I'd love a '71-72 B-Body, but I would also like a Foxbody, S197, Scat Pack WB 6M, and a myriad of other cars. Maybe an SRT-4, or a Viper, or etc., etc. The list goes on and on and I will never own most (any?) of those cars so I try and focus on what I have and stop looking around and comparing it to other cars. Other than figuring out how to make mine better.

The reality for me is that I really don't have the space or income to have 2 Dusters at the same time. And really don't see a point to it either. I could keep one for car shows and the other for driving, but the reality is I want to drive, not sit on the grass. So if I am honest with myself, unless the G3 swapped Duster turns into a pile somehow, the reality is the '74 will leave at some point after the '73 is driving. But right now I keep lying to myself and pretend I will keep them both. :)

If it was me, I would list the motor separate and go back to a stock 6.4 build, but only after Moparty. After that, I would roll it back to a stock-ish motor and never look back as I cruised off into the sunset. Get the wife and the dog(s?) into the car, pick a direction and explore the backroads for a week or two. Then if you still have doubts, maybe sell it.
 
DionR said:
Thankfully, I don't struggle with this issue because I ain't got anything anyone would want. :D

That doesn't change the fact that I have often thought about listing my '74 just to see. And it doesn't help that it has some steering issue that has me pulling my hair out. So sometimes I want to give up and send it down the road and buy a newer Challenger and be done with it all.

I'd love a '71-72 B-Body, but I would also like a Foxbody, S197, Scat Pack WB 6M, and a myriad of other cars. Maybe an SRT-4, or a Viper, or etc., etc. The list goes on and on and I will never own most (any?) of those cars so I try and focus on what I have and stop looking around and comparing it to other cars. Other than figuring out how to make mine better.

The reality for me is that I really don't have the space or income to have 2 Dusters at the same time. And really don't see a point to it either. I could keep one for car shows and the other for driving, but the reality is I want to drive, not sit on the grass. So if I am honest with myself, unless the G3 swapped Duster turns into a pile somehow, the reality is the '74 will leave at some point after the '73 is driving. But right now I keep lying to myself and pretend I will keep them both. :)

If it was me, I would list the motor separate and go back to a stock 6.4 build, but only after Moparty. After that, I would roll it back to a stock-ish motor and never look back as I cruised off into the sunset. Get the wife and the dog(s?) into the car, pick a direction and explore the backroads for a week or two. Then if you still have doubts, maybe sell it.
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I've always said I wish I liked cars just a little less. I have a similar problem where there are a lot of cars I would like to have or at least try out, but what usually ends up happening is that I get attached and then don't want to sell them. If I liked cars just a little less, I could buy one, enjoy it for a few years, then sell it and try out the next one. So far in my 20+ years of driving I've sold one car, and it was to my brother's girlfriend, so it stayed in the family for a little bit. I have a little easier time selling motorcycles (sold 3 of those over the same period, though the first one was more bought and sold by my parents for me to learn to ride on). I still have my first car (gifted to me by my parents after I graduated college), my Dart (first car I ever bought myself), and my Viper. I bought an older XKR to be my daily when I got my first job and that almost turned into a new Challenger, but I ended up with the Viper instead. I know at this point I need to buy a garage before I can even think about another car.

I know I'm kind of foolish for thinking my Dart is ever going to be anything like a modern car, but I've liked the challenge and process of getting it there. I've learned a lot about tuning and how various features work and it's always fun when you finally fix that one problem that has been nagging at you, like the idle issues I was having with my car. They aren't totally fixed, but it's way better than it used to be. Between the window alignment, weatherstripping, and all the insulation I've put in my car, it's actually pretty pleasant to drive and the A/C has been working great for me. I like that I can sort of add whatever options I want to my car a la carte instead of having to buy a trim level for a modern car. Like, if I want heated seats in my car, I just need to buy a kit and put it in. I don't have to buy the premium package with all the extra stuff I don't care about. It's also been fun to reverse engineer a lot of OEM style systems to better understand how they work and build my own versions of them, like my column mounted display. Electric power steering is probably the next "big" project I may tackle one of these days. I don't mind the 16:1 steering box now that it's broken in, but it would be fun to have EPS and be able to adjust the assist however I want since I have CAN bus control to play with. I just need to buy a unit to play with one of these days.
 
Map63Vette said:
I know I'm kind of foolish for thinking my Dart is ever going to be anything like a modern car, but I've liked the challenge and process of getting it there.... I like that I can sort of add whatever options I want to my car a la carte instead of having to buy a trim level for a modern car. Like, if I want heated seats in my car, I just need to buy a kit and put it in. I don't have to buy the premium package with all the extra stuff I don't care about. It's also been fun to reverse engineer a lot of OEM style systems to better understand how they work and build my own versions of them, like my column mounted display.
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I like that, too. It's actually part of what keeps me doing this instead of selling it all and buying a late model something.

But it would be a lie for me to say that I never get worn out and discouraged trying to figure out some of this stuff. I've got a huge post I've been working on dealing with wiring a G3 using an OEM harness, and it has me thinking S197 and be done with it all.

Frankly, it's part of why I try and keep my head down and not look at or think about other cars. It just makes me more discouraged and could lead to giving up. So I try and focus on the project(s) and only look at other cars as a source for improvements instead of jumping ship.
 
Well.. I can't do it. Notified interested parties that I'm pausing the sale. I'm just not ready. Stomach has been doing flip flops all day.
 
Dantra said:
Well.. I can't do it. Notified interested parties that I'm pausing the sale. I'm just not ready. Stomach has been doing flip flops all day.
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I think you got the car there. Fast, awesome looks, super nice all around, can cruise on highways low RPM, AC, ect. Get the tune refined its the total package. Its all anyone could ever ask out of a classic car. Step back realize what you have cause that car is where its at.....
 
Dantra said:
Well.. I can't do it. Notified interested parties that I'm pausing the sale. I'm just not ready. Stomach has been doing flip flops all day.
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You will know when it is time to unload it... if it ever happens
 
How did I go from almost selling it to this?? Somethings wrong with me.

Caltracs arrive Monday

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Moparty is less than 30 days! Odd how time is when you get older. When it was over, I was ready to do it again.. As many others. And now here is is... Moparty time! I think I'm ready... GC pass purchased, hotel reserved, Dart is running great and now has caltracks.. No more wheel hop, the finest new SA2015 Helmet a guy could buy for under $100 and Friday, I drove up to Michigan and picked up a trailer and some "goodies" for the wife to stay entertained while I'm away haha. 9 hour round trip but it let me catch up on some Time Suck episodes. Can't wait to get there, slap on the new sway bar and let it eat! Such a different car this year...

Side note.. One of the guys that was interested in the Dart, sent me a msg today to remind me to get in touch with him after Moparty. I told him that it be might relisted.. But it will have my "I really don't wanna sell it price" lol. I've had people tell me that I should be I'm the area of 42-50...we'll see

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Wow, that date really did sneak up. I remember hearing about it for the first time earlier this year and thinking I might like to go, but might be getting too late to make plans now. I still need to get my windshield gasket replaced one of these days so I can get rid of my "temporary" painters tape "gasket" I've had on the car for probably months now...
 
Map63Vette said:
Wow, that date really did sneak up. I remember hearing about it for the first time earlier this year and thinking I might like to go, but might be getting too late to make plans now. I still need to get my windshield gasket replaced one of these days so I can get rid of my "temporary" painters tape "gasket" I've had on the car for probably months now...
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You don't need no stinking gasket to have the time of your life.. Get your *** over here!
 
Dantra said:
Moparty is less than 30 days! Odd how time is when you get older. When it was over, I was ready to do it again.. As many others. And now here is is... Moparty time! I think I'm ready... GC pass purchased, hotel reserved, Dart is running great and now has caltracks.. No more wheel hop, the finest new SA2015 Helmet a guy could buy for under $100 and Friday, I drove up to Michigan and picked up a trailer and some "goodies" for the wife to stay entertained while I'm away haha. 9 hour round trip but it let me catch up on some Time Suck episodes. Can't wait to get there, slap on the new sway bar and let it eat! Such a different car this year...

Side note.. One of the guys that was interested in the Dart, sent me a msg today to remind me to get in touch with him after Moparty. I told him that it be might relisted.. But it will have my "I really don't wanna sell it price" lol. I've had people tell me that I should be I'm the area of 42-50...we'll see

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I sure am glad someone talked you into doing it last year....
 
Dantra said:
You don't need no stinking gasket to have the time of your life.. Get your *** over here!
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Lol, the tape has actually worked really well. I had an issue where the water would wick around the windshield on the inside of the gasket or something, like any sealer inside has dried out. I just put some tape over the glass to gasket seam and it's been totally fine since. I still need to pull my carpet out and go after my body seams again to keep road spray out since I found a puddle once when I was doing some work on the windows and had the carpet and insulation pulled back. Luckily the foil back of my insulation kept it from getting in anything soft, but still something I need to address one of these days.

Would be a bit of a whirlwind tour as well as I have a work trip the following week I'd be leaving on Monday evening for. I'll have to actually put Moparty on my calendar for next year so I can remember when it is and plan around it.
 
Looked back through your thread and didn’t see what ATI balancer you used? Going to replace mine with ATI just not sure if under or overdrive is necessary for N/A application. Thanks Ian
 
DionR said:
Sweet!
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Sorry.. Haven't been fabo much lately. It's leaf season at home and I had to let a guy go at work.. Which means more work for me and less FO time..

Moparty was a blast! My tune is fine for hard driving. It's more of the puttering around stuff that is a little off. Tolerable but not perfect. Tim got a little taste of it. The only change I made for moparty was to drop the Rev limiter from 7400 to 6800 because I wasn't sure if I was going to hold gears or not. The down side to that was hanging on the Rev limiter in the 1/4. I didn't change the trans tune, so who knows where it actually wants to shift at and trans tuning is a really dark area for me. So 12.1 @ 118 was all I could muster due to that and traction with stock tires.

And yes.. Looking at 18s. They're growing on me with the help of chatgpt and some input. Tim suggested the black scat stripe.. Good call. Here's where I'm at with Ai enhancement...

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Dantra said:
Sorry.. Haven't been fabo much lately. It's leaf season at home and I had to let a guy go at work.. Which means more work for me and less FO time..

Moparty was a blast! My tune is fine for hard driving. It's more of the puttering around stuff that is a little off. Tolerable but not perfect. Tim got a little taste of it. The only change I made for moparty was to drop the Rev limiter from 7400 to 6800 because I wasn't sure if I was going to hold gears or not. The down side to that was hanging on the Rev limiter in the 1/4. I didn't change the trans tune, so who knows where it actually wants to shift at and trans tuning is a really dark area for me. So 12.1 @ 118 was all I could muster due to that and traction with stock tires.

And yes.. Looking at 18s. They're growing on me with the help of chatgpt and some input. Tim suggested the black scat stripe.. Good call. Here's where I'm at with Ai enhancement...

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As long as the dog approves it. :thumbsup:
 
Dantra said:
Sorry.. Haven't been fabo much lately. It's leaf season at home and I had to let a guy go at work.. Which means more work for me and less FO time..

Moparty was a blast! My tune is fine for hard driving. It's more of the puttering around stuff that is a little off. Tolerable but not perfect. Tim got a little taste of it. The only change I made for moparty was to drop the Rev limiter from 7400 to 6800 because I wasn't sure if I was going to hold gears or not. The down side to that was hanging on the Rev limiter in the 1/4. I didn't change the trans tune, so who knows where it actually wants to shift at and trans tuning is a really dark area for me. So 12.1 @ 118 was all I could muster due to that and traction with stock tires.

And yes.. Looking at 18s. They're growing on me with the help of chatgpt and some input. Tim suggested the black scat stripe.. Good call. Here's where I'm at with Ai enhancement...

View attachment 1716462189
Click to expand...

I understand things getting busy. Glad to hear things are ok and you had a good time.

I like the wheels, they look like the one's I bought...and still don't have mounted or on a car.
 

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