So I bought a Viper (and it snowed this morning)

Just picked up a 95 RT/10 Viper, yellow/tan interior.  Pretty excited.  I just thought I would share.

40k miles, two geezer owners had it until spring, then a guy my age bought it but wanted to sell before winter.

Car already has a Borla exhaust, came with the stock stuff I will stash in my attic.  Has a few other nice items like billet pedals and aftermarket hard sliding windows.  Has all the documentation since new including the window sticker, manual on VHS, service history, etc.

I plan on doing a few things.  I am going to lower the seat, as at 6'1" its OK but not ideal.  Dynamat the interior, pull the carpets and give them a good scrub.  Look for a set of bigger wheels like 18s off a later Gen II or Gen III and put some modern rubber on them, keep the stockers on the shelf.  Put in a stereo, it has an AM FM Cassette deck.  Gotta have the hurst shifter with the cue ball grip.  Otherwise just enjoy it.  

Any other Viper guys here, I know there are a couple.  

Not my exact car, same color though.  

Cool.

Congrats! 

Nice score.

Excellent!

Your man card just went to platinum status

very nice!!!! 

Awesome. That was (and still is) a lot of us guys dream car.

Don’t take this wrong, I love how the lack of gadgets makes them look like a factory built kit car.  I’m one of those with it on my wish list.  Good time to buy, I think they will hold their value.

Awesome.  A Viper is on my short list.  Always really liked them,  but never owned one.

I quite like the stock wheels.

Great color combination 

I think the stock wheels suit it at this point. It's old enough to be post-tact and now it's just 'period'.  Wide 17s can't be too hard to find..

Cool car, congrats!

Couple guys here with them. here is mine.

Get a set of Gen III wheels on it ASAP with new tires. Car will be so much better to drive. plus a lot more tires avalaible the gen II tires are getting hard to find and very expensive when you do.

In reply to wearymicrobe :

You have a strange combo of cars. Very cool!

I’ve been interested in picking up an early Viper roadster. I just wonder if they can be made to handle well. I know they were raced successfully, but (as far as I know) those Viper GTS-Rs had little to do with the production car: built on a Reynard chassis and prepped by Oreca. Not sure how much Dodge DNA was left. 

Thanks for the kind words, guys.  I had one on my short list for a long time, before I bought my C5 in 2009 or 10.  Finally decided #yolo and if I don't like it I can always sell it.  

I spent the day doing a few odds and ends on it.  Took the top and windows off, crawled around it, pulled the interior panels and seat out to get a look at how to build a seat lowering kit, adjusted the gas pedal as it wasnt sitting right in its travel, test fit a few road trip odds n ends in the tiny trunk.  Its definite kit car-esque, I love it!  Its so similar to my C5 in a lot of ways, but like a C5 built in the 60s.  The fit and finish is surprisingly good.  I need to find the rear weatherstrip for the trunk, that looks like common bulb seal.  Otherwise, no real surprises as I went through it.  

Biggest surprise of the day was when I disconnected the battery to hook up my leads for the battery tender, upon reconnection it set off the alarm.  Alarm didn't disarm with the key and wouldnt program/learn, so I was stuck. Did some online digging, and apparently its somewhat common to pop the 25A fuse for the alarm programming when the battery is reconnected and the alarm immediately triggers.  Replaced the fuse, relearned the remotes, and I was back in business.  

Something that I guess I take for granted, production on this car started and stopped before the internet was a thing.  Because of that, there isnt a ton of good knowledge and documented repairs out there like there was with my C5.  Good thing its simple and I have the factory service manual.  Its not even OBD2!  The last car I had that wasn't OBD2 was probably an Eagle Talon, 10 or more years ago.  And those are super well documented.  

Looks nice, have fun with it and be safe on the street.

Upgrading the wheels will really open up the selection of tires. If I remember correctly they still make one option for a street tire for the rear on the early cars. 

You can get the original size Michelins Pilot Sports for around $1500/set.  You can get the Toyo Proxes in a 345/40-17 Drag Radial that is super tempting, because I would love the big meats look on the back and the wheelwells are huge and its also a $220 tire.  The trick then becomes what do you do with the front.   You can get a 285/40R17 Toyo as well.   

I am on the fence between popping for some Toyo Proxes or going to the next size up in wheels.  Good news is I have all my Ebay and Craigs alerts set and I don't have to do anything till March.  

I like anything with side curtains, although having about the lowest power output per liter of any performance car is a dubious honour.

I found a set of Gen IV ACR OEM wheels in teh garage if you want to buy them before I throw them up on ViperAlley.

Digging to see if I have anything else.  I know that I kept a full set of switches around somewhere and sun visors and harnesses.

Congrats on the new ride. 

I'm biased because I love yellow, so there is that, but I think the stock wheels make it look really "dated".  I think newer  Viper wheels would really enhance the visual appeal of the car.   And truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of black wheels, but black wheels with that yellow would look extremely good. 

wearymicrobe said:

I found a set of Gen IV ACR OEM wheels in teh garage if you want to buy them before I throw them up on ViperAlley.

 

Digging to see if I have anything else.  I know that I kept a full set of switches around somewhere and sun visors and harnesses.

Thanks much, when you get the chance can you email me a price and a few pics?  aacthree at gmail.

Congrats. 

Very excited for you!  And I agree that the wheels just don't do much for the car.  Get a set of new wheels that will allow you more flexibility in tire choice and sell the original ones.