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Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
4/4/24 3:11 p.m.

*Sigh*

Influencers.

 

 

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
4/4/24 3:19 p.m.

Yeah... I'll have to make sure I avoid that channel... last thing I need right now is something pushing me to buy another car I don't have room or time for. 

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
4/4/24 3:26 p.m.

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

What works for me is not having a garage or a driveway, and being up to my eyeballs in student loan debt. I don't have the space or the money for anything but a daily, so no projects for me. yes

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
4/4/24 3:31 p.m.

Mopar guys are weird.

chandler
chandler MegaDork
4/4/24 4:06 p.m.
ShawnG said:

Mopar guys are weird.

Boy howdy.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa MegaDork
4/4/24 4:20 p.m.

The gf can tell when I've been watching various junkyard rescue/roadkill shows.  Apparently I start sending her links to old cars and road trip ideas

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
4/4/24 4:48 p.m.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Ironically, my ex- would do that.  She would watch some show... and the next day I'd get links to strange cars she wanted...  Of course, the landmine for me was never really knowing if she was seriously looking or if it was day dreaming...  Her most recent purchase is a rare trim UK-market VW Corrado - so the former was always possible. 

chandler said:
ShawnG said:

Mopar guys are weird.

Boy howdy.

No idea what any of you are talking about.

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse UltimaDork
4/4/24 8:05 p.m.
ShawnG said:

Mopar guys are weird.

I'm a recovering Mopar guy. I've had Darts, Imperials, Newports, and a Satellite Sebring. I still have a 49 Plymouth, but am otherwise "mostly" recovered. Still, I'm just a B body and a 383 away from a hard core relapse. 

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
4/4/24 8:17 p.m.

(Tossing chum in the water)

The Buck GS 445 Stage 1 was faster than the Hemi.

laugh

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
4/4/24 8:49 p.m.

In reply to ShawnG :

In one particular magazine test, if I remember correctly. wink

Regardless, best of luck affording ANY old, reasonably popular Mopar. I've long since given up hope of owning a 68-70 Charger-in-any-condition. The prices of even rusted out hulks is ludicrous.

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy MegaDork
4/4/24 9:01 p.m.

I've always figured that any Mopar guy that likes driving a muscle car era A, B or E body has never driven a real car.

Like a Chevelle or Biscayne.

A 401 CJ
A 401 CJ GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
4/4/24 10:19 p.m.
ShawnG said:

(Tossing chum in the water)

The Buck GS 445 Stage 1 was faster than the Hemi.

laugh

Oh boy.  

A 401 CJ
A 401 CJ GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
4/4/24 10:26 p.m.

A funny tale: years ago I met this young woman at a party who had not long past emigrated to the US from Colombia.  Very attractive, stylish, and seemingly sophisticated.  She mentioned she was working two jobs to buy her first car in the States.  I inquired as to what she was looking for and I'll never forget her words: "A big bad-assed Mopar".  I kid you not.  No.  I didn't marry her.  But probably should have.

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
4/4/24 10:46 p.m.
Streetwiseguy said:

I've always figured that any Mopar guy that likes driving a muscle car era A, B or E body has never driven a real car.

Like a Chevelle or Biscayne.

You spelled GTO wrong.

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
4/4/24 10:52 p.m.

I watched some stupid T.V. special, shot in the 2000s a while back where they dyno tested all the big dog engines from 1970. 

If I remember correctly, they all scored a fair bit above the factory specs.

They ran the 426 Hemi and claimed some ridiculous number like 600-ish from a supposedly stock engine.

Guys, if you're going to lie about it, at least make it believable.

I know everyone lied to get the insurance companies off their backs but that much more? Come on.

The big three (maybe four) weren't all that far apart on their numbers.

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
4/4/24 11:08 p.m.

In reply to ShawnG :

Probably depends more on if the engine was assembled on Monday, Wednesday, or a Friday.

turboshadow
turboshadow New Reader
4/5/24 8:04 a.m.

As old as I can afford lol

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
4/5/24 10:46 a.m.
Appleseed said:

In reply to ShawnG :

In one particular magazine test, if I remember correctly. wink

Regardless, best of luck affording ANY old, reasonably popular Mopar. I've long since given up hope of owning a 68-70 Charger-in-any-condition. The prices of even rusted out hulks is ludicrous.

Same.  Maybe some day, but I'm not holding my breath... 

The Hemi wasn't really designed for street use, so I can easily imagine that in OEM street form many other engines were faster.   It was only sold in street cars because at the time, Chrysler had to in order to use it in racing. 

The only muscle car from the 60s/70s I've ever driven was a 69 Charger back in 1990. It felt like a terrible driving car even by 1990 standards.  It did plant the seeds of building a "resto-mod" before that term was a thing... 

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito UltimaDork
4/5/24 1:41 p.m.

Most interesting benefit of becoming a "Mopar Guy" has been getting a crash course in fixing bad wiring. The amount of ways stuff can self-immolate and leave you stranded in an old Mopar is staggering. I've been messing with old trash for years, but old Mopars are S-Tier when it comes to this. It's truly something. 

volvoclearinghouse
volvoclearinghouse UltimaDork
4/5/24 2:09 p.m.
A 401 CJ said:

A funny tale: years ago I met this young woman at a party who had not long past emigrated to the US from Colombia.  Very attractive, stylish, and seemingly sophisticated.  She mentioned she was working two jobs to buy her first car in the States.  I inquired as to what she was looking for and I'll never forget her words: "A big bad-assed Mopar".  I kid you not.  No.  I didn't marry her.  But probably should have.

Old Mopars seem to have a big following in Europe.  I know a fellow who immigrated to the U.S. from Greece a few decades ago.  His current fleet of cars includes two 1968 Imperials, which he routinely drives over 100 mph on public roads.  He lives in Texas, where this is actually sort of possible.  

ddavidv
ddavidv UltimaDork
4/5/24 3:14 p.m.
ShawnG said:

(Tossing chum in the water)

The Buck GS 445 Stage 1 was faster than the Hemi.

laugh

I remember that Hemi owner's name to this day: Roy Badie. laugh

I'm kind of with Dalton of Pole Barn Garage. Mopars are great cars...for other people.

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy MegaDork
4/5/24 6:13 p.m.

The Hemi thing is interesting, kinda like closed chamber, rectangle port big block Chevrolets,  or tunnel port Fords.  The potential is there for big horsepower, but the valves and ports are so big that the horsepower starts to show up just before the engine speed causes big spinning oiley bits to exit the underside of the engine.

Then, theres the Pontiacs have such huge journals that they murder death kill themselves at pretty low rpm.

I'm just not a huge fan of great big engines, although a 632 in an old Camaro might be interesting.

 

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/5/24 6:37 p.m.
Streetwiseguy said:

I've always figured that any Mopar guy that likes driving a muscle car era A, B or E body has never driven a real car.

Like a Chevelle or Biscayne.

I spent a lot of time in a '70 Road Runner clone and I actually liked the way it drove.

I hated the transmission, but a 4 or 5 speed manual behind a 500+ cubic inch engine is ludicrous.  But the rest of the driving experience was good.

Now, WORKING on one sucked.  The torsion bars got in the way of everything, and if you had a big block, nothing says loving like having to remove the exhaust manifolds to adjust the valves, and those manifolds also made spark plug access a nightmare.

Disclaimer: I spent many automotive formative years driving a '76 C body.  I refused to change the spark plugs

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
4/5/24 6:46 p.m.
Streetwiseguy said:

I'm just not a huge fan of great big engines, although a 632 in an old Camaro might be interesting.

 

I regularly worked on/drove a '68 that had first a 468, then a 496, then a 540.  It was nice. 

The funny was the 632 in a, I think, '69 Nova.  The tall deck block meant nothing fit.  I ended up having to use some combination of solid motor mounts, and then I had to section the trans crossmember because the headers wanted to point directly at it.  Apparently nobody MAKES headers for tall deck BBCs in Novas, so regular headers exited too high.  Lowered the trans mount and heavily notched the crossmember for exhaust clearance.

It was funny because the guy who commissioned it was like 90 years old and he was afraid to drive it a half a block to his car hauler, so we had to ferry it for him.  Why did you have us build it if you won't drive it?

 

Someone one described the sound of an idling hot cammed 600+ engine as "a bowling ball in an industrial clothes dryer" and that description is APT.

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