Down side to mopars???

[ikill]

im in the process of buying a car, to build as a mild pro touring car. i am a mopar fanatic, and i was a phone call away from buying a 70 cuda. but lots of people are telling me, i'd be better of starting with camaro or pretty much any chevrolet, Why is that? would a mopar be harder to restore? lack of parts? :dunno: any insight would be appreciated.

[68Formula]

I'm not a mopar owner, but from discussing with others it's been difficult in the past to find parts. I think part of it was licensing issues, and now the reproduction parts are trickling in.

Do some research first and see how much is available for the year/make/model of the car you're interested in. This will also tell you how "complete" the car needs to be, rather than buying one that needs some items and find out they are near impossible to obtain. Check sites like YearOne. Also look to see what's available in terms of the modifications you'd like to make.

[MonzaRacer]

Try money, mopar is about 3-4 times more expensive.

[tellyv]

I just finished a 6.1 hemi 72 cuda and everyones right they cost a lot more to build and its harder to find parts, your best bet is to find a car that is pretty solid and very complete you'll spend a grand on just a grille, fenders are 600-1000 so find a complete car!!!!!

[Twentyover]

Don't listen to them- build the car you want. Your money, your time. You want the car to make you turn back and look at it and smile as you walk away. Hey, my wife doesn't do that for me....


She'll probably be filing as you read this :)

[go-fish]

Dude, if you are a real Mopar fanatic you wouldn't even question it. Depending on what the potential car needs it is not always more expensive. There is all the aftermarket support nowdays, i.e. P-T suspension, metal, glass, chrome.
Yes, some stuff is more expensive but not TOO expensive for a "Mopar Fanatic".

[SaturnVUEguy]

Price wouldn't deter me, I'm a true mopar fan, I say go for it!

[rjsjea]

Cant go wrong with a 70 Cuda......just make sure all the pieces are there. Sheetmetal is available now through AMD

[modern-muscle]

Mopar parts are more expensive but who really cares it's all going to the car anyway. Mopar or no car for me personally. Now there are several "Chevy" guys here at the shop but I keep them in line with my projects.

[ikill]

I'm not a mopar owner, but from discussing with others it's been difficult in the past to find parts. I think part of it was licensing issues, and now the reproduction parts are trickling in.

Do some research first and see how much is available for the year/make/model of the car you're interested in. This will also tell you how "complete" the car needs to be, rather than buying one that needs some items and find out they are near impossible to obtain. Check sites like YearOne. Also look to see what's available in terms of the modifications you'd like to make.
i compared prices of different things to a camaro & things are a bit more expensive but not too much. and there more parts than i expected out there. so i guess my previous "help" was just going off there personal preference & not knowledge. thanks guys.

[68Formula]

Excellent. Remember to post up your project when you get started. We don't have that many mopars here compared to other makes, so it'll be great to see another one.

[PleaseNoSteve]

If you want a mopar, build a mopar. Just know that it will cost you more. Plan on spending 2-3x's more than these Nova/Camaro guys.

[go-fish]

plan on spending 2-3x's more than these nova/camaro guys.


wrong!

[406 Q-ship]

Mopars don't have the size of following as the Chevy Camaro which translates to less pieces available in kit form for suspension, brakes, and driveline modification. They typically require more forthought and cunning to build a Mopar like a Cuda but then you end up with a car that you built yourself rather than buying it off the shelf and installing. I say know what your getting yourself into, if you think you can handle the issue that arise......DO IT!! No offense to some of the great 1st gen F-bodies in Pro-touring but they are getting to be like belly buttons. I am a die in the wool A-body (not the mopar a-bodies though) guy, that was doing the Pro-touring thing long before it had the name and long before anyone thought about trying make Chevelles cut corners. I would really enjoy see more of other vehicles done up......even Fords :enguard:

[class67]

I say go for it....I'm building a 70 Duster right now and the parts are available, they do cost a little more but they are available.

[GRIMMEY71]

more and more parts are being made everyday.

[CRead01]

I say go for it. Like any project though look at the prices before you get started. including the prices of the parts you want to upgrade with.

I do have a camaro but I also have a 62 imperial convertible and parts are very hard to find and expensive when you do. a 70 cuda would be different because they are more popular. My dad has built 10 or 12 cuda's and some of the parts he has bought are very expensive. They are probably expensive to me though just because there are so many chevrolet's around that parts can be found on the cheap.

just my .02

[nekkidhillbilly]

i dont feel there bodies are as stong. personal opinion.

[thedodgeboys]

Be different build a MOPAR and have a car that stands out :enguard:(no offence chevy people there is just a lot of you out there.) You will spend a little more depending what you do to her but well worth it.
Check out www.cuda-challenger.com
P.S. there is no down side if you are building what YOU want and enjoy it…
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/05/_DSC0237-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/03/_DSC0021-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/03/thedodgeboys_A_03logotest-1.jpg

[go-fish]

i dont feel there bodies are as stong. personal opinion.


Listen to the expert!

The uni-body chassis is no weaker than any other car manufacturers uni-bobies. In fact a pretty stout body when it comes to uni-bodies.

If you need more than, say, 600 hp it might be wise to weld in sub-frame connectors. A common practice on all brands of bodies that make te frame much more stout.

Stay in the woods hillbilly......

[Charley Lillard]

It will cost more to do the Mopar than a Camaro. What is your long term goal ? Are you going to have to sell it ? Odds are that the Camaro will bring more when it is time to sell. There are alot more Camaro buyers than Mopar buyers. I'm not a Mopar hater, in fact I have a Hemi Challenger that is almost finished being restored stock. If you are not worried about the financial side of it, the Mopar will be different, we all have Camaro's.....

[venturabeachpup]

We don't know what your idea of a build is. We don't know your skill level or what you can afford. They all can take a fortune and a looooooong time to build, so I say build what is in your minds eye! Try to start with a decent car and go for it!!!

[thedodgeboys]

We don't know what your idea of a build is. We don't know your skill level or what you can afford. They all can take a fortune and a looooooong time to build, so I say build what is in your minds eye! Try to start with a decent car and go for it!!!

I agree start with as much and as nice of a car as you can find it will be a better car in the end or at least cheaper.:fingersx:

[Bill Howell]

It depends on the car you are going to build and how radical you want to go. You can get a good setup such as AlterKtion frontend parts fairly reasonable. Crate motors, trannys, vintage air, all that stuff for mopars. Now, if you do what I am doing and go for the XV motorsports parts, be ready to write the big check. You will have to actually look for parts rather than just buy a catalog, but that is half the fun of building a car anyway. Camaros are the easy builds, look around, that is why there are so many of them. Be different, step outside the box and build something that will stand out in that sea of camaros.:cheers:

[Throttle]

It all depends on the year you get, I dont see a 70 being that hard to find parts for.. Try finding parts for a 1966 Charger that we are "pro touring" for a guy..

[DRJDVM's '69]

Parts are just more expensive and it takes more effort to find stuff.... there are a fair number of new parts coming out but unlike the Chevy and Ford you often dont have 8-10 options for each aspect of the car etc. The market of manufacturers/parts is just smaller....not non-existant.

Now if you want to do "factory correct and all original" etc.... plan on spending the big $$

I was going to build another 1st gen, but I decided to do something alittle more different. Lets face it.... you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a dozen top notch 1st gens or Mustangs.... the "bar" is so high and so many people are doing them its hard to stand out even alittle unless you are a real trend setter.

If you want to build a Mopar then do it....

[Young Gun]

While parts are more expensive, I think that done right, a pro-touring Mopar is just as sick as the chevy's or fords... Look at TJs E-tikit... sweet car (yes I know it uses C5 stuff but still its dope)

[High Plains Mopars]

Expensive can be some what subjective and an over the top, no holds barred, pro-touring project is going to cost big bucks regardless of make.

If you are doing a bolt together pro-tourer, then it is still close, IMO. Lets consider that wonderful first gen camaro front suspension. It is going to take 3-5 thousand dollars worth of bolt ons to correct any number of inherent design problems with a Camaro's front end. For half that amount on a mopar you get better characteritics designed for performance that don't do weird things like positive camber gain. Spend $5k on the front end of your mopar and your into coil over territory. Similar issue when you start playing with some of the engine families. To get the strength and power out of a 350 chevy that comes in a 340 mopar, you going to need new rods, new heads, and a host of other parts to produce similar power levels at the same durability levels.

If your looking at a budget way to put a car together and price is the main consideration, then the budget approach of a great number of chevy parts means you can build a driveable car, that looks decent at a reasonable price. However, it will not be the best looking, best performing, or fastest machine out there.

If your talking restoration, and I assume not since your on here, then yes, a mopar is going to cost 3-4 times a comparable chevy and the selection of vendors will easily be a sliver by comparison.

So, it all comes down to intended choice of usage and budget to get there. So, if you want a broader selection of parts, which means a greater range of prices, then chevy is the way to go. I mean there are what, three dozen kinds of header bolts for a small block chevy? Pick your price point and build away. But the shear number of guys who love those cars means there will always be a market for them, which means if flipping a car is your intention, then there will always be a market for a clean 1st gen Camaro. similarly, when youo go to an all makes show, odds are the camaro to mopar factor will easily be 5:1. So if you want to make something a little off the beaten path, but not so weird you can't find parts for it, then the mopar will reward you with that.

[TROUBLE987]

Expensive can be some what subjective and an over the top, no holds barred, pro-touring project is going to cost big bucks regardless of make.

If you are doing a bolt together pro-tourer, then it is still close, IMO. Lets consider that wonderful first gen camaro front suspension. It is going to take 3-5 thousand dollars worth of bolt ons to correct any number of inherent design problems with a Camaro's front end. For half that amount on a mopar you get better characteritics designed for performance that don't do weird things like positive camber gain. Spend $5k on the front end of your mopar and your into coil over territory. Similar issue when you start playing with some of the engine families. To get the strength and power out of a 350 chevy that comes in a 340 mopar, you going to need new rods, new heads, and a host of other parts to produce similar power levels at the same durability levels.

If your looking at a budget way to put a car together and price is the main consideration, then the budget approach of a great number of chevy parts means you can build a driveable car, that looks decent at a reasonable price. However, it will not be the best looking, best performing, or fastest machine out there.

If your talking restoration, and I assume not since your on here, then yes, a mopar is going to cost 3-4 times a comparable chevy and the selection of vendors will easily be a sliver by comparison.

So, it all comes down to intended choice of usage and budget to get there. So, if you want a broader selection of parts, which means a greater range of prices, then chevy is the way to go. I mean there are what, three dozen kinds of header bolts for a small block chevy? Pick your price point and build away. But the shear number of guys who love those cars means there will always be a market for them, which means if flipping a car is your intention, then there will always be a market for a clean 1st gen Camaro. similarly, when youo go to an all makes show, odds are the camaro to mopar factor will easily be 5:1. So if you want to make something a little off the beaten path, but not so weird you can't find parts for it, then the mopar will reward you with that.
Well said..

[zamora7]

I'd say build what you really want and not what everybody else likes. That way you don't start a build that you won't like and end up getting rid of, or bored.

[cobragt]

Build what you want not what other people think you should. Hell I've got a 78 Mustang Cobra. No body else on here has one. Be different and watch heads turn at the shows.

[rrunner68]

HOLY OLD POST BATMAN!!!

Well since its nearly a year later, hopefully he's made up his mind.

[68Formula]

HOLY OLD POST BATMAN!!!

Well since its nearly a year later, hopefully he's made up his mind.

Well he also hasn't even been back to the board since his last post in the thread (May 23rd, 2009) so maybe not.

[markjanos]

Yes build a mopar, like alot of people said start with a complete car,It makes it alot easier.

[johns cuda shop]

There is no down side ... if you like mopar it doesn't matter. Tru mopars are more expensive to build but will demand more money and respect when its finished.

[showa]

Heh, be real different, I found these potential MOPAR "Street Fighters" tonight...
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/1713252397.html

[jeff s]

We have a bolt in Schwartz Full chassis for the Mopar B body. And will have a Cuda chassis as soon as someone buys one. The cost is similar to the GM or Ford Chassis we have.

[JEFFTATE]

The Mopars just cost a little more because of the popularity of the parts..
Price vs. Demand

But , the COOL FACTOR is way up there with a Mopar !!!..
They are impressive , because you don't see them every day..
I say , go for the Mopar !!

[rrstroker71]

Well said..
X2. Mopar biuld it, anyone can have a camaro.

[Charley Lillard]

I like them both but I believe you will have a hard time getting as much money for the Mopar versus a Camaro of the same quality. And the Mopar will cost more to build......

Maybe really fix up the Mopar by putting a LSX in it :-)

[mpozzi]

Some of the nicest Pro-Touring cars I've seen have been Mopars. Got to go to Mopars at the Strip (Las Vegas, NV) a month ago and there were some killer rides there. Many of them turned a wheel quite well at the autocross.

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi

[DaviRotten]

Besides them being mostly old parts and rust?
Or how about them being Miscellaneous Oddball Parts Assembled Ridiculously ..
LOl or Most Often Passed At Races.
Most Often Parked At Roadside
My Old Pig Ain't Runnin'
Match Old Parts As Required
Motor On Pavement After Race
Moments Of Power Are Rare

lol need more?

[CurtiSS 69]

Please do it. My first car was a '70 Cuda with a 340, pistol grip 4 speed, and a 3.23 sure grip. How I miss that car. You can enormous amounts of tire under these cars without modifications. The torsion bar front suspension allows you to raise and lower the car at twist of a rachet. Chysler definitely had some great ideas. Make it yellow with a black vinyl top, as it looks great (what I had). The 340 hood was really cool as well. I wish I'd never sold mine.

Regards

CurtiSS 69

[68Formula]

I've said it previously, but to make it clear, the last time the OP logged on (I don't mean posted, I mean not even signed onto the board) was May 23, 2009 at 9:08pm. Almost a full year ago.

"Last Activity: 05-23-2009 09:08 PM"

It was nice that someone decided to revive the thread, but I think it's time to move on so others get a chance.