Need help....my first mopar

[MIKESonMOPAR]

Hey everyone, I just put my $500 deposit on a 72' Challenger. Needless to say, I'm excited to go pick it up. I'm new to all of this and just wanted to know what I should look for on the car before I give the guy all $15,000.
I found the car on ebay. Its a 1972 Challenger and the vin the seller told me says its originally a 340 rallye. He states that it now has a "midly built" later model 360 in it and its a 4 speed. The car has a fairly recent paint job and the interrior looks great, form what i can tell. He said it has 52,000 original miles and is rust free. the only neg thing he stated is that the manual disc brakes feel mushy.
The car is located in Ohio and I'll be flying from Florida to go buy it and put it on a car transporter.
What should I be looking for on the car?
I dont have any motorhead friends to take with me and I just dont know enought yet to feel 100% confident.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Alot and look forward to alot more posts in the future. Getting excited!

 

[DetMatt1]

Can you post a link to the auction? It would help for us to see the general condition of the car.
A few very general things to look for are make sure the vin matches the numbers stamped on the body in 2 places, one being the upper radiator crossmember and the other being on the top of the cowl, driver side, (this is the panel that is at the base of the windshield with the black plastic screens, under the back of the hood). If the fender tag is with the car it will be on the inner fender apron near the battery and should also match the vin. Find out where, regionally, the car is from. Ohio is part of the rustbelt so take with you a small ice pick or something to poke around all of the frame members (don't be afraid of poking through). Vinyl roof car? Look for bubbleing underneath. Close look at the trunk floor, inner and outer wheelhouses and the trunk floor extensions, as well as the int floorpans, again with the icepick from underneath. Take it to a brake shop and get a pro to inspect that system and all the suspension components while it's on a lift. You have every right to take it to a mechanics shop to have them assess the general condition of the car, hell, you could and should even take it to a local restoration shop and have them look at the body and paint.
Oh yeah, and welcome to the site from the Motor City!

 

[ramenth]

Good write up, DetMatt.

Welcome aboard to the OP!

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

Thanks DETMAT, I would have never thought of poking around like that. Heres the link to the auction, before the seller closed it after I placed my good faith payment.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...AX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1182

Thanks Again for the helpful welcome

 

[DetMatt1]

Looks like a nice car but the pics aren't great quality. No fender tag? Would be nice to know what color it was originally, underhood shouldn't be black and not sure that you could even get painted bumpers in `72. Those types of things are fine though. Whoever restored it or gave it a facelift took some liberties and likely did what they wanted with it or creatively cut some corners to save a little money. If all checks out when you go see it first-hand and there are no condition issues hidden, I'd call it a good buy. Let us know how it goes.

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

I will. I'm heading up on the 28th. I'll be up there for 2 days so after I see the car on the first day I'll more than likely be back on the forum asking a couple questions. Hopfully someone will be here to help me out with a quick response.

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

Hey everyone, well I ended up not buying the challenger...oh well. But while I was up there I had a few other cars I wanted to look at and I think I might have found one. It's a 73 Cuda 4 speed 340 matching number drive train , its not perfect but a nice driver, very little rust. What do you think a fair price on this car is? I know their more valuable than the challengers. He's asking 23K

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

Pics to come

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

GO Here for PICS and let me know what you think. Thanks guys!
www.photobucket.com/1973CUDA340

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

Pics URL
www.photobucket.com/1973CUDA340

 

[btceng]

Looks like a good car. Those "minor" rust areas can get away from you occasionally. A friend of mine sold a 72 that didn't look that good for 22,500. That was a few years ago when prices were stronger. His was a 440 with the pistol grip 4 speed. That's a nice looking tribute car. If you like it, go for it.

 

[burdar]

$23,000 is getting close to the top end for a 72-74 car. With rust bubbles showing, the car isn't worth anything near that. Those small spots will end up being larger holes.

What was wrong with the Challenger? Were the pictures hiding a lot of rust? I thought $15,000 was decent for that car until I saw the engine compartment. 72-74 cars just don't bring close to the money that 70-71's do.

You should be able to get an almost perfect 72-74 car for around $20,000. The door strikers, door latches and rubber bumpers shouldn't have paint on them. If they do, corners were cut. Also look for steering column and steering boxes that have body color paint on them. That is a sure sign of someone spraying a quicky paint job on the car to make a few bucks.

 

[Ray]

I have to agree that seems a bit high for what I can see in the pics. Gas tank looks wet, hard to really tell. The rust bubbles would give me a cause for concern.

 

[bad440]

Both those cars were rough looking in my opinion, looking like these people are trying to make a fast buck. You will likely not find a perfect car from those years, but think you can do better. The Challenger had painted bumpers, the electronic ignition box was not sitting correctly(what happened), paint looked rough even from far, for that price should be better; on the other hand the Cuda looked like a quickie paint job was applied, not very well, RUST bucket here, be careful with that one. You should bring a knowledgeable body man with you to inspect(most difficult to repair), bodywork can get get extremely expensive, but mechanicals would be less of a concern.

 

[73fish]

23k Is over priced? You need to check the vin. It's got 72 numbers & the rear panel logos are wrong, may be barracuda not a true cuda. This makes big difference in value. Real cuda should be BS23Hxxxxxxx not BH23 check drivetrain #s. 17-18k. IMO??

 

[DetMatt1]

That Cuda does look nice but not 23k nice certainly not in this economy. That car will need alot of the same things a 12 to 15k car would need as far as a cosmetic resto. Pass on that one unless you want to fire him off a 15k offer and see what happens.

 

[74 challenger]

23k and the car has rust, bad economy i think for 23k i would keep looking alot of cars out there. why rush it? good luck hope you find what your looking for.

 

[Ray]

So how goes the search?

 

[MIKESonMOPAR]

I might have paid too much but I bought it! 19k....and now the tranny is slipping out of first

 

[Ray]

Hey you paid what you felt it was worth to you. Post your problems here and I am sure someone will respond with help.