Mopar restoration parts

[MOPARMITCH]

Welcome to the Madness. I am currently restoring a 70 Cuda. See my build thread below. I was very lucky to get this car from the original owner, 99% complete, with only a few changes he made to the car. Headers and a Blowsheild, Intake and Carb. He had raced it some, but I was able to find the bellhousing and Ex manifolds fairly easily. Numbers 383 4spd car I am restoring to original. Good Luck in your searches.....

 

[1973]

I have restored chevys, fords, Mopars, i have had trouble with them all, but never been so screwed over as when i did the mopar

 

[moparlee]

I have restored chevys, fords, Mopars, i have had trouble with them all, but never been so screwed over as when i did the mopar

"Screwed over" as in how? Parts, labor, paint, knowledge??

 

[1973]

Yes, all of those, sent my 70 road runner to a shop to have the body done ( i was about 20) , he also pulled the engine, sent it out, ( also rear end and tranny) i paid him as he went along from my megar k-mart wages, he then disappeared, i found the car at another body shop and recovered it, he just Bondoed it up instead of welding in new metal, (i stripped off all the "work" he had done) called where the engine was being done, the guy never paid the engine guy, just took my money, the engine guy sold my engine, the place that he sent my hood for chemical stripping was never paid, and it just sat there and rusted, had to pay again to have it done again, had to track down the guy that had my tranny and the guy who had my rear end chunk, then parts, don't get me started, Mitchell motor parts, ordered rocker panel mouldings, they sent me rocker panels, i was not home when they delivered them, the neighbor signed for them, they wouldn't take them back ( still have them, that was 1985), found another engine, sent it out, got talked into hyper?? Pistons ( cast instead of forged) thinking about writing a book, this is long story short! Its a wonder i still like this hobby

 

[340Keefer]

I honestly think that in auto restoration you’re better off doing the work yourself, if you enjoy it , I consider it a learning process, how to weld, body work , building engines , etc . If you gotta ship it all out you’re better off buying something done and enjoying it. I know of many horror stories of auto restoration. I could go on and on with stories about that.

 

[1973]

Yes, thats when i was starting out, i try to do alot now myself, but i hate my body work. The last car i did, i did the metal work and sent it out, the fender patches i put on they cut them back off and redid them ( they didn't like my structure on the backs and remade them

 

[moparlee]

What you are talking about is not just about Mopars. It is more about shops/vendors rooking people off regardless of brand.

 

[1973]

Just so happened in all the cars i have done that one seemed to be the biggest pain in the arse

 

[don selleck]

Mopar's are a pain, but the most rewarding when its done, IMO.

 

[MMoparDan]

Welcome to the site. I looked at that car, they wanted a very reasonable 6800. As for the real reason why parts are more expensive, my guess is when they are done and done right they are worth a lot more than the lesser Chevy's and Fords. I disagree with 340Keefer, the quality of the parts are the same as those available for the others. Body sheet metal, AMD. Engine parts, stay with the popular suppliers, Jegs, 440Source. Other parts Classic Industries, Legendary and others. Avoid Rock Auto, they sell junk and absolutely zero support. Most of the names I've mentioned also sell Ford and Chevy parts. You get what you pay for.

 

[1973]

How about year one?

 

[MMoparDan]

How about year one?

Ya they are good also, I just couldn't think of them. I'm 70 and sometimes space out

 

[MMoparDan]

Yes, all of those, sent my 70 road runner to a shop to have the body done ( i was about 20) , he also pulled the engine, sent it out, ( also rear end and tranny) i paid him as he went along from my megar k-mart wages, he then disappeared, i found the car at another body shop and recovered it, he just Bondoed it up instead of welding in new metal, (i stripped off all the "work" he had done) called where the engine was being done, the guy never paid the engine guy, just took my money, the engine guy sold my engine, the place that he sent my hood for chemical stripping was never paid, and it just sat there and rusted, had to pay again to have it done again, had to track down the guy that had my tranny and the guy who had my rear end chunk, then parts, don't get me started, Mitchell motor parts, ordered rocker panel mouldings, they sent me rocker panels, i was not home when they delivered them, the neighbor signed for them, they wouldn't take them back ( still have them, that was 1985), found another engine, sent it out, got talked into hyper?? Pistons ( cast instead of forged) thinking about writing a book, this is long story short! Its a wonder i still like this hobby

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you and I will never make excuses for crooks masquerading as a body shop. That being said none of this was because it was a MOPAR, it would have been the same regardless.

 

[slantfish]

What's the goal? Full on correct restoration is going to be costly and time-consuming to get the right parts due to limited production numbers. If it's just to have a nice driver or resto-mod, that's easily accomplished because 70 through 74 had a lot of interchangeable parts. It's still going to be expensive because the Mopar tax is very very real. My 1970 barracuda was *free* from my dad, by the time I'm finished with my 'restoration' I'll be about 45 Grand deep. Unfortunately parts costs also keep going up, especially here in the last few years. The better news is that more companies have stepped up to do reproduction parts for Mopars in the last decade, so a lot of stuff that was unobtainium just a few years ago is readily available now

Parts? Classic Industries, Laysons, Dante's, Vans Auto, Kanter, Year One, Roseville, Dr Diff, Brewers Performance and several others, I've bought parts from most of them and rarely ever have any issues, usually only concerning back ordered parts.

 

[340Keefer]

How about year one?

I’ll look thanks

 

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Hi Guy’s, just joined the site, I purchased a 1973 dodge Challenger at Carlisle last week.I'm no stranger to restoration this car is a matching numbers 340 slap stick ralley car and thought it was worth doing. That’s until I started the parts search and found there’s not much available for these cars as far as replacement parts and what’s out there is hellish expensive. It’s not like Gm or ford . Mopar is limited as far as suppliers. Is there a reason for this? Is there anyone you’d recommend? Thanks. Dave

Nearly all parts for my decrepit '70 have come from Classic Industries. A LOT of parts, including panels. So many that I feel inclined to put a Jaecoo badge on the back.

 

[NxCoupe]

I’ll look thanks

This might put it in perspective. I paid over 10k for this. And I'm told over and over I got a great deal. I agree, that's why I bought it. I've always been a mopar guy, just something about them, that just got under my skin and stayed there for 40 years. Lol