Thinking about selling 2002 truck and getting a '67 Barracuda as daily driver...

[ChargerBill]

So, just as the rest of you I'm SICK of gas prices. My Silverado gets 13 mpg to 14 mpg depending and I'm spending around $350/mo on gas. It's 4X4 which I don't use very often, it has 79,000 miles on it and the warranty (which is transferable) ends at 100,000, a few thingsunder warranty have needed fixing such as AC, steering column joints, washer fluid bottle and horn relay (and I'm wondering what I have to look forward to in the future). I have a '56 pick-up to use as a dump runner, so that solves any need for a truck I MIGHT have in the future. I own the Silverado free and clear and can get $14K to $15K for it depending on the buyer and how many are available at the time I decide to sell. One '67 I found is a 273 Formula S Barracuda Coupe and is a good runner with a nice body for $7,500. The other '67 I found is a 318 fastback in really nice shape for $11,000. A friend who has experience with SB Mopar engines said I should easily get 20 mpg and possibly 25 mpg with electronic ignition, a good tuning, proper jetting and cam timing, etc... (he gets 19 mpg out of his FAST 383 on a regular basis - I've personally witnessed it on long trips) I plan on rebuilding suspension if needed, putting front discs, installing electronic ignition and possibly throttle body injection for reliability and economy.

Maybe the Barracudas I'm looking at are overpriced? Am I nuts for even considering this? So, any input or advice?

[PocketThunder]

I'd drive my old mopar if i lived in Cali or some climate that would allow year round driving.. Hell Ya.....

[bull]

Yea, why not? I'm tired of computers, sensors, smog regulations and cookie-cutter designs. I'm seriously thinking about getting a '66 Valiant with a /6 for these reasons.

[TheGhost]

I'll need to see pics to judge the value of the cars.


If you are doing this for gas milage, go for it.  I get around 20 in town with my un-messed with 273-2v.  And I have a lead foot.

[Silver R/T]

for $7500 you can get better car, something more reliable. that way you wont have to mess around fixing it up, especially all the things newer car already has

[mopar_madman]

I'm going to look at a 6 cyl. 71 dart swinger on sunday It will get better mileage then my truck. plus they look cool 

[Big Lebowski]

Me myself, I can justify the 4 door longbed 2500 since I need to get the whole 15 sheets of plywood/drywall in the back. I go to Home Depot at least 5 times a day, lately, it's been every FRICKEN day.

[ChargerBill]

for $7500 you can get better car, something more reliable. that way you wont have to mess around fixing it up, especially all the things newer car already has

Here's the main problem with what you say here: I can work on any old car that doesn't have smog crap, a brain, EFI, etc... Any new car that is old enough to buy outright in this price range will have NO warranty. If the carb on a '67 Barracuda needs rebuilding - a $40 kit and a couple of hours later and I'm back on the road. If the EFi on a Sebring goes out - a tow to a garage and $1,500 and a week later and I MIGHT be back on the road. Any newer vehicle with power this, EPA that and a brain will be 10 times more expen$ive to fix. Now I'll admit that a 35 year old car is going to have problems that need upgrading, but I see that as more fun and rewarding, a BETTER investment in the long run and something that I can actually do on my own. And that's another thing - I buy a 2001 300M and it will keep going down in value, but a '67 Barracuda will keep going up. Really the ONLY thing that keeps me from doing this today is that I want a car I can hop into and drive 3 hrs to SF if I want to, and carbs tend to suffer from vapor lock and fuel mix changes the longer you're on the road and the more the elevation changes while your driving. Does anyone know if throttle body injection will compensate for elevation differences...and does it also suffer from potential vapor lock?

[Todd Wilson]

An old car is an old car. Put into daily driver use will only lead to more problems for the old car. Sure they are easy to fix and tinker with but you ask a 35-40 yr old car to work daily again and its opening up a can of worms for you. Old parts will fail and some you can get and some you cannot get anymore. The brakes are piss poor on the old cars and in daily traffic its a matter of time before you run up the ass of a Honda Accord that decided to stop ahead of you all of a sudden with the 4 wheel ABS disc brakes.  With the price of fuels and quality of fuels changing you would be a fool to rely on such an old vehicle for daily driving. We all get various MPG in our old Mopars. I got a 69 Charger that will get up to 25mpg on the highway but consistantly it wont do that.

New cars are not that hard to work on. 95 and older Mopars will tell you whats wrong. Older Honda's will tell you.   A new OBD scanner to plug in will tell you whats wrong with the newer vehicles out there. Fuel injection doesnt just go out .   I got 2 vehicles with fuel injection. One is 11 years old and one is 20 years old and thet both still have the original injection stuff on them.



If it was me I would get rid of the truck and go buy a smaller car to drive daily.   It will get better MPG and run better in various weather conditions and be a safer car overall.



Todd

[bull]

I don't believe anyone who says older cars are less reliable than newer cars. I drove my '70 Charger daily for 11 years and all I replaced were the brakes, carb and starter. It was about 22 years old when I sold it and it still ran great. Every "modern" car I've had since then has cost more in maintenance in three years than that car did in 11, including the so-called quality Honda Accord we owned for 3 years. If you spent $30k on a restored Charger, Coronet or Barracuda instead of $30k on a new car I guarantee you the classic would cost way less to maintain and be much less of a hassle in the long run. No parts? BS! There are as many or nearly as many parts available now for classics than there ever was, especially for Ford and Chevy, and Mopar is catching up fast. Even sky-high Ebay prices on classic repop and used parts are competitive with current prices in dealerships for new car parts. And you could drive a classic for 10 years and sell it for more than you paid without ever having stepped foot in the govt-run smog facility. Try that with any modern car.

[Big Lebowski]

  I did the Charger daily driver thing back in 1989. It was a '69 R/T 440 4 speed 4.10 Dana car. I hated the winter months of driving.
1. Traction in the rain, forget about it.
2. Maintanance on the defroster/wiper motor/ heater/ you name it.
3. The gas costs just killed me, but I'm still alive
4. Manual steering (No explaination needed there)
5. It just ate clutch's, since everyday I had to throttle it to float then let the clutch pedal slip off my foot.
6. 2nd gear too.
                       

[89MOPAR]

 Instead of spending 7500- $11000 on the barracuda , then adding suspension, throttle body inj, disk brakes, etc. - Why not put the money into your Charger ?

[Todd Wilson]

  I did the Charger daily driver thing back in 1989. It was a '69 R/T 440 4 speed 4.10 Dana car. I hated the winter months of driving.
1. Traction in the rain, forget about it.
2. Maintanance on the defroster/wiper motor/ heater/ you name it.
3. The gas costs just killed me, but I'm still alive
4. Manual steering (No explaination needed there)
5. It just ate clutch's, since everyday I had to throttle it to float then let the clutch pedal slip off my foot.
6. 2nd gear too.
                       

Yeah but you sure looked cool didnt you!     


Todd

[Todd Wilson]

I don't believe anyone who says older cars are less reliable than newer cars. I drove my '70 Charger daily for 11 years and all I replaced were the brakes, carb and starter. It was about 22 years old when I sold it and it still ran great. Every "modern" car I've had since then has cost more in maintenance in three years than that car did in 11, including the so-called quality Honda Accord we owned for 3 years. If you spent $30k on a restored Charger, Coronet or Barracuda instead of $30k on a new car I guarantee you the classic would cost way less to maintain and be much less of a hassle in the long run. No parts? BS! There are as many or nearly as many parts available now for classics than there ever was, especially for Ford and Chevy, and Mopar is catching up fast. Even sky-high Ebay prices on classic repop and used parts are competitive with current prices in dealerships for new car parts. And you could drive a classic for 10 years and sell it for more than you paid without ever having stepped foot in the govt-run smog facility. Try that with any modern car.

Perhaps you got a bad Honda Accord.    What was the mileage on the Charger and the mileage on the Modern cars when they required maintainance?


Since you know where all these parts are I need a heater core to a 69 Charger with AC. Also a new set of switchs to control the heatering and air. A new AC compressor and condensor would be nice as well. I dont want used ebay crap I want NEW parts.


Also where might Bill find repop body parts for his 67 Cuda that he will need when his manual drum brakes dont get him stopped in time and he drives up the ass of 3 little daily driver throw away cars with 4 wheel disc ABS brakes?   Also I hope Bill doesnt go thru the windshield when this happens because his lap belt didnt do its job.


Todd

[rt green]

sell the truck, get the cuda, then get a geo metro. drive the cuda for peraonal driving at night and weekends, drive the geo to work.  drive the charger when your feeling nasty.

[TheGhost]

sell the truck, get the cuda, then get a geo metro. drive the cuda for peraonal driving at night and weekends, drive the geo to work.  drive the charger when your feeling nasty.

I like this idea.



OR.  Better yet.  Buy the Metro and the Barracuda, and then build the Cuda to race.  Mine weights 3150 lbs WITH me in the drivers seat, and a full sized spare in the trunk.

[ChargerBill]

The voice of reason always tends to just plain 'ole suck the fun out of everything..... Funsuckers suck!

[rt green]

sorry bill, just trying to help

[derailed]

sell the truck, get the cuda, then get a geo metro. drive the cuda for peraonal driving at night and weekends, drive the geo to work.  drive the charger when your feeling nasty.

and stick the charger a little farther back on the burner. IMO yes sell the truck if you already have one for work duties, NO dont buy the barracuda which will be another money pit if you intend it to be a daily driver, Yes buy an economical 4 cylinder Toyota or Honda. Like Todd said, the 96 or older Camrys are real easy to work on and have the diagnostic box right on them that will tell you what you need to know when something is wrong which is rare, no special computer needed. Ive always had great luck and longevity with Camrys and will always own one as my daily, preferably with 100,000 or more miles, just broken in. 

[greenpigs]

  I would buy a \6 aspen or volare and keep the truck till you have had the car on the road a month or so to see if any issues pop up. If it runs fine then I would sell the Chebby and move up the ladder of evolution as a non-chevy owner.

  My 05 HEMI standard cab 4X4 gets about 13.2 mpg in stop and go traffic. I only have to drive a little over 50 miles total for the week to work so the gas mileage isn't as important.

[Old Moparz]

Seems like a lot of people don't mind tinkering with an "old car" as a daily driver, but not me. I don't miss the conveniences of working on something all weekend to get to work on Monday. Knowing you have to start the project on Saturday in case you run into a problem, & still have Sunday as a cushion to finish. I did this years ago because they were all I could afford & these cars were "used cars" & not 35+ years old classics. They still had rusted bolts, stripped screws, frozen parts & other nice little headaches that always made the job more fun.

It would be very cool to cruise to work in a classic car every day instead of a boring modern vehicle, but not many of us can afford a maintenance crew on call like Jay Leno.

[Charger Aficionado]

Why not put the money into your Charger ?

Do-up the Charger...  SSBC etc...

I am in the EXACT same predicument...  I sold my "keeper", and had to get a vehicle for my fam... But my crazy ex broke things off as fast as they started...  I am now stuck w/ an '06 Crew cab Silverado LT, and would do anything to have my Charger back...  I am trippin'... I'm looking to trade (still owe 4k, >pay Half), and get a '69 R/T somehow...  If there is anyone wanting a Newer vehicle please IM me!!! 

[rollingthunder]

I have a 94 chrysler LHS that I bought in 2002 the car gets 28 mpg had to replace a few miner things  on it. the car  has 160,000 miles on it now. on the same note I had a 75 Dart with a 318 would get around 18 mpg great car wish I never sold it.had to replace a few thing here to, the carb was a pain in the rear all the time.  when it comes time to replace the LHS with parts cost being about the same as a 12 year old car vereses a car in the 70's and gas prices the way thay are I'am thinking about getting a 300M drive train wise there not much differant than the LHS. Its just as easy to work on as the dart was.