opinions wanted

[sLoWnStEaDy]

WELL... When i finaly get close to finishing a project i have an offer to trade it for a car i was thinking about buyinganyways...

My RX7 with the 5.0HO/T5 swap. It now has a torquer 4BBL intake manifold instead of the fuel injection. It was mounted with a kit from Granny's Speed Shop. It has a mindatrain dual 2.5" catback exhaust, drift body kit and also has a TII LSD rearend. It still needs a little body work and a driveshaft, radiator, carb and a clutch to be "finished".

The car i am lookin at is a Ford Torino (starsky and hutch style) with 48XXX original miles and a 250 inline 6 cyllinder that is running (but needs carb) The car is very solid! It would need a front fender and some minor work on the rear quarters (pretty minimal).

Now i was gonna buy the car for around $800 but it wouldnt be for a while and then i would have to get rid of the fiero or the RX7 anyways... as i dont want too many cars. The Rx7 has a salvage title but it was very minor damage and has been pretty much taken care of. The rx7 itself was only $400, the engine and trans setup was $800, the body kit was $600, and the engine/tranny mount kit was $500, and the TII rearend was pretty much free but worth about $200 (not in the car yet, it has a GTU LSD rearend) I was thinking about just keeping the engine and trans out of my RX7 and trading it as a rolling chassis (if he will) then putting the 5.0 in there until i get around to building the 521 i want to put in it.

[Scott]

I dont think starsky and hutch would be happy with anything but a big-block....

[Domestic Disturbance]

rx7's r way cooler than torino's IMO

[DustinsDuster]

I dont think starsky and hutch would be happy with anything but a big-block....

well if youre talking about making people happy, i probably wont be happy until you jump it over a boat and into a harbor....

[sLoWnStEaDy]

I have decided to keep the RX7 and just buy the Torino out right. Basicaly going to keep it a driver and do the body work and such. Then when i get around to building the motor (521) this winter i will probably tear into it more and do some other good stuff. Now that the fiero is running and driving that is one project out of the way so i figure i'll be OK adding another. Hopefuly be bringing the Torino home within a couple weeks. Ill be sure to get plenty of pics. Just cant decide what should be done with the interior, it is MINT but is green so i think that would limit my options as far as the exterior paint goes. with only 48K miles i prolly wont get into it too much as i wont wanna make it impossible to restore back to original...

[lil krumm]

Now that the fiero is running and driving that is one project out of the way so i figure i'll be OK adding another....



where are the pics of this? what did you end up doing with it? turbo? supercharged?

[sLoWnStEaDy]

Sadly i ended up staying N/A... for now...

I wasnt sure i wanted to deal with the transmission as it can only handle probably 300HP or so. I did have some port and polish work done though. Most people i have talked to say it should be puttin out about 250hp or so... There are pics in my build thread if you wanna search my name. I will be getting some more pics before too long but as of right now i dont have the internet at my house so...

[DustinsDuster]

i prolly wont get into it too much as i wont wanna make it impossible to restore back to original...

i dont see why, people keep talking about how eventually the post-musclecar cars are going to go up in value, but in an everyday driver like a torino, especially one with a 6cyl, i really dont ever see it being worth the money to put it back to as-delivered stock.

but again, its your car, and do with it as you wish. personally, my car was an original 340 Duster, B5 Blue with black interior and exterior stripe delete. it was ordered as a sleeper but still had the black bucketseat interior with a center console and floor shifter. i even know where the original numbers matching block for this car is. i didnt buy it for a couple of reasons;

1. my car is an Abody Mopar, which dont have as many repro parts available as B/E bodies.

2. all original Abodys arent worth ANYWHERE near as much as the original B/E bodies

3. its a 1972, the first year of emissions. the car's 340 had lowered compression (8.5:1 compared to 10.5:1 the year before). you would think that this might prove to be valuable since it was the first year, but from what ive seen, it isnt at all

4. most importantly, i didnt buy my car to turn it into a museum piece i drive twice a year only when theres not a cloud in the sky. i want to enjoy my car, and right now, i enjoy going fast and just driving it without having to worry about it getting dirty or scratched.

just some things to think about.

[TbTalon94]

oh and it's flat black ^^

[DustinsDuster]

oh and it's flat black ^^

not for too terribly much longer. after this fall, its getting stripped to nothing, fixed, and hopefully at least primered before next spring, not to be out and running though. i doubt you'll see my Duster back on the road for another two years probably. i'll post pics though.

[sLoWnStEaDy]

Well, i have made up my mind...

I have been working on the RX7 the last few days, getting it pretty much where i want it. I have pretty much finished the body kit, shaved all the molding, shaved the antenna, got my LT headers installed and will be doing the fuel system shortly.
Once the car is running and driving, (if all goes as planned) i will be trading it for the Torino and the charger. The charger is an all original 400 big block with buckets and only 3X,XXX miles it is actuzly worth something so it will be staying pretty much stock. As for the torino i did a little research and you are right, not worth much being an original 6 cylinder car with few options. So i got to talking to my girlfriend about how i wanted to put a 1/2 JZGTE in the RX7 but didnt and she thought it would be fun to put a JZ in the torino. So i guess for now I am just gonna keep finishing up the RX7 and once i get the other cars we will just have to see what happens. I still know of a complete 1JZ swap (engine, trans, harness, ECU and everything in between) for $1000 so if i get the cars, come tax return time we may just leap...

[DustinsDuster]

what year is the Charger? how is the body on it? the 400 didnt come around until 73/74 if i remember right, but if the numbers are matching, it could be worth something if all in good shape. i would say you could do some basic mods (carb, cam, intake, maybe a gear swap) and still keep the value of the car where it is as long as you dont cut it all up; but i think you are GREATLY underestimating how much it costs to build or rebuild a Mopar.

if you PM me the VIN number and the Fender Tag options, i can probably decode them for you.

as for the turbo 6cyl in the Torino; thats a big heavy car, and im not how fun the car would be without the torque down low to get it up and moving. just something to think about....

[DustinsDuster]

just thought of something; is the car here in town? what color is it? is it running, or has it been sitting?