Pricing a 71 RoadRunner?

Question 1
Pricing a 71 RoadRunner?...  So I have a guy wanting to selling me a 71 RoadRunner that he scrapped and made into a drag car. It's only a body with a Dyna 60 rear end on it. It's a great body, but nothing much else. One bucket seat and door panels is about all. My plan is just to make it road worthy so I can cruise and have a nice hot rod. Nothing really nice on the inside aside from gauges. What would be an average/good price to pay him for it if I was going to buy it? And on top of that, how hard is it going to be to find a good 440 motor, and to fix up the interior a bit with a couple seats, and carpet and a dash cluster?

Answers
1)   I would consider this a #5 car as it is not complete.

A #5 sedan is worth about $3075. A #5 hardtop is worth about $3225.

Parts for old MOPARs are out there but they are expensive. You can still find decent big block engines but they are also relatively expensive. Figure on spending at least $5000 on a very basic 440 crate motor. Much more if you want something special.

As this was a drag car you need to know the gear set used in the rear end. Many times you will find a very low set of gears that are not suitable for the street. That is, unless you don't mind your engine screaming at 5000 RPM at 60 MPH. However you can sell the gears in this car now to recover some of the cost of putting a suitable set of street gears in this car.

You are also going to need a suitable transmission. If you go with a manual transmission you will also need the bell housing, flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and shifter. With an automatic you will require a flex plate and torque converter. Plus you will need to locate all of the nuts, bolts, and other hardware to correctly put this together. Some fasteners will need to be grade 8 to withstand the enormous stress encountered. You can figure on $3000 to $5000 to install a transmission.

There are several places that sell the other odds and ends that you will need. Places like Year One can be of help. Lots of other places to find parts if you do a little bit of research.

One thing to consider before you start. It is very easy to drop $20,000 to $30,000 into a project like this and end up with a $15,000 car.

It is also easy to get started in a project like this only to run out of money to finish half way through. You end up selling your basket case for much less than you have into it.

These things must be seriously considered BEFORE you start.

Lots of potential to make a nice car. But you will quickly discover old MOPAR parts are expensive. - Mad Jack

2)   you have to think about this. You dont have anything original in that tells you the worth is down. Your looking at forking out about 2,000 for the engine unless you can buy it at a junk yard or craigslist and get it rebuilt. I have seen reconstruction of the interior done between 1,500 to 10,000 mattering what you want. For what is stripped of the car ad another 2,000. Do some research before buying it of what you want to do to it and that will help you see your overall money in the project. plus look what one all ready is going for on classictrader or bluebook. - alex.adamcik

3)   You can always part it out. That body style has alot of folks looking desperately for solid straight sheet metal, believe it. - done wrenching

4)   Unless you are gonna keep it a drag car don,t waste your time....Way too much money involved on making it street worthy again.... - Johnny Rotten


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Question 2
What is the top speed of a Chrysler 5th avenue?? The speedometer goes to 85 but i think it can do more. Help!?...  I'm really curious to this fact. I got the car for a great deal. Everything is stock, one previous owner and i'm curious to the potential of this boat
another quick bit my main issue with just testing it out is i dont want to blow the heads off it lol

Answers
1)   Know somebody with a gps? Most of the new ones display mph. If I had to guess I’d say 110. - jason

2)   theres only one way to find out, man,

im not saying you should speed, or break the law

but if it were me, id give that b!tch what for, and see for myself ;) - Chris

3)   It has the potential of over 100 mph, but I wouldn't do it. Illegal, and unsafe. - badbill1941

4)   The computer has a ignition shut down programmed around 105mph. At that speed the computer will shut down the fuel and the ignition. All computer controlled vehicles have this programmed into the Prom. Hope this helps. Christopher - Christopher


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Question 3
How much is universal joints for a 98 chrysler town and country LXi van?...  

Answers
1)   www.autozone.com

That's where I go to get ball park figures on car parts. - Leo W

2)   Rock auto's the best. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1314373,parttype,2288 - jason

3)   That mini van dosent have u-joints. But it does have CV joints, but (again ) it is cheaper to get a complete rebuilt CV axle, A-1 Cardones run you about 160.00 each, and you can find cheaper ones at most mom and pop repair shops, that get their parts of other tnan commercial suppliers - rick b


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Question 4
I changed the spark plugs on my friends 99 Plymouth breeze. the #1 plug had oil on the boot and top of plug.?...  the plugs are in a long tube due to the type of head on the car. I was thinking it was the oil ring on the piston but the car don't smoke. Could it be that the tube has a seal that went bad or has a hole in it?

Answers
1)   Two possibilities: That the seal at the bottom of the spark plug tube is leaking. Or the seal at the top of the tube that seals it to the valve cover. Either one of these can cause the problem that you describe. Most likely is the seals at the valve cover. If you find that it is the tubes you will have to replace them. There is no sealant or seal at the bottom of the tubes they are just a press fit. - Mike J

2)   Spark plug tube seals leaking,buy and replace valve cover gasket set which comes with all tube seals and valve cover gasket will fix it. - Carman Nguyen

3)   Its the seal in the valve cover - rick b


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Question 5
Chrysler 300: can it be beefed up?...  Wife really likes the 300. Looks like a cool sedan. What can I do to sup up the engine? Are there compatible exhaust systems?

Answers
1)   So get the SRT8.

425hp, 420ft/lbs of torque.

More than plenty.

And it beats wasting your money on craptastic things like aftermarket exhaust. - Vipassana

2)   If you are talking about the newer body style 300/charger. The SRT-8 or Hemi version will have aftermarket supports like headers, exhaust and even Vortec Pro-Charger (super charger).

If you are getting it as a daily driver for ur wife, i stronger advise you against it.
I work at a Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler dealership as a mechanic, the suspension is a gurantee failure every 40K miles on Tie rod ends and strut arms.
Other than that, it is just really un reliable. You'll regret it when the time comes on repair and maintainence. They just break... - steak5959

3)   Well if you want to pay out the nose for a srt like the other guys say for more HP go ahead, and don't forget insurance.
But if the budget cant handle the over priced big boy toy, and mama wants to drive the kiddies around, then get the 6 or 8 without the srt, go with a cold air intake, Performance cat back, and a programmer, and BAM better then what you got for less and your insurance and car payments wont force a foreclosure on your house, and still look and sound cool with some ummffff - rick b


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