ello ello

bazbiker · Post by **bazbiker** » Wed Feb 15, 12 8:22 pm

Welcome

Go for a Valiant Charger they are a great classic car

way rarer than a Mustang of even the American Charger and the steering wheel is on the right side too

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Feb 16, 12 8:52 am

Cheers Baz, i am definately leaning that way but the advice i'm getting from here is helping make a more reasoned decision.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Feb 16, 12 9:15 am

Well if you want perspective....

I owned my dream car (1970 440 Challenger R/T) for 22 years. I sold it last year and bought a 2001 Corvette for half what I got for the Challenger.

Sure I have to put up with the leg pulling, the hairdresser remarks etc.
But I have been able to drive it a lot more than I could the Challenger. Using half the fuel. In more comfort.

I miss the Challenger. But don't miss the stress.

Still love 60s/70s Mopars though. Just can't afford them any more.

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Feb 16, 12 10:27 am

Welcome to the madhouse Ian!

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu Feb 16, 12 11:41 am

ah with a bit of context

swap mustang for an Aussie charger

nobody sits on the fence with an Aussie charger

anyone with a mustang will tell you NO
anyone with a US Mopar will in general say MMmmmm

some of this is because Aussie chargers filled the place of "My first Mopar"
for many who went on to US cars

you wouldn't necessarily buy one as a quickly appreciating investment in the way one might buy a 57 or 59 Chevy a 59 caddy or 68 B body or even a ford or Chevy truck. as the vast majority of the appreciative audience should you want to sell is 16000 miles away

this is a charger 770 1 of approx 200 imported into the UK in the VH and VJ ranges

total production was small i.e the full aussie production of all models and styles from 1962 to 1982 make up less than 1 year of US production
so rare.....yes

it was a 318 engined UK export model with a wood look plastic dash or silver ally turned dash

it would have had a TF904 trans

I guess it still has a Borgwarner M78 axle Australian cone centre LSD)

currently looks solid enough

nice paint, and if the body is good underneath that paint, a very good car considering most dissolved into rust before their 5th birthday

your concern should always be body and trim with an aussie
its needs to be good-excellent otherwise you are buying a right-off unless you can weld

the mechanicals are the easy bit.

so

12K

what do you get

a aussie charger in standard trim with decent interior and decent paint is worth 7-8K we have seen at least 1 go for that in the last 12 months

what does this have over that

1K worth of new interior the seat skins alone are 1K AUD

a 318 or 360 that has been stroked into a monster
there has to be 3K+ in that

decent 727 £????

so is it worth 12K

yes in the value of parts very much so

do you want to spend the equivalent of 12K on it...

I would.....i like them

you like them

just keep in mind everyone else does as well until its time to put cash on the table....then the fact that nobody knows what it is comes into play

paint wise

new paint...whats a respray cost?

however you have 770 vinyl trim behind the rear windows

you have RT style spoiler painting and front wing stripes

you don't have the RT stripe package anywhere else, (Mind there are other stripe options which in my opinion would suit this car better)

Black interior is good its standard apart from dash which looks to have been painted
the dash is not an RT Bananarama! a 770 dash.

so you have a mixed bag in the looks dept tiz neither 770 or RT.

the aussies spotted this one on ebay

they liked it and felt it was a good price based on how much it would cost in aus to build with a 727 and that stroker motor.

stuff i'd do if it was mine

with that engine and box in it...to use them as intended (race track)

i'd have the axle out
i'd either use a 4 spider gear LSD centre from an 86-92 camaro paired up with 28 spline moser axles in the current case with 3.5 or 3.89: gears

or

an E body 8 3/4

for street drving the current axle which i'm guessing is still the M78 is fine in LSD form, people will tell you they are rubbish but they are not as rubbish as most would have you believe much of the issues with them were with the open centre axles.....but mud sticks so according to many all of them are rubbish

burn out too often and it will fall to bits...but then again you can trash an 8 3/4 or a ford 9 inch with a 318 by driving like a nob.

keep in mind it serves me well if an Aussie charger sells for £12+K

i have no intention of selling mine but i'm also happy to see some appreciation of the cars as in both applause and ££££

as stated in previous posts i think this looks like a smashin car.

but get onto

http://www.moparmarket.com and check out the small ads

ask some opinion on their forum
http://www.moparmarketforum.com/forum/index.php

and on http://www.hemi6pack.com

make sure you know what you are getting before you join a quite a select group....

if you do buy it you will be pestered by fat blokes in white vans shouting stuff....dunno why but they do it

mostly shouting nice mustang mate

Dave

Post by **TyreFryer** » Thu Feb 16, 12 11:59 am

Dave999 wrote:a 318 or 360 that has been stroked into a monster
there has to be 3K+ in that

It isn't a small block Dave, the distributor is at the front. So I guess as it's a 452 will it be old school 400 block with 440 crank?

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu Feb 16, 12 12:11 pm

goodness

suggest it might be a bit nose heavy.....

still

where will you find anther....

Dave

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Feb 16, 12 12:18 pm

TyreFryer wrote:It isn't a small block Dave, the distributor is at the front. So I guess as it's a 452 will it be old school 400 block with 440 crank?

Correct. Best engine combo there is. Only slightly more heavy than a LA block (if it still has iron heads) and bigger displacement than a 440.

With alloy heads and radiator it would be a couple of hundred pounds lighter at the front than a stock V8 Charger.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Feb 16, 12 12:42 pm

Wow now there's a lot of info to take in! Cheers Dave999

You're actually wrong about the mustang owners saying no though, the majority I've asked love the charger and say swap it

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Thu Feb 16, 12 12:53 pm

thats a nice lookin charger, if you fancy doing some run what you brung gigs at the pod/york/avon park then i would say go for it,
if not its a waste of hp your gonna get your doors blown of by smoe spotty faced kid in a corsa on the street,
if your just a cruiser guy buy the car pull the lump and fit a smallblock and sell the 452 for good money,

your mustang looks sweet but is it not as good as it looks if the later then get a deal done if not the stang is worth more,

i remember me and bri buying a nice red up and driving tax test valliant charger 770 for £300 they used to be boat anchors now they are worth more than a real charger back in aussie i cant quite believe it they even value 4 doors high

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Thu Feb 16, 12 1:34 pm

Agree with most.

Looks like your happy with what your doing so GO FOR IT!

As has been said though the Aussie cars are rare and one with that spec is gonna be a lot harder to sell (private or by company) than a normal Mustang.

If it were me i'd be looking/trying my hardest to do a straight swap.

The seller won't be stupid, he'll know that he can sell your mustang 6-10 times more than he can ever sell that charger.........In short you have the upper hand as your car is more appealing to the masses!

Its been for sale for a while, so i'd play hardball with him!!!

On a side note: think about how long you are realistically going to keep it. If middle to long term then why not. If its a short term itch bare in mind you may do well to get a 5 figure some in return at a later date via private sale!

Keep us informed with how it goes......

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Feb 16, 12 7:16 pm

Thanks lads, there's a few bits that need work on the mustang, the wheels are originals and 2 of them show rust and could do with a refurb, there's a few bits on the paintwork that could do with touching up but nothing you wouldn't expect i'd say. Here's some pics i took today:

Charger · Post by **Charger** » Thu Feb 16, 12 9:25 pm

hello there

, great looking car

Post by **MattH** » Fri Feb 17, 12 12:33 am

Nearly missed this thread!
Being an Aussie Charger nut its nice to see some one else going for one.

It is top money for one, Dave999 has things spot on. They are a great car but limited following over here. Aussie pay good money for them and a couple have headed back down under in the last few years.

Body is the all important part as most have said. Rust was factory fitted and not an option.
The engine might be big and fun but it depends what you want the car for. Mine is a six pot which does 23mpg and suits me fine, it has done 16.5 on the 1/4 mile and that is enough for me as well, no desire to go faster, I like the cars looks not its performance.

The idea of pulling the 452 and sticking in a 318 is sound IMO as they were never big block cars, it purely depends what you want to do with it.

It is your decision at the end but £12K will get alot of options in Mopar land, and I haven't seen an Aussie Charger sell for that over here (yet).
If they do then all good for me.

If you want to see how they rust then pop over, I'm only 40 mins from MK at Shefford.

Post by **TyreFryer** » Fri Feb 17, 12 12:42 am

The Mustang looks good Ian and I think Duncan, Dave, Dave and Matt are right regarding prices and that the Mustang will have a wider customer base.

I remember Budgie saying sometime ago that he found it A LOT easier to sell Mustangs.

If I were you I wouldn't be shy about haggling, the car has been advertised for sometime and not sold.