Hello and advice needed

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 1:40 pm

Just thought I'd introduce myself,
I woke up the other week with a burning itch to find out more about MOPAR, in paticular a Dodge Challenger.
My "itches" have got me in trouble before but luckily I've got a (fairly!) understanding wife

I currently drive a Jaguar xkr as my weekend car but if I'm honest I'm not that excited by it.
The problem is my legs- they don't work to well any more and I have to have hand controls on my cars to be able to drive safely!
I used to have an urquattro and a lancia integrate but they got more and more difficult to use so they had to go and were replaced by the jag.
The problem is I used to love the shows, the tinkering and the general "air" of an old car but the xkr club is full of old blokes smoking pipes

It struck me that an auto challenger might be the solution?
Has anyone had experience of disabled use of a muscle car?
What do you think?
Any advice at all is welcome, especially any general advice. I'm not looking for a show standard car but I do want a reliable head turner, no projects anymore for me!
Is rust a huge problem? I used to have a Karmann Ghia which looked lovely until someone ran into the back of it and then you should have seen the filler and rust that you could see

I don't know if I'll ever have a challenger on the drive but hopefully I'll find out a lot more about it here and at worst I'll just have to watch Vanishing Point for the 1000 time

Adrian Worman · Post by **Adrian Worman** » Sat Apr 13, 13 1:58 pm

Welcome aboard

There is every chance that you could have the hand controls from an early simple car, say a Metro for example, modified to suit an application like that.
Wouldn't be hard to find the parts, a breakers would probably help easy enough and it wouldn't be expensive, only real costs would be the fabrication.
There are plenty of hot rods and customs around the country already modded like this, a Google search should get you some contacts

drewcrane · Post by **drewcrane** » Sat Apr 13, 13 2:03 pm

I saw a duster with hand controls at a show last year and from what I saw it was not a major undertaking to get it done ,

you just need the right parts ,it looked like he found some controls off another van or car and swapped em over ,

so yea search the breakers for maybe some parts ,some one should have something ,but I think it would be somewhat simple to make some simple mods and make it work , there are plenty of people on this board to do some custom work

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 2:08 pm

Thanks for the replies- I'm not to worried about the controls, I've got 2 lots as it is and I've checked it can be done but I hadn't heard of it being done to an "old" car before, so it' s reassuring to hear it has.

drewcrane · Post by **drewcrane** » Sat Apr 13, 13 3:00 pm

If you can post up some pics

Mossy68 · Post by **Mossy68** » Sat Apr 13, 13 3:17 pm

Hi Stuart and welcome.
Glad you've got the Mopar itch.
Can't see any problem converting a car to your needs.
Plenty of talented and helpfull people here.
Handy to know where you are to see which members are local

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 4:51 pm

I'm near Leicester.
I was hoping to go to the Nationals at Santa Pod later this year but time is tricky as we're off to Italy on the Sundany and Saturday I'm meant to be going to Silverston CLassic. Friday was my preferred option but,from looking at the flyer, it seems there's no day ticket for the Friday?
quick question, I know prices have gone sky high but would I find a good car IN the UK or is importing the favoured route?

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Sat Apr 13, 13 5:21 pm

Running an old classic muscle car is not that easy without a fair bit of regular tinkering.

Would a modern Challenger not be better suited? Or is the conversion going to be tricky on a modern car?

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 5:40 pm

Dave wrote:Running an old classic muscle car is not that easy without a fair bit of regular tinkering.

Would a modern Challenger not be better suited? Or is the conversion going to be tricky on a modern car?

I used to do a LOT of tinkering on the Quattro to keep it going.
It might have been made using "German technology" but it had had 25 years of British bodging since then though!
My wife once said it had cost £100 every time I'd openend the bonnet. She had no idea how far out She was

A new Challenger would be an attractive easy option but its the tinkering, the in depth knowledge of every nut and bolt, every nook and cranny, that I miss and that's what draws me to an original Challenger . When I open the bonnet of the Jag I daren't touch it as I don't have the right diagnostic tools necessary to work on a modern performance car.
I know my experience has been limited to 80s cars but I imagine the hidden costs are just as present.
One side of the quattro experienced which stressed me was the NLA situation where parts just couldn't be found for love or money. I'm hoping the Mopar situation is better supported.

Incidentally, the Lancia (contrary to popular opinion) needed virtually no tinkering at all!

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Sat Apr 13, 13 6:03 pm

Yeah I know what you mean.
My Challenger spent more of its years off the road than on it. But it never bored me.
Now I have the Vette I am out driving all the time. But find myself with nothing to fiddle with....

db · Post by db » Sat Apr 13, 13 6:24 pm

Welcome Stuart and good luck hunting! I hope you do get a Chally
Mopars of that era have so much character you'll never get bored

It'll be interesting to see what's involved in modding to your needs.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Sat Apr 13, 13 6:53 pm

Welcome Stuart, is it just a Chally you have your heart set on? As there is often good alternatives that come up on here from time to time and usually have a good history amongst the members here, who would see you right.

aussie pete · Post by **aussie pete** » Sat Apr 13, 13 7:00 pm

You could consider an Aussie charger,..cheaper,right hand drive and more exclusive,..

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 7:03 pm

I've got to admit that I'm quite shallow and "form" is definitely more important that "function" in my eyes,
There's something about the looks and the image of a Challenger that makes the heart race in my case. I blame watching Vanishing Point at a young age.,
Having said that though, if I find that there's a similar looking car I'm not aware of yet which is almost as good but a lot more realistically priced than an expensive Challenger then I might be swayed.
I'm in no hurry so I'm here to learn as much as I can until I know I'm making the right decision- or the market collapses and I can profit from someone else's hard work

Stuartmmcfc · Post by **Stuartmmcfc** » Sat Apr 13, 13 7:05 pm

aussie pete wrote:You could consider an Aussie charger,..cheaper,right hand drive and more exclusive,..

This is why I'm here- I was completely unaware there were such things?
Rhd isn't an issue tbh though, it added to the "occasion" when I was out in either the Lancia or the Karmann Ghia., although it did make McDonald drive throughs tricky!