Author Topic: Why Ebods?  (Read 42387 times)

Offline Aracer

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #150 on: September 28, 2008 - 01:27:50 AM »
With out reading all the above^. The way it handles around turns , you can put a glass of water on the hood and not tip it off. It does not tip on turns, you can of course slide the glass off, but that water inside will be level. Take your pick of power it all fits. The thing is like an old GTX in a shorter wheel base, with front and rear anti-sway bars plus front disc brakes. And the 73-74's were built with inside door rails and rear seat side reinforcements to also keep the rear quarter panels from buckling, as well as the inner bumper supports. I drove it across the country when it was new and it was the best in the turns in the hills. I been on that ride before in a New Yorker and Imperial, and a 383 Newport but none were as slick in the turns, of course the way the seats compare is a different story. But that's only upholstery.




Offline Super Blue 72

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #151 on: September 30, 2008 - 05:35:53 PM »
Fairly reliable, cost of some of the parts are reasonable, and some of the parts are easily found at local parts stores.  No real special tools required.

I was looking into buying a Lotus Esprit Turbo.  The seller said it needed a clutch, I thought, no big deal, until I spoke to a guy who works on these cars.  The clutch will cost at least $2500 to replace he said, and that's not including "incidentals".  :faint: He said when they are running right, they are nice little cars.  When they are not...  :money: and they need special tools to work on them!

I like my Challenger....  :grinyes:
1972 Dodge Challenger Rallye 340, AT, Code TB3=Super Blue, SBD=8/17/1971.  Yes, a Rallye without the fender louvers from the factory because of the body side molding option.

Pic #2 and 3 of my ARII 1/24 scale model car 

Phil in New England-Massachusetts  Always thank God for what you have!

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/456046/1972-dodge-challenger

craigsmytcudas

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #152 on: September 30, 2008 - 08:56:32 PM »
my brother bought a 69 rr new when i was ten he still has it.  so when i was 15 i bought one ,but it was light and fast plus cheap on parts thats the mopar story . i sold the car when i turned thirty it served its purpose  won many shows and won at the tracks .i needed some  new direction a light car with racing history and the cuda was the new willys or modern gasser good fit .thats how my cudas came to be and looks were the last on my list .my #s cars survived only because i ended up in real purpose built race cars and the cudas were parked for the next 15 years till now .im glad i saved them .i guess if fast wasnt in the mix i wouldnt even have one .  :droolingbounce:

Offline Bearcuda

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #153 on: December 17, 2008 - 10:48:29 PM »
I just looked through all eleven pages of this thread and saw that I had never posted my reason. It's kind of strange, I know that I saw the phantasm movie before 1990 and have always loved that 71. But, it wasn't until I had come home for spring break from college when I discovered the baddest looking car I had ever seen. Up until this point I had always been a Mustang freak, especially 67 and 68 fastbacks. That's what I wanted more than anything. What I saw for sale that day on the corner changed all that. There sat a sinister black 73 Cuda for sale on a main road. It had sidepipes, N50 15 tires sticking outta the quarters with airshocks with skinnys up front. The front was also jacked up so that the whole car sat up. It had the meanest stance ever. I about got rearended braking to stop and check this car out. Immediately some young girl parked and was also checking it out. The asking price was $3,400. I had no money at the time and my dad wouldn't help me buy it so I had to let it go. It wasn't bought for awhile and I found that the guy lived just down the block from where I had first seen it. I rode my bike down to his house almost daily that summer to see it. It was a 340 car. I built a model of that car to a T. I knew I had to have one, but it wasn't until 1996 that I was able to get my first one. I'm on my third now.
1973 Cuda 440
1971 Javelin SST

Offline mcgheejt

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #154 on: December 26, 2008 - 07:49:33 AM »
In 1984 I was looking at all my friends with their Camaros, GTOs, and Mustangs.  They were all cool but while looking through a muscle car guide I saw a black and white photo of a 1970 Challenger Convertible.  Right away, I loved that car.  The body lines and bulge hood were the two things that caught my eye.  My Grandfather bought me a 1971 Plymouth Duster with a /6 instead.  I didn't like the car at the time.  It wasn't a challenger and I thought of it as a "granny mobile".  I did finally get a 71 318 Challenger for a couple years but the floors rusted out from under me and I didn't have the funds or tools to keep it, as I was in college at the time.  I sold it for $1100 in 1987.  It had a lot of good parts including a perfect winblown stearing wheel, ralley gauges that worked, etc.  20 years later and I have wanted another one ever since.  I am getting closer now but am still a ways from getting the car on the road.  There have been a lot of setbacks.   

Offline JH27N0B

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #155 on: January 02, 2009 - 06:01:45 PM »
Back when I started high school, custom vans were the big craze (along with disco  :puke:).  I started saving up all my money from odd jobs hoping to have enough when I got my drivers license to customize a van, I figured my dad would buy me a used van when I was 16.
One day I let him in on my plan and he informed me if I wanted a car when I was old enough, I'd have to buy it myself.
So much for my little scheme, no way I'd have enough cash to buy a van and have enough to customize it too.
So I started looking at cars trying to figure out what appealed to me, reading Car Craft and Hot Rod and admiring the late 60's Camaros and Mustangs.  Then one night I saw Vanishing Point on TV and something clicked.  I wanted one of those!
I read up everything I could get my hands on about Challengers, and learned about their cuda brothers and the T/A.  I actually started leaning more toward cudas by the time I turned 16. I still remember a FK5 '70 cuda I used to see driving around town that looked beautiful!
I got my license and started watching the ads for AAR's and T/A's. Most were sold by the time I called, my friends at school were giving me grief about not having a car after bragging so long about this cuda or Challenger I would get.
Finally I found a T/A in a nearby town in my price range, it had a little rust and bad rear tires and wheels but it was mine!
Being winter, I soon found out it was a crazy car to try to drive daily, fortunately it died on me within a few weeks and spent the winter under a snow bank until spring came and I could figure out why the plugs were fouling up.
By the next winter I bought a Pinto for a daily driver and the T/A became a hobby car.
Within a few years I bought a V code Challenger project car lacking its original engine and a loaded dealer demo '71 cuda 340 that sadly was too rotted to save then, I sold the V code too as I was too busy with college to deal with it.  But I have kept the T/A which may someday be finished with its ground up resto.
I just realized that last month was the 30th anniversary of me buying my first car, the T/A!!

Offline 70 383 SE

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Re: Why Ebods?
« Reply #156 on: January 02, 2009 - 09:21:41 PM »
I have always liked mopars from back when I was a kid and I would sit on our back porch (our house was right beside the #3 highway) and this lime-green AAR Cuda would come cruisin` down the road to pick-up his girlfriend who lived just on the other side of the road from me. Then I was 16 and I worked in a grocery store and a guy I worked with had a`70 383 Roadrunner ,blue/black ,Air-grabber hood,  Pistol-grip 4-speed. One day I went to work and someone had crunched the driver-side front fender, he was so p--- off he said he would seel it to me for $2500.00  :woo: At that time I was making $3.84/hour and still in high-school so it was out of my reach ,but boy did I want it!!! When I got older I had a `71 340 Duster and sold it, then a `74 Duster brand new till my wife (ex-wife) rolled it, so much for that car. :22yikes: :swear: :stomp: :pullinghair: :banghead: Later in life I restored a `71 Z-28 and had alot of fun with that but there were 5 other ones in my home town of only 7500 people so that was too many so I got rid of that. My  wife said this last summer that we should get a car, so I said if we are going to get a car ,lets get one that will maintain it`s value at least or maybe even increase down the road. So the search was on. :ebay: :chatting: I looked every chance I had on Auto-trader and kijiji, found some but they weren`t quite right. It was getting close to winter and the cars were getting less and less every week and I was about to stop looking and one day on kijiji.....THERE IT WAS.... :clapping: :droolingbounce: :swaying: :jumping: :crazy:
 a `70 383 SE Chally fully redone by a fellow in Ontario. That was a long ways away because I live in northern Alberta. My wife thought I was crazy looking at a car that far away and so did the fellow that owned it. But after asking him 2.5 million questions and looking at every picture he could send me, I flew out there...took a look...and bought it. :bigsmile: :droolingbounce: Now Iam just waiting for spring to get it home and have some fun in it. :2thumbs: :2thumbs: And thats my Mopar history.     KEN    northern :canada:
70 383 SE Chally,2010 Chevy Silerado LTZ 4x4 crew-cab ,wifes car 2010 Honda Accord coupe......need to save gas somewhere.....hehehe