Ignorant College Student--Need Advice!

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Rainy Day Auto said:
once you sell it, you may never find another one like it.

Sounds to me like a great opportunity to make friends with a car that will be your friend for years to come. I agree with KrazyKuda in saying that going to college is no reason to not build a car.

I have daily driven a 68 dart for years and I recently graduated college. It's a lot more maintenance than a newer car but I am also not a sheep in the crowd of newer cars that all look the same. These old cars were made to run down the road so don't be afraid to drive it. If you are going to drive it and take care of it, make it your friend and don't worry about the dollar value.

They will never make cars like they did in the 60s ever again, yet money they make more everyday and there is nothing rare about money, so if it were me I would rather have the car. You can recover the money later, its just paper.


sounds like a opportunity to prove the nay-Sayers wrong.
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Agreed^^^^^!! Listen to Rani, she is a great mentor and staunch advocate for all Mopars!!! And she's one of the smartest techs we have here!!!
 
With respect to FUP (follow up posters). Are you being fair comparing your days with the current market. I bought my first car for $600 bucks (57 chev belair) and the cost were minimal to finding parts and parts cars to keeping it running. It's not the same today. Restoring a car is a money pit and if you are in it for the money - run. If it is more than just money to you - by all means jump in head first and don't listen to any one. You have already chosen not to listen to your dad who probably knows you the best. By all means get validated here - full steam ahead.

Finish college.
 
cosgig said:
Agreed^^^^^!! Listen to Rani, she is a great mentor and staunch advocate for all Mopars!!! And she's one of the smartest techs we have here!!!
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I want to add something. I have not read all the posts but I would be surprised if anyone has pointed this out to you.
I mean you can work it out yourself. Yes, I'll tell you that some people view antique cars as simply money.
But people tend to get attached to them. It is an emotional thing.
Sometimes sellers want to see cars go to "a good home".
It's like that for some people.

I guess you have figured this out though.
Mustangs or Camaros are easy. Just open the wallet.
MOPARs are a challenge. Some more than others.
 
adriver said:
MOPARs are a challenge. Some more than others.
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An early A is more challenging than a 67-76 A-body which has more aftermarket support, but an early is still a lot easier than other mopars out there like C-bodies and odd 50s.

There are enough people right here on fabo parting out early As and selling parts and know these little cars completely, to be able to walk a newbie through.

I had a 70 Sport Fury before and that car was like a level 5 model kit. Try finding a tail light lens for a 70 sport fury and you might see what I am talking about....two or three bills a side, just for lenses is not out of the question.

I wouldn't imagine an early would be that difficult to build. However if I ever get an Early A I will be here on fabo looking for help from the early A gurus.

Any project car is going to time, they didn't build Rome overnight.
 
what I have NOT seen on your post, shame on you guys!! 1964 was a Golden anniversary car.The production numbers are less then 5,000 for ALL the G/Ts. Of that only 11 percent were factory V8s. That makes it one of less then 1100 made. Of that, even less were stick cars. Just how many do you think survived? look on the horn center , it should say "GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY"While most of the advise is good, keep it, set it aside, when you have time and skills rebuild it. All these guys bragging about there cars , and dogging the dart, NEED to understand ....YOU have a piece of history!!! any body can take Grandma's ol dart and put in killer motor. NONE of them!!! (except the 64 G/T guys have what YOU do! None of them can say... I HAVE A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY CAR!! You can! I have 2 but I"m way out west, but any help I can be I will.
 
Spend your college years eating top ramen and doing keg stands. Save the early A restoration for when you have money burning a hole in your pocket that you don't mind ever seeing again.
 
The OP said this was for a flip. Not because she had a passionate feel to get into an old car. Based on that, considering business-wise that model being rare or not, given her lack of knowledge and familiarity with it, and not having connections to enable cheap procurement of needed parts - it's a bad business choice to continue the project. Improve it to the level you can, then get as much as you can for it. It's bad business to continue down a road that only leads to more expense in the short term - and she's looking to flip. I'd call that short term.

How many of those posting "keep it, it deserves to be saved" will entertain making an offer over $2500 for that car, right now?
 
moper said:
The OP said this was for a flip. Not because she had a passionate feel to get into an old car. Based on that, considering business-wise that model being rare or not, given her lack of knowledge and familiarity with it, and not having connections to enable cheap procurement of needed parts - it's a bad business choice to continue the project. Improve it to the level you can, then get as much as you can for it. It's bad business to continue down a road that only leads to more expense in the short term - and she's looking to flip. I'd call that short term.

How many of those posting "keep it, it deserves to be saved" will entertain making an offer over $2500 for that car, right now?
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If I wanted a 64 Dart GT, I would consider buying this car for $2500, it is a fair price for what I see in the pics!!
 
docdodge440 said:
what I have NOT seen on your post, shame on you guys!! 1964 was a Golden anniversary car.The production numbers are less then 5,000 for ALL the G/Ts. Of that only 11 percent were factory V8s. That makes it one of less then 1100 made. Of that, even less were stick cars. Just how many do you think survived? look on the horn center , it should say "GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY"While most of the advise is good, keep it, set it aside, when you have time and skills rebuild it. All these guys bragging about there cars , and dogging the dart, NEED to understand ....YOU have a piece of history!!! any body can take Grandma's ol dart and put in killer motor. NONE of them!!! (except the 64 G/T guys have what YOU do! None of them can say... I HAVE A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY CAR!! You can! I have 2 but I"m way out west, but any help I can be I will.
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Rare does not mean value. It is an early A and will take 20 years to bring back what she puts into it. She bought it to flip and make money not because she likes it. Again she needs get out now and sell it like her dad said.
 
If you don't want throw huge coin at it, just focus on what the car needs to run well and be road worthy and don't restore it, just drive it.
 
Only you can determine if the car is more than you want to handle. No one here can answer that. That said, you seem to have a very positive outlook and that is good. I also agree with the others that say you got the car to flip and not keep. If that is the case, here is what "I" would do.

Assess what you have now. Does it run? If not, does the engine turn over by hand? If so, put a battery in it and do a compression test. This will give you an idea of the engine's condition.

If it has compression, see if you can get it running and go from there. A running driving Dart will bring more than one that does not.

BTW, I think you did ok on the price of the car considering it is a V8 car with all of the drive train.

I went back and saw where you said it runs. That's great. If you don't want to keep it and want to flip it, clean it up and get it running and driving as good as you can. Fixing what's there is much cheaper than restoring it.
 
If your not in love with it, sell it..and buy something you do love.

be it mopar or some cheaper fixer, mopar costs big bucks, chevy engines, parts=CHEEP-O.

We had a sign in the shop that said, "Cheep, Fast or reliable, you can only pick two, chose wisely"....

If you love it, well then its not a choice. Its just when........
 
cosgig said:
My advise, and I give it to everybody that asks...." Do everything you can for free first"!! You can turn wrenches, do do things like remove the seats, clean them up, vacuum out the entire interior, make a list of parts that need replaced, take all of the ratty stuff out like carpet that's trashed and such, reinstall the cleaned up seats and move on to another area! Keep your eye out here and on the FB Mopar sites for good deals on parts you need! Things
like nice wheels and tires needn't be expensive, and will bring up the value of the car, and your enthusiasm level on the car by leaps and bounds!!

Don't concentrate on areas you know little about until you learn about them! Why buy a 4 bbl intake and carb when you don't know much about carbeurators?? If you need to have someone come help tuning one just to get it running, you are spending time and money needlessly! You need to get it running and driving first, but spending money under the hood should start with tune up parts, wear items like belts and hoses if it needs them, and study up on carbeurators while you work on those things! Again, make a list of items you NEED to buy first, and another list of items or areas you need to address!!

The biggest thing I can offer is to be patient!!! Good deals come along all the time, you just gotta be patient! You already spent the money to buy the car, don't look at it as money spent, that's past now, look forward with a solid plan as to what to spend your hard earned money on to get it running and driving!! It's a neat little car, don't let it become a bad experience by getting ahead of yourself, and don't get too far into an area you're not familiar with, you don't want to end up with boxes full of parts and no fun little car to work on!!!

Oh, and make use of this site, there are tons of great people here willing to help, lots of parts and information to be had, and bartering for stuff you need with stuff you have is a great way to turn unneeded parts into useable stuff!! I'd be interested in the Ld4 intake if you decide to sell it!! Good luck young lady, I have great Confidence that with your schooling and common sense that you will come out on top of this!! Geof
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This is the best advice, this is what I did to my 65 and I ended up getting out of it a fraction ahead of what I had in. Elbow grease can go a long way to make a car more appealing. Imagine being at a car show where there is a very rare mach 2 sunbeam tiger and everyone is looking at the not rare sunbeam alpine next to it since its "clean" if you want to sell it make it shiny and running, that's the cheapest way to go.
 
I can see why your father is a little pissed sell it and try to get your money back if you want to do a flip find a newer car with some minor collision damage that their is a profit in.
 
I'm an Auto Tech student myself in Missouri, and bought a '71 Valiant 4-door (225) to rebuild as well... the big difference is;

I am in love with the car, have been since I was a kid.

I understand that I will likely dump $20k into the car over the next 10 years, and IF I decide to sell later on, I also understand that I will be VERY hard pressed to get half that out of it.

So it's clear that I'm in it for the love of the car/restoration, not a money maker...

That being said, every car I've ever owned I have sold for more than I purchased for. This includes cars that I have blown transmissions in, as well as others where I have blown fuel pumps/injectors, alternators, radiators... the advice before about cleaning up the car as much as possible and as cheap as possible is your money maker here. It really does make a WORLD of difference in the buyers' eyes.

Wash the car with care (maybe a light, quick wax), clean and treat the seats/dash inside, make sure there is no rotting/moldy interior to be found, vacuum it out (including the trunk), catalog/organize all the extra parts (even label them with tags if needed). All these things will show a potential buyer that you cared about the car as well as made it easier for them to continue down that path.

Also, try this for the wheels:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TNsO33eqQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TNsO33eqQ[/ame]

Mind you, this may not be something that the collectors like, but to another potential buyer... it could be the tipping point to get your money back. These are all quick, easy and CHEAP ways to increase the value of the car to a buyer. But like was mentioned before... getting the car running and stable (tune-up, brake check, etc...) is probably the best way to make sure it sells. Good luck and enjoy all these new "HYBRID/ELECTRIC" car classes... They suck!
 
I'd sell it as soon as possible.

Your young and you need to save your money, not spend it.

A good flipper car is a Honda Civic not a 64 Dart GT.

Run before it sucks you down the hole.

Stay in school, save your money, if you want one later they will still be there.
Your dad was right and I agree that it's way cheaper to buy one that's finished. You can always tinker with a finished car to fine tune it and it wont break the bank.

It's real easy to get in too deep and it wont take but a couple of minutes to get there. I'm sure if you clean up the car as best as you can and put some hub caps on it you can get your money back or at least close to it.

If your stubborn like the rest of us, then GOOD LUCK ON YOUR RESTO! :D
 
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