Topic: am I #$%*ing crazy?!?!?!

[my78k]

OK...here is the scoop....my bro has a 70 Dart 340 swinger that he is willing to trade me for $3000 cash plus my 98 CBR 600....I really really wanna pull the trigger....am I friggin nuts?!?!?!? HELP!!!!

[bender01]

pics! Hows the rust?

[my78k]

Wish I had some pics....but I just got home from his place after skating on the river and it broke my heart to see it in the snow since he hast the 74 vette in the garage....I really really wanna give it a good home!!!!

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

If you have to ask......................................

[mrblasty]

Do it!  The rear window channel is notorious for rotting out, but a 340 Swinger is a great candidate for a restoration.  Talk him down to $2000.00 and the bike.

[Terry in Australia]

You gotta run with those family deals Dennis, my brother rang me in August and asked me if I wanted to buy his 2007 Triumph Rocket III with only 20 miles on the ODO for way less than half what he paid for it new before he rode it home from the dealership and never rode it again, and I said, "Er, OK", and I'm still patting myself on the back for my excellent decision.

If you don't just do it, you'll kick yourself for eternity, and I'll call you a woose until you cry!

[bucky katt]

i wouldnt have even asked if it was a good idea. i'd be banging on his door with 30 100 dollar bills and the title to my cbr. thats one of the chrysler products i'd practically kill to own. actually, i've had an offer and i'm having a problem deciding on it. a lady i knew from when i was running a hunter/jumper facility has a husband that restores/modifies air cooled VW's and he's offered my his 60' bug (with the later model trans conversion) that has a 2385cc autocraft case based, dual 48mm throttle body EFI motor, in trade for Fuzzycycle. kept me up all night thinking about it LOL. on one hand, this is THE car for me (i love the late 50's/early 60's bug BUT i spent 2 years and over 1000 hours probably, rebuilding the k4 750. it would be a no-brainer for me if i had another bike but i wont be able to afford another 2wheeler for a long time. if you have another bike then I say go for it. doooooooooooooooo it!

[my78k]

After sleeping on it I think I am going to do it.

It definitely isn't perfect and does need some TLC like a new head liner and minor body work and new tires (burnouts do have that affect after all!)

I will still have the CX500 to ride and I was going to sell the CBR anyways (for around 3000$) so really for a Swinger with the 340 I think 6 grand is a good deal. Problem is that I won't have much disposable income for much of a resto so likely most of what I will be doing in the short term will be all sweat equity and little cash out put for a while.

My wife even supports the idea! With having two kids having a classic car that we can all enjoy with the odd Sunday drive and a weekly car night at Haugen's makes more sense than the bike. I still like it for my own time but I won't feel as guilty enjoying the car as I do on occasion when out riding.

I will keep you guys updated....it won't happen overnight as I have to make a few things happen to get the cash part together. Also I will try to snag some photos and will pass those along as well...

Dennis

[bucky katt]

is it an auto or 4 speed?

[bill440cars]

       looking forward to more details AND pictures Dennis.

[Terry in Australia]

Geez Dennis, he's your brother, just give him the bike and promise to pay him the 3 bananas as soon as you get it, I gave my brother all I had (10 grand) then paid him the other 5 over the next 4 months, helped right along by the profits from the Laverda I bought for $5200 and sold for $10,877 5 weeks later, you gotta love Ebay, woohoo!

Fuzzy, go get that "Hitlers Revenge" mate, there are plenty of CB750's out there, but how many folk are keen to trade you a tricked out "Nutsandboltswagen" for one? Go get it, tiger!  

[my78k]

Yeh Terry that is basically what we are doing. Gotta remember that in mid-January in our neck of the woods doing any vehicle swap is kinda difficult. I mean I don't really wanna go for an hour or so long Bike ride up in below zero temps and the drive back down might just be as much fun with blad tires on the dart.

As soo as we get a warm spell though we'll get it sorted...

Dennis

[bill440cars]

Yeh Terry that is basically what we are doing. Gotta remember that in mid-January in our neck of the woods doing any vehicle swap is kinda difficult. I mean I don't really wanna go for an hour or so long Bike ride up in below zero temps and the drive back down might just be as much fun with blad tires on the dart.

As soo as we get a warm spell though we'll get it sorted...

Dennis

   Good luck with your deal Dennis, wanna see some pictures and also, are you going to be doing a progress post on the Dart?

[Terry in Australia]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

[bill440cars]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

      Lots of room in MY GTX Terry, come on OVER and we'll go for a spin!

[Industrial Cafe]

is it an auto or 4 speed?

yeah is it a stick or auto?

[Terry in Australia]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

      Lots of room in MY GTX Terry, come on OVER and we'll go for a spin!

Thanks Bill, I am coming over shortly and I'd love to come for a spin in one of your rockets, but it'll be a quick trip to visit my sis in LA, how far is Arkansas from LA? Cheers, Terry.

[bill440cars]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

      Lots of room in MY GTX Terry, come on OVER and we'll go for a spin!

Thanks Bill, I am coming over shortly and I'd love to come for a spin in one of your rockets, but it'll be a quick trip to visit my sis in LA, how far is Arkansas from LA? Cheers, Terry.

           Come on!  But, I have to warn ya, it's Only about 22 hours 27 minutes  AND    1527.78 miles  away!

                              But, You are More than Welcome, Bill

[my78k]

You know it's funny....I haven't seen the inside of the car for 2 years since he first bought it. I am 99% sure it is the 3 speed auto.

Like I said I couldn't really get into it when I  was up there and couldn't snap any pics since I forgot my camera. I may have an old pic of it on my home computer so I will have a look tonight.

Hey Bill, if and when I do get it I may have to change my user name to Dennis340Cars 

Dennis

[bill440cars]

You know it's funny....I haven't seen the inside of the car for 2 years since he first bought it. I am 99% sure it is the 3 speed auto.

Like I said I couldn't really get into it when I  was up there and couldn't snap any pics since I forgot my camera. I may have an old pic of it on my home computer so I will have a look tonight.

Hey Bill, if and when I do get it I may have to change my user name to Dennis340Cars  

Dennis

   Hey, that'd be Cool Dennis! Waiting on pictures, as you can get em'

    BTW, saw where there is a Dodge Demon for sale here locally. Only thing is, it is a "Project" car. Got a 340 in it as well, but needs a lot of interior work and not sure about the mechaics of the car.

[Terry in Australia]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

      Lots of room in MY GTX Terry, come on OVER and we'll go for a spin!

Thanks Bill, I am coming over shortly and I'd love to come for a spin in one of your rockets, but it'll be a quick trip to visit my sis in LA, how far is Arkansas from LA? Cheers, Terry.

           Come on!  But, I have to warn ya, it's Only about 22 hours 27 minutes  AND    1527.78 miles  away!

                              But, You are More than Welcome, Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll see how I go, I've got friends in just about every state that I'd love to visit, but I doubt that I'll be on the ground in the USA for more than 7 days, so it'll be hard. Hopefully next trip will be a little longer.......... 

[bill440cars]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

      Lots of room in MY GTX Terry, come on OVER and we'll go for a spin!

Thanks Bill, I am coming over shortly and I'd love to come for a spin in one of your rockets, but it'll be a quick trip to visit my sis in LA, how far is Arkansas from LA? Cheers, Terry.

           Come on!  But, I have to warn ya, it's Only about 22 hours 27 minutes  AND    1527.78 miles  away!

                              But, You are More than Welcome, Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll see how I go, I've got friends in just about every state that I'd love to visit, but I doubt that I'll be on the ground in the USA for more than 7 days, so it'll be hard. Hopefully next trip will be a little longer.......... 

           If YOU can get somewhere near by, I could possibly pop over to meet up with you. So, far Sam's been over here twice and I've missed him both ties for what ever reason. Be nice to meet up with some of the folks on here. So far, I've met okie (Larry) and jtb (John). I feel like I already know you all pretty well, there's a lot to say about but face to face.

[my78k]

Ok guys...the more I have been thinking about it the more excited I have been getting (kinda giddy like a school girl right now!)

Finally found a pic from 2 summers ago when he got it. Can't say for certain the comdition is identical because my brother's house is sort of known as the place where good cars go to die! (he is brutal and also has an 18 year old son!)

Anyways, for now it is a teaser pic until I can get it in my possession....

Dennis

[bill440cars]

Ok guys...the more I have been thinking about it the more excited I have been getting (kinda giddy like a school girl right now!)

Finally found a pic from 2 summers ago when he got it. Can't say for certain the comdition is identical because my brother's house is sort of known as the place where good cars go to die! (he is brutal and also has an 18 year old son!)

Anyways, for now it is a teaser pic until I can get it in my possession....

Dennis

      Pretty cool "teaser Picture" Dennis. Hey, if it IS worse than the picture, you've got a picture to work the car back towards, if that's the way YOU want it to look again.

[Terry in Australia]

Dennis, that looks brilliant mate, well done! If you decide that it's "just not for you", I'll buy it!

           If YOU can get somewhere near by, I could possibly pop over to meet up with you. So, far Sam's been over here twice and I've missed him both ties for what ever reason. Be nice to meet up with some of the folks on here. So far, I've met okie (Larry) and jtb (John). I feel like I already know you all pretty well, there's a lot to say about but face to face.

Thanks Bill, I do want to catch up with you too, I guess we'll have to see how things pan out. Cheers, Terry.

[bill440cars]

Dennis, that looks brilliant mate, well done! If you decide that it's "just not for you", I'll buy it!

           If YOU can get somewhere near by, I could possibly pop over to meet up with you. So, far Sam's been over here twice and I've missed him both ties for what ever reason. Be nice to meet up with some of the folks on here. So far, I've met okie (Larry) and jtb (John). I feel like I already know you all pretty well, there's a lot to say about but face to face.

Thanks Bill, I do want to catch up with you too, I guess we'll have to see how things pan out. Cheers, Terry.

    Yeah, we'll see! The old GTX doesn't get too good of MPG thing, but I could go a ways though! Feels GOOD to get it out on the open road! Feels GOOD to see it get the attention in town too!

[my78k]

Just talked with my brother again to ensure we are still on and......we are!! 

I am dying to get it into the garage and get a better look at it and see for certain what all it needs. I figure even if it needs a couple of grand worth of work I am still up.

I should have the cash by mid week and he has a buddy that does flat bed towing so with any luck I will spend most of next weekend hiding in the garage with a case of Coors Light, the Shop Vac, rags, polish etc...will probably spend more time under the car next weekend than I have in a looooonnnnnggggg time!

Been lurking a few Mopar forums and my best guess is that in it's current state (running but far from perfect) it would be worth around 9 grand....just an educated guestimate at this point ofcourse. No idea of what, if any, gems I will find under the hood. I know the exhaust obviously isn't stock with the side exhausts but other than not I am flying a bit blind.


Dennis

[bucky katt]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

well hell Terry, Australia is home to one of the best looking cars on the planet! get yourself an early Falcon XB! i wish i could get one of those here.

[Terry in Australia]

Man I wish I could find some of that "American Iron" here at a reasonable price mate, I'm a big boy, and I need a big car to match!

well hell Terry, Australia is home to one of the best looking cars on the planet! get yourself an early Falcon XB! i wish i could get one of those here.

G'Day Fuzzy, I'm a Ford man, and have owned an XA, XB and XC, all with small block Cleveland V8's of course. The best one I had though was my XY GS with GTHO Phase III spec engine, C6 tranny and detroit locker diff. I never had it on a Dyno, but the PO said it was good for around 320 BHP at the rear wheels, and I don't doubt it, it had a 140 MPH speedo and I wound that needle way past those last numbers on many occasions, ha ha!

I want an early Mustang fastback next, so when I come over to CA, I might see if I can buy one for cheap and park it in my sis' garage until I can afford to ship it to Oz, good thing is I don't need to convert it to right hand drive, so it can stay "factory original", with a few "improvements", of course.  

[tramp]

sit and think about it
really doesn't sound like a great deal
a good deal maybe
about 5k for that car is kinda high
i said 5k because i figure your bike is worth 2k
and it needs work?

[my78k]

Tramp, actually my guess is around here it would fetch closer to $7500 or so in it's current condition. It doesn't need a ton of work to be a daily runner it would only need ALOT of work if it was to be turned into a show car. Baiscally all it needs right away is a battery and new tires. The headliner I am pretty sure I can fix temporarily. I would like to put a new headliner in but new clips for the timebeing should get me by.

In my area it is hard to find one with a decent body and frame.

I'm pretty comfortable with it. While I am excitied about the car I'll admit it is no steal but rather a solid deal that neither of us will regret. I know if my bro waits till spring he will get around $3000 for the CBR. He might just keep it for fun though (he hasn't decided but I know his son is hoping he keeps it).

Dennis

edit: I meant to type 7500 and accidentally typed 8500

[old76cr]

Sounds like a good deal to me.  You are trading a depreciating asset for an appreciating asset!

[bill440cars]

  Thing is, if YOU are cool with it, It's a GOOD DEAL!


  Some folks would not have paid what I DID for the 69' GTX (Needs some work)

  BUT, for less money, I would have gotten something that required a lot of work just to get it on the road AND, by the same token, a Really NICE GTX would have cost me (actually I couldn't afford a nicer one) about twice what I paid.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, and when did common sense come into it anyway? Hell, if we were that smart we'd all be driving Prius'! (man, I hate those things!) Long live knee jerk reactions, shooting from the hip, and wasting our money on gas guzzling four wheel behemoths!

[Industrial Cafe]

Yeah, and when did common sense come into it anyway? Hell, if we were that smart we'd all be driving Prius'! (man, I hate those things!) Long live knee jerk reactions, shooting from the hip, and wasting our money on gas guzzling four wheel behemoths!

#$%* yeah!

[tramp]

sounds like your happy with it
and thats all that matters
had a 69 dart with a 225 slant six
still feel bad about the way i treated it and it still started every morning

[vanillagorilla]

Yeah, and when did common sense come into it anyway? Hell, if we were that smart we'd all be driving Prius'! (man, I hate those things!) Long live knee jerk reactions, shooting from the hip, and wasting our money on gas guzzling four wheel behemoths!

Common sense is over rated!!! Looking forward to what you do with her my78k! I'd love an old american muscle/pony car... Or course Bucky Katt is right, some of the most beautiful cars have from from down unda!

[my78k]

Yeah I don't plan on doing alot to it. Definitely get it road worthy and cleaned up though.

Actually I am looking forward to just sorta playing with it. See with having the kids and my wife working alot of evening and weekend shifts it obviously makes riding time in limited supply. This way, when the kids are asleep I can tinker in the garage (something I never needed to do with the CBR) and on the weekends when they are awake etc we can go for a ride or to a show or whatever (not that the Dart would be in it of course). I guess I could go to shows now but there is something far more fun about going to a car night or show in an older car rather than showing up in my mini-van! There is a really cool weekly car night about 20 minutes or so from me. It's a restaurant called Haugen's and they have several acres of field. Actually the place is great on Wed's they have car night and Thurs is Bike night. I dropped in on a random Thurs last summer and they had over 800 bikes there....apparently it was one of their slowest nights all summer  . Their big night attracted over 1500 bikes.

My wife has been really behind this whole thing...she is great! Of course she has some not so hidden motives behind me not having the CBR anymore....my friends just can't seem to keep their mouths shut after a ride and when she hears stories of us she cringes! Guess I do mean more to her than JUST the insurance policy! 

Dennis

[vanillagorilla]

Guess I do mean more to her than JUST the insurance policy! 

Thats just what she wants you to think!!!