Ok... is it me or is there an obvious lack of old MoPar wagons? I rarely see any big old MoPar wagons for sale. Is it because they rusted out, derbied up, or low production numbers? I was thinking, very initially, about build my zombie wagon with an old MoPar wagon body. The great LACK of these big beauties has discouraged this idea. I am a old MoPar nut from way back and I would LOVE to use one... if there was one to be found like a I need.
Mopars do come up and recently there have been a few listed.. However,, they were all,, and most usually are,, over the 1100$ limit you said you had to spend....
Doc, you also want to see these cars in person. These big Mopars are BIG indeed! They are nearing 20 feet long, and tip the scales at upwards of 4,500 pounds.
Many of the old Mopars did become derby cars, most had in almost indestructable sub-frame and a V8 engine that you could connect the upper and lower radiator hoses together and it would not over heat during a derby session, and like Mike mentioned heavy as all get out. The first offer I had on my Satty was to make it a derby car ($1500..insane) I said "not this girl man, she is going to be saved".
That sort of thing just galls the hell out of me.. I LOVE LOVE old Imperials and they mostly have met their end in a derby ...before they were mostly banned. I want to find a decent one for my project but derby? NO! But I needs the metal!
If you are going to use a truck frame, then the Mopar wagons will be more difficult because they are unibody cars. A full framed Ford or G.M. will be much easier.
I can see where you are coming from... I have pulled up a few diagrams from some old manuals... The Fords are back in the lead on this...
There is a 65 Dodge 880 wagon on Craigslist about an hour drive from me. Its Not mine. I have noticed its been on Craigslist for at least two weeks. I would like to see this one restored. There were never as many Mopar wagons as there were comparable Ford and Chevy wagons. Many were derbied, many were driven til every last ounce of life had been wrung out of it. But if it had a big block, it was very likely that it got canibalized to put the engine in one of the countless two door models that the factory originally built with a 318 or slant six (when's the last time you saw a 68-70 Charger with a 318 under the hood? They made alot of them with 318s). All those big blocks that went between the fenders of Road Runner clones, race cars, etc. started out in something else. Frequently it was a wagon. Heres the Dodge wagon that someone in Winchester, Virginia currently has on Craigslist. http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/3637562013.html 1965 dodge woody wagon, Survivor with photos, 383 - $4500 (winchester, va) selling my 1965 dodge polara 880 woody wagon. 383, auto, ps, pb, dual air condition!!!..yes dual air conditioning. The car is a survior. all original including paint and interior. the wood patina is awesome!. the trim is very nice. excellent interior with 1 split in the seat. very solid with the only rust being behind the rear wheels. currently not drivable. needs brake work. you can rach me at 540-974-2110
I'm thinking that the sub frames, without which the front and back parts of the car fall off, will interfere with the truck frame rails you want to put under it. this is especially true at the front, where the cross members, which are also the torsion bar mounts, will be in the way. The entire front front of the car is held on by 4 or 6 bolts, and is mounted to that front subframe, so just removing that to make room for the truck undercarrage means losing the mounting points for the front fenders, etc, etc. On a full framed car, it is a different thing completely
