Advice Needed, Going To Drive My Museum Piece--25 Mile B/W 97 GTS

[VNMOUS]

I recently sold my 03 SRT-10 and have decided not to replace it. The GTS has always been my dream car and I bought one about 3 years ago from a collector with 25 miles on it. It now has a little over 300 miles on it and I am going to start driving it unless somebody wants to make me a real generous offer or even work out some kind of trade on a 96/97 B/W or an 01 Sapphire ACR with less than 10K miles on it. It would take a lot of convincing to get me out of this car as I wouldn't let it go for less than $70K.

Anyway, I need all the advice I can get about this car. I have done a an extensive search on the forums and these are the items I have come up with that may need to be taken care of to become a regular driver.

1. Rear glass needs to be replaced as the hinge glue is separating. Who should I buy from? Does anyone have a trick that to fix this without replacing the entire assembly?

2. Replace the power steering cap, pulley, and bracket or just check the cap periodically?

3. Change the timing chain cover gasket?

4. Change the intake manifold gasket?

5. I can handle the no brainer stuff like new tires, belts, hoses, and fluids.

6. Are there any specific TSB's I need to be aware of. I am not sure of the exact build date of the vehicle, how do I find this out?

7. To clear bra or not to? If so, just the sills?

Thanks in advance for everyones input!

Austin

 

[Steve-Indy]

998 recall been done? You can check recalls here:

Dodge - Contact Us

 

[ViperTony]

Change all of the fluids, assuming they haven't been touched recently. Oil, power steering, brake, clutch, transmission, differential, coolant. Replace the tires if they're more than 5 years old. I assume you still have the tires that came with it back in '96. How the condition of the battery? Then drive it like you stole it.

 

[Ron]

My 2 cents:

1. Rear glass needs to be replaced as the hinge glue is separating. Who should I buy from? Does anyone have a trick that to fix this without replacing the entire assembly?
** I don't, but Chuck Tator might. You should give him a call as I'd guess that this could be repaired.

2. Replace the power steering cap, pulley, and bracket or just check the cap periodically?
** As long as you tighten the cap (by hand) really tight and check periodically, you should be fine. Some have installed Viper95's Air vent connected cap lock so that is something you might want to consider. JonB might sell them. The pulley and bracket should be replaced someday, and you might want to consider the interior console spacer to prevent it from cracking.

3. Change the timing chain cover gasket?
** If it's leaking, absolutely. If not, probably no reason too. Most will leak someday and you have to keep an eye on your oil as a few have leaked into the oil pan before they leaked externally. Here again a great Chuck Tator call.

4. Change the intake manifold gasket?
** No reason to. That was a 1997 GTS issue

5. I can handle the no brainer stuff like new tires, belts, hoses, and fluids.

6. Are there any specific TSB's I need to be aware of. I am not sure of the exact build date of the vehicle, how do I find this out?
** As someone already pointed out, there is a link to review. Doing the frame recall is a no brainer. The build date is on your driver’s door. There is an alarm TSB that you'll probably want to do and an O2 sensor & airbag recall if I remember correctly. Several other TSB's but unless you are exhibiting symptoms, probably nothing to worry about.

7. To clear bra or not to? If so, just the sills?
** Sills already have it in the leading edge. Given the heat, I wouldn't think that you'd want to do any more than that. As far as the rest of the car, I haven't but others have and love it. The snap-on Mopar bra is a problem as it will rub in certain areas and catch then grind road debris into the paint.

Something you must consider is carefully removing the sills and the sill insulation, then lining the back of he insulation with heavy aluminum foil. You can not reglue the insulation inside the sills, but they will stay in place regardless. If you don't do this, you will have corrosion occurring inside your sills which will eventually perforate them. Guaranteed.

 

[VNMOUS]

Ron,

You said the intake manifold was a 1997 GTS issue. This is a 1997 GTS, so I guess I should have that done. Mine was mad in 09/97 and from what I found on the forums, anything prior to 11/19/97 needs to be replaced as there was a defect in the manufacturing of the gaskets.

As far as the side sill corrosion, what do you mean by heavy aluminum foil? I assume this would be different than what I can get at grocery store.

Thanks!

 

[Ron]

Sorry, I'm 1996 focused... Yes 1997 had an intake issue so not a bad idea to replace if you're experiencing rough idle / vacuum leak.

I used the heavy duty aluminum foil from the grocery store. I think it worked fine, but others may have better ideas. The issue is the the fiber insulation on the early GTS's (1996 ~ 1998?) is exposed to the sill and when you wash the car or drive in the wet, it will absorb the moisture. Then you drive it and steam it into the sill.

By foil lining the back side of the insulation, you're doing what the factory did in the newer GTS's, metal encasing it.

 

[Dom426h]

i am very happy to hear that you are taking the wrapper off of your B/W

please inform us if any problems arise from driving a car that has been sitting for 10+yrs as it may be beneficial in persuading other owners to drive their vipers more often.

Enjoy it, and lets see some pics of this garage queen!!!

 

[Dv8tor]

1. Rear glass needs to be replaced as the hinge glue is separating. Who should I buy from? Does anyone have a trick that to fix this without replacing the entire assembly?

My hinge seperated from the glass too about 2 years ago. I took it to a car glass replacement co. recommended by Arrigo Dodge. They had never tried to fix one before, but they reglued it. They were unsure if it would hold up, but it's been 2 years and it's still perfect. So it can be fixed.

 

[95Viper]

Do something now with the cats. Change to high flow cats or remove. If you want to keep all the stock parts just find someone with an old one, modify it, and swap out. I see them around all the time. If you happen to get caught in the rain, find some way to dry out the sills (fan?) because all that moisture builds up in that tunnel next to the heat from the exhaust and only bad things can happen to that aluminum.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I think your doing the right thing.. Could you get $70k for it right now? Probably not.. Maybe 60k, high $50's..

And considering a 5k(or so) mile B&W still will fetch low-mid $50's.. Your not talking about taking a huge hit by driving it.. Drive it, and enjoy it... How many miles you going to do per year? 1,000-1500? In 5 years it will STILL have very low mileage, even for a viper. And you wont be depreciating the car that much. Once it gets near 10k, then consider parking it or selling it.

I drive an E55 Mercedes that has depreciated 50% of its $92k MSRP, in 3 years of ownership. Numbers like that make the "cost of ownership" of a Viper, seem like the bargain of the century. enjoy..