First Time Owner / Anything I Should Know?

[Bolax]

I purchased my first Viper, a 1997 GTS, from an individual in Bakersfield CA this past July. So far the car has been wonderful. It certainly was great getting acquainted with it during the 1400 mile drive back to Oklahoma. It has Forgeline RS Competition Wheels, Stop Tech Brakes, Koni Adjustables (suspension by Archer), No Cats, Borla Cat-Back, [******] Rollbar w/ camera mount, PI Data Logger, and a 3.43 Rear End. This car was one of the five modified by [******] <font color="red"> </font> &lt;--Hen-nes-sey <font color="black"> </font> for the Justin Bell Viper Racing School.

Any other 97 GTS owners have/had problems I should look out for? Also, any Viper activities ever take place in Oklahoma? (Yeah right)

Well, that's my first post in all its glory.

Thanks,
Jeff Jones
Edmond, Oklahoma

 

[V10 MOJO]

welcome aboard newbie. drive it like you stole it. great color

 

[V10 MOJO]

site is loaded with info and if its not found here you can likely find it on the alley site

 

[Bolax]

drive it like you stole it.

Yeah, the "Criminal Speed" ticket I received from the Arizona Highway Patrol will attest to that. Luckily I called them after I returned home and a judge actually answered the phone. He dropped it down to just a $110 fine. And the wonderful "Out of State" loophole kept the insurance co. in the dark.

 

[V10 MOJO]

LOL, some states still have that huh?? i thought all states cooperated with each other with regard to points??

 

[Bolax]

Dude, this is Oklahoma here. We just got rid of the old laminated driver's licenses like 6 months ago. But hey, "rooster" fighting was finally outlawed last year. Movin' on up...

Works out great though. No smog tests, no vehicle inspections = no problem!

 

[Larry Macedo]

Just make sure she's pointed in a straight line before you hammer on it. Drive safe and have fun!

 

[Casey]

Take care of that machince like it is your only child. Clean it, wax it, keep it covered up, as you want it to look real good when you aren't---Driving the Sh*t out of it!
Put as many miles on it as you can!!

 

[Ulysses]

The battery is behind the driver's rear wheel. Check it often and keep it and the lines clean.

 

[BadVenm]

Bolax,

Welcome to the Viper world!

Enjoy it!

Stay tuned here and you will learn a lot!

 

[VPRVENM97]

Congrats!

With the mods you already have, sounds like there's nothing else you have to do to it other then DRIVE ! In addition to the battery location, you might want to know a couple other things. The coolant reserve bottle isn't the pressure bottle that you see under the hood on the right side. You can check the reserve bottle level by looking through an access hole in the right front wheel well (backlight the bottle with a flashlight). Also, the HVAC temperature control will only control temp in the Heat or Defrost mode. It won't have any effect in the A/C or vent mode.

Enjoy!!!

 

[genXgts]

Sweetness Bolax,

Nice year and model buddy! Had to do the Blue White myself but other than that spot on.haha

97 is a good year, sorted the car out a little bit by then, little trim diffs compared to 96 (window to door moldings), stripe difference, etc. Seems 97 have some rear main seal leaking and oil pan leaking issues moreso than 96.

Still the nice overlapped cam that bowed out a few years later, good overall car to me.

Downside is that crappy manifolds that weigh as much as a Neon, toss them if you get a chance to the 98+ style if your ever in there for anything else, I put 2000 end to end on mine. Weight savings, toss the OEM cats, power pickup and sounds much better. Let the modding begin!

best of luck, where the yeck is Oklahoma at? Might be saying the same thing about Canada, ha.

 

[Alternative]

Check if the 998 and 999 recall was done.
Being that it was "one of the five modified by [******] &lt;--Hen-nes-sey for the Justin Bell Viper Racing School", it may have been done already.

 

[ABADASP]

Bolax welcome yes there are several vipers in Okla. We do get to the track once in a while. A couple of us had the cars out last weekend to check out the Ram SRT that had come in. Contact the club president and join use for some fun. Planning a Tech session at one of the local dealers next month and should have a good turn out. Hope to see you on the road. Mike Club Pres. Ken Wells 340=1636

 

[Yellow Fever]

Welcome aboard Jeff
You may want to change your Power steering fluid cap to a Hypo http://www.hipoengineering.com/PowerSteeringTube.asp

Enjoy !

Jeff

 

[ViperJoe]

Watch the simultaneous steering wheel and heavy accelerator pedal input or you'll be lookin at where you just came from!

 

[tim721]

Nice car &amp; sweet color combo

'97 is great year from what I've heard

Good luck with it

 

[AJT]

Viper Joe - LMAO!
Good One

Andy

 

[slaughterj]

Something to know - closing the hood:

First lower the uppermost end down toward the windshield, and make sure each side is down in its slot. Then when lowering the front section, be sure to place your hands over the hood hinge mounting locations, about a foot or so from the front lip of the hood (you can look underneath the hood to see where it is attached to the hinges), and push down at those points rather than the front lip to avoid stress cracks and to get a proper closure. Then go to each side above the wheel well and give a light tug to be sure the front end is locked into place.

Something else to know - if you lower the back half of the hood, but not the front half, don't move the car! The corners of the hood often will be in contact with your tires, and you could mess up your hood.

 

[Russ Oasis]

Some of the best things stated above are 1) Don't move the car with the hood ajar and 2) put as many miles on the car as you can. Also, the most effective mods you can make are headers / exhaust and maybe roller rockers. Outside of that (and maybe a tiny spray of juice...I mean cologne) the car is already perfect. Great year.