New Owner.. Truly my dream come true!

[WSAYERS80]

First off I would love to stop and say hello to everyone and introduce myself. My name is William, I am 33 and live in Orlando Fl. I am currently a firefighter for the US Department of Defense (USAF). I served 4 years active duty before going federal.

Owning a Viper has been a dream of mine since their inception in 92'. Im sure I am no different then all of you in that aspect when I say love at first sight! (I was 12) it was most likely my first love lol.. I remember this wack show with a shape shifting Dodge Viper that fought crime in the early 90's.. Cant for the life of me remember the name of the show.. Hell it may have been called Viper lol... I think it would change from a Dodge Stealth to a Viper when in pursuit of perps.. Who knows but all I can remember where its clean lines and curves and the rims in 92' were like none other!

In 96' they introduce my 2nd love.. the GTS and to this day I truly feel there is no other car on the planet more beautiful. The perfect coupe I must say! a few years ago well to be honest its more like 5 years a co-worker of mine bought a 92' R/T 10. Nothing like the feeling of riding in a Viper. No frills just pure power. here is truly no other way to describe it. Like Rocket Fuel knocked up Nitroglycerin and had irritable offspring; it wants to be unleash

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ed..

Which brings me here.. A few weeks ago I was at work. I always mess around internet (window shopping) when I get bored which usually leads to trouble. Last time I did this I bought a dodge Ram hemi lol nearly cost me my marriage.. Needless to say I am now divorced but still have my Dog and Truck lol.. This time I happened to find a busted up 2002 GTS Coupe in My opinion pretty cheap... As luck would have it the Ebay page said the car was literally 20 minutes down the road. Now in all honesty I didn't really have any intentions on purchasing it but after seeing its location I figured it was a sign from the man upstairs. Its not everyday a relatively clean Snake falls in your lap.. Soooo I drove over to take a look and an hour later I own a car I have loved since 6th Grade math class at 12 y/o.

She does need some work. She was in a small collision in Mass. They sold it and it was shipped down here to FL.. I am going to clean her up and give her a great life! I have bought several parts on ebay and a few from Mopar directly. $10,000-$11,000 rebuild but well worth it. I am screwed when it comes to airbags.. Drivers side is discontinued so no luck. I have resorted to purchasing a 2003 Steering wheel and airbag. It bothers be because its not original to the car, and the AirBag wont function (not that I care im not a fan of them). Any thoughts?

Assembly begins tomorrow!

By the Way I realized at a later date it is a Final Edition Snake #160

Billy

 

[pollard4286]

Congrats and welcome. I was always like you, a Dodge Viper has always been my dream car since I was kid. I literally used to pray for one of these cars. I just turned 30 in May and got to purchase a 1995 RT10 in early June. It's been an absolute thrill to drive and own this car. It's everything I thought it would be and more. I am a full time Police Officer and I also work at a body shop part time, so if I can help with any questions with the assembly just let me know. However most of my experience with painting and body work. Now just hurry up and get it together so you can enjoy such an awesome car. Good Luck

 

[Stretch]

Congrats and Welcome!!

 

[Timnineside]

Be careful where you buy your parts. You can waste a ton of money buying from the wrong places. Always look here and post first.

Congrats and you'll love it once back on the road.

 

[DrTaco]

Congrats and enjoy the project

 

[Ricketts]

Congrats on the purchase, and good luck with the upcoming project! I'm sure someone on here/other sites, etc can round you up a OE airbag amongst other parts.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Great feeling isn't it

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF VIPER OWNERSHIP

 

[Fatboy 18]

Check the front wishbones for any hairline cracks where they bolt up to the spindles

How is everything else under there? Frame OK?

Is the engine stock? I see the car has 19" Gen 3 wheels

You should be able to get the parts you need no problem

 

[DrumrBoy]

Congrats and welcome to the club! Unless your state inspects for airbags, why not just ignore it, wear the seatbelt and don't hit anything head on ;-) Either way, enjoy the ride!

 

[Viper98912]

Welcome to the club, glad to see another dreamer and dream come to life. My dream was the 97 blue and white.

 

[NO HEMI]

Welcome to the club, Happy to see another dream come true, i was the same you could ask everybody that knows me which is my dream car and they all would tell you " viper", lol, also yes the name of the show is " Viper", always check here for parts and some of the vendors, you can find EVERYTHING you need for your car and more here.!!!!

 

[Nine Ball]

Welcome to the site. I can read the excitement and passion in your post. We need more Viper owners like yourself, and less of the haters/trolls that have been visiting lately.

 

[Snake#36]

William that's fantastic! Sounds like you've got your project already mapped out....when you get a minute ..check out feviper.com....mine's #36......p.s. well spoken nine ball...

 

[TAXIMAN1]

Welcome to the site. I can read the excitement and passion in your post. We need more Viper owners like yourself, and less of the haters/trolls that have been visiting lately.

completely agree. Its awesome to see threads like this and bugmans, where people have passion about bringing cars like this back to life. With all the VCA shenanigans and drama. Its a breath of fresh air.

And yes, be CAREFUL who you get your parts from. Could be wrong, but I cant imagine finding a GenII steering wheel and airbag would be difficult. There have to be some out there. Im sure Paul Sharf has a bunch.

 

[C.Hermsen]

I love reading stories like this. The Viper was alway my dream car and I achieved it earlier than expected. It's a great feeling.

For any parts you need I highly suggest Don Scharf Automotive. They usually have anything you need at great prices and service.

 

[Blainne]

Congrats.

Keep us posted on how the build progresses. Is the hood damaged bad? That would be the most espensive thing to fix.

 

[FinalEd357]

Congrats and THANK YOU for your service! Enjoy your dream come true, its a beauty! GREAT color combo!

 

[Next Phase]

Congrats on ttheViper....I'm sure you are stoked!

 

[WSAYERS80]

Thanks so Much. Its a work in Progress! I just replaced the front radiator support assembly, installed the radiator, a/c condenser, oil cooler, and head light. Next stop, bumper, hood and Paint!

 

[WSAYERS80]

Yes I have been deffinately shopping around. Believe it or not, Dodge has some parts a lot cheaper then Ebay, and some Viper stores. I do need a GTS hood. Dodge still Sells them for $3400. I was surprise because a lot on Ebay are selling for $5k-10k. Radiator hoses and Gen II airbags have proven to be hard to find for a reasonable price!

 

[WSAYERS80]

Yes, Frame is all ok.. I will check the wishbones for any cracks. Suspension is all fine though nothing was damaged. Strickly front end cosmetic damage (Bumper, Fascia, radiator, headlights.)

 

[whitebluevipe]

congrats. glad to see you are restoring it.

 

[WSAYERS80]

Ya I planned on doing that, I simply was looking for the front steering wheel cover. Since that only comes with the airbag and I wasn't willing to pay $2,600 for it I decided to purchase a 2003 airbag and steering wheel. Steering wheel is the same just the back plastic and front airbag portion is different.

 

[WSAYERS80]

Yes, I found that site while searching out info on FE Vipers. Its an honor to own one.. Truly a work of art. I did take a look at the New 2013 GTS.. AMAZING. The interior finally has some style lol.. I wish the Gas cap was located where the Genii's was but they have a functional air vent there most likely for the brakes. But none the less an Amazing redesign inspired the the Gen II GTS!

 

[WSAYERS80]

Ya it is pretty banged up. It is very repairable however to repair and paint would most likely cost as much as a brand new one painted.

 

[Martin2000GTS]

congrats on the car! The hoods for those gen 2's are pretty expensive.... hopefully you can buy a used one on-line from someone. Not sure how dodge can offer it for $3400?? I thought list price for a painted gen 2 hood back in the day were upwards of $15-20k....Theres a great thread on here somewhere of a person doing a lot of work on the blue/white GTS and he fixed his hood himself, perhaps you can get some pointers there! good luck!

 

[mtmclaughlin]

...Theres a great thread on here somewhere of a person doing a lot of work on the blue/white GTS and he fixed his hood himself, perhaps you can get some pointers there! good luck!

It's "The Saga of the Dinged Up Dodge". You can find it here: http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/667516-The-Saga-of-the-Dinged-Up-Dodge.

I watched the show religiously as a kid. "Viper". The hero solved crimes while driving around in his RT/10 which could somehow change into the "Defender" and was somehow more capable at solving crimes. The Dodge Stealth cars were all the villains'' cars. If you watch it now, you'll realize how terrible the show was. They fired the entire cast after the first season and tried again in a second season. I found some episodes on Youtube.

I just bought my first Viper--an RT/10--from a forum member a couple of weeks ago. I've already put 2,000 miles on it. I have never driven a car that I enjoy as much as this one, so I know you are going to have a ton of fun with yours when it's finished. Are you finding that it's pretty easy to work on?

 

[Nickel]

It's "The Saga of the Dinged Up Dodge". You can find it here: http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/667516-The-Saga-of-the-Dinged-Up-Dodge.

I watched the show religiously as a kid. "Viper". The hero solved crimes while driving around in his RT/10 which could somehow change into the "Defender" and was somehow more capable at solving crimes. The Dodge Stealth cars were all the villains'' cars. If you watch it now, you'll realize how terrible the show was. They fired the entire cast after the first season and tried again in a second season. I found some episodes on Youtube.

I just bought my first Viper--an RT/10--from a forum member a couple of weeks ago. I've already put 2,000 miles on it. I have never driven a car that I enjoy as much as this one, so I know you are going to have a ton of fun with yours when it's finished. Are you finding that it's pretty easy to work on?

So agree with you! Ive never had so much fun driving my RT/10 too. Never get tired of it. Took it on a late evening cruise tonight burning a bunch of fuel going nowhere.

 

[Green viper 1]

Don sharf automotive will be the best place to get parts call and speak with Ryan

 

[JAY]

Congrats ,enjoy the ride !