Questions on a 93 R/T10

[Flinch]

I bought this 93 Viper in November from a man not far from Kansas City. I am wondering if anyone can give me any information on the cars history. It only has 3600 miles on it. The man I bought it from said he thought a company owned it and used it as a show car to show their chrome work. Car fax says the car has been around Kansas City it's whole life. Someone put gold ghost stripes on it and changed front and rear badges to gold. The stripes are nicely done and you cannot see them from side angles or in the pictures.
It has chrome wheels (factory wheels chromed) and a bunch of small parts under the hood that have been chromed.
My next question is I checked with my local dealer and he says they have no service records showing up on the car. With the low miles I doubt if the head gaskets have been replaced. Is there any way, without tearing into the engine, that I could tell if this work has been done? Should it be done?
Thanks for any help you can give me. I only got to drive it about 75 miles before I had to put it to bed for the winter. It's killing me just sitting out in the garage!

 

[plumcrazy]

You might wanna call Chuck Tator of Tator garage and see what he. An tell you as far as warranty work done to it and recalls. 914-763-3136

 

[V10 PWRD]

Great car! Once you get it back out put it up on a lift and get a bright flashlite or worklite and look at the rear of the block. You should see a brownish looking paper type gasket hanging out between the head and the block. If thats what it looks like then they are the originals. Replacement gaskets to date are multi-layer metal. Also look for any coolant tracks coming down the side of the block. These will be very noticeable.
Replace the tires if they're the originals. PM me if you need anything. Don't forget about the "Wizard", Chuck Tator.
914-763-3136

 

[JPL]

Great car! Once you get it back out put it up on a lift and get a bright flashlite or worklite and look at the rear of the block. You should see a brownish looking paper type gasket hanging out between the head and the block. If thats what it looks like then they are the originals. Replacement gaskets to date are multi-layer metal. Also look for any coolant tracks coming down the side of the block. These will be very noticeable.
Replace the tires if they're the originals. PM me if you need anything. Don't forget about the "Wizard", Chuck Tator.
914-763-3136

+1 and welcome to the RG1SCC, (Red Gen1 Sidepipe Car Club), remember it all started with a RG1SC.

 

[Flinch]

Thanks for the reply's! I will defiantly check for the old gasket. Did these normally start to leak after a set number of miles or didn't that matter? Will Dodge do anything after all this time if it has not been replaced?
All the tires were replaced in 2007, I checked the dating on them. That had to have been bad, 4 new tires after only 2500 miles.
I would really like to find out where this car has been the last 16 years. Although it really doesn't matter because now I own it and love it!

 

[V10 PWRD]

No set miles when leaking starts. Some guys have gone 50000 with no problems. Others just a few thousand. It's not a question of if they will leak it's a question of when. Have fun with it. Mine just turned 18000 and no leaks yet. I am getting ready to replace gaskets tho.

 

[JonB]

Couple notes......

The person who replaced the ASSumed-OE tires at 2500 miles in 2007 waited TOO LONG! They were hockey-puck hard by year 2000, and dangerous after 15 years. Someone got SCARED and got rid of the old pucks. Age matters as much as miles, esp on super-soft XGT OE tires, only at 140/100 treadwear! Softest OE tire on a Viper til the 2008 ACR.

Original 93 gaskets WILL leak. Low, Low storage miles = leaks. Drivers Can start as low as 12k miles and 30k-40k miles usually start to seep. If/When you smell that acrid hot-antifreeze smell, they are not long for this world. Dodge only replaced them on original or extended warrantees. There was no 'recall'. Tator could do em in his sleep.....

If you use a scotch-brite or similiar cleaning pad, and run it along the head-to-block seam, the gasket material will reveal itself. UPDATED gaskets are 5-layer with an obvious, distinct metal, even shiny, middle layer. HOPE you have those! No Metal = No Peace.

If you E-me the former owner's data I may be able to help you. And the IVR off this main page has a special registry section for 1992-1993 "antennae cars" Do you have a stick antennea?

I put 51k glorious miles on my 93.......and many more on my 92, and 2 x 95. So I can help if needed.

[email protected]

 

[RedEnuf93]

Another Red -93!!

Congrats!!!

 

[93VIPERBOY]

Chuck Tator is the man. He take great care of my 93. I replace my gaskeys last year before a problem. I also did the 40 mm brakes it makes a big difference. pm if you need to know more. Whats the last 3 dig. of vin ?

 

[Flinch]

I did talk to Chuck today. Wow, what a wealth of information and a super nice guy too! Hope the gaskets have been changed.

The last 4 # of the vin. are 0494. It has the radio antenna in the windshield.
Jon, I will email you the info I have on the former owner tomorrow.
Thanks for the help and comments everyone!

 

[jdeft1]

Wow, that's a seriously low milage car! I assume you'll continue the tradtion? ... Or, will you be driving it?? As for me, I find it hard to let my '94 sit when it's so fun to drive.

Enjoy

BTW, a headgasket job will likely cost a bit but I can say from experience that it's an easy and straight-forward job if you've ever done any wrench turning.

 

[Flinch]

I plan on driving the car but will only put maybe 1000 - 2000 miles a year on it. That way 10 years from now it will still only have maybe 15000 on it. Still pretty low for a 27 year old car.

 

[Venomiss]

Just sent you the contact information via PM for someone in the KC area that might be helpful for you and might give you the information on your Viper.
Welcome!