92 Gen1 newbie

[Peter K.]

Just want to say hi. I own #96. As I said in the intro thread......should have bought one years ago. My fault for not realizing how good these are.

Not sure if I have any questions yet. I am though, dealing with 2 damaged soft top frames.

From the picture, I do have the original wheel which were chromed. I will be returning them to the stock finish.
I have 2 soft tops with the original material of the 92's. However both frames are damaged. Might be able to salvage one from the other. Do they sell just the swing arm brace/bracket?
I have always known these were expensive and patience is the key.
I guess at some pint I'll have to address this. Hopefully there some parts guys out there.

[Track Pack]

Congrats! What an icon - is this your first Viper?

[99RT10]

You're best bet is to make one top out of the two you have. The Gen 1 soft tops are getting hard to find.

[City]

Chuck Tator and Jon B might be able to help with Gen 1 issues ... among others here.

[RPM9000]

Just want to say hi. I own #96. As I said in the intro thread......should have bought one years ago. My fault for not realizing how good these are.

Not sure if I have any questions yet. I am though, dealing with 2 damaged soft top frames.

From the picture, I do have the original wheel which were chromed. I will be returning them to the stock finish.
I have 2 soft tops with the original material of the 92's. However both frames are damaged. Might be able to salvage one from the other. Do they sell just the swing arm brace/bracket?
I have always known these were expensive and patience is the key.
I guess at some pint I'll have to address this. Hopefully there some parts guys out there.

You have Gen.2 wheels on your car. The original wheels were 3 spoke.

[daytonprowler]

Welcome! Wish I had a '92.

I'll ping Granger73, he might be able to help you with your soft top issues.

[BlackSnake99]

[QUOTE=RPM9000;166292]You have Gen.2 wheels on your car. The original wheels were 3 spoke.[/QUOTE


This. And those look like original tires. Check the date codes.

[Canuck]

Congrats on the purchase!

Glad that car found a good home for someone who wants to bring it back into the fold. I was just talking about that car last week.

As well as some general advice, if you are in for the long term, I would recommend:

-Have tires that are new, so your car doesn't crash before you finish restoration. Old ones are like hockey pucks. The change in driving safety is profound.

-If you are painting your pizza cutter tri-spokes, can consider fixing any curb rash on them prior to the repaint. When installing the wheels back on the car, there is a 'right' and 'left' stamped on the inside, so that the pizza cutters spin the correct way. It looks better when they are installed on the correct side.

-If the car didn't have the headgaskets replaced yet, order a gasket set, even if not doing it right now. A possible clue is evidence of oil drips down the side of the engine below the gaskets. Replace thermostat while you are there. If you do the gaskets yourself, need to be aware to not leave the heads off long. You can talk to Chuck Tator on other Viper guru for more details prior to start that job. It is nice to do the gaskets before coolant gets into the oil.

-The spark plug wires should be black not blue. When my headgaskets were done, there was a supply issue that black wasn't available, but that issue may have resolved. Redoing the plugs and wires is not a bad idea if doing gaskets if you are going to do it.

-Someone put smooth tubes hoses up front. This was a common mod as it added 4 or so more hp. If you want stock 1992, the proper is an accordion shaped tube that is less effective.

-Don't let people lean on the doors when they are open. Makes future latching less precise.

-That little yellow up arrow on the dash by the speedo when you accelerate from a stop in first gear, means you are forced to shift to 4th gear. Ways to go to 2nd from 1st are: (1) Wait some seconds until it blinks out, (2) go to 4th then back to second, or (3) Install a skip shift eliminator plugin onto the car.

-There is a toggle switch-to-nowhere, by the ashtray, next to the fog lights toggle. It was set aside for lights in some export markets. Some people have modded the switch to work for the fan, etc.

-Use a trickle charger when not driving for a bit. There is an attachment point for battery, by lifting hood and looking aft of the drivers wheel (there is a little red battery cap to lift for the +ve and put the negative on the frame). This is so you don't have to attach to the battery (which is in the trunk in 1992 by the way, not behind a wheel as mentioned in some manuals, that was a later change).

-There is a rad hose on upper left of engine bay to examine/replace if needed.

-If do your own coolant flush when swapping out the fluids, then review the 'burping technique'. Basically in 1992, the fill cap wasn't the highest part of the system, so would trap air in the system. So fill by raising the front of the vehicle, then burping it. Alternatively, there is a heater hose fill technique.

-Grab a stock radio to put back in. Should be easy to find. Looks weird with that aftermarket one. I am sure Dodge just raided something from the generic parts bin for the radio, so should be cheap to find.

-Consider putting soft protective cover over the clips in the cloth roof when storing it folded, so that folding the roof doesn't poke holes through the cloth. Someone mentioned that the 1992 material is different than 1993, so if you wreck the cloth you would be really up a creek.

-I think that car currently has a Gen II hood (center vent near the nose and the grills over the fenders). Gen I is smooth. There was a recent thread on here about [relatively] cheap hoods for sale. If you want to go back to stock 1992, I'd recommend getting a Gen I hood sooner rather than later. You could sell off the used Gen II hood to recover some of the price of a Gen I hood. Regardless of your choice of hood, you could replace the little rorange stickers for cheap, that goes on each lower side of the hood. The stickers to put back on the car say 'Viper RT/10'.

-There was a tonneau cover that shipped with the 1992 car (the reason for the little snaps on the dash). It looks cool like a British racer. Consider picking one up if you car doesn't have one, before they become unobtanium.

Cheers and congrats again!
-Owner 1992 #119

[Vprbite]

You forgot to mention there is another way to get that skip shift light to go away. There is a switch located to the right of the brake pedal. Push it all the way in and the light will go away, or not come on if you push it early enough.

I personally would leave your three soles chromed for the time being (provided the chrome is in decent shape) just because I think it looks good, gives the car a nice pop, and then you can always change them later for a completely original look. For right now though, I would leave them. But that's me. It is nice to have both sets of wheels too. Those gen II wheels are good in case you have to send your 3 spokes out to be fixed or if you want a dedicated set of track wheels. I love the three spokes though, if just for originality sake. But I also think it's a good looking wheel and fit the look of the car quite nicely.

[Peter K.]

Wow, thank for the input.
Yes, I have the original wheels with original tires, airbox/tubes, tonneau cover. The 3 spoke are chrome which I am not a fan of. Eventually everything, including the hood, will go back to stock. And new tires....or should I say new Michelins.....since nothing for the street is available in the rear.
In my past experience with my other cars, grab the spare parts now.

I believe the head gaskets were done. Sitting next to me are the original exhaust manifold. I am hoping they went a step further and did the gaskets.
The dealer did a handful of upgrades for cooling.

My brother in NJ/NYhas an 02 and we have been in a long negotiation to get another 02. However, I am a big fan of the Gen1.....mostly the 92/93 cars. I was originally look for a 93 antenna car for myself. So, having a spare set of wheel with these almost new tire is a good idea.

I have been driving the car with the skip shift and it hasn't changed my driving. lol I did not initially know it had it. I guess I'm shifting right beyond it. Shifts great BTW.

I will take some more photos by the weekend and post them.....especially the engine area.

[Peter K.]

Canuck.....thank you for a great post. That is much appreciated. Yes, intention was to rescue the car. Though it had a good life and pretty good dealer maintained life, it's what happens to it between the 1st owner trade-in and me the 2nd owner

[ACRSNK]

Congrats and welcome to a very exclusive club! Feels great driving the FIRST one