Volare & Apsen how much $ to build compared to A&B body

I've always liked the volares and aspens, especially the super coupes. Are they hard to find interior/exterior pieces for? Are they difficult to turn into a performance street machine with all the rubber isolators and angled torsion bars? I would love to build one someday, is it equal to or mor or less than rebuilding say a 1974 plymouth duster?

"is it equal to or mor or less than rebuilding say a 1974 plymouth duster?"

You will find it difficult to find parts for the F bodies. They were only built for 5 years and the sales dropped off quickly after their 1976 opening year. There is next to zero aftermarket parts being made, so a parts car is your only choice. Drivetrain is shared with every other RWd Mopar, but if smog checks are required in your area, these cars had a bunch of power robbing stuff to deal with. The front suspensions are terrible.
Besides that, they are great cars.

Also keep in mind, F-bodies were running a close second to AMC's when the crusher came to the junkyard. Those cars didn't sit around long enough to get parted out.

Problem is a few guys seem to be hoarding the good parts like spolers and louvers while working tirelessly around the clock to drive prices up. And you will get hosed if you ever try to resell the car. While i think they are cool cars too, especially with the right option pacakge, they look like a financial black hole. If you're ok with that then by all means. Imo an a body would be cheaper to fix up.

I think that visually, they are decent looking cars. Certainly better than the Chevy Malibu and Ford Fairmont from the same era.

New carpet is available as are new covers for the 76-77 style buckets and the coupe rear seat.
Hardest thing to find is the 78-79 grilles especially the 78-79 Volare grill.
Urethane isolator bushings for the K and rear suspension are pretty cheap.
The bent T-bars leave a lot of room for header choices.
Every one has disc brake front and 10x2-1/2" rear drums with the 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern so no upgrading required.
Most were column auto's.
Manual brakes and manual steering are very unusual. Only ever had 1 with manual brakes (out of several dozen) and none with manual steering.
I find them easier to work on than a B body and even an A. I dont do E so I cant comment on that one
Over all a very nice driving line of cars.
Lots of good used parts for them around if you know where to look

They can be nice, but Have fun finding parts.

Not sure what "parts" everyone's mentioning but they're not any tougher to build than an A-body. Yes, if you want all the spoilers and such it can be tough but other than that, there are are mounts, headers, etc for the cars. It's really no different of a build, you just don't have alot of guys to bounce issues off of. Biggest problem I have with them is that I believe the steel used at that time (overseas) for the frame is crap and likes to rot/separate real easy compared to an a-body.

My experience ALL comes from the M-body...but the M-body coupes are pretty much what the F-body coupes are. The suspension, etc, etc interchange.

As some have pointed out the difficulty in this would be sourcing the interior stuff and finding it in a shape that is still usable. My '80 coupe (being made for 2 yrs only, and is different from the '78-'79 yrs) was VERY difficult to source parts for. No aftermarket existed (still doesn't for the most part).

Having said that, stuff like weatherstripping (doors and roof-rail) is now finally available...for me that was by far the hardest part to get...eventually I made the F-coupe work on my ride (took a little custom work...lol).

The suspension is easy stuff...lots of parts to upgrade with, and best of all, aftermarket, the original Moog/TRW/etc parts are there for the HD options...so if you want to run the big brakes, the big tie-rods, etc, it's just a matter of finding the right part number and ordering the stuff from the likes of RockAuto. The K-frame biscuits are easily replaced with either POLY or aluminum...these are readily available. If you want to go a little extreme you can even go custom T-bar way, one of the other M-body guys on here has done that.

So in a sense it all depends what you want your car to be about? I do enjoy driving mine and being told by folks I strike up a conversation with: "...I had no idea they made the Diplomat in coupe style...", or "...wow, I had one like that once, but I never see them around anymore...", in other words, I wanted something different.

I'll poo-poo some of the first three replies and support 65BlevJim,80fbody, and Diplomat360 in their replies.

Yes, bent bar suspension have some geometry issues, but they aren't deal killers, can be corrected, and everything you need to upgrade can be found at Firm Feel. Aside from t-bars, which do cost more, parts are about the same cost as A/B bodies. Additionally, it doesn't take much effort to modify the front to use Camaro shocks and the rear can be updated to use traditional Mopar springs and shocks thus saving $$ over the F body specific pieces. This also has the benefit of eliminating the iso-clamp suspension which is mush.

Correct, there are is no aftermarket support in sheetmetal and interior. Aside from the '76 models, which had issues out of the factory, they balance of late 77-80 versions are no more prone to rust than other cars of the era. Since their production numbers were pretty decent, there are still a lot of used sources out there. Obviously the west/southwest for metal and the midwest/east for interior sourcing.

There is a guy reproducing very good quality spoilers, flairs, and louvers for the R/T, Road Runner, Super Coupes, and Kit cars, so these aren't hard to find any more.

Entry level prices will be better than A and B bodies as well. With careful shopping, rust free standard F bodies can be found for $3k or less. R/T and Road Runners will run you around $5-8k, and Super Coupes and Kit cars are going to be $8-12k, generally speaking as there are always values to be found.

For performance, they respond to all the traditional performance upgrades like any other car. If emissions are a concern in your area, you can find some ways to work around that, but they obviously going to have some impact. They can swallow a big block, 383/400 are easiest to fit, but 440 can be made to fit as well. Depending on the emissions requirements of your area, you might even be able to make one of these swaps look factory. The neat thing about F bodies, they are as wide as a B body, but as long as an A body. This makes working on the engine somewhat easy, but also makes them a more compact driver.

Personally, I think they are fun to mess with. I've always fancied the idea of building one for a handling application as Alterkation does make a coil over conversion for them. Drop it low, flare the fenders and put some massive rollers under it with a T56 shifted, 408 small block. I've built several drag versions and it was a non-stop source of amusement to click off a low 12 second e.t. against a 15 second restored 68-72 big block car. Below is the last one I owned, although I've had several over the years. Notice the lack of rust in the lower quarters. A big plus for later model versions.

I agree with Diplomat360 and the others with similar responses. I absolutely LOVE my A38/E58 Aspen. As mentioned, firmfeel has a ton of suspension parts since it shared suspension with M body.

IMO, once you swap a transverse T-bar car's rubber kframe biscuits to aluminum, it's a great setup. High speed handling is good, no shuddering, and fun car. I have multiple M's and the Aspen.

I used a dash cap after realizing used dashes were outrageously priced, and were probably going to be brittle. Came out real nice. I also used some interior pieces from an M. Package tray is different but would be much easier to make one than on an M. I have seen lots of body and interior pieces on ebay. The Police Aspens and Supercoupes have always been faves of mine.

I say go for it!

I love mine and you can find some incredible deals if you look for a while. IMO, they drive a lot nicer than the A's.



The cost of parts are sometimes less and sometimes more... anybody got a nice grille for a 78 Aspen... Occasionally it helps to have friends that are F body morticians.

i have a 77 Volare i acquired it several years ago. I have been looking at parts for fixing up once I get my 71 Satellite done. I read on Allpar that the F,M,& J bodies quite a bit interchanges on them, including the windsheilds. I want to know when the diplomats (M) bodies put the wiper switch on the turnsignal stalk. thinking about putting a M body dash in it. For body parts DVAP has a few that they are parting out.

What do these cars weigh?

RobX4406, I agree, they drive and handle much nicer than A body cars.

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What do these cars weigh?

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Most I've had were around 3500-3600, give or take based on options package and engines. There isn't much in the way of lightweight, bolt on parts for them, but you can get creative with weight loss. The brown one I posted above got down around 3000-3100. I forget exact because I sold it don't have my log book on it any longer.