Some of these cars are a labor of love to restore or fix due to lack of parts availability.
I have been an E body guy forever and have come to take it for granted parts availability as you can damn near build a complete cuda or Challenger from scratch using repro parts. Just add VIN!
I bought a Magnum last year and not long after I topped the gas tank for its winter hibernation I noticed a gasoline smell in the garage every time I went in there. After crawling all over both my Challengers also parked there and finding everything dry as a bone, I noticed some stains under the rear of the Magnum and although I couldn't get under it very well to see exactly where it was leaking from due to how it was wedged into the garage, I could tell it was gas. That is where the odor was from and my tank must be leaking. So I checked online to see what a new gas tank would cost. Last time I bought a tank was 4 or 5 years earlier for my '71 Challenger, and Rock Auto had a new Quanta tank on my doorstep in a couple days for something like $135.
I check Magnums in Rock Autos site , no tanks listed, same tank as Cordoba so next I check Cordoba gas tanks. They made a million of those so surely tanks still available right? No tanks listed anywhere.
Fortunately after I was able to get further under the rear of the car, it appears the seal for the sender unit is weeping a bit which is a lot better problem to have than needing a new gas tank. I check online for those. Nothing. Well I think its the same seal as most every Mopar tank used in the 70s so I should be OK when I ever get around to tackling that.
Of course no body panels available, or trim. As I mentioned in another thread, if I get in an accident I am screwed unless I could find some used parts or some unicorn NOS stuff.
The payoff is that it is cool to have something different in a showfield full of Chargers, Roadrunners, cudas and Challengers! The downside is you have to really work hard to find parts rather than just pull out the credit card and fill out an online order form and then have something at your door in a few days.
