It's time for me to make a tough decision. I'll try to be brief, but give you all the facts.

I purchased my 1993 Dodge Daytona IROC new from the dealership. She was meticulously maintained until I got divorced in 1996. She had a couple issues even then: (1) Within the first year I owned her, I started having intermittent electrical issues in the dash. Headlights and driving lights always worked, but the dashboard light and gauges did not always work. Eventually, they didn't work at all. The dealership told me fixing the problem wasn't worth it because it would require tearing the entire dash out to get to the problem area, so this was never fixed.

(2) The electric door locks and windows seemed to make the door too heavy for the frame/hinges to support. After a couple years, the gap between the door and front quarter panel was closing. A few months later, the door was rubbing against the quarter panel while opening it. A few more months, and the door had shifted so far, the front quarter panel had to be bent just to get the door to open. This forced the side trim to break off as well.

Sent her to a body shop, and she returned almost as good as new. Electrical problems weren't addressed, but the body issues were fixed.

Two years later, I'm living in a really small town. Being new there and needing good relationships with the locals of influence for our business, we did a lot of in-kind work. One of our most important clients was a tire dealership/auto shop. I think these guys were the beginning of the end of my IROC's good health.

When she needed a battery, it had to be replaced four times in as many months by these guys. When her clutch cable snapped, I am *positive* they replaced it with the wrong clutch cable. It never felt right. After a couple months, I'm driving 65 MPH down a highway -- my foot nowhere near the clutch -- I heard a BANG! like a gunshot from under the hood, and suddenly had no clutch. Again, the same company replaced the clutch cable. It felt closer to right, but not RIGHT. My guess: they figured any Daytona-compatible clutch cable would do, and I suspect the IROC needs a different clutch cable from the same year Daytona base model.

A year later, she was rear-ended by a truck that just happened to be driven and owned by a client we were trying to land. He owned the largest trucking company in an eight-county radius. He offered to pay cash for the repairs if we kept the insurance companies out of it. He also offered to give us his business, so we agreed.

We chose the most reputable shop in town -- which isn't saying much. They couldn't find parts, so I suggested they just buy another IROC off AutoTrader and use it for parts. I did the research myself; found an exact match for my car four states away for only $300. Trucking-Company-Guy sent one of his trucks down to pick it up, but something happened along the way. I knew it the SECOND I saw her after the body shop called and said she was ready.

They hadn't picked up a 1993 WHITE Daytona IROC. They'd picked up a 1992 RED Daytona -- not even sure if it was an IROC. The rear taillight assemblies didn't match. The louvers were gone and instead, I had an UNtinted back window with a sun-bleached "Dodge" sticker smack in the middle of it. I was so furious, I cried. Small town business politics... I knew what was done was done, and wouldn't be re-done.

Skip ahead two years. I've moved from that small town to a big city, and I'm working for someone else... no more in-kind trades and personality politics. A couple times, I drove the IROC to work, parked in my usual spot (which has a mild uphill grade), and came out at the end of the day to find her completely dead. No clicks. No dings. No ANYTHING. By the time I'd find someone to jump me, she'd start right up on her own without the jump.

That made me nervous (I had kids at the time and didn't want to get stranded), so I parked her in the garage until we could afford to get the electrical issues fixed once and for all...

... except divorce came before the repairs. I left him the house and moved into an apartment. I had nowhere to keep the car at the time, so the divorce papers specified that the ex was to put the car and everything else I'd left at the house into a storage facility. He never did.

A couple years ago, I got a call from a complete stranger. He explained that his friend bought a house (the house I'd lived in until the divorce), and the IROC had been left in the garage when the "former owner" abandoned it. The new owner had no idea what to do with it, so this guy took it and was trying to track down the owner. He told me he'd had no problem starting it -- just put in a battery and primed the carb, and she started right up.

Problem is, he saw her as just another beater car he could use as a work vehicle, and wanted to pay $400 for her. At least I finally had my car back! We towed her home, parked her in the driveway, and there she's sat ever since.

That brings me to today, and decision-making time. I love this car. My son wants the car, and wants to restore her. So here's the "short list" of considerations on whether she's worth keeping and restoring, or if it's time to sell her.

• Doors have settled again, and the guy who took her out of the garage bent the front quarter panel to get the door open, so the doors and some body work will need to be done.
• Original body work was shoddy, so I know I'll need to replace at least one rear taillight assembly, replace the pneumatic arms that control the hatchback, replace the rear glass with tinted glass, and replace the louvers -- which seem to be VERY hard to find for this make and model.
• Clearcoat is peeling off the roof, paint on the hood has flaked and bubbled off so primer coat is showing. That means a complete paint job. For me, that MUST include the correct IROC badges/stickers, which also seem to be very hard to find.
• Tires seem surprisingly supple, but I'm presuming they're out of round and dry-rotted, so I'll need four new tires.
• The electrical work that was at issue from the beginning still needs to be done, and now MUST be done.
• I'm presuming that everything under the hood that pliable or a container will need flushing and/or replacing: belts, hoses, fluids, some wiring, fuel injection, gas tank, battery, radiator... all the stuff that will go bad when a car is left sitting for four years.
• The basics: tune-up, spark plugs, air filter, oil change, brake pads, etc.
• Replace the clutch with one I *know* is correct for the '93 IROC.
• Oh, and the guy who rescued her from the garage had a locksmith break the steering column open to re-key the ignition... so that all has to be fixed as well.

I don't have so much as a GUESS at what all that work will cost. I'm thinking in the ballpark of $14,000, since I can't do most of it myself. I'm not in the position to pay $14,000 to fix her. I'd sooner spend half that and get my son a decent Mustang or Camaro for a first car. He wants the IROC, though. God love him... he's his mother's son.

So what do you think? Realistically, about how much am I looking at to get her rolling again? What can wait, and what can't? Most importantly... I'm not a collector, so is she worth restoring in MY case? I've already had two cash offers for $850 "as she sits".

Thanks for reading. All opinions, feedback, suggestion and advice are WELCOME!

Cool Runnings,
~ LoveMyIROC / Rebecca

 

take the $ and get another car that doesnt need all that. sounds like everyone that worked on it is pretty clueless. or maybe get into a relationship with a quality technician to keep up and runnin

 

Don't let this car go for under $2,000. I see that ShelbyDaytona is banned. Maybe he wanted to get a bargain. These cars are gaining in value and becoming somewhat collectible.

There is a STRONG Daytona following that I belong to - send me a message for details. It might not be ethical to post a competing site here. But help awaits you, and all these things can be fixed. A great source for the IROC trim is Marty Kolner at Arizona Parts - www.arizonaparts.com. He will have the badges.