New Viper Owner

[Reedyboy]

2 years ago I had to make a choice, buy a viper or get a bigger house... at the time the most sensible thing I could do was get the house and so thats what I did. TBH I thought that was going to be it, never gonna get one...... that was until 2 weeks ago. I was looking at getting a new car and had been contemplating various cars when a friend phoned me and offered me a viper, within 10 minutes I had bought it and its currently sat on drive, i'm still grinning :-)
Its a Grey RT/10 02, needs a few things sorting but they are only minor bits. Gonna have to come to a few events this year and will probably need some help with getting hold of some of the bits.
So just saying Hi!

[viperdave]

Let me be the first to say welcome aboard and

[big kev]

Oh boy, Cambridge based!!
That makes 2 of us, is this the start of a Viper nest?
Look forward to meeting up
Welcome

[Viper]

congrats, gen2's are rare here
if your car has a black interior its 1 of 143 worldwide

first meet of the year is next sunday in Luton not to far from you, see the thread below

Edited by Viper on Saturday 17th March 08:41

[V1PER]

Welcome aboard.......
Another Gen2 RT/10 owner and not far away either..
Is this the one for sale not far from Bedford????
Baz

[xyyman]

Welcome indeed, look forward to meeting up.

Phil

[VENOM500]

Viper said:

congrats, gen2's are rare here
if your car has a black interior its 1 of 143 worldwide

first meet of the year is next sunday in Luton not to far from you, see the thread below


Trust you yo know that Neil!


Welcome, and all the best with the Viper, great cars, sure you have a lot of fun with it, Tom

Edited by Viper on Saturday 17th March 08:41

[Viper Wizard]

James Welcome and Congrats from across the pond!

If you have any questions or sorting bits, don't hesitate to ask me.

Chuck Tator aka "Viper Wizard"
NY/CT/NE VCA TD
Tator's Dodge
914-763-3136
[e-mail]

Also check out the US Viper site. www.viperclub.org

[Reedyboy]

V1PER said:

Welcome aboard.......
Another Gen2 RT/10 owner and not far away either..
Is this the one for sale not far from Bedford????
Baz

Thanks all for the warm welcome. Dont know if it is the same one you saw for sale but the previous owner was from Northampton.. so could be. Definitely coming to some meets this year so will hopefully get to meet some of you. Posted some pics here but I have to say there were done on my little digital so they arnt that good, will get some good ones next week with my DSLR.
Cheers again for the welcome guys.

[Viper]

lovely colour Steel Grey it looks very much to me from the pics like a 2000, they only painted Steel in 2000 so might not be a '02 (though they did Graphite Metallic in '02)

I wouldnt go by the numberplate/log book thats more like when it came into the country and was SVA'd etc, we see a newer plate on a older car all the time on imports

whats the 10 digit/letter on the VIN number ? another give away '02 had ABS where as '00 didnt

Edited by Viper on Sunday 18th March 17:06

[Reedyboy]

Viper said:

lovely colour Steel Grey Dodge import so not a chrysler,
it looks very much to me from the pics like a 2000, they only painted Steel in 2000 so might not be a '02 (though they did Graphite Metallic in '02)

I wouldnt go by the numberplate/log book thats more like when it came into the country and was SVA'd etc, we see a newer plate on a older car all the time on imports

whats the 10 digit/letter on the VIN number ? another give away '02 had ABS where as '00 didnt

Here is the picture of the VIN, i've looked it up but cant seem to find a page that explains it, only the one at Viperclub but I think that is for US models only... Anyway here's the pic

Edited by Viper on Sunday 18th March 11:39

[Viper]

Ok, look for this badge on the drivers door by the lock mechanism, year of manufacture is on the top right corner

Edited by Viper on Sunday 18th March 12:23

[V1PER]

Here is a link to the VIN decoder.....
www.theviperregistry.org/vin.php

As far as i know the only differance is the second digit B=Dodge C=Chrysler/Canada or export..

[acrman]

According to the vin number the 10th digit is an R which means its a 94 car, further investigations confirm this and that it left Baltimore on 3-6-1994 and went to Italy, it then came to the UK and was registered on the 14th of May 2002 as an 02 car but hpi have an incomplete vin number listed for it and also the incorrect engine size! looks like there may be something naughty going on here!

[Reedyboy]

Ok, had another look, that sticker isnt there, there is one that gives the tire sizes and max weights etc... but not the sticker your showing, its raining here at the mo so I cant get the hood up to check, if it stops shortly I'll go and have a look but it may be there is somthing a bit dodgy going on here. the speedo is in kilometers and not mph. I'll get to the bottom of this and find out whats going on. Clearly its not a 94 car but if someone has swapped the VIN plates off a 94 car I better find out soon.

[acrman]

One give away is the gen one front facia, you will also find that most parts are date stamped but this will involve removal of bits of trim etc but should help. Regards Clive.

[Reedyboy]

Just lifted the hood quickly between snow and rain showers, the VIN plate just infront the drivers door is the same number as inside the car. Its clearly not a 94 but I'm wondering if europe destined models use different codes on the VIN. The 3 strips on either side of the engine, rear exhaust, electric windows are all signs that clearly this isnt a 94 car but it still concerns me that this VIN plate might not be from this car. I'll have to do some more digging I guess.

[acrman]

One other thing you can check is the gen 1 cars have a breather pipe on each engine valve cover which exits just to the left of the Viper logo,the gen 2 cars 96 onwards don't have this,early cars also have cast iron block I think!

[V1PER]

Is it a Gen2 engine 1 throttle cable???????
This would be the second viper in a matter of weeks with a history.....

Edited by V1PER on Sunday 18th March 17:47

[Viper]

acrman is correct your RT has the older gen1 front bumper
here's mine, look at the right low end, the later bumpers have an extra buldge
(think it helps create a vacuum in the wheel well to aid cooling of the brakes)

Edited by Viper on Sunday 18th March 17:52