The scary costs of owning an American Supercar. CAR WIZARD does major repairs on Gen 1 Dodge Viper

[@CarWizard]

Head to policygenius.com/WIZARD to get your free home and auto insurance quotes and see how much you could save.

[@Edboy23hoops]

nice reading Wizard 🤣

[@Rao_Sahab_7878]

The first time someone has sponsored you on KZbin. How do you feel?

[@giorgitadumadze8490]

car chainging colors🤣🤣😂

[@thekaiitlin8744]

I'm really not a fan of the new intro music, the old tune was WAY better not ragging on buddy who composed it. that riff just isn't intro material in my opinion

[@Cheepchipsable]

30 million people just like me...what a depressing thought.

[@McMoto42]

Growing up, we lived just to the north of the plant where the Vipers were built, and I remember one day I saw a convoy of about 10 them going down the road. It was pretty amazing to hear.

[@Offthbadan]

That reminds me a few years ago I was sitting outside my mother in law’s house( God rest her soul) and about a hundred Vipers went by on their way to the Conner plant.

[@jwalster9412]

I can only imagine. 🤤

[@robertives973]

Every viper I’ve ever witnessed on the road, that’s the one thing I remember. These cars sound every bit as scary fast as they are.

[@ozarkliving7263]

The only Dodge product of the last 50 years I’d be proud to own

[@DrBaronMunchausen]

@@robertives973 they sound like a truck. Don't like the sound of American muscle cars. Prefer European sports car sounds.

[@pali1H]

My uncle was one of the powertrain engineers. He once brought a pre production car to our house (we lived a couple miles from Chrysler). I was 10. He took me for a ride and it felt like a batmobile.

[@phillipsmith3366]

I use to have neighbor when i was in middle school and my family moved to highlands ranch in Colorado in early 2003, who had I believe was a 95’ yellow viper. It was amazing. I loved watching it. It was rough power!!

[@jeffzekas]

Nice how he takes the hood off and protects it. My last mechanic dented my fender, then pretended it was like that when I brought my car in to the shop. Protecting the body prevents such disputes.

[@gabriellord3286]

It's crazy how shops can't own up to their mistakes.

[@user-tb7rn1il3q]

They will have to fix it. Unless the shop notes damage before they take possession of the car, the damage is on them.

[@pops55650]

This is also why Wizard does a video walk around of cars he brings in I bet

[@WhoThisGuy515]

Back in 09 the brother of my long time friend bought a brand new Viper. Got about 2500 miles on it and the radiator started seeping from the side tanks and needed replaced. No Dealer within 300 miles would do it because as they put it, "The hood needs removed and cost 16k and didn't want that liability". Ended up having to drive it to Texas (lived in Kansas) to get it done.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

Some of these Gen I Viper V10's have issues with sleeves shifting. Under warranty the solution was to install a new type of sleeve that was counter bored and installed by ARRO(sp).

[@davidadams007]

Was never a big Viper lover, even knew someone how's son in law was severely hurt in one as a passenger and the driver didn't make it. Very fast and you need to know what you are doing if you give it the beans. Over the years I have grown to appreciate the Vipers for what they are. Special cars from a N/A car company that went to town on a style and engineering that were and are fantastic. Treated with respect I think these are some of the most impressive cars you can get to drive,

[@FunnyMuffler]

Viper was one of the last cars you had to respect before the days of ABS and Stability Control.

[@atodaso1668]

its a modern AC cobra, and many drive them with old tires and get killed.

[@ghoulbuster1]

The Viper produces a massive amount of torque, just a bit on the pedal will spin the tires.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

The 1st gen Vipers look nice, but I personally don't like the newer models. They're kind of too generic for my liking.

[@Melanie16040]

@@ghoulbuster1 That's the problem... If they have new tires they will hook no problem. Old hard tires though because the owner only put 2000 miles in the last 10 years? There you've got your "just a bit on the pedal will spin the tires" situation and people get hurt or die.

[@scottbutts6703]

I used to caddy at a country club when I was a teenager and once a year they'd have a Viper Day where all the old rich guys with vipers would drive in at once and have the golf course reserved. I was 14, riding to work in my sister's old Buick LeSabre and I counted 32 Vipers turning into the country club. Couldn't believe it

[@rolandthethompsongunner64]

Sums up owning a muscle car today. “ old bald white guys.”

[@tinystar3010]

If I remember correctly, that Viper actually should have window inserts that you can place into the slots on the door sill. Jay Leno spoke about those when going over his 1st gen Viper. Not really water tight, but just to avoid incoming rain on wet track days I guess.

[@boeingav8tr525]

David, appreciate how you always say good things about your mechs, like Daniel-son.... A lot of supervisors could take lessons on how to motivate their employees from you

[@juki6377]

i'm sure they feel great being acknowledged too

[@cl7510]

@Mck Idyl I’ve known bosses like the type you mention. They simply don’t understand that being a prick is the best way to ruin morale, take all ambition away from their employees, and make an all around crappy work environment. Luckily my current boss is nothing like that. He’s a good guy to work for and no one is hesitant to approach him when they need something or have a problem.

[@RothBeyondTheGrave]

So true. What is a supervisor/boss without their employees, & what is a business without its customers? Respect & appreciation trickling down from the top makes for a good business all around!

[@tamarab8972]

VIPERS are always fun to drive, I like how they only made them with manual We got 97 coupe and 05 convertible both since new It is nice to see VIPER engine taken apart like that

[@JonnyHolms]

I absolutely love this channel, I've been a car fanatic my whole life and every episode of the car wizard that I watch I learn something new.

[@catboi1188]

He's a good dude... meticulous anal retentive, exactly what ya want in a mechanic 😁👍

[@carl9531]

As a former owner of 3 vipers, my fav was my 96 GTS finding parts was a pain in the ass, especially plastic pieces which get brittle over time. The v10 puts out a lot of heat!!

[@fritzwrx]

I was in a roll over in a 93 dodge viper in March of 93. I was 9. I've been absolutely in love with vipers ever since then. One of my dream cars.

[@2148aa]

I'm jealous. When I was a 9 year old farm boy. They only let me drive a 9N ford tractor.

[@grndzro777]

A bent pushrod after 9k miles...yea that's some scary costs.

[@joshreyes8504]

Those hoods on the vipers a couple years ago were going for 10gs. I can just imagine what price they are going for now.

[@jamesredman1263]

15 gs

[@m.kriddick2731]

Looks like the Wizard has lost some weight.

[@Vortagor]

That red paint on the cable means it has been painted without taking parts off

[@AraCarrano]

Smells like those were the only plastic bits that survived what looks like an enginebay fire.

[@That_ViperDude]

I would have been honored to have you work on my gen 1 1993 Viper. I hope you consider opening a shop here in Huntington Beach. You would kill it.

[@thman6453]

Those heads are beautiful that viper is going to run great 👍

[@bigd9848]

Love the viper and remember when it came out. I wanted a blue with white stripes.

[@finngerbangh1836]

Man, for a car with less than 10,000 miles on the clock (supposedly) it sure looks beat on. Montana must be hard on cars.

[@JCEU21]

Some of the interior pieces looked a bit worn for the mileage and the exterior panels looked good with the exception of the front cover. Mileage be damned!

[@ericfletcher8454]

Trivia time. The Reason that Viper has no windows and realistically no roof was that the car wasn't Rain Certified because they didn't have a working traction control system that could protect the viper driver in the rain

[@catsaretasty]

Idiot, you dont need traction control to drive a car

[@828findadventure]

That vehicle is going to be a lot faster after all that head work. Looking forward to more videos on it.

[@StackBundle]

Simply replacing the head gasket isn't really getting to the root of the problem. They blow the HG because they run hot (had to run around 230-240F for emissions). The owner would be smart to invest in a large aftermarket 4 core radiator, radiator fans and a cooler t-stat, not just preemptively replacing the HG.

[@gazzarafalemozzy4766]

I have some gen 2 viper parts for sale..hood, valve covers pusrods wipers and wiper motors, mopar rear wing for an rt10 CCW wheels, etc

[@JimmyMakingitwork]

I used to think these were so cool, until I drove one and looked underneath. They drive like crapola and look like they were built in someones garage from a kit. But people love them, something about raw power, V10's, hard to drive and manual transmissions, etc. etc.

[@brianallen858]

Thank you Mr and Mrs Wizard, from Ireland 🇮🇪👍🇮🇪❤️

[@lukelaputka7164]

Your video was posted on the American Viper Owners FB page. Always happy to see your channel promoted outside of YT! ☺️

[@whitenight369]

Weezard, this gerbil would like more Viper content,, from head gasket replacement, to its test drive. Good work!

[@mikep8080]

those slats along door at about window frame is for the locks on cheesy windows attachments. I saw another car that did the same cant recall what!

[@speed23ism]

Owner is treating that car well. I can appreciate that. Beautiful car and deserves good care.

[@bsmitley]

Man can I relate to headlights being stupid expensive 😔

[@charlieryan1736]

Thanks for featuring this beautiful Dodge Viper 🇺🇸🤘🏻

[@snakesoutpostblancacolorad6416]

First gen Vipers make newer 5.0L Mustangs look like great buys ... Updated interior, more power and nicer Interior

[@txxmac451]

No windows huh? Very interesting and unique car, it litteraly is an exotic car even if it's domestic to us here in USA. Beautiful car despite the lovely plain gray plastic interior

[@markm0000]

That interior is terrible but exactly reflects the personality of this car. Raw performance and nothing more. Very similar to the Ferrari F40.

[@pkt1213]

Dodge Viper interior is like the most expensive Neon.

[@gustavbaltes27]

I love the updates on how Danielson is doing! Glad to hear you found a trustworthy thru and thru addition to your team at Omega!

[@johnjohnmcclane1818]

The hood on these was, maybe still is, supposedly the single most expensive OEM part of any American car, something like $15k.

[@YungEagle3k]

Not many vipers out there

[@Buses2Bikes]

I couldn't stop laughing as WEEZARD read off that Policy Genius commercial spiel at the beginning of the video. Bro....you may be an AWESOME mechanic but reading cue cards or teleprompters is not in your wheelhouse. But thank you for the laugh. That was reliving the cheesy commercials of the 1970's all over again.

[@jonnydare1427]

No body does it like the car wizard!!!!!

[@mattcox846]

The Plymouth prowler was also a very nice ride

[@ncrdisabled]

i had one in 97 and drove it for 3 years and sold it for 42k I paid 41k since it already had a blown head gasket .

[@moonshinefuel]

I'm not sure about the idea of porting these heads, they are already performance heads that are ported optimally for this engine, but I know people do it.

[@Born_Stellar]

port everything! porting is always good! lol

[@shanafredlake312]

My favorite car. Such a beautiful piece of American auto history

[@fecundloin2780]

looks amazing until you sit in the drivers seat, YIKES! what a vile cheap interior

[@sc1338]

It’s kinda endearing. lol this car was a crazy experiment by dodge. I can’t like the interior design, but materials definitely could be better, but they wanted to keep the costs down.

[@wcsoblake85]

I never knew that the early vipers did not have door windows. Thanks for teaching me Mrs. Wizard!

[@samthompson1080]

The Dodge viper was built when Chrysler owned Lamborghini. The V10 was designed by Lamborghini. This year did have a few flaws. Biggest complaint was the targa roof. No place to put it when off. If you had it off away from home and a storm hit.. Guess what.. you go soaked.

[@lawrencebmarshall]

Owner of a Gen 2. Couple of notes: The hoods barely stay up on a viper. One way to tell if it was repainted is if the hood does not stay up when lifted. Even when original the hood won't stay up when running the engine. It falls down very easily if bumped. It is easy to crack the gel coat if not put down properly. Being quiet from the factory is relative. My Gen 2 is 100 percent stock. My neighbors know when I fire it up. Even at idle it is both distinct and definitely not quiet. This example has a fair bit of corrosion looking at the interior. At 9k miles it was stored someplace humid. Mine has 12.5k now and only has surface rust on underbody fasteners. This is not an early 93 since it does not have an external antenna. The hard top wasn't available in 93. Only the soft top came with it. Mrs. Wizard didn't mention that it has clip in windows. Parts cost is interesting. Many things are stupidly cheap generic Chrysler parts. Anything viper specific is expensive and can be difficult to get. The air filters are 100 a pop and you need 2. The early air filters have foam that degrades with age and need to be replaced even with no miles. That said compared to my Mondial the viper is a breeze to work on. It is well thought out. There is plenty of space. The only thing I hate is the power steering pump cap which I make sure to check every couple hundred miles.

[@Degu67]

Please add a timestamp for us foreign viewers to skip your insurance ad. I live in Switzerland and I am definitely not a potential customer. Thanks.

[@space14605]

93 was way before awd and traction control on the viper. Dangerous

[@milestone_achiever4634]

Head gasket is a common problem in all name brand cars

[@JoesAutoElectric]

I honestly never saw the appeal in those things. I drove one years back, and it is honestly nothing special considering all the hype behind them. A customer of mine had an AC Cobra Kit car (forget which company..might have been a factory 5 kit.), but that only had a small block ford in it, and I would take it any day over a Viper. Far more fun to drive. Now, it's not quite the same as the AC Cobra with the 427, but even with the small block, that thing was a hand full if you lay into it. Maybe I am biased towards the Ford stuff...but yea...Vipers aren't all that.

[@Justins00ss]

Man wish you were closer. I'd gladly let you work on my 06 viper coupe. No one near me that has much viper experience.

[@alwayswoke5181]

Wizzard, don't dilute your channel's quality with 'cheap' advertising like for insurance...you are too special for that...without that bs you are much more charming...don't fall in the trap of the extra buck....

[@thomashilliard8588]

Hi Car Wizard. Long time watcher, and big time fan. I was just wondering if you have any friends in the San Antonio Texas area to recommend to do some custom work on my Dodge vehicles? Please hit me up. I love how thorough you are and how attentive you are to all the details. Looking forward to your reply

[@LifeatSpeed]

Harland Sharp makes a good product, but the T&D rockers are the preferred units for the Vipers. Also the pushrods are definitely the weak link in the engine of these cars as noted by the bent one you have. Upgrade to a 3/8" push rod, that will solve that problem. And like you said, Gen 1's are notorious for head gasket failures.

[@theshadowman1398]

Love the first Gen vipers. Especially the hard tops

[@Van_Liberty]

I remember my auto shop teacher, who also moonlighted as a local mechanic, told our class at its beginning "...motors are electric and engines are gas and diesel. There is no such thing as a gas motor..."

[@Rover200Power]

What about a V8 moduurrr?

[@danielmargarido954]

Funny that in Portuguese, a motor is anything that generates rotary motion.

[@MultiKlojo]

@@danielmargarido954 in dutch to

[@theundergroundlairofthesqu9261]

I'll tell that to the Ford Motor Company and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. And the Toyota Motor Corporation.

[@richardbaumgart2454]

1: one that imparts motion specifically : PRIME MOVER 2: any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: such as a: a small compact engine b: INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE especially : a gasoline engine c: a rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy

[@mikewaite3746]

Two minutes of a insurance sales commercial is absolutely ridiculous... The days of independent contact creation are over with.....no more Car Jizzard for me....

[@az7378]

I have never been subscribed to Car Wizard at all, but I have been watching his videos since 2019 (I believe) and he was great in the beginning until recently. When he started demonizing people in that 1995 Rolls Royce video and that 2005 Mercedes E320 video for not paying thousands to fix their cars I started to lose interest in his channel. Now him doing these 1-2 minute ads like Hoovies Garage, LSC (Legit Street Cars), and a few others (I can't name off the top of my head) makes me not want to watch his content anymore. Looks like he sold out.

[@mikewaite3746]

Yeah it's just getting really ridiculous you already get two to three minute commercials in a 15 minute video and him adding more commercials I don't mind him getting a profit for his content however he probably makes pretty good running that type of shop. Then he also tries to promote his stupid Amazon store and not try to support local retail businesses for auto parts. Maybe I'm just a weird one who doesn't buy anything from Amazon and I live in Seattle.

[@rayrussell6064]

Right up my alley except I would prefer a ACR with twin turbos but could never afford one not then and definitely not now your and your team are rare now a days it's how fast you can get them in and out it's not the same as when I was a heavy line gas and diesel tech for Ford before my accident I took pride in the work that I did you don't get that anymore and that is very sad. Love your content wizard i don't know where your located in Kansas I'm near blue springs MO. With my knowledge it's hard to find a shop for repairs I've had smoke blown up my but and lied too so many times but anyway God bless you guys and as always be safe 👍

[@ericherrmann3799]

Some parts for the viper can be purchased from AutoZone it is just there V-10 truck engine, I needed a power steering pump for a viper like maybe a1997 Iam not sure anymore AutoZone had it in stock same as the v-10 truck and a good thing late night and stranded, sorry it's still a Dodge.

[@MARZ1911]

They had plastic windows with a zipper in them so you could open the doors..not sure if they came with them or you hadda buy them.

[@DISOPtv]

I have a passenger side rocker/exhaust cover in good condition if you can't find that part, they are hard to find.

[@geoffgreenhalgh3553]

The side pipe bolts are miles too long and need cutting down . Shocking bit of fitting.

[@theundergroundlairofthesqu9261]

Harland Sharp make some mighty nice rockers.🙂

[@That_ViperDude]

The CD player makes the car lower in value. The cassette player is stock as is the leather shift knob. The rims are also 2nd gen so I suspect the 9k odometer was disconnected. Ive seen it more than a few times. I love my gen 1 Viper :)

[@surferdudehb352]

Thank you for another amazing video

[@Regular_1094]

Nice Star Wars T wizard! I'm guessing its for the recent Boba finally?

[@Morpheen999]

Wizzzard!!! I like the newer Vipers, that is a nice color!

[@davidsolloway9349]

Nice work on the Viper

[@lindsaygreen5102]

What about a helcat engine in a viper? Is that possible? They are both dodge products?

[@HughJashole69]

2:02 to skip the in video ad and get to the meat and potatoes

[@HigherEducationAwakening]

Happy you are getting sponsored

[@jimcurt99]

LOVE the shirt Wizard- happy you a cultured man (and great video BTW)

[@kimbland2614]

It would be great to see an update to this car- once it is back running, to give us a sample of the noise it makes??

[@xerolift]

lets be honest, the factory exhaust makes it sound like a UPS truck

[@MrSlowestD16]

IDK how many thousands this took to get the headwork done + the rockers & lifters, but somehow I feel like it's a drop in the bucket compared to older Ferraris 'n shit. This one repair might run $5k, but that's probably the only work it'll need for quite some time...compared to some older Ferrari which needs an engine-out if it makes it to 30k.

[@billhartsfield424]

Apparently you don’t work on old chevelles either !

[@Turskaify]

You should have the ad text closer to the camera, you're eerily talking about insurance to someone behind me.

[@houseofno]

Wow a first gen Dodge Viper. Pretty sure a Viper owner won't be seeing another car like theirs at a traffic light often. Let's see, who should we have work on a Dodge Viper made of unobtainium parts? Let's get Clyde the Klutz on the job, complete with his cast iron tools on that fragile aluminum. "Hey Clyde, don't forget to park it outside overnight in case the owner wants to pick it up early..." On the next episode of the Car Wizard, it's titled Dude Where's My Car... Just kidding. Thanks for a great video Car Wizard.

[@richardbaumgart2454]

I don't think the cost of owning an American super car is more of owning any other supercar from other countries. Just the opposite.

[@poppyland5280]

can you please make a video on the 3rd gen viper?

[@wstlndiesel]

And make a video that's not total AD BAIT!!!!!

[@fdmackey3666]

I'm sure you or some of my fellow subscribers, not to mention some casual viewers, will horse laugh my question. But here goes: Was the V-10 utilized in the Viper the same engine I've seen in a handful of RAM pickups or were the two engines only related by the number of cylinders they had? I ask mainly because three of those RAMs were STUPID fast while the three or four others seemed to be more oriented toward doing "grunt work" such as towing heavy trailers/loads. All of those pickups were bone stock when I crossed paths with them by the way. Just something I've been curious about for years but never seen or read an answer to.

[@ItsDaJax]

The SRT10 Ram had the same engine as the Viper. The 94-02 Gen2 Ram had a different V10 based off the Vipers V10. Iron block, lower compression, lower hp, different firing order, both 8liters, different heads, parts don't really interchange between the two, despite both basically being extended v8 blocks. I find that part weird since you can damn near swap a lot of parts between the 90s and much older v8s, like heads. Or at least heads.

[@AndrewBrill1]

Am I crazy or do so many other guys just stencil a new head gasket out of quality gasket material when you cannot get the original...isn't that a thing if done correctly as good as oem..and isn't it possible with Autocad to get perfect dimensions??

[@iffy_too4289]

That interior and the mileage surely do not go together.

[@user-tl2xh5ft3s]

keep giving us theses great videos Mr and Mrs Wizard you both give us valuable information on cars and things to look out for shady mechanics 👍

[@TravisFabel]

Mr wizard, the next time policy genius gives you a script to read out, tell them that you want to redo it in your own words. Because we can tell when you're reading, and when you're being your honest self. Say it in your own words. It'll work better for everyone.

[@brianl6964]

He gets paid the same

[@CrazyChemistPL]

Gen 1 is the best looking Viper still to this day.

[@Le3eFrereBrunet]

Well, you can consider a hammer, a sledgehammer and a prybar as tools for a BMW, so you do work on BMWs

[@nowzthetime]

I do think that he needs to buy a new set of headlights that would make the car looks so much nicer

[@lilpoindexter]

They had ugly vinyl windows that click into the slots on the top of door sill

[@georgioocean7629]

What’s the lift on the rocker arms because you might have to modify the valve covers

[@RedLP5000S]

Gen 1 Viper is the GOAT. 🤘🏻💙🇺🇸

[@iffy_too4289]

Guys, colour correction plz.. Is that Viper red or burnt orange? It went from muted to "OMG the saturation is blinding meeee!!"

[@laplantski]

Fun fact, the Gen 1 Viper was faster and quicker than any Ferrari of the same era...

[@31dknight]

Great video from the wizard.

[@surferdudehb352]

Have you ever installed a cam on a Viper? Ive heard the entire car shakes :)

[@peiguy1982]

Nice car but a death trap I would not own no matter how much money I had. 9K miles and a pushroad toast? I guess you need to pay to play with these things. I would only want something with more predictable handling and/or stability and traction control though.

[@darthvincor]

Geez, so in addition to the 4 ads on a 15 minute video we now must also watch a 2 minute insurance ad?

[@wst8340]

Don't watch then.