Hi, Ive been readin the forum for about 2 hours now, lots of stuff I didnt know but I still have a few questions and was hoping you would be willing to educate me.

I found a73 dart swinger in the paper for 1000, since im a near broke college student this doesnt seem like that bad of an investment.

its a 225 stock (granny owned with 90k miles on it) cosmetically sound.

What kind of milage can I expect from it, (california car), what are the things I should be looking for before I commit to buying it, she says its a hard start when its been sitting for a while. Any help you guys can offer would be great .. thanks.

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I just want to be the man my dog thinks I am.

Its really hard to say... assuming its properly taken care of? Some people would consider 90k barely broken in.

"Hard start" meaning hard to start? Could be a lot of things - something as simple as fuel draining out of bowl, to messed up choke, to....

What things to check? Well start with the basics, check for leaks, do a few hard stops to check the brakes, check all the fluids within easy reach - tranny, engine oil, power steering, brake master cylinder, water. When you take it on a test drive rev it up and make sure no funny noises are coming from places they aren't supposed to, and take it up a hill to put some load on the drive train.

I don't mean to get you down - this is an excellent buy - but if its something your going to depend on for daily transportation, and you have zero time or money to spend to give it a thorough look over and tune up, you may want to pass. But if test drive and initial inspection go good, and you have free weekends to tinker with it, go for it then.

With it being a california car rust shouldn't be a problem but it wouldn't hurt to take a peak underneath. Critical areas - around each leaf spring hanger, and the area where torsion bar mounts into by the tranny cross member.

Cosmetics can be deceiving - pay attention to the corners of the wheel wells, and the area between wheel well and rear bumper - use your thumb and press into these areas firmly - if you hear any sort of crunching sound its likely the rust has started from the inside out. Peel back the carpet and look at the floor pans, and also the trunk floor - those areas love to collect water from leaks and rust.