71 Road Runner Restoration Started

Your therapy must be working well, at least getting parts and tool's I bet its miserable and hope it does get better! Things seem to be looking up and i hope your wallet can take the punishment, my wife seems to know when mine is dancing in the wrong direction lol.... some day ill figure out how she does it!

Oktoberfest a little early..................

You are very correct Ron. At times this shoulder thing does get to me, but I dig in and keep on with it. I'm sure you all are tired of hearing about my ordeal.

So,

When the misses and I came home after my therapy session today, a package was waiting for me. The engine stand from Summit arrived. My wife brought it inside using her hand cart, because the box was pretty heavy. Once inside, she opened it up and we inventoried everything, since the box was damaged on one side and you could look into the box. Once this was done, she asked a silly question :

"So, do you want to put this together???"

You know what the answer was......................

Here are the end results of me instructing the wife in the fine art of engine stand assembly.

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No Mopar fanatic worth their weight in salt would not be caught without a little customization..........

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This stand seems to be pretty nice.

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Please excuse our bare concrete floor.

Just before I was injured, we bought all new hard wood flooring, so we pulled up the old carpet and started painting the walls of our home while we were at it.

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That's about where it ended too. So when I get medically cleared enough to work some, I have a "honey do" on the list.

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One of the positive battery cables arrived today in the mail. I am expecting a second one any day now for the 70 Challenger.

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Here is a close up of the part number if you need it. I know they are out of stock in the National inventory, but they may re-release the part again soon. You may run across one at a swap meet too.............. Who knows ?????? But here it is for you.

P/N 02983649 fits all big block 70-74 E body cars, and 71-72 B body cars too.

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Tonight they are starting a new show on Velocity Chanel called "Restoration Garage". They have been showing a black 72 RR burning out in the parking lot on the commercials. That caught my attention !!!!!

It's starting right now, so I'm out of here !!!!!!!

Hopefully it will be a decent program, but like most of them, I'm sure it will have it's amount of drama too.

Take care.

No problem here with you telling us whats going on, that's why a lot of us come to see if your going to be up and running soon! And that's some good work putting together that MOPAR already named and cured out engine stand Soon you'll be posting up some Mopar work, and then it gets fun again, be patience though, don't mess up something and with my problems ive done it! Things "start" to look a little better and im gun hoe and get myself in trouble, i try to NOT do that anymore lol, the alternative is trouble, kind of hard when its Mopar related you want to get to, a show, an article, blood churns wife looks at us like she already knows were going to do something we shouldn't lol, oh well, im learning about things even at my age rofl...

Sounds like you have an awesome wife. My ex-wife of 18 years could have cared less about cars or my business and is one reason she is now my X.

What, she didn't put the engine on the stand too??!!

ct71rr said:

What, she didn't put the engine on the stand too??!!

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I didn't try that one !!!! LOL

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moparmarks said:

Sounds like you have an awesome wife. My ex-wife of 18 years could have cared less about cars or my business and is one reason she is now my X.

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Thanks Mark. I have been very fortunate and have a good wife this time. I also have an ex.................... For other reasons though. (both mine and hers) We were both too young among the many other things. You have to go through a bad experience to really appreciate the good. It also makes you MUCH wiser the second time around. This time I was much more selective and made sure we had a lot of the same interests. It really does help.

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I have had this little idea lingering around for a while now. I have several 440 engines that I could easily install into this 72 SSB. None of them would require too much effort.

First I have the machine shop fresh 440 that I have posted pictures of earlier in this thread. All it needs is assembly, but I kind of want to save that one for my 73 Challenger now.

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It's ready to go with all new parts and has been balanced.

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These 2 engines are the ones causing the dilemma.

The first one on the left with the aluminum under drive pulleys and oil pump housing was machined and assembled many years ago by Dick Landy's machine shop way back in 1979.

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Remember the "Plum Crazy" FC-7 1970 Challenger at the beginning of this thread???? This engine came out of that car. The Challenger was drag raced in Southern CA back in the late 70's and early '80s and was street legal.

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The last time it was driven on the street was in 1982. The gentleman who owned the car moved to FL and started it up on occasion and kept the car garaged.

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When my friend bought the car from the guy who used to drag race it the engine still ran strong. In fact when we went out for a test drive before it was purchased, it was the quickest Mopar I had ever rode in as a passenger. This was back in the early '90s. The engine has been stored since then and periodically turned over and the cylinders were protected with oil in between each time.

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This engine is one I built back in the mid '80s and it was also for street / strip use in my 72 Challenger that I owned back then. This engine smoked a little when it was first started, but cleared up quick.

The "Dick Landy" engine is a 67 440 HP block. The one I drag raced back in the day is a 69 year 440, non HP block.

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I put and old 383 points style distributor and a used fuel pump on it to simply plug some of the holes during storage.

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This last engine is a 73 year 440 HP that was originally in my "U" code Charger SE. I will be using the brackets and water pump housing from this one on the engine I decide to use in the SSB.

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I have been thinking about using the Landy engine in the SSB, because it didn't smoke at all and I still have the matching transmission and converter that went along with the combination. This engine was running with a set of 3.91gears which I also have available. I'm thinking this one will be a fun one to run around with, as long as no long highway trips are made.

All it would need was to be checked out and resealed.

What do you think????

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The engine I built and raced has been in several vehicles since the 72 Challenger. I drove it last in the mid '90s when it was installed in a 3/4 ton 2 WD long bed 1985 Dodge truck !!!!!!

Yep. It was a sleeper.............

It would probably need more than just gaskets and valve stem seals. At a minimum a basic ring / bearing swap plus what ever else would show up during the tear down. I still have all of my automotive machinist tools so inspection will not be a problem.

But if I do that I might as well stick with the fresh 440 from the top picture..................... I'm thinking Dick Landy now.

Thats some Mopar **** i wish i had some of lol, I have a 69 383 and one 400 and a 440, the 383 i need or will and im hoping to have someone who knows there stuff to do my 440, that's a way off for me and im afraid of the cost once it's started but should make a old bird move some quicker ill bet ya agree! Good stuff here bud and you sound, so to speak, like your healing good and biting at the bit, Good to have you back Louis! BUT take it easy starting off! i know, go back to my cage lol......

Thanks Ron. My left shoulder is still very painful. I can't sleep hardly at night. I feel beat and worn down to be honest. I try to keep a positive spin on everything though. I'm not a quitter and I never give up once I make my mind up.

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On a positive note, some more goodies showed up today.

Here are a few pictures of the RR horn for a 72 car. This one has the short bracket. It's a reproduction and I still need to test it to see if it works as it should.

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The pair of negative battery cables showed up too.

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This was accompanied by the firewall gasket set.

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I had a problem with delivery on the other positive battery cable. I was sent an AC control cable for an E body car by mistake. I contacted the seller and he will be shipping out the correct part. I let him know I would return the wrong part back to him. He agreed to pay for the return shipping so all will be good.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Sounds like a win situation Louis, I seen you posted and since i just committed to the resto thread, my very favorite place to be, to be honest im nervous lol, I had to check yours out as your another that inspires me along on my cars, thanks for the post!!! But now im done and will be attempting a Graveyard carzs tape i have recorded

Latest Updates.....................

A lot of good things happened today.

They took away my torture chair........... I mean the passive range of motion machine. I'm still working hard in physical therapy 4 times a week now on both shoulders. It seems like I'm making good progress on my right side. The left one is still a bear though.

Enough of that.

Mopar Marks let me know that my sheet metal for the inner C pillar is on it's way and gave me the tracking information. I can't wait to see the parts in person.

It will be a lot easier than trying to hand form this area. I will post up some pictures of the metal when it arrives.

Thanks Mark !!!!!

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The last positive battery cable finally arrived. Now I have one for the 72 SSB and one for my 70 Challenger.

When the opportunity to pick up an extra part for one of my other eventual "projects" here or there arrives, (and if I can afford it at the time), then I try to grab them up as I can.

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The same part but the packaging lettering was a little different letter font.

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I was finally able to take some pictures of the new windshield washer bottles today. These parts arrived a few days ago.

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As you can see from the last photo, this one is for the 72 SSB, but it will fit other cars as well.

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This one is for the 70 Challenger.

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That's all for today.

Take care and stay safe.

WOW Louis, this thread reminds me of Christmas sometimes,, great to get the new stuff and have it ready!

Christmas will continue as the big o box is on the way.

Thanks Mark. The big 'ol box arrived two nights ago. I had the misses bring it inside and open it up for me. It is EXACTLY what I needed. Thanks bud!!!!

Hopefully over the weekend I can have her take it out back to the shop and glass bead it. I'll post up some pictures soon.

I need to keep my other half busy. Late yesterday afternoon we had to take her miniature Poodle to the vet and have her put to sleep. She would have been 17 next January.

It sucks but she is better off now. At least she won't be suffering anymore.

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She was blind and got to where she couldn't walk anymore. She was a sweet little thing. I normally like big dogs better, but my wife's little ones grew on me after a while.

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Damned phone.

Big Box Contents

Hello again everyone.

Over the weekend I had the misses take the big box from Mopar Mark outside and open it up.

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Here is what was inside.......................

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here is a close up..............

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The last picture shows the part that I mainly needed. I was going to attempt to fab this up out of 18 gauge sheet metal. Once I started thinking about it, I decided it would be best to get the actual part from a donor car. That way it will be exact, and probably stronger too. Plus it had the added benefit of being quicker as well.

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I had the wife take the parts out to the shop and place them in the glass bead cabinet.

That's where we are now............................

Hope you had a good weekend.

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Thanks again Mark !!!!

Mark has some good parts, and packs them good to!!! Packages we get seem to bring a smile, even though we know there coming!

Louis, how you making out with your shoulders? And, has your wife finished the car yet?:icon_smile:

ct71rr said:

Louis, how you making out with your shoulders? And, has your wife finished the car yet?:icon_smile:

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Right now I'm at my physical therapy session hooked up to a tens unit. I'm getting better but not out of the woods yet. At least now I can move both of my arms better. I still can't put on a button up shirt without help. I'm having a hard time trying to move my arms behind my back. So far it's been impossible and they have been telling me that is the hardest motion to do and it is usually the last one to come back.

Nope. The misses hasn't finished the car. LOL. She has been having problems of her own with her lower back. So I have kept her out of the shop.

Nothing has been going on, no progress made on the cars,so I haven't been posting anything.
Thanks for asking.

Well, do you remember Amish Barn Raisings? I think it's time for a group vacation down to Daytona Beach for a Runner Raising. You pretty much have all the parts, don't you? Guys could bring the ones you still need with them on the plane. We're heading to the Dominican in Feb, maybe I can convince the wife to go a week early and she can sit on the beach while I work on the car :VB toast:

Who else is in?

71airgrabberRR said:

Thanks Ron & Brian.

The 72 SSB is definitely next. So please stay tuned......................

Eventually ........................... LOL

So everyone please hang in there. I have decided to "clone" it into looking like a RR, but I'm not spending a ton of money on a proper grill. I'm just as happy with a standard grill from a SSB. The money can be spent wisely somewhere else.

I've been seriously considering FE-5 red with the bumpers painted to match the body color, trimmed in black stripes and call outs. On the interior I have been tossing around the idea of either going all solid black or going with black carpet, console and dash, with everything else in white. (just not 100% sure yet) My 73 U code Charger SE was that combination and it looked VERY sharp.

I'll eventually be posting up some good pictures of the quarter panel replacement and metal work, paint work, engine assembly and even a video with my engine test run stand. I may even post a video or a series of pictures on how I use the test run stand to install everything from the bottom like the factory did.

I haven't forgotten the "how to" on changing over a column shifted steering column to a floor shift either. It will be step by step as promised, just as I have done with other things on here like chrome removal and mirror disassembly. Hopefully these postings will help someone along the way with their projects.

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Sounds great .. the FE5 and white interior I mean !!

I love the two tone black and white interiors

snume said:

Well, do you remember Amish Barn Raisings? I think it's time for a group vacation down to Daytona Beach for a Runner Raising. You pretty much have all the parts, don't you? Guys could bring the ones you still need with them on the plane. We're heading to the Dominican in Feb, maybe I can convince the wife to go a week early and she can sit on the beach while I work on the car :VB toast:

Who else is in?

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Oh yes I remember all about Amish barn raising!!!! My dad was from PA and my brother lives in Ohio. Pretty cool how they all help one another.
I really appreciate the offer. but I would feel out of place directing a group of people from the side lines. I'm the type that has to get right in there with the troops. That is how I was in the Army too. I always led my men by example , and to me that meant getting right in there with them doing whatever needed to be done. I'm the same way at my current job, which BTW is how I got hurt. I just wouldn't feel comfortable and I hope you understand. It was a very kind offer. If you are in the area stop by for a visit. Thanks again !!!

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tallhair said:

Sounds great .. the FE5 and white interior I mean !!

I love the two tone black and white interiors

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Thanks Brian. I really like the E-5 red with a black and white interior. Now that AMD has a new front bumper available, I'll probably get one. Hopefully the rear bumper will not be too far off in the distance.