74 RoadRunner Project and Resto??

Greetings everyone.

I got my 74 Road Runner last weekend (Thought it was a satellite when I found it sitting on a guys Lot, in front of his house, Got a hold of him and asked him about it, Some guys bought a Van from him about 3 yrs ago and came back a couple weeks later and dropped off this car, no explanation or anything, just dropped it off at his place, so I asked if he was willing to sell it. He said yes and we agreed on a 500 dollar price, with one catch, It had NO title. So we figured out what was needed to get a title on it, paid another 410 bucks for that paperwork to be done, through a Tow Truck Company, and then waited the 3 Months required to get an abandoned vehicle title on it, found out later after I paid him, that it's a Road Runner and not a Satellite).

I want to do a Partial Restore on it I guess. Fender Tag says Dark Silver with Red Stripes, 318 Car, with Light Duty Auto Transmission and I am more fond of the Lime Green Paint with Black Stripes. I'll have lots of Questions on this considering I am a newbie at "Restoring" a car but not at Working on them or Body Work.

My First couple of questions are--- Numbers Matching?? What exactly does that mean? The Care is Pretty much all there. The Engine and Tranny are there, everything really, some of it in the back seat of course LOL. The Engine I want to Replace with a 318 out of my 88 Ramcharger that I have (It's Throttle Body though, and RR has 2 Barrel in it), does this affect the Number's Matching thing?? What Numbers have to match?? and do you think this would be possible, the engine Swap that is, to get it running and driving (Later on I plan to rebuild the motor that's currently In it)

In relation to the Above Question, I have a 89 Dodge D350 with the 727 In it that I was planning on using as a Donor Transmission (again I plan to the have the Original rebuilt later on too), will that work??

Next Question, Build Sheet?? How can I get one on this Car? Is it true that some cars had the Build SHeets under the carpet or something?? Fender Tag says Vinyl Luxury Bucket Seats, Black and White. The ones in there are Blue Vinyl with a faded Blue Cloth on them.

A cheap source for replacement Decals and Nameplates would be helpful too. The only Road Runner Nameplate still on the car is the one on the Passenger side Dash Board.

Thanks in advance to all of you B Body Veterans that can help me out on this. Here are some pics to tide you over.

Gonna Try and get all the Transmission Linkages Disconnected today and the Motor Mount bolts out, everything else is disconnected, and will hopefully get the old motor and tranny pulled out today with the Tractor. Will be slow going on this at first because I am still recovering from a Disk Fusion Surgery on my back from about a month and a half ago. Doc says 6 months total on recovery time and bending is still a bit difficult.

Is that a california front plate?

Yes, that's a California Plate on it. LOL.

Got the Motor and Tranny Pulled today, thank Gawd for Tractors LOL.

Found This Number on the Drivers Side of the Engine Block but can't make out some of the Numbers, the passenger side of the block says 9-29-73 on it. Found these Numbers on the Drivers side of the transmission just above where the pan attach's - PK3681843 4450 4932 I can't find anything on the net about the Drivers Side Numbers on the Tranny.

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Drivers Side of Transmission.



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Number on the Passenger side of the Transmission, the 109650 Matches my Vin Number


Number on the Passenger Side of the Block also Matches my Vin Number


I am assuming this is a Date Code of 9-29-73

Wow, I guess I am the only one interested in this Build LOL.

anyway, found what was left of the build sheet under the back seat. Highly Doubt I can piece it back together, it's in about 200 small pieces. UGH

To answer your first question at the very top: Yes, you have a numbers matching car. This is a very desirable quality. I would personally keep it silver with the red stripes. it's okay to put another engine in, but don't sell or scrap the original, (even if its unbuildable).

Before you try and extract the build sheet, see if you can get any high quality photos of it as is. (that's one of the nicest undersides of a seat i've ever seen, btw)

Does it still have its fender tag? There will be a plate, about the size of a credit card on the drivers fender. This will offer a lot of information as to color and trim.

that's my opinion...nice find!

sjd

Yes the Fender tag is there, first thing I took off and cleaned up, however the Fender tag only decodes as D6XW-Trim-Luxury, Vinyl Bucket Seats, Black/White. Doesn't tell me anything other than that. The interior that's in it is Blue and white though. And the seats are a cloth/vinyl not Vinyl.

Does the W in that Fender Tag number denote WHITE interior or is it a combination of white and black (the Dash Pad is Black).

Haven't had much time to mess with it the past couple days as I am rebuilding Pig pens and Sheds too right now.

I plan to eventually rebuild the Original Motor and Transmission but for now they will get put on a Pallet and Tarped and put up out of the way.

Nothing was showing on that Build Sheet under the seat, the paper was folded in half and the printing is on the inside of all the little pieces of paper. I ended up cutting the white plastic Webbing out and getting all the little pieces out, but haven't had time to try and put them together, they are in a zip lock baggy right now.

G51 is the only thing that came back on the Fender tag as Unknown.

Thanks for the input and comments.

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I ordered New Ignition Key lock, Door Key Lock and Trunk Key lock for it today. also ordered new Ballast Resistor, Starter Relay, Voltage Regulator, Carb rebuild Kit (gonna take the carb off the Original and put it on the TBI engine from the Ramcharger), Fuel Pump, Ignition Control Module, Ignition Coil, Distributor Pickup Coil (gonna swap that out on the TBI Engine too), and distributor rotor. I have a Cap for it and plugs and wires already. Just gotta figure out what all needs to be done to drop a TBI engine in there and go back to Carb on it. LOL.

I like it, cool vibe Enjoy

Nice find! Another one saved! And a good price for it too. Good luck with the restoration.

I reckon it would make a great daily driver once you have been through it. Personally, I would rebuild the 318 and matching trans and get it on the road. If you want to do up the body, then do it after or plan to take it down and do the resto on it.
Good luck with it

Right now I just wanna get it on the Road, hence the Motor Swap from my 88 Ramcharger with the TBI 318 in it. I'm a disabled vet and don't have a lot of Surplus Income and live paycheck to paycheck so rebuilding the original motor and tranny will have to wait. I can work on the Body about an hour or two a day (went to college for Auto Body wayyyyyyyyyy back when) and do most of it myself except the final paint job as I don't have a booth. Body can be done as it's Driving though LOL. I owned a 70 RR Growing up and I think this is the closest I will ever get to owning another Muscle Car ( I still consider the 74's, Muscle Cars) again. Have a 76 Dart Sport (we're the 2nd owners on that one) I will be fixing up for the wife to drive. Sick and tired of all this electronic Bullshit in the Today's Cars. Wanna Go back to Old School Stuff myself.

Love the car. Good luck. I agree to stay with the factory color schemes. Source a 340 or 360!

Welcome to the forum. I just finished the initial stages of getting a 74 Roadrunner back on the road. Here's a string about how I did it. http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?40022-Project-Pittsbird-Almost-Done My initial goal was to just get the car looking good and back on the road, but that's now expanded into a 440 engine swap and a lot of performance upgrades.

As to your numbers matching question, the good news is your car is numbers matching, the bad news it doesn't mean anything. Having the original engine and trans is a big deal with high-end valuable cars, but not so much with 318 cars that were a dime a dozen. Even worse, the 73-74 cars are my favorite but that's a sentiment that isn't widely shared in the collector community, so keeping a 318 74 car original is pretty pointless. My suggestion is to do your car the way you like and don't worry about what anyone else thinks.

great to see a '73/'74 done.

Yeah, I am a beginner at this. Though I have worked on Mopar's Most of my life. I love them to death (pre-90 ones that is).


What is the best way to remove the Body if I wanted to do a Body off Restoration (cleaning up the frame, Replacing Brake Lines, fuel Lines, Etc... that are easier to get to with the Body Off).

I here what your saying about the 73-74 318's being a Dime a Dozen LOL. I'm just happy it's Numbers Matching for myself more or less. I don't ever plan to sell her unless someone comes along that just won the lottery and is offering me an UNGODLY amount of money for her.

I have a 360 in my 89 Ramcharger and my 89 D350, The D350 Needs Rebuilt Bad, it's been sitting for almost 10 yrs. the one in the Ramcharger However does Run, but I would say barely. Once in a while it starts running rough and I have to floor it to get it to a smooth Idle again while Black smoke pours out the Exhaust Pipes before it smooths out. (Bad Valves Maybe, I am not sure, any clue on this would be GREATLY APPRECIATED). The only reason I was going to pull the 318 out of the 88 Ramcharger is because It purrs like a Kitten, but has sooo many electrical Problems with that truck that I would never get around to fixing it back up.

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Thanks, I am reading that Thread Now. Pretty Good find for 2k I must admit. At least your's Ran LOL

Bruzilla said:

Welcome to the forum. I just finished the initial stages of getting a 74 Roadrunner back on the road. Here's a string about how I did it. http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?40022-Project-Pittsbird-Almost-Done My initial goal was to just get the car looking good and back on the road, but that's now expanded into a 440 engine swap and a lot of performance upgrades.

As to your numbers matching question, the good news is your car is numbers matching, the bad news it doesn't mean anything. Having the original engine and trans is a big deal with high-end valuable cars, but not so much with 318 cars that were a dime a dozen. Even worse, the 73-74 cars are my favorite but that's a sentiment that isn't widely shared in the collector community, so keeping a 318 74 car original is pretty pointless. My suggestion is to do your car the way you like and don't worry about what anyone else thinks.

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I don't personally care what a car came with or how rare they are, they're either cool or not and this car is cool so congrats. Should be a fun one to build and I've always loved the super tough 318s.

Thanks, I like the 318's too but having a Badge on Car that says 440 or Hemi is even better LOL.

I think I might just be Proud of My Wife Now LOL.

She picked up the Sander Yesterday and was doing some sanding work on the Trunk Lid.

I think I got a keeper LOL.

Got the Carb off the Original Engine Rebuilt today in preps to go on the TBI Engine. Will still have to swap out the Distributor and Add the Mechanical Fuel pump. Will have to do some more research as to what else is needed for a TBI to CARB Swap.

Gonna pull the Hood off the Ramcharger tomorrow and start getting the engine and Tranny ready to come out. Doubt I can use the Tranny in the RamCharger but I have a 727 in the old 89 D350 that I have that should work.

Been slow Going on this, too much other stuff to work on right now. Got the passenger door down to Bare Metal and Primered, and started working on the trunk lid too.