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72' 1 family owned Roadrunner to be turned into Fate of Furious Clone throwaway thrasher weekend car

Migsbig

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After seeing Fate of the Furious awhile back, it made me even more determined to find that elusive 1971/72' Plymouth B-body I wanted to hot rod. Now I've had probably a dozen of these cars over the last 15 years, but nothing that was usable for my needs (either too nice, to damaged or didn't have the funds and had to sell). Since seeing Richard Petty clips from the winners circle to articles in magazines like "Darth Vader's Car", my lust for one of these dirty birds has always been there, creeping in the dark, waiting for that moment.

Yes, soo many have come up, and one missed opportunity after another that just kept bummin me so bad (missed buying 4-5 this year alone) and with models popping up on popular shows (one show bought a purple satellite project while I was getting a trailer lined up) that I was making the prices go slowly up every time I looked. So after my storage yard was too full to do anything in and not so eventful doctors visit later, decided to just stick to my two cars and give up and get ride of everything. Sold my spare 41' Plymouth, 1974 Ramcharger, 1968 Dart GT, 1977 Power Wagon, 67' Barracuda, 71' Charger and a bunch of stuff and just went back to working my job & concentrate on other stuff.

Fast forward a month and I see a 1972 Roadrunner, on ebay that has been there for like 1/2 year and the price kept going down lower and lower and then seen it on craig's. It was fugly green and a very unusual type of rust. it was a 340 car that ran and was 45 minutes from me! I messaged the person and hear she had gotten it from her father around the 1990's and it was his new in 72'. I decided to make her an offer and go up and see it. I show up at a mechanics garage to see this scruffy, running 340 auto car. after spending barely 8 minutes looking at the car, I decided to buy it on the spot and rush out ( I had t be at work in an hour and drove through cali afternoon traffic) and head back to san jose. I've had this car transported to me by my regular transport guy and into storage it went. in the last 6 weeks, I've seen it a total 17 minutes, so there was no real time to enjoy it. Just random pics here and there. I'm stoked! So as I am now heading out to work, I'll throw in some random pics I got from the ad and my phone and hopefully when I'm off work tonite, post some more info on it and what would like to do with it.

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There’s a guy on here with a 72 grille for that damage. Think he only wants about 10 Grand for it.
 
It looks decent until you see the rust. Will post more info tonite when I get home at midnite from work.
 
got home at 5am, quick post before bed. Gotta be back to work at noon, so just some pics of the rust issue on it. unusual type I've never seen before. almost none of it looks to be under the vinyl top.
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As you can see, the rust in the shots are not in most common areas. Worst case scenario is that I have to sandblast the rear of the car from the inside out. Here is the info I pulled from the old ad on the car.

"
1972 Plymouth Roadrunner runs....a little hard to start at times, but it does run. One family car - Dad original owner - special ordered from factory. I've had it since 1990.

Original 340 short block engine rebuilt from inside out by Al Leist Machine Shop in 1997 - about 50,500 on rebuild; rallye wheels & dash; positive grip rear end (if I remember correctly); automatic transmission (not original); power brakes; power steering. Had air conditioning originally - disconnected years ago - will need a new one, if so desired.

ThermoQuad carburetor installed in 2015, custom built radiator installed in 2014; mufflers, rear bumper, & rear tail light lenses replaced several years back; gas tank dropped & checked in 2014; new gas line hoses at same time, along with other stuff. Has fender, dash & door tags. Chrome is in decent shape. I do have the small piece that goes below side window where tape is.

Interior - headliner, seats, rugs, dash; drivers side door hinge & body need work; no emergency brake cable; heater core has leak - been disconnected for years; needs new wipers; new tires wouldn't be a bad idea... still have some meat, but been on the car for quite some time. Please refer to all the pics to give you an idea of condition. "


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Great find. Love the 72 Road Runners, but what the devil is a "throwaway thrasher weekend car"?
 
I've been watching that car on eBay for a while for the fun of it! Nice a member here got it
 
Hell, there is a repairable grille on on here for a 72 ONLY $900! Not sure about the comma after hell, gotta check with the Kern.
 
Good to see ya Dennis, hope all has been good. Sorry for the long reply, holidays are kinda ruff and they just canceled my vacation request for the 14 time, so I probably won't be making posts for a few days. As for the intentions of the car, pretty much as the title says. Fix it enough to drive, paint it black with big tires all around, throw some speed parts on engine and maybe an ebay turbo kit, throw out the bench for some late model seats and race belts and pretty much beat on it like when they were $400 back in the 1990's. Gonna be honest with ya, I ain't gonna be treating this car to pinkie liftin, tea sipping, trailered to site over mirrors at a car show kind of life. More like whiskey chuggin, race through the back road and put away wet on a regular basis kind of thing with possibilities on a race car build on the chassie in the future. As for the green, meh. Discount auto black paint applied by an 8 fingered biker in the backyard is the way this car is gonna turn out. Already have two cars that will probably be too pretty to beat on, so this one will be my "work my stress/anger from the day away" car. Ya gotta have at least one car you truly enjoy without restraint, and this is that car for me.
 
Looks almost like that quarter panel had the skin replaced at one time and it’s rusting where they had the seam
 
I have some glass to fit those cars. Let me know if you need it.
 
For goodness sake, at some point, please put the widest rear tires that will fit in the rear fenderwells. It has a wonderful slimming effect on the wide hips of the early 70s Satellites and Chargers, and really makes a big improvement in the overall appearance.
Congratulations on your purchase!
 
Though I have not had a chance to re-check, I’m pretty sure the quarter panel was not replaced on either side from previous inspection I did. Also, some of the rust is in areas that would not be common on where a skin job would have been performed on the car. I am suspecting salt water contamination (they lived near a beach and water port) and a leak in rear window seal that ran from the roof area to the rest of the car. Plan to strip the back half, sandblast, metal repair and prep for repair work when weather dries up next year.
 
Well last year was a complete bust, so nothing got done on my projects. This year is gonn start out with a simple inspection, parts swap and just made into a local cruiser until the Charger is done. Though I was selling it because I didn't want to cut up an original car, that has changed now since I can't find a similar platform to build on without tripling the cost of just the replacement car. Plans do still intend to make a similar Fast Furious style ride, but no modifications that won't be more than bolt on components. Already have some wheels picked out, replacement quarters have been delivered, color options are in the wraps, exterior upgrades will be a bright change to the norm and hope to just wing-it from there on. Finger's crossed I can make it to Spring Fling this year (if the governor don't cancel it again).

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