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`70 road runner, FC7, 383, 727 It`s waited long enough, finally time to get it done.

Not much progress lately as I've been busy with wife, kids, house etc. but even when I have had some free time lack of motivation has kicked in. I think it is a combination of a long, cold, snowy winter and being in the seemingly never ending bodywork stage that has me a bit beat up both physically and mentally. I guess I needed a short break from it as any of you who have done a major project understand. So since it's finally spring it's time to get my Barracuda ready for the season. I just replaced the battery and other than an oil change at some point it's ready. I do have an AAR hood I want to put on that I bought a while back so decided to get it ready, it's pretty good quality but of course it needs a bit of ...... bodywork! :rolleyes:

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AAR hood is ready for test fitting and then primer but I'll need some help to do that so back on the road runner. I got the drivers door and fender gaps good so I can fine tune the fender edge and start the filler work. Passenger door is on and quarter gap is good but I need to get the reinforcement welded in the fender before I test fit it.

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One step forward four steps backwards. I got the passenger door and fender aligned pretty well. I got the air grabber hood out of the shed to test fit it to the fenders and when I was rinsing the dust off it I noticed a patch of filler hiding under the paint. The hood is not original to the car as it didn't come with the option but I bought it years ago shortly after buying the car. Grinding it down I found a bunch of rust thru mostly on the rear passenger side but also some along the middle and a couple small spots on the drivers side. It's bad enough that I will have to split it from the outer skin to repair it properly. Yay- more hours cutting, fabbing, welding and grinding.

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Found a hood local and cheap! I had already searched Marketplace with no luck but decided to change what words I was using and a Satellite hood showed up 20 minutes away. It has a bunch of surface rust but nothing thru or soft so should clean up fine. It is a bit different than the road runner air grabber structure so while I would rather have used one complete I think the easiest way is to just cut out the rear sections I need. It came with a '71-74 Barracuda hood thats solid and I of course asked if he had any other Mopar stuff and got a box of '72-74 'cuda tail lights, some new rubber weatherstrips and miscellaneous stuff. Both hoods were $100 and I offered $40 for the box of parts so great deal! I now have a couple hoods to cut apart.

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Air grabber is split. There are a number of differences in the two as far holes and cutouts but I'll make it look factory.

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One of the ways how I am restoring this car for well under $40k - stripping parts by hand and sand blasting what is needed myself. Yes, it would be quicker and easier to have it done but probably cost $100 or more plus gas and time getting it there and back and multiply that by how many individual parts to be done. Sure it does cost some money in electricity and supplies but the savings do add up. It does suck how long it takes though.

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Finding more hack work - a gallon of filler covered with high build primer, worst part if you looked at it before I started stripping the paint off it was wavier than the Bering Strait.

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Finally got the paint, high build and gallon of filler stripped off. As I suspected there is some damage but after a bit with the body file, hammer and dolly it will only need some skims. I'll have about 10% of what the last hacker piled on.

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Metal work is done and it's back in one piece with the anti-flutter foam in between. It's just clamped for now, I'll weld it up once it dries. I mocked up the air grabber for motivation.

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Awesome work, I so wish you were nearby to do some work on my 70 RR. Are you planning on staying with the original 383 & 727 column shift? Like yours, mine has the original drivetrain but I'm still tempted to swap my auto for a 4 or 5 speed manual. Decisions, decisions.
 
If I could go back and order my dream road runner it woud be FC7 with white bucket interior, 440-6 with a four speed. I have decided to keep this one mostly per the fender tag and build more as a nice cruiser as I have my `72 Barracuda as a modified four speed "hot rod" so I`m keeping the 727 in it.. I am going to add the air grabber hood and some stripes as mine was a very low option car and I MAY swith the black interior to white as that really makes the In-Violet pop but I haven`t decided yet. If it was non-numbers, a clone, or missing the fender tag and braodcast sheet I would be more tempted to modify it but I wouldn`t mess with a numbers car.
 
Initial plug welding of the sides was done on 4x4 blocks placed on the floor to keep it level as my high end restoration shop (my 24 x24 garage) doesn't have a welding table. My Chief Financial Officer (me) did a cost analysis and determined it was not in the budget.

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Last thing to do is adjust the lines and gaps, the back edge is a bit low to the cowl so will need some "adjusting" then I'll check how they match up with the fenders.

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