1973 Road Runner resto

[73runner]

Today I had to spend half the day going over the world wars with my 15 year old daughter.... I hate finals!

But I did get to go to the shop. ... In case your wondering, the shop belongs to a friend. Ivan and I have been friends for years... Ever since he bought the shop 10 years a go and I came in as a client... Now I pay him for his time and a bit for storage and he lets me work there on the weekends.

Did I mention I have two daughters? My wife actually asks why I go out all day Saturday to work at Ivan's....

So today I was able to get in early and pull the sunroof and pan to take care of the little hole with a bit of brazing.



Here's a bottom view of the panel. Unfortunately, I found that the paint at the top had developed a crack in the paint just of the edge due to a filler crack telegraphing through the paint.... No big deal but it meant I wasn't able to finish up the sunroof today.



Hairline crack in the paint.... Damn



I was able to finish the dynamat install with help from Ivan and Luis. Thanks guys! Note to self .... It's easier to mark the seat and seatbelt hole as you put the dynamat down rather than after... Where was that hole????.



Here's the pan stripped and ready for brazing.


After brazing up a storm... I think I need to do a little grinding and smoothing...I thought about maybe some filler but decided against it...too hidden and didn't want to have it conceal and future rust or issues. All the extra brass filed down fine with a dremmel ... Not perfect but more than good enough.

i took advantage that the pan and tracks were out to clean and grease the cables and tracks... 18 years since I was into it and the dirt and other filth was beginning to gunk up the works.



Worked on the sunroof weather strip... At least the roof weather strip got on today.

Finished install of that according to instructions... Everything went great except that the tape pulled two tiny bits of the flocking out.. Not noticeable but I'm planning on wiping the flocking for the panel with some silicon or armor all to avoid this again or worse.




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Here's the view of the pan painted and ready for installation later this week.



And now for my friend's surprise...



They installed and wired up the radio...thanks guys!!!!!


Yes... that's Ivan ...on his side... In the attachment below. I hate the photo apps on this forum...

 

[73runner]

Today I got the whole day...well almost. Seems I had to take my oldest to school for her trip to universal studios in Orlando at 5:00 AM. Needless to say, I got back at around 6:00 and went back to bed.

I got to the shop at around 10:00 and was able to get some work done on the sunroof, carpet, interior and console.



Here we are working on the carpet. Cars is beginning to take shape. During the week I was able to spend some time on Wednesday afternoon and installed the drip rail molding. Rear looks a bit off in that the rear tire looks to be small in the wheel well. I'm thinking of upping the rear tires to 255's at the rear and leave the 235's in the front. (A trick I learned from the AAR 'Cuda)

Ivan was able to paint all the interior door panels to match the legendary interior seat covers that were installed by my friends at "All in Leather". So we're almost ready to start putting it all together.



The rear carpet went in with no issues. The front was another matter. Ended up cutting off about 3 inches off the front on the passenger side to fit it up to the A/C box. Then came the floor shifter mechanism cut out. I figured I would start on the passenger side first, get that to sit right front to back and straight.

Once the passenger side front was settled, we fit the carpet up tight to the console and shifter brackets, wrapped the carpet up and over and made our first cut. Talk about tension. The rest was all about cutting the opening to allow the carpet to sit flat on the floor pan through the cutting of slits and tabs to get it in under the brackets and have it cover the entire transmission hump. Several cuts and slits later, we were done. We purposely did not cut the carpet completely in half at the back edge which made the rest of the carpet for the driver side footwell lie straight... Including the heel pad.

Last we made the cutout for the high beam foot switch and installed the grommet.

From there we went to the sunroof panel fitting and adjustment.



Heres the first fit... Fresh from the paint shop down the street. Pretty close. All went well until we ran it through a complete cycle.



Disaster... Damn it, f**k, ****, piss.......! During the bodywork I did 15 years ago, we had to patch the roof where it met the right rear corner of the sunroof drain pan that left a tiny weld hanging just low enough to ruin the paint. I replaced the seal for the entire pan, since I had it out, and also reworked the brackets that support the pan to get a tighter seal this time around ......and this is the result. We loosened the pan, installed a 16th inch shim and no more problem. Decided to continue the fitting and adjustments before sending the panel back to the paint shop. At least we hadn't installed the rear seals.

Here's the final fit...



Door panels will have to wait until I get back on the 17th.... Got to take the family out for some fun... Or die trying!

 

[74sundance]

Great car,I like the gray! I'm painting my gray as well,nice to see one in full body color. Have a look at mine here.....................
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3164986/1974-plymouth-sundance/

 

[tallhair]

The car looks excellent 73runner and I absolutely love the grey paint!

 

[73runner]

Ok.... Just finished the dash plaque that has the road runner script and little bird. Mine was missing the damned little bird since I got the car.... Actually got it for $60 bucks still attached to the trim plate a while back but it looked terrible. Seems the previous owner cleaned it to death.

So I refurbished the bird and cleaned up the script. But what really made it pop was applying some "Bare Metal" foil I heard about on this forum from magnumgt over on the 75-79 part of the board.

Here's the first part I did and shows the foil in process.


And here's the finished product with the foil in the background together with my trusty x-acto and a small hobby brush to get the little filings!



Only took a couple of hours and once installed took a polish with just a dry cotton cloth and looks like the original chrome. Fantastic stuff!!!


now I'm going to bed... I can only do the fun stuff when the girls are asleep.

 

[tallhair]

That looks great .. nice work

 

[rsd859]

Thats pretty cool! Im on the hunt for the dash emblem, so if you find one let me know.

 

[73runner]

I've had a couple of pm's on the bumper fillers for the rear bumper. Questions were mostly about where to get them.

The end fillers have been NLA for almost 30 years. However....As long as they are complete they can be refurbished with some success... Not NOS perfect but definitely above driver quality.

Heres the result of some very careful sanding and cleaning off with lacquer thinner of the degraded vinyl ends. Hours of fun! And the bonus of a headache from the fumes.




The filler that goes in between I got on EBay about a year or so ago but can't remember from where. It's all vinyl with an integral windlace in the extrusion unlike the stapled windlace on the original.



If anyone knows where to get the filler, please post it here. There's a lot of people looking for it. Thanks.

Besides, I shoulda bought two!!!!

 

[rsd859]

Here is a link to a page where you can make your own bumper filler.

http://www.muskie-lures.com/73roadrunner/73_road_runner_rear_bumper_center_trim.htm

 

[73runner]

Out with the family... Enjoying a new automotive adventure... Bought it in late December ( merry Christmas to me!) but got hit head on coming back from a project for the office on Jan 8th and couldn't get it til now.... Good Christmas and crappy New Year!

Had the title, plate and insurance in the car with me when i got hit. Lucky to have survived... At all.

My life was saved by my 26000 mile 76 Seville ... Unfortunately the car did not make it... I don't know what hurt more, the compound fracture of my left leg or watching the car slowly burn after they got me out.

Just started walking without a cane two weeks ago....

Here's one of the reasons I'm pushing this project over the finish line.... Besides the fact that I truly love my not so old road runner.



Any of you guys remember what this is?????

Handicapped parking I got from the accident has come in handy.

So far so good... Made it from New York to Penn. today.

Wish me luck!!!

 

[rav440]

you may have posted it , but where did you get the rear window louvers ?
by the way your rr looks great . did you paint the K frame gloss or semi gloss ?

 

[old tired rebel]

Out with the family... Enjoying a new automotive adventure... Bought it in late December ( merry Christmas to me!) but got hit head on coming back from a project for the office on Jan 8th and couldn't get it til now.... Good Christmas and crappy New Year!

Had the title, plate and insurance in the car with me when i got hit. Lucky to have survived... At all.

My life was saved by my 26000 mile 76 Seville ... Unfortunately the car did not make it... I don't know what hurt more, the compound fracture of my left leg or watching the car slowly burn after they got me out.

Just started walking without a cane two weeks ago....

Here's one of the reasons I'm pushing this project over the finish line.... Besides the fact that I truly love my not so old road runner.

View attachment 121476View attachment 121477View attachment 121478

Any of you guys remember what this is?????

Handicapped parking I got from the accident has come in handy.

So far so good... Made it from New York to Penn. today.

Wish me luck!!!

Wow that is a French built car I have always seen in 4 doors,but I can't remember the name. Sorry to hear about your accident and glad to see you are up and around.

 

[73runner]

you may have posted it , but where did you get the rear window louvers ?
by the way your rr looks great . did you paint the K frame gloss or semi gloss ?

kframe was painted semi gloss. The louvers I got on line about five years ago and the vendor is NLA. Sorry.

 

[73runner]

Wow that is a French built car I have always seen in 4 doors,but I can't remember the name. Sorry to hear about your accident and glad to see you are up and around.

You are correct. It's french. Anyone know what model or year?

 

[73runner]

Well... I got back on Wednesday. New car ran great. No real issues.

Got right back to work on the roadrunner on Saturday. I ordered the new tires during my break and they were waiting for me when I got back. Tire rack and my friends at Sabal Chase Tires are great.

Decided on BFG T/A's 245/60 for the fronts and 275/60's for the rears. Looks good! The rears really fill out the wheel wells. Will post pictures as soon as I can.

Headliner material is still back ordered. Went with the original material from SMS. Stuff looks just like curtain material.... But what can you do when you are completely **** about original finishes.

Rear springs looked a little weak and confirmed that the springs are about 1" off.

Meantime, the ride over (yep, I drove it over for the new tires) was one word.... Awesome!

The engine pulled like only a new 340 with a hotter cam can. Better than I remember. She pinged a little and the TRANS was short shifting so I couldn't wind her out no did I want to for now. But I couldn't resist in front of my friends at Sabal Chase Tires and goosed it a little. She broke both rears loose even with the new 275's. wow! I really can't wait! The closer I get to the end, the more tat I want to finish and see her done. Patience and sticking to the plan is hard. Oh..., and the sound.... I will post a YouTube video as soon as I figure out how.

Besides the rear springs, I also got some whine from the rear end pinion under light power which needs to be fixed. I figure that the shake down will include a complete rear end rebuild including the springs. Oh what fun!!! Limited slip still going strong so I hope to just need to reset the pinion depth, crush sleeve and bearings.

More progress on planned for Saturday.

 

[Ron 73]

Looking cool! looking forward to your video! good luck Saturday.. Hope this video helps you some..

[video=youtube;y6RSzRGvZE8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6RSzRGvZE8[/video]

 

[monkele]

Wow that is a French built car I have always seen in 4 doors,but I can't remember the name. Sorry to hear about your accident and glad to see you are up and around.

It is a Citroen SM with an engine from Maserati..... ;-)

Best regards

Michael

 

[kb73rr]

You are doing some seriously nice work on your car. Mine is getting jealous.

 

[73runner]

It is a Citroen SM with an engine from Maserati..... ;-)

Best regards

Michael

That, sir, is correct! It's a 73 with the 3 liter and five speed. Very rare and I had been on the hunt for two years before I found it at a price that I could afford. They want crazy money for these cars and the few they shipped over at either going back to Europe or Australia... Go figure

My new friend David Hume in Lexington went though it on the way down and wouldn't let me leave until he blessed it. David is the east coast guru for SM's like Jerry Hathaway is in LA. He actually did the timing chains for me in two days while I rented a car and drove to the family to Atlanta for the Father's Day weekend. It has all new timing chains now and runs really, really well. Hydraulics are also spot on.... Only needs paint and some minor sorting of some incompetent wiring "repair". But first my roadrunner has my attention for now, so ithe SM will have to wait. Nice to be able to finish something "simple" before I have to get my masters in crazy French engineering.

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You are doing some seriously nice work on your car. Mine is getting jealous.

Thanks for the nice comment. I see that your new around here.... Welcome!!

It's a labor of love that makes absolutely no economic sense. Which is what makes it a hobby!

 

[73runner]

Well I came back and after the tires and some work on the sunroof, I've been stuck waiting for the headliner.

This Saturday I decided to rest after being Mr. Mom all week. My beloved went to a conference in Chicago for a week and just came home late last Sunday.... Result two weekends shot.

This Saturday will be the first I get a chance to work on this project since I left off last month. Really looking forward to some me time.

Planning on finishing final fitting of the sunroof , console and rear bumper. I decided to wait on the re-chroming of the rear bumper until after I finish. The one on there is not that bad... Not perfect, but not that bad it can't wait a bit.

Also will take pictures of progress and post a video on YouTube of the engine running for you all to enjoy.