68 RM23 Roadrunner, The rebuild of an old friend

[Runner 68]

Nice work Brian!

What clips were you referring to above?

Thanks Tallhair. Which post?

 

[tallhair]

Thanks Tallhair. Which post?

I was talking about #233, but back and was addressed/answered in #221-223.

The white steering column clips.

 

[Runner 68]

I was talking about #233, but back and was addressed/answered in #221-223.

The white steering column clips.

Oh, right. Yeah, good old FBBO to the rescue again. Hunt2elk knew where to find the holly grail and 68Moparmaniac came through. Not sure if they are really needed but a cool detail. Broke one installing them.
Note: Don't pop them with a dead blow, even slightly, to get them to fully snap in.
Massive thumb pressure did the trick.

 

[blue69runner]

It's coming along good. Know that it is a pain in the but waiting on parts. Alway's lots to do till they come in, I am sure. It will all be worth the pain when done. Keep up the good work you're doing.

 

[tallhair]

Oh, right. Yeah, good old FBBO to the rescue again. Hunt2elk knew where to find the holly grail and 68Moparmaniac came through. Not sure if they are really needed but a cool detail. Broke one installing them.
Note: Don't pop them with a dead blow, even slightly, to get them to fully snap in.
Massive thumb pressure did the trick.

Thanks for the warning and tip!

 

[Runner 68]

Mired in wiring here while waiting for the heavy parts. I give the Painless kit a 4.5 out of 5. Pretty well thought out actually.
The extra thought comes from adding battery relocate, water pump, fuel pump, dual fans, roll control, cut outs, headless stereo and a couple of other things I'm probably forgetting. Kind of digging it actually.
Mocked the dash up to be sure. It will come back out. Painless supplied plenty of wire for sure. **** follows. It's more organized than it looks.

 

[Runner 68]

****, I can't believe summer is gone...again. Looking back it has been productive. Time for an update. This [email protected] supply chain bullshit is driving me nuts.

Wiring pretty much there and tested out. I will button it up when the engine is in. I decided to not put the dash back in until the engine is back in so I can adjust wire lengths before finishing it off.
I like wiring but it's a slow tedious process as you guys know but still fun in my opinion. My dual fan wiring is designed by a retired electrical engineer friend who did the same set up on 56 Nomad. A little over engineered in my opinion hence the huge bundle of wires on the radiator support. Trick though. It turns a two speed dual fan set up into 8 stepped speeds using a Dakota Digital fan controller. Adjustable from my phone. Both Dakota Digital control boxes are mounted in the glove box.

I had to remove the wiper motor because I lost 1 speed between bench testing and installation for some reason. No it's not the switch wiring. It's at a local electrical motor shop that will hopefully figure it out. I don't want to paint a new one.

The 500 is back from the machine shop and ready to be painted and assembled as soon as I can kick my son's Duster out of the shop which is here for a front end re-build.

The rim and tire issue has been worked out. Had to go with a little smaller tire in the rear than I wanted because the size I wanted is on a nation wide back order...****. We mocked it up with the tire I could get to measure for the new S60 diff. If I don't like the way these tires look once the car is fully assembled I can smoke them off and hopefully the 295s will be in stock again. In the mock up pics I'll probably raise the *** a bit and lower the front a bit. Can't really dial it in until we're dealing with gravity.

**** follows.

 

[Runner 68]

 

[CudaChick1968]

Wow! You HAVE been busy! Looking fine sir!

 

[whayden2003]

I had forgot all about this nice *** pearl paint job. You have been busy.

 

[xs-ivv]

Looking amazing. I like your wheel and tire combo!

 

[747mopar]

That color combo, tires and rims plus the stance.. SEXY!!!

 

[Runner 68]

That color combo, tires and rims plus the stance.. SEXY!!!

Thanks 747 and and thank all you guys and gal... ( I have been waiting to post Cuda Chick's latest contribution to this project until the engine is assembled) for cheering me on.
I'm getting to the point of pulling all the small details of my vision together and so far so good. Plenty of things to **** up moving forward.
My last build, on a car I have owned for a long time. My swan song so to speak. Getting to old for this ****. Lot's of work to do it right, but still fun. I'm glad I have sons to help me off the floor when I need it.

Still thinking 1 inch higher in the @ss and 1 inch or more lower in the front if I can obtain it. Stance is everything.

 

[747mopar]

Thanks 747 and and thank all you guys and gal... ( I have been waiting to post Cuda Chick's latest contribution to this project until the engine is assembled) for cheering me on.
I'm getting to the point of pulling all the small details of my vision together and so far so good. Plenty of things to **** up moving forward.
My last build, on a car I have owned for a long time. My swan song so to speak. Getting to old for this ****. Lot's of work to do it right, but still fun. I'm glad I have sons to help me off the floor when I need it.

Still thinking 1 inch higher in the @ss and 1 inch or more lower in the front if I can obtain it. Stance is everything.

I don't know, I'd have to see it on the ground but it sure looks mean just the way it is. Forgot to comment on your dash, man is that beautiful! I'm not a fan of blue but it goes so well with the white and the instrument upgrade looks right at home in there. Looks like a show winner in the makings.

 

[Runner 68]

That dash was a darker blue and the pads were a bit darker than the frame originally. I shot it with the same UU1 blue as the door frames. The pads are shot with the '70 dash pad blue. Just enough of a contrast between the two as the original was in my opinion. Door panels and seats are pearl white as original, headliner blue as original.

 

[Runner 68]

Mocked up the heads to get a rough mask line before paint. Shot the block. Those TFS heads look massive on there to me.

 

[Richard Cranium]

What size wheels and tires do you have?

 

[Runner 68]

What size wheels and tires do you have?

Glad you asked RC. Tires and wheels are 80% of the "look" in this game. I have put a ton of research into this topic. FBBO has been invaluable.

Front 17 x 8 wheels, 245 / 45 / 17 tires
Rear 18 x 10 wheels, 285 / 40 / 18 tires (second choice)

I originally wanted 295/45/18 on the rear (Thanks to Kern Dog's input) but because a of a nation wide backorder on the Nittos of that size I had to go with plan B.
A bit more sidewall and a bit more section width but the 295s will fit easily.

I believe in the concept of "tire rake". In other words the rear sidewall needs to be a bit taller than the front, especially with the taller rims. With this combo I think the rear sidewall is roughly 1/4" taller than the front. With the 295s I think is about 1/2 inch taller. Its a little tough to analyze on the wheel dollies. I need to let gravity dictate the final stance when I get there.

 

[Runner 68]

Time for an update.
1. Stroker rolling assembly finally done. Had to tear it down twice because of clearance issues. It was supposed to be a drop in but not quite. .005" makes a difference at 6,500 RPM. Top end mocked up but found we needed some additional machine work on the rocker assembly. Hopefully the heads will be back before Christmas.
2. Headliner stretched and trying to relax the last of the creases out of it before I start gluing. It had been folded in a box for about 14 years. It has been laid out on a guest bed for the past year and melted by the sun several times this past summer. My guess is the remaining creases should relax out once the car is out in the sun.
3. The new Baer Remaster is in, trying to figure out how to configure the Line Loc on another thread here. Getting the brakes configured is the next big milestone.

Can't finish the wiring until the engine is in. Can't finish the headliner until the dash is in which I can't do until the engine wiring is done. It's all coming to a head.

**** below.

 

[Runner 68]