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71 Road Runner Restoration Started

71airgrabberRR

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We picked up this car that was on eBay. It looks a lot worse than it is. The frame rails, trunk floor and rear floor pans are perfect. Someone previously sanded down the exterior and began spreading body filler everywhere. Then the car sat in storage for years.
It is a true N96 air grabber B-5 blue Road Runner that originally came with a full black vinyl top. It also left the factory with a 383 and a column shifted automatic / bench seat.
We have been talking about making a 440 six pack / pistol grip 4 speed with buckets out of it, since the original engine / trans are long gone.
What do you think??? I have a correct date code 383 and 440 for it. Which way should we take it??
I want to keep the original color combo.
 

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We picked up this car that was on eBay. It looks a lot worse than it is. The frame rails, trunk floor and rear floor pans are perfect. Someone previously sanded down the exterior and began spreading body filler everywhere. Then the car sat in storage for years.
It is a true N96 air grabber B-5 blue Road Runner that originally came with a full black vinyl top. It also left the factory with a 383 and a column shifted automatic / bench seat.
We have been talking about making a 440 six pack / pistol grip 4 speed with buckets out of it, since the original engine / trans are long gone.
What do you think??? I have a correct date code 383 and 440 for it. Which way should we take it??
I want to keep the original color combo.

What does you budget for this car look like and who is the 'we' you are talking about? I personally would probably lean toward buckets and 4 or 5 speed w/ or w/o console but 4 speed and bench seats are comfortable and practical too. Totally whatever on the engine combo ... sky is the limit. Are you making a trailer'ed show car or show and drive car or planning to sell it once done?

What came with it that we don't see in that picture? More pics and what you plan to do with the car will help folks, or me anyway, give a more informed response.

Sorry almost all questions and not much on recommendations but good luck
 
We would be the misses and I. I'm probably going to end up spending around 30K on it total. I do all of my own work and have a pretty decent shop set up with a rotisserie, 40 Ton press, welder and a large blast cabinet.
I personally like the short pistol grip shifter with buckets and a console. Since the purchase of the car, I got a perfect rust free air grabber hood that is complete with a 383 air cleaner. I also bought a new reproduction six barrel air cleaner from Chrysler, along with all new emblems and lenses.
I will restore the car to show status with the underside painted as nice as the top side.
After its completed I plan on keeping the car, but will sell it if the right offer comes along.
Mill post a few pictures of some of my other completed restorations.

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Here are a few pictures of the air grabber hood and trunk interior.

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image.jpgimage.jpgHere are a few pictures of previous projects.
 

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Thanks for the extra details. I'd do whatever will make YOU happiest since you are doing it for yourselves. If it were my car and that was the one I was doing for myself I would be driving it. I'd lean toward buckets for the look and would be fine w/o the console but go to a 5 speed OD manual and stiffen the suspension, firm feel the steering, and go to at least discs up front, to make it whoa and go, use the 440, and put some 440 Source stealth heads (see some of IQ52s posts), whatever cam the experts here suggest .. Meep-Meep, Cranky, Budnicks, IQ52, Rusty, etc advise, and an aluminum six pack setup and enjoy, but I would be driving it and correct dated replacement engine wouldn't enter into my picture but you have both the 383 and the 440 so obs run with whichever route you go .. 383s are fun too and weigh less and Budnicks can tell you all you need to know and more about stroking low deck's.

That's my shot. Good luck brother whatever you do

P.S. see the pics now .. nice looking AG hood and Duster or is it Demon? Looks like you've got some serious skilz brother
 
Looks like a great project. Since you dont have the original power train , I would lean more towards the buckets and man trans and probably the 440. The Duster looks like a beautiful job also. Good luck with the build.
 
wow that duster is nice...just my opinion...i would go with the 440 six pack with a 5 speed and buckets. but with your mad skills whatever way that car is gonna look killer. keep us posted with your progress i would like to see it completed. :sFl_america2:
 
Thanks for the compliments. I have a set of 440 source stealth heads and a 292 Comp cams kit. I also have the complete six pack set up still new in the boxes.
Sitting in my "formal" dining room is a fresh 833 four speed. (My wife loves me!!!)
All of these parts and more will be going into the build. Several days ago I picked up a 72 Satellite Sebring for use as a donor car. The bolt on sheet metal with the exception of the front passenger fender is rust free. It also has disc brakes. But I have been having second thoughts about cutting this one up, because its 98% rust free.
We bought the Road Runner back in April. I have been scrounging parts for it since then.
 

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This looks like a great start for a project. Got any interior shots? Your 440+6 four speed would be a fine idea. :)

Good call on hesitating to cut up the '72 donor. It could make a nice matching car, then you'd have bookends!

-=Photon440=-
 
Thanks for the compliments. The Duster is a 73 with a nasty 340 with a 4 speed. Years ago I worked as an automotive machinist and did everything except run the line bore machine, and I never turned a crankshaft either. Did everything else though. All cylinder head and block work I did. When I worked there I had several local speed shops request for my work. I guess I'm OCD and get real picky with my stuff.

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I've been teasing my wife about stripping the interior out of the 72 and dropping in a nasty stroked 440. Then I told her we could paint it up as a Richard Petty tribute car. (After all we are only 15 minutes from Daytona!!! Lol)
she said "Go for it!!!".

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The interior on both cars are pretty much in sad shape. The driver side floor pan on the 71 RR has a huge hole right where your feet would sit. I removed the original carpet and head liner. Surprisingly the black plastic door panels are pretty nice. The 3 spoke steering wheel was missing the center cap, but I located a decent one and should have it in a few days.
When I picked the car up it was missing most of the vinyl top chrome trim.
A fellow member on here came to my rescue and had everything I was missing. His name starts with a J. and his last name starts with a B.
Great person to do business with.

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The interior on both cars are pretty much in sad shape. The driver side floor pan on the 71 RR has a huge hole right where your feet would sit. I removed the original carpet and head liner. Surprisingly the black plastic door panels are pretty nice. The 3 spoke steering wheel was missing the center cap, but I located a decent one and should have it in a few days.
When I picked the car up it was missing most of the vinyl top chrome trim.
A fellow member on here came to my rescue and had everything I was missing. His name starts with a J. and his last name starts with a B.
Great person to do business with.

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Here is a picture of the 70 Challenger R/T that I restored for a friend about 4 years ago. It was a real R/T car and left the factory in FC 7 "plum crazy".
 

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Here is a picture of the 70 Challenger R/T that I restored for a friend about 4 years ago. It was a real R/T car and left the factory in FC 7 "plum crazy".
attachment.jpg

Whoops wrong pic but man that's beautiful too. Inspiration pic? Blue with full vinyl top, AG, and all LOL
 
Yep!!! You got it..... I've been trying to upload a picture of the Challenger, but so far no luck.....
 
What is the message you are getting? Are you uploading from computer or url?

Stab in the dark but if url and it's telling you something like it's too big unclick this box

unclick this box.JPG
 
Thanks for the help. I have the pictured stored here and on my computer at home. I thought I had a pictured stored on my phone but I don't. The problem I'm having is I can't right click and drag a photo using my phone.

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Here is another try with the photo....

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image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgOk got the hang of it now.... Here are some of the photos from the Challenger and the Duster restoration.

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I have some more recent pictures of the RR and the 72 Satellite at home. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I can post them too. The pics show the engine and transmission removal and some of the new parts I have scored. I'll keep you posted!!! Thanks for the replies.

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Thanks. I searched the Internet for a 71 B5 blue RR and found this one. It's exactly the way I want our car to look when it's done.
 

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Good luck on your Road Runner, sounds like a cool project and if it turns out as great as that Challenger looks, you got-er made! Thats one nice E-body there!!! I agree with the buckets and 4-speed trans with a 440...

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The Duster is a good one to, just love those Challengers! That got my attention quick lol..
 
Thanks for the compliments. I really like the Challengers too. The one in the pictures above is one I completed for a friend. It still has its original vinyl top and it is an original FC-7 plum crazy car.

You guys confirmed for me what I was originally thinking. I'm going with the 440 six barrel with a pistol grip 4 speed, buckets seats with a console. I'm going to keep her B-5 blue and go with the full black vinyl top like the one in I found the picture of above.
 
Real nice! Good luck with the resto on your bird. Looks like a great project. I would lean toward the 440 + 6 as well, but that's just me.
 
Yes it's a little off from the original color. It's a PPG formula and it looks more blue in some pictures and more red in others. I have the formula mix if your interested.
 
New photos of project

DSC03578.JPGDSC03579.JPGDSC03580.JPGDSC03581.JPGDSC03582.JPGHere are some pictures that were requested by you guys yesterday.

They show the engine compartment and the interior after I removed the hood, carpet, and head liner. The last photo shows the good / uncut rally dash bezel and frame that I scored locally. The original parts were hacked to allow for an aftermarket radio. I want the interior to look bone stock, and will be installing an aftermarket radio that looks stock, but cranks out tunes pretty decent. My favorite music is made by the firing order 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2......

I transferred my original gauges over to the new frame and added the new bezel. I reassembled everything on the gauge cluster because in a year or so from now it will not be so easy to do. (hence the pictures)

I also have a lot less of a chance loosing anything if its all reassembled. When I restore the dash assembly, that's when I will take care of the instruments.

When I start a project like this, I always photograph everything in it's original state. It makes life a whole lot easier down the road with reassembly, and documents what the car was like for originality. (plus it's cool to look at how much progress you have made...)

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The picture of the passenger side inner fender well shows the location of where the vacuum canister for the air grabber is located. It's amazing at how sloppy the seam sealer was from the factory....It must have been 5 O'clock LOL. You can see it in the top left corner of the picture.

It is supposed to be in between the fender and inner well. Half of it missed the mark and ended up on top of the inner fender. It was then painted over in B-5 blue. These little things like this are what to look for if your going for a 100 point car.

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DSC03583.JPGDSC03584.JPGDSC03585.JPG These pictures show the condition of the frame rails and wheel wells. You can see the car came with drum brakes on all 4 wheels.
Like tallhair said. "go to at least discs up front, to make it whoa and go, use the 440,".

I plan on driving her, so she needs to stop when needed. It's a manual brake 4 drum car. In the interest of safety, that will change. On the plum crazy Challenger, I went with a Wilwood 4 wheel disc set. I'm not 100% sure what route this one will be just yet, but it will have at least 2 discs up front.

You can see the lower quarters are pretty sad. I plan on replacing them with a set from AMD.

Check out the "old school" air shocks !!!!! Ah...... back in the day!!!!!

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Here the cast crank 400 and 727 transmission are coming out. My German Shepard likes to help !!!!

I sold the long block engine along with another 400 I had to a local racer, who will be using it as a replacement stroker engine and spare. He has a nice Dart that runs in the 9's on throttle alone, until a rod decided to ventilate the block......

I pulled all of the accessories like the distributor, motor mount brackets, intake and exhaust manifolds, etc. and stored them for later. I plan on using a 440 source or Mancini Racing aluminum water pump and housing up front to shed a few pounds. I have a new set of aluminum 440 source Stealth heads that will help the weight diet too. Once everything is painted Hemi Orange, you will never know. (Especially the blue oval and bow tie boys....) :)

Any weight taken from the front of our old Mopars always helps with handling and stopping.

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Here is the end result. A big empty hole.......... Some would say a money pit......No wait, that was my first wife !!!! LOL

I took these photos to show how everything was installed originally in the engine compartment. I know the fenders, doors, trunk lid and windshield all look horrible, but I have some very nice replacement panels, and I always install a new windshield in my restorations. She has potential, and another bird will be saved from going to China as scrap metal......

The real truth will come out after the body shell has been blasted. That is when it gets scary !!!!!

Dig the BFG all terrains, and the NOS washer bottle.............Not too far away you can see the misplaced seam sealer on the passenger side inner fender well, that I was talking about earlier.

The BFG's were take off from our 2001 Durango and I had a set of 15 inch steel wheels laying around that I had glass beaded and painted black. I needed some "rollers" so I had them mounted. Hey, it serves the purpose......

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Here is where most of the bolt on sheet metal parts for the RR will come from. :headbang:

I have a very nice 71 passenger side fender that is not pictured. I will only have to use the driver side fender, doors and trunk lid from this car. ( It will not be too hard to modify the 72 fender to accept the side clearance light from a 71).

The sunlight caught the trunk lid just right to show the small crease that is in it. It is very hard to notice up close and should be an easy fix. I can cut out the spoiler holes for a 71 car on the bottom of this trunk without too much hassle.

This car is actually in pretty good shape, and I have decided not to cut anything out from it. It may end up as a future restoration...

This body shell has some rust in the lower quarter panels, and a small amount by the top of the driver side "A" post, but everything else is perfect. And it has A/C, P/S and Power Disc brakes. The 318 in it runs great. We drove it on the trailer.

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Hopefully tomorrow I can add some pictures of some other new parts that I have been collecting. Complete Six Barrel set up, tail light and side markers, emblems and decals, 440 source heads etc.

It's getting late, and I'm not getting any younger.:laughing7:

Stay tuned and thanks for looking !!!! Good night.
 

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Great start to a resto thread! Nice job on the pictures and commentary I look forward to your updates.
 
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