donmodro
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I was originally trying to nudge my dad towards B5, but he mentioned this specific color enough times that I knew it was important to him, so I deferred to him and I'm glad I did!
Dad's First Car - '74 Road Runner
- Thread starter donmodro
- Start date
donmodro
Well-Known Member
Great looking cars! The green is awesome and I love the slot mags and driving lights on the first one! I'm eyeballing 15" US Indy slot mags for ours in the spring.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
No kidding. I feel like this project should be named Scope Creep.
torredcuda
Well-Known Member
The Indy slots will look great, the fog lights and sunroof were cool back in the late '70's, not sure they still are now though.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
I always tend to prefer period correct mods on cars, it is hard to go wrong with what people were doing when they were new or close to it.The Indy slots will look great, the fog lights and sunroof were cool back in the late '70's, not sure they still are now though.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
Are you still out in the Western PA/Pittsburgh region? I'm sure my dad is going to be at pretty much all of the local car shows this summer, haha.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
This past weekend I went back to PA for 4 days to knock out some of the two man jobs on the Road Runner. I stayed with my folks this time, so it was fun staying in my childhood bedroom and seeing the mural I painted on the wall there 25 years ago:
Once we got down to the shop I was able to check out some of the work my dad did while I was back in Arizona. While I was gone he got the new fuel tank and radiator installed, and hooked up the engine wiring.
Our agenda for this trip was to get the rest of the panels hung on the car, get it running, and bring the rest of the car's parts over to the shop where we've been slowly rebuilding it over the past 18 months.
We started with the fenders and front filler panel.
Once we got down to the shop I was able to check out some of the work my dad did while I was back in Arizona. While I was gone he got the new fuel tank and radiator installed, and hooked up the engine wiring.
Our agenda for this trip was to get the rest of the panels hung on the car, get it running, and bring the rest of the car's parts over to the shop where we've been slowly rebuilding it over the past 18 months.
We started with the fenders and front filler panel.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
After the fenders, we reinstalled the hood, and spent some time fussing over the gaps. It has been incredibly satisfying to see panels like the hood and the doors fitting better than they have at any point in our ownership of the car:
After that, it was time to open up some of the totes of parts we brought over so that I could start fitting the side glass to the car again, as well as new weatherstripping. It felt good opening up totes I packed away a decade ago after we dug them out of the ceiling of my dad's garage.
The Factory Body Manual came in real handy during the reassembly of the door.
The good news was that we had all of the parts, and the regulators went back in without too much hassle. The worst part was removing the lift channels from the glass. During their storage the windows were resting on the garage floor, which had partially flooded. The channels themselves were fine, but the screws that secure them had corroded slightly. After a long soak in some PB Blaster, plus some work by my dad to make a tool to hold the retaining nut still, we were able to get the lift channels off of the glass without damaging the plastic spacers.
I had forgot how fiddly the regulators are, but after a few attempts I was able to get the tracks, regulators, and door glass in the doors:
Seeing the car with side glass again felt so good.
After that, it was time to open up some of the totes of parts we brought over so that I could start fitting the side glass to the car again, as well as new weatherstripping. It felt good opening up totes I packed away a decade ago after we dug them out of the ceiling of my dad's garage.
The Factory Body Manual came in real handy during the reassembly of the door.
The good news was that we had all of the parts, and the regulators went back in without too much hassle. The worst part was removing the lift channels from the glass. During their storage the windows were resting on the garage floor, which had partially flooded. The channels themselves were fine, but the screws that secure them had corroded slightly. After a long soak in some PB Blaster, plus some work by my dad to make a tool to hold the retaining nut still, we were able to get the lift channels off of the glass without damaging the plastic spacers.
I had forgot how fiddly the regulators are, but after a few attempts I was able to get the tracks, regulators, and door glass in the doors:
Seeing the car with side glass again felt so good.
donmodro
Well-Known Member
It was a short trip, but a successful one. We got the car starting with the key, and it moves under its own power again. We got the big panels hung, and the rest of the parts of the car have been reunited with it so that my dad can tinker with it in his free time until my next trip out in late Feb.
We still have a lot of work left to do, but it is starting to look like a car again! By the time I had to fly back to AZ we got the rest of the smaller panels installed up front, and had refurbished parts like the hood latch and brackets:
Then it was off to one last PA breakfast, before my flight back to AZ.
My dad is excited though, so he's been tinkering all week. Since I left he has already cleaned up and refurbished the wiper mechanisms for reinstallation, and he couldn't help but knock out restoring the headlight buckets and reinstalling them with fresh hardware:
Hard to believe that the Road Runner has a face for the first time in 12 years!
We have some goals for the next trip out in Feb. In that one we will work on getting the dash reassembled (assuming my dad doesn't do it before then), new wheels and tires, and a front suspension rebuild with new bushings.
Driving the car in the spring feels attainable now.
We still have a lot of work left to do, but it is starting to look like a car again! By the time I had to fly back to AZ we got the rest of the smaller panels installed up front, and had refurbished parts like the hood latch and brackets:
Then it was off to one last PA breakfast, before my flight back to AZ.
My dad is excited though, so he's been tinkering all week. Since I left he has already cleaned up and refurbished the wiper mechanisms for reinstallation, and he couldn't help but knock out restoring the headlight buckets and reinstalling them with fresh hardware:
Hard to believe that the Road Runner has a face for the first time in 12 years!
We have some goals for the next trip out in Feb. In that one we will work on getting the dash reassembled (assuming my dad doesn't do it before then), new wheels and tires, and a front suspension rebuild with new bushings.
Driving the car in the spring feels attainable now.
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