Hawk's Cross Country 70 Road Runner Trip

[HawkRod]

OK ladies and Gents: It is time to start a thread for my trip across country. For those who don't know the history, I purchased a yellow, well used but complete 70 Road Runner a few years ago. Owning a 1970 Road Runner with an Air Grabber had been a dream of mine since I was 18 years old. Now I finally had one!

Another dream of mine I had for many years was to drive across country in a classic car. What better way to truly experience the country and all the great people here than to drive in a car that is sure to attract attention! The hope is to not only see some great attractions across the country, but also meet some great people along the way too!

In January of 2014, I decided that I would mix those two dreams into one, and I started the restoration in earnest with the plans to do the drive in the year I turned 50: in 2015. It has been a long road, and while the car will never be "done", it is about as ready as I can make it for the trip. For those that want details on the restoration, go here:
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?65096-Hawk-Rod-The-Restoration

My co-pilot for this trip will be my best friend Barry; we have been friends since 7th grade in high school. Our wives will also fly out and meet us for part of the trip, but I'll cover some of the trip details in a later post.

In this post, I'll cover the car. It is a restored 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, with an Air Grabber, 383, 4 speed, Hemi suspension and 3.55 Sure Grip rear. It is a bench seat car that is a true Limelight car. The engine is untouched and original as Ma Mopar put it together with 81,000 miles.
Key modifications include:

• Fuel Injection
• air conditioning
• upgraded brakes (from drum to front power disk)
• upgraded steering (from manual to power firm feel stage II plus a sector support kit
• polyurethane in selected areas of the suspension
• converted A-833 transmission to an overdrive with .73 overdrive ratio
• car was built without a radio; I added an "AM Radio" stereo that has been converted to Bluetooth and hands free phone capability.
• upgraded seat belts with 3 point seat belts at all four corners

As we go along our trip, I will update this thread with pictures and stories as much as possible - we will spend many nights camping to cut costs, so I doubt I will be able to get WiFi in those cases!

Here is my car, with the local police helping out in good fun for a shot - they were happy to oblige, but I said it had to be a Charger that "pulled me over"!


In my next post, I will cover trip details. I hope many of you follow along the adventure! It starts September 5th!

Hawk

 

[Riverdawg]

Great looking car and nice shot with the Charger police car. Loved the build thread. I'm envious of your trip but I hope you have a fantastic time. I hope to do something like it before I turn 60 but I need to get the Coronet in better condition. Enjoy and post updates as you can.

 

[Dennis H]

FBBO has gotcha covered. Coast to Coast. Enjoy. Be safe. Have fun. I'd rather be romping the roads less travelled in the USA than anything else. Anywhere USA looks just a bit better over the hood of a Classic Mopar.

 

[Darius]

Can't wait to start seeing pics and reading stories! Sure hope it works out we get to meet when you reach the end of the line. I drove my car all over for work today, what a blast. I can just imagine how much fun you guys will have. A trip like this is on my list as well.

 

[GetX'd]

Hawk - I'll enjoy following your thread on the great adventure. It's been fun reading those that lead up to it. I kind of felt like I was reading a reality show script. Enjoy the trip and be safe.

Curious if you checked out the Pit Bull tire lock? I know you were concerned about space but the one I was referring to takes little to no space while being tough as - well a pit bull.

 

[HawkRod]

Curious if you checked out the Pit Bull tire lock? I know you were concerned about space but the one I was referring to takes little to no space while being tough as - well a pit bull.

Thanks, I did check it out. I initially did not want any kind of device like that because it was just too big and clunky, but I agree that the Pittbull tire lock is about as small and convenient as you can make one. However, in the end I did not order it simply due to money. Just the LoJack is $600, and many other trip aspects are just quickly draining the wallet. I am hopeful that my other protection elements will keep me out of trouble, especially now given that we will be camping quite a bit to save some in hotel costs. That will keep us close to the car...

 

[petieg383]

Car looks great!! Incredible work done!!

Good luck on the roadtrip. Looks like you're well quipped with FI, OD and A/C. Those items should make the ride incredibly smooth and enjoyable. Very jealous!!

You didn't say where your final goal destination is. Where are you aiming for?

 

[73SwingerDart]

Awesome story! I wish you the best of luck on your cross country journey. Do you have a driving route planned yet?
If you do the Route 66 tour you will come right through Tulsa Oklahoma. I would be happy to help you with the senic highlights in this area and lend a hand if needed. Might even get our local Mopar club together to meet for dinner somewhere.
Good luck!

 

[Boise68]

Road trip w/car camping, I am with you there. Classic. Have fun. Looking forward to pics.

 

[NJRR]

Safe trip. Enjoy !!!

 

[HawkRod]

Car looks great!! Incredible work done!!

Good luck on the roadtrip. Looks like you're well quipped with FI, OD and A/C. Those items should make the ride incredibly smooth and enjoyable. Very jealous!!

You didn't say where your final goal destination is. Where are you aiming for?

We fly home from Sacramento.

Awesome story! I wish you the best of luck on your cross country journey. Do you have a driving route planned yet?
If you do the Route 66 tour you will come right through Tulsa Oklahoma. I would be happy to help you with the senic highlights in this area and lend a hand if needed. Might even get our local Mopar club together to meet for dinner somewhere.
Good luck!

Thanks for the note. Unfortunately we are going through Kansas City and then over to Denver. At the moment, It doesn't look like we will have the time to swing on down to Tulsa, but I'd love to try if we have the time. Let's keep it in mind as we go along the trip and see how timing works out.


Thank you all for the well wishes and PMs, thoughts, suggestions, etc. ALL much appreciated!

So sorry for the long post here, but I figured I would go through our itinerary so folks get an idea of what is planned. If we will be traveling close to where you are and the timing fits, perhaps we can meet up with some of you - that would be great! Of course, never having done this before we have no idea how our own timing will actually work out. :confused:

Here is our plan. Those items marked as (Anchor) are fixed and really should not change (unless there is a drastic issue). Everything else is subject to change based on car issues, going slower or faster than we think, etc.

• 
  Sun 8/30: Heading to Jersey Shore to take picture of car with Atlantic in the background. Not sure where, maybe Ocean City? This is not too well defined yet...
• Sat 9/5: (Anchor) Head to Finger Lakes with our Dads, stay in Geneva, NY
• Sun 9/6: (Anchor) Head to Niagara Falls, check out falls with Dads
• Mon 9/7: (Anchor) Drop Dads off at bus station in Buffalo in the AM. Then head towards Erie for lunch, then to Geneva Ohio to camp.
• Tues 9/8: Drive to Detroit, check out Ford Museum (Chrysler Museum NOT open to public :angryfire, drive Woodward Ave, then out of the city to camp.
• Wed 9/9: Check out Studebaker Museum, Notre Dame, camp
• Thurs 9/10: Maybe swing down to Indianapolis? Else explore Chicago Area
• Fri 9/11: Explore Chicago Area
• Sat 9/12: Take Route 66 to Pere Marquette state park (just outside St. Loius), camp.
• Sun 9/13: Explore St. Louis
• Mon 9/14: Explore St. Louis, then head towards Kansas City
• Tue 9/15: Head to Dodge City thru Tall Grass Prairie park
• Wed 9/16: Explore on way to Pueblo State park in Colorado (camp)
• Thurs 9/17: Drive Pikes Peak, head to Co. Springs (camp)
• Fri 9/18: (Anchor) Drive to Denver, pick up our wives at Denver airport late.
• Sat 9/19: (Anchor) Thru Boulder, to Estes Park, then to Rocky Mountain National Park, nice hotel
• Sun 9/20: (Anchor) Drive to Grand Tetons, nice hotel
• Mon 9/21: (Anchor) Hike/explore Tetons
• Tues 9/22: (Anchor) Hike/Explore Yellowstone
• Wed 9/23: (Anchor) Hike/Explore Yellowstone
• Thurs 9/24: (Anchor) Drop wives off at Jackson Hole for their flight back in AM, then head West to Idaho
• Fri 9/25: Explore Twin Falls region in Idaho
• Sat 9/26: To Lake Tahoe Region
• Sun 9/27: To Lee Vining
• Mon 9/28: Yosemite
• Tues 9/29: Yosemite
• Wed 9/30: To Monterey, then drive Pacific Coast Highway North
• Thurs 10/1: San Francisco area, maybe Point Reyes
• Fri 10/2: (Anchor) To CoronetDarter’s house North of Sacramento
• Sat 10/3: (Anchor) Fly home from Sacramento

So there it is. We have a rough plan, we have a (pretty damn cool) car, and we have the time allotted. Almost ready to go!

Hawk

 

[Burns69RT]

Love this thread! I drove cross country from Southern California to South Carolina in my 67 Camaro. Didn't have the luxury of stopping at all the fun places as I packed up the car with all my stuff. The deck lid was literally bulging. My co pilot was my dad. It was a great trip but had to make it quick. Didn't want to miss the birth of my daughter. Wish I did the trip in a mopar but will have the chance when i eventually move back to California. But classic car, good tunes and good company is something you can't beat. A trip like that has to be done at least once in your life. Enjoy my friend!

 

[satman72]

How is the car getting home?

 

[MT_Mopar]

Hey Hawk, that looks like one heck of a road trip. Take lots of pics to share with us. Have fun and be safe! Best of luck to you.

 

[440roadrunner]

Your 70 looks EXACTLY like mine when it was new, I was second owner, except for the magnum wheels. As I recall the original owner (a friend of mine) bought it with steelies because he intended to put alloy wheels on it.

Here's a shot of the car when new, the original owner, George. He and I had been to Lions, where he's won a trophy in "pure stock"

This was a 70 V code, Dana, 4 speed, with aftermarket "knee knocker" AC. When I bought it it had cyclone headers, a Holley 800 DP and the 6pack setup was in the trunk. It had the trak pac or however it's spelled. I put over 100 K on the car, but the original engine did not survive. When the photo below was taken in either 73 or 74 the car had a 340 swapped in. I no longer have any decent photos of the car

If I could afford it, I'd have as many as I could afford. The 70 Sat/ RR / GTX body still is my favorite car, and body style

 

[finoke]

HI Hawk,
I'm glad to see you finished the road runner. That was quick! Good luck on your trip and have fun!
Tom from Horsham

 

[HawkRod]

How is the car getting home?

It is getting shipped via dedicated car carrier.

- - - Updated - - -

Your 70 looks EXACTLY like mine when it was new, I was second owner, except for the magnum wheels. As I recall the original owner (a friend of mine) bought it with steelies because he intended to put alloy wheels on it.

Here's a shot of the car when new, the original owner, George. He and I had been to Lions, where he's won a trophy in "pure stock"

This was a 70 V code, Dana, 4 speed, with aftermarket "knee knocker" AC. When I bought it it had cyclone headers, a Holley 800 DP and the 6pack setup was in the trunk. It had the trak pac or however it's spelled. I put over 100 K on the car, but the original engine did not survive. When the photo below was taken in either 73 or 74 the car had a 340 swapped in. I no longer have any decent photos of the car

If I could afford it, I'd have as many as I could afford. The 70 Sat/ RR / GTX body still is my favorite car, and body style

Great story! Mine is just a lowly 383 post car and not a V code hardtop, but it'll do for now. I'm hoping the untouched original 383 will give me some decent mileage on the highway - time will tell.

- - - Updated - - -

HI Hawk,
I'm glad to see you finished the road runner. That was quick! Good luck on your trip and have fun!
Tom from Horsham

Hi Tom,

Thanks! What neat rides are you working on and driving? There is always something cool in your garage!

 

[finoke]

Hey Hawk,
Sorry we kind of lost touch. The road runner looks awesome! I love it that your going for the road trip. Just Awesome. I always said I would do the same thing but when I retire.

I just got done my 70 hemi cuda clone. I will post a picture. I also got a 71 barracuda vert for my next winter project.

Did you ever finish your black vette? I love that car and I'm a mopar guy. But your vette was really coming along good! Is it done?

Tom

View attachment 273797

 

[Dennis H]

These 2 pics from Lee Vining. Stayed at the Lakeview the night before Yosemite. Be sure to drive10 mikes south on 395 before entering Yosemite. Check out Mono Lake. Unpaved section about a mile but graded if you dare. Amazing history here.
Be fueled and prepared for a 10,000 ft ascent. Go into the Lobby of the Ahwane Hotel for sure.

 

[HawkRod]

Hey Hawk,
Sorry we kind of lost touch. The road runner looks awesome! I love it that your going for the road trip. Just Awesome. I always said I would do the same thing but when I retire.

I just got done my 70 hemi cuda clone. I will post a picture. I also got a 71 barracuda vert for my next winter project.

Did you ever finish your black vette? I love that car and I'm a mopar guy. But your vette was really coming along good! Is it done?

Tom

The 1960 'Vette is still not done. I made some progress and got the hard top and some other body pieces done, but then it was put on hold to get the Road Runner finished in time for the trip. It is next on the list, although I will try to make that pretty original. It is a dual quad car, so no modern fuel injection for it!

These 2 pics from Lee Vining. Stayed at the Lakeview the night before Yosemite. Be sure to drive10 mikes south on 395 before entering Yosemite. Check out Mono Lake. Unpaved section about a mile but graded if you dare. Amazing history here.
Be fueled and prepared for a 10,000 ft ascent. Go into the Lobby of the Ahwane Hotel for sure.

Awesome - I'll put that on the list! The pictures look great, and the car in them makes it even better! Hopefully I will start amassing my own treasure trove of pictures here soon!