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ISO 1973 RR history

DeltaV said:
Maybe @biomedtechguy has time to chime in. He's old enough to remember back that far. :p
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AFT1973 said:
On the windshield is a sticker from the 2002 Crusin the Coast in Mississippi.
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Since it has a Cruisin the Coast 2002 window sticker that means the owner was involved enough with the GREATEST classic car experience anywhere to at least do a paid registration, that gives access to the various venues, to be fully immersed in where and what you can do, and possibly pre-registered.
 
biomedtechguy said:
Since it has a Cruisin the Coast 2002 window sticker that means the owner was involved enough with the GREATEST classic car experience anywhere to at least do a paid registration, that gives access to the various venues, to be fully immersed in where and what you can do, and possibly pre-registered.
Click to expand...
You think the sponsors would share the registration info from 2002??
 
BTW-Seeing the 400 in a 73 RR reminds me of me and my friends and I guess the general idea all around how the 383 in my buddy's 70 Roadrunner, my 440 in my 71 Charger R/T were "so superior" to those "low power, low compression boat anchors"...If only there was more knowledge of what a great stroker motor the 400 made back then.
IF that was "a thing" done in the 70s and 80s, then stroking a 400 but trying to "hide" its upgrades, like cam lope, and keeping it as stock appearing as possible, would have been a serious grudge or pick up race winner, a real money maker!
 
That is something to think about. All the reporting on the 400s say how it’s not a true muscle car engine. And that the muscle car era ended when the 440 etc were discontinued.

I’m not sure what the future holds, but if a rebuild happens, anything is possible
 
I think the poo-poo-ing of the 400 is complete BS.
 
YY1 said:
I think the poo-poo-ing of the 400 is complete BS.
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Oh I can assure you in the mid to late 70s and 80s they got poo-pood.
The ones we were around were either stock or bolt-on mods, maybe a cam. Weak sauce...
I believe in that era, if you wanted to stroke a 400 there was crankshaft voodoo machine work required, no "off the shelf" options.
 
AFT1973 said:
That is something to think about. All the reporting on the 400s say how it’s not a true muscle car engine. And that the muscle car era ended when the 440 etc were discontinued.
I’m not sure what the future holds, but if a rebuild happens, anything is possible
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If a rebuild happens, a stroker should be a given.
 
Part of the confusion comes from the change to NET HP.

For the 383 vs 400 argument- sure the compression is down, but the displacement is up...a fairly substantial 17 cubes.

What happens to all the "no replacement for displacement" arguments I hear?

Same applies to 360 vs 340.

IS compression a replacement for displacement?

It could be, but not at the levels that changed between 1971 and 1972.
 
Another part of the confusion comes from the change to more MPG friendly axle ratios.

Certainly a 400 with a 2.76 (or worse) will feel a bit sluggish compered to a 383 with 3.23.
 
...and still another issue is the "mystique".

Kind of like the 327 chevy.

350 wins pretty much every contest if built the same....

...but 327 fans are die hard and very vocal...to the point of converting others and word of mouth history is born.

The 340 has a similar mystique and the 383's mystique is less but comes on strong when the 400 is mentioned.
 
Build a 383 and a 400 without changing bore, stroke, or compression, but otherwise the same, and put each in a car of equal weight and gearing, set up the same and see who wins.

My bet is it comes down to the driver.
 
I was thinking of regearing. But thats a rabit hole for another day.
 
@biomedtechguy Cruisin’ the coast won’t be a lead without knowing who registered it back in 02. Craig was cool to speak with though.
 
AFT1973 said:
@biomedtechguy Cruisin’ the coast won’t be a lead without knowing who registered it back in 02. Craig was cool to speak with though.
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Correct, but they have registration information. It gets filled out on the form, and they put that on the CtC PassCard. I was thinking they could cross reference some known data like year make and model to extrapolate what you wanted. I don't think there were many 1973 Plymouth Roadrunners registered.
I have NO idea about the owner history of my just sold :(Roadrunner other than a bit that I learned when I was at Fast Lane Classic Cars in St. Charles MO. Apparently the owner of Fast Lane or his rep went to the guy's house to look at a 32 Ford he wanted to sell to Fast Lane, and he saw the Roadrunner and told the seller that he wanted to buy BOTH cars, and the Roadrunner HAD to be included in the sale or he wouldn't buy the 32 Ford.
It's likely that Fast Lane had the Roadrunner painted, I am as sure of that as I can be w/out documentation of them painting it, but there was a small can of matching "yellow" paint in the trunk of the car when I bought it.
The 65 real GTO, Royal Bobcat tribute car that we got a few weeks before adding the Roadrunner to the herd, now I have some history on the Pontiac. PHS documentation, bought from Volo Auto Museum and Sales. Former owner was Gunnar Nelson who is a multi-platinum country music artist and all kinds of other stuff he's renowned for.
Gunnar Nelson - Biography - IMDb I called the owner prior to "the celebrity Gunnar" and we talked for a long time. The owner before him, he told me was the one who replaced the 389 4bbl with the 421 Tripower and did some Royal Bobcat tribute stuff.
Anyway, enjoy your car!! Take what time you have and MAKE THE MOST out of it, whatever that means!!
Even though I absolutely expected to have my Roadrunner until I died and then it would be sold, and I pushed myself hard to complete my plans for it, and I went to a lot of events, shows, races, local monthly cruise-ins...9+ years AND I STILL missed out on WAY too many things I wanted to do!
 
biomedtechguy said:
Correct, but they have registration information. It gets filled out on the form, and they put that on the CtC PassCard. I was thinking they could cross reference some known data like year make and model to extrapolate what you wanted. I don't think there were many 1973 Plymouth Roadrunners registered.
I have NO idea about the owner history of my just sold :(Roadrunner other than a bit that I learned when I was at Fast Lane Classic Cars in St. Charles MO. Apparently the owner of Fast Lane or his rep went to the guy's house to look at a 32 Ford he wanted to sell to Fast Lane, and he saw the Roadrunner and told the seller that he wanted to buy BOTH cars, and the Roadrunner HAD to be included in the sale or he wouldn't buy the 32 Ford.
It's likely that Fast Lane had the Roadrunner painted, I am as sure of that as I can be w/out documentation of them painting it, but there was a small can of matching "yellow" paint in the trunk of the car when I bought it.
The 65 real GTO, Royal Bobcat tribute car that we got a few weeks before adding the Roadrunner to the herd, now I have some history on the Pontiac. PHS documentation, bought from Volo Auto Museum and Sales. Former owner was Gunnar Nelson who is a multi-platinum country music artist and all kinds of other stuff he's renowned for.
Gunnar Nelson - Biography - IMDb I called the owner prior to "the celebrity Gunnar" and we talked for a long time. The owner before him, he told me was the one who replaced the 389 4bbl with the 421 Tripower and did some Royal Bobcat tribute stuff.
Anyway, enjoy your car!! Take what time you have and MAKE THE MOST out of it, whatever that means!!
Even though I absolutely expected to have my Roadrunner until I died and then it would be sold, and I pushed myself hard to complete my plans for it, and I went to a lot of events, shows, races, local monthly cruise-ins...9+ years AND I STILL missed out on WAY too many things I wanted to do!
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All good points!!

PHS is a great resource. I had a ‘64 Grand Prix previously that I learned had been totaled and rebuilt out of two cars w/ PHS help. Plus the Engine was rebuilt out of a 63 GTO. Solving the mystery was more satisfying then wrenching on it.

I wish Plymouth had a PHS resource. CTC said that without the registrant’s name they wouldn’t be able to pull info. I may still submit a request w/ vin and pics. Just maybe someone there would go up and beyond. I hope that i can at least get confirmation of which state it was registered in back in 02. Maybe then i can back track through DMV titles etc.

I agree. Life is what you make it. Too many things to do. Limited time to do them.
 
In a little while I'll post the information required for Cruisin the Coast registration so you will know what information they have.
If none of that gets you what you want, there's no sense in asking them.
I'll post up over the next few hours, not certain when
 
Info request sent to CTC. Time will tell.

#crusinthecoast
#1973mysterycar

IMG_1522.jpeg
 
Man! I'm sorry I forgot to post the CtC registration info. I've been a scrambled mess, but I'm working through it.
Here's the info they ask for to register for Cruisin the Coast:
20231206_230803.jpg
 
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