My Air Grabber

[HawkRod]

My dream car, since I was in my teens, was always a 1970 air grabber Roadrunner. Everyone has their pinnacle car, and for me, this is it.

I am thrilled to say I now own one! :hello2:

Options: 383, 4 speed, A36 (3.55 Sure Grip, Hemi leaf springs and HD cooling), Air Grabber, Limelight (but without the black stripes and is now painted yellow), A01 light group, Tick Tock Tack, and I believe the deluxe interior.

The car is an unrestored car in very good shape and with minimal rust issues. I need a trunk floor and lower patch panels, but no other rust issues. It is a CA car that moved to PA and then sat for over 16 years. The bad news is that it is missing the fender tag and no broadcast sheets have been found. It is, however, a verified original drivetrain car that has been largely unmolested. VERY COOL!

The car runs and drives excellent, and only needs some fairly minor electrical work to fix non-working brake lights. It should be a great project to restore and enjoy. This one's a keeper!


And yes, finally, it is a barn find! They are still out there hiding in garages!

 

['67 Charger Kid]

Very nice! How much did you pay for it?

 

[Propwash]

Congrat's! Great to see another fella follow his dreams. Welcome aboard Hawk.

 

[Ron 73]

Welcome to B-Bodies Hawk, from another Pa guy up north!! Enjoy.. thats a great find especially one you really wanted!!

 

[HawkRod]

Very nice! How much did you pay for it?

My wallet is $8000 lighter because of it!

 

[Donny]

Nice! What's next, drive as is, tear into it and rebuild it, or? If you're going to tear into it, remember the 3's! It will take 3 times as much time, money and patience to complete it from what you think it will cost in those terms. This is what John Balow of MCR told me personally to my face when I went up there to visit. At any rate, good luck, and we're looking fwd to car **** pictures! A picture is worth a thousand words!

 

[roadrunnerman]

welcome hawk,it's always nice to get the car you've always wanted.

 

[cam383]

Wow smokin deal:blob1:.Good find and welcome to FBBO forum.

 

[Budnicks]

hsorman welcome to the FBBO forum, Nice 70 RR project car, I love them RR's, I'm on #12 68-70's

 

[HawkRod]

Nice! What's next, drive as is, tear into it and rebuild it, or? If you're going to tear into it, remember the 3's! It will take 3 times as much time, money and patience to complete it from what you think it will cost in those terms. This is what John Balow of MCR told me personally to my face when I went up there to visit. At any rate, good luck, and we're looking fwd to car **** pictures! A picture is worth a thousand words!

Donny,

As far as restorations, this will be my fourth restoration, so I am well "broken in" with the time, money and patience needed. Yes it can be an expensive pain in the butt. However, the feeling when you first put the car in a show and/or get to show it off makes it all worth it!

As far as plans: I am finishing up the extensive, frame off restoration of my 1960 Corvette, which was a complete basket case. (Gasp, I know, not a Mopar, but it is actually pretty cool too.) I am planning to get the Roadrunner road worthy and have some fun with it while I finish with the 'Vette. Once it is done, then I will start the teardown on the Roadrunner. The period spent driving it will help me determine if I am going to tear into the engine, trans and rear. The car has 80,500 miles, and if the driveline works well, I may just leave it as Ma Mopar put it together.

Regards,

Hawk

 

[HawkRod]

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures in case you are interested:
1) Engine compartment shows nice clean air cleaner - Original was missing so I purchased a (steel original) at Carlisle. Everything else is worn, but not original limelight in the inner fenders.
2) Nice, solid floors, with no issues at all, and again, the limelight showing. It will be nice to return the car to its original color!
3) Interior picture. Carpet was trashed, so it was partially cut out to investigate & potentially protect floor boards. Very minoe surface rust is all there is.
4) Hemi leaf spring and original 3.55 rear.

Hawk

 

[Meep-Meep]

70 Road Runners are awesome! Great find. Those are the original CA plates by the way. I can tell by the first letter A on a blue plate. Sad to see one of our original plated cars get away but it sounds like it will have a great home.

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Welcome to the site!

 

[Budnicks]

Love the limelight green

Here are some more pictures in case you are interested:
1) Engine compartment shows nice clean air cleaner - Original was missing so I purchased a (steel original) at Carlisle. Everything else is worn, but not original limelight in the inner fenders.
2) Nice, solid floors, with no issues at all, and again, the limelight showing. It will be nice to return the car to its original color!
3) Interior picture. Carpet was trashed, so it was partially cut out to investigate & potentially protect floor boards. Very minoe surface rust is all there is.
4) Hemi leaf spring and original 3.55 rear.

Hawk

I always liked the Limelight green, when I was a kid I had my room painted that color it drove my mom & step dad crazy...LOL... :werd:

 

[Dave Pratt]

Hawk that's a great find.I just bought a 70 RR last March...383 4-spd,air grabber...I love this car!I hope you show pics of your restoration...cheers

 

[Benji]

You can have a new fender tag made at www.datatags.com I've heard they have a form that you fill out with what options are on the car, color of the car, color of the upholstery, the VIN number, and so forth and they have the original Chrysler codes that they stamp onto a new tag. I think it is about $50.00.

Ben

 

[Donny]

Awesome Hawk! Sounds like you know what you're doing, perhaps there's something I can glean from you and your work? No worries on the non MOPAR thing, I like and respect them all, I have to when I work on them and bring them to the point where the restoration can start after media blasting them. I did a Corvette a few months ago, a very delicate process indeed! No soda in my book, just fine and soft Plastic media to blast with at like 22psi and 200 cfm so I move right along and not mess up the gel coat on the fiberglass.

Nice clean air cleaner, how'd it stay so clean all these years? haha.

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

i like it. 70 rr are one of my favorites.welcome aboard.

 

[HawkRod]

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement.

@ Donny: You said it sounds like I know what I am doing. I am not so sure, I am nothing other than a shade tree mechanic! In the past, however, I have done all the work myself except for bodywork and paint. This time, due to the expense of the bodywork, I may try some myself. The first thing I will try is to replace the trunk floor. The center section needs to be replaced, so this should be a relatively easy project where less than perfect results will be hidden by a trunk mat! :sFun_doh2:

I am currently planning to make this a relatively stock restoration 'cause I think the car looks good enough without too many changes. Although it didn't come with the hood stripe, I will definitely put that on because I think it is too much green without it. I will also put on 15 or 16" magnum 500s. The rest of the interior and exterior will be kept stock as it came from the factory. I don't know if it had a pistol grip shifter from the factory (did all 4 speeds have that in 1970?), but I will definitely have that as well.

As far as the drive train, I will leave the stock 4 speed and 3.55 Sure Grip. It will get headers and I will also potentially add a Gear Vendors overdrive for highway cruising. When the time comes to rebuild the motor, I will stroke the 383 to either a 438 or 496 cube engine - want to make sure a 1970 Roadrunner continues to command respect on the streets!

I will post a restoration thread once that starts in earnest. For now, I am just trying to learn and collect a few needed parts.

Regards,

Hawk

 

[Donny]

You should start the restoration thread now, even if it's small. All the threads in the Members Restoration section started off small, but, plugging away at it it gets big, and lots of people read/watch the progress being made. We're all shade tree mechanics in some form or another!

I think that if you're changing the trunk floor, and the quarters are on it, a full one-piece may not fit in thru the trunk opening, I may be wrong, and others on here likely will know, but a 2 piece trunk for sure will slip in.