I've decided to start a thread about my 69 Road Runner. It's not really a restoration, but more of a redo. First a little about the car and how I acquired it. In 1984 at the age of 16 I had just sold a 73 Satellite and bought a 73 Cuda. Back then I could only afford one car at a time even though they were just $700. vehicles. I loved the Cuda and was planning on having it repainted the following winter, which I did. About this time I was in a neighboring town with my cousin picking up some parts for his 73 Charger from a guy who had about 30 Mopars on his land. He had just brought a blue 69 Runner up from Texas and was going to list it for sale. It was an awesome car but I couldn't afford it even though he was asking only $2250. I eventually forgot about it until 2006 when my then girlfriend (now wife) told me about a 4-speed RR that one of her sons friends said they were thinking about selling. Come to find out that the owner passed away at a young age from cancer 10 years previously and the widow had kept the car in storage all this time. It was the mans prized possession and she was having a hard time letting the car go. Several people found out about it, but the woman and my wife hit it off and luckily I was able to purchase it. After getting it home , looking it over good, and contacting the man from 1984, he told me that indeed it was the same car I had saw 22 years earlier. How cool is that? It was an extremely solid all #'s matching vehicle that even ran. The carb., valve covers, and bench seats were all that had been replaced. The man who brought the car from Texas changed the seats out from a 69 Satellite bucket car. I had the car media blasted and repainted the original color, as well as the motor and tranny to original specs. The car was born as an A4 silver interior which I almost wish I would have went back to. I have only seen 1 other RR done up like that in a picture that a member here had.
So after finishing up my 69 Charger and driving it a summer with 490 hp, I decided that the stock 383 wasn't going to cut it anymore. Several years ago I even swapped the 3.23's for a set of 3.91's - this helped a lot, but still nowhere near the Chargers get up and go. I have not been able to find another car that I am willing to restore and also am having a hard time justifying having 3 old relics sitting in the garage. So the logical solution was to rebuild this one. So I am in the process of pulling the #'s motor and tranny. I have a 451 that is nearing completion at the shop and also another tranny getting the going over. This story is getting long winded, so I will continue another day. Here are a couple of pics. after I was done the first time around in about 2009. The aftermarket radio was replaced with a reproduction am-fm and I made a hard fuel line from the pump to carb shortly after these were taken, but everything else is what it looks like now.
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And in its current state.
So after finishing up my 69 Charger and driving it a summer with 490 hp, I decided that the stock 383 wasn't going to cut it anymore. Several years ago I even swapped the 3.23's for a set of 3.91's - this helped a lot, but still nowhere near the Chargers get up and go. I have not been able to find another car that I am willing to restore and also am having a hard time justifying having 3 old relics sitting in the garage. So the logical solution was to rebuild this one. So I am in the process of pulling the #'s motor and tranny. I have a 451 that is nearing completion at the shop and also another tranny getting the going over. This story is getting long winded, so I will continue another day. Here are a couple of pics. after I was done the first time around in about 2009. The aftermarket radio was replaced with a reproduction am-fm and I made a hard fuel line from the pump to carb shortly after these were taken, but everything else is what it looks like now.
- - - Updated - - -
And in its current state.
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