'69 'Runner engine compartment resto

Very nice guys............ Good work and man, I'm glad you're changing out the ballast resistor.

Troy

WOW, You get no complaints from me. Looks Terrific!!

Joe

I installed the engine between snowstorms...

Almost there...still have a few more things to do before I start it...Hopefully this weekend...

Another angle...

Gotta love attention to detail! Nice job!

Nice Job! really looks nice with Alpine white and orange! Makes me want to do my 69.

Thanks folks, Yes the Alpine White is a very nice hue...Actually the car is not supposed to have the performance hood paint, it was added much later in the car's life...I think it would look awesome all one color...Unfortunately, that project is for another time...

Here are the final pics...I've had some folks inquire about a few things, so I'll try to hit the basic stuff here. My budget was 4k and I came in just shy... I did all the prep & assembly myself, and farmed out the machine work and paint. A few of the vendors I used were: Jules for the wiper motor, Dave Patik (spelling?) of Performance Car Graphics re-lettered the voltage regulator cover, Hoffman's Winners Circle provided all the plug wire brackets & heat shields etc which were purchased from Jack's, Battery is from Axion (New Castle), the engine was bored and balanced by Pete Barrett of Electronic Balancing Service in Woodbridge Va. who also cut a 3 angle valve job and installed fresh bronze guides, & my good friend, Mark Shaw, restored the hood latch and associated hardware, as well as let me use his shop for paint. I estimate the total hours on my part to be roughly 200. I did go with the Comp XE 268 cam and am very pleased with it. I chose to re-use a few original items for the sake of preserving DNA...The washer pump, the rear engine ground strap and the harnesses are among them...

right...

left...

Beautious maximus!

UnFreeking Believable! That is a beautiful job! Thanks for the motivation!
Mark

Nice. I would NOT lose the hood stripes, The Runner is a pretty big car and that would be a lot of white without the stripes.

Sheldon

Shouldn't the dip stick be on the outside of the exhaust manifold, not between the block and header? A good friend of mine has an untouched original 69 RR 383 car and that's where his is...

That's another item that I toiled over a great deal...I've actually seen them both ways on survivors (I seem to recall some factory liturature depicting it between the v/c and ex manifold as well)...I believe however that the general concensus is "outside" the exhaust manifold...Maybe plant, or pro date, or engine size made a difference? I asked lots of folks their opinions, and often got two different answers...I installed it the way I felt was correct, but I'm sure there are folks that will disagree...the color of the dipstick handle was interesting too...most - not all - that I've seen were black...at least on the 383 cars...I am no expert, and I learn something new all the time...

The only ones known to be black were on the A12's. The thing that most people do not realize is that by black, it means plain steel. It looks like bare metal. I bought a brand new 383 Runner in 69 and the tube was between the valve cover and exhaust manifold and the handle was orange. I remember how hot it used to be checking the oil at the gas pump. The repro tubes are not really made to fit on the inside of the manifold. I know of two well documented survivor A12's and the handle is bare and the tube is outside the manifold. See attached photo. It looks like a touch of black but I don't think the paint wore off from checking the oil too many times on a 5600 mile car with a lift off hood? Mine is the same. It's hard to tell if it was actually painted or if the touch of black is in the metal?Maybe it depended on the plant? I would not hesitate in restoring a 383 with an orange handle and the tube outside the manifold. No judge would question it... but the tube should be natural.

That was the 5600 mile survivor Bee. This is from the Butter Bee

Mine

that is beautiful please come over and post that on the road runner site!

Awesome job! I painted my motor in my 71 Demon in the car. Looks good looking down on it but not as good under the car. I also love white muscle cars. See Ya!