I am about to start work on my Mom's 68 road runner that has been in my family since new. My Dad bought it new in July 1968 for my mother.
Two weeks later we drove it to Sebago Lake Maine from Louisville Ky, with Mom & Dad , two of my sisters, plus myself and Dad's 16ft MFG runabout in tow.
It has survived my teenage years, as well as two of my sisters, driving it with only minor damage.
It still has the original engine and trans, but had a number of rear ends, including 2 repairs at the dealer while under warranty!
I overhauled the 383 in 1985, and it still runs great now. I have built a 470" engine to replace it for a while so I can go thru the 383 again.
The trunk and quarters need to be replaced and I will start on that this winter. The parts are here now.
The color on the car is not original, I painted it in 1981 and changed it from the FF1 Frost Green. I am now going back to the orig, color.
The repaint was in lacquer and has long since died.
Mark

I wanted to add that I got the honor of driving the car home from the dealer when it was new.
I have an older pic after the repaint. I will try to post.

Cool!

very cool!

Thanks Guys !
Black 69 I have been looking through your build pics. To say you have been thorough is an understatement! Very nice!
Like you, as much as I would like to race the car a few times, I don't want to weld in frame connectors, and I am concerned about putting a twist in the body, if it hooks.
Oh well I have time to think about it, before it would be ready. LOL


Mark

I have saved most , if not all of the old documents from the car. But I haven't found a picture of it in FF1. At least nothing more than a background photo.

Cool family history! awesome RR, good luck with the build!
Pat

VERY COOL!

Thanks Pat!
Some more pics of the car at the present time.
Mark

Cool story and love the car! Looking forward to the progress pics!

Thanks Chip.
We went to the dealer to get a 4 speed car, which was standard equipment in the RR package, and Mom had agreed to it. But Dad said the dealer wouldn't "dicker" on the price on the 4 speed car, and thus he bought the automatic. We didn't even see the car until the deal was done. It was in the basement of the dealership.
I wonder if it would have survived, had it been a 4 speed!? LOL
I drove it off the lot, and made it about a block, then coasted into a gas station out of gas. Dad was not happy! LOL
I will update as I get started on it.

Mark

My mom drove a triple green 70 Charger R/T SE that they bought new in 1970. They sold it in 1982.

Hmmm.... a lot of "Little Old Ladies" driving Muscular Mopars!
My buddy's mother had a green with white vinyl top 69 road runner.
Makes me wonder if "The Little Ol'Lady from Pasadena" was for real ? LOL

Mark

Love 68 Hardtops - looks like a great car

Met my girlfriends mothers boyfriend ( did you get all that) when I was dating her 5 or so years ago..

He had purchased a 67 corvette from a dealer (brand new) and it was in a warehouse in Portland ( two hours away)...
He drove to Portland to get it but had to wait for hours as they had to move all the cars in the way ( all new cars also) out first to get to the vette.. Seems as if the vette had ALOT of dust on it and he had to have it washed before he could drive it home...

different times.........

I like it ,,,,,Hopefully the Cragers are staying on it

Awesome!
Neat story and what a great car to have in the family.
Looking forward to seeing the build and finished product.

Thanks Guys! I am getting charged up for the work ahead! LOL
I really don't plan on changing the wheels , other than maybe going to 15" from the 14"s that are on the car now.
Funny thing about the rear end issues. I would drive the car and notice the rear end "clunking" when I made sharp turns at the local Big Boy drive in. I would report it to my Dad, and he was sure I had been up to no good with Mom's car. So this happened twice under the 5 year 50,000 mile warranty. I never new the real cause until about 20 years later. In a discussion with my sister, she talked about how much fun she had driving the car with her girl friends and kicking it going around turns to make it "fish tale" !

A mom in our neighborhood drove the family 67 4 speed GTO. Dad lost his license. They later got a pink AMX with the Pierre Cardin interior.

If it's clunking when making turns you may want to add some differential additive assuming it's a Suregrip.

If it's clunking when making turns you may want to add some differential additive assuming it's a Suregrip. [/quote]

I agree that is usually the "fix" for the clutch type Suregrip. I don't know what the dealer was doing back then for a repair, but they would keep the car for days, waiting on parts!
I put an "open" rear end in it for while, and then a 3.23 Suregrip from a 69 RR (489 case) which is still in the car today. It will need a rebuild or replace though, as it doesn't always pull with both tires.

Thanks,
Mark

great story.

I will be starting on the car soon and I was wondering how you guys are stripping / prepping the area under the cowl louvers? Is this accessable after the dash is out through vents ?

Thanks,
Mark

On my 69 Dart, the underside of the cowl was accessible with the dash out.
I imagine it's similar on the b bodies.

I was hoping that was the case.
Thanks,
Mark

We ran the 470" engine I built for the car on the dyno back in Oct. It's pretty stout for what it is.
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2396623/1.html
So, I am going to do some tranny and rear end upgrades before I put it in the car. I don't want to blow the trans.
So I will start on the body.
I need to keep the car moving under it's own power as long as possible, since I work by myself most of the time, and my lot in front of the garage is not level, and in fact uphill . Another challenge .

Mark

I love the current color. What is wrong with the trunk and quarters? Repairs under the paint?

The current color is 72 Corvette Elkhart Green . I painted it with lacquer. (1981) The last color coats were cut with clear, then top coated with the clear. It changed the factory color quite a bit, almost candy like in the sun. I had recently painted a friends Corvette and I liked the color.
The trunk was rusted through and I covered damage in fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. It has held up well, but I am ready to do it right now. I just started removing that old material in chunks and the holes are now easy to see. The quarters were badly rusted as well, and the repairs made have held up well, but the car deserves much better. I have new AMD parts now to do it right.
It was a daily driver, and never garaged until 1982 after the repaint, it came inside.


Thanks,
Mark

Old pictures out in the sunlight when the repaint was still in good shape.
It's been this color for so long my friends don't remember the original color on the car !

Mark

These pics show the need for the new parts. In 1981, the RR was showing the signs of having had three teens driving it, plus sitting outside. It still ran good, but the interior, paint, door hinges etc. were pretty bad. Mom had driven it looking this way for long enough, Dad bought her a new car, and they gave the RR to me. I fixed up as economically as I could. Having just started a very small bodyshop business and time and money were scarce. My dad worked for a chemical company and I was given some products free for "field testing" . Epoxy resin, various primers, and a urethane clear that he formulated, among other useful materials. I used some of these in the RR repairs as experiments in rust repair.

Mark

Dad had good taste in cars.

I have made some progress on the old road runner. It's a start. My goal is to replace the rusted panels with new ones, repair others and paint it back original color. New interior, (seat covers already done) and try out the 470 engine. Because I live in a rural area and plan on driving the car, a full rotisserie restoration doesn't work for me. The road I live on is not good, to say the least. I already have to trailer one car out in order to preserve the underside detailing.
Mark

Cool story and a neat project!

When I was in HS (early '80's) I had a friend who's parents had a V code '70 'Cuda. They had bought it in '71 or '72. The Dad liked fast cars (or at least looked fast) but it had never been anything more than family transportation. It was used for family vacations and the Mom used it for her daily for a number of years. The 'funny' part about that was the 'Cuda had manual steering and she stood 5' even and weighed maybe 100 lbs soaking wet. At some point a 383 4bbl was swapped in, but all the parts off the original engine had been kept.

Last time I saw my friend and the car was about 1990. The 'Cuda was just sitting and he was insisting he was gonna restore it.

Went past the house in 2011 and not only was the 'Cuda long gone, but so was the whole dang house! Never did find out what ultimately happened to the car or my friend.

Thanks Satilite 73.
I hope to drive and enjoy this car when it is done. Here are a few more pics of the work being done.
Mark

Nice work!

Very impressive,works looking great!Good luck!

Thanks JERICOGTX !
I wish it is was a 4 speed !

Mark

Thanks rdrnr6970,
It great to hear positive feedback from guys on the board !
So many very nice cars here.
Mark

great job. You're this far into it...why not do a 4 speed sway. Keep the original auto stuff tucked away.

Thanks Dave,
I have thought about the swap to 4 speed for years. At this time I am not likely to do that. The cost of beefing up the 727 to be safe with the 470" got me thinking again. Cost is a factor as I am now retired.

Mark

Doing a great job here.
The work looks outstanding.
Wish I had that skill level.

I have a car sitting here, that I drove around in the 80's
Ten years after high school for me.
It is a 68 Coronette 500, that I bought from a friend, that inherited it from his Mom.
There is something about Moms in Mopars.
They seem to be great Moms.

understandable. I have no idea of the cost of a beefed up 727, but when you find out, compare that to the cost of the swap. Passion's/Brewers have the kits now, and used 4 speeds are pretty easy to find. And you don't have to buy it all at once.

Big inch engines work nice with automatics and it came from the factory that way. I'd leave it.

Thanks bboogieart ,
When the repaint started going bad I told my folks I would do it again, and replace the quarters. They have both passed on now, but I will get it done.
Mom was really great about letting us borrow her car when we asked for it. She actually helped me get started in Hot Rodding when I was 13 or so as my love for cars was already strong and school was not going well. She was a substitute teacher ! She said her dad had started a college fund for me before he died in 1956 and there was a little money I could use to build a hot rod, that I could drive when I turned 16. I bought a 36 Ford coupe body, and a 392 Hemi engine and trans. That was the first engine I rebuilt!
I was class of 1969 so we must be close in age ? My sisters are a little nervous that I have started the work now ! LOL

I will most likely leave it as an automatic for this reason.
Thanks,
Mark

The first '69 I had was auto. One thing I really liked about the auto was when it shifted to second it chirped the tires.

I like that too !

Mark

Making a little progress. I have reinstalled the rear panel . It was in good shape, save for a small spot that need a patch welded in. I will start on the left quarter panel replacement now.

a couple more pics

I have made a little progress. Making the initial cut to remove the quarter was a heartfelt action ! To take the air chisel to old quarter panel wasn't easy !
The Bad, The ugly , and The Good ! in pictures.

Page 2

page 3 First test fit of the quarter went pretty good.

Mark

I agree,I don't know your age but the older you get the more you will like the 727. I've got two 4 speeds and one with a 727. I seem to be getting too old or lazy for the 4 speeds.

getting a new quarter in place makes a project go leaps and bounds.

I am 68 . You are probably right, and I will be glad in the future that I kept it an automatic.

Mark

It sure is a morale booster , I can say that !

Mark

Nice work. A clean car is becoming even cleaner.

Thanks Sheldon ! I appreciate that very much.

Mark

Hi Mark, been a while,, Glad to see you are getting to mom's car..You told me about it a few years ago..I know your work by seeing pics of your Hemi Allstate...I know it will be done right..I saw you commenting on that beautiful Volare..it's really nice.. I sold my '56 Plymouth a year ago as a roller to a nice collector in Tenn...Sold it as a roller..kept the 493 and bought a '77 Volare..I'm not a body guy by any means but it's coming together nicely..and it's painted the same color as the one on line here..NOT AS NICE ,but that 493 really makes it come alive..The 56 ply went 11.38 and is about 500 lbs heavier than the Volare..I'll be happy to dip into the 10's..I just installed the Cal- tracks..they may help a bit also.. Best to you and Mom's car
I'll send a pic as soon as my grand son shows me how on this new lap top thing. I'm still a computer dummie.....Larry

Hey Larry , sounds like the new ride will be a lot of fun ! I like that color on those cars too ! Good luck on the 10s sounds like you will be there for sure.
Send me a picture when you can.

Mark

Awesome work, Mark!!!!
Greg

That car is coming along really well, I am seriously jealous about having the repair panels, my last few cars that i did have no new sheetmetal available. From this thread you can see substantial amount of work to install them and you need talent and the right tools to do it well. .

Looking really good and will keep folowing the build.

Thanks Greg !


Mark

Thanks modelmakerinc. I know what it is like to not have new sheet metal available, and it is a whole different challenge for sure ! It is a blessing to be able to buy sheet metal for this car. The quality has been good so far.
I appreciate the kind words very much , and I will try and keep this project moving forward as best I can.

Mark

I came accross this picture from 1978 or 79 of the road runner pulling my boat. The quarter panels showing primer, but the car is in the original color.

great pic but the first thing I thought of was the Panther Pink '70 road runner that was in MCG years ago that had been used to pull a boat. Most of the whole back end was toast from the salt water the boat was used on.

Thanks Basketcase ,
fortunately the car was only used to tow the boats to freshwater lakes . I do think the road salt is responsible for the damage to the wheel houses and quarter panels. At least the brake lines have lasted, unlike todays vehicles.
I have resumed work on the car now that winter is coming, and I am glad to be inside and have a warm place to work on it.
The quarter panel had fitment issues in the rear glass area. I think someone else mentioned it in their post? It looks like my panel was miss -stamped in that area, as the dememsions are way off. I would not have been able to put the mouldings on it at all. I did some surgery to get it where it needs to be, and to make the mouldings fit. It has been 4 years since I purchased the parts, so I won't bother to call AMD about it . I hope the right side is better.

Mark

This was the only area that didn't align well. The rest looked good . Door gap , dutchman panel , etc. was good. This part was too tall from where the glass will bed and too wide . Also the lower area was not curved correctly in the radius for the moulding to fit, and that made the verticle moulding too long as well. I have it close now and will fine tune it from here. .

Mark

Awesome, great to hear "one family owner" stories. How did your parents end up picking out this car?

Thanks Jeff968 . Mom needed a new car we, (my sisters and I) had beat on the family 1963 Galaxie 500 nearly to death in less than 100K. Road Runners were popular amungst teens. They were advertized a lot and at a good price. Dad wanted to pull his boat to Maine and take the family (5 on this trip). My sister and I pleaded a lot with Mom and Dad , She was 18 and I was 17 . Mom agreed to the four speed as that was standard equipment. The dealer wouldn't make a deal on the 4 speed cars though. The car offered plenty of power, and heavy duty suspension so it would be great pulling the boat and there was enough room inside for the five of us including my 6 year old little sister.
Dad hated the HD suspension. He was used to his cushy riding old 1961 T-Bird . But he was impressed with the performance of road runner !
Mom loved it. She had her stories of victory on the street when some kids laughed at the old Lady driving the road runner.
Great memories.

Mark

Nice, so did they order it or was it on the lot?

It was on the lot in the basement of the dealership building. Dad made the deal and we went down an elevator to where the car was to see it for the first time ! I drove it out of the building . It ran out of gas a block from the dealership , and when we hit the expressway and could feel every expansion joint on the concrete. Dad was not happy ! LOL He rarely drove the car, although that night , when we brought it home , and all the neighbors came out to see the new car, we heard the 4 BBL open on a nearby street when Dad took the car for a short drive. He brought it back and parked it ! LOL He did say that one time in Maine he let it roll and he was very impressed. Years later after I repainted it and gave it back to Mom, he would take people out to the garage and brag about his car ! LOL

Mark

great stories, wonder how many gear heads had "the old lady" show'm her tail lights!

Thanks basketcase. I know it happened a couple times for sure. I think my sisters have stories of their own . I know one of them broke the speedometer where it is staying about 70 when the car was parked. The girls aren't talking to me about it ! LOL
I promised my Dad I would not modify or race Mom's car when he agreed to buy it and I kept my word, and I never really raced it or abused the car. I would just blow the carbon out once in a while.

Mark

and Mom was the one that had the heavy right foot.....

Back to work on the road runner. Left quarter installed and removed the right side.

The passenger side rocker will need work too. No surprise there.

Mark

Looks great seeing that big new panel hanging there.

Thanks Dave ! I feel like I am halfway there !

Mark

been there done that....

Oh yea , that looks familiar !
Cragar wheels too ! I like that !

kinda fond of them myself!

Looking Good !
Amazing how similar that color is to what I used on Mom's car.
Very nice Dave !


Mark

A little more progress . This rocker was about the same as the drivers side. Made a piece from the same stock for the right side. It is galvanized steel.

I have run out of welding gas on the Holiday weekend . I am sure I can find something else to do for a few days.

Very cool history, and is this an F6 car? Wow nice work with the metal fab too

Thanks UCUDANT ! The original color was FF1 and I will be going back to that .

nice job

Thanks Dave !

Really enjoying this thread, workmanship looks top notch.

Thanks Rich ! I appreciate it very much !


Mark

Nice work. How are you fitting the quarter under the roof skin? I have to do pretty much the same work you are doing on my car.

Thanks Road Runner! Sorry for the delayed response.
What I have done, is to test fit the quarter panel to the body and mark a line on the tab on the new qtr. pnl. that fits under the roof skin welding tab to allow for overlap . I then cut off the excess and bend the roof tabs up enough to allow the panel tabs to be in proper position . It helps to make some small cuts in the roof tab, so I am bending up smaller sections at a time. I can then tap the roof tab down and weld into place. I want to leave enough of the tab to overlap and weld to when the roof tab is tapped down.
I hope this helps.

Mark

I have finally got the right quarter on the car. I have included pictures of the sail panel overlap . IHTH This side had a defective area in the corner of the rear glass molding recess similar to the other side. The panel had places where AMD had brazed it. That's the first time I have seen that with this build.

A few more pics .

It always seems to make a project take a giant leap when you get that big new 1/4 hung, especially when you know all the work it took to get there. Great job!

Yes it does Dave ! It helps a lot !
Thanks !

Mark

Looks good!

How much time would you say you have in that quarter, from cutting off the old, and fitting the new piece?

Thanks DynoDave.
I really don't know how many hours I have in it. I had it off and on many times to trim it somewhere or some other prep work to either the quarter panel of the body.
I am glad that I don't have to rush this , and that's good thing, because I am moving a lot slower these days.
Somewhere I have a copy of the Crash Estimating Guide page for 1969 Road Runners and it lists the hours for R&I but that wasn't for 50 year old examples . IIRC it was like 17 Hours for just the quarter. I will see if I still have it.


Mark

Some years back, 2012 to be exact. I was repairing a show quality 69 Road Runner that had been hit and run on the side. It was an insurance claim and I needed a guide for estimating. Another member here on Moparts, helped out with this page from an old crash manual. Dig those part prices !

Mark

Very cool seeing the old labor time guide Mark. 15.5 per quarter. And yes, I love the prices!

The good Ol Days when Mom would drive out to my shop to visit.

There are two decals on the car that bring back the memories. The windshield sticker for my high school parking permit is one. My sister and I both graduated from this school and Mom was a substitute teacher there too. Is is no longer a high school these days but rather a middle school. The other is an ISCA decal from when we put the car in the Carl Casper show in Louisville Ky 1983 I think in this picture. It was a family deal. That is my little sister in the picture. She painted the sign, Dad made the spindles , Mom sat with her car and talked with folks about her car. We called the car"Grandma's Grocery Getter ". I am thinking on reusing the windshield to save the parking permit.



Mark

So cool and neat......

Thanks Greendart !

Mark

great pics! I'd reuse that windshield without a doubt!

Thanks Dave !
It's not too bad. It has some slight wiper marks. They may polish out. At least that is my plan right now.


Mark

In the fall of 1979 I quit my job as a residential electrician . My job was primarily wiring new construction. I really hated working outside in the winter and I was desperate to have an indoor job. My best friend was a stone mason and he felt the same way. We were racing my old Allstate as partners ( his engine) and we didn't have a garage ! We rented this old building for cheap and started The Shop. We did anything we could to make money as we were both married with kids. Brakes , tune ups , engine overhaul, and body work in the same little building! Prior to opening this business, the rust was coming through on the RR and I paid a shop to weld in new metal in the quarter panels a few years before. That shop also jacked the left rear out with a porta power after the car was rear ended at a stop light. All he had done for the rust work was hammer in the rust and fill it with bondo! This first picture is what it looked like when I started working on it in 1981 grinding out the "mud".
We built a folding , drop down wall for painting and hung lights on it. It was hinged and on pulleys from the ceiling . The rear light was just hung on a saw horse. The exhaust fan was a window unit from my grand mother's house. It actually worked pretty well! LOL