In the end how well did the AMD metal work out? Is that an AMD cowl and rear filler panel? I believe those pieces were the ones mentioned as not fitting for someone. Our car, also 70 RR but a coupe (RM71) pretty much needs all the metal you are putting on it, along with front wings. Will probably bondo up the metal ones and make composite ones. Already have made a mold for a carbon fibre bonnet. Looking good by the way.

Have you considered putting in frame connectors while you are in there. Now would be so much easier.

Well you have been busy, car is looking good. Neat car with the colors and options on the tag. Please leave the surf board off the trunk. 8 track is the only radio in your car to have 3 dash speakers, so it would be just wrong to leave it out of the car. I like the N96 added.

I was so close to buying an awesome 70, and the added wing on a dark metallic color killed it for me as the Guy had no extra paint for it. Same deal as this, car was great with what the tag showed, didn't need any add-ons.

It don't look like you had much for bracing for having the car cut that far apart. Did it not flex??. I've never had a car that far apart all at one time, always thought it would bow like crazy. Looks like a great car to do !.

Dan.

I understand where you're coming from there, but I'm building this car for my dad, and he likes it, so it will stay. It was a factory option, and it came with the car. Our trunk lid was rusted, so we had to find another trunk lid, but unless he changes his mind for some reason, it will be drilled for the spoiler.
I'm still trying to talk him out of reinstalling the traction bars that came on it. We'll see how it goes.



We're taking a few liberties with the restoration. At the moment, the plan is a modern aftermarket radio that he can plug his MP3 player into. Glad to have the stereo speakers for it in the dash already.
We'll probably have steel belted radial tires and electronic ignition also.
Seriously considering putting factory disc brakes on the front as well. The car WILL be driven.
No air conditioning or cruise control though. You have to draw the line somewhere.



Thanks, we like it too. Unfortunately, that original 440 GTX air grabber hood was to rusty on the underside for us to use. We really wanted it though, so we picked up a new air grabber hood from AMD.

Tav

Thanks, Nope, not really much bracing unless you count the 2x4 boards and painters tape that were holding up the tail panel.
Flex wasn't really a problem. Yes, stuff can move if you cut off enough supporting pieces, and sometimes that's necessary to replace a part. You take a LOT of measurements from a lot of different places, and write it all down. I can't count how many times the different panels were on and off for test fitting. We even had the glass in and out to check fitment. If you look at the pics, the gray primered car next to mine is also a 70 roadrunner, and that was handy for double checking measurements, along with the factory service manual measurements.
I did a lot of work on my E bodies, but I'm overly busy running my business now and have enlisted the help of a good friend to do most of the work on this Roadrunner. He's done full restorations on 16 B bodies that I can think of, and I'm sure there's more that I don't know about. That's not counting the E bodies and side projects he's done. He did a 68 Hemi Charger that took 1st place in class at the 2013 Mopar Nats. There's 4 B bodies in his shop right now. His experience in knowing which pieces to remove and in what order was invaluable. We didn't remove the torsion bar crossmember until after the rocker panel was done. He has a good straight K frame that he uses just for helping to align & install front frame rails. (my K frame was a little bent when the car was hit behind the drivers front wheel, which is why the frame rail, inner fender, firewall, cowl, & rocker needed replaced. It didn't look to bad until we got the fenders off and started measuring) He keeps jigs around for stuff like this.
If it were a convertible, he would have put some additional bracing across the door openings.

Tav

Yes, this is an AMD cowl and filler panel. I already had them ordered when I heard about the problems Silver70 had. That's what I get for not logging in to Moparts very often.
Overall, I'd say they fit great. Sheet metal really needs to be worked and fit to the car, and having someone with a lot of sheet metal experience help out is beneficial. Even NOS sheet metal doesn’t always fall into place. It's not like a bolt on part that just fits every time. With sheet metal, sometimes you have to bang it, bend it, and tweak it to really get it to fit just right.
At first, we thought that the gap between the passenger side of the cowl and the fender / door would be a little to wide, but it came out fine. No modifications needed. Here's a picture, but this isn't the final adjustment of the fender or door, they've been moved since we checked. When we're done, we'll have nice even gaps between all the panels.


The filler panel took more work to fit it to the quarters and get a nice even gap all the way around the trunk lid. In the end, the drivers front corner (by the glass) stuck up about 1/16th of an inch, but everything else fit perfect, so we made a little cut, pushed the window lip down into place and welded it up where we wanted it. Here's a pic.
If I recall correctly, we had to make a little cut like this on the right trunk extension panel also, but all the other panels fit good after some work getting everything aligned.


Tav

If we wanted frame connectors, I agree that this would be the time. We aren't planning on using them though.

We did get all 4 factory style torque boxes & all of the Hemi suspension reinforcement plates.

We also chose to install the XV racing lower radiator support brace. It's a square tubing piece that connects the front frame rails together under the radiator and behind the radiator support. It welds in solid and may be a good place to connect to if my dad ever decides to tow the vehicle cross country behind his remodeled 1971 Silver Eagle bus.

Tav

Hi Tav,

Thanks for the replies and especially the pictures. For the first time I understand how the lower rear window corner sheetmetal goes together. AMD lists these extra pieces and it was unclear to me if they were patch pieces or required. Now I see how it goes together.

Please post more pictures as you are able. I do not have another 70 on a rotisserie next to my car so photo sequences like you posted are invaluable. We actually have the only 70 RR on the island so no references, other than a completely rusted out Sport Satellite (roof sitting on the floor pan lever of rust) under a tree that might be gone now.

Encouraging news on the AMD as I stated earlier about needing all those bits.

Best regards, Dave

The reproduction grills come from OER on the west coast.
They're all argent, so I had to paint it, but other than that it fit great.

Well, Photobucket never was a very good website, and now they've gotten rid of all the pics I posted in this thread.

I'll post new pics to make up for it.

Here's what it looked like when I brought it home in November 2004.

November 2004

November 2004

July 2005

My neighbor down the road has a 1973 Challenger. It was his first car, and he's had it forever. His dad bought it for him. He doesn't have a very high opinion of the car, but he keeps it for sentimental reasons. It's basically rotting into the ground. He's not very interested in ever fixing it, but he also refuses to sell it.
He was having some problems with code enforcement for having to much junk in his yard. Knowing that I was playing with old Mopars, he came to tell me that he had 340 engine with a 727 trans attached (not from his car), and it was headed to the scrap yard unless I wanted it. I went right over and hauled it home. I wanted the small block 727 for my Challenger, and figured it wouldn't hurt to have a spare 340 laying around since it was free. Out of curiosity, I decoded the numbers to see what it was out of. I don't recall exactly at the moment, but I think the engine & trans matched each other and were out of a 1971 vehicle.

Not long afterward, I received a phone call from another old friend who is an engine builder. He was looking for a 340 block, and was having trouble finding one to build. I happened to have the one my neighbor gave me, and he asked me what I wanted for it. Well, I have this 70 Road Runner here, and I guess it's going to need an engine at some point. It's originally a 383 car. He had some 383 blocks that were buildable. He said he'd pick one out, build it to stock 383 Magnum specifications for me, and swap straight across if I'd drive the 340 block up to him (Florida to Kansas, so it was quite a drive). DEAL!
His shop helper painted it Chevy orange instead of Mopar orange though. Oh well, I can repaint it.

On the way home, I stopped by a Mopar junkyard and bought a 1970 aluminum bellhousing and a 4 speed manual transmission to go with it. Seemed like good things to round up into a pile.

After arriving home, I checked all the numbers on the new engine & trans. By some amazing coincidence, both were from 1970 cars built in St. Louis, just like my Road Runner. Judging by the VINs, they must have both been built several months before my Road Runner, but I figured that's about as close as I could possibly get to having the right stuff for the car.

September 2006, just sitting around.

December 2007

Time to move the Road Runner off the grass and into a different part of the yard with gravel.
I mounted some old tires onto a set of Crager unilug wheels that I had laying around. I needed something that would hold air for at least half an hour or so, and the car would look better with matching wheels.
Man these lug nuts are really stuck. OH, they're still the original left hand threaded lugs.
While I've got it jacked up, is the Sure Grip unit any good. No, it's not.

I did manage to get it moved over to the other part of the yard.
I also managed to round up an air grabber dash switch & vacuum canister since they didn't install any of that during the hood swap.
The Air Grabber Hood was from a 440 GTX, so I traded the 440 Air Grabber air cleaner stuff for 383 Air Grabber air cleaner stuff.
I got a factory tinted drivers window out of a junkyard to replace the one I was missing.
Hardtop (23) door glass is different than Coupe (21) door glass. Something to do with the B pillar I suppose.
I checked the Road Runner trunk lid to see if it had spoiler cutouts. Yep, the Go-Wing was optional on Road Runners built after Jan 1st 1970. This car was built in April, so the trunk lid was ready. I ordered a pair of reproduction spoiler brackets to go with the Go-Wing in the back seat.

I wasn't quite sure if I was ever going to actually build this car, but it made sense to round up all the parts because whoever did build it would want them.

February 2013
Still sitting...
It had been over 5 years since I even took a picture of the car.
In the meantime, I got married, bought a house or three, etc. etc...

August 2013

Ok, the Road Runner has gotten really dirty from never washing it. This is what 9 years without a bath looks like.
I really should do something with this soon. Maybe I should sell it?

August 2013

March 2015

Ok, it's finally time to do something with this Road Runner.
I aired up the tires, loaded it up on a trailer, hauled it to a local car show to put the word out, and parked it by the highway with "For Sale" written on the windshield.
I also cleaned up the engine and applied the Mopar orange paint. (That's my 70 'Cuda in the photo with the engine.)
It was for sale for a few weeks. Some people stopped by, but no serious offers, just a guy who wanted to take it off my hands for dirt cheap so that he could rat rod it.

It had been a few years since I spent much time working on cars, and this was kind of fun. I had some money in the bank and an empty space in the garage. I decided to build the car and keep it. I don't like selling cars, it's more fun to keep them.
I removed the Air Grabber hood, and pulled the 400 engine with 727 trans.

About a week later, someone came by who was seriously interested. He has a Lemon Twist 1970 GTX with a 440 four barrel. He's had it since the early 70's. He's the second owner, but it's a northern car and really rusted out bad. It's rusted enough that the body is sagging and holding the doors closed. He wants to find a good body to move all his stuff over to. To late, I'm keeping this one. He gave me his contact info in case I changed my mind. I visit with him occasionally. He's getting pretty old, I hope he can build his car someday.

March 2015