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.