1968 Roadrunner refresher

[91r/t]

I just used 40grit on an 8” strip it pad and a lot of muscle. Today I did ALOT of blocking on the car. Blocked the whole car with 220 and it’s ready for a couple tiny spots of putty and then final build prime and blocking. Sure doesn’t look like much progress but the car is so much straighter now and looks so good in person.

 

[91r/t]

Got the car all finished with the icing glaze this past weekend and last night I shot it with a few coats of build primer. This should be the last major coat on the car other than some small spots. God I’m sick of sanding! Haha Now it is time to stick it away in the storage building at my buddies to get it out of my way and let it shrink/cure good. Next task it restoring the dash and also tearing into the engine to re-gasket that. Those will be the next pictures coming down the hatch in the somewhat near future. Stay tuned to the saga!

 

[mr. b]

looking great nice work

 

[91r/t]

Well the winter weather has finally left the area and yesterday I got back on the project. I got the motor out of the corner and cleaned it up some before starting the tear down. It runs like a monster but the oil pan gasket was dripping pretty good so while it’s out it’s getting new gaskets and repainted in the turquoise color it should be. I also have no idea what’s inside of it so I wanted to take this time to find out what makes my motor run so strong. I posted a few parts I need in a wanted ad. I’m looking to upgrade the intake a little bit so it looks stock but runs a little better and sheds some weight as well as a water pump housing to go with it. I did find out when I opened it up that the intake ports are ported pretty good. This thing runs circles around my dad’s stock 383, so we were kind of curious as to what was done inside.

 

[91r/t]

Well after further review I have one hell of an engine on my hands. So the crank weights have been machined quite a bit on the sides and the ends and barely clear the pistons so I am not sure if I have a 440 crank inside the 383 block or not. There is ALOT of material taken off the weights which makes me believe it wasn't just a standard 383 crank or they wouldn't have normally removed that much off the weights. That seemed to be a common mod back in the day before all the stroker kits were around. I also notice the crank is etched from 1989 marked balanced and initials marked as well. I always knew this motor was stout but then I looked down into the intake ports and it is fully ported and polished around the valves and the orts are huge on these 906 heads. Someone had a hell of a bracket motor here and I benefited from it. I ordered an Edelbrock RPM manifold because obv. the stock intake is corking this engine up bigtime. This should help it breathe a bit more and let it run even stronger. Now I am excited to get this car back together and can't wait to see what the intake does for it.

 

[91r/t]

Blocked the whole car down with 400 today. Busted balls sanding with my dad and got the car dead straight. Next is stripping the hood and tail extensions, priming and blocking them, and then it’s time to spray some E1 magic blue on this thing.

 

[blue69runner]

That long block is a killer on the quarter's. Looking good. Keep us informed. Know when you get some color on it will shine.

 

[91r/t]

Oh yea....last night I started sanding the inner hood structure which is why I saved it for last.....because I HATE hoods on the inside. It is brutal hand sanding the shitty paint off. Then I can hit the outer hood and prime it and get it where the car is. I'm excited to be within a couple months or less of paint with a busy summer camping and boating. I am broke anyway after the clear and paint, so it'll give me a time to recoup and save some cash up for the next round of parts.

 

[91r/t]

Did some more work on the hood and tail light extensions this weekend. Getting closer and closer to paint. Hood had a few dings and a good dent I yanked with the stud gun and then finished off. Hoping the car is 99% ready and then I can get this hood ready and shoot some color in the next month or so. Oh and the red is red oxide primer not rust ha!

 

[91r/t]

Car is ready for paint! I made the call to do the engine bay with the car so I have no tape lines or masking. I will shoot the inside of the trunk lid and hood and inside the trunk this weekend and then shoot the overall the following weekend providing the weather is decent. Couple pics of current state.

 

[Basket case]

How about some shots of that sweet W100

 

[91r/t]

Ha! The W150 Powerwagon is just a driver but a cool 4 speed with a built 360

 

[HawkRod]

I'd love me a Powerwagon of that vintage - VERY NICE truck!!!

 

[Basket case]

Beautiful;; Power Wagon, thanks!

 

[91r/t]

Paid $3850 for it from
Montana a few years back before painting it and such back when they were cheap and weren’t way high priced like now.

 

[Johnpat]

Looking good

 

[91r/t]

Got some paint on Friday! Looks killer and so glad I went with the PPG correct color as the phone pics don’t do it justice. Love the new SATA spray gun too. I got the 5500x which is pretty much the best Sata at the moment and couldn’t be happier! Can’t wait to shoot the rest of the car this coming weekend. Been a long time coming. I included a done photo of a charger and another 68 runner in the same color to show the color flop in the sun. So awesome!

 

[CudaChick1968]

That's going to be stunning!

 

[91r/t]

That's going to be stunning!

I agree! I can’t wait to see the results this coming weekend when I’m done spraying!

 

[hunt2elk]

Love that color. The 68 Charger with the white rump stripe is stunning.