1970 Road Runner Resto back to Plum Crazy

[steved033]

Just a little update since it has been forever. Had to put my resto on hold for a little while due to some family and financial issues. Very long story. It is starting to come back together now. I now have the correct 1970 A-833 for the car, but am missing the pistol grip, shifter, and shifter linkage. I found and bought a 1970 440 six pack motor. Another long story here. Short story, either the shipping company stole the heads and cam during shipping or the seller never shipped them out. That and the valve covers and oil pan were very dented. Still fighting that battle right now. The motor has been dipped and cleaned and is going to be sent to the machine shop at the end of the month to start the build regardless of all of all this nonsense going on. Between that and the guy that sold me the car, I have very little trust in people anymore. As the motor build progresses, I am sure I will have questions and I will be seeking out parts to include exhaust manifolds. But most of that stuff is going to have to wait until the money is there. Unfortunately nobody told me when I joined the Air Force that I wouldn't be making tons of money. Lol.

All of the body work is done on the car now. Just waiting for the motor to be closer to complete before I have them throw the paint on, so I don't have to stress out about it getting scratched while it is sitting there waiting for the motor. I got my bumpers back from Ogden Chrome and they look amazing! Those guys are top notch. My last trip back to Florida during Thanksgiving I spent about two weeks cleaning up and restoring parts, so I wouldn't have to buy repro or look for new stuff. I wish I would have taken more pics and documented some of the stuff better, but I was really busy and wasn't really thinking about it at the time. I will look through my phone later tomorrow to see if I have anything on it.

Well, there is a little update. Life has happened as it always does, but I will strive on and will not give up.

Never give up! I feel your pain, as I'm 4.5 years in on my '71 GTX. Money, family, life, sickness, death...it's all come and gone. I never expected the things that have happened in my life would have ever happened, but as you said, I will strive on and not give up.

Like a big metal dog, she's always there for me.

 

[roadrunnerman]

did you get pictures from the seller when you bought the motor? That would help you if you need to go after the shipping company. Don't let things get you down too much. If need be, sit back, think things thru, and you'll come out better/stronger afterwards.

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

did you get pictures from the seller when you bought the motor? That would help you if you need to go after the shipping company. Don't let things get you down too much. If need be, sit back, think things thru, and you'll come out better/stronger afterwards.

I got pics from the seller before I bought it. Everything seemed legit. The shipping company is telling me they are refusing to pay insurance on the missing parts because I didn't break down the pallet and inspect everything right in front of their driver. They are saying they are no longer responsible for it after I signed for it, which I think is ridiculous. The pallet seemed ok when it arrived and not damaged or tampered with, so I didn't think much about it and didn't open it up until later that day when I had some free time.

 

[roadrunnerman]

I agree, and any truck/ship company has the materials to re-wrap any shipment they get in. Being in the trucking industry for over 20 years, I've been to places that have filed claims after the product has been delivered. I would still file a suit in small claims for the missing parts and get a statement from the seller that he sent you a complete motor, then let the courts decide. It sucks that it has to come down to this, but that's money out of your pocket to pay to replace things.

 

[daytona kid]

Lots of guys here know this story, but I got a 70 RR in 1970 at the age of 14 and had 2 more between then and when I was 26.
Love em! Good work my friend!

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

And here is the latest of the headaches. My 4 speed shifter assembly I think was just taken out of some GM and thrown on to my tranny at some point. From decoding the three shifter lever arm markings on the Hurst site it seems they are from an old GM. Not sure what the rest of the stuff is. Later this weekend, I will take apart the shifter assembly and see if I can get any numbers off of the gear shift lever, since of course those are on the bottom and you have to take the handle out to see them. Fingers crossed that I may have something some GM guy may want. More research to do this weekend and we will see what sort of Frankenstein I have on my hands.

 

[Basket case]

are you sure the seller didn't keep the parts?

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

are you sure the seller didn't keep the parts?

In regards to the engine? If so, I would say that is a good possibility also. To be completely honest, who knows who you can really trust nowadays. He was talking the right talk and sending the right pics, but it is possible come shipping out day, he kept the heads and cam for himself. That is the part right now that I am trying to decide on who to take to court. I could take the seller to court, then if he is being honest, he can in return take the shipping company to court to recoup his money. He has been giving me reason lately to doubt his honesty, so I may end up going that route. Either way, it is a big headache and I would like to take care of this if not for any other reason than principle.

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

Just a little update and I kind of wanted to show off a pic of my original 1970 only pistol grip shifter that I have searched long and hard for to find a good deal on. Still need to clean up the shifter mechanism and the shift rods, but the shifter handle is in like new condition. Very happy about it. Also adding a pic of my dual snorkel air cleaner. Thank you Durandal25for the air cleaner. About to order a new pie tin for it on my next paycheck, so she is a little naked right now. Still looking for the stove pipe fitting that goes on the driver side and connects to the exhaust manifold though. And speaking of exhaust manifolds. Yes, I tracked down a decent set of HP manifolds. The 865 and 879 set. Very excited about that. Picked up the mopar performance distributor and that arrived in the mail today. Should be receiving the orange box and harness thanks to 69rrgtx sometime this week or next week also. Picked up a great set of adjustable rocker arms and a big thanks to rustyratrod on those. Found a year correct original timing cover with timing tab still intact and no pitting. I am sure I am forgetting something. I also talked to my body guy and the machine shop and gave both of them a deadline of June and told them that I will be flying back home to Florida and taking a few weeks of leave to finish putting my baby back together with help of course and driving her to Oklahoma where I am currently at. Hopefully everything works out and life doesn't get in the way again. Pics will be coming as I receive them from my dad or as soon as I get back to Florida to start putting my baby back together.

 

[Ron 73]

Great looking parts there, it takes time and patience but you get what your looking for! Nice looking shifter..

 

[Cornpatch MO]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but, will that pistol grip shift lever work with that shifter? I could see only one hole in the chrome lever. I know there are two types of those. Also you may have a handle for a console. The amount of offset is the difference. Better check into this before assembly time. Good Luck!......................MO

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but, will that pistol grip shift lever work with that shifter? I could see only one hole in the chrome lever. I know there are two types of those. Also you may have a handle for a console. The amount of offset is the difference. Better check into this before assembly time. Good Luck!......................MO

That may be a bad pic of both. I took it with my iPad so I wouldn't have to upload my cam onto my laptop. It is an original slip in shifter mechanism, not the aftermarket two bolt, which requires the one bolt 7219 shifter handle which that is. The handle is definitely for a non console. Thanks for looking out though. Probably my fault with the bad pic.

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

Got my orange box and wire harness in today from 69rrgtx to go with the distributor I recently picked up. All MP. All I need to do now is figure out which coil I want to go with. Went a little nuts buying stuff the past week, so I put myself on a timeout until next paycheck. Just can't pass on a good deal for something I need. Many thanks to all the great people here helping me out on my build where they can. Way too many to name. Adding another pic of my shifter handle to show another angle of it so I don't get questions on which one it is. Thanks again to everyone on the site. And I will add pics as I get stuff in and get stuff cleaned up and restored.

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

A little before and after of the bumpers. This is thanks to Ogden Chrome. They did an outstanding job and the bumpers look like new. I would take some full pics, but I really don't want to unwrap them all the way and risk damage to them while they are sitting around waiting to be put on.

 

[Ron 73]

It sounds like you are happy with them from "Ogden Chrome" I don't think ive heard of them and looking forward to the un-wrap Lots of cool parts i bet your excitements growing each time you get one, i remember waiting on parts and filling my radio room, the wife said it looked like a store back there, to me it looked like the car candy store, lol needed to do the car but fun getting them!

 

[PlumcrazyRR]

I am actually extremely happy with them! Top notch work for a decent price. And getting the parts in is very exciting. Especially when you find original parts and you bring them from the dead and put them back to life again. Nothing better than hunting for a hard to find mopar part and then finding it. A lot of it could not be done without all of the great people on this forum though. Best site ever! And as far as parts go, there are many, many more than this that I have bought, haha. Those are just all piled up in my dad's garage next to his awesome toys.

 

[tallhair]

Very nice score plumcrazy