71 Road Runner Restoration Started

[Ron 73]

Seeing this Duster come together and the quality of work you've done on it, i cant wait to see that bird more now then ever, The Duster is beautiful!

 

[tallhair]

Seeing this Duster come together and the quality of work you've done on it, i cant wait to see that bird more now then ever, The Duster is beautiful!

Concur

 

[ct71rr]

71airgrabberRR, I found your thread (and this site) a few weeks ago by Googling '71 Road Runner restoration. I've been lurking since then and signed on recently. Your work is amazing. I also have a '71 RR that I'm going to start on soon. I'm going to use your thread (and many others here) as a guide when I do mine. I can't wait to see it all done. Back in the mid '80's, one of my uncles had a '71 airgrabber 440+6, blue with white interior (bench).

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Welcome Aboard !!!!

71airgrabberRR, I found your thread (and this site) a few weeks ago by Googling '71 Road Runner restoration. I've been lurking since then and signed on recently. Your work is amazing. I also have a '71 RR that I'm going to start on soon. I'm going to use your thread (and many others here) as a guide when I do mine. I can't wait to see it all done. Back in the mid '80's, one of my uncles had a '71 airgrabber 440+6, blue with white interior (bench).

First off, welcome aboard !!!! You will find a great bunch of Mopar car people here.

When I was a lot younger in the mid 70's, I also had an uncle in PA who owned a 71 Road Runner. His was red with a black interior, and it had a 440+6 too. His was an automatic with buckets and a console. I don't know if his was a factory six barrel car or if he installed the +6 himself after he bought it. It was a real 440 car though, but it didn't have the air grabber hood and no vinyl top. Instead his had the hood with the call outs on it instead of on the fenders like an air grabber car does.

I can remember him giving me a few rides in it, and man it would move out pretty quick, especially from a dead stop !!! These memories are what made the 71 RR one of my favorite cars. (and I just like the body lines too)....... I'll have to see if he has any pictures of his car. If he does I'll post them.

The reason I go into such detail is so that I can hopefully help someone with their car somewhere along the way. I've been doing this stuff for a long time, so if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thank you for the compliments.

Stay tuned for a few photos of today's progress.............................

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These pictures show the driver side fender and front lower grill surround painted in the base coat Lemon Twist yellow.

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These pictures show the same parts after the clear has been sprayed.............

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After the clear hardened up enough to where bugs wouldn't stick, I moved the parts outside to further dry in the sun.

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Hopefully in a day or so I can wet sand the parts and buff them out. Then it's just a matter of repeating what I posted earlier on the passenger side.

 

[tallhair]

Hopefully in a day or so I can wet sand the parts and buff them out. Then it's just a matter of repeating what I posted earlier on the passenger side.

Beautiful setting and beautiful work !

 

[Propwash]

Outstanding work on the Duster. Great write up on the stripe/decal installation. Step by step and by the book. Valuable tool for anyone looking to add decals to their car.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Working today...............

Thanks again for the compliments. Hopefully in the morning I can wet sand and buff the fender. I have a few small runs in the clear to deal with. Then it's a matter of an hour or so and all of the sheet metal will be back in place on the Duster for good.......

Its a good feeling.

Ill post some more photos tomorrow evening if things go well.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Today's progress and another "How to" description..........

Today was another very productive day on the Duster. I was able to wet sand the driver side fender and buff it. Then I "hung" it in position, but did not do the final alignment on it just yet. It's fairly close though. The "DUSTER" emblem, front side clearance light, front inner splash shield, and wheel opening molding have been installed as well.

Then I had the wife help me install the front bumper. She is really helpful.

But we ran into a major problem........

I initially planned on installing a set of bumpers front and rear from a 1972 model year car, because they look much more streamlined, and don't have the HUGE 5 MPH impact bumper guards.

So I purchased a complete set with new brackets from AMD. They bolted on perfectly on the rear set. The front set bolted on just as nice when the front fenders and lower grill surround were not installed.

However, when these items were in place, the grill comes out to a point in the center, which hit the back side of the front bumper and would not allow me to install the new one on the front.

.......... So out came the original bumper that I had previously cleaned and painted the brackets on. It's OK for a driver, but it's not show quality. If you look close you can see where I removed those UGLY impact guards.

I have another front bumper that I can send out for re-chroming. At least the new owner can drive the car while this is being done.

Live and learn......................................

I'm glad the misses was there to help me. I couldn't have done the front bumper install with out her help. She was another set of eyes and hands to help me keep from chipping the new paint.

Follow below for a quick how to with wet sanding and buffing paint..........

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Start out by making sure the paint is clean and free from dirt. Give it a good bath using dish washing soap to strip off all wax. Then using a sanding block or a paint stick if your "old school", start sanding with 600 grit wet or dry paper. (You can use 400 grit paper to tackle any runs if you have any). This photo shows how the orange peel will show once you start sanding. Once you have the surface where no more shining paint is visible, you are ready for the next step.............

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I use a Dewalt variable speed buffer turned all the way down to it's lowest setting to help prevent burning the paint. Even so you still have to be careful along the edges.

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This is how your paint should look after the first round of wet sanding. It should have a very nice / even finish and be flat without shine. However if you look at it from an angle you will be amazed at how much clearer the finish looks in the reflection.

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This is how the reflection should look even at 600 grit. Notice how clear everything is now in the actual reflection. Buffing will really make this pop later.

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Next I buff the clear using a foam buffing pad an 3M "Perfect It" compound. This is followed by another round of wet sanding at either 1200 or 1500 grit wet or dry paper.
This buffing step is not really necessary, but it makes it a whole lot easier to see where you have sanded and where you have not.

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This is how things will look after buffing at 600 grit sanding. Things are not all that shiny just yet, but they are really smooth. That's what you want. Shiny will come later after finer sanding is done......

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This is how things look after another round of wet sanding followed by buffing. This is at 1200 grit paper here.

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This is the end result after a final wet sand and buff at 2000 grit. It's a lot of work, but it gets progressively easier at each step. You will be able to feel the sandpaper drag a little when it's right. Just be careful around edges and sharp corners. I try to avoid sanding these areas if at all possible, because you can break through very easy and ruin everything you have done.

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This is where we are at now...........

I still have to finish the final alignment on the driver side fender and install the side stripe. Hopefully tomorrow this will get done. Then I have a small punch list of little things to do, like , clean / paint / install the grill, bleed the brakes, charge the A/C, check wiring, etc.

Hopefully soon I will fire her up and trailer it to get the front end alignment done. Then we will be off and running with the next project.......

The 1971 Road Runner !!!!!!!!!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

 

[tallhair]

Wow that was an excellent how-to. Unfortunately I will not be doing any that but at least I'm armed with a little bit more knowledge of what's going on in the body shop and that's always a good thing for a guy paying the bills.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Todays Progress, New RR Parts came in

Today I was able to properly align the driver side fender and install the side stripe on the Duster.

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Then I adjusted the final alignment of the hood and hood latch, then installed the hood pins and adjusted the height of the center pin stud.

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Enough about the Duster.

Here are a few photos of the new Rally Mirrors for the Bird that arrived at my door today.

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Followed by a picture of the Dash Mounted Reverse Warning Light wiring harness

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A few steps closer to this.............. and I can't wait.........

 

[Ron 73]

Its a beauty! I love the way the lighting hits the color on that Duster, To see this up close and personal i bet its prettier yet!

 

[roadrunnerman]

Looks like you're almost done with the duster. Those new parts will look good when you get them on the car

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Today was spent tracing down wiring using my factory service manuals on the Duster. I converted this car from an automatic over to a 4 speed and was never able to find a reverse light wiring harness for the conversion. No one reproduces them yet either.

Luck would have it that this should be a simple fix. The original reverse light wiring originated at a plug near the 3 speed wiper motor connection. So I was able to manufacture one of my own. I also fabricated a wire for the electric washer pump and made a new coil wire. Then I applied the new VIN door mounted decal.

The new owner and his grandson stopped by today and visited for a while. They were both very pleased with the progress. I'm sure he can't wait for the car to be done, just like the rest of us (me included).


Then I can start back up the work on the Bird..........


Meanwhile another part arrived that I needed for converting my car from an automatic over to a stick. This part is the dash mounted "REVERSE" warning light.

The reproduction light came with a wiring harness, but it would have required a splice, which I hate doing. So I guessed that I could simply remove the light socket and push in the new one with the new harness................ WRONG.............

The new harness has a socket that is just a little too big to fit inside the actual housing. So what I will have to do is open up the center bulb terminal end , (where it contacts the bulb), of the new harness and remove the bulb housing. Then do the same thing on the bulb housing that fits inside the chrome bezel.

Following this step will simply be swapping the bulb housing over and re-crimping the wire.

I can probably have it done in less time than it took me to write this post.................

Anyhow, these are some of the small obstacles we run into when using aftermarket parts........

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[tallhair]

I'm sure "pleased" is a massive understatement !!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Today's Progress

I spent a good part of the day tracing out wiring in the engine compartment of the Duster. I now have everything completed except 2 wires. One is blue one from the AC compressor clutch after the low pressure cut off switch. The other is for the blower fan motor and is green in color. I just need to determine where the final termination end is and connect them. I'm pretty sure they will end up at the firewall bulkhead connector.

I screwed down the shifter boot trim bezel, and re-aligned the steering column where it goes through the firewall. I did not like how it looked on the engine compartment side. It appeared to be kicked over a little to one side. Much happier with it now.

Other than that, the misses helped me bleed the brakes. We have a good solid brake pedal now.

One by one the check off "punch list" is getting smaller............

One more day closer to getting back to work on the Bird.........

Have a good one!!!!!

 

[tallhair]

Thanks for all the little misses that let and sometimes help us do these things

 

[Ron 73]

Thanks for all the little misses that let and sometimes help us do these things

Thats the truth! couldn't agree more... My wife, best friend helps me more then i can say with bleeding brakes to taping up cars ive painted, Last night we took my 73 and just drove to town to get a cold pop and relax some, today she visited my one daughter and when she got home told me if i hooked up the garden hose she would wash my car so i scrambled up quick! lol We washed mine and hers and managed to get mine waxed before dark and in the AM will tackle hers, Had a great time alone and listening to music we did back when we were full of energy to spare, good times! got to love them man! So i say thanks to all of them myself!!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

I have been blessed with a good misses too. She helps me out whenever I need another set of hands and I ask her to look things over when I'm done for a second opinion. She has a very good eye for details.

In fact for the past several years now, when we are lucky enough to be off from work together on our anniversary, she asks me if I want to go to the local junk yards and scrounge for parts!!!!

This started out as a joke but ended up being just something we do together if we can. About 10 years ago she asked me if there was anything special I wanted to do on our wedding anniversary. So in a joking manner I said "I want to go looking for car parts in the junk yard today."

To my surprise, she said "Cool !!! That sounds like fun!!!"

That was an answer I never expected!!!!!

She likes the Mopar muscle cars too, and is getting really good at spotting them and identifying them when we run across one.

One year on our anniversary we were driving along a County road in a very rural area and we both spotted a blue Challenger sitting in an open field. I immediately did a Dukes of Hazard U turn and drove up to the house where the car was at. Luckily for us the owner had a BBQ going on and most of his family was with him out in his front yard. So we introduced ourselves and started talking cars. The gentleman who owned the car asked if we were interested in the blue car out in the field.

Later that day he delivered it to me. We struck up a deal that was fair for both of us. Things just seem to go better when she is around.

You can see the blue Challenger in the background photos of the Duster. That's the one we saved that day.........on our wedding anniversary.

Yep, she's a keeper.....

 

[snakeyes]

X2 to all who have a good spouse or a girl friend that are always there for us :tiphat: