71 Road Runner Restoration Started

[old tired rebel]

I know, that's what I've been telling myself too. Drove it around in the yard a little today. Then I turned it around in the driveway pad in front of the shop when I parked it so I could work on the rear of the car.:headbang:

I just couldn't stand seeing the remaining original paint on the passenger side rear quarter panel. so I sanded all of it off.View attachment 146427View attachment 146428View attachment 146429

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Then I decided to grind out all of the body filler on the trunk lid too.

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There was a pretty good sized dent that someone tried to pull out a little with a dent slide hammer. They didn't doo to good of a job. The dent is still about 1/2 inch deep.

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View attachment 146430View attachment 146431View attachment 146432View attachment 146433

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Then I sprayed it with Southern Poly Urethane black epoxy primer after the surface rust areas were treated with Ospho.

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I still need to sand the driver side door, remaining portion of the roof, and driver side rear quarter panel.

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The Driver side rear quarter was repaired from a minor collision at some point during the past. Who ever did the repair just took a chunk out of another car and welded it right over the existing quarter panel.

If I was going to keep the car I would be replacing the whole quarter panel with a complete one from AMD. Because of this I'm not sure exactly how much time I will be putting into cleaning the other side up. I'll probably grind all of the filler out so the prospective buyer can see exactly what the car needs.

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View attachment 146438Here is a picture showing how the driver side looks now.

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Hopefully tomorrow I can have the rest of the car black.

Stay tuned...............

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I have to agree with you Ron.............. She is starting to look sinister..............

I like that.

I wish I was in Florida and not so broke.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

More bare metal pictures.................Or the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly !!!!!

Today I spent most of the day grinding out all of the old body filler and took everything down to the bare metal on the 72 Satellite I have listed for sale here on FBBO and Craig's List.

Turned out the driver's door is a lot better than I originally thought. It can be saved with some work. Here is a before photo.

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Followed by the after ...............

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Now here is the ugly part. Earlier I mentioned that someone in the past simply welded a part of a quarter that was cut off another car directly over the existing panel. Here is how it looks after all of the filler was removed. It will definitely need a full OEM style AMD replacement to properly fix this.View attachment 146719View attachment 146720View attachment 146721

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I also added a little something extra for FBBO members on the for sale add.

If we can come to a reasonable offer close to what I am asking for the car, I will include the forged steel crank 440 and 727 transmission with the deal. It's not like that on my Craig's list add.

This is a solid car and has great potential. I would like to see it go to a good home and get restored properly. I know that someone here will have the desire to fix her up to her former glory or even better.

I would do it, but I have too many projects now.

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Tomorrow I will spray the rest of the car in black epoxy primer. Then I will post the pictures, and include some close ups of the fire wall and inner fender wells. These areas look just as good as the floor pans do.

Until then............... Have a good one.

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Here is a parting view after the rear valance was sanded down.

 

[Ron 73]

I think there is more good then bad and ugly, doing all this shows just how solid it is, if i lived closer i would be explaining to my wife how we need to borrow a few bucks to help you get parts for the bird! and of course, that one would look good sitting here waiting for its turn to be re- instated to its former beauty.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Back in Black !!!!!!




Well today I was able to spray the rest of the car in black. Then I reassembled her and took it for another spin around the yard.

I also installed the trim rings on the rally wheels. I still have to clean the window chrome and reinstall it too.

Now all of the old paint and body filler have been removed and a good solid coat of epoxy primer is ready to go. It is basically a blank canvas for someone to work with now.

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As promised here are the other photos of the engine compartment and firewall that show just how rust free this car is.

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The last picture shows the dash. Surprisingly, the chrome on the dash bezel is still in very nice condition.

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And the steering wheel is not cracked.

 

[tallhair]

The car looks great man. Are you sure you are asking enough? It's a great project and runs and moves under it's own power. It would be great for someone looking for something to fix up and drive on a budget.

 

[Photon440]

I wouldn't be ashamed to drive that just the way it is...provided it had a nice rumble to it.

 

[Ron 73]

That car looks great, someone could get a dash cap for it and that would fix the interior some for about 77 bucks, thats what i paid for one anyway.. Here is a link for any who may be interested in one, just put the year and Plymouth Satellite and it will take you to them, i think you can pick a color also. Thought i would add it, not to bad to dress the old gal up!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/coverlay-blue-dash-cover/p2008199.jcwx?filterid=d1799y1971g2j1&skuId=404715

 

[71airgrabberRR]

That car looks great, someone could get a dash cap for it and that would fix the interior some for about 77 bucks, thats what i paid for one anyway.. Here is a link for any who may be interested in one, just put the year and Plymouth Satellite and it will take you to them, i think you can pick a color also. Thought i would add it, not to bad to dress the old gal up!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/coverlay-blue-dash-cover/p2008199.jcwx?filterid=d1799y1971g2j1&skuId=404715

Thanks Ron. Great minds think alike !!!! I just ordered a dash cap in black............ seriously I did.............. I was just talking with tallhair about it.

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Now I'm kicking the idea around about dropping a thumping 440 in it too. I have one that is pretty fresh with a Comp Cams 292 grind in it. Then I have a freshly rebuilt 727 with a TCI 3500 stall converter too, and a new set of coated Doug's headers that will fit. Plus I will need to get a Dana 60 for my 71 RR, so I could use the 8 3/4 from the Bird in this one. Just so happens I have a nice set of 3.91's in a 489 case too........... HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM................

Years ago I owned a U code 73 Charger SE. I still have all of the brackets and hoses to connect the AC and power steering back up properly. Plus I have a nice 3 row 26 inch radiator that will fit.

What do you guys think ????

Sell it as is at the current price or give it a heart transplant and wake her up ????? Then sell it for more $$$$$

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The body can stay as is. I think it looks pretty cool right now all black.

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The one important thing I learned in math class............. The substitution for cubic inches, is MORE cubic inches..........

 

[Chase383]

If you don't end up installing that 440,

I'd be interested in that 8 3/4 housing :icon_mrgreen:... I've been looking for one for a while with no luck.

 

[Ron 73]

Wow, That would be a hard decision! If you can do the bird without selling the car, what the heck drop in the drive train and have some fun, you can always sell it later!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Decisions, decisions................

I will see how things go at the Garlit's show. If it's not sold by then, I just may have to swap the drive train out and start enjoying the car for a while. I didn't want to have another "project" started though. In addition to the 71 Bird, I still have a 73 Challenger Rally that is 99% rust free to finish up (you can see this one in the back ground of some of the pictures posted in this thread. It's blue), and my dream car which is an original Lime Green 70 Challenger.
I don't really need to sell the car, but it would be nice to get some extra cash to buy parts with.:toothy9:

Who knows, if that happens I may even start welding in patch panels and possibly even replace the driver side quarter panel. I can always leave it in black primer after the repairs have been made. I'll just document what has been done with photographs along the way.

 

[Basket case]

how about doing the driveline swap, and enjoying the car as is. then work on the road runner, but with the '72 you have a car to drive.

 

[Ron 73]

Anxiously waiting! decisions are sometimes hard to do, especially when you have the plan to this already worked up! Good luck bud!

 

[tallhair]

Unless you are going to keep it / drive it I wouldn't put more in it. If you are going to keep it as a driver .. go crazy man ! The beautiful thing is you are never going to have to worry about parking lot dings and you can do anything you want

 

[71airgrabberRR]

After Show Party ?????

Unless you are going to keep it / drive it I wouldn't put more in it. If you are going to keep it as a driver .. go crazy man ! The beautiful thing is you are never going to have to worry about parking lot dings and you can do anything you want

I hear you buddy, and you are right.

Because I have almost everything for the swap, it wouldn't cost me too much other than hoses and fan belts. (and fluids of course)


Plus I would need to buy front brake hoses and a set of tires.
:3gears:
I spent money for the dash cap to dress her up a little.


It would be nice being able to park it where you wanted too. I will just have to wait and see how things go at the show.............

That will be a major factor here with the car. It wouldn't take too long to do.

 

[Chase383]

What is different between the big block and small block A/C hoses?

I only ask because my new parts car has an entire small block setup in it, I'm wondering what I can and cannot use....

I'm planning to do the low-mount compressor as not to interfere with the Air Grabber... so I know the two hoses to the compressor will not work, what about the rest?

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Dash Cap Arrived

Here is a picture of the dash cap that was delivered a few minutes ago by Fed Ex. It looks to be pretty nice. I also had a couple look at the SSB today and they seem to be interested in it. They want the spare 440 and 727 along with the car. They are supposed to let me know something tomorrow. They seemed like a nice couple and the car would be going to a good home.



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Hopefully the deal will work out. Time will tell.

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As far as what the differences are with the hoses between big and small block, I'm not 100% sure. It probably has something to do with the lengths of hose. The small block ones may work. Try it out.

 

[Ron 73]

Nice choice in color! Good luck with the couple who are thinking it over man, hope it works out! Sounds like a good home for a cool build...

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Todays Agenda...............

Thanks Ron.

Today I spent some time installing the side glass and window tracks back into the doors that came of my RR, that have been installed on the SSB. As luck would have it, the 72 SSB has tinted windows, and my RR does not. So since the doors were swapped out, the windows needed to stay with the proper car that they belonged to.

The couple called me up today and told me they would pass on buying the SSB.

So after hearing that I decided to look for some more parts that would look better on the car, and make it more appealing as well. I found a good column shift lever part for the steering column and cleaned the original door panels up some. I've decided to install the bench seat from my RR since it is also in much better condition.

I then found another complete set of factory disc brakes that I forgot I had. So the 11" X 3" drums will come off the front, and disc brakes will go back on.

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I have not been able to use my glass beading cabinet lately because the glass was too frosted to see through, and the gloves had massive holes in them. So a few days ago I installed new parts to make it useable again.

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I couldn't stand not doing anything on the RR for a while, so I pulled out the front speaker cover and went to town on it.

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Here it is as I started glass beading the part.

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Here is the same part after it has been blasted.

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This is how it looks after spraying the back side in a natural metal finish.

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And the finished product.

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I will probably end up doing the same thing to the part on the SSB, and then install the black dash cap.

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That way the dash will be black and will match the seats from the RR. That's all for today.

Have a good one.................

 

[Ron 73]

Looks brand new, sorry to hear they didn't get the car but i still think it will sell for you, i really expected to hear its gone when i came here..