71 Road Runner Restoration Started

[Ron 73]

With a couple great projects! I had a set of 4.88 myself once behind a strong 383, Very fast and fun but the gas millage even back then was super bad as careful as i tried to save some.. I really liked them for playing though!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

An interesting day................

Shortly after we got back home this afternoon, my wife asked me, "What is that sound??" I opened our back sliding glass door and listened. I immediately knew what the sound was. It was a gas propane tank whistling, and the pitch was getting louder and higher in frequency. If you have ever been on a fire ground scene and heard this before, you will never forget it. It's the noise that a propane tank makes just before it blows up.

It sounded like it was coming from my next door neighbors shop, which is located just behind mine. My German Shepard and Lab were going crazy and barking in our back yard. They knew something wasn't right. Then I saw the decent sized column of black smoke coming up from the car port section of my neighbors shop. This was where his wife normally parks their SUV.

I knew something was on fire so I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911. I told the dispatcher what was going on, then got busy trying to get some water on the fire.

The whole end of my neighbors overhanging roof had started to catch fire, and it had spread along the ridge all the way across the roof of his shop. He had a larger Kubota tractor and it was fully involved. Several animal crates were also burning. Sitting next to the tractor was the propane tank. Flames were blowing out of it like you see in the WW2 movies with flame throwers in action.

I did a quick size up and knew I wouldn't be able to put the fire out. But I saw my neighbor and he had a garden hose out and was trying to spray what he could.

The wife and I quickly took a longer hose from the side of our house and I connected it to the shop hose. I asked my wife to feed me our garden hose and climbed over the 6ft fence to help him until the Fire Department arrived.

Together we were able to knock down the roof and trusses under the car port section, and cooled down the propane tank enough to where it quit venting gas. When it quit venting gas, the tank quit burning and wasn't leaking any more propane gas. Once that was done I removed the tank away from the fire and went back at it. The whole time I was keeping an eye on the wind direction so we wouldn't be working in smoke.

Then we got busy with the tractor. There was no way we were going to be able to completely extinguish the fire with the water supply we had. But at least we kept it in check and it did not spread any further. We had the front section of the tractor extinguished and were working our way towards the back when the Fire Department arrived. I told the officer what we had and let them finish it up.

It was probably stupid to attempt this without my normal fire fighting gear on, but I have been fighting fire for over 15 years now and know what can and can't be done in a somewhat safe manner.

No one was hurt, and we saved his shop. Can't say the same for the tractor, but it was fully involved with fire before we even started on it. It was a total loss. Luckily his wife had taken their SUV out earlier during the day, so it wasn't parked in its normal spot. (or it would have burned too)

The bad thing is that they lost some animals. They just had a bunch of baby rabbits, and had just hatched a bunch of baby chicks from eggs they incubated. Only one chicken survived. They lost all of the rabbits.

Afterwards I took this picture. Its hard to make it out but there are 2 fire Engines and to the right you can see his shop.

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I didn't take any of the burned area because they were still investigating the scene.

 

[Photon440]

Way to go, that was truly heroic. Knowing what to do, and then doing it...I sure hope your neighbors show their appreciation. Sure there were some loses, but it sounds like your efforts along with your neighbor really damped down what could have been a big loss, especially if that tank had blown. Thumbs up!

 

[Chargerjase]

Great work with the fire. It's brilliant that you had the skills and ability to help your neighbour. I feel for them as fires are pretty devastating for the people involved.

 

[satman72]

Thumbs up for helping with the fire. You're a great neighbour.

 

[Propwash]

Heck of a noble deed. Hat's off to ya. :tiphat:

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Aftermath.............

Here are a few pictures of what is left of my neighbor's Kubota tractor that I took a little while ago. As you can see, it burned the tires off the rims.

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Here are a few pictures of the roof. You can se the charred wood in the rafters as well as the damage to the roof sheeting.

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This isn't a very good picture, but the whole underside of the car port is blackened.

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Overall I would say we were all very lucky. It could have turned out a lot worse.

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Thanks for the compliments, but I didn't do it for glory. My neighbor was in serious trouble and he needed my help. Anyone of you would have done the same.

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My neighbors are all great people. We have a pretty tight close knit community. They were very appreciative of my help, and thanked Sandy and I numerous times for the help.

Thanks again.

 

[mopar4don]

God Bless you!

 

[1971 plymouth roadrunner]

So sorry to hear that happened, especially for the animals.

 

[ct71rr]

Wow Louis, Nice job! Being an honorary Blue Canary, I know that feeling of going into help mode. I'm glad no one was hurt (except the animals) and the damage doesn't look too bad.

 

[tallhair]

That gas leak didn't sound good at all ... very brave of all of you to stay near it and fight the fire

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Back to business as usual

Thanks again everyone. It was a shame that the little animals died, but at least we were able to make the best out of a bad situation. My main concern was the propane tank. Once I cooled it off and was able to remove it from the equation I felt a LOT better !!!! Then we concentrated on saving his shop and the tractor was last, since there was nothing we could do to save it.

Normally you can't do much at all with a garden hose (or 2 as it was in our case) on a fire of any size. We were very fortunate in more ways than one.
I think we had some help from the big man upstairs..........

Going back to the Satellite, some progress with acquiring parts was made late yesterday evening. Earlier in the morning I called Jeff from 521 restorations and left a message with him. When he returned my call last night I placed an order with him for a new gas tank, 3/8 fuel sending unit, and fuel filler tube grommet. I have the better Canadian made gas tank on the way.

Here are a few pictures of the parts as advertised..............

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Then I ordered a new MSD 6A ignition box from Summit for the engine test run stand that I built last year. I had to rob the ignition box off the engine run test stand, (and use it one the Duster) when I made a stupid mistake and accidentally shorted out the existing MSD box in the car. I never replaced it. Now I can send the damaged box from the Duster back to MSD, and get a quote on repairing it. If it works out, I will use the repaired box on the Satellite. As you can see I'm getting ready to build the 440 and want to be able to run it before it goes in the car.

I will be sure to post a BUNCH of pictures for you all to enjoy !!!!!!!!!

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But the coolest thing of all from yesterday was this:

Duda (Mark) his wife Suzy, and my friend Camsdad (Hagen) all stopped by for a visit shortly after the fire was out next door. Duda and his wife are down here on vacation from PA for Bike Week. Sandy, Hagen and I had the pleasure of meeting some more friendly Mopar people. We would not have met if it were not for FBBO.

Duda shared with us some pictures of his BEAUTIFUL 68 Charger R/T. it's a sweet car for sure.

We all had a nice visit, got to show the shop and my various projects, and offered them some Good Old Southern hospitality.

It was like we have known each other for years.

I've said it before, and Ill say it again...................

We have some great people here on FBBO.

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Today I was able to finally finish up the Ford tail gate.

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It will still need some buffing out, but at least it's done. This means I can start work on the Satellite again.

Good idea to practice on a FORD first !!!! LOL

Have a good night.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Sorry everyone. I just noticed I had a typo error about the year of Duda's Charger. His car is a 1969 and not a 68 like I mentioned above.

 

[roadrunnerman]

glad you were able to help your neighbor. One bad thing about fire (as you know), it doesn't care who or what gets in it's way. That tailgate looks amazing. I see the emblems are still taped over. Is that for our benefit, or a hint for your friend. HA!HA!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Christmas in March

glad you were able to help your neighbor. One bad thing about fire (as you know), it doesn't care who or what gets in it's way. That tailgate looks amazing. I see the emblems are still taped over. Is that for our benefit, or a hint for your friend. HA!HA!

I agree. Fire doesn't have a conscious either. Years ago my late Grandma and her second husband built a log cabin on their property in middle upstate PA. They felled the trees from their property and used them in the construction of their log cabin. I remember the home and it was really cool. Unfortunately for her, lightning struck the cabin shortly after it was finished and set it on fire. She lost everything. Family heirlooms, photos, the works. It was so secluded that nothing was left when the FD arrived on scene.

Ha ha. Good stuff!! I might just have to leave the tape on. It looks better and I didn't want to subject you all to unnecessary torture.

Thanks for the compliment on the work!!!

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The misses told me a little while ago that 4 packages arrived today. That was good to hear. I just ordered some more stuff from Summit. I ordered a Mopar Performance distributor. They are on sale right now and have the performance curve and adjustable advance.

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Then I ordered a new oil pump distributor gear drive too.

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The final part was a new ring compressor. My old one is getting tired and I didn't want to take a chance with breaking the rings as I installed the pistons. I chose this one because it is big enough to handle all big block Mopar oversize ring sets.

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Sometime tomorrow I will snap some pictures of the new parts and post them.
Have a good night.

 

[Ron 73]

Wow Louis! That was some kind of good work man, If you wouldn't have went over there things may of been so much worse, great job!!!

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Today's events.

Thanks Ron. Here is a picture of what's left of his tractor after it was winched on his trailer.

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Today after the wife and I returned home, I had some more parts at the door steps. Here are some pictures with some part numbers and descriptions just in case any of you are looking for similar items.

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This is a 7 quart oil pan with 3/8 pickup tube that I found on sale for$75 on Ebay.

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It has a baffle spot welded in place, so it should be OK as long as I use a windage tray. I have a new one from Mopar Performance stashed away.

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Since this engine will make some decent power and torque, I didn't want to use a stock flex plate. This one is drilled for 10 and 11 inch converters and also has provision for 7/16" bolts.

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Oops. It's upside down. The MSD 6A box for the engine test stand is now here too.

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This is a stock looking fuel pump made here in the USA. It pushes between 6-8 pounds of pressure and has a 3/8" inlet. It is made by Carter who made the originals for our cars.

 

[conv67bdere]

Lucky for your neighbor that you've got the experience and knowledge to help him out . . . Not only help from the man upstairs, but also from the man next door - Great story !

Love all the parts . . . and "Christmas" is always nice any time of the year when it's CAR PARTS ! ! ! ( SMILE)

 

[71airgrabberRR]

I think this is the same fuel pump H2E is using on his car.

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This is the 8 3/4 kit I bought from Dr. Diff

This kit has new Green bearings, axle seals, differential gasket and wheel cylinder foam gaskets.

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The kit included these Fel Pro axle flange gaskets. I posted the close up photo so you can use the part number if you need to order a set of just the gaskets for your ride.

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And lastly here is the Fel-Pro race intake gasket set. The close up shows the part number, again for you all to use if you need it.

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Thanks for the kind words conv67bdere.

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Have a good night. Hopefully tomorrow some more stuff will come in. I'm planning on doing some metal work on the Satellite tomorrow if things go well.

 

[747mopar]

Kudos for being a good neighbor and helping a person in need out of a bad situation. Lot's of nice looking parts you've got coming in, looks like your getting serious about firing it up. That's pretty cool that you got to meat Duda, there's quite a few here I'm going to try and hook up with someday as well "wish more of us here were closer". Keep up the top notch work