Dad's First Car - '74 Road Runner

[donmodro]

I figured it was time to start a thread charting the progress as I work towards restoring my Dad's first car, a 1974 Road Runner. This old girl has been in our family since 1978. After being used on an everyday basis, she was garaged in 1987 when the rear quarters on the car finally went, and remained that way until 2001 when I bought the car off of my dad and put it back on the road. Nothing special options-wise, this is a bare bones 1974 Road Runner with a 318 4spd combo.

Of course she needed a little bit of work, so the quarters were patched, and the engine compartment resprayed..

When the car was finished, she was driven around like this for a few years.

Finally the old 318 gave up the ghost when the cam wiped itself, and she went into storage for a few years when money became an issue and I couldn't afford maintenance on a second car. Later she was put back on the road again, but a few months later I let a friend of mine drive the car, and he promptly hit a deer with it.

I started a teardown at that point, and took the bodyshell down to bare metal, and attempted to make a rear quarter patch for the car.

But then life got in the way, and I lost my garage. The car was in primer at this point, so into storage she went. For 2 years she sat inside a garage that I couldn't continue the project in, looking like this.

 

[Bruzilla]

Looks good! Always nice to see another 73/74 coming back.

 

[TBONE]

Looks like a great project! Keep the pics coming.

 

[donmodro]

So home she came, and disassembly began anew.

Out comes some corner cancer.

Along with exposing the bodywork that prompted the second teardown.

I'm not afraid to admit I did this poorly before, so now it will come out to be done correctly.

Thankfully AMD started reproducing this piece. That one little piece of new sheet metal was all the motivation needed.

With a corner patch for the driver's side thrown in for good measure.

I started making some replacement pieces for the wheel well next.

Now at this point, I'm only making the pieces. I still need to replace the trunk extension on this side, and make some portions of the outer wheelhouse. I figured I would just spend my time making the patch pieces as nice as possible with a lot of careful measuring. Plus I have no idea what I am doing, so slow and steady is the way to go.

 

[donmodro]

I'm not going to lie, when I uncovered this cancer in the firewall, I was heartbroken. Thankfully it was all isolated to thin gauge metal, the frame rails are all solid. But finding this definitely hurt. The passenger side is no where near as bad, but everything in the firing line of that front tire is toast.

Too far in to stop now, time to start making some new patches.

Mocking up more pieces...

And my first welds on the car with the new welder. They aren't pretty, but it's a start.

Again, not pretty, but solid. I figured the firewall and inner fender would be a good place to practice because no one will see it.

Thankfully the air horns and most of the cowl is solid.

Getting the patch ready for the top of the inner fender. It isn't a perfect match for what was originally there, but I'm getting happier with how fabrication is going.

I think I'm getting a little bit better with the welder.

And today, when I ran out of argon. Time to hit up the welding supply store. Updates are going to get a lot slower from here.

 

[Propwash]

Cool beans...Got the old man's car. Progress is looking good! Best of luck moving forward.

 

[roadrunnerman]

it's nice to see you dedicated to keeping the RR redoing it.Isn't it amazing you know a car all your life and then shock as heck when you find some rust you didn't see b4.Keep up the great work,i'm enjoying this.

 

[65affair]

Way COOOL! I have a soft spot for those '74's. mine was my first car.... love what your doing, don't give up and keep us posted...

 

[donmodro]

Cool beans...Got the old man's car. Progress is looking good! Best of luck moving forward.

Thanks! I'm trying to keep the motivation up, all of this work has been over the past few months as I squeeze time in for the car between work and school. The goal is to have the car in paint next year.

it's nice to see you dedicated to keeping the RR redoing it.Isn't it amazing you know a car all your life and then shock as heck when you find some rust you didn't see b4.Keep up the great work,i'm enjoying this.

You're not kidding. I knew there was something there, a lot of the rust had been patched over. Once the patches came off that is what was hiding there. The passenger side has some rust too, but it isn't as extensive as the driver's side. It looks like on the passenger side I will be repairing the junction between the firewall and inner fender, with some more minor cowl work. It is terrifying knowing I was driving the car like this.

 

[donmodro]

Way COOOL! I have a soft spot for those '74's. mine was my first car.... love what your doing, don't give up and keep us posted...

No giving up on this one, this is the same car my dad would put me to sleep with when I was little. The exhaust note that came through the glass packs would knock me right out. I spent a lot of time in the garage as a little kid running through the gears pretending I was driving.

 

[super-bee_ski]

WOW !
A "worthy" project for a wonderful car and history!

 

[Ron 73]

Great project and history! yes, keep the photos coming, we love to watch and read the progress! Good luck...

 

[Dennis H]

Great project and history! yes, keep the photos coming, we love to watch and read the progress! Good luck...

Same here. All the best on your project. Makes my story look easy, but less interesting.

 

[donmodro]

Thanks guys!

Small update, the majority of the firewall rust on the drivers side is taken care of now, here are a few more pics.

 

[roadrunnerman]

all your repairs are looking great,if i didn't see them getting done i would've thought that was original metal.

 

[Basket case]

for someone that doesn't know what his doing, you're doing a great job! my first mopar was a '73 340 4 speed road runner.
I've got an Uncle in New Brighton, so maybe i'll see you out!
keep up the great job.

 

[snakeyes]

looking real good looks like your doing a fine job ,keep it up :headbang:

 

[donmodro]

Thank guys. It is definitely a great feeling having the majority of the rust in that corner taken care of. My dad stopped by the other night to check on the progress and he was definitely excited to see work moving along. I have a little more work to do in this front corner before I move on to the rear of the car, I will keep the pics coming as work progresses.

The goal is to get all of the welding done before the weather turns, then paint in the spring. It's been way too long since I've last been able to drive this car. I'm getting sick of walking into the garage and needing to make the engine noises myself. :laughing11:

 

[Lt Shaffer]

Nice progress, don't give up, my runner had the same rust issues in the 80's and I sold it to a friend as a parts car. BIG mistake on my part.

 

[mattsinger]

you are doing a great job! Nice to have the history with the car.