Amata Bene
Well-Known Member
So I'm gonna put this stuff here, cuz restoring this car is our end goal. Not completely sure how deep it will get. I know just wading in to get it running better got deep fast.
A little history on me and the car. Me: A mechanic - not by a long shot. I'm a welder fabricator by trade for dare I say close to 40 yrs. Do I have good mechanical abilities? Yes. I Have built cars and bikes before, and yes they ran and performed as intended. Doing a restoration is something I have never attempted. So I'm gonna go slow and take one bite at a time.
The car: A 1974 Road Runner. Vin and Fender tag RM21G4G. As some of you have read in other posts, the car was a birthday gift from my wife. (She is a wonderful woman and I am blessed to have her in my life.) She was of the impression the car was original. Not knowing how to do auto archeology she still did very well. So far the only things that do not match the fender tag are the color and the motor, everything else is a match to this point. The interior is complete and still sports the brown carpet. Accessories although limited also match the fender tag. The car was originally a 318 with the 904 light duty transmission painted KT5 (Sienna Metallic). As it is now it has an early "72" 340 (forged crank) and is painted to resemble Y1 (Lemon Twist). Which I absolutely love and intend on keeping.
The bad: While I'm quite pleased that it is a steel crank 340, it is my belief that Road Runners should have big block motors. But that's just me. The car from day one had a bit of an engine miss. At an idle it sounded like a possible cammed motor and would smoothed out on light acceleration. Under a load, it sounded like my tractor. This took me a minute to figure out. Spark to all 8 and the timing was not crazy out-a-whack. Hmm? Time to gather evidence. Engine bay painted black
, lots of blue over-spray , a radiator big enough to cool a Kenworth, and look at that, the cap actually hits the HOOD! 
WTF? Some acetone and a wire brush... not a G-code 318, but instead an MH 340R 38480155 stamping.
Not bad but now paint and motor don't match. Still got an engine miss. Time for the K-Y and a scope. Well, well, well, seams to be a 30 stamped on all 8 pistons and #4 is oily as an Alaskan harbor. Not showing on the plugs though... Their new. Time to pull some bolts. Found bits of hard plastic in the rocker areas. Pulled the intake (casting say it's a 1970 4 barrel) all sorts of plastic pieces in the valley. Was told by members that it looks like valve seals. That explains #4. Now I'm pretty sure Bubba slapped an old 340 together with some laying around parts to remedy the old 318. I say this because the rest of the car does not resemble what took place in the engine bay.
Latter part of August was my last post, I had already pulled the motor and dropped the oil pan where I found the rest of the valve seals SMH. The lifters were wiped out, so either a bad break-in or a s##t load of miles. Did I mention the broken valve spring on #4 intake. What a mess. We were heading to vacation in CO over the labor-day week-end. Gonna hang out with family, just have a good time. Came home with COVID. That sucked. 1st time for me and my wife. Good thing I got all the work out of the shop before we left. Did give me time to start ordering parts to put the 340 back together. Funny thing, when you tell customers you have covid, they don't stay long. Finally got to the point about a week latter where I could walk across the shop with out resting, so I pulled the tranny. It would slip on hard acceleration. Freshen that up too. Have most of the motor parts need a few little things then go back together with that. Do a trans overhaul then back on the road.
While making all the discoveries we (wife and I) discussed the direction of the car as far as cost to restore or build. She said it was up to me. With that I started hunting. My 1st Road Runner was an early "68" hard post with the infamous 383. I want something similar in this. Say hello to my little friend
Some disassembly and off to the machine shop. Now... To stroke or not to stroke. 500 HP or 700 HP that is the question. Defiantly blue printing this b###h so it doesn't meet the same fate as my las 383.
Stay tuned.
A little history on me and the car. Me: A mechanic - not by a long shot. I'm a welder fabricator by trade for dare I say close to 40 yrs. Do I have good mechanical abilities? Yes. I Have built cars and bikes before, and yes they ran and performed as intended. Doing a restoration is something I have never attempted. So I'm gonna go slow and take one bite at a time.
The car: A 1974 Road Runner. Vin and Fender tag RM21G4G. As some of you have read in other posts, the car was a birthday gift from my wife. (She is a wonderful woman and I am blessed to have her in my life.) She was of the impression the car was original. Not knowing how to do auto archeology she still did very well. So far the only things that do not match the fender tag are the color and the motor, everything else is a match to this point. The interior is complete and still sports the brown carpet. Accessories although limited also match the fender tag. The car was originally a 318 with the 904 light duty transmission painted KT5 (Sienna Metallic). As it is now it has an early "72" 340 (forged crank) and is painted to resemble Y1 (Lemon Twist). Which I absolutely love and intend on keeping.
The bad: While I'm quite pleased that it is a steel crank 340, it is my belief that Road Runners should have big block motors. But that's just me. The car from day one had a bit of an engine miss. At an idle it sounded like a possible cammed motor and would smoothed out on light acceleration. Under a load, it sounded like my tractor. This took me a minute to figure out. Spark to all 8 and the timing was not crazy out-a-whack. Hmm? Time to gather evidence. Engine bay painted black
, lots of blue over-spray , a radiator big enough to cool a Kenworth, and look at that, the cap actually hits the HOOD! WTF? Some acetone and a wire brush... not a G-code 318, but instead an MH 340R 38480155 stamping. Latter part of August was my last post, I had already pulled the motor and dropped the oil pan where I found the rest of the valve seals SMH. The lifters were wiped out, so either a bad break-in or a s##t load of miles. Did I mention the broken valve spring on #4 intake. What a mess. We were heading to vacation in CO over the labor-day week-end. Gonna hang out with family, just have a good time. Came home with COVID
. That sucked. 1st time for me and my wife. Good thing I got all the work out of the shop before we left. Did give me time to start ordering parts to put the 340 back together. Funny thing, when you tell customers you have covid, they don't stay long. Finally got to the point about a week latter where I could walk across the shop with out resting, so I pulled the tranny. It would slip on hard acceleration. Freshen that up too. Have most of the motor parts need a few little things then go back together with that. Do a trans overhaul then back on the road.While making all the discoveries we (wife and I) discussed the direction of the car as far as cost to restore or build. She said it was up to me. With that I started hunting. My 1st Road Runner was an early "68" hard post with the infamous 383. I want something similar in this. Say hello to my little friend
Stay tuned.
