My 68 Road Runner Coupe Story

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Bought this "Rust free" 68 Road Runner Post Coupe from a guy near Ft. Hood (3 hours away from Dallas). Not so rust free. Floors are good but can read a newspaper through trunk floor. Brought it home with a 440 and 727 we heard run via bottle fed fuel dripping over carb. Car was 383 727 with bench seat with factory AC originally. Had it media blasted to reveal all the rust and accident damage (ouch). Had K member and suspension also blasted and painted. Was going to put the steel crank, aluminum headed 440 4spd from my Chrysler Newport in it. Sold my house and moved 50 miles away. Had to store all my parts and cars till I could build a shop. Finally decided this would be my last full resto and wanted to make it a 6.4 and 6 speed so I could actually drive it anywhere I wanted to. Got the full trunk floor, Tail light panel, both drops, both qtr. bottoms and L outer wheel house to replace all that "rust free" metal. It had been hit in the R front so I replaced the inner apron earlier. Will start now putting all that new metal in the car. Cheers!

 

[wagonman]

Welcome to the Site. Texas rust is better than Ohio rust.

 

[ckessel]

Welcome from the left coast, former home state of some of your new neighbors. I think you misunderstood the "Rust Free". He meant you got rust for free.. Now that its cleaned off, you know what you are dealing with. Good luck on the project and you will gain much knowledge, insight, skills and above all patience.

 

[JJ383RR]

Nice! What are the bucket seats from?

 

[Nxcoupe]

Welcome to the site!

 

[ruffcut]

Welcome! Not to brag but I started with one much worse. You'll get it. Just takes lots of work and $$$! ruffcut

 

[Don67Satellite]

Looks like a great project, welcome to the site.

 

[wedgee]

my rust free montana car sounds like it hit the same thing...
welcome!

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Welcome to the Site. Texas rust is better than Ohio rust.

The car was in GA the last time it was registered. No idea of the history before that. Has military sticker on the front bumper.

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Nice! What are the bucket seats from?

They were from a Toyota Solara ($200 and power drivers seat, Passenger seat moves forward when you push the seat back forward to get into the back seat. Only two door car I could find with seats that were about the right size in my local wrecking yard. Found a guy in Ft Worth that reupholstered them after I showed him the Pearl white rear seat upholstery (650). Not ideal but better than the Procar low back buckets that were in it. interior is going to be the 68 only Pearl white and exterior will be Blew Me Away blue BCCC.

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Welcome to the Site. Texas rust is better than Ohio rust.

Yea, I grew up in the stix outside Detroit. I'm familiar with salt assisted rust. I'm also going to do my own frame supports and chassis stiffening. I bought a bunch of 11 gage and 1/8 inch material from a local steel scrap yard. Putting a 6.4 hemi with a 6 speed manual and 4.10 gears will twist these flimsy cars in two. I was amazed when I took the trunk pan and tail light panel out just how thin the OEM sheet metal was. That is how they got them so light (for their size).

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

They were from a Toyota Solara ($200 and power drivers seat, Passenger seat moves forward when you push the seat back forward to get into the back seat. Only two door car I could find with seats that were about the right size in my local wrecking yard. Found a guy in Ft Worth that reupholstered them after I showed him the Pearl white rear seat upholstery (650). Not ideal but better than the Procar low back buckets that were in it. interior is going to be the 68 only Pearl white and exterior will be Blew Me Away blue BCCC.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Nice build. Mine started off like that and is still like that. I slapped it together with parts that I had laying around and added a sleeper drive train and drive it as is.

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Nice build. Mine started off like that and is still like that. I slapped it together with parts that I had laying around and added a sleeper drive train and drive it as is.

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Nice job on the floors, not easy to do right. I'm moving my battery to the trunk after I put the full trunk floor, drops, tail light panel and qtr. bottoms on. My 6.4 TR6060 swap will need a place for the cold air and filter to live. Putting the factory 2020 Scat Pack MAF/Tube and filter unit in the place where the battery used to go. I have everything but, moving and building a new shop got in the way. Hopefully I can get focused on it after the first of the new year. I'm also pulling the 3.23 489 chunk and rear disc brakes off my 61 Newport coupe 8.75 and adding them to the RR. I'll put the 2.94 open diff and drums back on the Chrysler. Lots of stuff planned.

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Welcome! Not to brag but I started with one much worse. You'll get it. Just takes lots of work and $$$! ruffcut

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You're brave, to do black on a car that wasn't in decent shape takes a long time and lots of body work and block sanding. These cars have such long flat panels. I did my 68 Charger in Sunfire Yellow. That one body line that goes from front to back took months of perfecting to get straight. That car took me 4 years to complete. Largely due to a bad rebuild of my 440 from a local engine builder. Came in and out 4 times in 900 miles. That is why I'm doing a 6.4 crate Hemi. I've had it with sloppy machinists in supposed pro-build shops (not just Mopar, had chevies with the same issue). I only resto-mod with engines and transmissions that are new or that I can hear run before I buy them.

 

[wagonman]

Picked My 68 up when I was in Oregon. LA built car just needed Quarters, rear window corner and some fender work. For all the rain in the PNW they don't really rot if stored well. No salt west of the Cascades but near the coast is another story. Same deal with the 73 Duster, very minor bubbles behind the rear wheels and dents and dings. Hope to get the heater core back from Glen Ray so I can button up the 63 Belvedere wagon. Then drag it up to Vegas and get the Duster. My buddy said the paint is done so we can do the swap.

 

[68RoadrunnerJKH]

Picked My 68 up when I was in Oregon. LA built car just needed Quarters, rear window corner and some fender work. For all the rain in the PNW they don't really rot if stored well. No salt west of the Cascades but near the coast is another story. Same deal with the 73 Duster, very minor bubbles behind the rear wheels and dents and dings. Hope to get the heater core back from Glen Ray so I can button up the 63 Belvedere wagon. Then drag it up to Vegas and get the Duster. My buddy said the paint is done so we can do the swap.

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Cool old car, some of my other group have 60-62 Chrysler wagons with the fins and a tailgate.

 

[torredcuda]

Bought this "Rust free" 68 Road Runner Post Coupe from a guy near Ft. Hood (3 hours away from Dallas). Not so rust free. Floors are good but can read a newspaper through trunk floor. Brought it home with a 440 and 727 we heard run via bottle fed fuel dripping over carb. Car was 383 727 with bench seat with factory AC originally. Had it media blasted to reveal all the rust and accident damage (ouch). Had K member and suspension also blasted and painted. Was going to put the steel crank, aluminum headed 440 4spd from my Chrysler Newport in it. Sold my house and moved 50 miles away. Had to store all my parts and cars till I could build a shop. Finally decided this would be my last full resto and wanted to make it a 6.4 and 6 speed so I could actually drive it anywhere I wanted to. Got the full trunk floor, Tail light panel, both drops, both qtr. bottoms and L outer wheel house to replace all that "rust free" metal. It had been hit in the R front so I replaced the inner apron earlier. Will start now putting all that new metal in the car. Cheers!

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Trunk floor area looks familiar, I just did mine.