Thinking of buying a roadrunner

[JebTheSheep]

So I am 16 and trying to buy a muscle car to restore (yes I don’t care that this will consume the rest of my teenage years) and I came across a 1973 Roadrunner GTX (the guy says it came with the 440 and an automatic originally) which is a roller (no tranny or motor). What are my options for a motor and manual tranny to throw in there? I have to try and get whatever car I get running in 2 months when I need to ship it internationally. What is the cheapest price point for the motor and transmission and what are my options for manual transmissions that’ll fit (I’ve read stuff about t56 swap kits but I figure those are pretty expensive and difficult). The shell itself is 3k and doesn’t look bad at all and I can probably bring the price down a bit.

 

[Ron H]

Confused - you want to find a motor and trans for this car - but then bring the price down a bit?

 

[JebTheSheep]

Confused - you want to find a motor and trans for this car - but then bring the price down a bit?

I haven’t bought the car yet.
I am just mapping out how much it will cost to get the car on the road.
When I have figured out the costs I will talk to the guy about buying the shell and try and get the price lower.

 

[furious70]

You have to ship it internationally in 2 months? For you to drive? That's going to be an aggressive timeline to have it running and trust worthy. You won't be able to get parts

 

[JebTheSheep]

You have to ship it internationally in 2 months? For you to drive? That's going to be an aggressive timeline to have it running and trust worthy. You won't be able to get parts

I thought as much… It isn’t completely necessary to get it running in 2 months but I think it’ll make shipping a bit cheaper and easier for me.

 

[Paul_G]

The best bang for your bucks is a running motor home 440. You can use all of it, all the accessories on the front, exhaust manifolds, even the thermoquad if it still has one. Just need to swap the truck oil pan for a car one. You can find these around a $1000 still. Plan on another few hundred for mounts, fluids, clean up, paint, gaskets, etc.

You can find A833 4 speeds used now and then. Around $1500 should get all of it. Bell housing shifter and linkage. New clutch might be another few hundred for a good one. Again a little more for gaskets and fluids if needed.

Drive shaft? Brakes?

 

[JebTheSheep]

The best bang for your bucks is a running motor home 440. You can use all of it, all the accessories on the front, exhaust manifolds, even the thermoquad if it still has one. Just need to swap the truck oil pan for a car one. You can find these around a $1000 still. Plan on another few hundred for mounts, fluids, clean up, paint, gaskets, etc.

You can find A833 4 speeds used now and then. Around $1500 should get all of it. Bell housing shifter and linkage. New clutch might be another few hundred for a good one. Again a little more for gaskets and fluids if needed.

Drive shaft? Brakes?

Yeah the shell still has the driveshaft which is great. Thanks for the advice on the motor homes, but I do have one question. What do I do with the body of the motor home when I take out the engine?

 

[radical rob]

Sounds like you need a engine, trans etc. happen to have a 440 and an a833 available. Pm me if interested

 

[Lefty71]

PM me if you should decide to pass on it. I'd be curious if there are rust issues and where it is. Thx.

 

[R413]

Car looks decent. Now Let’s look at the facts.

you are 16, you are low on skills, experience, money
you have 2 months
car has no engine trans.
Unknown brakes and wiring
4 speed swap adds so many headaches to this equation

it’s just not going to happen.

I mean no offense with these facts.

 

[JebTheSheep]

Car looks decent. Now Let’s look at the facts.

you are 16, you are low on skills, experience, money
you have 2 months
car has no engine trans.
Unknown brakes and wiring
4 speed swap adds so many headaches to this equation

it’s just not going to happen.

I mean no offense with these facts.

Yeah haha it’s just I have family who have done similar things and have big workshops I can use, and where im moving to is a hellhole for buying car, literally 10x the prices here in the US. I know it probably won’t happen.

 

[JebTheSheep]

The best bang for your bucks is a running motor home 440. You can use all of it, all the accessories on the front, exhaust manifolds, even the thermoquad if it still has one. Just need to swap the truck oil pan for a car one. You can find these around a $1000 still. Plan on another few hundred for mounts, fluids, clean up, paint, gaskets, etc.

You can find A833 4 speeds used now and then. Around $1500 should get all of it. Bell housing shifter and linkage. New clutch might be another few hundred for a good one. Again a little more for gaskets and fluids if needed.

Drive shaft? Brakes?

Does the transmission from the 440 motor home fit the roadrunner? Because I can always swap to a manual transmission later, and this would get rid of a lot of headaches for now.

 

[moparwacko]

Your best shot at getting it driving/movable is finding a running/driving C body. Then you will have almost everything to make it happen. Big block C bodies are getting harder to find but they are still around and less expensive than a big block B body.
Good luck

 

[VANDAN]

Remember one thing, when you are on a limited time schedule: Setbacks Are Unavoidable...

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Most motorhome 727 tailshafts don't have a slip yoke like a car. Tail shaft is completly different and it takes a donor transmission to switch parts. I just did the swap.
You will need a car transmission. If it was a 4 speed I would put one back in.
Not many aftermarket body parts are available for a 73. If it's hiding rust, there isn't much of anything available that I know of.

 

[JebTheSheep]

Most motorhome 727 tailshafts don't have a slip yoke like a car. Tail shaft is completly different and it takes a donor transmission to switch parts. I just did the swap.
You will need a car transmission. If it was a 4 speed I would put one back in.

I found a motor home with a “long tail” transmission. What does this mean as opposed to a short tail?

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Not sure, I think they did two tail shaft lengths on a rv with a fixed yoke. But,It is possible a Long tail might be like a car if It came out of a lighter duty rv like a van. Picture would be obvious. If it has a fixed yoke on the back end of it is not what you need.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Our first 440 swap came out of a rv. We had a 383 in the car though and swapped parts. I was 16 or 17 at the time.

 

[Lefty71]

I found a motor home with a “long tail” transmission. What does this mean as opposed to a short tail?

You need a long tail, like about 14" long, and slip style....no bolt on yoke for the application you are using it in.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Talking about the tail shaft housing. Not just the lenght but the provision for the Z link bracket.