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V Code RR Results from Mecum

Frame off........mine was a frame REPLACE!!!!!!! Actually, there are only 5 pieces of original metal remaining on my car so what would you call that?????
 
Darius said:
Frame off........mine was a frame REPLACE!!!!!!! Actually, there are only 5 pieces of original metal remaining on my car so what would you call that?????
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About as painful as mine. Drivers front rail is still the OE.. all others, cross member, entire floor pan firewall to bumper, bumper support, rear leaf mounts, door skins, rockers, etc all new. Quarters were OEM that we did in '78 as they were already rotted and gone just 9 years since new from driving salt laden Ontario roads.
 
moparedtn said:
Boggles my mind we have someone right here on FBBO that's picking apart a V-Code as we speak....
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...as in customizing hell out of it to the point where it won't even resemble what a v-code is....
 
moparedtn said:
Boggles my mind we have someone right here on FBBO that's picking apart a V-code as we speak

...as in customizing hell out of it to the point where it won't even resemble what a v-code is....
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I think I know whom you speak of

IIRC it was a none #'s 70 RR to start with too
it's his, their car to do whatever they/he wants with it
no harm no foul

to each their own, different stroke for different folks
not everything needs to be a 100pt OE concourse restoration
IMO it'd be boring as hell if they all were

who am I to judge another man
& what he wants to do with his own property & $$$
 
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Hey-O said:
Like Jerry said, you either have the money or you can turn crap into apple butter.
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I have to steal that one for personal use later. :rofl:
 
Budnicks said:
I think I know whom you speak of

IIRC it was a none #'s 70 RR to start with too
it's his, their car to do whatever they/he wants with it
no harm no foul

to each their own, different stroke for different folks
not everything needs to be a 100pt OE concourse restoration
IMO it'd be boring as hell if they all were

who am I to judge another man
& what he wants to do with his own property & $$$
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I agree - to an extent.
It's always been my opinion that we don't have the freedom to go crazy with any of the
rare "pedigree" cars out there, though. There's a responsibility, a stewardship that comes with
such cars - after all, if everyone went silly with them, there'd wind up being no examples of
what they were new - and hence, that whole special attraction, intrigue, magic they were.

If one wants to "do whatever they want", spiffy - sure, have at it...on a car that wasn't anything
special to begin with.
Just my opinion. That and $5 will get RC a cup of cheap java....
 
moparedtn said:
Boggles my mind we have someone right here on FBBO that's picking apart a V-Code as we speak....
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Let's see...who could that be?? :wetting:
I'll get back to you on the "picking apart" classification...
moparedtn said:
...as in customizing hell out of it to the point where it won't even resemble what a v-code is....
Click to expand...
Maybe me? And yet I still make it a point to put the phrase "real V-code" in some of my posts...because IT IS.
I'll get to that "won't even resemble what a V-code is" comment too.
You know, not only did I notice the all black, (triple black isn't accurate, since it doesn't have a vinyl or convertible top)
19,100 original miles, original drivetrain, one concours repaint in 2017 (I'm going to guess, just a guess, probably cost $15 grand, but surely could have been more, way more) one owner, drop dead gorgeous V-code Roadrunner, I re-scanned the Saturday Mecum auction after I watched it because in the preview of the car I saw, they said it was crossing the block Saturday, but nope! I didn't see it on the first nor second time I reviewed the auction.
I record ALL Mecum auctions, so I don't miss any, and I can skip the stuff I'm not interested in knowing anything about. I don't just watch for the cool cars I like, I watch to see what trends are happening and how buyers are responding to those trends. It's been interesting, watching the trends. Resto-Mods and some "Pro Street" style rides bring huge money, FAR more than even one owner, pristine, numbers matching, low mileage examples of the exact same car! Not always, but it's a noticeable trend. On the "Pro Street" side of that equation, they too may bring major coin, but not nearly as often as Resto-Mods, but they sure look cool and menacing, and the majority of them can back up the look with lightning fast track times.
Now, I am going to address Ed's comments.
The "picking apart" of my Roadrunner happened over the years from 1970 up to March 29th, 2014, the day I exchanged a check for my baby, my dream car, actually the "beyond my hopes" dream car, my real V-code 70 Roadrunner. I had seen it advertised for $58,000 or thereabouts, and I saw in the description it was a real V-code car, although the ad didn't say anything about it being numbers matching or not. I was pretty sure at that price it couldn't be numbers matching, but I knew it was a 440 6bbl 4 speed Dana 60 equipped car, my favorite color combo, BY FAR, and looked like it was in good shape, very nice looking driver.
None of that really mattered all that much, because at $58K it was about $16K-$18K OVER the price I was shopping at. All of that cool stuff, how beautiful the Lemon Twist and Black paint combo looked, the legendary Pistol Grip shifter, in this case the "boldest" Pistol Grip shifter made, w/no console and a bench seat, they are the longest/tallest kind, and REALLY stand out. Yeah, that oval air cleaner cover was sure nice, especially knowing that 1,350 CFM worth of Holley six barrel beauty and neck snapping performance was lurking underneath, and for me, the only thing missing from that picture was my all time favorite, bar NONE, fresh air setup, the N96 Air Grabber. The 15" Rallye wheels, so stylish and a little more tire capacity to improve performance compared to the Magnum 5 spoke 14" factory wheels like I had back in 1978 on my factory stock 71 Charger R/T. Yeah, I really liked those Rallye wheels, especially on this car.
All of that just made my despair worse, because there she was, SO FINE, and I had been looking for a few months, but as far as I knew when I found her, it was just going to be another beautiful car that checked off the boxes of what I had been generally looking for, and on top of that, she checked off boxes that I certainly knew about, but dare not put on MY "list" because cars like that were just out of my reach.
Still, ya never know, and I went ahead and called the dealership anyway.
I let them know I had been looking at 68-70 B-Body Dodge and Plymouth cars, and although I had started out looking for a Coronet Super Bee or R/T, I had opened up the search parameters to the same 68-70 year models Roadrunner and GTX cars, because my parents' 69 Roadrunner was the car (and the one year they owned it, the experiences I had riding in it, a couple "unforgettable") that made me forever a MOPAR Man, and my best friend had a bad *** 1970 Pistol Grip, warmed over 383 Roadrunner I had hooked him up with the owner of, and we had a lot of memories of that car from the late 70s, early 80s when we were heavily into the street cruising, street racing, and car club show lifestyle, for guys our age.
We were too far apart on their asking price and what I was looking for, but I left it at "I am definitely interested and I am definitely going to be buying a car like that soon, but I would keep on looking, but please see what you can do, because I REALLY loved the car they had for sale.
I continued looking in my search parameters, and over the next day or two found out that USAA, my bank certainly appreciated the value of that "V" in the VIN, because they really stepped up for me on the loan offer, and gave me some hope AND some "firepower" to negotiate with. Yes! Yes I was a prequalified buyer, so take me seriously because someone is going to earn my business. So I saw a car or two that I "liked" but once I saw that beautiful car I just didn't see "lesser" cars quite the same, and I was close...
Well beyond hope, they came down far enough for me to step up to the point where we made a deal. I did the paperwork with my bank, and they overnighted the check.
My wife had just got her dream car about a week earlier, and although her 1965 original 4bbl real GTO, that had been upgraded to a very well executed "Royal Bobcat Tribute" car with its 421 Tripower where the original 389 4bbl had sat at one time and the Hurst 4 speed didn't qualify for as big a loan as my Roadrunner did, it was beautiful, and her search that I had been helping with for some 5 or 6 years since a Mayfair Maze (light yellow) 65 Royal Bobcat 421 Tripower GTO 4 speed car had planted a seed in both our minds, a car that we missed out on, well this one was a rare color called Iris Mist, and while it wasn't yellow, it had the 421 Tripower and 3rd pedal, and the mystique of the whole "Royal Bobcat" legacy, and we were both happy that that long wait had ended...for her.
So that same best friend I had hooked up with his 70 383 4 speed Roadrunner way back around 1979 jumped in for the "turn and burn" driving marathon that was going to be challenging, leaving late Friday and towing his car trailer all the way from south Louisiana up to Missouri, do a quick in person checkout of my Roadrunner, swap the check that my bank had printed out the agreed upon price for, load her up and make it back, and back to the grind Monday morning.
I was giddy when we rolled up on Fast Lane Classic Cars dealership, and the visual impact was damn near overwhelming! So many beautiful classic muscle cars, including some of those really special ones, LS-6 Corvette, real Shelby Cobra cars, just too many to list. I looked around a bit and there was MY car, and with the rear facing a concrete bulkhead, when we fired it up and the Purple Stripe 292°/.509 cam conducted the symphony of internal combustion through a full 3" exhaust system, only somewhat restrained by Flowmaster 40 series mufflers, but bouncing off that bulkhead which served to amplify that wonderful sound, MAN was I happy!
Then I started the close up inspection. The exterior paint and stripes were beautiful, but the trunk floor looked a little heavy with body filler, and a chunk of it had cracked, and when I gave that edge a little tug, I wound up with a chunk of yellow painted body filler in my hand, the actual trunk floor surface revealed. Rusty? Sure, but fortunately not perforated, but that really cranked up my senses, because now I saw that I was going to have to look more than just skin deep.
Hey Ed, I guess that was the first thing I "picked apart" on my car, but it certainly wouldn't be the last.
I got in and sat behind the wheel on the driver's side of what seemed like a couch. The factory bench seat, which was in great condition, just a little ambiguous as to where my butt and body belonged, because it was a BENCH seat after all, not nearly as secure feeling as a bucket seat, but hey, enough of that, time to fire up that 440 6bbl and hit the road with the sales rep in the back seat and my best friend on the other side of "the couch".
I turned the key, but the key cylinder was sloppy and "sticky" and although it fired right up, I could hear the starter spinning and realized the sticky key cylinder hadn't rotated back into its proper "run" position.
Hmm..add that to the list that "trunk rust abatement" had started.
Head out on the road, the shifter, while super cool, sure was sloppy, and the steering wheel pulled to the right, and applying the brakes made that pull a LOT worse. Well, that may be those outdated drum brakes, so I had plans of putting disc brakes up front anyway, so add that to the now ever growing list. It ran ok, no noticeable problems, but I didn't know just what to expect and not having piloted any old school big block cars for decades, other than the GTO when we picked up my wife's car about a week earlier, and the 87 octane piss fuel that dealer put in all their cars along with what I would come to find was a really bad combination of way too far advanced timing and the static high compression of a performance 65 421. That test drive revealed a very unhappy 421 and the possibility of the need to do an engine rebuild in the future, and that led to me demanding an additional discount off our previously agreed upon price.
So after a test drive in the Roadrunner that was "ok" and the problems that kept popping up, I did a careful walk around and saw the grill and passenger side of the front of the fender weren't lined up quite as cleanly as the other side, and the headlight was out of alignment. I had them work on that before I left. I also had them put the driver's side roll up window back on the track, because that whole time I was driving it it was resting on the bottom of the door. I had found enough problems just like on the GTO, and although they were of a different nature, I was still concerned enough that if they didn't cut about 1,400 off I was going to come home with my check and leave the car behind. I was actually pissed that them knowing I was coming there to close the deal we had made, they didn't bother to check the window was on track.
So that was the beginning of what I would find over the course of me working on my car, over the 6 years I've had her, that there had been I don't know how many people "picking it apart" for one reason or another, including some track time I'm sure, but they used "whatever fit" in the process, to where there were bolts and nuts of all different kinds all over the place, and I was going to at least try to use the same kinds of nuts and bolts to replace the grab bag of crap that had been put on this car over the 44 years of her life before we met.
You see, when I was driving my Roadrunner on the test drive, and the unexpected problems list was getting longer and longer, problems that I wasn't expecting and certainly wasn't going to be able to get them to fully compensate me for in the form of a discount big enough to cover getting ALL of that stuff fixed, I decided that this ol' girl truly is something VERY special, and definitely was a real V-code car, and that she had had kind of a rough life in some ways, mainly not caring about the quality or attention to detail that such an awesome car deserved, but I was blessed to have been able to make a deal on what is a true benchmark of old school muscle, the renowned "V-code 6 pack" of legend and lore, and although she had lost the original warrior spirit that was under the hood, the replacement mill was good enough to work with, and that "V" would always be present in the VIN, and that I was going to take her home with me, and anytime I could afford to fix, repair, replace, bring order to chaos, polish, clean, or upgrade the package I was committing myself to that I would, and give her a good home where she will be loved and respected.
So that is exactly what I have done! As the opportunity to replace a mixed bag of nuts and bolts with the same kind of high quality hardware all doing the same job has presented itself, that is what you will find. Are all of the nuts and bolts and clips "correct"? For the most part, no, they are not factory original correct parts, but they are nice looking, strong, and if they do the same task, they are at least ALL THE SAME. The bad front drum brakes were replaced w/Dr. Diff disc conversion brakes, drilled and slotted in keeping my promise to my baby that I was going to do the BEST I could when I could, to make her look and perform better, stronger, and look beautiful doing it, and increasing her value to ME as I go along, that value being increasing the JOY I GET from the responsibility of ownership. I found another reason why it pulled right, and bought a used stock lower control arm for the passenger side, replacing the bent LCA that I discovered.
I got those outboard carbs opening properly, and I was rewarded with that unique RUSH of power that the legendary 6bbl brings in a way that only "the 6bbl guys" know
I replaced worn valve springs and lifters, and while I was at it, replaced the pushrods, locks, and retainers. She rewarded me with an INCREDIBLE amount of power that had been missing beyond the artificial wall that she used to hit, hit because of worn parts no one else bothered to look at.
Even though I brought her to experienced highly regarded front suspension technicians, they never could get her alignment perfect, and in keeping with my promise, perfection is what I demand. It's not because of any kind of damage and the frame is certainly straight and in great shape, as is the K-member, but it's the limited adjustments available with the cams on the UCAs. I have had 2 brand new sets of front tires wear down to the belts, but only about 1/4 of the tread width, because of a failure of the nut that holds one of the factory UCAs in adjustment and in place. I found out that there are offset bushings that can take care of that, but much much better designed suspension components have been engineered and developed since then, and I am keeping my promise to give my baby the BEST that I can. So QA1 and SPC now take care of ALL of my front suspension duties, with new materials and technology that make the driving experience FAR BETTER than even new cars had back in the day. Viking shocks front and rear that give her some of the best in the business, and give me the performance I want at the track and a nice ride on the street. I still have my non #s matching a833 18 spline 4 speed, but now she has a Passon Performance a855 5 speed, that when you get one the way they all should be-an amazing combination of top notch, highest quality materials parts and engineering that makes this fantastic 5 speed fit right where the original transmission fits, WITHOUT CUTTING UP any part of the precious "V-code" sheetmetal. I'm not sacrificing performance for the "honor" of keeping the transmission tunnel intact, but I sure as heck have sacrificed a LOT OF MONEY to keep it and the very important transmission crossmember intact too.
I've never had brakes that no matter how I tried, or Cass tried, work quite like I wanted them to, but the Wilwood system on my wife's GTO has been outstanding, and now, I can say my car is likely going to be the ONLY one, or certainly one of a very few, B-Body Mopars with 6 piston Wilwood disc brake calipers on ALL 4 corners, because what woman doesn't like fancy shoes, and I promised her the best after all...
Promax modded Holley carbs take the major progress that I've made over the years tuning my 6bbl to be a FINE example vs the terrifying nightmare of what a 6 pack could be to the highest level of performance and reliability now, and make it easier to get the ultimate performance I am going to need and demand for when I put them on the Bill Mitchell aluminum block I have in the works, again a MAJOR investment to buy the best, not something that will be on the edge of survival in a few seasons or years, but something that is so strong, so exceptionally well designed and produced, that it will be reliable and powerful, more powerful than "average" high performance builds, and although it's likely to have my old school Super Stock Weiand CrossFlow 6bbl intake atop its 541 cubic inches, my V-code Roadrunner is ALWAYS, ALWAYS going to have 3x2 of "something" atop it, feeding her fuel and air, copious amounts of it, BECAUSE THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES of what a "V-code car is. I already had my VHX gauges from Dakota Digital for almost 3 years, and I was so excited to finally be able to get it installed, but damn Dakota Digital, they just HAD TO come out with their RETRO RTX series gauge system, that looks just like the original factory Rally gauges, including the "revered Tic-Toc Tach" that my car didn't have, but now that I've spent DOUBLE the cost of the VHX series I would have been happy with, now I can have a dash and gauges that sure look like the BEST ever factory dash and gauges, but it WORKS far, far better than any 1970 factory dash worked.
All of these parts and power increasing performance improvements would be useless without traction, so I replaced my worn out leaf springs with....
Split mono Calvert leaf springs!! That happened in a thread where some experienced forum members talked me down off the ledge I had been standing on for a year, "certain" I was going "to jump" into a RMS or Gerst triangulated 4 link rear suspension, but in the interests of preserving the integrity of that critical area of my car, and being assured by many members that I would have all of the performance capabilities I could ever use, and it may be even better because of ease of adjustability, I abandoned the 4 link. Now I did add Assassin traction bars, because once again, I have to have traction or the biggest part of that kind of fun I have with my car, that I've always wanted, that is expected of a muscle car, is get up and go, not sit still and smoke.
So "resembling a V-Code"?
It is more of what the heart and soul of a V-Code is now than it was when I rescued it. It no longer stutters or fails to open the outboards and ROAR. It steers and stops, FAR BETTER than it EVER did. The power it puts out now can be put to use, so when someone is expecting "legendary six pack" performance, I'm going to show them what that looks like, turned up to ELEVEN!
Oh, and it offers comfort no factory V-code ever did because it has Vintage Air AC, and that's really nice when you live in the swampy south like I do. Last but not least, while I'm keeping cool, the Wraptor serpentine belt and accessories system and Cold Case radiator is going to keep her cool and I'll enjoy parallel parking in July at 2pm with my Borgeson power steering, and that cool, dry Vintage Air!
 
Nope not reading all that, but I'll sum it up! My Car.. I'll do what ever the F I want to it and don't care what you think or think you know, I don't care about end value as I'll be dead on a slab when the car is sold! Did I come close??
:D
 
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dadsbee said:
Nope not reading all that, but I'l sum it up! My Car.. I'll do what ever the F I want to it and don't care what you think or think you know, I don't care about end value as I'll be dead on a slab when the car is sold! Did I come close??
:D
Click to expand...
Yes sir you did. The part you skipped I'll sum up:
I never thought I'd be able to get a V-Code, but this ONE, this very special and dear to me ONE came along at just the right time for BOTH of us, me and my car. She was a bit of a mess when I found her, she'd never be "original" again, that was impossible, but I have kept my promise I made when I rescued her to make her better, cleaner, quicker, safer, and we are BOTH having fun and living a MUCH better life for having met!
 
It's a car... just enjoy and do what ever makes you feel good! To think back on what we did to these beauties when we were Teens... anything we do today has to be an upgrade compared to the '70's and '80's!
 
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