1974 PLYMOUTH ROADRUNNER
My car is a 74 Plymouth Roadrunner.
I first saw the car ten years ago for
sale in the town I lived, I loved it at first sight even though it was kind
of rough around the edges.
At the time I had just moved out on my own and
could not afford a new toy, but the car did not sit for long before it
disappeared.
I never saw the car for the next four years, during that time I
bought a 71 challenger but I eventually got rid of that, it was in need of
more than i could give it at the time, but i loved that car, so when the
time came (after i sold my 66 Ford fairlane. we all make mistakes
sometimes)to buy a new toy, I wanted another E body.
,br>
My friend told me about
a roadrunner for sale but the kid wanted $3000 and I only had $2000 to spend
on a project but I went anyway. As it turned out the kid was someone I
worked with and was fairly good friends with, an added bonus was that it was
the same car I had seen for sale four years ago!
Anyway because we were
friends he let me take the car for $2000.
After I last saw the car it went
through two hackers who took out the money parts, the pistol grip, motor,
posi chuck etc. My friend built a 68 383 with forged pistons and a 509 lift
cam (there was more than $2000 worth just in motor recepts) then put in a
swap meet pistol grip.
The car was still real rough when I took it last
fall, it had a huge dent in the rear 1/4, rust holes in the rocker, and
needed a complete interior.
I took the car home and put new tires on it (the
old ones were dry rotted,the car had not seen the road in over 6 years) and
drove it till winter. Over winter I stock piled all the parts I would need
to finish the car, I planned a vacation from work to coincide with the day I
was pulling the car out of storage. I spent the week gutting the interior, I
cut off the 1/4 and rocker welded the new ones back on put on new door
hinges so the doors would line up again.
After I straightened the body a
friend from work sprayed the car Vitamin-C for me, but I had to do the wet
sanding and buffing but he only charged me $100 to put down the color(I had
to do all the prep and masking)After the paint I put a completely new
interior in(everything was new, dash, rug, headliner etc.) but the back seat
was kept, it still looks new even after the new fronts went in!
Next step
was the stripes, I was scared because I didn't want to screw these up they
were not cheap!
But, the went on with no problems and there nice and straight
to boot! I also added the 71 spoiler and Superbird "Plymouth" stickers to
the 1/4 at this time.
After the car was painted the stock rallye wheels
didn't look right but a friend had the set you see here that still look like
new, I picked those up for $150 and an extra $100 for the new 255-60-15
BFGoodrich tires in the rear.
I put in a 3.91 posi chuck in the rear, added
an Edelbrock RPM intake with an Edelbrock 750 carb, a Mopar Performance
electronic ignition to top off the last owners beautiful short block. That's
the way the car sits now.
I can honestly say I did this whole car myself
(with the exception of paint which I might have tried had i had a place to
spray) and there were a TON of "firsts" in doing this project but it only
took 6 weeks to finish which is real good if you ask me. (I agree..(webguy)..)
I would like to
have payed someone to do it for me but I could not afford it at the time but
everyone seems to be impressed with the results and it kept the cost down!
Andy Thompson
