1973 Roadrunner

[Coppermine]

The continuation of 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner from first posting page. It was sold new to a woman in Tacooca, Georgia. She drove it 99,000 miles and parked it in 2002. A repair man helping her with a home remodel spotted it and he took it home in 2008. He put another 2,200 miles on it with the odometer showing 2,500 miles. He then parked it. It was moved to a small Museum in Clarksville, Georgia several years back with no change in miles on the odometer. I visited the museum for a while and eventually became a volunteer and then a contributor to the Miles Through Time Museum. The more I looked at the car the more I liked it. One` day while talking to a man in the local car club he mentioned that he restored muscle cars for a living. We started a conversation about this car and reached an agreement about the cost and how decisions would be made if he was given the job. One day he told me that he had an opening in his schedule and if I wanted to do the restoration, he had no other jobs in the way. I bought the car and the restoration started February, 2022. I hope a picture follows here.

 

[thrashingcows]

Car looks very nice...how was it optioned from the factory?

 

[Dr.Jass]

Oooooh... black! I have a soft spot in my heart for black '73-'74 poultry. I've brought it up many times in the past, but one of the first cars I looked at to purchase was a black/white interior U-code '73 that was also a stripe-delete car. That was back in '85, and the dealership was asking $600 (well, demanding really). Looking back on it, that was too much for the work required: the floors were smoked, header collectors had rusted off, the floor shifter was broken, etc. Apparently it went north to become a parts car for someone's project. I've no doubt it's been soup cans for decades.

Yours looks like a peach and makes me wish I could've saved that 440 car.

 

[Coppermine]

The obvious would start with a 340v8 with a 4bbl carb, three speed slap shifter, bucket seats, power steering, power disk brakes, air conditioning, black vinyl seats, the wheels are an option, i do not know what they are called, dual inside controlled mirrors, the am radio has a rear seat speaker that seems to be mopar and the fader switch on the dash board looks to be wired as an option. The instrument arrangement on the dash looks to be an upgrade as well as the steering wheel. I have not found a source to show what options were available to help identify any that I might have missed. Two more features on this car; 1, A dealer installed hood tachometer and a body stripe delete.
The first order of business was to clean the car. Up on the lift we found mouse nests everywhere. They had been in the interior and every opening available. As plentiful were mud nests from wasps. Once clean, inspection began. We found surface rust, none that had become a problem.

 

[Coppermine]

This may not be the place to post this, but it seems to go along with the options question. Back in 1973 I purchased a Satellite Sebring . Because I was born a pack rat it is not surprising that I have the window sticker from that car . Is there any way I can get one of these for the Roadrunner?
This car had a dealer installed option, rear window defogger.

 

[69.5CUDA]

cool to see the sales sheet

by that pic tho it looks like a survivor that doesnt need restored

 

[Dr.Jass]

If you've got a build sheet, you should be able to get a reproduction. One detail they cannot reproduce, though, is the typed-in information on the bottom line to the left of the total price. "0905" is the actual build date of the car (September 5th, 1972). That date only appears on the window sticker, which was printed literally as the car came off the end of the production line. At best, a repro guy can guess.

The date stamped on the data tag is not the build date, it is the date the VIN number was added to the production schedule. It's usually a few weeks prior to the car actually being built. If memory serves, my old Challenger's window sticker indicates 0209 but the SPD on the data tag was 0122.

I believe the "G04" is reference to the assembly plant (St. Louis in this case).

See the differences in darkness in different typewritten characters, but the consistency of darkness for any particular character? All the Ys are dark, but the commas are darker still. Character spacing is very inconsistent as well. Those are peculiarities of the computer printers used back then, which were similar to teletype machines. I've yet to see a reproduction that duplicates either idiosyncracy. Reproductions are manually typewritten: Perfect spacing and consistent character darkness. They're extremely easy to spot.

 

[Coppermine]

We have the metal tag that is attached under the hood. The build sheet has not been located, yet. I will get a better look inside in a few days. It would be interesting to know the difference in price between the Satellite VS the Roadrunner. Back in 1973 I was married with three children. I owned a home and made
$5.77 an hour. My wife did not work and car loans were 24 months, or if you were lucky. 36 months. Makes me wonder how we managed.
The outside of this car shows well. As the work progresses you will see That the time sitting has taken a toll on what you do not see.
Thanks to everyone reading and commenting on these posts. Your input, comments, corrections, and knowledge about everything Mopar and Roadrunner are great. As this story moves on from here, it will become obvious that I am not doing the work. In many cases I am repeating back what has been done. That is why I say "we".
One last reply. The comments about the printing and look of a window sticker were informative. I will think about them often.
John

 

[Stretch]

Cool car and story. I like the window sticker. The "Extra care in Engineering. It makes a difference......" provided a good chuckle for me. My untouched '73 Dodge Dart has a factory installed Plymouth steering wheel.

 

[Dr.Jass]

It says "Extra Care in Engineering", not "Assembly". That horn button fits perfectly.

 

[Stretch]

It says "Extra Care in Engineering", not "Assembly". That horn button fits perfectly.

Actually it is not centered.

 

[Coppermine]

While cleaning the underside of the car we found some painted letters and numbers on the back axle housing. I believe that the markings must have been added on the assembly line. I have documentation about this. If anyone knows if that is true, or not, I would like to know. We have protected the markings with a clear coat. If these are, in fact, applies during the assembly the thought is to do something with mirrors when it is at a show.
John

 

[Dr.Jass]

It was not done on the assembly line, it was done well prior to the axle arriving at the line. Those markings were identifiers placed by the axle-assembly boys so the assembly guys knew they were installing the right axle as specified on the broadcast sheet. Major subassemblies (engine, transmission, rear axle, dash) were not built on the line, they were installed as complete units. In fact, if your negative battery cable is original, you should see blue overspray tapering away from the engine end of it. The engine end and its securing bolt should have remnants of blue paint, if not being very blue. The negative cable was installed at the engine plant (a completely different building) before the engine was even painted, so it and its bolt got paint on them. Some call it sloppy; I call it a modicum of corrosion protection. Engine masking was minimal, which is why valve-cover grommets always have cracked engine color on them (except in cases of factory chrome or black-wrinkle covers).

Based on the condition of the underbody and especially the rear axle, that car does not warrant restoration. Freshening perhaps, but leave as much original everything as possible. Original is original; "restored to original" is not. A "Survivor Tent" is a real thing reserved for cars showing exceptional original condition. The more you restore, the more you hurt the originality and hence, its value.

 

[69.5CUDA]

ditto on what doc said..the pics speak volumes for the car being a true survivor that just needs to be touched only enough to preserve and enjoy, anything else is a dis-service to the car

honestly im not one for being original..i love modded cars, but at some point there wont be any originals left.....restored is NOT original

 

[Coppermine]

It was not done on the assembly line, it was done well prior to the axle arriving at the line. Those markings were identifiers placed by the axle-assembly boys so the assembly guys knew they were installing the right axle as specified on the broadcast sheet. Major subassemblies (engine, transmission, rear axle, dash) were not built on the line, they were installed as complete units. In fact, if your negative battery cable is original, you should see blue overspray tapering away from the engine end of it. The engine end and its securing bolt should have remnants of blue paint, if not being very blue. The negative cable was installed at the engine plant (a completely different building) before the engine was even painted, so it and its bolt got paint on them. Some call it sloppy; I call it a modicum of corrosion protection. Engine masking was minimal, which is why valve-cover grommets always have cracked engine color on them (except in cases of factory chrome or black-wrinkle covers).

Based on the condition of the underbody and especially the rear axle, that car does not warrant restoration. Freshening perhaps, but leave as much original everything as possible. Original is original; "restored to original" is not. A "Survivor Tent" is a real thing reserved for cars showing exceptional original condition. The more you restore, the more you hurt the originality and hence, its value.

Thanks for the information. I am learning a great deal as I work through this project. I find these decisions to be very hard. There are places that original as possible means "not original" . And at some point, as you describe, it becomes restored to original. I am going to post what has happened with the engine and the choices we made. The comments received here are very informative and have generated a basis for understanding the consequences of each choice made. Please keep them coming, there is nothing like facts to keep this project on track.
John