More info about the raffle car.
This 1969 Road Runner started life as a typical “G” code Road Runner. When we got it in 1998 as a daily driver for the wife, it was primer black, had been abused most of its life and was worn out in every way. It had manual steering and manual 4 wheel drum brakes. It had the normal Mopar rust in all of the usual places like under the rear window, in the trunk floor and on the rear fenders. But on the bright side unlike so many Road Runners of this age it did not appear that it had ever suffered a major front end collision. Inside the passenger compartment the floors were solid but showed signs that it had at one time been modified to be a 4-speed by the crude hole and patch on the transmission tunnel. But it still had a ton of torque and was a blast for the missus to drive around town giving the rice burners a lesson in American muscle every chance she got.
Upon taking a look at the fender tag though we realized that is was a rather rare color combination being that it was an A4 silver exterior with the 2-tone blue bench seat interior. We knew right then that this car had to be repainted its original color since this has been said to be rarer than black.
It was first reconstructed back to original in early 1999 with new metal in all of the needed areas and a new coat of A4 silver. A healthy 0.30 over 383 with 10.5 to 1 compression and a big Mopar purple cam shaft mated up to a rebuilt, hard shifting 727 automatic made for some decent motivation. We put on a set of 14” magnum 500s and some BFG rubber for rolling stock. Now back on the road and roaring through the flow master mufflers, it was a definite attention getter going down the road. Not as much as if had been orange but people still took notice.
In 2006 we took it to the Mopars at the Strip show in Vegas for some drag racing. Having never raced on a drag strip and having some awful reaction times during the practice sessions, I got some drag racing tips from one of my good friends who had been drag racing for 3 + decades. We were pleasantly surprised when at the end of the weekend we had won the “street” class with some consistent times around 15 seconds and more than a bit of luck.
In 2009, the wife was tired of the manual brakes and manual steering and had also decided a bit more power was in order. So we took the car apart again and sent it off to have the 10 year old paint freshened up. Once back from paint, we installed a Painless wiring harness to get rid of the fire prone and gremlin prone bulkhead connector at the firewall. We then installed the fresh air pin down fiberglass hood from Year One. Then all new suspension components including new bushings, new torsion bars, leaf springs and sway bar from Firm Feel were installed. Out back, the fuel tank was sent out and cleaned and a new pickup and sending unit from Quanta along with a 3/8” stainless fuel line was installed to feed the motor. Up front a 0.30 over 440 topped off with a 6-pack manifold and Holley carbs tuned by Shaun Murphy Induction made for some serious improvement in the “go” department. Then, a 4 wheel power disc system sourced from Master Power brakes along with new stainless brake lines made for a serious improvement in the “whoa” department. Then a power steering box and pump sourced from Bouchillon performance went in to make the ol’ car a bit easier to get through the corners. The steering column sourced from Cuda Darrell Finch was changed out in to hook up to the new P/S box. The drive shaft got new joints and balanced. The 3.23 ratio rear end got new bearings and seals at the Gear Man in Garden Grove. Finally a set of black police wheels with 60 series BFGs were put on to give the car just the right look.
In 2010, we took it back to Vegas for the Mopars at the strip. Out on the drag strip, the extra power made consistency and traction an issue and we were out in the first round going way faster than what our dial in was. But over on the other side of the venue was something new. Hotchkiss and Keisler had set up the inaugural autocross to see if there would be any takers among the Mopar faithful. Better than that; it was free. So we took the car over to see what it would do. A few runs in, the car was getting faster and faster until it then it overcame the front tire’s ability to turn and some cones got plowed down. John Hotchkiss then gave me some advice. He said, “Next time through leave your transmission in low and when you get to the corner, tap the brakes to set the front end down on the tires. As you turn in, stab the 6-pack and slide the back end around until you get pointed back into the straight. Then lift up on the throttle briefly, point the wheels straight and stab it again.” After that sound advice, it was on. When the event finished up we had gotten second place in the B body class between 2 Hotchkiss prepped cars and drivers. Not bad for a first timer and a big ol’ Mopar.
More recently at the 2013 Mopars at the strip event with some 15”x10” steelies and a set of BFG drag radials it did a best time of 13.49 while still running the open 3.23 ration rear end. Soon though it will have a Strange Dana 60 out back to complete the package and make for some hopefully better track times for whoever wins the car.
Now the car looks good, runs better and better than that we are giving it away to benefit those less fortunate.
Tickets are $20.00 each and are a donation to charity and therefore possibly tax deductible depending on your tax situation.
More information can be found on our website, earlyrides.org. Our webpage still needs some updating with more pics of the silver Runner so please be patient while it gets redone.
Thank you to everyone in advance for your support as we continue our simple mission of "Helping the world one muscle car at a time."
I forget, is this a RM23 car or did it start as a Satellite?
