New Guy - 71 RoadRunner

[eZrider]

Just a quick note to say hello to those on this board. I've been lurking for a while so I suppose it's time I introduce myself. I'm the proud owner of a real RM23 '71 Roadrunner. My father and I found the car in 1995 in pretty poor shape - non-running, lots of bondo, beat up interior, wrong engine, but no rust at all. We picked it up for $200 and began a restoration that lasted several years. It's now B5 (originally GA5 winchester grey) and sports a lightly modified 383 backed by a 727. There is still plenty of work to be done on the RR and I have lots of plans. Our original resto brought it back 90%... it's always that last 10% that is the hardest. I moved away shortly after we completed the initial restoration and the car has been in storage for nearly 15 years. I recently had it shipped to NC and have started working towards completing the process. I found the Nest and was excited to see a group of 71-74 B-Body enthusiasts and amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this board. Looking forward to sharing.

Had a chance to take it out a few days ago... the first time in many years:






Rich

[gary]

That looks very nice, Nice story too!
Welcome to the nest

[gionni]

Welcome here and nice Runner!

[CtownRunner]

Welcome, enjoy your car this summer!

[bruce]

North Carolina? Did you say North Carolina? Where in NC are you located? I'm in Graham...

Oh, and NICE ride!

[asuperdry]

NICE! Glad you made it.

[Eric]

Nice runner! Welcome to the Nest

[RoadrunnerSteve]

Nice RR! Welcome!

[eZrider]

Thanks everyone!

Hey Bruce, I'm only 45 minutes east of you in Cary!

[bruce]

Cool, maybe one of these days we'll cross paths... what shows/cruises do you go to? Also, keep my buddies at US Car Tool in Durham in mind if you need anything for the car or done to it. They do Mopar restorations and repair and also have some great services and products for our cars. They've done a lot of work on my Road Runner...

[eZrider]

I make it out to some of the local events in Raleigh like the Grill 57 cruise in. Haven't had the RR to any of them yet.

I plan on talking to US Car Tool about some suspension work and chassis stiffening. Maybe they can help me out with a few other things too.

[71bird]

Hey there will be a good Mopar show over in Marion N.C. this Sat.

[bruce]

I make it out to some of the local events in Raleigh like the Grill 57 cruise in. Haven't had the RR to any of them yet.

I plan on talking to US Car Tool about some suspension work and chassis stiffening. Maybe they can help me out with a few other things too.

Car Tool actually did the k-member and suspension on my RR--took the k-member all apart, blasted the components and powder coated them, and then reassembled it all with the bushings of my choice. My car was also the first '71 RR they put subframe connectors on. I believe they now offer connectors specifically made for '71s as a result.

You can see the k-member in this photo of the engine/k-member getting ready to go back in the car. I'm using the Car Tool K-member Dolly and their Unibody Lift--that thing bolted to the bumper bracket mounts, to lift the front of the car over the engine assembly.

They also hooked me up with my drilled and slotted disc brake setup seen in the second photo.

John and his crew are good people!

It's been a LONG time since I've gotten down to a Grille 57 cruise. Need to do that again!

[mopar71]

Welcome to the nest,it's nice to see guys help each other out,that's what's great about this site!

[eZrider]

It's been a while and it's time for an update. I've been busy making a few upgrades on the RoadRunner and thought I would share. I first started with focusing on improving the handling and steering and then followed by some improvements to the drivetrain (including an auto to manual conversion). The car is an absolute blast to drive - huge improvements to where it was 3 years ago. A few mods that I made with the help of my good friends at US car tool:

• USCT Subframe Connectors & Torque arms

• Firm Feel tubular UCAs

• Firm Feel torsion bars and ESPO lowering springs

• Hellwig front/rear sway bars

• Bilstien Shocks

• Firm Feel Stage III power steering gearbox

• TTI headers & Dynomax VT exhuast

• Dr Diff 3.91 Suregrip differential

• Passon 4 Speed Conversion

• Holley Terminator EFI

• Boyd's wheels & BFG tires

• Tank Tracks

• Go-wing

Many thanks to those on this forum as well. There is a wealth of knowledge here.