My low buck convertible project

[3BIRDS1X]

My convertible was originally purchased by my Dad to fix up for my Mom who had been driving a 69 hardtop since 1971 this is how it looked when they first got the car in 1981.

 

[3BIRDS1X]

My Dad finished it in '85 redone in 1970 Lime green (my Mom liked the color and doing them in the wrong year color wasn't that uncommon) with a white interior.

85 nats drive in theater



My Mom stopped driving it around 1990 when she got an upgrade? to a very low mile 68 Newport (I think she was tired of roadrunners by then) and my Dad just stored the car occasionally taking it out once in a while.

94 nats?

 

[3BIRDS1X]

photos from around when I bought it 1999-ish finally having my life in order enough to get the car. I have two brothers to keep things fair a close to market price was paid for it and everyone was fine with it. I really didn't get to do much with the car as it developed a rear main leak and I really didn't want to take it apart for fear I could not fund it and I did not want it to sit in pieces.

 

[3BIRDS1X]

Last July I sold my Harley and have given up bikes for good now and I now have a very small amount of funds to work with and I am doing a low buck freshening up I aim to redo the car in rallye green as I am doing it myself it will not be anywhere near show quality, the interior I plan on leaving as is since I have a four year old and I think it is good enough. The motor I spent good money on it has been completely gone through and balanced and has a mild Comp cam too. I replaced some stuff under the hood but most has just been cleaned up or painted.

 

[3BIRDS1X]

and yeah there is some wrong colors and some wrong stuff under the hood I just did it the way I like it as I will never sell it so whats the difference. :cheers:














The car runs well now and I have maybe ten miles or so on it, I do have an oil leak to chase I think I didn't tighten the oil pressure sending unit enough.
I took Nov and Dec. off and now I hope to get back into the swing of things and tackle the doors on back just sucks to get motivated in this cold but I'm going to have to make myself do it as I hope to be able to drive the family around in it next summer and give my son some nice road runner memories.

 

[69hemibeep]

Very nice looking

 

[moparstuart]

nice ride !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ACME A12]

Very cool, Rich!

 

[John69RR]

Looks good Rich. Like the cruise control.

 

[sixgunrunner68]

Looks great! Nice job.

 

[69B5]

Looking Good!!

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Looking awesome.......Give those kids some memories. I love listening to my girls talking about things we did when they were younger. Now they are 19 and 22.

 

[A31PKG]

Hey Rich, is this the famous "Holley Runner" ???

I did not realize it was a 'vert! Sweet!

 

[Roadcuda]

Great story Rich! And you're doing a great job on the car.

 

[Jim S.]

Looks great so far.....

 

[Collin]

that photo history is great!

ok stupid question time.....beware. What was the point of Air Conditioning in a convertible??

 

[moparchris]

Very cool! You have been holding out on us!! I love the old pics and the new pics with the dual Road Runners in the garage. Those two Runners have a long history together it looks like.

 

[3BIRDS1X]

Thanks for the nice comments, actually the a/c my Dad added when he redid the car in the early eighties, originally Y2 black bench auto, PS and am radio a rather bland car. He added every option he could find for it,myself and him scavenged junkyards almost every Saturday and swap meets on many Sundays looking for plymouth stuff and late fifties early sixties chevy stuff. the air unit is actually a 1970 but i found those lines are nicer because the compressor can be swung out of the way and set on the fender. His theory was if you are going to rebuilt it redo it the way you would have liked to option it new although at the time he was also a numbers chasing corvette guy too. He did well with it for add ons and you would be hard pressed to know it was added. Air conditioning, cruise control, tach, light package, dual mirrors, am/fm, buckets, console, 3.23 sure grip, tinted glass, woodgrain steering wheel. never did find power windows bits and pieces but not enough to do it. The air still works and the cars drives along great and is so easy to drive my Wife has taken a new found interest in it and wants to drive it around some once it's finished ,my Dad is happy to see the car being fixed up again, I just need a little peer pressure to get motivated to go out in the garage this time of year.

 

[ACME A12]

I'm quite certain that I have never seen a Rallye Green RR 'vert. That ought to be quite sharp.

Sounds like it was originally very similar to my old 'vert - Y2 black bench auto on the column car. Wish I had kept that car...of course I say that about just about everything that I have ever owned...

 

[chapdog105]

My convertible was originally purchased by my Dad to fix up for my Mom who had been driving a 69 hardtop since 1971 this is how it looked when they first got the car in 1981.

What a familiar story, The car looks great, and you're doing a great job.

It's great to see another guy with 69 convertible that's been in the family for over 30 years. Your story is close to the same as mine, but my dad never got around to actually restoring mine. My dad bought our convertible in 1981 (I was 1 year old) and my mom drove me and my brothers and sister around in the car. He pulled the 383 out in 1982 and tossed it in a dumpster :facepalm: , then put a 440 in it that he never actually finished. The car sat until I started restoring it about 2 years ago. My car in original form looks almost identical to yours, with the exception of the wheels.

I've made a lot of progress, but I'm unsatisfied with the body work that was done to my car. It's going back to blast this month, then to a reputable body man for correction and base/clear R4 paint. I have everything I need to rebuild it sitting in my basement and garage, waiting for the body and paint to be up to par. I hope to get it back as a painted roller in April and put it back together by July or so. Hopefully I don't hit anymore restoration snags. It's been a costly nightmare so far...

I have a buddy that bought his dads 69 Roadrunner convertible back after it was gone for 25 years. His dad bought his in 1981 too! 1981 must've been the year for dads to buy 69 Roadrunner convertibles!

I sure hope to get mine on the road this summer, and begin to make some memories with my kids in the car. I have a 4 year old son that can have it when he graduates from college, to give him some motivation!