HD539
Well-Known Member
Welcome from the Pacific Northwest
Noob to MOPAR
- Thread starter razor4432
- Start date
razor4432
Member
Hurst badge and yes, she's as beautiful as I remember from about 10 years or so ago.
Delivery is set for 8am Monday, 9.5 hours I get to hear that baby again after probably 10 years. Sucks I'm going to have her torturing me sitting in the garage until we get her added to my brother's Grundy insurance that he's got the '65 Buick Riviera my Dad gave him on. Hopefully, Wednesday or Thursday I can finally take her out for a little drive and feel some REAL American power. I drove our Dad's '65 Riviera a few times, and it's a whole different experience. Compared to new cars, for me I feel like you wind up being more in-tune with how they are driving than new cars. I drove my Dad's (now brother's) '65 Riviera and at 55-60mph you feel so much more than doing a "little" over posted speed limit on the unoccupied interstate in my Mustang GT ;) I think the Roadrunner and I are gonna become just as my Uncle was to her, and I told my brother the only things I plan to do at some point is the Wilwood disc-brake setup he was looking at (has unknown 4-wheel disc right now) and either a 6-pack setup or blower that he was intending to do this past Thanksgiving but I think his health was really starting to decline then. Might also consider a posi-traction rear-end since c'mon, nobody likes one-wheel peels
razor4432
Member
It's always good when gifts are appreciated.
Although in this case, it is bitter sweet.
People and families are funny.
Take my son's "inlaws" for example.
When the grandparents were giving up their classic cars, the grandson got the nice 66 Mustang.
What did he do with it?
Sold it.
A jock with absolutely no mechanical or interests in cars.
While his sister and my son (her husband) got offered some antique Ford.
IDK a 39 Ford or something like that.
They just said "no thank you".
(And "we don't want any of your Model A cars either". )
So basically, the most desirable car was given to someone that had no interest in any of it.
It's all good.
I built my son a Charger.
Bitter-sweet nails it on the head, but I think our Uncle knew we would say "Yes" and it wouldn't get sold because we saw $$$.
Sorry to hear about your son and daughter-in-law's loss, that would be heartbreaking to me for sure (not solely because Mustang fan-boi status but sentimental value). I think this is why our Uncle chose us to have the car. Not sure if anyone aside from my Mom's siters and perhaps my cousins (Mom's older sister son and daughter) knowing we're getting his car. He KNEW we'll love it as he did because it is more than just a car and $$$. For a lot of other people this is an easy $35k, not for us <3
And that Charger you built your son will be something special, even if he were to consider selling, will hear that fatherly voice that will instantly make him think otherwise
I've heard that tone a time or two, and always ended up for the better (aside joining band in middle school and for that he has apologized to my brother and I). High School band in Texas is just as time-consuming as football with very little recognition the footballers get. Even when your high-school football team is garbage and gets a "pass" because of a late-night football game, we were expected to hand in homework the following day regardless, those school busses became moving classrooms at the end of it all LOL.
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razor4432
Member
Car is here, it was pretty rough seeing it in the trailer and felt really weird. My brother and I got a little choked up and it was really hard on our Mom as this was our Uncle's (her youngest brother) most prized possession and he wouldn't have let this go to just anyone. Hurt our Mom the most tho, knowing she was losing someone who like her younger sister, saw through the flaws and cared about deeply. I understand the sibling love...My brother and I have formed a super close bond over the years of this kind of stuff, and personally it makes us more inseparable. He offered me a goal that will make THIS car, my OWN and instnatly got rid of my credit card debt but has stipulations that the acquiring this car makes me realize, I'm heading for the same fate, death by 60 and I don't want that.
Final note, I've had enough emotions to last me a few months now. All I can say is before my brother mounts the new tires on her (these are 13 years old and I agree we should put new shoes on her) I want to do a hard launch and see how long she'll lay rubber (non-posi rearend unfortunately but MAYBE i'll change that down the road). I'm still just in disbelief I finally own something I never in my wildest dreams I would, a big-block muscle car...let alone my Uncle's
I haven't broken this to my Mom yet, but I'm naming this car after the lady who has promised to stick by my Uncle's side to the end...and going to figure out a way to affix a picture we have of my Grandpa and Uncle next to this car on the dash. I will work on a nice little rememberance sticker for my Uncle in the rear-window and basically have along the lines "Your money might be able to buy you whatever you want, but it won't buy you this car!" Seems to fit my Uncle's mindset after the years I've known him and I promise, this car ain't ever being sold. Not gonna lie either, that inital picture I posted I took today...I will proudly say, this car HAS taken over the spot in my heart that my '07 Mustang GT has held for closing in on 9 years.
Final note, I've had enough emotions to last me a few months now. All I can say is before my brother mounts the new tires on her (these are 13 years old and I agree we should put new shoes on her) I want to do a hard launch and see how long she'll lay rubber (non-posi rearend unfortunately but MAYBE i'll change that down the road). I'm still just in disbelief I finally own something I never in my wildest dreams I would, a big-block muscle car...let alone my Uncle's
I haven't broken this to my Mom yet, but I'm naming this car after the lady who has promised to stick by my Uncle's side to the end...and going to figure out a way to affix a picture we have of my Grandpa and Uncle next to this car on the dash. I will work on a nice little rememberance sticker for my Uncle in the rear-window and basically have along the lines "Your money might be able to buy you whatever you want, but it won't buy you this car!" Seems to fit my Uncle's mindset after the years I've known him and I promise, this car ain't ever being sold. Not gonna lie either, that inital picture I posted I took today...I will proudly say, this car HAS taken over the spot in my heart that my '07 Mustang GT has held for closing in on 9 years.
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razor4432
Member
Sorry for the video being rotated 90º, Android phones seem to not like doing videos in landscape for some reason
(or my settings for the auto-rotate messed with the outcome, I'll get a good video later with a fly-by and such) Here's how she sounds, my brother and I read over the engine rebuild on the 440 that sits beneath the hood...she's warmed up to say the least. Bored out .060 (making it a 492ci engine) and I remember my uncle say something about .010 on the bearings (???) and has Comp Cams most aggressive street cam for the time it was rebuilt in 2007. Most importantly tho, I told my mom I don't want to run a collector plate on this car even though it's cheaper, it's keeping the RDBIRD9 my Uncle has run for the past 16-17 years on her. She texted my uncle's girlfriend and told her, when the time is right to let him know of this decision. He's heartbroken about the "loss" of this car and just all that's going on right now, people wanting this, people wanting that etc. I feel I'm a lot like him in ways, "Just leave me the #!@? alone!" for a little. Another thing I can't belive how sleek these cars are, stereotypes played in my mind about the lead-sleds I always look at (50's to mid-60s caddy's) and these cars are really lean lookin (I see why my Uncle put the mud-flaps on this car and they're staying, that lower body really tucks in hard). I was kind of bummed not being able to find the body date plate for this car that actually showed what the full options of her were but I guess it really doesn't matter, some of the pics of the restoration we saw either a blue or green in spots so it was originally one of those colors, but so much sheet metal had to be replace, I really wasn't surprised on that loss.
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Russ69Runner
Well-Known Member
What a prize that car is. That is a gift of love from your uncle. I can see you are a person that will take care of it and that is what he knew about both of you and your brother. Yep not for sale can under stand that. Enjoy it my friend
A .060" over 3.75" (stock stroke) 440 is 452 cubic inches. Can't get anywhere near 492 without a stroker crank. Just FYI.
RKNRLR
Well-Known Member
the math will get ya every time!
razor4432
Member
Ah...I'm foreign to most of the nitty-gritty of engines but I can have my mom ask for some information about the engine. Like I said in a previous wall of text (sorry, this car just means a ton to me) all I know that was done to the engine for a fact is a fairly aggressive cam, the boring and block/heads shaved, only mentioned the 492 because he crossed out the 440 and replaced with 492 on the folder for the engine rebuild. Saw an e-mail stating with the block shaving he'd have to do new pistons to meet his target of 9-10:1 compression but nothing more in response e-mails so assume they he and the shop rebuilding the engine figured things out over the phone. I'm not gonna guess my Uncle's # crunching as he is an absolute gear-head and does CNC/Late running and programming. We got a MOPAR emblem on our dash HE made at his work using a their router and tool metal...so, this car gets more special by the day. I'm glad it sounds like
Finally really drove the car too for the first time tonight and man, I love it. Driving it puts a smile on my face, stompin' on the loud pedal brings that childish grin
It's nuts thinking I wanted to do all these kinds of engine modifications n shit to my '07 Mustang and make her a real warrior, and I'm straight up given a f'in '69 Roadrunner that hits all the check boxes....It's absolutely surreal (this babe stole my heart and nothing will win it back). Personally I dreamed of building a retro-mod '70 fastback down the road but I really don't need to, I have my future toy and she's absolutely gorgeous. For you guys I'll find out what has ultimately been done to the engine but performance wise I don't think it's stroked to a 492 in the end...maybe i'm just dumb who knows (my '07 Mustang GT really aint anything special aside from suspension/exhaust and a cold-air intake+tuner combo I bought). Of the tuner all I know is the 93 octane race tune makes the throttle twitchy as hell and she runs like a raped ape. I recall a mention in some of the paper work of flat top pistons so maybe he did in fact go with a stroker kit, I'll keep you guys updated. Regardless, my bonus at work next year...half is going towards what I owe my brother and the other half is going to get either a 6-pack (6-BBL) setup or a blower for this car. I know my Uncle wanted either of those and I think his health really kept him from tackling the rebuild of the 6-BBL he looked at, the blower was a total paperweight from the sounds of it. I'm just said he probably won't get to see the pictures of it on the car but he'll feel them as he's riding along with me <3
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razor4432
Member
I sincerely apologize if I seem to ramble off into nonsense regarding this car, but this is my mind still trying to take in getting a basically dream "car" (any sort of modified muscle car) and it realizing she's MINE! Words can't describe this feel basically. Here I am all along would've been happy with a '70 Mustang with a 351 Cleveland gettin a god damn '69 Roadrunner that has a warmed up (how warmed up is unclear still) 440ci V8 O_O All I know is she smells heavenly idling and sounds a million times better <3
razor4432
Member
Thanks, don't know if congrats are really necessary for this car coming at the loss of my Uncle but I get what you're saying
She's a beauty and drives like a new car off the lot, very little sawing at the wheel to keep her straight and goes like hell Haven't figured out how I want my Mom to word it to my Uncle so is there any way to tell if this engine does have a stroker kit in it, I looked at the folder for the engine and basically all I saw was an email regarding if the block/heads are shaved he'd have to get different pistons and I remember seeing something regarding flat-top pistons? As I said last night, I'm pretty engine illiterate aside from cams making cars go parump, parump, parump and I know about the difference between turbos and superchargers/blowers. But I'll give you a seat of the pants feel with our car...punch the throttle and get a nice push into the seat hit 3k rmp and you really get pushed into the seat (seems the powerband is probably 3-4k rpms on this engine). Also, he did 4-wheel disc brake setup (believe SBC is the company) that has fronts from a '67 Mustang and the rears are a Thunderbird can't remember year. He said they could be better which we (my brother and I) totally agree on after bleeding them the other day and it still being a little lazy with slowing down. He wanted to go with Wilwood but would that require us going up in wheel-size? My brother isn't too fond of the big wheels on old cars and really I'm not either, but in the right context it isn't bad. I don't think 16" wheels would look too out of place but feel anything bigger will start to detract from the look of the car (would still go with this style American Racing wheel).
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Russ69Runner
Well-Known Member
Just go with 15 inch rim's. That would be big enough. And you can find the disc brake's for that match. I have seen some people say they had to do some extra work to install the Wilwood brake's. Their are other company's that make a direct fit so you don't have problem on the install.
quikbird
Well-Known Member
I run 17’s and a slightly smaller sidewall on the tire which gets me about the same as the stock tire size but doesn’t look like rubber bands as tires
69hemibeep
Sponge Bob Square Wheels
I've been meaning to talk to you
Zizzinator
Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Messages
- 22
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- 37
That is one damn fine looking bird!
You have an excellent grasp of what makes them special for sure. I've run into quite a few folks that harp'd changes to decals and trim on my bird as insults to the original design and style. All they ended up with was 1 fewer person to talk to and being labeled as a bunch of grump old FOGies. Sort of a reason I avoid lawn-chair meet and greets (aside from the current world predicament). embrace the side markers and mudflaps, those are what the true mopars looked like in the 60's.
Some advice (and may be preaching to the choir here) change the fluids, check the timing, swap the fuses, change the filters and plugs. Not that your uncle didn't take care of the car or that anything like that. But if you're gonna start your journey you're best bet is to check the basics. Start it knowing the very basics that can go bad over the years are accounted for before you take it for a longer shakedown and find out on the road. Nothing worse than having a good memory sour'd by something simple like a clogged fuel filter breaking up the flow.
Its also very common (and I'm guilty of this too) for a car to be loved and taken care of but the little things fly under the radar. My uncle had a 69 camaro that ran like a dream and he kept clean and working for years before selling it to my dad. first thing we changed when it rolled off the trailer were the plugs and filters. not that we didn't think they were any good, it was just a gut feeling that spurned from "yknow it would probly be a good idea to check these". Good thing too, they were all fouled up. Never would have known or thought to check them given how much it was driven and cared for logically. If I've learned anything it would be to gut check everything even if it surface level appears sound.
best of luck!
You have an excellent grasp of what makes them special for sure. I've run into quite a few folks that harp'd changes to decals and trim on my bird as insults to the original design and style. All they ended up with was 1 fewer person to talk to and being labeled as a bunch of grump old FOGies. Sort of a reason I avoid lawn-chair meet and greets (aside from the current world predicament). embrace the side markers and mudflaps, those are what the true mopars looked like in the 60's.
Some advice (and may be preaching to the choir here) change the fluids, check the timing, swap the fuses, change the filters and plugs. Not that your uncle didn't take care of the car or that anything like that. But if you're gonna start your journey you're best bet is to check the basics. Start it knowing the very basics that can go bad over the years are accounted for before you take it for a longer shakedown and find out on the road. Nothing worse than having a good memory sour'd by something simple like a clogged fuel filter breaking up the flow.
Its also very common (and I'm guilty of this too) for a car to be loved and taken care of but the little things fly under the radar. My uncle had a 69 camaro that ran like a dream and he kept clean and working for years before selling it to my dad. first thing we changed when it rolled off the trailer were the plugs and filters. not that we didn't think they were any good, it was just a gut feeling that spurned from "yknow it would probly be a good idea to check these". Good thing too, they were all fouled up. Never would have known or thought to check them given how much it was driven and cared for logically. If I've learned anything it would be to gut check everything even if it surface level appears sound.
best of luck!
razor4432
Member
Thanks, we've done some looking around on the car and aside from some worn front brake hoses (we replaced obviously) it's rock solid. My brother and I agree the front brakes just aren't up to snuff (they're '67 Mustang...Mustang fanbois will ahte me now) and I think at the least front end needs something beefier (these rotors are 1/2 as wide as my '07 Mustang GT n the cars weigh roughly the same). I just hope we can get things figured out and not have to go bigger wheels, I know Wilwood sells 15" setups and I'm sure Brembo does too.
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RKNRLR
Well-Known Member
I recently mocked up a rotor and caliper assemlby to test fit against some 15" rims im running, and found issues with the caliper touching the wheel on a couple of different setups. Be careful with your backsets, not all 15" setups fit all 15" rims. Spacing/backset diagrams for the willwood stuff is available on their website.