After sitting in a barn for the past 19 years I thought I'd give it a try this morning so the fluids got changed and the engine primed. A fresh battery and a turn of the key, she fired right up. Oil pressure and enigne temp was perfect and the motor runs smooth and sounds great. What a shame to park this car for so long because of a simple fix like a pin hole in the fuel tank. The next step is to go through the chassis (steering, brakes, ect.) and the fuel system. Should have it in a drivable state within the next month or so!

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I finally began the disassemble process on the ’72 Road Runner. (Lots of pictures and notes) No surprises so far. In fact the more I take it apart the more I find that most of the parts are in really good shape and only need cleaning up and painting. This 38,000 mile original car was parked 20 plus years ago by the original owner due to brake failure. He wasn’t able to repair it, so it sat in a field for 12 years. I’ve had the car sitting in my shop for the past eight years and figured it was time to resurrect the “Bird”, especially since they began to produce parts for it now. Once disassembled, I’ll set it up on my new rotisserie and have it media blasted to see how much fun I’ll expect to have with the body work. In the mean time I’ll have to get some more “PB Blaster” and scrape up a few more knuckles.

UPDATE: June 13th, 2010

Well, finally got the "Bird" dis-assembled and on the rotisserie. Althought it took a little longer than expected (what doesn't?), things went better than I anticipated. The floors are perfect, except a small area on the driver's side as is the firewall and cowl area. There is also a small area in the trunk that will have to be replaced. The engine and transmission came out without a hitch. It's the first time I took one out from the bottom. Had it out in about ten minutes. Next is to cut out some of the rusted areas and get it over to the media blaster. I should have it in sealer within the next few weeks.

UPDATE: October 30th, 2010

Got the Road Runner back from the blaster today. "Blast From The Past", near Nashville did a great job on the car. What a difference it made. The car cleaned up real nice and it had less repair areas that I previously thought. The hood, doors, fenders and deck lid are perfect. I ordered some sheet metal and I'll begin the fixes very soon. I'm hoping to have it ready for paint by early spring. (maybe sooner).

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Sleeper is back on the road after having an engine rebuild. It's running smooth with no issues. I'd like to give a shout out to Bill at Mid-State Motor Works for completing the machine work. The only mod we did was to add a little bigger cam to aid in the engine torque.

Sleeper has been out at two outings so far this year and has taken a third and second place.

Thanks to all for taking an interest.

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So, after 15 years I felt it was time to redo the engine bay on the 'Cuda. Just a little touching up.

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"Sleeper" was purchased from the original owner, an older lady who managed to rack up 69,000 miles on this car in forty plus years. While investigating a lifter noise we discovered an oiling problem with "Sleeper". Apparently, because of the car being inactive for so long, the valve seals deteriorated and ended up in the sump of the oil pump. The result was a lack of oiling to the top end which caused lifter failure and a worn cam shaft.

Since we were going to tear the top end down anyway, we decided to pull the motor and just go through the whole thing. It's going to be a very simple rebuild just to get it up and running again.

Since this car is so plainly optioned (manual brakes, manual steering, non-A/C, etc), our plans are to eventually do a Road Runner tribute. If for some reason we ever wanted to put it back to stock form it will be a simple transformation.

One great thing about this car is that it's all numbers matching. We have the build sheet as well as the original title and bill of sale from the selling dealership.

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After years of jack stands and pieces of carpet on the cold garage floor, along with dirt and fluids dropping all over me, I finally invested in a Bendpak lift. The installation was straight forward and only took about three hours. So far it has proven to be invaluable. It make it so much easier to work on the cars. Not only the underside but even when your detailing the cars out you can get to the hard to reach lower areas without lying on your back. I have 14 foot ceilings in my shop so the height was not an issue. This particular lift is rated at 10,000 lbs. so it will even handle my 1 ton Dodge diesel without a problem. In any event, I'm sure I'll get my monies worth out of it!

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Finally got the Charger back on the road. Although we have a few minor details to complete, it's riding smooth and running very strong. The engine is putting out over 500 HP. We're running a 355 gear with a TCI 727 and B&M 3200 stall converter. She lauches like a rocket.

It's been in two car shows so far and has taken second place both times. Not too bad for a car that really is not complete yet.

Stop by my garage and take a look at the before and after pics. Thanks to all who have taken an interest. I have appreciated the comments.

Happy motoring!

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