How the Road Runner beats the Coyote
 

Well I've been a long-time lurker and have only posted a handful of times mainly because I really didn't have much to post. With that being said it's time to make my first serious contribution to Lat-G.

I purchased a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner last March from a guy in Austin who rebuilds nothing but old Mopars. As I'm sure is the case with many of the people on this board I am now beginning to find that what I thought had been "completely" restored is nowhere near where I'd like it to be. The car's body is pretty straight, the paint is good (not great) and the 440/6bbl setup is fresh and strong.

From Day 1 I've wanted to do what everyone else here on the site has........make my older muscle car handle and brake like a newer car so that I could fully enjoy her potential. With that in mind......onto the pics.

First here's a pic of her the day I brought her home:

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...dRunner001.jpg

The car was originally equipped with 4-wheel non-power drum brakes, and it was also clearly evident from the start is that the front end needed to be rebuilt as it didn't look like any of the bushings had been changed since the day she rolled off Ma Mopar's line.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild001.jpg

Notice the nice completely blown Varishock that I added soon after I got the car. Apparently the LCA was bent and so it was putting side loads on shock. That was a great way to burn through a little cash.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild003.jpg

Check out the nail he used in place of the cotter-key on the front hub. That little gem is one of many examples of poor/lazy issues I've found.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild004.jpg

Another pic of the stock front setup with the drum brakes.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild009.jpg

Everything removed from the front end and a fresh canvas to start the upgrades.

More to come..........

In trying to figure out how to upgrade both the suspension and brakes on the Road Runner I've spent countless hours cruising Lat-G, Pro-Touring and Moparts searching for anything I could find on what'd been done before. What I found is that what is cool to me about this car.......that it's not something common that's been done before.........is also the frustrating issue. Namely.....finding what parts fit and work well together.

In terms of the suspension I looked at just about anything that could be done.......completely replacing the K-member with one of RMS' Alter-Kation setups, replacing the existing setup with an Air-Ride or simply picking specific components to upgrade the Mopar torsion-bar setup.

What I finally decided is that I'd like to keep the cars front suspension "stock" looking but with upgraded components. I purchased a set of 1.10" diameter torsion bars, tubular UCAs, aluminum strut rods, thicker 11/16" tie-rod ends, idler arms, 1-1/8" front and 3/4" rear sway bar from Firm Feel incorporated. I also purchased new LCAs from Cap Auto products to replace the stock ones that were clearly bent.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild010.jpg

Here's a pic of the new components installed. The only piece that remains stock is the spindle. I also decided that while I had everything apart I'd apply a coat or two of new flat black paint to the wheel wells to make it look better.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild012.jpg

A better pic of the new tubular LCA.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild043.jpg

Rear view of the setup.

What I soon discovered is that I think the torsion bar setup is truly unique in it's design but it's also a complete pain to install. As I'm sure is the case with everyone else......now that I've done it several times (a few due to my screw ups) I'm actually pretty good at it. Not that I want to do it again.

At this point it was time to decide what to do in terms of brakes. Obviously I didn't want to keep the stock drums since I'd be upgrading the wheels as well, plus I wanted something that could bring a big B-body to a stop safely. As such, I called Frank at Prodigy and purchased a complete Wilwood setup consisting of 12.2" 6-piston fronts and 12.2" 4-piston rears with drilled and slotted rotors.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild046.jpg

Here's a pic of the new hubs and rotors installed. I think the black rotor looks killer with the color scheme of the car (more on that later).

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild047.jpg

Close up of the new rotor & hub.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild048.jpg

Picture of the 6-piston Wilwood front caliper installed.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild049.jpg

Close up.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild051.jpg

From the front of the car looking at the complete new front setup.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild050.jpg

New 1-1/8" Firm Feel front sway bar.

Once I had the front end mostly completed it was time to move onto the rear. I decided to keep the leaf spring setup (for now) to see how it would react with all the new front components I've added. At some point I could see adding some sort of 3- or 4-link setup.

The stock 275/15s were a very tight fit.......it took a ton of effort to get the passenger side out.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild039.jpg

Lots of clearance huh?

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...Rebuild014.jpg

A picture of the stock setup with the drums already removed.

So that's where I'm currently sitting as of this afternoon. I'm waiting on new bearings & Wilwood backing plates to be pressed onto my rear axle shafts so that I can reinstall them this evening and finish mounting the 4-piston rear Wilwoods.

I need to finish fabricating new ss brake lines to the rear calipers and also the new parking brake cables.

I've also added a 3/4" Addco rear sway bar which I'll get pictures of later.

Once all that's completed (hopefully by tomorrow), I'll install my new Wilwood aluminum M/C and get everything plumbed and bled out.

Before I go I want to say that I think you guys are really going to dig what I'm doing in terms of wheels & tires for the car. I spent a TON of time on the phone with Jason at Driver's Inc and we've come up with something that I don't think I've seen before. Hopefully I'll have some completed pictures to show off before the week is up! :cheers:

Sounds like it will be a nice handling ride when your done. you've got an awesome car to start with!

looks really good. you subscribe to forbbodiesonly.com? great guys over there.

Cool, love those cars. More pics please. :cheers:

I want to see more:D :D :D

:cheering:

WOW!!!
Looks 100% better!!! I bet it handles 100% better too.
Keep us posted. Nice car.:thumbsup: