If you’ve read the tale of my first 1969 Roadrunner, then you won’t be surprised that I always knew that I would go and find another one when the time was right. Of course, just because I was looking for one doesn’t mean that the right one is available.
How did I find this Roadrunner? I was on vacation when my brother Chris called me to tell me that there were several Mopars listed for sale in Commerce City, CO by one owner on Craigslist. The seller was a young man whose father had passed away, leaving a collection of Mopars. Chris was set on going to take a look to see what might be of interest to us.
Indeed, Chris spotted something. He called me shortly after the visit and told me about this ’69 Roadrunner. I was sold on it based on my trust in Chris’ inspection on the car. Based on what he told me, I knew that I didn’t want to wait because it would be gone by the time I get back.
Chris proceeded to help me negotiate a price on the Roadrunner and left a deposit with the seller. When I got back in town, I completed the transaction. Now, I wasn’t the only one to strike a deal on a car from this seller. Chris, too, bought a car – a 1968 Roadrunner, which he still has today.
I was happy to have another ’69 Roadrunner in my life. From the factory, this car was equipped with a 383 CI engine with a 4-speed transmission in A4 Silver Metallic with a black vinyl top. When I bought the Roadrunner, it was painted in FC7 Plum Crazy Purple with a black vinyl interior and bucket seats. The 383 engine was long gone and it had a 440 six-barrel with the original 4-speed transmission.
The car did come with rust in both rear quarter panels, floorboards, and the trunk pan. Already in restoration mode, the first thing I did was disassemble the entire car and had it soda blasted. It was then put on a rotisserie to complete all the bodywork, paint, and undercoating. I replaced the trunk pan and floor pans, and patched panels on both rear quarters. After completing all the metalwork and body smoothing, it was ready for paint, which I had decided would be Bahama Yellow.
I added a black vinyl top and a fiberglass lift-off hood. The 440 was sent to the machine shop and I ended up building a 512 stroker, pairing it with a 5-speed Silver Sport transmission with a hydraulic clutch, Holley Sniper fuel injection, air conditioning, Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners, QA1 K-Member and shocks, Dakota digital gauges, TTI headers and a full 3” exhaust. The original 8-3/4” rear end was swapped out for an original 1969 Dana 60 with 4.10 gears.
In all, the restoration took 6 years. The result? The Roadrunner currently puts out roughly 650 HP but still gets 22 MPG when cruising down the highway at 75 MPH. I do drive this car often. Sometimes it’s driven for short cruises and other times for hundreds of miles. This is the first car that I have restored using a rotisserie, and I must tell you, it is the ONLY WAY I will do future restorations!
By Jim Ochs
