BEFORE & AFTER RESTORATION

I acquired this car in August 2014.   

 I saw it advertised in Mopar Collectors Guide in the February 2014 issue.  Being a tax preparer, I didn't have any time to call about it until tax season was over.  In late April I decided to give the owner a call to see if he still had it.  It hadn't been advertised since that February issue so I was sure he sold it.  Turns out he wanted to do some more work on it before he sold it so he quit advertising it.  I had a vacation scheduled in Florida the next month so we made arrangements to meet when I was down there.  I fell in love with it and since it wasn't an original Superbird, I could actually afford it!  Came home the owner of a Superbird tribute car!

Well, when I got it home and started taking some of it apart, I quickly found that it was in worse shape than I thought (I know that never happens to anyone who gets a "new" car!).  The prior owner wanted to make it a race car but I wanted it more original looking, so I replaced the oversize radiator, moved the battery from the trunk to the engine bay, etc. Then when issues came up that I couldn't handle, I found a restoration shop that put in a new dash, added power steering, rebuilt the transmission, and a bunch of other work.  It's almost in the shape I want it in so I'll keep working on it as I have the time.  It is a real head-turner.  Either people know about Superbirds but never got to see one for real, or you have never seen one and can't believe someone would build such a strange looking car like it.  And to think Plymouth had to try every trick in the book to get rid of them!  If they only knew!!

I purchased our '69 Roadrunner convertible in fall of 1990 from a guy in Medina. He was an Allstate Insurance rep and I got acquainted with him when I was employed at Underwood Motors in Wooster. We got to talking about Mopars and I told him I would help him locate parts to restore the car. After the car sat in his wife's garage for several years, she gave him an ultimatum - "either finish restoring it or sell it" (sound familiar??) She was tired of scraping ice and snow off her car in the winter time. His loss was definitely my gain.

The car looked pretty sad when I brought it home and I recall my wife saying she thought I had lost my mind! But as time went by and the car started taking shape, she began seeing the value of it and now she loves the car as much as I do. It still had the original interior except for the carpet. The seats were in near perfect condition and with a good cleaning they looked like new again! I had a new white top put on it and did all the restoration and paint work myself. It took lots of hard work and several years but finally it was complete! Shortly after it was completed, we ran into Glenn at the Atwood Lake Fall Festival. He was thrilled to see that I had gotten the car restored and amazed at how good it looked! We have attended many shows with the car and enjoy driving it in local parades. A fun car to cruise in!

We found our Roadrunner in 1994. The lady inherited it from her father's estate and knew she would never get any use out of the car and was ready to sell it. It was a North Carolina car and was very solid. Since the car was in running condition when we bought it, we decided to drive it for the summer and have some fun with it before beginning the restoration project. The first place we took it was to the "Marty Party" held at the home of Marty & Cheryl Mohr, owners of the Hemi Express truck. Club members took turns doing burnouts in front of their house and there sure was an abundance of smoke rolling that day! Many club members will also recall the club picnic at members Bart & Tina's house where everyone took turns "again doing some major burnouts on the road." Again, some major rubber coming off tires that day. Member Eric S. can attest to that! It is amazing no one called the law! Everyone had a great time showing off their skills at "laying rubber", including Dave, who did an awesome burnout with the Roadrunner, which resulted in loss of the rear end gears! Luckily, we had trailered the car so he could also take his new Dodge truck, which he also tried to to burn the tires off of!

The engine was the first part of the restoration project. BAM (Bart Anderson Machining) ported the heads, installed spiral bronze valve guides, stainless steel valves, and installed performance valve springs to accommodate the 509 lift cam. There were cam shaft break-in problems which required installation of a second cam. I psent many long hours getting the motor put in the car and making it look good. It was a gradual process and in 2001, when Dave opened his own autobody repair business, the project was put on hold. Anyone who owns a business knows how much time and money goes into making it a success  and other things take a back seat for awhile. I would tinker on the car as I had time and in Spring of 2008, after many patient years, we decided it was time to finish the car. I devoted many long hours to completing it and the end result was well worth the wait! I spent every spare minute that summer in anticipation of taking it to the Mopar Nationals in August. Also, I had a lot of help from several dedicated friends in the final weeks and finally...the "Purple Beauty" was complete and ready to go to Columbus. We drove it on Brice Road and then went to Heath to burn up the streets there! Totally awesome!