1969 Roadrunner - thoughts? Opinions? Should I get it?

[Archive]

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The ad reads :

69 Roadrunner, auto console,383, factory air
car,interior decent original,small minor rust,body needs T. L. C. , drive any where.

Ok I don't have pictures yet but the car is here in Omaha so I will look at it soon as I get a phone number. Also awaiting pictures of it. I have no idea what the color is or the milage is yet. Since the ad say "drive" anywhere then I am under the impression it is complete and runing. The asking price is $4200, what are your thoughts and opinions on it? I really got the musclecar bug right now... ... . and well a Challenger convertable is out of the picture right now #ad
So figure a 69 Roadrunner could hold me over... ...

Any reason why I shouldn't buy it?? Any special areas to look for for problems? Other then the typical floor pans, trunk deck, for rust?

 

[BCFAST]

Kat, the only reason to NOT buy the car is the 383. It seems the big $$ is paid for big-block cars. If you plug in a 440, it's still wrong because (if I remember right) those didnt come with air. Look for rust under the spare tire in the trunk floor. Other than that, they are *****in cars! Is it a column auto? bench? buckets? color? Have fun!

 

[Archive]

Sorry, not quite sure I understand your post correctly, you said to not buy the car because it has the 383 in it? Can I ask why, or whats wrong with a 383? (honest question here).

Here is part of an email I recieved today "the car is a driver and has minimal rust, the interior is original and decent". So going to look at it today and if I like the color and the rust truely is minimal then I'll prolly get it.

Also looking at a freshly painted 70 Challenger... minus motor and transmission, maybe I'll get that tooo hehehehe.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Sled Puller]

Kat,
383's will still wipe up the street of new trash!
Not a high Dollar car, but fun factor is there.
If it is orig engine and trans, I would say it is worth it.
Check where the torsion bars attach, if it is rusted bad there, they may pop out.
If you don't care about "factory correct"
440's can be found! Summit is selling NEW HEMIS, also.
I love Road Runners, never had mine on the street leagally, but someday maybe I'll get another one.
Gene

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1997 Cummins Dodge 4x4 Bombed & Amsoiled. Amsoil Premiere Direct Jobber, Member of: NRA Business Alliance, GLTDR, WANTED: Wrecked Dodges.
www.awdist.com

 

[446]

Kat
Look at the trunk floor, floor pans (front and rear), and quarter panels real ,real good.
look from under the car, around the gas tank, inside the wheel wells, in the seams between the inner and outer quarter panels, behind the rear window from inside the trunk. Look real hard for body repair and rust holes. Look under the carpet but you should be able to see rust holes from under the car where your feet go in all four spots.
Does the body look original or has someone patched some of it. there should be no new looking paint or undercoating in any of these places if the car is original.
Also look at the frames (unibody, there is one in the front and one in the rear none in the middle)for repairs, rust and wrinkles that dont look factory. Look at the front tires (are they wearing odd?) may have frame damage.
If the car needs body work plan on spending a lot to make it a nice car. $5000 - $8000
The best advice I can give you after many, many 60' s mopars is:
BUY A CLEAN NO RUST CAR! With good ORIGINAL paint. Spend the extra money and look for a clean original southwestern or western car.
even if the car needs motor or trans work.
Body and paint is expensive to do right. A motor or trans is easy to change out.
If your looking for numbers maching motor the number is on the pass side of the motor about center along the pan rail. The last six numbers should match the last six of the vin on the dash. If it doesnt, it isnt matching. Period (no stories). There is nothing wrong with a non matching number car just dont pay extra unless you know what you have.
If it only has minor rust ( small holes in the bottom of the quarters) It will still cost a couple of thousand to patch and repaint.
I have lots of info on these cars. I'd be happy to help.
BTW I think $4200 is a great deal for a clean original RR w/air and bucket seats/console.
Ray

 

[446]

sig

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'97 2500 LT 4X4, WHITE,3. 54, AUTO, A/C, 35/12. 5-16. 5 BFG A/T, NO LIFT, K&N, 50K MILES, BOUGHT NEW

'69 SIX PAK B 4SP DANA - SCORCH RED

 

[Archive]

Kat... here is a pic of my brother's Runner. .
#ad

It really scoots!

 

[Archive]

Car was in worse shape then I was led to believe #ad
I don't feel its worth 4200 so oooon with the search. Thanks for the replies tho I appriciate it.

 

[BCFAST]

Of course!!Dont you just love the ads that say 90% restored, yet you cant find the part thats been 90% restored? Of course, I have one buddy who can find the ones that truely are "found in the barn", and "would $500 be too much?"... I just hate him!LOL

 

[Sled Puller]

Any of you guys ex-members of the now defunked "RoadRunner& GTX assoc. "????
I was. Can't even remember the guys name, but I met him at Carlisle, Pa digging for "bird" parts.
Good little newsletter, but it got to be too much for owner.
Just curious.
Gene

 

[Chad Sheets]

Kat, go to my web page and click on "Mopars 4 sale". There were some 70-71 Challengers on there under the E body listing for close to what this RR will cost, and you seem to have made it clear you are looking for a Challenger anyway. If you want to check out the RR prices, look under the B body listings.

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Always ready to help!
2000 2500 Red Sport quad cab, 4x4, K&N, DDI's, straight piped, boost, pyro and fuel pressure gages, Hot Power Edge, EZ box, mean looking set of 33. 5" tires, Snap On diamond tool box, Marine Corps window sticker, Semper Fi!

1972 340 Cuda'. Original tripple Black, 340 car w/air. Good clean car, super stock springs, Weld Prostars, shaker hood, strong 340 with a 727/4000 stahl, 4. 56... . Bombs away!
NRA Life Member
My Diesel Page

 

[Chad Sheets]

Something else... remember these cars are +30 years old and parts are going to be scarce. Get a complete car, or as complete as possible. The bodywork is the biggest exspense unless you are very good at it, so find a solid car.

These paint guys have a hard time justifying a $3000 paint job anymore on muscle cars when they see them resell for $10-$20,000.

Get a quote on paint job for a 90 full size van, then get one for a 70's muscle car with less area to paint and you will see what I mean. Mention Cuda or Challenger and they get real crazy on the prices.

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Always ready to help!
2000 2500 Red Sport quad cab, 4x4, K&N, DDI's, straight piped, boost, pyro and fuel pressure gages, Hot Power Edge, EZ box, mean looking set of 33. 5" tires, Snap On diamond tool box, Marine Corps window sticker, Semper Fi!

1972 340 Cuda'. Original tripple Black, 340 car w/air. Good clean car, super stock springs, Weld Prostars, shaker hood, strong 340 with a 727/4000 stahl, 4. 56... . Bombs away!
NRA Life Member
My Diesel Page

 

[Fireman Dave]

Gene,

I used to be a member of Mopar Muscle Club International, but not the RR/GTX club. I seem to remember hearing something about the leaders of MMCI running off with the money or something. I'm not sure if it's still in existance.

Dave

 

[Fireman Dave]

Nice one, Rob!

Kat,
A lot of good advice here. The 383 will be the most common since that was the standard engine. I've always been a 440 guy since my 440 GTX, so I would prefer a 440. But a 383 is a great motor - and still a big block (nothing wrong with the 340s either, so no flames please!). I'm partial to the '68-'70 B bodies, so a '69 RR would be very atractive to me. I had a '69 Sport Satellite (318) at one time. Those are all fun cars. The price might be high (of course that's just a starting point) for a 383 car that may need significant work. It depends on how clean it really is and if the numbers all match, but if you like it and have the pesos, who cares? Buy it and have fun. #ad

Good luck.
Dave

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2001 2500; SLT; 4x4; QC; LWB; Auto; 3. 54 LS; 265s; Camper; Tow; Sliding Rear Window; Travel Convenience Group; Cab Clearance Lamps; Forest Green

 

[Chad Sheets]

This is the 69 440-6 Road Runner we had a few years back. All original 440-6 car with only 19,000 miles. Later saw where the guy who bought it from us had it put in some Mopar mags stating how he found it in Indiana as a street racer and completely restored it #ad
Give me a break.

Here is another pic of the car in front of our new county jail. Enjoy





[This message has been edited by Chad Sheets (edited 02-06-2001). ]

 

[Bad340fish]

Well one thing I have learned is that if needs work(which unless you want to lay down some serious $$ it will) The E-Bodys(70-74 Cuda and Challenger) Have more parts available aftermarket than the others combined. I have a 68 Barracuda Formula S car that has been in two wrecks since i have had it(not my fault either) And most of the panels i had to buy were salvage units. I paid $350 for a front header panel with no grills that was in "decent shape" at the time no NOS or New parts were availabe. The B-bodys have more parts out there. But I do believe if you were going to restore a Challenger you could almost build one from a Year one Catalong lol no joke. Well Good luck with your search.


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Clark
1999 2500 QC SB 5spd Flowmaster 3 chamber, K&N Re-0880
1968 Barracuda Formula S Viper Blue 11. 98@112

NHRA member for life

 

[Wayne M.]

Good luck in your Mopar search. All the posts sound good especially the info from 446. One quick way to see if you're looking at a bogus car is the VIN, Bogus meaning a Sattelite dressed as a 'Runner or a base Challenger dressed as an R/T since the beginning of the VIN is always different. If you find something and are not sure, feel free to email since I have plenty of knoweldge and refrence material on the subject. Another quick thing to check is the fender tag, although they can be missing it is a very important part of documenting a car. It is under the hood on the left wheelhouse near the battery and will have alpha numeric codes which call out the major options and the VIN (bottom line). This is scrutinized as well as engine and trans numbers as outlined by 446. One major magazine to be reading is the Mopar Collectors Guide (MCG), this is a monthly magazine/calssified that is a must have, their site is www.mcg-pub.com. Another thing to think about, it hard to believe but '68- '72 Roadrunners never came with a 440 unless it was a 6bbl. It was a 383 or a Hemi otherwise. If you wanted a 440 you had to go for a GTX which never had a 383. I am not saying a fake car is bad as long as you know what you are buying. The hobby has gotten silly in time and it's buyer beware.
I have saved a few friends over the years. Have fun!!

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'92 W250,3. 54,auto,reg cab, raven hi top cap, tach,boost,transtemp,pyro. 16cm housing.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Originally posted by Wayne M. :
Another thing to think about, it hard to believe but '68- '72 Roadrunners never came with a 440 unless it was a 6bbl. It was a 383 or a Hemi otherwise.

Wayne, are you sure about that? I know the 383 was the standard Roadrunner engine. But I always thought the other options were the 440 Magnum (4bbl), 440 6bbl, and Hemi. I'm sure the 440 4bbl was an option, but I could be wrong.

Dave

 

[Wayne M.]

Dave, you had me guessing for a moment, but I checked my data and generally speaking I am correct, HOWEVER Chrysler has been known to build cars it says it didn't (such as 1972 6 pack cars and 4 door hemi cars. )I see a listing for ONE (1) each automatic and stick 440-4 1970 'Runners.

As the old saying goes,

MOPAR SPOKEN HERE!!!


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'92 W250,3. 54,auto,reg cab, raven hi top cap, tach,boost,transtemp,pyro. 16cm housing.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Interesting, Wayne.
I seem to remember one time reading about a Hemi station wagon that someone special ordered. Not sure if it's true, though. Like you said, there were some strange combos that snuck through back then.
I saw an interesting show about the winged cars on Speedvision recently. A guy on that show said that probably less than half of the 503 stated Charger Daytonas actually made it to dealerships. He said the 503 number may have been "exagerated" and that many of the cars were stripped down for parts to feed the racing programs.