I'm starting this blog to chronicle the epic journey my Road Runner and I have begun to reunite it with its original powerplant, a 383 HP engine that once installed, qualifies this classic as a numbers matching vehicle...sort of. Well, at least I can say that. For the purists that insist that the engine, transmission and other related parts must bear the precious numbers that qualify it to be amongst the 100 point cars, this is not the story for you. At the very least, I will be at peace knowing the engine that started life in my car will be reunited to this green machine.
Let's start with a "brief" back story. I found my dream car in the August 2011 issue of Hemmings Motor News. The F7 Sherwood Green Road Runner was waiting for me in Export, PA; a 14 hour round trip to old homestead in South Jersey. Driving the car back was half the fun as the frequent backfiring and stalling made the trip that much better. After all the kinks were worked out, I was able to enjoy the old car. Then, the performance bug bit me. Drawing inspiration from vintage street racing and stories told by my father, I elected to install 4.10 gears in the 8 3/4 rear, a beefier cam and of course, black long tube Hooker Headers. Two trips to the Mopar show at Englishtown earned me two trophies and respect from my elder peers, but this dream of having a high performance, aftermarket studded muscle car was fading quickly. Several trips to Carlisle and countless hours of restoration shows taught me there was a special place in my heart for bringing classics back to their stock form. And so, in the summer of 2014, I began my quest to bring the Road Runner back to stock form. Gone was the Purple Cam and in went a milder piece that got the job done. 4.10 gears? Gone. While they provided the means to beating friends when the traffic light flashed to green, they were not too kind on the highway for long road trips. The solution? Installing the correct 3.23 rear that came with the car from the factory. For those inquisitive types, the Mopar Rear End Gods smiled upon me as my car was fitted with the 489 carrier rather than the 741 or 742 which are known to be somewhat delicate pieces in respect to the famous 8 3/4. Did I mention that I had the car painted and all the nasty rust was cut out? Yeah, I had that done. No longer were the strobe stripes, chin spoilers, gull wing and hood pins laying claim to my Road Runner. If it wasn't on the fender tag, I got rid of it. The result: a stripped down stunner that looked as good as it did when it left the factory, at least 50 feet away. I must add that there are two camps in this classic car hobby, those who drive and those who don't. It's not a crime to trailer your concours car to and from shows, but I don't consider you a driver with the exception of the rig with which you hauled the precious cargo. As for me and my house, we will drive our cars! Every ding, scratch and insect hit is a story and a badge of character. Sure, I do my best to avoid these things, but at the end of the day, it's a car people. Enjoy it! Now let's get to business. Back in November 2018, I had the pleasure of speaking to one Holgar Kurschner, owner and proprietor of Supercar Restorations in Wellsville, NY. His work has been featured on the cover and pages of Hemmings Muscle Machines and has earned numerous awards. Being a Mopar junkie himself, Holgar seemed interested in my car's story and offered his services to rebuild the numbers matching engine when the time came. A long, wet Vermont winter came and went which meant there was plenty of time to think about how I was going to go about embarking on this task. After some bean counting and research, yours truly decided that now was as good a time to initiate Operation Rebuild.
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