CJ's 73 Roadrunner

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Mon May 16, 16 7:45 am

Recent addition to the Mopar world, the car will be well know to a few of you, but I'm a bumbling idiot to Mopars but keen to get my hands dirty.

Thought I'd get a little thread going so that you can help me get out of the sh!t, when I start having a fettle

First port of call is the brakes, Miles recommend upgrading to the 11.75'' discs (and kindly sent a link) and having had to 'Emergency brake' over the weekend, I'm ordering the b&stards up........ it'll soon pay for itself as me the wife and kids went through a tenners worth of pants in 1 braking manoeuvre

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Mon May 16, 16 8:40 am

Yes, the standards are like brakes but worse.

A wise precaution and a good upgrade.

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Mon May 16, 16 9:33 am

I think all 4 of us were pushing the brake peddle down at one point !!

This is the conversion,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390964214671? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Small amount of $'s for a lot of piece of mind

latil · Post by **latil** » Mon May 16, 16 10:47 am

40 plus years on standard brakes and suddenly they're no good

It's possible you're not giving them enough advance notice that they will be required to act,at least a weeks written notice for each application is needed.

Yes,upgrade asap for peace of mind

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Mon May 16, 16 11:18 am

latil wrote:40 plus years on standard brakes and suddenly they're no good It's possible you're not giving them enough advance notice that they will be required to act,at least a weeks written notice for each application is needed.
Yes,upgrade asap for peace of mind

Oh 100 percent driver error but my driving standards won't improve, so the brakes will have to

cadboy · Post by **cadboy** » Tue May 17, 16 6:30 am

fin170703 wrote:
latil wrote:40 plus years on standard brakes and suddenly they're no good It's possible you're not giving them enough advance notice that they will be required to act,at least a weeks written notice for each application is needed.
Yes,upgrade asap for peace of mind
Oh 100 percent driver error but my driving standards won't improve, so the brakes will have to

You have to remember how old the car is and drive it with respect, it is not a racer (well only on 1/4 mile track). Good luck with the brakes.

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Tue May 17, 16 8:29 am

cadboy wrote:
fin170703 wrote:
latil wrote:40 plus years on standard brakes and suddenly they're no good It's possible you're not giving them enough advance notice that they will be required to act,at least a weeks written notice for each application is needed.
Yes,upgrade asap for peace of mind
Oh 100 percent driver error but my driving standards won't improve, so the brakes will have to
You have to remember how old the car is and drive it with respect, it is not a racer (well only on 1/4 mile track). Good luck with the brakes.

Fair shout Cad

I'm ordering up the front disc conversion (to 11.75 discs) today, so hopefully that'll give me a bit more stopping power. Just waiting to hear back from the guy, in regards to shipping costs

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Tue May 17, 16 12:49 pm

Decided on changing the rear gears from 3.23 to 3.55.

Had a look at the stickies on the Rear end section on here and I'm pretty sure I have the 8 3/4'' rear end with 489 case (cast number 2881489)

Having looked around on Summit I've decided on the following:-

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/r ... /overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/r ... /overview/

This is a whole new area for me, so I'm not to sure on manufacturers etc and who to go for / not to go for. Any input would be appreciated

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Sat May 21, 16 4:08 pm

Didn't take long to start pulling bits off

Glad I did though as there are a few bit I want to address.

Rear bench seat is knackered and I can't imagine a replacement will be easy to source, so for now I'm just going to hunt on the tinterweb and see what crops up (might be able to ship something over via Ron @ STS) The foam / fabric is pants and the frame work is rotten, as you can see

The whole of the interior is out now and TBH the floor isn't in bad condition, had lots of repairs but I can't see any major rot. Some of the patches are sh!te so I'm going to cut them out and reweld sections in, but that wont take me long

Also managed to bag a set of buckets for the front, in cracking condition.

All the bits of plastic I can use are currently being sprayed black, and the carpet has just been cleaned ready for the black dye

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Sat May 21, 16 4:46 pm

nice one matey, crack in to it,,,,,,

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Sat May 21, 16 4:57 pm

Cannonball wrote:nice one matey, crack in to it,,,,,,

I've a hideous track record of taking cars off the road for a 'bit of work' only for them not to see the road for a year or 2

that wont happen on this one.

I have made me mind up though, the car will be getting sprayed (sorry Miles)

wont be til the end of this year / start of next though

mad machs · Post by **mad machs** » Sat May 21, 16 5:00 pm

Those seats look spot on Craig, better than you described

Glad you're going to paint it, it's been crying out for it

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Sat May 21, 16 5:16 pm

mad machs wrote:Those seats look spot on Craig, better than you described

Glad you're going to paint it, it's been crying out for it

I'm over the moon with them. Got them off a guy off here called Jim (challenger)

The mechanics / shell are great so it seems a shame not to get the interior and paint job up to scratch.

fin170703 · Post by **fin170703** » Tue May 24, 16 8:49 am

Having delved a little deeper into the floor pans, it seems filler and sealant has been used to hide a multitude of sins !!!

Various areas have gone right through and whilst I'm not going to go the full hog (I'll leave that for a later date) I do want to chop out the bad areas

I started to fab up a few panels but the passenger side isn't great at all, so will have a look around to see where I can get a replacement rear pan from

mad machs · Post by **mad machs** » Tue May 24, 16 9:13 am

Ah, patina

Think the way forward here is to patch it up (for now) so you can use it, then make a list of all the panels & bits n bobs you need from the states, & use Ron Fentons excellent shipping arrangement.

http://www.moparuk.com/forums/profile.p ... ile&u=2737

http://www.moparuk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=53398