60 Hemmings MUSCLE MACHINES AprI2I15 ~s.com

HemmingsMUSCLEMACHINES I April 2015 hemmings.com 61

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Road Runners hadall the interior

panache of a NewYork taxicab,because that'sbasically what

they were, albeitwith a mile-longHurst shifter. Thetiny tachometer

was an expensive$48.70 option-

about $335 today,adjusted for

inflation.When it was introduced in

1968, the entry-level muscle carhad all the amenities of a taxicab,foregoing costly and heavy acces-sories-like carpeting-to deliveraffordable performance and a curbweight of around 3,400 pounds.

It was an instant hit, too. For$2,896-around only $20,000in today's money, adjusted forinflation-the Belvedere-basedcoupe was originally offered with a335-horsepower, 425-lb.ft. 383 en-gine, a combination that was goodfor high-14-second ETs.For another$714, Mother Mopar would toss inthe 426 Street Hemi, but its nearly25-percent premium over the 383base model kept the take rate low.Only about 1,000 '68 Hemi RoadRunners were built, accountingfor only two percent of the nearly45,000 Road Runners built in itsinaugural year.

"It was exactly what I was look-ing for," says Dan. "1 could build

62 Hemmings MUSCLE MACHINES I April201<i hemmings.com

it with about double the originalhorsepower of the 383 and main-tain the stock appearance, whichwould really surprise people onthe street."

The only problem was find-ing an appropriate project car. Asmany enthusiasts have discoveredthese days, the market is filled withexpensive restored cars and heapsthat barely qualify as parts cars.The driver-condition cars that filledtrader-type magazines 20 years agoare mostly long gone.

Dan lucked out when a friendfound a '68 Road Runner in Arizonathat was mostly original, unrestoredand reasonably affordable. It origi-nally rolled out of Chrysler's LosAngeles assembly plant 47 yearsago about as plain as plain couldbe: vanilla white paint, the base383 engine, a four-speed transmis-sion, AM radio, black vinyl seats -and a tachometer. It was also afairly rare decor-delete car, addingto its stripped-down ambience.

Dan wasted little time in acquir-ing it, bringing it back to his homein Michigan for an immediatetransformation.

"It was in really good shape," hesays. "The trim was all there andthe interior was complete. It reallyjust needed some attention to de-tail-and a color change. I wanteda sleeper, but a white Road Runneris just a little too plain for me."

For the light bodywork and colorchange to Seriously-Officer-My-Foot-Slipped-Off-The-Clutch Red,

the car was sent to RossStomp,who also added the blacked-outhood to give the car the same ap-pearance as the red Road Runnerused in Plymouth's 1968 brochureand magazine ads. The blackinterior was in fine original condi-tion and was simply cleaned anddetailed, although a few new exte-rior and interior trim pieces wererequired to bring the car's conditionup to A-1 status. They were sourcedfrom Wisconsin-based Vans Auto.

While the body was under thespray gun, Dan got to work on theengine, starting with a 440 blockfrom a 1969 Charger. He stretchedits bores from the original 4.320inches to 4.380 inches and in-creased the stroke from 3.750 inch-es to 4.500 inches. That resultedin a nearly 24-percent increase indisplacement, to 542 cubic inches.Naturally, he filled the punched-outengine with forged rotating parts.

To support the greater displace-ment, Dan bolted on a set of MarshPerformance aluminum heads.They're unique castings, designedwith large 21O-cc intake run-ners and fitted with equally large2.14/1.81-inch valves. Todd Marshhimself helped spec a custom-grindroller camshaft that's surprisinglymild, with 0.576-inch lift and 314degrees of duration on both sides.

"With an extra 100 cubic inchesover the original 440, we didn'tneed to go crazy with the cam-shaft to make power," says Dan. "Itdyno'd at 634 horsepower and 647

I

Ib.ft. of torque, and is really docileon the street-really easy to drive."

The decidedly un-radicalcamshaft also gives the enginea surprisingly mild demeanor atidle. It doesn't sound stock, but itcertainly doesn't sound like whatyou'd expect a 634-horsepower"440" engine to sound like-anattribute that plays right into Dan'sintentions. Even more impressivewas how he hid the big-cube RB ina factory-looking wrapper that evenmany Mopar aficionados wouldhave trouble discerning from anessentially stock engine.

"I wanted it to look like a 383at a glance," says Dan. "It's fun tokeep people a little off-guard."

The most obvious giveawayunder the hood is the high-risealuminum intake manifold, but Dancleverly painted it the same Mopar-blue engine color as the factoryintake. A big, 800-cfm Edelbrockcarburetor is tucked under a stockair cleaner, and the stock-lookingdistributor has an electronic con-version beneath the cap. Taking thevisual deception even further, Danhad factory cast-iron exhaust mani-folds Extrude-honed to increase

their flow capability."The material that's pushed

through the manifolds is seriousstuff," says Dan. "It took three setsof manifolds to get it right, becausewe kept getting holes in the otherones, but the results were worth it.The engine really pulls strongly andthe manifolds aren't a restriction."

Backing the big-inch RB is anA-833 l8-spline Hemi four-speedtransmission that Dan merelyrefurbished with new synchrosand bushings. It's matched with

The big RB enginemasterfullycaptures the

sleeper aestheticwith factory paint

on aftermarketparts and a stockair cleaner over

the 800-cfm carboOriginal "383"tag on the hood

scoop adds to thesubterfuge.

Hemmings MUSCLE MACHINES I April 2015 ~

I have always been into Mopars and RoadRunners. My first car was a 1968 Road Runner,and I've owned many since. Besides the styling,the vintage Mopars were really tough. We usedthem in demolition derbies when I was younger,and you just couldn't kill them.

My daughter Kelsey got into them enoughto race a Hemi-powered Dodge, and I wantedthis Road Runner to be something I could sharewith my grandson Lucas. It's been great for that.We've had a lot of fun with the car, and it's easyto drive on the street.

I'm still building engines and cars for mycustomers, but it's rewarding to have somethinglike this to jump in whenever the mood strikes-and nothing beats the look on the faces of theother drivers it surprises.-Dan Cook

a McLeod dual-disc clutch thathe says enables excellent pedalpressure, making it easy to drivein stop-and-go traffic. Dan alsoswapped the original Inland Gearshifter with a Hurst stick.

"The Hemi four-speeds aresuper tough," he says. "You don't

really need to do anything to themto hold even the torque this engineis making."

That torque is channeled throughthe gearbox and into Chrysler'Sequally stout 9.75-inch/Dana 60rear axle, which is fitted with aSure-Grip differential. It meets the

tarmac via sleeper-perfect steel. wheels, but even there, Dan's at-tention to detail helped optimizeaesthetics and performance. Thefront wheels are 15 x 7-inch rimsnot unlike the ones Chrysler usedon some later Hemi cars, but therears are factory 15 x 8-inch rimsthat were used on early RamchargerSUVs. They're difficult to locate, butprovide a factory-matching appear-ance and enable the wider treadthat's needed to harness the 542-cube engine's 605-lb.ft. of torque.

Rounding out the subtle yet strate-gic resto-mod upgrades on the RoadRunner is a front disc brake setupfrom a 1974 Dodge Dart, whichinspires more confidence than theoriginal four-wheel drums-particu-larly with about twice the horse-power to contend with.

It took Dan less than a year torevamp the classic Road Runner,and he's been enjoying every mo-ment behind the wheel, even tak-ing it down the drag strip, whereit has run low-LIs at nearly 125MPH. That sort of performancereinforces the importance of thatdisc-brake swap.

"It's hard to stay out of thethrottle," he admits. "The powercomes on immediately, throws youback in the seat and really spins thetires hard whenever you want. It hassurprised more than a few drivers inlate-model performance cars, whichmeans the sleeper effect seems tohave worked perfectly."

Indeed, it has-and that velvethammer approach is exactly whatdrew us to the car. It has the quin-tessential look and feel of a classicmuscle car, with the enhancementsthat make it a modern perfor-mance car. It will hold its own withanything off the showroom floortoday with style that simply can'tbe replicated in a wind tunnel orwhen trying to meet continuallychanging regulations.

Despite finally building the streetcar he's wanted for years, Dan isn'tquite done with it. As we were fin-ishing the write-up on his Road Run-ner, he was finishing up a 572-inchHemi engine that \ ill ge sho edunder its hood.

Frankly, we ad ocate retainingthe punched-out abig statement beneath -~ -appearing air cleaner --were glad to catch - -~ -",,:-=::-ultimate-sleeper guise,

1968 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNERSPECIFICATIONS

ENGINEBlockType .Cylinder Heads .

Displacement .Bore x Stroke .Compression Ratio .Pistons .Connecting Rods .Crankshaft .Horsepower @ RPM .Torque @ RPM .Camshaft Type .Duration .Lift .Valvetrain .Fuel System .Induction System .

Lubrication System. : .....

Ignition System .Exhaust System .Original Engine .

TRANSMISSIONType .Ratios .

Clutch .

1969 Chrysler RB/440; over-bored 0.060-inchMarsh Performance "Sidewinder" aluminum;2. 14-in. intake and 1.88-in. exhaust valves542 cubic inches4.380 x 4.500 inches11:1Diamond forged aluminum with friction-reducing skirt coatingEagle forged aluminum H-beam; 7.100 inches longEagle forged steel with Chevy-type 2.100-in. rod journals634@6,600605@5,000COMPCams hydraulic roller314/314 degrees intake/exhaust0.576/0.576-in. intake/exhaustIsky 1.5-ratio roller rocker arms; COMPCams valve springsCarter "race" electric pumpMopar Performance Single-plane aluminum intake manifoldand Edelbrock 800-cfm four-barrel carburetorPressure, gear-type pump; Melling high-pressure oil pump and pick-up;Chrysler oil panChrysler distributor with PerTronix electronic conversionChrysler cast-iron manifolds with Extrude-honed passages1968 Chrysler B-series 383 cubic inches

Chrysler A-833 18-spline four-speed manual1st 2.65:12nd 1.91:13rd 1.39:14th 1.00:1Reverse 2.58:1McLeod dual-disc

DIFFERENTIALType. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Chrysler/Dana 609.75-in. with Sure-Grip limited-slip differentialRatio , '" 3.54:1

STEERINGType_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Stock, un-assisted recirculating ballRatio. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. 14:1

BRAKESFront. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1974 Dodge Dart discs with it-in. vented rotorsRear. . . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . .. Stock-type tt-in. drums

SUSPENSIONFront _. . .. Stock-type torsion bars with factory heavy-duty shock absorbers,

springs and ball jointsRear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Solid axle; Super Stock leaf springs with pinion snubber

WHEELS AND TIRESWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Chrysler steel with hub caps

Front 15x linchesRear 15x 8 inches

Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Cooper CobraFront 225nOR15Rear 275/60R15

PERFORMANCE1/4-mile ET. . . . . . . . . .. .. 1'.26@ 124 MPH (with drag radials)

Hemmings MUSCLEMACHINES I April 2015 ~ ~ &5