1972 Plymouth Road Runner - Mopar Perfection - 50
Ever since the then brand new 1971/1972 Plymouth Road Runners and
GTXs were advertised, Brent Hyde wanted one. It was the large rear
haunches of that generation which really drew him to the vehicles, along
with the fact a Hemi could be hiding within. This combination was
enough to ensure that eventually he would have one of his own.
It took 30 years before one was registered in his name ” but the wait was the easy part, because the build of this vehicle hasn’t been entirely plain sailing.
Right Time, Right Place
The ’72 Road Runner was imported into New Zealand around 1990, and after being on the road for a few years, the then owner’s wife somehow managed to fill the petrol tank with diesel and subsequently destroyed the engine. In 2002 Brent made the owner an offer for
the partially disassembled car that he couldn’t refuse, and the deal was done.
Besides the motor being in pieces, the condition of the car was pretty original, and once the engine was sorted it was in this state that Brent drove it around as his daily driver.
Wrong Time, Wrong Place
Fast forward through a few years of happy motoring, and the tale of man and machine takes a serious turn for the worse. Early one morning, while heading out to the annual Kumeu Car Show, a drunk driver ran a red light right in front of Brent, leaving little option but for Brent to hit the car.
The guy wasn’t just drunk; Brent had found the worst driver in the world to share a road with. The driver was in a car that wasn’t registered or warranted, didn’t have a license and was out on weekend release from prison. Obviously all this added up to one seriously uninsured driver.
Three court appearances later, and Brent was left somewhat bemused at the justice system as the driver walked away with ‘careless use of a motor vehicle’. Apparently it wasn’t worth slapping him with all the other charges, as the fines would never get paid.
At least Brent’s insurance covered the Road Runner, and since he had planned to give it a full rebuild a few years down the track, he
decided to take advantage of his misfortune and do it now.
The process took three years but the end result is without doubt one of the top cars to ever be built in New Zealand. From the very outset, only the best people were chosen to work on the car, and Brent has nothing but praise for those involved.
The Build Begins
Straightening out the body was first and foremost on the agenda, and with a rare car like this, choosing the right panel guy is essential. Brent had seen some of the work performed at Moselle Panel And Paint in Henderson, Auckland, and liked the attitudes of the staff and owners.
Moselle became home to the car for much of the project, and Brent can’t speak highly enough of the work the company did.
The repairs required due to the accident damage were completed before the shut lines and gaps were perfected. If you look closely at the bumpers, you will notice they have been smoothed and recontoured to more closely fit the body. Or, more likely, you won’t notice anything at all ” the job is flawless. However, you will probably be able to appreciate how much better looking this car is compared to a standard one. All body work was performed in bare metal, without a scrap of filler. When you look at how long and straight the rear haunches of the Road Runner are, you can’t help but be impressed.
While
the panel work was taking place, an engine was being built on the other
side of the world. It’d be a stretch to fit the big cube Hemi and
associated hardware within the engine bay, so the shock towers were
scalloped in preparation and all unused holes filled.
One of the goals for the build was to achieve a car that looked completely custom, yet almost as if it was a modern interpretation of what the factory produced.
The beautiful PPG Vibrant Yella paint is one area where that ‘modernised factory’ look has been achieved. At first glance it’s a retina-searing yellow, but look closer and you will find a coarse metallic and multiple pearls.
Likewise, the black used for the stripes over the roof isn’t just black, but black with a yellow pearl and the same metallics. It’s a finish that looks great in the flesh, but is nigh on impossible to capture in photos.
The Ultimate Hemi
After previously suffering dramas with locally assembled engines, Brent decided to get the car’s new powerplant from the other side of the globe. One of the influencing factors was that the car was to go on a carb-free diet and be electronically fuel injected instead. With New Zealanders having little EFI Hemi experience, it made sense and saved dollars to deal with the pros in the US.
Although the car originally had a worked 440 in it, Brent knew it was Hemi or nothing this time around. Indy Cylinder Heads in Indianapolis supplied an engine built to Brent’s specs, which read like any Hemi lover’s dream. There are too many fruity bits to
mention
(check out the specs on p26 for confirmation of that). But as a teaser,
the MP Hemi Mega Block is filled with 7.10-inch Eagle H-beam rods,
which, combined with the Callies 4340 4.750-inch stroke, crank give the
engine a massive 605 cubic inches of capacity.
The Indy 426-1RA heads feature equally exotic parts, making the engine the best Hemi street motor in the country, hands down.
What set the car apart from many others was the decision to go fuel injected with a setup purchased from For Hemis Only in Canada.
Why go injected? Because Brent likes driving his cars, and no matter how good looking or nicely finished this car ended up, it would be driven as often as possible. With the FAST (Fuel Air Spark Technology) ECU the car would start first try every time and run perfectly all day every day.
Although they’re hard to see, under the customised air intake (lowered over the motor to ensure the bonnet didn’t require any cutting) are twin four-barrel 1375cfm FAST EFI throttle bodies. Again, it’s not what you see but what you don’t that lifts this car above and beyond anything else on the road.
To keep the fuel vapours out of the car, and keep the fuel system as quiet as possible, the 90-litre fuel tank has been fitted with an internal surge tank and pump. From these, fuel passes through another two pumps and filters before finding its way to the engine.
Forced
induction? “Not needed,” Brent reckons. And with the setup making a
massive 900hp at 6000rpm and 1152Nm at 4900rpm, he’s not wrong.
Although very purposeful, the engine bay isn’t strictly business but a mix of great looks and functional products. Besides the Billet Specialties Tru Trac serpentine belt kit, there’s a Sunnen air conditioning compressor, 140-amp alternator and a HydraBoost booster to assist with brakes and power steering. Tucked neatly (well, as neatly as 2.25-inch pipes can be) down the sides of the big motor are thermal-coated headers, which feed into a twin three-inch system built by Magnum Automotive that Brent describes as, “The best exhaust I’ve ever seen.”
The Dream Driveline
With such an awesome engine package, there’s no way any ordinary driveline was going to end up attached to the back of it. These days a Torqueflite 727 transmission does the shifting, albeit in reverse pattern by a leather retrimmed pistol grip shifter. Inside the box you will find basically the best of the best parts available when it was assembled by Cope Racing Transmissions in Indiana.
Behind the box is a 3.5-inch custom driveshaft with larger than stock, high-performance crosses built by Driveshaft Specialties of East
Tamaki.
Backing this up is a Dana 60 diff, and judging by the smile on Brent’s
face each time he exits the vehicle, it doesn’t get an easy time back
there.
The Finer Things
All those years ago when Brent first dreamed of owning a Road Runner, I bet he never thought it would be as good or as advanced as his one is today. Besides the modern suspension and handling setup that consists of an XV Motorport Level 1 suspension kit, custom-valved shocks, custom rear leaves and tubular front suspension arms, there is a bunch of top-shelf extras. Items like billet swaybar mounts, aftermarket one-inch torsion bars, adjustable strut rods, and altered geometry just scratch the surface of what lies within the vehicle.
As well as wanting the car to stick to the road, Brent wanted it to be nice to drive, without the noise and harshness often associated with a modified or old vehicle. Thanks to a selection of rubber and urethane bushes, along with the right hardware, the car now drives like a dream ” and a fast, good-looking dream at that.
Brent has done a lot of research hunting down the right parts, ones that work properly together and are engineered correctly, rather than searching for items with bling appeal. The result is a car that drives just as well as it looks, with no compromises.
The wheels could have been the make or break of the car, but they are perfect for it. The 18×8- and 18×10-inch Vintiques 95 series Billet
Chrysler
Rallye wheels are a modern interpretation of the vehicle’s original
Rallyes, and were custom built with the desired backspace to fill out
the guards. Not only do they fit, they fit perfectly, and suit the
modern look Brent sought while paying homage to the car’s roots.
The attention to detail and aspiration to make the Road Runner the ultimate driving experience extends to the interior, where fresh leather covers almost every surface. Stu’s Trim Shop was handed the task of modernising the trim and hiding a comprehensive stereo system within.
With fresh BMW carpet laid down, the original-style seats (now complete with six-way power adjustment) could be dropped back in, and the gauges from Instrument Specialties reinstalled. Although the instruments themselves are the originals from the vehicle, they have been restored to better than new condition, recalibrated to suit the vehicle and custom screen printed.
Underneath the trim you will find five layers of soundproofing material. Brent reckons he probably has more Dynamat than the local distributor does, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Finishing Touches
Towards the end of the build, Merlin Motorsport ” a company that more often associated with circuit racers than street cars ” was commissioned to perform some finishing touches. Again, they’re all things that you won’t see at first but which really do put the car above and beyond any other.
We’re
talking stuff like all the interior and exterior lighting ” including
the instruments ” being converted to LEDs, and the installation of an
electronic rear vision mirror with built-in LCD screen.
As if this wasn’t enough to make the car feel like a brand new exotic, it now has under-dash and under-seat rear floor wash lighting, complete with soft start and soft off.
The reality is that this car has so many special features we could dedicate an entire magazine to it. But Brent isn’t one to blow his own trumpet or seek publicity, and he wouldn’t go for it. If, however, you ever manage to get a close look at the car, we are absolutely certain you will be as amazed by it as we are. We’re almost inclined to say it’s the best car currently gracing New Zealand’s highways.
It may have been a rough road to perfection, but these days the only roads Brent has on the horizon are ones that will be travelled in style and at pace.
and
out, dual three-inch system with X-pipe exhaust built by Magnum
Automotors, dual three-inch Flowmaster mufflers into dual three-inch
glass pack resonators, custom four-core Hemi radiator, fixed seven-blade
Hemi fan and full shroud, FAST ECU with custom mapping, Billet
Specialties Tru Trac Serpentine belt system, Sunnen air conditioning
short compressor, 140 amp alternator, Hydra boost combined power
steering and brakes, shock towers cut and laid back 20mm to allow engine
and header clearance. All unused holes and mounts filled and smoothed
Driveline: Torqueflite 727 transmission, all parts supplied by Cope Racing transmissions, billet steel drums, four pinion planetary with bearings, billet aluminium accumulator, front and rear servos, Ultimate sprag, Trans fully rollerised, Pro Race II reverse manual shift pattern valve body, Flex band/Red lining, Dana 60 diff, custom 3.5-inch driveshaft with high-performance crosses (no nipples and larger than stock) billet trans and pinion yokes
Suspension: XV Motorsport Level I leaf-spring suspension, custom valved aluminium monobody gas shocks front and rear, custom-made multileaf rear six and seven leaf, one-inch torsion bar front, custom front and rear sway bars with billet mounts, adjustable front strut rods, tubular front upper suspension arms with altered geometry to improve caster and camber settings, selected rubber/ urethane bushes for noise/harshness control
Brakes: ’73 up large spindle C-Body disc brakes HD rotors and callipers, stock rear HD large drums with standard linings
Wheels/tyres: 18×8 and 18×10-inch Vintiques 95 series Billet Chrysler Rallye wheels, 245/45R18 and 295/45R19 Hankook tyres
Exterior: Body stripped, repaired, shut lines, gaps and panels blueprinted, bumpers smoothed recontoured to match body lines, Air Grabber air cleaner base hand-built in steel to allow 3-inch filter and match original hood. PPG Vibrant Yella by Moselle Panel and Paint, Henderson
Chassis: Torque boxes front and rear, custom full-length subframe connectors fabricated and welded to floor, torque strap anchor
welded to chassis at left rear of engine to reduce chassis twist
Interior: Complete custom reupholstered in black leather with suede inserts and hood lining, BMW-spec cut pile carpets including fully detailed and lined trunk, original-type seats with six-way power adjustment, re-trimmed in black leather and suede inserts reshaped with bolstering to seat base and back rest to provide a more modern fit, Grant 13-inch Classic Monza steering wheel, factory Slap Stick shifter with retrimmed pistol grip, factory instruments and bezel restored and re-chromed, instruments screen printed with personalised fascia including recalibrating the speedometer to 200mph (322kph) and tachometer for corrected rpm limits, custom interior LED lighting, LED lit instrument cluster, Kenwood DDX814 entertainment system, JVC amps, subwoofer, speakers and crossovers
Performance: 900hp (671kW) at 6000rpm, 1152Nm at 4900rpm
Occupation: Manager
Previously owned cars: ’56 F100, various Falcons and Commodores, ’69 Mercury Monterey, ’65 Chevelle Malibu SS, ’73 ’Cuda (daughter’s car)
Dream car: Tricked out Superbird or Daytona
Why the Road Runner: “Ever since I was a young man and saw the ’71-’72 Roadrunner/GTX advertised new, I’ve wanted one. Took me 30 years to get one”
Build time: Three years
Length of ownership: Seven years
Brent thanks: “Huge debt of gratitude to all the guys at Moselle Panel and Paint. Their talents and enthusiasm are unmatched in my experience. In particular and special mention to: Steve (owner) Bryce for outstanding metal craftsmanship, Charlie and Pete for incredible paint and finish. Stu’s Trim Shop, Stu and Ross for attention to detail and finish without compromise. Cope Racing Transmissions: their stuff really does what they say it will do. Faultless. Instrument Specialties: nothing was too difficult, was on time and was very cost effective. Indy Cylinder Head: they make power and will deliver. For Hemis Only: the people to talk to about supply of EFI Hemi equipment. DC Trading: Dave and Carl for tracking down anything I wanted. Top guys. Not least but last (it was the last job), Merlin Motorsport: Leigh and Sandy for slaving away on all the electrical and electronic systems including gremlins and getting the whole thing working so well. To everyone, thank you. I would use you all again.”
It took 30 years before one was registered in his name ” but the wait was the easy part, because the build of this vehicle hasn’t been entirely plain sailing.
Right Time, Right Place
The ’72 Road Runner was imported into New Zealand around 1990, and after being on the road for a few years, the then owner’s wife somehow managed to fill the petrol tank with diesel and subsequently destroyed the engine. In 2002 Brent made the owner an offer for
the partially disassembled car that he couldn’t refuse, and the deal was done.Besides the motor being in pieces, the condition of the car was pretty original, and once the engine was sorted it was in this state that Brent drove it around as his daily driver.
Wrong Time, Wrong Place
Fast forward through a few years of happy motoring, and the tale of man and machine takes a serious turn for the worse. Early one morning, while heading out to the annual Kumeu Car Show, a drunk driver ran a red light right in front of Brent, leaving little option but for Brent to hit the car.
The guy wasn’t just drunk; Brent had found the worst driver in the world to share a road with. The driver was in a car that wasn’t registered or warranted, didn’t have a license and was out on weekend release from prison. Obviously all this added up to one seriously uninsured driver.
Three court appearances later, and Brent was left somewhat bemused at the justice system as the driver walked away with ‘careless use of a motor vehicle’. Apparently it wasn’t worth slapping him with all the other charges, as the fines would never get paid.
At least Brent’s insurance covered the Road Runner, and since he had planned to give it a full rebuild a few years down the track, he
decided to take advantage of his misfortune and do it now.The process took three years but the end result is without doubt one of the top cars to ever be built in New Zealand. From the very outset, only the best people were chosen to work on the car, and Brent has nothing but praise for those involved.
The Build Begins
Straightening out the body was first and foremost on the agenda, and with a rare car like this, choosing the right panel guy is essential. Brent had seen some of the work performed at Moselle Panel And Paint in Henderson, Auckland, and liked the attitudes of the staff and owners.
Moselle became home to the car for much of the project, and Brent can’t speak highly enough of the work the company did.
The repairs required due to the accident damage were completed before the shut lines and gaps were perfected. If you look closely at the bumpers, you will notice they have been smoothed and recontoured to more closely fit the body. Or, more likely, you won’t notice anything at all ” the job is flawless. However, you will probably be able to appreciate how much better looking this car is compared to a standard one. All body work was performed in bare metal, without a scrap of filler. When you look at how long and straight the rear haunches of the Road Runner are, you can’t help but be impressed.
While
the panel work was taking place, an engine was being built on the other
side of the world. It’d be a stretch to fit the big cube Hemi and
associated hardware within the engine bay, so the shock towers were
scalloped in preparation and all unused holes filled.One of the goals for the build was to achieve a car that looked completely custom, yet almost as if it was a modern interpretation of what the factory produced.
The beautiful PPG Vibrant Yella paint is one area where that ‘modernised factory’ look has been achieved. At first glance it’s a retina-searing yellow, but look closer and you will find a coarse metallic and multiple pearls.
Likewise, the black used for the stripes over the roof isn’t just black, but black with a yellow pearl and the same metallics. It’s a finish that looks great in the flesh, but is nigh on impossible to capture in photos.
The Ultimate Hemi
After previously suffering dramas with locally assembled engines, Brent decided to get the car’s new powerplant from the other side of the globe. One of the influencing factors was that the car was to go on a carb-free diet and be electronically fuel injected instead. With New Zealanders having little EFI Hemi experience, it made sense and saved dollars to deal with the pros in the US.
Although the car originally had a worked 440 in it, Brent knew it was Hemi or nothing this time around. Indy Cylinder Heads in Indianapolis supplied an engine built to Brent’s specs, which read like any Hemi lover’s dream. There are too many fruity bits to
mention
(check out the specs on p26 for confirmation of that). But as a teaser,
the MP Hemi Mega Block is filled with 7.10-inch Eagle H-beam rods,
which, combined with the Callies 4340 4.750-inch stroke, crank give the
engine a massive 605 cubic inches of capacity.The Indy 426-1RA heads feature equally exotic parts, making the engine the best Hemi street motor in the country, hands down.
What set the car apart from many others was the decision to go fuel injected with a setup purchased from For Hemis Only in Canada.
Why go injected? Because Brent likes driving his cars, and no matter how good looking or nicely finished this car ended up, it would be driven as often as possible. With the FAST (Fuel Air Spark Technology) ECU the car would start first try every time and run perfectly all day every day.
Although they’re hard to see, under the customised air intake (lowered over the motor to ensure the bonnet didn’t require any cutting) are twin four-barrel 1375cfm FAST EFI throttle bodies. Again, it’s not what you see but what you don’t that lifts this car above and beyond anything else on the road.
To keep the fuel vapours out of the car, and keep the fuel system as quiet as possible, the 90-litre fuel tank has been fitted with an internal surge tank and pump. From these, fuel passes through another two pumps and filters before finding its way to the engine.
Forced
induction? “Not needed,” Brent reckons. And with the setup making a
massive 900hp at 6000rpm and 1152Nm at 4900rpm, he’s not wrong.Although very purposeful, the engine bay isn’t strictly business but a mix of great looks and functional products. Besides the Billet Specialties Tru Trac serpentine belt kit, there’s a Sunnen air conditioning compressor, 140-amp alternator and a HydraBoost booster to assist with brakes and power steering. Tucked neatly (well, as neatly as 2.25-inch pipes can be) down the sides of the big motor are thermal-coated headers, which feed into a twin three-inch system built by Magnum Automotive that Brent describes as, “The best exhaust I’ve ever seen.”
The Dream Driveline
With such an awesome engine package, there’s no way any ordinary driveline was going to end up attached to the back of it. These days a Torqueflite 727 transmission does the shifting, albeit in reverse pattern by a leather retrimmed pistol grip shifter. Inside the box you will find basically the best of the best parts available when it was assembled by Cope Racing Transmissions in Indiana.
Behind the box is a 3.5-inch custom driveshaft with larger than stock, high-performance crosses built by Driveshaft Specialties of East
Tamaki.
Backing this up is a Dana 60 diff, and judging by the smile on Brent’s
face each time he exits the vehicle, it doesn’t get an easy time back
there.The Finer Things
All those years ago when Brent first dreamed of owning a Road Runner, I bet he never thought it would be as good or as advanced as his one is today. Besides the modern suspension and handling setup that consists of an XV Motorport Level 1 suspension kit, custom-valved shocks, custom rear leaves and tubular front suspension arms, there is a bunch of top-shelf extras. Items like billet swaybar mounts, aftermarket one-inch torsion bars, adjustable strut rods, and altered geometry just scratch the surface of what lies within the vehicle.
As well as wanting the car to stick to the road, Brent wanted it to be nice to drive, without the noise and harshness often associated with a modified or old vehicle. Thanks to a selection of rubber and urethane bushes, along with the right hardware, the car now drives like a dream ” and a fast, good-looking dream at that.
Brent has done a lot of research hunting down the right parts, ones that work properly together and are engineered correctly, rather than searching for items with bling appeal. The result is a car that drives just as well as it looks, with no compromises.
The wheels could have been the make or break of the car, but they are perfect for it. The 18×8- and 18×10-inch Vintiques 95 series Billet
Chrysler
Rallye wheels are a modern interpretation of the vehicle’s original
Rallyes, and were custom built with the desired backspace to fill out
the guards. Not only do they fit, they fit perfectly, and suit the
modern look Brent sought while paying homage to the car’s roots.The attention to detail and aspiration to make the Road Runner the ultimate driving experience extends to the interior, where fresh leather covers almost every surface. Stu’s Trim Shop was handed the task of modernising the trim and hiding a comprehensive stereo system within.
With fresh BMW carpet laid down, the original-style seats (now complete with six-way power adjustment) could be dropped back in, and the gauges from Instrument Specialties reinstalled. Although the instruments themselves are the originals from the vehicle, they have been restored to better than new condition, recalibrated to suit the vehicle and custom screen printed.
Underneath the trim you will find five layers of soundproofing material. Brent reckons he probably has more Dynamat than the local distributor does, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Finishing Touches
Towards the end of the build, Merlin Motorsport ” a company that more often associated with circuit racers than street cars ” was commissioned to perform some finishing touches. Again, they’re all things that you won’t see at first but which really do put the car above and beyond any other.
We’re
talking stuff like all the interior and exterior lighting ” including
the instruments ” being converted to LEDs, and the installation of an
electronic rear vision mirror with built-in LCD screen.As if this wasn’t enough to make the car feel like a brand new exotic, it now has under-dash and under-seat rear floor wash lighting, complete with soft start and soft off.
The reality is that this car has so many special features we could dedicate an entire magazine to it. But Brent isn’t one to blow his own trumpet or seek publicity, and he wouldn’t go for it. If, however, you ever manage to get a close look at the car, we are absolutely certain you will be as amazed by it as we are. We’re almost inclined to say it’s the best car currently gracing New Zealand’s highways.
It may have been a rough road to perfection, but these days the only roads Brent has on the horizon are ones that will be travelled in style and at pace.
1972 Plymouth Road Runner -Specifications
Engine: 605ci (9914cc) Hemi, MP Hemi Mega Block. 4.5-inch bore 4.75-inch stroke, Callies 4340 Crank, 180mm Eagle H-beam rods, Wiseco 10.75:1 pistons with .990-inch tool steel pins, ARP fasteners, Indy Maxx side inlet oil pump, Gated custom oil pan, static pickup, full-length windage tray, Indy 426-1RA heads, full CNC machined 510cfm flow, 2.4-inch stainless intake valves, 1.94-inch exhaust valves, K Motion valve springs, titanium spring retainers, Indy 1.6 in/1.5 ex roller rockers, Comp roller cam and lifters (duration 300/296), valve lift .660/.636, Stage V dual quad single-plane inlet manifold, twin four-barrel 1375cfm FAST EFI throttle bodies, manifold port matched and flowed to heads, port injection bungs fitted, Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump filters and regulator, 65lb injectors, 90-litre fuel tank with internal surge tank and fuel pump, MSD 6AL ignition limited to 6800rpm, MSD Blaster coil, 8.5mm Super conductor Hemi leads, FAST cam sync pickup EFI distributor, 2.25-inch TTI headers, four-inch collectors, thermal coating insideand
out, dual three-inch system with X-pipe exhaust built by Magnum
Automotors, dual three-inch Flowmaster mufflers into dual three-inch
glass pack resonators, custom four-core Hemi radiator, fixed seven-blade
Hemi fan and full shroud, FAST ECU with custom mapping, Billet
Specialties Tru Trac Serpentine belt system, Sunnen air conditioning
short compressor, 140 amp alternator, Hydra boost combined power
steering and brakes, shock towers cut and laid back 20mm to allow engine
and header clearance. All unused holes and mounts filled and smoothedDriveline: Torqueflite 727 transmission, all parts supplied by Cope Racing transmissions, billet steel drums, four pinion planetary with bearings, billet aluminium accumulator, front and rear servos, Ultimate sprag, Trans fully rollerised, Pro Race II reverse manual shift pattern valve body, Flex band/Red lining, Dana 60 diff, custom 3.5-inch driveshaft with high-performance crosses (no nipples and larger than stock) billet trans and pinion yokes
Suspension: XV Motorsport Level I leaf-spring suspension, custom valved aluminium monobody gas shocks front and rear, custom-made multileaf rear six and seven leaf, one-inch torsion bar front, custom front and rear sway bars with billet mounts, adjustable front strut rods, tubular front upper suspension arms with altered geometry to improve caster and camber settings, selected rubber/ urethane bushes for noise/harshness control
Brakes: ’73 up large spindle C-Body disc brakes HD rotors and callipers, stock rear HD large drums with standard linings
Wheels/tyres: 18×8 and 18×10-inch Vintiques 95 series Billet Chrysler Rallye wheels, 245/45R18 and 295/45R19 Hankook tyres
Exterior: Body stripped, repaired, shut lines, gaps and panels blueprinted, bumpers smoothed recontoured to match body lines, Air Grabber air cleaner base hand-built in steel to allow 3-inch filter and match original hood. PPG Vibrant Yella by Moselle Panel and Paint, Henderson
Chassis: Torque boxes front and rear, custom full-length subframe connectors fabricated and welded to floor, torque strap anchor
welded to chassis at left rear of engine to reduce chassis twistInterior: Complete custom reupholstered in black leather with suede inserts and hood lining, BMW-spec cut pile carpets including fully detailed and lined trunk, original-type seats with six-way power adjustment, re-trimmed in black leather and suede inserts reshaped with bolstering to seat base and back rest to provide a more modern fit, Grant 13-inch Classic Monza steering wheel, factory Slap Stick shifter with retrimmed pistol grip, factory instruments and bezel restored and re-chromed, instruments screen printed with personalised fascia including recalibrating the speedometer to 200mph (322kph) and tachometer for corrected rpm limits, custom interior LED lighting, LED lit instrument cluster, Kenwood DDX814 entertainment system, JVC amps, subwoofer, speakers and crossovers
Performance: 900hp (671kW) at 6000rpm, 1152Nm at 4900rpm
Brent Hyde – Owner Details
Age: 55Occupation: Manager
Previously owned cars: ’56 F100, various Falcons and Commodores, ’69 Mercury Monterey, ’65 Chevelle Malibu SS, ’73 ’Cuda (daughter’s car)
Dream car: Tricked out Superbird or Daytona
Why the Road Runner: “Ever since I was a young man and saw the ’71-’72 Roadrunner/GTX advertised new, I’ve wanted one. Took me 30 years to get one”
Build time: Three years
Length of ownership: Seven years
Brent thanks: “Huge debt of gratitude to all the guys at Moselle Panel and Paint. Their talents and enthusiasm are unmatched in my experience. In particular and special mention to: Steve (owner) Bryce for outstanding metal craftsmanship, Charlie and Pete for incredible paint and finish. Stu’s Trim Shop, Stu and Ross for attention to detail and finish without compromise. Cope Racing Transmissions: their stuff really does what they say it will do. Faultless. Instrument Specialties: nothing was too difficult, was on time and was very cost effective. Indy Cylinder Head: they make power and will deliver. For Hemis Only: the people to talk to about supply of EFI Hemi equipment. DC Trading: Dave and Carl for tracking down anything I wanted. Top guys. Not least but last (it was the last job), Merlin Motorsport: Leigh and Sandy for slaving away on all the electrical and electronic systems including gremlins and getting the whole thing working so well. To everyone, thank you. I would use you all again.”
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