This is the latest WIP on the bench.  I am rebuilding a Johan 1969 Roadrunner.  The original was built in 1980, painted Testor's yellow and built more-or-less box stock with a big block from the Johan 68 Fury police car and the undetailed chassis.  The rebuild is utilizing an AMT Roadrunner chassis and interior, a Ross Gibson 383, an 8 3/4" rearend from a Revell 68 Dart, and steel wheels with dog dish caps from the aftermarket.  Paint is Sunfire Yellow from MCW (in a can).  Bumpers will be re-chromed with Alcad (currently primed with Testors enamel).  I also wanted this to be a bare-bones, no-option Roadrunner, so I added to "B" pillars to make it a post coupe, along with a bnech seat and column-shifted auto.

 

 

Looks like an very interesting project....one which I'll enjoy following! It's amazing at how much more accurate that old Jo-Han body tooling (dating to the fall of 1968) is compared to the modern technology used to create the AMT/Ertl/RC2 68 Road Runner and 69 GTX kits. FYI...Just a friendly observation.I can not see the detail of the aftermarket hub caps too well, but they look to be "coned" in the center. If so, those caps were used on 1967 and 1968 Plymouth's. The 1969 used a slightly tapered cap with "Plymouth" lettering around the outer edge of the center dome. (We owned a new 68 and 69) The 69 style cap is available in aftermarket as well) Anyway, I like the use of hub caps on a Road Runner...it goes well with the vehicle's initial marketing strategy.  You've done your research...this will be refreshing!  Fury3

Very, very nice! A few years back I did a '68 383 by swappng in the engine from an AMT/MPC '69 Barracuda, with the wheels and hubcaps from the JoHan cop car. I did mine in pale yellow. Looks like you have something very similar in mind.

I agree about the original JoHan '69 Road Runner body and detailing being much better than the later AMT '68-69 kits. What a shame that JoHan went under and all that tooling seems to be gone. That would be a great kit to have back on the shelves today.

the AMT/ERTL body proportions are horrible, so horrible in my opinion that i can't bring myself to even attempt building one. the Johan kit's proportions seem to be perfect to me and capture the look of the 1:1 car exactly. i too wish that the Johan version would make a comeback and i'd be more than happy to buy a whole pile of them! the usual prices they bring on Ebay is beyond what i can pay for some thing i intend to build.

 

keep us posted on the progress! i really like that you converted it to the "post" coupe too!

Dave

Looking good so far....I like fury will be following along!!! Can't wait to see more

 Stace

One of my favorite years of the roadrunner. I had a friend in high school who had one, was a sweet looking car. The jock at the school kept telling him that it was a dog because it only had a 383,  4 barrel, 3 speed on the column. It was our senior year (74) that he got it. In November of that year he got fed up with the comments a went to show everyone what the car could do. He run the car down the drop off lane in front of the High school (it was about 1/4 of a mile in length. we had a Jr high and high school next to each other) smoke the tires in ever gear and then and crash it into a column holding up the main entrance canopy.  total the car, tore the column off it's foundation.

Looking forward to see this build

sounds good lets see some pics i love your choice of wheels too .

fury3:

Looks like an very interesting project....one which I'll enjoy following! It's amazing at how much more accurate that old Jo-Han body tooling (dating to the fall of 1968) is compared to the modern technology used to create the AMT/Ertl/RC2 68 Road Runner and 69 GTX kits. FYI...Just a friendly observation.I can not see the detail of the aftermarket hub caps too well, but they look to be "coned" in the center. If so, those caps were used on 1967 and 1968 Plymouth's. The 1969 used a slightly tapered cap with "Plymouth" lettering around the outer edge of the center dome. (We owned a new 68 and 69) The 69 style cap is available in aftermarket as well) Anyway, I like the use of hub caps on a Road Runner...it goes well with the vehicle's initial marketing strategy.  You've done your research...this will be refreshing!  Fury3

Thanks Fury, I fugured you'd chime in on this one.  The hubcaps are indeed "conical", and I wasn't sure these would be correct for a '69.  Do you know a source for the correct units?  Also, were the coned units also used on Dodge's?  I have a '68 Coronet R/T from Modelhaus that may become a home for these caps.

I also have some uncertainty about the engine color.  I have seen '69's painted Hemi Orange and Chrysler engine Turquoise.  What say you?

I will likely use the Johan interior with some detail added (i.e. armrests from the AMT door panels) as these show the correct pattern for the '69 cars.  That leaves me with a challenge on the front bench seat pattern.  Hmmmmm.

I have another Johan '69 Roadrunner to be restored, and it is slated to be an NHRA SS/C or D with a HEMI.  I agree with all that the Johan Roadrunner is definitely a better representation than the AMT model.  If only I had the other 4 I parted out in my late teens.....

DrewLong:

fury3:

Looks like an very interesting project....one which I'll enjoy following! It's amazing at how much more accurate that old Jo-Han body tooling (dating to the fall of 1968) is compared to the modern technology used to create the AMT/Ertl/RC2 68 Road Runner and 69 GTX kits. FYI...Just a friendly observation.I can not see the detail of the aftermarket hub caps too well, but they look to be "coned" in the center. If so, those caps were used on 1967 and 1968 Plymouth's. The 1969 used a slightly tapered cap with "Plymouth" lettering around the outer edge of the center dome. (We owned a new 68 and 69) The 69 style cap is available in aftermarket as well) Anyway, I like the use of hub caps on a Road Runner...it goes well with the vehicle's initial marketing strategy.  You've done your research...this will be refreshing!  Fury3

Thanks Fury, I fugured you'd chime in on this one.  The hubcaps are indeed "conical", and I wasn't sure these would be correct for a '69.  Do you know a source for the correct units?  Also, were the coned units also used on Dodge's?  I have a '68 Coronet R/T from Modelhaus that may become a home for these caps.

I also have some uncertainty about the engine color.  I have seen '69's painted Hemi Orange and Chrysler engine Turquoise.  What say you?

I will likely use the Johan interior with some detail added (i.e. armrests from the AMT door panels) as these show the correct pattern for the '69 cars.  That leaves me with a challenge on the front bench seat pattern.  Hmmmmm.

I have another Johan '69 Roadrunner to be restored, and it is slated to be an NHRA SS/C or D with a HEMI.  I agree with all that the Johan Roadrunner is definitely a better representation than the AMT model.  If only I had the other 4 I parted out in my late teens.....

I think there are now a few resin vendors that are producing the 1969 hubcap. (If you look in my photo album, you will find a 1969 Charger 500. I purchased a set of so-called 1969 hub caps from "Scale Equipment" years ago when I built that terrible kit. I'd do a search for better caps, although they did come plated.) They do not have any lettering. The lettering was used in 1969 only. 1970 and newer were plain. The 1968 Coronet hub caps are identical to the ones provided in the re-tooled Revell 1968 Charger R/T kit. To me, they look like "jello molds", but they are correct for all 1968 Dodge's..except the Dart. FYI...I too have the "Modelhaus" 68 Coronet kit. 

As far as the engine color goes...the 1969 "383 Road Runner Engines" were painted Hemi Orange, with one minor exception. Most of these cars ordered with factory A/C had the engines painted Chrysler Engine Turquoise (NOT BLUE!). You may ask, How the heck did they know which engine was going to have A/C installed on it at the engine assembly plant? Simple....the A/C cars required a different water pump and impeller design, the engines were so tagged. If you are using the bench seats, there is very little difference in the Decor Group's seat upholestry pattern from 1968-1969 . The seats from the AMT/Ertl 68 Road Runner would be almost proper for your 2-Door Sedan Road Runner...provided it's equipped with the optional "Decor Group". (The Decor Group was optional on the 2-Door Sedan, but standard on the 2-Door Hardtop and Convertible.) Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have any questions or inquiries about these cars. There is a lot of incorrect information written and floating around out there about these cars, so beware.Our family had a new 68 and 69, and I too owned a Sable White 68 Sedan.  Fury3

Man i'm excited and there are no pics yet. Sounds like you have a great project to do. So keep us posted..

I performed a web search looking for the correct dog dish caps.  Bandit Resins lists what appears to be close (less the Plymouth lettering).

Fury3, could these be the units I am seeking?

It's a Mopar... and it's a "B" body...... good all the way......

 Bryan (bigblkmopar)

DrewLong:

I performed a web search looking for the correct dog dish caps.  Bandit Resins lists what appears to be close (less the Plymouth lettering).

Fury3, could these be the units I am seeking?

I went to the Bandit website to observe. While I do like most of "Bandit Resin's" offerings (I have the Valiant Scamp Hardtop and it's fairly well done, requiring a few minor modifications), those caps are similar, but just don't quite look right to me. (The police rims are totally incorrect for your build.) The flutes around the edges are too deep..but I'm nip-picking, again. I'm sure I've seen someone post a better 69-up cap some time ago...but just don't remember who posted it and who the supplier was. Can anyone assist Drew? Fury3

Fury3,

Thanks for the quick response on the caps.  Bandit sells the caps and cop wheels as separate items.  I already have the steel Mopar wheels, though the Bandit cop wheels would be cool for another project.  My search continues.....

I have a better source for a correct set of '69 dog dishes, the Revell '70 Road Runner kit. NO other dog dish cap represented looks as good in scale. These are the ONLY CORRECT '69 up Plymouth dog dish caps in scale. The ones from the AMT Monaco (T. J. Hooker, Joker-Goon Car) are cartoonish in comparison.