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This 1973 Plymouth Road Runner has supposedly been parked in a barn since 1981. The thick layer of dust makes it hard to gauge the amount of rust present so an inspection is a must. The car is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is listed here on craigslist for $4,500. That seems a little high to me for a base 318 project, but the seller is throwing in a 440 V8 and a 727 TorqueFlite transmission to sweeten the deal! The 318 only put out 170 horsepower in 1973 so the extra oomph provided by the big block would very welcomed. The conversion likely wouldn’t be as simple as just dropping it in though. So, would you try to complete the job or would you sell the extra engine to help finance the restoration? Thanks goes to Robert R. for the tip!
You are getting close to my location, and a price I could afford, but this Mopar is too new. There are some other ’73’s I’d take on though.
The 318 would give adequate performance but not in the Road Runner tradition. The 440 conversion may require a new rear end. $4500 seems high to me.
Where is your 73 RoadRunner and would you consider $3500 for it being that it’s been sitting for all the years means a lot of work to get it back up and running on the road.
Big block swap no problem, get cordoba big block mounts from junkyard, tranny mount works and the 8 1/4 can handle a stock 440, an 8 3/4 with 3.55 sure grip remove the spring from the 727 and add new 4 barrel and duals good to go. I owned a 73 runner with 360 and a bud had a 73 satellite with various big blocks the radiator has to be swaped but a cheep and fun ride
I agree. This is an easy swap.
i don’t get some of these ads with the funky punctuation, missing a window, etc. It’s almost like Carl doesn’t want to sell it. Column shift with an auto isn’t helping the case although you could probably coax a lot more HP out of the 318. Would the 440 require a larger cooling system and front suspension changes?
Thats funny@ captmark. Me and my buddy were just the opposite. He had a red 318 runner and I had a dark blue satellite sebring with a couple different big blocks and a runner hood.
Well the situation with this may not be as bad as you think, a thick layer of dust can be a good thing as long as you keep the car in a dry situation. Dust absorbs oil nicely and if you get to the bottom of your can of WD-40 and its barely coming out, just empty it onto the cars dust layerand itll help preserve it.
318’s in 1973 had 230HP not 170, I had a 1974 Satellite Sebring Plus and my best friend at the time had a 1973 Roadrunner, both 318’s, a 440 would make it nose heavy, unless you changed the torsion bars to big block heavy duty ones, besides, a great running 340 would be more than a match to a 383/400/440, most likely the 440 going with the car is a later model, low horsepower smog engine, to make that Roadrunner really scream, convert it to a late model 6.1L or even a 6.4L Hemi, they build more power, are reliable and get better gas mileage, AND they look awesome under the hood.