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New Hemi! Rare 1969 Dodge Road Runner!

It’s definitely time to sell your project car when it’s got you so flummoxed that you’ve forgotten what make of car you’re working on! Everyone with the patience to read this far before commenting can set down his or her lighter and gently return the Molotov cocktails to that egg crate you save for special occasions, like when someone can’t tell a Dodge from a Plymouth. Have some compassion for the seller of this 1969 Road Runner in Ashville, Alabama (listed as a Dodge). After all, it’s got a 5.7L (345 cid) Hemi *and* dashboard *and* complete body pan (!!) from a 2013 Dodge Charger, a DIY project that not everyone would attempt. The listing here on eBay says all the electronics work, a major milestone with such a transplant. The Buy It Now price of $20,000 may total more than the sum of its parts, but it’s part-way to being a reliable muscle car with modern-day road manners and fuel economy:  something you don’t see every day.

The police donor engine looks relatively comfortable in the ’69 engine bay. After giving up its days of public service the Charger gave up its complete floor pan, front, and rear suspension for this project. This is truly a unique Road Runner! I’ve seen this sort of hybrid before, and often the firewall/dashboard and centering of wheels in the wheel openings can be areas of compromise. Potential buyers are encouraged to measure and look carefully before inking a deal. In this case that will be a Bill of Sale transaction as the car is offered with no title.

Anyone with a credit card can put a touch screen stereo in a ’69 Road Runner, but this extreme transplant requires about 1000 times more skill. You’ll need a custom driveshaft to test the seller’s claim that nothing else is required for a lot drive.

Hood modifications on the left side suggest someone’s been watching Hot Rod TV. Unless a new hood fits your budget you’ll need to duplicate that work on the right side. Luckily decisions like that are the least of your worries with this interesting project. There’s no going back now, friends. How do you picture this unique ride when it’s finished?

Comments

  1. Avatar Moparman Member

    If I had started to go through all the inticacies needed to complete this project, I would have at least cleaned up the original underhood area BEFORE installtion of engine components! Kudos for getting all the electronics to function, Best Wishes to whomever undertakes seeing this to the end! :-)

    Like 5
    • Avatar Steve R

      I’d want to see it more than idle, which he doesnt show, before I believe the electronics have been sorted out.

      Steve R

      Like 3
    • Avatar Gary Merly

      Mock up. These projects are together and apart multiple times before done.

      Like 2
  2. Avatar slickb

    Dodge Roadrunner…. Are you for real?

    Like 1
    • Avatar RobB

      I stopped reading right after I saw that.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Steve vilardi

      A dodge roadrunner? Isn’t that like a Plymouth charger?

      Like 0
    • Avatar Jim CLARK

      It looks like he was referring to his blending of the Dodge and Plymouth platforms. Anyone who would go through the trouble of even starting this project has to be well versed in Mopar.

      Like 0
    • Avatar AMXBrian

      I love that car! A work of art from a Nascar Fabricator.

      The seller here was probably over their head with the amount of fabrication that still needs to be completed once you swap the body and dash over. Too much time and effort to finish it.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar Fred W

    Maybe he considers it a Dodge because the underpinnings are from a Charger? Seems like one car or the other would have had a title.

    Like 3
  4. Avatar Dan

    A Roadrunner is a Plymouth…..geez…

    Like 0
    • Avatar Nick P

      True. But is it a Plymouth with a Dodge undercarriage or a Dodge with a Plymouth body? It is all in how you look at it.

      Like 3
  5. Avatar Mike L

    Well, either the car sold or the seller decided to get some help to rewrite his ad…

    Would be very cool for someone to see it through. That person would have money to burn, as it’s only value would be as a novelty.

    Interesting find !

    Like 0
  6. Avatar TimM

    I changed a motor out on a 95 Nissan 240 last year with a SR-20 motor out of a Japanese Car!! It was a strange project and not one I’ve done before!! We changed the wire harness the computer, the fuel pump and spent hours burning through wires!!! The point is that this is quite a task for a back yard mechanic with no computer to plug it into or no professional diagnostic equipment!!! Good luck to the new owner!!!

    Like 1
  7. Avatar grant

    20k for someone’s unfinished hack job. I’m sure someone could finish this and make it awesome, but the seller is stopping for a reason.

    Like 2
  8. Avatar Del

    Love the Joke cars on here. 🤣😁😭

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Ted

    For only the fifth time in my life I’m speechless.

    Give the guy a point for having the idea for the project, but I also dream daily of having a turbo intercooled sbf powered margarhita mixer in the kitchen but I don’t start the build for a reason.

    Like 1
  10. Avatar mjf

    If you could ever get it to run, it would be awesome but looks like an electrical nightmare..

    Like 0
  11. Avatar moosie

    I dont understand,,,, unless the RR floorpans were completely rusted why go thru all the trouble of this build. I’m positive people have transplanted 5.7 Hemis into earlier bodies with great success ?

    Like 1
  12. Avatar Morley Brown Member

    At least it was not in a fire. Oh who cares>

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Ron

    Frankenstein…

    Like 0
  14. Avatar B-rad jeepster

    Gas monkey wanna be

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Convdart440

    Its is a Road Runner ( not how I define a runner ) by the VIN un resto mod with non numberes matching drive train in need of a complete over haul and or restoration. I think it would be very cool when complete and 20k is a bit steep for it’s current stae with no title. If you have the time and alot of money with more patience than common sense this could be the car just for you. I do give the person props for at least keeping it all mopar conscidering that there are no longer Plymouth anything being made , so thank you for not putting an LS engine or worse a Coyote engine in the Road Resto Sitter. Chrysler Diamler Fiat whoever really screwed the pooch when they cancelled the Plymouth line.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Dave

    modern Hemis in a muslcecar and beyond boring. Looks the same as the engine of our Journey

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Paul

    Plymouth roadrunner = $

    Plymouth + Hemi = $$

    Dodge + Plymouth = junk

    Like 0
  18. Avatar PRA4SNW

    Believe it or not, this is a known modification. I was driving my 2013 Charger and I was talking to a guy in a parking lot this past week. He told me that his next project is to convert a Charger like mine to a Roadrunner.

    I told him that I had just read about this modification and he said there are a few out there. He told me that you cut the Charger body off at the rear door jambs and lift it off. You drop the fenders, hood, and passenger part of the body on top. You retain the complete engine bay, dash, front seats and controls of the Charger. I didn’t ask him about the rear clip, but I’m sure there is a way to replace that too.

    Of course, it all comes with a LOT of fabrication. He said the end result is really cool. And you can get the donor Hemi ex-cop chassis really cheap.

    Like 0

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