68 Road Runner "The Motovator"

[JERICOGTX]

I actually do have a furnace for my garage, just have never hooked it up. Waiting on another friend to return some favors as that is what he does for a living. I'm in no rush.

As for being a shop monkey for Joel... It's not a glitz and glamour. He is a slave driver and the pay is horrible. I'm only kidding of course. Joel and his family are the nicest people you could meet. He treats me well. I've had the chance to see and do tons of stuff automotive with Joel that I never would have otherwise.

[STINEY]

Nice shop. Joel is good people for sure.

What is your shop ceiling made of? Looks different from most from this picture? (getting closer to having a ceiling in my barn shop......am "shopping" for ceiling materials)

[JERICOGTX]

What is your shop ceiling made of? Looks different from most from this picture?

Concrete. I have a over/under garage. It is 30x46 up and down. The basement garage is my workshop.

[>>>>head]

looking forward to future updates

[SuperBuickGuy]

Neat build

[STINEY]

Concrete. I have a over/under garage. It is 30x46 up and down. The basement garage is my workshop.

Very cool, thanks!

Guess that option is out for me, lol.

[DanStokes]

Stiney - My fave is the foil-wrapped foam board. Put it up with the plastic button head nails and seal all the seams and fasteners with foil A/C tape. Saves a TON of heat and reflects light like crazy. Oh, and it's light and cheap. I'm looking for someone who wants a side job to do mine but so far no one has come thru (I'm too darn old to do it myself).

Dan

[moparjim71]

Great project and with a great story! Good luck with it!

[Scott Liggett]

Great project and with a great story! Good luck with it!

I agree. Having to solve a mystery just adds to it.

[Criscobath]

As time went on the ambition to work on the car was lacking. I just didn't have it in me. My plan was and always has been to repaint the car in the factory EE1 Dark Blue, but I went back and forth about lettering it up again as I never took pictures of the car before stripping the paint on the doors. If I couldn't do it right I didn't want to do it at all. Then a couple years ago I put up a post on the Minesota Dragways page on Facebook asking if anyone remembered the car or possibly had and pictures of it. It was another long shot as I had been asking for years on various web forums without any luck. One morning I woke up to find this picture posted to that request.

I almost had a heart attack. A local named Paul Walker sent me this. As a young kid he used to go to the local tracks and take TONS of pictures of the cars back in the late 70's. This picture was a game changer for me. I had never saw the car in good condition. Now to possibly find out WHO owned it back then.

THAT is too AWESOME. Subscribed.

[JERICOGTX]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I hope the car turns out like I vision it. Time will tell.

Tracking down the history of the car was the highlight of the entire project. I always thought SOMEONE knew about the car and at one time it was someones pride and joy, and had more pictures of the car. When Bruce came to my place to look at the car, he just sat in amazement for a while. He thought he would never see the car again.

As a way of how things change, Bruce told me he heard about the car when he was 16 years old sitting in a bar... The car was abandoned behind a gas station near by and he paid $1300 for it. It had 52,000 miles on it, and the 383 already had a tunnel ram on it and the trans was shot. He bought it, repainted the car in the original blue and had a local do the lettering and pin striping. He raced the car at NorthStar Dragway here in Minnesota, and said the car with a pair of Holley 660 carbs and 4.56 gears it ran low 12's. He raced the car a few years and one night while street driving it, he blew up the 383. After the 383 he located a 426 HEMI and had that in the car for only a little while. His wife/girlfriend was pregnant and he sold the HEMI and then the rolling chassis for $500. The car then sat at another gas station for a couple years, and last he heard it hit in the front end and then disappeared. It still only had 52,000 miles on it at the time. When we got the car it still had the same plates on it as the pictures above.

When I asked Bruce what I owed him for his time and gas for delivering the pictures, he said "Nothing, I just want a picture of me standing by it when it's done". I told him "No, I want a picture of the both of us together next to the car". He liked that idea. Bruce and I stay in contact, and he wants to be at the track when the car is done. Wouldn't want it any other way.

[Criscobath]

Simply perfect. It's a rarity to track down the previous owner of a car like that. From my own experience they're usually dead. It's even rarer when they still have such interest in the car and it's revival. Very cool.

[DanStokes]

Sounds like you have your priorities straight. Best of luck on the project and to Bruce. Part of the fun with Mutt is having Terry at the track and watching the outcome of his old truck in a new incarnation. (Or is that inCARnation?)

As we say in LSR - Go Fast, Be Safe, Have Fun.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

With the help you give Joel, I'm pretty sure the car will get done...
Neat story!
I used to help a good friend who taught me how to wrench and try to diagnose with my hearing loss, one day he says, "Bring your so n so and we will get it going" So with that in mind,I'm sure Joel will help..

[jaybnve]

Cool story, Jeff. I'd like to see that car at Drag Week!