1972 Plymouth Road Runner GTX - Unclipped

When Jo Gardner saw a '72 Plymouth Road Runner GTX in Brigham City, Utah, up for sale on eBay back in 2002, it looked a lot like the non-440-powered '72 that he had when he was in high school. With the help of buddy Steve Hinkley, he bought it and brought it home.

It was in what Jo called "fairly good shape," but under the hood was not the 440, which gave the Bird its double name. (Ma Mopar added the "GTX" designation to all 440-powered Road Runners starting in '72, after the GTX was done away with as a separate model.) Instead, a tired 383 provided power, backed by a 727 TorqueFlite and an 8-3/4 rear end.

When a small crack appeared in the left rear quarter-panel, Jo took a closer look, and then got out his grinder to look even further. What he found wasn't something the body-fabrication shops at Newark, St. Louis or Lynch Road did back then. "When I started grinding in on it, there was 'mud' 1 inches deep," he says. "I scraped it all down, and found that the car had been hit hard in the forward end of the left rear quarter panel. They didn't even pull the dent out-all they did was fill it and shape the quarter back out."

But that wasn't all. Once the Road Runner was taken apart down to its fuselage-shaped unibody, more of this car's past emerged. "I found that the car had been clipped," says Jo. "They'd cut the windshield posts and floorpan, and actually put two cars together with about 30 1/8-inch bolts holding the floorpan together. They didn't even weld it."

That meant plenty of remedial bodywork. "I went in and welded all that back together, and corrected what they did wrong," recalls Jo. "Then I changed out the side panels on the firewall, which rust out, and I got into the firewall and found some rust in there, so I cleaned that out."

It took about a year to get the unibody ready, and Jo decided that a full-on restoration was out of the question. "I thought, the serial numbers aren't going to match, and it's not going to be an easy thing to do.' So Steve, the one who helped me buy it, said, 'Go ahead and do it as a modified." To that end, did you guys reading this notice that the side marker lights are missing? Jo, eliminated them to "smooth" the side of the car. How about those fender/hood stripes? They look familiar, but yet different. Can you tell what's different?

The 383 was replaced by an updated '69-vintage 440 Magnum, the rest of the powertrain and chassis also got similar updates, and the Bird's exterior got some special touches like an all-steel rear spoiler. "I got a lot of ideas from watching Chip Foose and some of the stuff that he did," says Jo. "He built one into the rear end of a 'Cuda that he did, and I tried to bring it over the fenders and top the idea that he had."

Jo aimed to get his '72 finished in time for last 2011's Moparty at the Strip, and he made it. "The first real trip in it was from Vernal, to Las Vegas, and it got 15-1/2 miles a gallon," he says with pride.

When asked for advice for anyone thinking of a Mopar project of your own, Jo says without hesitation, "Check it out." He adds, "It depends on what you want to do. There are a lot of people out there who are modifying them.

"I know the original cars are harder and harder to get. If you have an original numbers-matching car, keep it as original as possible. But if you can't, and you want to clone one, have fun with it and do with it what you want.

"I've had a lot of fun with this one, I've had a lot of comments on it, and I've really had a blast!"

Fast Facts:

Mopar Power

• Engine: '69-vintage 440 Magnum had its block bored .040-inch, then he added Keith Black hypereutectic pistons that bring the compression ratio to a friendly 10.5:1, a Mopar M1 intake topped by a rebuilt Carter four-barrel, and a 2 1/2-inch exhaust system with Dynomax mufflers.
• Transmission: Rebuilt 727 TorqueFlite with a console-mounted OEM Slap Stick shifter.
• Rearend: A rebuilt 8 3/4 with Sure Grip and 3:23 rear gears.

Sure Grip

• Suspension: Restored '72 Road Runner, with heavy duty torsion bars in front, heavy duty leaf springs in back, and heavy duty shocks all around.
• Brakes: Restored stock '72 Road Runner front disc/rear drum, power assisted
• Wheels and Tires: American Racing Torq-Thrusts that are 71 x 7 inches, and 17 x 8 inches, wear 225/55R17 Goodyear Assurance radials in front, and 275/50R17 Nitto NT450s in back.

High Impact

• Body: Once-clipped '72 Plymouth B-Body was taken down to bare metal, and previous crash damage, rust, and "bodywork" (by Les Apt?-Ed.) was repaired. Then, Jo filled in the side-marker-light and smoothed the bumper bolt holes, and added a metal rear spoiler to the trunk lid.
• Paint: Sherwin-Williams' Metallic Blue, in base/clearcoat form, sprayed on by Tyler Nelson.
• Interior: The 'Bird's cabin was restored with front bucket/rear seat covers by Max Martin, and new carpets from YearOne.