Rodzilla

I have the opportunity to pick up a '68 Road Runner that someone has started to restore but gave up. The body is all instake and metal is straight and in a primer state. Some of the trim is there, but not in great shape, the interior is gone except for dash. He does have most of the panels for recovering. Motor and trans are gone but it is rolling, I'm assuming its the original 8 3/4" under the rear but not confirmed yet. I've only seen pics of body. I'm not a body/paint guy, so I'm happy its close to being paintable. I enjoy wrenching on projects but concerned that finding a numbers matching or date matched drivetrain might be difficult. Car came with the 330HP 383 (Commando?) and a 4 speed. According to the Fender tag its an air conditioned car.
The seller is asking $7000 for the car, I'm thinking I might get it for $5500 or $6000. Would it be worth it to restore. I'm guessing if done right this car could appraise out at $45000. But would also cost close to that to get it done properly. My biggest concern is that the VINs second digit is an H and not an M, even though the fender tag decodes as a Road Runner. Was there ever descrepencies between VINs and Fender Tags? Has someone swapped out the Fender Tag maybe?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any input you experts might have! Below is what I decoded off the Fender Tag and VIN infor that the seller sent me.

FENDER TAG DECODED
CAR: Plymouth RoadRunner 2 Door Hardtop
ENGINE: 383cid 4-bbl HP V8
TRANSMISSION: 4-Speed Manual Floor Shift
TIRES: F70x14 Red Sidewall, Steel Belted
MODEL YEAR: 1968
BUILD DATE: May 27.
AXLE: 3.23 Rear Axle Ratio
INTERIOR: High Trim Grade, Vinyl Split Bench Seats. Black Interior.
PAINT: Monotone Bright Blue Metallic Paint.
OTHER: Black Upper Door Frame Color.
MOLDINGS:
25: Drip Rail Mouldings
ABC OPTIONS:
P6: Rear Seat Speaker
R1: AM Radio
T7: Tachometer
abc OPTIONS:
h7: Fender or Hood Mounted Turn Signal Indicators
u1: Sold Car When Built (Somebody Ordered It)
w6: Build to Spec's for Canada

VIN: RH23H8A307327
R: Belvedere / Satellite
H: Satellite (1968- 70) but should be M: Road Runner (1968-74) to match fender tag
23: 2 Door Coupe
H: 383 c.i.d./330hp or 335hp 4-bbl V8 (1968-69)
8: 1968
A: Lynch Road, Detroit, MI
307327: Sequential production number starting with 100001

lou3500

Could be a satellite some one cloned i could be wrong.Going back to original may be pricy if the roller is good you may be better going retrorod with it, my opinion only.

Rodzilla

I'm thinking the same thing, I have a chance to buy a 340 Demon that is tore apart but complete. Maybe go in that direction. I've owned a couple A-bodies back in early 90's and really wanted a B-body this time. But I don't want to waste my money on cloning. And I want a straight bodied project,,,mechanical and everything else I can do, but paint and body work is not my thing and gets expensive real quick.

lou3500

My cuda is 90 percent complete i'm going to do a full resto on it but the next car will be a retro 60s bracket racer type copy 63-65 dodge or plymouth 330 or 440 series body style. I dont care about number matching stuff i like the style of the bodys and the uniqueness of mopars my cuda gets lots of attention wherever it goes.Good luck in your build roadrunner or demon i like both i think the demon is a little more rare.

62Furious

I'm with lou retro rod is the way to go picking up a big block and a 4 speed is not that hard to find, numbers will be tough to find

Snoman

Save your money for an original RM code roadrunner, Someone is trying to pull a fast one on someone......Look on Ebay if you want a roadrunner...Later