Been a few years - Time for an update!

Discussion in 'The Welcome Wagon' started by renko, Feb 9, 2022.

  1. renko

    renko Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2010
    Messages:
    26
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    42
    Location:
    Texas
    It has been a few years since I've posted anything on my "Loadrunner", built as a 1970 Slant 6, three on the tree, 1 of 447 built Plymouth Belvedere wagon. Last I was here was in 2013 after I had wrecked my wagon. It had sat for a few years when the city started to get up on the about it being a wrecked/non functional junk vehicle.
    They said that I had 14 days to repair it or hide it elsewhere or else they'd move it out of my own driveway for me. Communist Misbegottens!!

    I ended up selling it to a friend that i had met online up in South Dakota. He had a '70 Satellite wagon but he was very interested in my slant of six because of the low production numbers and cool factor. He had offered to buy it after I had crashed it. I ended up taking him up on his offer and sent it up to South Dakota, never to see it again.

    I was TRULY crushed and fell into a deep funk!

    He kept in close contact with me as he made the repairs to the body. He also rebuilt the engine to the hopped up wish-list specs that I had dreamed up and shared with him for what I'd do to the slant 6! I was truly happy for him but It broke my heart every time he showed me a picture of something new that he had accomplished. He even bought vanity plates reading LOADRNR. I nearly cried

    (Loadrunner was coined by me when a friend kept pestering me to clone it as a Roadrunner wagon, which I refused to do. "It's a Belvedere wagon" I told him, "made to carry loads"
    Wait what?!! - Loadrunner became it's name.)

    About one year later (2017) he contacted me and asked if I was interested in buying the car back because he wanted to start to work on his soon to be 440cid Satellite wagon. I did not have the money he was asking but had mentioned it all to my wife. She told me to get a loan and buy it back because she was tired of my moping around in my funk for the past year.

    I secured a loan and a plane ticket to South Dakota, and on my wife's birthday I was there in SD where I bought it again and drove it back home to Fort Worth where it came from and belongs.

    I'm that guy who is the second and fourth owner of his car!

    Engine presently has:
    *Hughes engines number STL 2016 - i6-10 camshaft in it (with .506/.498 lift & 220/216 duration.)
    *1.44"/1.70" valves and the head shaved .800 +/- to boost the compression ratio to approx 9.5:1
    *Clifford dual 3 into 1 long tube headers into 2.25 pipes out each side.
    *Offy intake with a Quick Fuel carb carefully jetted to my driving style. (I'm hard on shit I've been told)
    *MSD Street Fire CDI box and Mopar electronic dizzy.

    I mounted a set of American Racing chrome Torq Thrust wheels with 235/60-17 up front and big ol' 275/60-17's out back. They fill the wells nicely and give the car a great stance as you can see in my last picture! The 30" diameter 275 tires out back help keep the RPM's down some on the highway

    Had the Fitech EFI system on it for just over 3 years when it suddenly went belly up on me last October and left me stranded. I installed the Quick Fuel carburetor and tuned it just in time to go racing with the car club the next weekend.
    I was surprised to find that I picked up 7/10 of a second in the 8th mile, with my best run that day and all of last season of 11.77 seconds in the 8th
    It weighs in right at 4,000 lb with me in it and It has an open 3.55 diff. It's no V8 but it's a spunky daily driver!

    I did some work to the FiTech and reinstalled it. I brought the carb along just in case it got stupid again. Nah, yeah, it quit later that evening after leaving work so I bolted the carb back on it.
    I'll return to troubleshoot the FiTech another day. I'd really like to fix it before I sell it. Loved it but I can't get parts locally and can't fix it on the side of the road which I can with a Holley 4150 style carb.

    I daily drive the car and have made other upgrades to it as I go, such as front disc brakes and mostly new power wiring, bypassing the bulkhead connector that was sketchy.

    Last big job was a few weeks back when I installed a fresh short block due to cylinder six Piston rings having gone bad and burning oil like the Gulf War criminals! It now runs extremely strong and is a blast to drive again with full compression of six cylinders!

    I consider myself one lucky guy for having wrecked and lost my beloved wagon and actually getting it back once again. If you're interested in buying it now you'll have to ask my wife after I die ,because I'm not losing it again for as long as I live

    Before I wrecked it...

    1899775_848332431849035_1941982425_o.jpg

    THEN

    IMG_4499 (1024x768).jpg

    NOW...

    Belvedere Fall_1.jpg 134758061_4252091051473139_4349245277178081588_n.jpg 248418879_959456454976285_4996047519320004444_n.jpg Stance.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2022
  2. pyasher

    pyasher Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2014
    Messages:
    934
    Likes Received:
    78
    Trophy Points:
    97
    Location:
    Columbus Ohio
    Nice Wagon -great story...
     
  3. ArnieM888

    ArnieM888 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2021
    Messages:
    222
    Likes Received:
    256
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Location:
    Manitoba Canada
    Nice car ... I always liked the slant-6 and glad you preserved it.

    Wonder why the guy didn't fill the holes on the used front fenders where chrome trim was mounted .

    .
     
  4. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    16,018
    Likes Received:
    4,410
    Trophy Points:
    833
    Location:
    Yakima Washington
    Welcome back renko. That is indeed a great story. Glad you shared it with us.
    I like me a big snorty V8, but a leaning tower of power is pretty dang cool too!
     
  5. annap01gt

    annap01gt Blue Safari

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2013
    Messages:
    1,933
    Likes Received:
    693
    Trophy Points:
    271
    Location:
    Sw Florida and still above water
    Very glad you were able to save it. Love a three on a tree and a slant 6.
     
    OrthmannJ likes this.
  6. OldFox

    OldFox Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    1,318
    Likes Received:
    338
    Trophy Points:
    195
    Location:
    West Tn
    Back in the day, a friend had a Valiant with a slant 6 and a push button trans. He took on all comers for $100 that he could beat them for the 1st 100 feet. He never lost.
     
  7. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    16,018
    Likes Received:
    4,410
    Trophy Points:
    833
    Location:
    Yakima Washington
    I have heard similar stories from the heyday of the cruising scene here in my hometown as well.
    One guy in particular with a clapped out Plymouth was the king of the stoplight-t0-stoplight drag.
     
  8. fannie

    fannie Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2010
    Messages:
    11,938
    Likes Received:
    1,215
    Trophy Points:
    683
    Wagon Garage:
    3
    Location:
    Nova Scotia, Canada
    I love a happy ending.
    Thank you Mrs. Renko for helping to get back here.
    Welcome back.
     

Share This Page