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1969 Road Runner by Jo-han, hardtop to convertible conversion.


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I bought a couple Jo-han 1969 Road Runners off eBay in recent weeks. This one in particular was more of a glue bomb than the other. So much glue was used to secure the glass that it melted the roof. I figured it would be a prime candidate for a convertible conversion. I picked up the AMT GTX convertible from Hobby Lobby, they conveniently reopened last week!

I started by cutting out the tulip panel including tops of the quarter panels around the rear section of the interior.

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I had to narrow it a little bit at one of the natural seams. Then re-contour to match the shape of the deck lid.

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I removed the windshield surround from the GTX including the tops of the fenders and doors for added strength. Plus I kinda like the cowl shape better than Jo-han’s

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There are couple spots to sand, but it’s pretty much were I want it.

I spent six hours, in a model car hang out online last night,  fitting the interior. I will post those pictures a little bit later.

Edited by Superbird McMonte
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Great looking work on this conversion. In primer you would never know what all had been done. I like your idea of going a little further into the body to make your cuts, I can see where that would add a lot of much needed strength. 

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So far so good.

 

You've given me an idea how to do my old car . I have a spare damaged Johan 1969 GTX body and a AMT GTX vert kit.

 

BUT, just an FYI. On Mopar  B body convertibles there are no visible seams on the rear dutchman panel like a hardtop has

pairofgtxs.jpg

Edited by gtx6970
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12 minutes ago, gtx6970 said:

PS, if you havent picked a color combination yet . The one in the original sales catalog was green with saddle interior

Funny , as my thought upon seeing this (fantastic) build was , That car would looks awesome in green with a beige interior !

 

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On 7/12/2020 at 6:40 PM, gtx6970 said:

PS, if you havent picked a color combination yet .

 

The one in the original sales catalog was green with saddle interior

 

 

On 7/12/2020 at 6:54 PM, 1972coronet said:

Funny , as my thought upon seeing this (fantastic) build was , That car would looks awesome in green with a beige interior !

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

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Thanks everyone! 
 

Here is some of the interior modifications.

I had to shave off the back and lower edge of the door panels to move them inboard a little bit more. Especially towards the back.

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It was the only way to fit it between the doors of the body, but that also closed up the gap between the convertible panels and the rear seat.

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Unfortunately the convertible boot does not cover the area where the convertible top folds down into. I guess technically it should be wider. And then the arms extended a little further toward the doors.

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Think I’m going to need more reference material with that. In the meantime, I’m considering an up top For the convertible.

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I had to shave off very little on the side of the dashboard to bring the door panels in slightly.

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overall it doesn’t look too bad, save for the convertible boot.

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Comments and suggestions very welcome. If you have any good pictures of the top up or convertible boot on one of these 68-70 B-bodies, I would love to see them!

Edited by Superbird McMonte
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6 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

I assume due to the pkg tray area the boot can not move any farther forward ?

 

On the 1/1 car the boot fits up nice and snug to the back edge of the rear seat

You are correct. And that’s my problem here right now. Follows the contour of the rear edge perfectly. But I would guess the whole thing needs to be wider.

Edited by Superbird McMonte
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2 hours ago, Painted Black said:

From this picture, it looks like you just need to add some to the boot, as it does not go all the way to the seat.

1969-plymouth-gtx-hemi-convertible

There is a metal filler panel right behind the seat. its maybe 5 or 6" wide at the most. the forward edge of the vinyl boot clips into the backside of the filler

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Seems to me someone had a corrected resin boot for these but I can't find the pic.

Great looking project, Mr G! Getting me closer to digging out and finishing my '70 johan 'bird to R/R conversion :P

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