96 Cirrus 'Temporary' car

Our 99 Legacy Outback puked it's motor a short while back. We had 2 months left on the P/T warranty, too close for comfort, but we still got our new bullet. Anyways, since they (Subaru) didn't have a loaner car available, we decided to look for a cheap car 'till we got the Outback back, then I'd get the car when the Subaru was done. I had always told my wife how much I liked the looks of the 96 Cirrus & Strats, so she looks in the paper, & says "here is a 96 Cirrus with only 86,000 mi for $1500". I know that there IS a catch here some where. We call the guy and hustle right over there. I saw it & couldn't believe my eyes! This was a nice car, but does have hail damage on the top skins, but he threw in a perfect deck lid, the same color even. I open the hood, and this 2.4 is far cleaner than the 99 was! So we drove it. Right away I was taken back by its pep! I gave it just a little gas & it just shot off! Unreal! This little I-4 has no business running this hard! We take it off on a long ride, I take it up to about 80, perfect, it went down the road straight & didn't pull either way when I let go of the wheel. We stop at a gas station & I get a real close look at it, & everything looks & sounds great, so we go back & tell him that we're gonna buy it tomorrow. On the way home (after we buy it) I see that one of the rear tires has a pos. camber-the top of the tire was leaning in towards the car. I thought maybe we got screwed, or just needed an alignment. I took it to a shop late on a Sunday afternoon & this goof says that the frame is bent! Monday, I look at it, and one of the draglinks is bent but that was it. I went to the J/Yard, got both links, installed them and took it to a different shop and they had no problems. What a relief The links were $8.00, the alignment $60.00.
Now, we got the Subaru back a week ago, and I can't pry my wife out of the Cirrus! She likes it better than the high buck, 'safe' car! I was the one who liked the looks of them, not her! We're gonna get a body kit, hood, some 17's & tires, & do what engine mods that I can do, have the dents in the roof pushed out, then paint. I have a son that will be 11 soon, (he gets his permit at 14) I should have it finished by then, by then, maybe HE can pry his Mom up out of MY Cirrus! 'bird

Sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun with it.

I've always liked the styling of those cars, don't really care too much for the riced ones though.

Anyhoo, nice '69 Runner! (judging by your username it's a Runner) More and more of them popping up around here!

Hey 5, you have 2 69 birds? And one with a 6bbl? Is the 6bbl a factory car or a clone (doesn't matter to me but I was just curious)? I have to say that you do have a nice lookin avitar there! Later-1badredbird

It's a clone M-Code RoadRunner. It's not yet a 6bbl car, I would like it to be, but I might not do it, and just go with a Weiand tunnel ram and dual holley 750cfm double pumpers. Everything else will look like an mid-year Runner, except for the engine.

I have to restore the car yet, it's an original HP 383ci, 727 auto heavy duty car.

Hey FIVE, yes, it is a RR, but I added the deep (and much better looking) tail lights and the GTX grill with ROAD RUNNER bagde instead of GTX badge. I'm not trying to kid anybody, just make my car unique, and the way that I want it. All of the chrome has been blacked out also, even on the tails-every bit of exterior chrome, except for the bumpers, gonna powder coat the rear, & go 'glass up front. That 88 Porshe Indian red, base/clear paint, clashing with the black, and aluminum really sets it off. When I bring that loud@ss, firebreathing beast out, Everybody takes notice. The hear that Cam rumblin' & catch a whiff of the racing fuel, they know that it's no joke!
Maybe someday soon, I can get my Cirrus to run 2-3 car lengths behind the SRT-4. Hey Five, whatcha think of the deal I struck on the Cirrus? Did I mention that the interior is nearly perfect, and I just bought the nice armrest console from a 99 Stratus today, can't wait to get that installed! How much work do you think that it would take to drop an SRT-4 Drive Train into the 96 Cirrus? We have a Mopar only yard here in Omaha NE. I'm sure that it's only a matter of time until the totalled SRT-$'s start arriving. Everybody knows who is buying these cars, and how much(or little) driving experience that they have Now that would be one kind of sleeper, Hunh?
Take care all! 'bird

Got any bigger pictures of it? I'm with you on the "way you want it" attitude, I'm not into the 100-point restoration.

If it sounds anything like my Hemi Orange Runner, you've got props from me

Heres a little clip of mine: http://s94356474.onlinehome.us/videos/69roadrunner.wmv -- It's 5mb.

Hey Five, 'bird here. I see that the car that you are gonna restore is a hardtop, boy, those are nice lookin when all the windows are down. Plus, there weren't that many made, mostly coupes [like mine]. I once thought of converting mine to a H/T, went to a bone yard & got all of the parts-everything. Then whan I started looking at that pile of parts, I thought, no way. Now if a guy was to take a plasma cutter, or torch & be VERY careful, you could get the whole mechanism out in one piece, not a bucket full like me{hey, I was about 18-19 at the time & was learning do's & don'ts**.
Anyways, I still have the glass, + maybe some trim pieces, so let me know if you need anything related, & I'll see what I have. Send me your e-mail addy if you want to see a few pics of my Bird. Ric-1badredbird

Hey,

Believe it or not, the RM21 cars are more rare then the RM23 cars. I have one of each, post car and a hardtop. I like the look of both, really, wouldn't mind what roof it was. I may need the glass when I get that far with it, edge is a bit chipped on the passenger side.

My email address is: dajoker@rochester.rr.com