A real Barn Find instead of a story-The Bird in the Barn for 43 years!)

[taxspeaker]

1970 Plymouth Superbird RM23U0A174621 (Ransom (Randy) ****** original owner)

In mid-July 2017 Bob Jennings was contacted by Charlie **** regarding a 1970 Superbird his wife's uncle owned in Elkhart, IN. Charlie worked with Dave ****, whose son Matt worked with Bob Jennings.

Bob & Charlie spoke on the phone and Charlie told Bob that the Bird had been bought brand new by his wife's uncle whose name was ****

The car had been parked since the mid-1970's (?) in a garage at this address and was a limelight green, 440cubic inch 4 barrel, 4 speed with bench seats. Not much else was known about the car. Charlie sent Bob 5 poor quality pictures showing a lot of dirt, quarter panel rust and a flat tire. Charlie thought the car was worth around $30,000 but Bob told him between $50-60,000 was more accurate. Bob told Charlie he would buy the car at that price unless it was a rust heap, and Charlie told Bob that the uncle was quite eccentric and that he was waffling about really wanting to sell it.

For the next 6 weeks Bob gently pestered Charlie, and on September 5, Charlie contacted Bob and agreed on the price of $60,000. Bob, Dave & Matt Johnson, and Mike Arms all drove to Elkhart on the morning of September 16, 2017 to buy the car, put it on a trailer and haul it home, leaving around 4:45am, arriving at the location around 9:45 am.

Bob & Matt Johnson verified the VIN to agreement with the title, dash pad, radiator support, trunk lip, door tag, engine block and transmission.

Randy verified he bought the car brand new on 3/12/70 from Vernon M. Ball Plymouth, Inc in Elkhart, Indiana. He bought it because it was "different" and drove it to cruises and as a daily driver for 4 years.

Car was stored at Elkhart, IN in this building

In late 1974 Randy parked the car because of a bad voltage regulator. In late 1975 he got it running and inspected on 10/1/75 with 65,346 miles. It was last licensed on February 2, 1975 for 1975, expiring in May of 1976.

The odometer on the day that Bob pulled it out of the garage (9/16/2017) reads 65,548.9 miles.

When we first walked up to the car we all immediately noticed the trailer hitch and the 2 original jacking instruction stickers in the trunk deck. The car was quite evidently originally parked without a washing because the salt residue had destroyed the chrome on the rear bumper. All 4 tires were flat, but we had brought 4 wheels & tires from home and proceeded to remove the old wheels. The old wheels were difficult to remove, but after some penetrating oil, our electric impact wrench and judicious use of a sledge hammer to persuade the wheels off of the hubs, we replaced all 4 wheels and easily rolled the car into the sunlight for the first time in 43 years!

Randy told us he had moved the car once when he sold his house and a tow truck hauled it to this building during the night so no one would see it or know it was there. The tow truck ripped off and bent the front spoiler, which was laying in the back seat. Also laying in the seat/trunk was the radio and alternator.

When we got the car into the sunlight, the 43 years of dirt showed, as did the parking of the car without removing the accumulated road salt. The interior had some damage from mice and the trunk was full of trash, but all-in-all the car was in excellent shape except for the external body panels.

We determined before we winched the car on the trailer that both quarter panels will need to be replaced, the top portion of both fenders behind the scoops will need repair, and the nose has a dent in it, needing repair as does the passenger headlight bucket. The vinyl top is perfect, the interior does not leak, but will need the bench seat repaired and new carpet. The floor boards all appear fine (surface rust only), as does the trunk floor and frame rails!

We (Bob Jennings, Mike Arms, Matt & Dave Johnson) winched the car on the trailer, taking many pictures and a video, said our last goodbyes, and started the 5 hour drive home. During the drive we had people waving and yelling at us, honking and when we stopped to eat the car was engulfed by onlookers, picture takers and curious crowds.

Upon arrival at our shop in Southern Indiana, we snapped a few more pictures and proceeded to wash the driver's ½ side of the car, while also vacuuming and cleaning out the interior. We found several dollars worth of change, and deep cleaned a portion of the vinyl top and dash pad. There was absolutely zero rust around the windshield or dash pad, inside or out or around the back window or moulding, and the car had no leaks when we washed it. We attribute this to 43 years of darkness leaving all the rubber in excellent condition.

We then very, very carefully hooked up a 12 volt battery just to see what was going on electrically, and to our surprise everything with a fuse still worked. A number of fuses were missing so we could not check everything, but the lights, wipers and brake lights worked. The fuses were missing for the tic-toc-tach, horn, turn signals and interior lights, and the radio was out of the car, but there was absolutely zero indication of mouse damage to the wiring.

We then pushed the car into the garage and put it on the lift for examination. We found surface rust underneath the car, but no where was it serious. The bell housing was missing the inspection plate and the starter was gone. The brakes did not show any leakage, but the emergency brake cable was badly corroded and we kind of felt like there was no fluid in the master cylinder. The transmission showed no leaks, but the front seal of the dana read end yoke was leaking. The engine was pretty grimy, and for some reason the driver's side valve cover had been unscrewed but we could see no issues. Overall, this was very, very minor stuff.

The plans are now:
First, Pull the spark plugs, fill the cylinders with marvel oil, and let it sit for a few days. Then we will do a complete engine degreasing and pressure wash and let it dry outside in the sun. Then we will put in all new spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, points and condenser.

Second, we will pull the carb and send it out to Harm's Automotive for rebuild, while replacing all the rubber fuel line pieces and the fuel filter. We will pull the gas tank and see if it can just be cleaned (it looks good), blow out the gas lines and tank with compressed air, bolt on a temporary carb and get a new air filter. We will then change the oil and filter, and gently see if we can turn the crank by hand several rotations.

Third, we will replace the alternator, voltage regulator, starter, all hoses and belts and put in a temporary radiator and probably replace the water pump while the radiator is out. At the same time we will put in new temperature and oil pressure sending units and a new dipstick since the old one is missing. I have many of these parts as extras in my shop.

Next, we will feed it the gas and see if it starts, keeping our fingers crossed! If it does we will then pull the bench seat for repairing it ourselves with a little black duct tape, pull the back seat and hope for a build sheet, give the interior and exterior a real good cleaning, put in new carpet and put it all back together. I could probably clean and keep the old carpet, but the mouse poop issue is a concern-awaiting comments.

Finally, we will do a complete brake job, turning the drums & rotors, rebuilding the wheel cylinders and calipers, and replacing the emergency brake lines. At this point the car should be very (safely) drivable.

You will notice that I am not repairing the body as of right now. I feel that I can do all the repairs and minor replacements for a bit less than $2,000 by myself (and friends), yet still quite correctly call the car a survivor if that is important to you, since the only things replaced are normal wear and tear items. Since this is a well-documented 1-owner, un-molested and un-modified car I think I want to keep it that way. The trunk stickers are as mounted from the factory, all of the driveline marks are the ones the factory put on, all the stickers are in the right places, I still have the warranty card and original title and all of the paperwork to keep this car as a reference for future owners. Heck the trunk still has the original dealer sticker from Vernon R. Ball, Inc, Elkhart, Indiana and what's a little rust between friends?

With the assistance of Tan Top (Steve) I will post as many pictures as I can from yesterday's purchase date, and as we go through the process. One of the neatest pictures is of the hood after we washed just the driver's side.
Bob J

[Q5XX29]

So cool! What a find. Congratulations!

[alfaitalia]

What else can I say but wow! Amazing that these cars are still out there waiting to be found. I know I will be in a minority.....but I would want to drive it ....but sympathetically restored. Not to show standard...but without the rust and faded Chrome. A survivor holds no great value to me ....but as I said I can see the other point of view. MORE PHOTOS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE!

[Alaskan_TA]

pull the back seat and hope for a build sheet

Do not ignore the front seat. The last Superbird sheet I found was under the front seat in the springs, the owner had previously found one in the rear seat.

If it has bucket seats look inside the removable backs also, as well as under the carpet & taped to the back of the glove box liner.

Some owners find 3-5 sheets if the car has never been searched before.

You may even find one or two for other cars.

Happy hunting!

[Beep Beep Dave]

Thanks soo much for sharing so much information and details. I was picturing being there.

I am looking forward to the pics!

Dave

[charger chris]

Nice find.  I can only hope I can find a Daytona one day like that.

[68X426]

the uncle was quite eccentric

Isn't that all of us? 


Great find, keep the pics and documentation coming.

Thank you for sharing. 

[taxspeaker]

I just sent Tan Top a bunch of pictures if he gets a chance-I am not good at the picture posting thing. Worked on the car for hours yesterday. I am keeping a log each day, but getting ready for several weeks of work travel so not much will happen for a bit.

09/17/17   65,548   Removed spark plugs, filled cylinders with oil to sit for 2 weeks to try and free up     
Pistons for the future, replaced spark plugs to 3-4 turns. Plugs were really difficult to get out but not as bad as expected. They are originals as are all of the plug wires, radiator hoses and clamps. Sprayed penetrating oil/lubricant on shock bolts-lower & upper rear, lower front. Also sprayed on transmission linkage. Vacuumed engine compartment and undercarriage removing lots of mouse stuffing and seeds. Noted radiator full of seeds and mouse stuffing so cap must have been off. Removed non-original overflow bottle and noted that fuel line was unhooked from carb line, plus vapor canister not present. I hope this means the fuel lines were blown out when parked.

Cleaned vinyl top for first time. Will need several cleaning and scrubbings but appears that it will clean up close to new. Engine compartment should clean up quite well with soap/water/pressure washer to inner fenders and front end, plus degreaser on engine. Cleaned dash pad and door panels. Dash panel, door panels and back seat will all clean up well-it is a black interior with the silver trim and nothing will be replaced. Some wear on driver door arm area where steel is worn and paint scratched but I am leaving it alone. Found a 1969 paycheck stub for plant worker in trunk back where jack hold down plate was. Not sure what to do on surface rust on the frame and rear end-I would like to clean it up but don't want to damage any of the original stuff or markings and would love some ideas.

WD-40'd trunk lock cylinder to see if we can free up stuck key. Also going to test radio that had been removed from car.

Determined some order of work:
1.   Degrease engine and pressure wash-tighten valve cover first and make sure all engine areas are sealed.
2.   Remove bench seat and order replacement covers and padding
3.   Deep clean interior, duct tape headliner, remove rear seat and look for build sheet behind glove box and under seats.
4.   Remove and deep clean carpet if cleanable, order new otherwise
5.   Replace fuses and clean under dash while carpet is out.
6.   Replace radio speaker, lube heater cables, check dash wiring, check clock functionality
7.   Pull radiator, replace hoses, radiator send off to restore, water pump, install temporary aluminum radiator
8.   Replace shocks, clean and lube front end
9.   Pull gas tank. Blow out gas lines and replace all rubber pieces and fuel filter & vapor canister, replace fuel pump, air filter and install temporary Holley carb.
10.   Pull carb and send for rebuilding
11.   Send alternator for rebuilding
12.   Replace voltage regulator, ballast resistor, starter relay, coil with NOS stuff I have here
13.   Replace plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor, condenser & points with NOS stuff I have here
14.   Rebuild rear wheel cylinders, turn drums and replace brakes & rubber hoses
15.   Rebuild calipers, turn rotors, replace pads and rubber hoses, repack wheel bearings, check master cylinder and rebuild if necessary
16.   Bleed brakes, replace valve cover gaskets
17.   Replace emergency brake cables, transmission fluid
18.   Replace yoke seal and rear differential fluid

[tan top]

Thanks soo much for sharing so much information and details. I was picturing being there.

I am looking forward to the pics!

Dave

yes  I agree , what BBD said  


   watch this space ! for pictures  

[charger_fan_4ever]

at 60K probably the best "buy" on a wing car in a long time. 

[hemi68charger]

at 60K probably the best "buy" on a wing car in a long time. 

Yeah, I think it is better than my recent Superbird deal.......

[tan top]

Thanks soo much for sharing so much information and details. I was picturing being there.

I am looking forward to the pics!

Dave

yes  I agree , what BBD said 


    watch this space ! for pictures 

   

[tan top]

 

[tan top]

 

[tan top]

 

picture 1 ,  just out in the light  , first time in 43 years

picture 2 ,  on way home

picture 3 ,  original dealer trunk sticker


picture 7 ,  windshield washer hose placement

picture 8 ,  date coded voltage regulator  479

[tan top]

  

picture 1  , original vacuum line routing

picture 2 , vinyl top after first clean

[kw mopar]

Great story and awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[hemi68charger]

Awesome configuration !!! The newest AB !! 

[TheAutoArchaeologist]

Awesome find!  Congratulations! 

[aerolith]

Absolutely STUNNING car!

Top of the Plymouth tree for me...
Limey Green with a four speed!!!

Well done for finding her and well done to the guys who looked after her too...

I'm with alfa, wash her and drive her lol...

Four on da FLOOR! does it get any betta?

[odcics2]

IMO, keep as original as possible. 
Only original once. After that, "just another restored wing car"...
 

Cool find. 

[6pkrtse]

Awesome story & very cool find. It always just amazes me that some people have a spare 60K to find & buy something like this. LOL.

[68X426]

IMO, keep as original as possible. 
Only original once. After that, "just another restored wing car"...
 

I am shocked at me saying it, but I have got to agree with odcics on this.  Keep it as original as possible. 

[F8-4life]

Great find, I also would leave the car untouched, 1/4 rust & all. Especially if its original paint still.
Cleaned and detailed, tuned up but otherwise all original would make for a really interesting car at shows.

[bebeep1969]

You need to take it to MCACN in Chicago in November.  They have a barn find display there.  This car will get alot of attention.