70's Era 'Bird Resto...... (!!FINISHED!!)

[CornDogsCharger]

Great pictures Doug!!!!!!  I've never seen those.  I'm really liking the cb antenna..... hahaha... those were the days!  Hey Doug, is there any chance that you might have other photos of the red/white/blue 'Bird?  Even pictures with is in the background.  What is strange to me.... in the article Randy mentioned the car hitting up all of the wing car shows and many mopar shows in the 70s/early 80s, but the only vintage photos I have seen of this car are the ones in the Birmingham parking lot.  I would really like to see other photos of the car.

Justin
"CornDog"

[PocketThunder]

what are those clips with wingnuts that your are using to hold the patch panels in place?

[The70RT]

what are those clips with wingnuts that your are using to hold the patch panels in place?

Panel holders....Eastwood sells them.

[mikepmcs]

pretty cool,thanks, he beat me to that question.

[Blown70]

Dont some places call them butt weld clamps too, harbor freight has them too I thought.

[BPTRacing]

what are those clips with wingnuts that your are using to hold the patch panels in place?

Yeah I had to search for those after I first saw them too! Found them on E-Bay  

Scotty

[CornDogsCharger]

Yeah, I love those things.  I bought 8 sets of 4 off ebay for $6 a set.  They are the same ones that Eastwood sells for $21 for 4.  I had been meaning to get some for the longest time and finally did.  They work great.

Justin
"CornDog"

[68 Black Betty]

Justin, sorry to hijack your thread but I really need that bill of sale. I've tried emailing and sending messages on here but no luck. I would rather go to my DMV with at least a bill of sale instead of trying to go through someone like ITS.

[CornDogsCharger]

No Problem, PM sent

[moparstuart]

any more updates ? 

[BigBlockSam]

 

[maxwellwedge]

Hard to tell the extent of the damage in the photos, but I would strongly consider making patch panels instead of replacing entire panels that may or may not fit correctly. Of course, the trunk floor will have to be replaced. The only problem there is not being able to use the one piece floor since you would have to remove either a quarter panel or tail panel or both to install it. 
With a little patience and careful welding, patches can be installed that are not even noticable. I'm all for keeping original panels whenever possible. Just my 

I agree. I would jump in front of Donna Summers tour bus before I put any repop sheet metal on that car. Find a solid Sat. donor and cut whatever you need off of that.

[maxwellwedge]

This one is staying "As Is"  except I put the proper redlines back on. Hemigeno thinks I should stick with the T/A style side exhaust. The ones shown in this photo were shot. I just might put some back on.

[4speed]

This one is staying "As Is"  except I put the proper redlines back on. Hemigeno thinks I should stick with the T/A style side exhaust. The ones shown in this photo were shot. I just might put some back on.

[hemigeno]

This one is staying "As Is"  except I put the proper redlines back on. Hemigeno thinks I should stick with the T/A style side exhaust. The ones shown in this photo were shot. I just might put some back on.

Dang tootin', that car needs those T/A sidepipes!!   

One of the great things about a car like this one is the fact that all of the customizing was done long before you owned it.  That guy gets the credit/blame for the work - although the red shag carpet and the '66 Charger console did go way over the line...    I'm part of the crowd that is working hard to bring a car back to its factory-original condition, and there's nothing wrong with that approach (at least I hope not!).  DiscoTona is one of the rapidly-dwindling number of cars with a vintage custom touch, and I hope it stays in essentially this shape for a long time to come.  I'm certain you'll continue to wave your magic cleaning wand over the car and get it back into fantastic mechanical shape, but the appeal of this car is it's retro look.

Hmmm... Wonder if the J.C. Whitney catalog still sells those foot-shaped gas pedals...   

[nascarxx29]

Here you Cal Custom foot pedal I had one for the dimmer switch and gas pedal back in the day
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VINTAGE-CAL-CUSTOM-CHROME-CLAMP-ON-GAS-PEDAL-FOOT-COVER_W0QQitemZ250366216993QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090201?IMSfp=TL0902011110005r37764

[maxwellwedge]

I think this car probably needs a resto.....

[maxwellwedge]

This one is staying "As Is"  except I put the proper redlines back on. Hemigeno thinks I should stick with the T/A style side exhaust. The ones shown in this photo were shot. I just might put some back on.

Dang tootin', that car needs those T/A sidepipes!!   

I'm part of the crowd that is working hard to bring a car back to its factory-original condition, and there's nothing wrong with that approach (at least I hope not!).  DiscoTona is one of the rapidly-dwindling number of cars with a vintage custom touch, and I hope it stays in essentially this shape for a long time to come.  I'm certain you'll continue to wave your magic cleaning wand over the car and get it back into fantastic mechanical shape, but the appeal of this car is it's retro look.

Well - I think you probably figured out that I like my stuff right. I did all the OE Gold stuff and have more resto's on the go that will be factory OE original right down to acrylic enamel paint sprayed on with 2 men painting (one on each side) the car at the same time (like the B7 with white roof car I showed you) - Give me orange peel or give me death    But....My faves are my survivors. Disco technically isn't a true survivor but it is a survivor of an era where people really wanted to express their individuality and I want to preserve that....until next week and the sucker gets stripped and restored - Just Kidding!

[nascarxx29]

.Here is 2 superbirds near me .That reminds stuck in the 70-s





This was done to our kind of cars back in the day

Camper superbird meet the  flaming superbird

[CornDogsCharger]

Hey guys, sorry that I haven't kept this page updated.  The car has come A LOOOOOOOONG way since I last posted here.  The car will be finished by late spring/early summer.  This evening when I get home from work I will post more pictures.  So far everything is coming together good and everyday is like Christmas.  I have stacks and stacks of boxes of new stuff for the car.  Wish it was my Christmas... haha, oh well.  Off to work I go.... I'll post more tonight

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

Well, as I promised, it is about time for an update.  Here are the photos from when I repaired and re-installed the back window plug.

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

Originally we planned on replacing the quarter panels... so we didn't bother stripping the paint and filler.  Since I was able to save both quarters, now it was time to strip them and epoxy prime them. 

Justin
"CornDog"

[moparstuart]

Originally we planned on replacing the quarter panels... so we didn't bother stripping the paint and filler.  Since I was able to save both quarters, now it was time to strip them and epoxy prime them. 

Justin
"CornDog"

very nice   

[CornDogsCharger]

LET THE MUD SLINGING BEGIN !!!!!!!!!!

Ok, not just yet.... If you remember from earlier.... the passenger quarter was the worst.  Early in the car's life it side-swiped something.  The passenger fender and door were replaced but the quarter panel was "repaired".  It was one of the worst jobs I have seen.  They got inside the quarter, beat it out a little bit, and filled the rest out with Bondo.  The metal in the quarter was stretched very bad.  With MANY MANY hours with a hammer and dolly.... and a torch, I was able to shrink it back into shape.  The driver side was bumped and bruised throughout, but it was still decent.





I know you hear many people say "I don't want any body filler in my car" but there is no way around it.... if you want a straight car.... it's gonna have filler in it.  The only time filler can be bad is when you do not prepare the metal correctly.  Every panel I will hammer and dollie the metal straight and then skim coat the whole panel.  In the end 90% of the filler will be sanded off.  I don't know why, but I didn't get pictures of the passenger side.  After many days of wipe and sand... wipe and sand... wipe and sand... it got pretty repeatative.  So, with that being said... here comes the MUD photos.

[CornDogsCharger]

Let's see that body baby........