Oldcarnut's Superbird Clone

[oldcarnut]

The dash covers had the paint and chrome worn off and ratty so I couldn't let them go back on after the control was done.  Sprayed it with the chrome paint first and then taped off for the black.  Found a white paint marker that worked for the letters.  I didn't redo the gauge faces as my intention is to have a custom dash and new gauges installed later.   Sure was nice to have the dash lights, heater functions, and the headlights all working as they should.  That headlight relay system really made an improvement.  The severe duty fan clutch I installed also makes a big difference. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/parts/partsProduct.jsp?displayName=Fan+Clutch&itemId=118-0&navValue=15200118&parentId=52-0&productId=689588&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=689588_141091_3018_&filterByKeyWord=fanclutch&categoryNValue=15299999&isSearchByPartNumber=false&categoryDisplayName=ClimateControl&store=1006&skuDescription=Torqflo/FanClutch&fromWhere=&searchText=fanclutch&_requestid=1189741.  It costs more but I can feel a lot more airflow coming from it.
Next is the front end rebuild and alignment.  I also need the dimensions for the hood.  How long are the sides and the center lengths of the hood to the extension joint cut?  I've asked a couple people but haven't got any info. yet.  I did have it once where someone sent it to me a good while back but it got lost somewhere in the computor abyss of missing files.

[hotrod98]

Looking good. 
Seeing all of that hard work makes me wonder if I'm ready to tackle our Superbird project.

[Musicman]

  Nice work David... Looking really nice 

[oldcarnut]

Looking good. 
Seeing all of that hard work makes me wonder if I'm ready to tackle our Superbird project.

I think with all the good stuff you've done already the Bird should be a piece of cake for ya     All I've done so far has been the simple things and common mechanical.  I believe I haven't started the hard work yet. Just have to find the time.

Nice work David... Looking really nice 

Thanks Guys for the encouragement  ,
Mike, I've been doing a lot of reorganizing/cleaning to the garage since your and Darrell's visit.  Will start on the backyard garage soon.  Should be putting all that 66-67 stuff on ebay hopefully next week or two so on your next tour down here you won't have to be steppin over car parts and junk strewn about  .

[oldcarnut]

Time for an update.  I started replacing most all the suspension. Only thing I was leaving was the pitman arm.  Figured while I had all the fenders and stuff off I may as well pull the motor too so I could go ahead and drop the k member out for a good refreshing and make it easier to paint the engine bay.  May pull the tranny tonight or in the morn.  Here's a pic of it on a homemade roller stand I made from a wore out boat trailer while I'm working on it.  While I'm down to this point, does anyone have any other recommendations to do that would help with the cloning part before the suspension goes back and engine and bay area redone.  After this I wanted to start on the Coronet fenders.  I'm also having a tough time deciding about what to do for the engine.  While it's out it would make sense to refresh it also before installing back but it's running ok right now.  Seems like it might would be more of a pain once the conversion parts were mounted and run a risk of damaging something to do it later.  I may have mentioned it before but the other decision is whether to buy the 440 from a coworker to rebuild for it instead or just keep the numbers matching 383 and use it.  The 440 motor is from a 72-73 New Yorker.  He said the motor was running when pulled a good while back but smoked some. It should at least have the unleaded gas heads. Also included is a complete 6 bbl setup from breather to linkage and a 727 tranny all for $1500.   Haven't seen it yet and not positive what year or tranny the 6 bbl setup was originally for.  I already have 2 spare 727 trans I should clear out plus 2 833's so I don't need another.  Cost to build the 383 or the 440 shouldn't vary that much but I don't know if I want to fight the carb setup as much as I hear complaints about them.  Maybe I outta buy it and sell the 6 pack and tranny then store the original 70 RR 383  .  Back to the cloning, anything I should do now that will help later?  David

[superbirdtom]

  it's much better without stops, easy to get stuff in the trunk

DOES ANYONE REPRODUCE THE TRUNK STOPS???

[oldcarnut]

Janak sent me some with the kit.  Doesn't look like much to them.  I'll post a pic later.  Getting ready to leave to take a look at the other engine setup.
Is this the piece?  Maybe Ted will seell you a set.

[oldcarnut]

Just got back from an afternoon cruise and scored a few goodies for the RR.  A friend of mine owed me some trades for a rear chunk he got from me about 5 years ago and wanted to clear out some stuff he had stored for a while to settle up.  I picked up 2 new exterior door handles, 4 new chrome arm rest bases, a new repro 5pc dash face set, 4 new window cranks,  new wiring harness clips for the inner fenders, 3 good used armrests, and another piece of interior trim.  I told the other guy I'd buy the 440 motor from him.  It had everything so I won't have to hunt down brackets etc.  Here's a couple pics of the 6 bbl set up that goes with it.  I feel like I'd done alright today.

[moparstuart]

nice scores 

[oldcarnut]

I found out after looking at them closer holding them next to mine that the dash pieces were for 69 Charger/ B-Body.  It was for a thumbwheel radio and had the flasher switch place which the 70 doesn't have.  Also the front arm rest pads and bases were the long ones like the Charger had I think.  Dang it, I wish I had paid more attention  .  Oh well, maybe I can trade them off.  They came from PG Classic

[oldcarnut]

I haven't added a progress update in a while so here's a couple of pics.  Time has been limited to get things done but the engine bay is done for now.  I finally got to media blasting and repainting the engine bay. Should be picking up the 440 and 6bbl setup in the next 2 weeks. Took the doors off and rebuild the hinges. For the front I have completely rebuilt/replaced the suspension along with getting new torsion bars to put in later. Got larger T-Bars and went with the larger C-body steering components plus reinforced the control arms Installed new SS brake lines and hardware from disc to disc.  Refreshed the wiper motor and replaced the deteriorated wire insulation coming from the motor.  Rebuilt the wiper pivots.  Cleaned out and refurbished the steering box with new seals and o-rings then replaced the steering coupler.  Pretty much have a brand new front end.  I have been remaking most of the misc. brackets out of stainless so no more rusting there. 

[oldcarnut]

A couple more

[moparstuart]

      nice progress




   

[superbirdtom]

looks realy nice. who is the guy making the steel trunk stops??

[nascarxx29]

Nice work also like the mini inspiration superbird by the fender tag

[oldcarnut]

looks realy nice. who is the guy making the steel trunk stops??

They came from Janak.  Look easy enough to make.

Nice work also like the mini inspiration superbird by the fender tag

I show it to friends that come by so I can tell them what eventually it's going to look close to being like  .

[rav440]

 

[oldcarnut]

For the past few months I've been working on the nose cone and thought it might be a good time for some updates.  Hope it's not too boring but since I haven't seen them posted before at least from my searches, I'm going to start with how some of the raw fiberglass parts came in just for the new folks like I was.  If thinking about building a clone, they can have an idea of what to expect to get involved with.  These parts were from Janak so they may have some options or differences from other vendors.  I also put things together my own way that may or may not meet approvals of other builders but may present some alternate ideas to work from.
I started with the buckets.  Here's the shell and the sides.  As you can see, everything has to be cut out.  Not my original plan but ended up using an electric motor to work the lights so no need to cut out the vacuum pod area.  It would be good to have an idea of how you're going to work your lights ahead of time and base your assembly on that premise.  I was going to try a pneumatic cylinder and either the motor or cylinder would have used the same setup I had thought about.  Notice most of the parts had a dimple or some kind of locating mark where holes got drilled or cut out based I reckon from the originals they were made from.  But, that didn't necessarily mean that it would work exactly right there so some adjustments were always necessary.  Behind the shell are the pivot adjusters

[oldcarnut]

Here's one assembled.  I chose to use bolts.  Didn't care for pop rivets and wanted to have the option of easier disassembly later if needed and felt like the bolts would do a better job for long term.  I bolted pretty much everything with stainless when I had them.  One thing I over did was the one side with all the little bolts.  Started cutting the holes before I realized the marks were actually from original spot welds but at least it'll hold good.  On another note, I used a pneumatic die and pencil grinder with a sharp pointed bit to cut out most of the holes and shapes.  Using a drill seemed to want to flake off or rough tear on the exit side of the cut.  The grinder left everything smooth and went right through.  I suppose a Dremel tool would work the same

After the whole headlight bucket assy was completed I found it a little tight fitting around headlight opening in the cone.   If I had to do it again I think I would put the shell in place and using just a few predrilled bolt holes in the side pieces, bolt it togethor where it was going to sit then remove it for the rest of the bolts.  Probably would have gave me an easier time that way making adjustments without the tight fit.  Unlike the metal shell, there's no bending as it's very rigid with little flexing once fastened togethor.

[oldcarnut]

Now for the headlamp holders and pivot assemblies.  These took a little time. First the raw parts.
   

[oldcarnut]

After the dust settled here's what I had.  I made new springs and bought new lamp adjuster anchors.
Some mods to the anchor bases were needed because of the glass thickness.  I also ended up going back to re-trim the adjuster openings closer to the mold marks.
I added some bracing on the backside to the pivit arm brackets and face.  I didn't have a lot of faith in it as it was.  After everything was put in place, it actually was pretty firm

[oldcarnut]

All bolted together with the pivots in place.  The pivots were made from something else I'll touch on later.  The mounting tabs at the lamp recesses had very uneven surfaces and don't mount very flush.  The black pieces sandwiched in between and squished out a little are where I put in some very firm foam type rubber to fill in any voids and give more contact surface when bolted together.  Somewhere there I think is supposed to be the vacuum pod brackets but since I didn't need them maybe someone can add a pic of one.

[oldcarnut]

From the front with the light bases installed

[oldcarnut]

Now for my pivots.  I wanted and needed to use something else different.  I came across a new Bosch windshield wiper assembly that fit my purposes.  The 12mm shaft was close to original size with serrations and threads on one end to hold my linkages and with a mounting bracket on the other.  The housings had bearing bushings and seals for long lasting wear.  I removed and cut back the housings and welded them to pivot adjusters I made from aluminum.  Heres a shot of them before I whittled them down some.  How they mounted can be seen in the previous photos.  Time for a break.  Will post more later tonight

[nascarxx29]

Nice work