My Talladega trip dilemma.

[jonw29]

Should I load up my car and bring it even though it is not completely finished?

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Should I load up my car and bring it even though it is not completely finished?

WOW, you got so close...




If you have an enclosed trailer and its not a loooong drive... TAKE IT!  Otherwise go enjoy the show and let your Talladega debut later.. just my 

Good luck on whatever you decide to do... BTW, your car is looking great!   

Allen

[jonw29]

I am coming from NE SC in an enclosed trailer.The trip would not be bad.Maybe 2 more weeks and I am ready to go.I may load it up and go.It may be a gametime decision.Thanks for the input.JW

[moparstuart]

   why not go ahead and  take it      

[hotrod98]

I know how you must feel.
I came so close to having a real Superbird in time for the 2009 event and now I have to wait five years for the next one. 

[jonw29]

Hotrod.You must have been born with the same problem as I was.A lot of good looks and NO wealth.JW

[A383Wing]

He has no money, and even less good looks 

[jonw29]

I am not going to be able to bring it I had some guys to come over tonight and I had a plug wire or a plug bad.It runs like crap at idle and it clears up off of idle.I don't know what is up.My family and I are coming and I am making a TON of pictures.I look forward to meeting you forum guys.GOD BLESS and have a safe trip.JW

[hotrod98]

He has no money, and even less good looks 

No money is about right. I keep spending it all on new toys. In the past four weeks, I've bought a new Dodge Crewcab, a 24' enclosed trailer for the drag car and a Superbird. Had to sell a couple of other toys to pay cash for everything. At 53, I don't borrow money.

My Superbird should be here the third week of November. It has to ship by container from Alaska to Seattle and then by transport from Seattle to Arkansas. Can't wait. I'm going to freshen it up and drive the holy crap out of it. 

[A383Wing]

Let me know when it arrives in Seattle...I'll test it out for ya and give you a report. 

[69bronzeT5]

He has no money, and even less good looks 

No money is about right. I keep spending it all on new toys. In the past four weeks, I've bought a new Dodge Crewcab, a 24' enclosed trailer for the drag car and a Superbird. Had to sell a couple of other toys to pay cash for everything. At 53, I don't borrow money.

My Superbird should be here the third week of November. It has to ship by container from Alaska to Seattle and then by transport from Seattle to Arkansas. Can't wait. I'm going to freshen it up and drive the holy crap out of it. 

You got one sexy ass Superbird though!

[hotrod98]

Let me know when it arrives in Seattle...I'll test it out for ya and give you a report. 

You wouldn't get very far. Tom bought a new clutch for it but never found the time to install it. That's the first thing that I have to do once it's here.

I really like the car black. If it were the original color of lemon twist, it would look like a bunch of other yellow birds. I doubt that the car will ever be returned to it's original color as long as I own it. The only downside is the fact that black cars tend to get a little hot here in the south in the summertime. As for it being sexy, if I were twenty years younger, this bird might get me into a little trouble. Okay, a lot of trouble. 

[FJ5WING]

man I have to keep up on things!!!

lets hear all about the superbird!

[hotrod98]

man I have to keep up on things!!!

lets hear all about the superbird!

This Superbird was originally in west Texas and in the early 80's was taken to California. Jim Radke ended up with it and Tom Ferry bought it from him in 1983. Tom changed the color to black and used it to promote his band  "Black Ice". A few years ago Tom moved back to his home in Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan is an island so the car hasn't been driven much in the last few years. He was preparing to restore it back to original to sell it but I intervened and asked him to make me a deal on the car as is. I wanted to paint the car myself. In the beginning I was thinking about returning it to lemon twist but after thinking about it, I decided to leave it black. Back when Tom changed the color, he also built an air grabber hood using a real 70 model roadrunner air grabber hood. He also has a Superbird hood and I'm getting that one as well in case I decide to return it to the original appearance at some point. Probably won't.
The car is a 440 4 bbl car with 4-speed, bucket seats, console and Dana 60.
I'm going to go ahead and install new interior, install my Boyd rims, re-paint it black, pull the engine and re-paint and tune it and just generally freshen up the entire car. We haven't done the car show thing much in the last couple of years so we plan to get out quite a bit in 2010.
Unfortunately, I had to sell my 71 Cuda clone and my Daytona clone to buy the bird.  At least I'll have one less car to maintain.

[A383Wing]

There was a Black 'Bird with an air-grabber at Talladega in '99 when we went....wonder if it's the same one?

Now...refresh my 3 working brain cells here....there were never any black 'Birds made from the factory, were there?

[hotrod98]

I don't think Tom ever made it out to Talladega. I'll have to ask. That's the first time that I've heard of another black bird with an air grabber. Do you think it was a real bird or a clone? This one's definitely real. The 400th Superbird built.
As far as I know, there were never any black real birds. That's one of the reasons so many people think that this bird is a clone. That and the fact that is has the air grabber hood, the six pack setup and no vinyl top. He also had aftermarket seats in it for a while. The originals are back in it now.
I still haven't decided as to whether I'll put the vinyl top back on or not. Now I'm regretting booking so many customer jobs for the next few months. I would rather be working on the bird full time.

Have you seen this vid?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlivrldMMxU

[A383Wing]

Nice Vid...I'm gonna see if I can find the pics or video that I took back in '99 of the black 'Bird that was there...

[A383Wing]

Hey Hotrod....I just went through all my 1999 Talladega vacation pics (brought back some memories...damn, wish we could go again)....there was a black 'Bird there....the only pic I got is this one....car is behind the Daytona (actually, next to).....best I could do...sorry

[Hemi_tyme]

I will never forget the first time I seen this video..........I thought oh shit!!! and COOL at the same time......Congrats,I know you and Shondra have looked along time for the right bird.  Ken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY4yMNKfUj4

[hotrod98]

I know what you're saying Ken. In some ways it seems like sacrilage and in other ways it's just too cool for words. You know I tend to go against the grain a little anyway. I'm using this car as an excuse to have a Superbird that is not like all of the others. Even I would have a hard time altering a totally stock bird. Not to mention that this car was cheaper than some of those rusted out projects that we were talking about just last year. The economy kind of worked in my favor for once. Sandra is so excited about the car. I'm just glad that we found one while she's still able to travel.

I plan to drive it as much as possible next year. As soon as it's ready, I'll plan a trip over your way.

Didn't mention it before but Tom managed to get the original Dana 60 and original bucket seats back into the car as part of the deal.
Also, it turns out the nose wasn't damaged as much as I thought. He repaired it back in the 80's. I thought that it was new damage or something. I misunderstood him on that issue and it wasn't damaged when it hit the snow bank at all. It just slid slowly into the snow. He sent pics taken the same day there on the scene after they pulled it out. I had him take pics of just about every inch of the car and he's gone into great detail about the condition. I really don't expect any surprises. I feel pretty confident that I know what I'll have to do once it's here. I think he feels better about selling the car to someone that wants to pretty much go through it top to bottom anyway. Some people expect these 40 year old cars to be perfect. I cetainly don't.



Snow video.     http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=440sixpack#p/u/19/mY4yMNKfUj4

[hotrod98]

Hey Hotrod....I just went through all my 1999 Talladega vacation pics (brought back some memories...damn, wish we could go again)....there was a black 'Bird there....the only pic I got is this one....car is behind the Daytona (actually, next to).....best I could do...sorry

I don't think that is this car. We'll just have to plan to go to Talladega next time. By that time I'll  probably have the six pack setup converted to a six pack fuel injection setup and have some type of overdrive. May go with the Passon 3 speed with o/d conversion for simplicity. I may even do the Passon conversion this next spring since it looks like I won't have the time to finish up my drag car now. I'll use one of my other 4-speeds though and save the original.

[moparstuart]

Hey Hotrod....I just went through all my 1999 Talladega vacation pics (brought back some memories...damn, wish we could go again)....there was a black 'Bird there....the only pic I got is this one....car is behind the Daytona (actually, next to).....best I could do...sorry

I don't think that is this car. We'll just have to plan to go to Talladega next time. By that time I'll  probably have the six pack setup converted to a six pack fuel injection setup and have some type of overdrive. May go with the Passon 3 speed with o/d conversion for simplicity. I may even do the Passon conversion this next spring since it looks like I won't have the time to finish up my drag car now. I'll use one of my other 4-speeds though and save the original.

that car is actually my buddy milt woods car and it is several shade of grey and silver,  not black .  It was the whole reason I decided to built the air grabber for my hood , i was leaning towards a shaker untill I saw milts car .  Had to save my already butchered hood somehow .

[hotrod98]

Stuart, where is Milt from? I've never seen that car.
Is his car a real bird or a clone?
Kind of reminds me of Mike's Mr. Angrier Daytona.

I thought you were going to Talladega.

[moparstuart]

Stuart, where is Milt from? I've never seen that car.
Is his car a real bird or a clone?
Kind of reminds me of Mike's Mr. Angrier Daytona.

I thought you were going to Talladega.

milton is from michigan , is retired from chrysler .
He was at the proving grounds back in the day .  Yes it is a real bird ( very custom inside also ) side fuel cap too  .    I wish i had the money to goto dega , been really sad i couldnt go.

[brianz426]

I don't think Tom ever made it out to Talladega. I'll have to ask. That's the first time that I've heard of another black bird with an air grabber. Do you think it was a real bird or a clone? This one's definitely real. The 400th Superbird built.
As far as I know, there were never any black real birds. That's one of the reasons so many people think that this bird is a clone. That and the fact that is has the air grabber hood, the six pack setup and no vinyl top. He also had aftermarket seats in it for a while. The originals are back in it now.
I still haven't decided as to whether I'll put the vinyl top back on or not. Now I'm regretting booking so many customer jobs for the next few months. I would rather be working on the bird full time.

Have you seen this vid?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlivrldMMxU

Congradulations on buying this Superbird. When I first saw this thread I thought to myself that looks like the Youtube Superbird from Alaska. I always wondered how a Superbird would get to Alaska, neat story. Below is my favorite video. The car looks great comming down the road with those lights on in the grill. I'm assuming they are aftermarket fog lights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct3_a0ee5lI

[A383Wing]

that car is actually my buddy milt woods car and it is several shade of grey and silver,  not black .  It was the whole reason I decided to built the air grabber for my hood , i was leaning towards a shaker untill I saw milts car .  Had to save my already butchered hood somehow .

Yea..that was the one I saw in '99...my bad...I thought it was black...saw so many wing cars that week I couldn't keep 'em all straight....

Sorry for the confuzin'...my 3 working brain cells are about fried

[hotrod98]

I don't think Tom ever made it out to Talladega. I'll have to ask. That's the first time that I've heard of another black bird with an air grabber. Do you think it was a real bird or a clone? This one's definitely real. The 400th Superbird built.
As far as I know, there were never any black real birds. That's one of the reasons so many people think that this bird is a clone. That and the fact that is has the air grabber hood, the six pack setup and no vinyl top. He also had aftermarket seats in it for a while. The originals are back in it now.
I still haven't decided as to whether I'll put the vinyl top back on or not. Now I'm regretting booking so many customer jobs for the next few months. I would rather be working on the bird full time.

Have you seen this vid?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlivrldMMxU

Congradulations on buying this Superbird. When I first saw this thread I thought to myself that looks like the Youtube Superbird from Alaska. I always wondered how a Superbird would get to Alaska, neat story. Below is my favorite video. The car looks great comming down the road with those lights on in the grill. I'm assuming they are aftermarket fog lights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct3_a0ee5lI

The foglights are in the grille area and I plan to leave them on the car. I thought they looked kind of cool as well. I remember when I first saw the vids of this car on YouTube. Never dreamed that I would end up buying the car. It fits my personality. I've owned and driven funny cars, dragsters, karts, all kinds of musclecars and now a Superbird. I've had to sell two other musclecars and put off racing my 68 runner for a year or so to make this deal happen. I think it'll be worth it. I'll feel a lot better when it's sitting in my garage though. I've already had the car insured for over a month. I had to insure it to get it titled in my name. Too bad it's still sitting almost 3000 miles away. If it wasn't so close to winter, I would fly up, replace the clutch and drive it home. I hate snow.

[brianz426]

I totally agree, I don't know how much you paid, but there is something about that Superbird(I think it's the black and the lights in the grille) that would also motivate me to sell two cars to buy it. Enjoy!

[nascarxx29]

I know how you must feel.
I came so close to having a real Superbird in time for the 2009 event and now I have to wait five years for the next one.  

I came so close to having a real Superbird in time for the 2009 event and now I have to wait five years for the next one.  
I know of a few that should be finding there way for sale .Keep watching ebay

[jonw29]

I am glad that I did not bring my car to the reunion.I had to take the LH head off of it to check it.My macine shop guy found that I had the wrong valve locks on it.What he thinks was happening is that with those locks on it,the valve spring was not compressed as it should have been with only 48 lbs of seat pressure and during the power stroke of the engine the valves were actually pulled off of the valve seat.I had 10 deg retainers and 7 deg locks.Knowing how I am,I would have started to drive it harder and harder and the locks would have pulled through the retainers causing grave damage to my matching # block.JW

[pettybird]

yeah...that would have ruined your day pretty quickly.  glad you found out at the shop ahead of time!

[jonw29]

I am going back together with it now.Hopefully running again by friday.It has been sooo frustrating.I have a SUPER FE guy here in town that quoted me 600.00 to assemble and run it in.I turned it down.Not because I am a tightwad but because I just hated to be the guy that just handed out the money during the restoration.I wanted to have a hand in it.Now with hindsight I wish that I would have let him do it.I would not be going through this now.Oh well.They say that it is a mistake if you don't learn from it.I feel that I have.JW

[jonw29]

It is fixed.I was able to get it back together today and got it running at lunch.It sounds like it should now.Just a little polishing and tweaking and it is ready for cruise-ins and such.JW

[moparstuart]

 more pictures please