MOPAR JOHNS B5 DAYTONA RESTORATION!!

[moparstuart]

If you go back to page 26 from July 19 of 2010 you will see that the Daytona had 24,016 miles on it when it was restored.
This little road trip has pushed the odometer to just over 24,100 miles!

it's worn out now, so let's get her parted out.

some people might not even need to repaint anything

oh boy   

[Mopar John]

Would this be the longest drive it has taken in the last 40 years?   

Doug,
I think the longest drive was to Tim Welborns house and back or
out at the track at the 2009 AERO WARRIOR REUNION.
But this has to be the longest trip since then!
MJ

[held1823]

john, have you managed to shoot any outdoor photos of both cars together yet?  the only photo of them both i recall seeing shows them in the garage (a few posts back in this thread.)

the bird is stunning, and i can never see enough of the b5 beauty. it happens to be my favorite color combo

[Mopar John]

                                                     10 YEARS OF HUNTING FOR NOS SPARK PLUG WIRES!
After 10 years of hunting I have finally put together a complete set of NOS spark plug wires for the Daytona!
I have had the help of many especially Justin ( moparnation74 ) who went in with me on a batch of NOS wires,
Greg ( odcics2 ) who took one of the best dated wires out of a lot for me and Mike Mancini from
American Muscle Car Restorations who pulled what I needed to finish up out of a set of mix matched NOS wires.
The first picture shows all the wires and parts to finish them laid out.
The second picture shows the NOS plastic holders.
The last picture shows the NOS wire wrap.
All that's left is to install the right boots on the right wires.
I will reply soon with some pictures of details to show NOS from reproductions!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                           NOS VS REPRODUCTION SPARK PLUG WIRES!
During my hunt for the NOS spark plug wires I came across some obvious and not so obvious differences!
The first picture shows an NOS original coil wire next to a reproduction coil wire.
The NOS original has WHITE print and the reproduction has YELLOW print like the rest of the wires!
The second picture again shows the coil wires with the NOS original having the smooth curved boot
and the reproduction has a sharp line in the middle of the boot!
The third picture shows a NOS 90 degree plug end boot with the correct mold line parallel with the plug wire.
The last picture shows a reproduction boot with the mold line parallel to the spark plug!
The white coil wire up front will be easy to spot.
MJ

[odcics2]

Great detailing, John.
Glad to see someone that sets the standard for others.

[hemi68charger]

Wow !!!

Which wire was the heat shield/cover placed on?

[aerolith]

Stunning work John!

You are a credit to the Mopar World and the the great name of JOHN!!!

I am so proud to be AERO owner and a JOHN too...

I feel bad about putting a NON-NOS quarterskin on now!
Oh well I can always cut it off again and fit a REAL one...

I tried to carefully store my very, very old redlines but they just rotted away with time

[moparnation74]

John

Congrats!  Truly awesome that you got a complete set together.....Hopefully,  it doesn't take me ten years to complete mine but at least I am a little over half way there.....

I really appreciate your thread and the time you are taking to compare the variations/differences between NOS and reproduction/superseded parts.  With all the incorrect parts placed on "so claimed" OE restorations your thread is a valuable tool to learn from and to provide accurate information of whats correct.

Honestly, the Ford and Chevy guys in their OE restorations have far exceeded the level of quality and correctness the Mopar guys are spinning out.....This should not be this way by no means.....Basically, the "hard headed" Mopar gurus need to pull the stick back a bit and start fueling the hobby.....Versus trying to be someone with notoriety, prestige etc and to be a part of the Hobby by providing information and access to NOS parts and high quality parts.....

All you and me and the others restoring cars as such are trying to do is to preserve history......Trying to achieve as close to day 1 status the best we can do...

As I said before your restorations are Stellar and provide a big footprint to model by.  I thank you for your help personally and the help you provide our Hobby!

Justin

[aerolith]

Well said Justin!

Mopar prices are through the roof and have been double dear compared to Chevy and some Ford stuff.
Hardcore Mopar guys are used to paying Top DOLLAR for everything NOS and don't even mention the 'Hemi' word...

Oh well, some things will never change for sure...

Keep up the good work John, YOU IS DA MAN!!!

[Mopar John]

Wow !!!

Which wire was the heat shield/cover placed on?

Troy,
The only place that I have seen the heat shield wrap was on the number 8 spark plug wire.
It would start somewhere at the base of the valve cover and go down to the spark plug boot.
That #8 wire is in tight quarters back there between the head and firewall then around the exhaust manifold.
When the car is running and sitting still that has to be one of the hottest areas of the engine compartment.
MJ

[Mopar John]

 First off I would like to thank John ( aerolith ) and Justin ( moparnation74 ) for the great comments and support on posting original details.
These items are seldom found now and a lot of folks wouldn't know what they were looking at without preservation of these details.
With that said I was working on my spark plug wire set and noticed another ORIGINAL detail on the spark plug wire plug end boots!
In addition to the mold line parallel with the plug wire each boot has a mold number cast into it!
I have attached some pictures showing these mold numbers.
If you know about this they are on the outside of the boot and easy to spot with a quick glance of the engine compartment.

I have a lot more coming up!
I am getting close to installing my very very close to original trunk mat in the Daytona.
I'm just waiting for my extra blank to level out so I can trace the outlines onto it for cutting.
I also have a NOS pair of rear door glass trim weatherstrips to share details on.
Also close to posting are inside window cranks.
When is the last time you saw a set of 4 in NOS!
MJ

[odcics2]

HA! I have a pair of NOS handles for the 88 doors.
Don't need rears, since the 1/4 glass is fixed.

[Davtona]

Also close to posting are inside window cranks.
When is the last time you saw a set of 4 in NOS!

HA! I have a pair of NOS handles for the 88 doors.
Don't need rears, since the 1/4 glass is fixed.

Just now!! Double HA!!  

Silly part is power window switches are way easier to find NOS. I've had a set of those tucked away for years. I could use another NOS set of 4 manual cranks though if anyone has any.

[odcics2]

Some background on John's car!  Hot off the press!

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/saved-crusher-69-daytonas-amazing-story/

[69hemidaytona]

Is that Daytona matching numbers?

[birdsandbees]

Is that Daytona matching numbers?

From the article...

The engine in the Daytona is numbers-matching 440, along with the transmission and rear. When it was parked in the junkyard, it was only four years old, which accounts for the originality and low mileage.

[69hemidaytona]

I thought it was a non documented warranty block. I could be wrong. Maybe John can weigh in on it.

[Stevetona]

Some background on John's car!  Hot off the press!

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/saved-crusher-69-daytonas-amazing-story/

Wow what a story. Great article!

[odcics2]

I thought it was a non documented warranty block. I could be wrong. Maybe John can weigh in on it.

He will, I'm sure.

[Mopar John]

I thought it was a non documented warranty block. I could be wrong. Maybe John can weigh in on it.

He will, I'm sure.

This story broke the day I left with Linda for a get rid of a week of winter vacation so the delay in my response.
After quite a while of owning the red Daytona I found out that it had a warranty block.
The heads, valve covers, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds and water pump were the originals so it looked original.
Because of the low milage and the date on the block I surmised that something happened early on.
I did not find any paper work with the car to back this up.
Many people were contacted for the story in Hot Rod and then it was all blended into the space they had.
Maybe because of the low milage and long term storage it was assumed the original was still in there?
MJ

[Mopar John]

Also close to posting are inside window cranks.
When is the last time you saw a set of 4 in NOS!

HA! I have a pair of NOS handles for the 88 doors.
Don't need rears, since the 1/4 glass is fixed.

Just now!! Double HA!!  


Silly part is power window switches are way easier to find NOS. I've had a set of those tucked away for years. I could use another NOS set of 4 manual cranks though if anyone has any.

Since we have some replies on the NOS window cranks I thought I would start we these!
I have a total of 5 NOS correct window cranks and possibly a 6th on the way but I have 2 cars so I also need a total of 8!
My first picture shows the 5 NOS window cranks that I have.
Then I want to start on the knob end and show the differences.
The second picture shows an NOS correct handle on the left, then a 73-76? similar style handle with the big knob in the center
and on the right a similar reproduction handle.
In my third picture I flipped the handles over and the first one on the right is the 73-76? style with the big knob.
You can see it's a bit bigger in diameter and the hole is deeper.
The one in the middle is the correct NOS handle and the one on the right is the reproduction with the flat washer in there.
You can stick your finger in there when they are on the cars and tell if there reproductions or originals!
More on the mounting end in my next post!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                         WINDOW CRANKS MOUNTING END!
In my first picture I show the 3 different window cranks on the mounting end.
The one on the left is the 73-76? style, the one in the middle is the correct NOS one and the one on the right is the reproduction.
In my second picture is the reproduction one from the right in the first picture which is the smallest end at .121 across and has 3 spokes and no casting number.
In the third picture is the NOS correct one from the middle in the first picture at .124 across and 2862396 casting number.
In the last picture is the 73-76? style from the first picture on the left with the same 2862396 casting number but the largest end at .126!
I hope this helps you in knowing what you have and don't have?
Like Davtona I would like to find a couple more NOS originals to install on my restored wing cars.
MJ

[odcics2]

Welcome back, John.
Good to see you are 'handling' things...

[Mopar John]

What a clever response!
Retirement has cleared your head for great thought's!

You can tell I was on vacation as I really messed up on my first window crank post
and got it in the middle of another reply!
MJ