MOPAR JOHNS B5 DAYTONA RESTORATION!!

[Mopar John]

I would like to thank Cody 69bronzeT5 for helping me with my signature at the bottom of my posts. He took some pictures that I e-mailed him and organized them into a nice display across the bottom. Cody, it looks great!
  The pictures left to right are of our 1969 B5 Daytona at the 2009 national meet in Talladega at the entrance to the track, Next is our 1970 EK2 Superbird at the 2008 national meet on the track at Gateway Raceway near St. Louis and last is our 1970 FJ5 GTX wheels up in 2003 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.

[moparstuart]

glad you got it all set up , nice fleet john

[Mopar John]

                                             IMPOUND AND STORAGE MOPARS!!
What else is there to do in the winter besides go visit a fellow aero car owner on your day off?  I spent this morning with a new aquaintance and fellow Daytona owner. Had a great time looking at his cars and talking Mopars! On the way home I was looking at all the cars buried in the snow and it made me think of the 1969 Plymouth GTX 4 speed convertible that I bought. The GTX was parked on a snow removal route and the city of Michigan City, Indiana had it towed. The owner never went to pay the tow bill or storage? Someone told me about it and I went to the towing company and told them that when it would be available I was interested. They called a few months later and I bought it for $200.00 @#$%^&*! WOW!! I have attached a picture of it on my trailer. This car was setting outside for too long and I sold it to a guy in Roselawn, Indiana who made me happy and restored it! The next car in the pictures is a brown 1969 Road Runner that I bought from another towing yard. It had one cylinder head off and they had it by one of their chained towing yard dogs. That motor was full of dust and dirt from all the stuff that dog stirred up every time someone got near it. I bought that car for $100.00 #$%*! The next car pictured is a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T that I bought from a body shop storage lot. It had been hit in the front and had a bad motor. I bought that car for $200.00 and parted it out! I still have the transmission which is the correct date code and part number for my 1970 GTX. I also have the trunk lid which is a spare for my Daytonas. I know it would need to be modified. The last car was bought out of a trader paper for little or nothing and it was a 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible 440 and not sure what trans. That car was resold and I think repaired. There is one more major story coming up later on impound cars! Enjoy!

[Mopar John]

                                           1981 NATIONAL SUPERBIRD MEET!!
The 1981 national Superbird meet was held in Dayton, Ohio at the Air Force Museum. This meet was a small turnout like the 1978 Milwaukee meet. By now I was getting to know the regulars who you could count on every year not just at the big deals. Both were fun in there own way. I have a picture of the museum entrance with the rockets lined up. I also have a couple of pictures of Kyle and Cindi Drakes Superbird that he called spot back then. I mention Kyle because he was a regular along with his mom and dad and an important player in my aero car story. I also have a picture of the back of the orange Superbird which may have been it's first time out? Since I mentioned Kyles car spot. It is my personal feeling that I would rather have people bring their cars even if there not done or show quality! I enjoy them all!! I told Troy Angelly that if the Daytona wasn't done for Talladega that I was going to load it up and take it the way it was. The Daytona was complete and close but not finished. Like I say, I don't know if it ever will be??

[moparstuart]

 those coronet converts are rare , few and far to find now .



  here is a picture of spot from april this year , we were doing lap at kansas speedway and kyle got a bubble in his tire , so i had to loan him my spare tire .   kyle , dick and brent drake .

  more picture here          http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,56476.0.html

[69bronzeT5]

I would like to thank Cody 69bronzeT5 for helping me with my signature at the bottom of my posts. He took some pictures that I e-mailed him and organized them into a nice display across the bottom. Cody, it looks great!
 

No probs John....anytime! Glad to help.

[Mopar John]

Stuart,
Thanks for the update on spot! I saw Kyle in St. Louis 2008 but he didn't have spot there. Nice to see he still has it and has been freshened up!

[Dave Kanofsky]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

[moparstuart]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

   ME TOO people either love or hate them ,  I love that snout . LOL

[Mopar John]

Sorry Dave! I checked through my old paperwork and found the light brown Road Runner and the GTX convertible but no luck on the 1970 R/T convertible. But I do beleive it went to Illinois when it was sold. I got out the picture of the 1970 Charger R/T from the post because if you look close you will see the passengers quarter of the 1970 Coronet R/T convertible. In that picture I don't see any stripe of any color.

[69bronzeT5]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

   ME TOO people either love or hate them ,  I love that snout . LOL

[pettybird]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

   ME TOO people either love or hate them ,  I love that snout . LOL

I love 'em.  you can cut them up and fix superbirds with them 

[moparstuart]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

   ME TOO people either love or hate them ,  I love that snout . LOL

I love 'em.  you can cut them up and fix superbirds with them 

well there is that too 

[pettybird]

Is that Coronet convertible B5 blue with a B3 blue stripe?  Any chance you have the VIN, or know what happened to it?

Looks just like the one Scott Spirakes has now.

I have a huge soft spot for '70 Coronets.

   ME TOO people either love or hate them ,  I love that snout . LOL

I love 'em.  you can cut them up and fix superbirds with them 

well there is that too 

I'm working with a VERY cool one right now, though--six pack, four speed Super Bee, ramcharger hood, EK2 over white, rallyes, hood pins and more,  I'd take it home. 



----------------
Now playing: Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching
via FoxyTunes

[1970Moparmann]

John, very cool thread..... Nice to see some pictures with the stories you told me when I picked up the door!  If you ever want to get rid of a wing car for a big IOU, I'm ready.

[nascarxx29]

Im a fan of 70 Coronets always wanted a 1 of 237 Coronet RT conv.Ive owned 70 Bee and a 70 RT 1 of 2 triple green tons of options .And currently still have a burnt orange on burnt orange original 383 4bl car AC PB buckets console car

[XS29J8]

GREAT biography MOPAR JOHN! I'm hooked,  Can't wait for your updates!

Cheers,
Steve

[Mopar John]

Steve,
The next update is right after this! I am glad everyone is enjoying the story and we havn't made it to the restoration pictures of my B5 Daytona yet! Next up is 1982 a very busy year for me and will be divided into two major topics.

[XS29J8]

Steve,
The next update is right after this! I am glad everyone is enjoying the story and we havn't made it to the restoration pictures of my B5 Daytona yet! Next up is 1982 a very busy year for me and will be divided into two major topics.

Great! Were you in INDY much, believe I met you at a wing meet off 465 and Emerson back in 82 83???

Steve

[Mopar John]

                              1982 PART 1 - I FINALLY BUY A DAYTONA - DAYTONAS!
Early April of 1982 I get an unexpected phone call from Kyle Drake. If you recall Kyle is the owner of the Superbird named SPOT and had been to several meets with me by then. Kyle knew that I was looking for a Daytona. There was a salvage yard near him that had two Daytonas in it. They were part of a large collection of cars that were impounded by the state of Missouri. If I remeber correctly they had been there since 1973 and this was 1982! The owner of some kind of car lot got into legal trouble involving the titles of some of his cars and they were all impounded! He must of done something bad because he ended up in jail resulting in the forfiture of the cars from the long term storage bills. There were the two Daytonas a Charger 500 Hemi car that Kyle bought and a 1969 Charger sunroof car. Other cars I remeber were a Studebaker Hawk, several early two seater T-Birds, a Lincoln and a big Chrysler. Kyle said the dam broke and the yard was selling the cars. He was after the Hemi 500 and gave me the name of the owner and his phone number. Kyle said to call right away because as soon as the first car left all the people watching them would be over there. So I called the owner and told him that I wanted to buy the red Daytona. he informed me that I could buy it but I also had to buy the blue one. He informed me that there were so many parts missing that it would take both to make a nice car. I agreed but didn't really want the blue Daytona I thought it was ugly back then! So now I had to get the money and get to Missouri quick! For the last couple of years a lot of people knew that I had two Superbirds on the road and quite often I would be asked if I wanted to sell one. My answer was always no but I was smart enough to keep the contact names and phone numbers. Not too long before the Daytona deal a guy called me from north Dakota and inquired about the Yellow 440 4 speed Superbird. I called him back and told him that something came up and that I would sell him the Superbird. I described the car over the phone and he said that my story checked out. He knew someone who knew me and had them tell him about the condition of my car. We agreed on a price and a place to deliver the car. I got a good Mopar friend of mine to ride along and we trailered the yellow Superbird to St. Paul, Minnesota which was about half way for both of us. He was all smiles when he saw the car and wanted to drive it before he paid for it. I agreed and when he returned he was even more happy! He paid me in cash as agreed and was so happy he invited my friend and I for a steak dinner and drinks at the motel we were staying at for the night! During dinner he told me that if I ever found a Daytona for sale that he would like one of those also! I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was taking his money to go buy one! So we stayed the night and in the morning left for Missouri. When we got to the yard the cars were still there and things went pretty good. The cars were in bad shape from all the years in outside storage. There was also some vandalism and parts missing as the owner had stated on the phone. The red Daytona was missing it's antenna, wipers, alternator, carburetor, air cleaner, distributor, wing and interior. The missing interior bothered me most because the broadcast sheet was gone! I have hoped for years it would surface or be found in a creative seat swap but no luck so far! The cars had been moved around in the yard several times over the years and both suffered damage from the large payloader forklift. The red Daytona was bent up on the bottom of the core support and radiator along with some damage to the drivers quarter panel! The blue Daytona was missing it's antenna, wipers, alternator, radiator, fan, carburetor, wing and wheels and tires. It had damage to the drivers side of the nose and the oil pan and transmission pan. The blue car also looked like it got some water in it maybe from a yard flood. It was on the ground and this yard was in a low area. The owner infromed us that the yard was broke into and vandals had used a tire iron on the trunklids and stole the wing off the blue car. They did a lot of damage to the red car but never got it open. The owner then had his guys remove the wing off the red car and store it inside for safe keeping. Even though it was part of the deal they never found that wing either so little good it did storing it! I paid a large amount down and loaded up the red car which is the one I wanted and informed him I would be back asap for the blue car. About two weeks later he called and said that so many people were trying to buy the blue car that I had to get it out of there asap. My friend that went with me decided to buy the blue car from me and we went back for it a short time later. Still no wing for the red car. I told my friend that if he ever decided to get rid of the blue car that I would buy it back at a time were I could afford both cars. He agreed and sadly he was laid off a short time later and could not afford the car with his large family of four children. So I had both Daytonas again! I have attached a couple of pictures taken by Wayne Perkins of the cars back in 1978 and one recently given to me by aero426 that was taken by Dick Drake Kyles father of the cars in the salvage yard.

[Mopar John]

Steve,
I was in Indy for the wing meets that were tied in with the HOOSIER AUTO SHOW AND SWAP MEET! It will be next in 1982 part 2!

[Mopar John]

                         1982 PART 2 ORANGE SUPERBIRD WINS TROPHY AT INDY!!
By now all of you have seen how bad the Orange six pack Superbird was when I bought it. You also saw a picture of it being repaired. I finished repairs and repainted it myself. I did everything that I could to the car. Our 1982 Superbird national meet was held in INDY in the infield of the Indianapolis 500 track. It included a judged car show. swap meet and track laps on the 500 track. I drove the Superbird on the track and entered it into the judged show to see how it would do? There were 28 Superbirds there and a lot of them were entered in the wing car judging. I stood and watched nervously as the judge went over my car. At the end of the meet they called all the participants to the trophy awards ceremony and always started with third place. When they got to the wing class they called my name for third place!! I was so happy I almost cried! I had taken a rust bucket and repaired it myself and won third place at a national meet. It is one of my proudest accomplishments to this very day! I have attached a picture of the trophy, another of me holding it by the Superbird and last a picture of me with the trophy and the kids. You will notice that my family has now grown to three children @#$%^&*! Matthew our second son was born in Septmeber of 1981. So he was about a year old in the picture.

[moparstuart]

                             1982 PART 1 - I FINALLY BUY A DAYTONA - DAYTONAS!
Early April of 1982 I get an unexpected phone call from Kyle Drake. If you recall Kyle is the owner of the Superbird named SPOT and had been to several meets with me by then. Kyle knew that I was looking for a Daytona. There was a salvage yard near him that had two Daytonas in it. They were part of a large collection of cars that were impounded by the state of Missouri. If I remeber correctly they had been there since 1973 and this was 1982! The owner of some kind of car lot got into legal trouble involving the titles of some of his cars and they were all impounded! He must of done something bad because he ended up in jail resulting in the forfiture of the cars from the long term storage bills. There were the two Daytonas a Charger 500 Hemi car that Kyle bought and a 1969 Charger sunroof car. Other cars I remeber were a Studebaker Hawk, several early two seater T-Birds, a Lincoln and a big Chrysler. Kyle said the dam broke and the yard was selling the cars. He was after the Hemi 500 and gave me the name of the owner and his phone number. Kyle said to call right away because as soon as the first car left all the people watching them would be over there. So I called the owner and told him that I wanted to buy the red Daytona. he informed me that I could buy it but I also had to buy the blue one. He informed me that there were so many parts missing that it would take both to make a nice car. I agreed but didn't really want the blue Daytona I thought it was ugly back then! So now I had to get the money and get to Missouri quick! For the last couple of years a lot of people knew that I had two Superbirds on the road and quite often I would be asked if I wanted to sell one. My answer was always no but I was smart enough to keep the contact names and phone numbers. Not too long before the Daytona deal a guy called me from north Dakota and inquired about the Yellow 440 4 speed Superbird. I called him back and told him that something came up and that I would sell him the Superbird. I described the car over the phone and he said that my story checked out. He knew someone who knew me and had them tell him about the condition of my car. We agreed on a price and a place to deliver the car. I got a good Mopar friend of mine to ride along and we trailered the yellow Superbird to St. Paul, Minnesota which was about half way for both of us. He was all smiles when he saw the car and wanted to drive it before he paid for it. I agreed and when he returned he was even more happy! He paid me in cash as agreed and was so happy he invited my friend and I for a steak dinner and drinks at the motel we were staying at for the night! During dinner he told me that if I ever found a Daytona for sale that he would like one of those also! I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was taking his money to go buy one! So we stayed the night and in the morning left for Missouri. When we got to the yard the cars were still there and things went pretty good. The cars were in bad shape from all the years in outside storage. There was also some vandalism and parts missing as the owner had stated on the phone. The red Daytona was missing it's antenna, wipers, alternator, carburetor, air cleaner, distributor, wing and interior. The missing interior bothered me most because the broadcast sheet was gone! I have hoped for years it would surface or be found in a creative seat swap but no luck so far! The cars had been moved around in the yard several times over the years and both suffered damage from the large payloader forklift. The red Daytona was bent up on the bottom of the core support and radiator along with some damage to the drivers quarter panel! The blue Daytona was missing it's antenna, wipers, alternator, radiator, fan, carburetor, wing and wheels and tires. It had damage to the drivers side of the nose and the oil pan and transmission pan. The blue car also looked like it got some water in it maybe from a yard flood. It was on the ground and this yard was in a low area. The owner infromed us that the yard was broke into and vandals had used a tire iron on the trunklids and stole the wing off the blue car. They did a lot of damage to the red car but never got it open. The owner then had his guys remove the wing off the red car and store it inside for safe keeping. Even though it was part of the deal they never found that wing either so little good it did storing it! I paid a large amount down and loaded up the red car which is the one I wanted and informed him I would be back asap for the blue car. About two weeks later he called and said that so many people were trying to buy the blue car that I had to get it out of there asap. My friend that went with me decided to buy the blue car from me and we went back for it a short time later. Still no wing for the red car. I told my friend that if he ever decided to get rid of the blue car that I would buy it back at a time were I could afford both cars. He agreed and sadly he was laid off a short time later and could not afford the car with his large family of four children. So I had both Daytonas again! I have attached a couple of pictures taken by Wayne Perkins of the cars back in 1978 and one recently given to me by aero426 that was taken by Dick Drake Kyles father of the cars in the salvage yard.

that area is still full of salvage yards and untill 10 years ago or so flooded regularly . They went and widened thn industial sewage creek and concreted it all

[Mopar John]

Thanks again for an update Stuart! When Troy restored the Daytona he said it looked like there was a water line about half way up the starter. That made sense with the mud in the carpet inside the car. I didn't know if it was from a flood or doors/windows open and junkyard dust getting in and then getting wet? Glad that they have made some infrastructure improvements there.

[Mopar John]

                                           1983 NATIONAL SUPERBIRD MEET
In 1983 we went west to KANSAS CITY to WORLDS OF FUN theme park and OCEANS OF FUN water park. This meet was a lot farther west to accomadate the guys out that way for a change. The turnout was small and basically the hardcore regulars again. The park was very good to us and had a special sign for our car display and a reserved paking area. My kids had a lot of fun on this trip! I have attached a few pictures of the meet. The last picture is of Monroe Schellinger looking up at me. Monroe suffered his first stroke at that meet and my club membership was in jepordy! One morning when Monroe was doing a splash and shine I decided to help him rinse off his pride and joy the lime green Superbird. I was getting ready to do the same to my car parked right next to his. I dumped a 5 gallon bucket of water over the railing from the second floor down onto the hood of his Superbird @#$%^&*()!! WOW!! What a mistake! When Monroe came back down to earth he explained how I probably warped the special original hood on his car. I apologized and have never done that type of thing ever again! In fact I don't help anyone wash their car at a show in fear of something going wrong.