MOPAR JOHNS EK2 SUPERBIRD RESTORATION!!

[Mopar John]

To all,
It has been suggested to me to seperate the Superbird restoration topic from the Daytona restoration. So here is the start of the seperation!



                                                 CLEVELAND NATIONAL MEET!!
Somewhere in my story I mentioned where national meets are good because they get some of us off or butts and get working on our cars! It's Friday afternoon and Linda says that she really doesn't want to ride in our local criuse next weekend with a primered nose cone#@$%^&*(! WOW! She also thinks it won't look so hot at the national meet. So much for waiting till Troy Angelly does the rest of the Superbird! So the attached picture is how the Superbird looked late Friday!

[Mopar John]

                                                         NATIONAL MEET PART 2!
So on Saturday morning I start out hot and heavy on the headlight buckets! First I had to take them apart to get to the headlight assemblies. Then I start sanding them down and realize it's going to be a bigger job than I thought! There was always a crack around the top edge of the fiberglass lids? Well, after sanding a while I realize that there were a couple of coats of paint over the original headlight decals@#$%^&*()! OUCH!! So it took even longer to get down to the primer and fiberglass! By the time I got everything sanded it was late and I made a small batch of filler to go over some rough spots in the fiberglass. I also made a small batch of fiberglass to repair one corner that always had been cracked. That was it for the night!
Today again I started out early and I was lucky that the filller and fiberglass repairs went well and looked great! I then went over everthing with a lighter grit paper and then sanded the primer on the NOS nose cone! It was late morning and I got everything ready and put on several good coats of fill and sand type primer. By this time it's early afternoon and time for lunch. While I had something to eat it gave the primer time to dry! After lunch it was time to sand the primer and get ready for paint! The fill and sand primer took care of almost all the sanding scratches and repairs. I positioned evrything for paint and wiped everything down with a tack rag. It was now time to mix the paint! I got everything mixed up and wiped it all down again. I put my spray mask on and started spraying the VITAMIN C ORANGE on the headlights and the nose! What a rush#$%^&*(! The smell of fresh paint and the shine on those parts! WOW! I plan on letting them dry till Tuesday Morning and start assembling them before I have to leave for my 3-11 shift this week! I have attached a couple of pictures of the parts in primer and then a couple with the fresh paint applied! I think were going to make it!
MJ

[randr]

Nice!!!!!

[hemi68charger]

Lookin' good !!!!

[moparstuart]

 

[Mopar John]

 When we left off it was last weekend and I was getting the Superbird ready for yesterdays cruise night in Laporte, Indiana! On Monday I let the paint dry and helped Linda get ready for her PORCH SALE which was held this weekend also! My job was tables, advertising and getting some of my stuff ready to sell. I have attached a picture of my advertising! I hope you like it! It worked very well!
 Back to the Superbird! Tuesday morning before my 3-11 shift I started putting the headlight doors into the buckets and mounting them in the newly painted nose. The problem I had was the buckets were tweaked from damage to the old cone and didn't fit as is into the NOS cone!@#$%^&*()! I was able to get both buckets assemlbled and one installed before I had to leave for work. Wednesday morning I had myself set up pretty good to install the other bucket rather quick compared to the first one! I have attached a picture with the headlight buckets installed! The next item was to install the Z brackets. Other than having some of the headlight bucket hardware in the wrong spot for the openings this went quite well! I then used my creeper and some blocks of wood to roll the cone up to the body! All went well and by the time I left for my 3-11 on Wednesday the nose was lined up and bolted to the body! WOW! I think were going to make the cruise Saturday night Linda!

[Mopar John]

                                               SUPERBIRD NOSE CONTINUED!
My next problem was something that I have been working on for over a year now! My NOS nose was missing the filler panel at the rear that is bent at a 90 degree angle and supports the front of the latch tray. I made a cardboard template of what I thought it should look like and took it with me to work. At work I had secured a sample piece ot the right thickness material and cut it to match the cardboard template. I then had my partner take and bend it on our brake! I have attached a picture of the template and the piece we made! Wednesday night when I got home I wanted to get just a little more done and installed the parklamp assemblies, The vacum lines, the electric wiring and tested it all out! I also test fitted the piece we made. The only problem was that I made it too wide and I couldn't get the clips on for the latch tray bolts@#$%^&*()! Thursday I had to work 12 hours and left for work early and took the piece back with me. My partner took it to our shear and cut off the excess! Now I was ready for Friday morning! When I got home I decided to primer and paint the part and have it dry all night and be ready for assembly! Friday I got up early and helped Linda get the sale started then was out to the shop. The first thing was to get this piece installed and test fit and it looked great! I then installed the turn signal frames, grille frame and screen and the NOS rubstrip! I have attached a picture with all this installed. The next thing to go on was the lower valance that hadn't been on for years. I took my time and adjusted all the parts so when this final piece went on the bottom all looked good. I also did some corrections on mismatched hardware. It went a lot easier since I had sorted all my extras during the Daytona restoration. With the bottom valance on and no longer needing to get under the front end I installed the front spoiler. So another picture with the spoiler installed. With all the parts on I then installed the latch tray and took a picture of how it all turned out with my fabricated piece! ENJOY!

[randr]

I'll remember to separate my superbird build from my other build as well!  i wish! nice car btw!

[Mopar John]

                                WHY I HAD TO FABRICATE MY OWN NOSE FILLER PART!
About a year ago I contacted Gene Gregory to make this part for me. We had everything arranged and I was to pick up the part at the Mopar Nationals last August. We were both going and it would save on shipping and not get damaged. Not long before the Nats Gene got ill and wasn't able to make the part and did not go to the Nats! I also had been told about Jack McCauley to make this part. I went with Gene first because he gave me a price where Jack was more how much labor would go into it? I finally contaced Jack this spring and was all set to go when he injured his foot! WOW! I kept in touch and he said he was feeling better and should get back to the shop soon. Time passed by and I e-mailed him a couple of weeks ago and didn't hear anything back? Today I sent him another e-mail telling him that I hoped his health was improving and that I had made the part I needed here locally. Jack responded today and said that he continues to deal with another health issue!
MJ

[Mopar John]

I'll remember to separate my superbird build from my other build as well!   i wish! nice car btw!

Thanks randr!
 Well it's Saturday morning and we have 5lbs of stuff in a 3lb bag planned for the day! Our porch sale, a grandsons graduation party at 3pm and the Laporte cruise at 6pm! WOW!! I helped Linda get the sale started and it was off to the shop. I went over all the details and put a couple of gallons of my extra racing gas in! I then pulled it outside and brought all the tire pressures up to where they should be. Next was radiator, brake fluid, and power steering fluid. It was now time for a test run and get some more gas at the local station. For the first time in over a year I was out cruising in our bird! We closed up the sale and went to the graduation party and had a great time! Next up was the Laporte cruise! Brian Haugel f8f8f8daytona on this site had contacted me earlier in the week to see if we were going. I got back with him and said that we were. I also asked him to save us a spot in the lineup as we were going to arrive late. When we got there Brian and his wife Debbi were there waiting for us as planned! We lined up together and let everyone see one of each wing car! So many people mix these two cars up that a lot of them didn't know what to think when they saw one of each! I have a couple of pictures of the two wing cars ready to cruise. All went well with me going first. Then as the cruise went on I really got annoyed with this guy in a 69 Mustang in front of us! He had the suspension setup where this thing jumped up like a frog every time he nailed the gas! After about 50 little chirps out of this thing I had had ENOUGH and my Mopar blood was boiling over! I laid back and dropped the 727 into low and nailed it! That 4,000 pound bird lit em up in a roar a good 100 feet! Well just my luck, one of Laportes finest was stationed at a nearby corner and ran up to my drivers window and got right in my face. He informed me that one more of those and he was going to take my cruise sticker and write me a ticket for reckless driving!@#$%^&*())! OUCH! I settled down and so did the guy in the Mustang! The rest of the night was uneventfull and just had a great time with no problems out of a Superbird that hadn't been driven in over a year! We are now ready for more good times at the national meet in Cleveland and hope to see many of you there! Sunday was a much easier day for me as all we did was the final day of our porch sale! Linda and I cleaned up and went for a nice dinner on the proceeds of the sale!
Mopar John

[f6f6f6daytona]

That's F6F6F6Daytona to you   ..... Deb and I had a great time at the cruise on Saturday....It was defintely a cool sight to see both Wing cars nose to tail going through the cruise route....My Daytona ran great and never broke 180 degrees , even in the 2 mile back up traffic jam!!!

[hemi68charger]

I'll remember to separate my superbird build from my other build as well!   i wish! nice car btw!

Thanks randr!
 Well it's Saturday morning and we have 5lbs of stuff in a 3lb bag planned for the day! Our porch sale, a grandsons graduation party at 3pm and the Laporte cruise at 6pm! WOW!! I helped Linda get the sale started and it was off to the shop. I went over all the details and put a couple of gallons of my extra racing gas in! I then pulled it outside and brought all the tire pressures up to where they should be. Next was radiator, brake fluid, and power steering fluid. It was now time for a test run and get some more gas at the local station. For the first time in over a year I was out cruising in our bird! We closed up the sale and went to the graduation party and had a great time! Next up was the Laporte cruise! Brian Haugel f8f8f8daytona on this site had contacted me earlier in the week to see if we were going. I got back with him and said that we were. I also asked him to save us a spot in the lineup as we were going to arrive late. When we got there Brian and his wife Debbi were there waiting for us as planned! We lined up together and let everyone see one of each wing car! So many people mix these two cars up that a lot of them didn't know what to think when they saw one of each! I have a couple of pictures of the two wing cars ready to cruise. All went well with me going first. Then as the cruise went on I really got annoyed with this guy in a 69 Mustang in front of us! He had the suspension setup where this thing jumped up like a frog every time he nailed the gas! After about 50 little chirps out of this thing I had had ENOUGH and my Mopar blood was boiling over! I laid back and dropped the 727 into low and nailed it! That 4,000 pound bird lit em up in a roar a good 100 feet! Well just my luck, one of Laportes finest was stationed at a nearby corner and ran up to my drivers window and got right in my face. He informed me that one more of those and he was going to take my cruise sticker and write me a ticket for reckless driving!@#$%^&*())! OUCH! I settled down and so did the guy in the Mustang! The rest of the night was uneventfull and just had a great time with no problems out of a Superbird that hadn't been driven in over a year! We are now ready for more good times at the national meet in Cleveland and hope to see many of you there! Sunday was a much easier day for me as all we did was the final day of our porch sale! Linda and I cleaned up and went for a nice dinner on the proceeds of the sale!
Mopar John

OUTSTANDING JOHN !!!!!!

That's F6F6F6Daytona to you  ..... Deb and I had a great time at the cruise on Saturday....It was defintely a cool sight to see both Wing cars nose to tail going through the cruise route....My Daytona ran great and never broke 180 degrees , even in the 2 mile back up traffic jam!!!

Hey, I know that guy !!!!!

Very cool on the cool running car mon... (in a Jamaican dialect)  

[Mopar John]

                                                     NATIONAL MEETS!
As I get ready to go to work and finish my last 12 hour midnight thoughts are shifting to our wing car national meet in Cleveland this week! I am really excited that the Superbird is together and that we had the opportunity to shake it down last weekend in the Laporte cruise. As I prepare and pack for the meet I was thinking of how many of these meets that the orange bird has been to?? My first 3 national meets were in my yellow Superbird and the 2009 meet was with the Daytona. So I dug out my box of dash plaques and tried to remember which ones were with the orange bird? I might be off by one or two but I think the orange bird has been to 17 national wing car meets! I know there are a couple of members that have been to more such as Rick Edwards with his green bird and the Croxfords with their blue bird but 17 has got to be near the top! Linda and I hope to see a bunch of you this week as we add number 18? to the count!
MJ

[pettybird]

you'll catch a year on the B5 car this time around unless you consider viewing it at a body shop as "participating!"

[Mopar John]

you'll catch a year on the B5 car this time around unless you consider viewing it at a body shop as "participating!"

Doug,
  NO PARTICIPATING for the B5 Superbird! You are supposed to take the car to the meet not take the meet to the car!  You are probably still 5 or more ahead anyway! See you tommorrow! I also want to tell you that I appriciate you putting a meet together! It takes a lot of behind the scenes work to put on something like this!
Mopar John

[Mopar John]

                                            2011 CLEVELAND NATIONAL MEET!!
  First off I would like to thank Carol ( marty42 ) and Doug ( pettybird ) Croxford for a GREAT MEET!!
Even though some aero owners pulled out in favor of the Indy meet they had one of the largest non Talladega meets that I have ever attended! They kept us busy all week and you can see all the highlights in the meet post!

  Linda and I left for Cleveland early Tuesday and the trip there was smooth and uneventfull! That night was a wing car caravan over to Solon, Ohio for their weekly car show! When we arrived we were told that the show had been cancelled due to the threat of bad weather? It turned out to be nice and we dominated the show with wing cars and Mopars! While we were enjoying the show a guy asks me if the Superbird was my car?? I said yes and he the told me that he had something to show me? I walked up to the front of the Superbird which was on display with the hood up and he pointed to my alternator. The main bolt that holds it to the block was BROKE OFF!! !@#$%^&*(!
I went into panic mode and tried to figure out what to do? I showed Doug Croxford the problem and asked him if he had an extra bolt? He thought he did and would get it that night when he returned home. He said he would take it off another motor if need be! I informed Linda of the problem and decided to try and limp it back to where the trailer was. We made it there without any more problems. I was worried that it might come loose and go through the radiator or something like that. I unhooked the battery and removed the alternator. Then with a junk but sharp screwdriver I started tapping the broken part of the bolt out of the head! It worked and I was able to remove it! The next morning Doug showed up with a bolt and enough washers to make up for the inch and a half spacer that fell off! While everyone else  chatted and got lined up I was repairing the Superbird! All went well and we were able to drive to all the events! THANKS DOUG! I have attached some pictures of the broken alternator bolt. The whole time I was thinking of my box of extra bolts and spacers back home! Today after we arrived home safe and sound I got my box out and did permanent repairs and am ready for INDY!!
Mopar John

[moparstuart]

wow that guy had a sharp eye and was awesome to of him to let you know about that bolt .   

[pettybird]

He looked under the hood and saw the heater hose bracket lying funny, so he looked closer and saw the bolt. 

10 extras in a box?  the mopar gods must have known that and went after you 

[moparstuart]

He looked under the hood and saw the heater hose bracket lying funny, so he looked closer and saw the bolt. 

10 extras in a box?  the mopar gods must have known that and went after you 

[nascarxx29]

Id have the alt bolt break off like that on the road trip .Find a long bolt near impossible.With vise grips and getting the piece out of the head.Take spacer out and find a short bolt to one alt ear back to the head.And drive to a parts store for threaded rod.Or replacement bolt

[Mopar John]

                                       MORE ON THE 2011 NATIONAL MEET!
I just knew that the Croxfords like driving their wing cars and that we would be putting a LOT of miles on the cars during the meet! That is why I decided to take the Superbird. After a couple of days driving in hard rain and traffic a few of the guys had enough and cleaned up the cars and trailered them for the rest of the week. I really couldn't blame them as nice as the cars are! We continued on in the bird and put more miles on in one week than we have since I drove it to Talladega!
This wasn't all bad as I was able to check out many items to make sure they were still working:
LOW AND HIGH BEAM HEADLIGHTS ( original 1969 GE headlights )
HEADLIGHT DOORS OPENING AND CLOSING
HORN ( by request on many occaisions )
WIPERS -LOW-MED-HIGH!!
BRAKES BOTH EASY AND HARD STOPS!
DEFROSTER
HEATER
POWER STEERING
EMERGENCY FLASHERS ( last car in caravan sitting on two lane street )
BRAKE LIGHTS
TURN SIGNALS
AND MUCH MORE!
 Another good thing that happened is that I was able to snag a few parts for the upcoming restoration! Some planned and some by surprise! I had made arrangements with Doug Schellinger to purchase his NOS Superbird grille frame to go with the nose and decal set. He also had a new grille screen that he makes up from the original material!
Speaking of decals, Doug Croxford surprised me with a couple of NOS decals for the restoration! We had talked about decals and the fact that he had a few extras years ago. He must have dug them out for me when he was looking for an alternator bolt? He gave me a decal for the drivers headlight door and one for the inside of the passengers door! I think those were superceded years ago to the same one used on the right taillight housing of which I had  a couple. So now I have a complete set of decals ready for the restoration!
Thanks to Doug and Doug!  Mopar John

[pettybird]

you have GE bulbs?  Both of my cars had Westinghouse

[Mopar John]

Doug,
When I purchased the Superbird in the mid seventies I was the third owner. At that time I thought the high beams were originals? They were both GE's and dated 11 9 or November 1969. This is the correct date for when the Birds were built. The low beams had already been replaced with newer parts store lights. Over the years I found two original 1969 low beams and installed them so they all matched. Just seems too much of a coincidence for those lights to have the right date code? Does any one else out there have a Bird that they feel has GE headlights as originals installed at the factory?

[OldGuy]

That's F6F6F6Daytona to you   ..... Deb and I had a great time at the cruise on Saturday....It was defintely a cool sight to see both Wing cars nose to tail going through the cruise route....My Daytona ran great and never broke 180 degrees , even in the 2 mile back up traffic jam!!!

Where did you get your Goodyear tires with yellow lettering?  I understand they don't offer them anymore.

[Mopar John]

                                                NOS SUPERBIRD EXHAUST TIPS!
Just before the national meet in Cleveland I purchased a pair of OLD style NOS exhaust tips for the upcoming Superbird restoration. Recently there was a post about a pair of LATE style Charger tips for sale on EBAY on this site. Like the Old style Charger tips the OLD style oval shaped Road Runner/GTX tips also have the same characteristics when it comes to the tip hanger. They are both welded deep into the slot not up on top! I have attached some pictures of the tips and the boxes they were shipped in. To help out these tips for the Plymouth were shipped in boxes dated 1985! I also still have all my NOS packaging from the B5 Daytona restoration and those tips were in boxes dated 1988! So it's been a while since they were made that way. I also spoke with Troy Angelly yesterday and he had a couple of cars at Carlisle. He said one was done and the other had about a weeks worth of fine details and it would be complete also! Where I'm getting at here is that we are about 4 months out from dropping the Superbird off and it looks like his schedule is on target! I can't wait!
MJ