Superbird Option V6Y Dust Swirl Side Tape Stripe Decal

[Arnie Cunningham]

Greetings All,

I have seen photos of Superbirds over the years with the Dust Trail side stripe.  Are there any documented examples of this being factory option?

Is V6Y the correct option code for this?

I ask because the part numbers for this option on Superbirds are unique.
The part numbers for this option on a standard Road Runner are different.

V6Y

Standard 1970 Road Runner

3505214 3505215 Tape, Fender Side Dust Swirl

2964112 2964113 Decal, Fender Bird
3505138 3505139 Bird Gold

3504916 3504917 Tape, Door Outside Color, Dust Swirl

3505216 3505217 Tape, Quarter Outside Color, Dust Swirl



Superbird
3571200 3571201 Decal, Bird Nose Cone
3571202 3571203 Tape, Fender Outside Color Dust Serial


The Superbird part numbers come from the Special Parts and maintenance schedule for Road Runner Superbird.

Does anyone have photos of an original car with these different decals on it?
I have included a few shots of a standard road runner stripe.

[nascarxx29]

They say they wasnt available.But Ive seen cars with them though not documented I know of

 The only options available on a SuperBird were a choice between a 440+6 and a 426 Hemi over the standard 440 4bbl engine, a bucket seat interior in black and white over the standard bench seat, and a Torqueflite automatic transmission over the standard 4-speed. Daytonas, on the other hand, could be loaded with any choice of Charger R/T options.

Road Runner equipment not available when the A13 SuperBird package was ordered were: 14 in. Deluxe Wheel Covers, 14 in. Wire Wheel Covers, Air Conditioning, Air Grabber Hood, All Windows - Clear, Automatic Speed Control, Axle Packages (A31, A32 and A34), Basic Group, Body Sill Mouldings, 11 in. Heavy Duty Brakes, Headlight Delay, Hood Performance Paint Treatment, Light Package, Rear Speaker, Road Runner Dust Trail Stripe, Trailer Towing Package and Woodgrain Instrument Panel.



http://www.highdefforum.com/archive/t-133063.html

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/superbird4406barreltorr.jpg/

[Arnie Cunningham]

I once misunderstood the V88 to mean no dust stripe.

[nascarxx29]

Wouldnt they V88 stripe delete on the trunk not found on a superbird .And replace by plymouth 1/4 letters

[Redbird]

Brennan,
I had not realized the different "dust trail" stripe numbers before. Could it be that someone early along realized that there were going to be modified Dodge fenders on a Plymouth car, and that the fenders might be different enough that there could be a dimension conflict? After all the 1968-70 B body Plymouth and Dodge inner fenders are not interchangeable and are in fact different in mounting. Perhaps the thought of a different "dust trail" number got carried along and then someone in product planning said no "dust trail" on Superbirds. Then the product numbers got lost in the paperwork shuffle?

I have always thought that the false "myth" that  Superbirds were not available with many options was created by some writer of a mass market magazine, who simply read the Superbird announcement brochure. It seems to have been perpetuated over the years but has little or no basis in fact.

[Redbird]

Let's look at how Superbirds were built and what the announcement brochure actually says.

As far as I understand all Superbirds had 3 way windshield wipers, power steering, power brakes, front disk brakes, and a max cool radiator-shroud-fan package. In its time this would have been considered a "well optioned" driving car to start with. It has never made any sense to me that an R/T or Daytona, which I believe came with none of these standard would somehow be a better optioned car if the driving features that were standard on a Superbird were all checked on a Charger. To present otherwise seems to fly in the face of common sense.

Next let's look at what wasn't available on the Superbird from the announcement brochure. N96-Air Grabber, V21 Performance Hood Stripes, H51 Air conditioning, and L42 Headlight delay. I'm not aware of Daytona's with these options either.

M25 Sill Moldings were perhaps not offered because of the mix of modified Dodge front fenders on a Plymouth car. I don't know if the profiles on the Product lines intermix, but I believe both the Belvedere and Coronet  lines had these available. I am not sure if they were available on the Charger. Regardless this was not a good option on a rust belt car.

The A04 Basic Group's features were Power Steering, 3 Spd. Windshield Wipers, AM Radio, and Remote left outside mirror. Superbirds' already has the 3 Spd. wipers and PS. I don't believe there is much of a percentage difference in the number of Daytonas and Superbirds having AM radios and Remote left mirrors.

For the A01 Light package, fender turn signals were not available on the Superbird. Daytona's certainly could have hood turn signals. I believe all the other similar lights offered were available on both lines. The map light was chosen very often for all cars. For the average car I'm not sure there was a big difference in accessory lighting.

With the axle packages A31, A32, and A34 someone probably figured that anything that big and that heavy didn't need a 4:10 ring and pinion for stoplight racing. Virtually any 396/402 Camaro or Nova was faster. Anyone that owned a gas station could swap the 4:10 in if they had access to free gas. Otherwise 3:55/3:54 was probably about the best rear ratio for that heavy a car. I'm not sure what the D91 Sure Grip option was.

This leaves the R31 Rear Seat speaker, A35 Trailer Towing and H31 Rear Window defogger not available on the Superbird. I know you can probably find some on a Daytona but these were not  the most common either.
It seems to me the Daytona's most impressive options that weren't available on Superbirds were leather seats, greater variety of exterior/interior colors.

Superbirds offered a decent 15" Rallye Wheel/ tire package that the Daytona didn't have, plus the 6 pack.

Both cars offered the same variety of radios, steering wheels, tinted glass, power windows, pedal dress up and others.  Depending on your view the woodgrain dash option on the Daytona was either really good or a really bad mistake.

I am amazed at how many Mopar dealership photos from 1969 and 1970 have new performance cars on the lot with whitewall tires.

I am also of the belief that both loading the Superbird with so many standard features, and including a 6 pack were major product planning mistakes. Unsaid today is what a bad deal the 6 pack Superbird cars were for a first owner. Drastic cutting of the warranty and drastic insurance upcharges on the 6 pack cars doomed them especially to remain on dealer lots.

I believe the idea that Superbirds were less well optioned is simply a myth started by an uninformed writer back in the day.

[A383Wing]

I have yet to see a 'Bird with power windows

anyone?

Bryan

[Arnie Cunningham]

There are two known power windows birds.  The yellow 4 bbl auto car and the hemi auto car.  I have very recently been given scanty info on a power window petty blue 4 speed car.  Might have more info later. 

[Arnie Cunningham]

Thank you Redbird for the input.  I will respond in detail when I get to a real computer

[nascarxx29]

Ive seen P31 on a few superbird fender tags .Also seen N96 on Superbirds
 
And a P31 code on a superbird tag Power windows ?

[nascarxx29]

I found a old wingcar meet on youtube thinking maybe run across a dust trail on a superbird there for reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCbNrYeH7jM

Did find a 70 RR at dealer with dustrails

[JB400]

No dustrail on any of the birds.    video though.

[moparstuart]

Ive seen P31 on a few superbird fender tags .Also seen N96 on Superbirds
 
And a P31 code on a superbird tag Power windows ?

i have the rare N-96 option on mine   

[Arnie Cunningham]

Greetings All,

Thanks nascarxx29 for posting the Trivia page.  I had seen it before but forgotten how many errors there are in it (the damaged nosecones on the assembly line is a hoot).  I assume whomever put it together made the same mistake I did years ago when I misunderstood V88 Stripe Delete to mean the side dust trail.  The part I was missing was the "Transverse" Stripe Delete which meant the one on the decklid and fender extensions.

As for the different part numbers, notice that there are only 4 for the Superbird and 8 for the regular road runner.  On the regular Road Runner, they had a separate part number for each piece of dust stripe – the rear quarter, door and fender.  And, as many of you know, they did not interchange side to side.  If you look close at the orange car you can see the stripe is installed upside down.  (I believe the "gold" bird reference is the color of the dust around his hidden feet.  It had to match the stripe.  I think the non-stripe bird had orange dust?)

I suspect that with the Superbird stripe kit they just gave you a roll of dust swirl and said figure it out yourself lol.

It is also possible that the part numbers were assigned but never actually made it into production.  There are a few other obvious errors in the information found in the Special Parts and Maintenance Schedule.

As far as options on Superbirds, I agree.  They were pretty heavily loaded in standard form compared to other cars of the day.  Most of the required options and unavailable options are logical when considering the car.  They probably should have mandated 15" wheels for a car that big and heavy.

I agree that some of the myths are certainly stubborn.  The aluminum nose cone one still comes up from time to time.

[BOSSOFME]

The dust trail stripes on most "restored" '70 Road Runners run "up hill" meaning they were incorrectly installed too high over the front fender wheel opening.  If installed on a Superbird they would probably run up hill as well since the Coronet fenders have a slightly different opening with a character line in the way.

[rainbow4jd]

I once misunderstood the V88 to mean no dust stripe.

I thought the same.  I thought it meant "delete all standard RR decals

[GOTWING]

I'm not an expert, but i have never seen a Superbird that came from the factory with a dust trail stripe. I have thought many times about putting one on mine, it can always come off. I liked it on my plum 70 RR.

[GOTWING]

A383WING, i saw one Superbird with power windows, it was white with black interior sitting on a car trailer at Mopars at Englishtown race way park for sale back around 1989-91 or so, car was original needing a light restoration.

[pettybird]

I've seen a number of stripe delete cars, and the 6 vs 8 seems to indicate which stripe was STANDARD for the car.  Road Runners got the tail stripe, so V88.  70 Charger R/T came standard with the side stripes, to V68. 


If someone has something to disprove that, I'd be glad to say I'm wrong.

[Ghoste]

I agree that some of the myths are certainly stubborn.  The aluminum nose cone one still comes up from time to time.

Agreed, and the fiberglass one seems to come up about as often.

[richRTSE]

And, as many of you know, they did not interchange side to side.  If you look close at the orange car you can see the stripe is installed upside down.

Arnie, what am I missing? Are you referring to one of the orange cars at the top of this post? Isn't the top of the dust cloud leaning forward correct?

[Arnie Cunningham]

I could be wrong on this but I was told that there is a top and bottom to the dust stripe.
This seems to be backed up by the fact that there are 8 different part numbers for the complete
stripe kit for a standard Road Runner - the two "gold" birds, the two fender pieces, two pieces for
the doors and two pieces for the short section of the rear quarter panel.
I was told you could tell the bottom by the little "x" which appears about every three or four inches
on the stripe.  The yellow car in the posted photos has one section with the x on the top and one
section with the x on the bottom.
I was told that this x is supposed to be the road runner's foot prints left as he runs.  It is kind of hard
to see but you can see it on the yellow car.
Might be total bs but it kind of makes sense.
I guess the only way to tell would be to find a set of vintage NOS stripes and look at them.  They have
right and left consecutive part numbers which would tell us which side of the car they belonged on.

[Arnie Cunningham]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-MOPAR-1970-ROADRUNNER-LT-QT-PANEL-DUST-SWIRL-TAPE-/140745222428?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27%26meid%3D2631834219053503729%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D1011%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D360489686021%26

Here is an NOS 3505217.  As I understand these consecutive part numbers, the first one is always the Right side.  So 3505216 would be the right side and this 3505217 would be the left/driver's side.  If you look close you can see the "x" on the bottom.

The only thing I am not sure about is ..... does the photo show the exposed side?  I think it does.  Or did these decals look the same on both sides.

Anyone with more decal knowledge out there please chime in.

[held1823]

chalk me up as part of the learned something today crowd. i had given up trying to identify what the clue was.

the marks are visible at the black arrows. it appears the orange car's stripe is upside down, as well.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Ya gotta love the internet.  It is so cool to clear these things up!

[held1823]

all across america, road runner owners will soon be sitting in the driveway, blow dryer in hand, trying to fix their screw-up....

[richRTSE]

Aha, I do see those X's now...but I'm not sure the orange car's stripes are upside down (at least the fender), because the Warner Bros writing seems correct...if it was upside down the words wouldn't be at the front of the fender...

[held1823]

Aha, I do see those X's now...but I'm not sure the orange car's stripes are upside down (at least the fender), because the Warner Bros writing seems correct...if it was upside down the words wouldn't be at the front of the fender...

the bird, and the start of the dust trail, is a separate piece all to itself. this photo shows how long the first section is. the first footprint after the bird on the orange car is correct, as it is part of the bird decal. the rest of the fender stripe footprints appear to be at the top. these pieces should be the two parts numbers highlighted in red below.

Standard 1970 Road Runner

3505214 3505215 Tape, Fender Side Dust Swirl
2964112 2964113 Decal, Fender Bird
3505138 3505139 Bird Gold
3504916 3504917 Tape, Door Outside Color, Dust Swirl
3505216 3505217 Tape, Quarter Outside Color, Dust Swirl

[Arnie Cunningham]

Here are a couple of shots from David Patik's site.  I assume if anyone has gotten the decals correct, he has.  The orange bird is self-explanitory but the length of the dust on the gold one is still in question.

[moparstuart]

 My original 70 fender with decal still there , Decal survived fender hasnt  . 

[moparstuart]

 MY 0ther 70- RR has the original trunk decal   

[held1823]

regardless of the stripe color, it seems that originals would have the same cut line through them. that would place it somewhere in the area of the added red lines. or did they create two different lengths of bird pieces, based on the color?

[charger Downunder]

Wow i am learning every day about our cars.

[Finoke]

Hi Guys,
I don't post much but I read a lot. This is an interesting post on the Dust Swirl stripes.

I've got an original Chrysler Styling Office drawing that was typical of what was used in house. I'm not sure if it will shed any light on the Superbird Dust Swirl debate, but it is pretty interesting. Its dated 1967 for the new model year and its updated yearly to take in the decal changes till Nov of 1975.   

I will post some pics as soon as I resize them.

[Finoke]

 

[Finoke]

 

[richRTSE]

this stripe looks similar to the one on the orange car (but not upside down), and to me it looks like there is a visible seam back a little farther...also noticeable on the orange car...

[richRTSE]

Hi Guys,
I don't post much but I read a lot. This is an interesting post on the Dust Swirl stripes.

I've got an original Chrysler Styling Office drawing that was typical of what was used in house. I'm not sure if it will shed any light on the Superbird Dust Swirl debate, but it is pretty interesting. Its dated 1967 for the new model year and its updated yearly to take in the decal changes till Nov of 1975.   

I will post some pics as soon as I resize them.

those are very cool! 

[held1823]

your thoughts regarding the purple car match up with the lime car's decal that you posted earlier, so it's entirely possible the orange pieces were longer. strange things often happened with ma mopar, so one can never say never.

the engineering drawings are way cool. thanks for sharing.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Thank you for posting the Engineering Drawings.  I had no idea that stuff was still out there.

All this info coming forward has brought up a few more questions.

If V88 Transverse Stripe Delete was important enough to be stamped into the fender tag, would V6Y have shown up
on the fender tag of either a standard Road Runner or Superbird?

Has anyone seen a Lynch Road tag with V6Y or an applicable stripe code on any car?

How about build sheets?  Where would the stripe code appear if it was specified?

[69CoronetRT]

If V88 Transverse Stripe Delete was important enough to be stamped into the fender tag, would V6Y have shown up
on the fender tag of either a standard Road Runner or Superbird?

Has anyone seen a Lynch Road tag with V6Y or an applicable stripe code on any car?The answer to the first two questions is No because LR did not code a stripe at all. They only put the V code on the tag when the stripe was deleted ...V88

How about build sheets?  Where would the stripe code appear if it was specified? The last box in line 3 of the BS

[Arnie Cunningham]

The answer to the first two questions is No because LR did not code a stripe at all. They only put the V code on the tag when the stripe was deleted ...V88

RATS!  Well I guess that leaves only the buildsheet or someone finding an NOS set of the Superbird-only stripes still in the packaging.

[moparstuart]

The answer to the first two questions is No because LR did not code a stripe at all. They only put the V code on the tag when the stripe was deleted ...V88

RATS!  Well I guess that leaves only the buildsheet or someone finding an NOS set of the Superbird-only stripes still in the packaging.

always the possibility of a Dealer installed too , A customer see a standard RR on the lot with them and wants them also .  Anything to push those god aweful pointy beak things off there lots 

[Redbird]

When I was in High School and College in the early-mid 70's I had a friend who worked at a factory that made decals. One of the things that they did there was to make decals for cars. I went there and I was most interested in the Mopar decals. The uncut running birds were labeled R-R Duster.

[Redbird]

If there was a flaw in a decal it was called a "cull" and it was not cut out, though other decals on the sheet were still used. If it was a "cull" a red dot was hand placed on it so other workers would know not to put any more work in it and prevent it from being sent to Chrysler. There was a lot of hand work done at the factory.

Our group of friends had a lot of different decals they made. I remember one of our friends had a set of the 1970 RR full length side stripes. So I remember the full length side stripes were made there, and I'm thinking they were pieced together from 2 pieces. Today who knows what they were. I do remember the "butcher paper" colored backing (on the front side) they were on as they were sent out for delivery.

[Redbird]

The small standing birds were printed in 2 different spacings on the "3M Scotchlite" printing stock. I don't know why the wider spacing was used. I have been told the printing materials had a cost, especially the various inks. After the colors were applied, I believe the whole printed portion of the decal was covered with a clear coat as the inks were not as UV resistant as the inks today.

[Redbird]

Here is a sheet with the wider spacing. I also remember the small standing Road Runners with a black "highlight" around the eyes.

[Ghoste]

That is some interesting stuff Redbird, thanks!   

[Redbird]

The 1972 Road Runner type round decals were done as a complete decal.

[Redbird]

"Superbird" decals were done differently. The center standing bird was first printed, there was another standing bird about an inch to the left of this one. The birds were then cut out and imported to another sheet where the round lettering had been cut and also imported to. That way all the ink and clear coat didn't need to be put on the lettering. FWIW there is more detail on the big standing birds on the Superbird than the small regular birds. For instance in the purple above the "Superbird's" right eye there is a small black charactor line, like he has "squinted" his eye or something similar.

[Redbird]

The 1970 440+6 decals are one of the things that I believe were not done when the "Root Beer" 1970 GTX pilot car was sent to Vail Colorado in April 1969 for photo shoots. Other things not ready for that photo shoot include the trim ring on the 1970 woodgrain steering wheel, chrome trim around the front grill and the rubber trim on the front bumper (also of note is that particular car did not have the metal "Plymouth" trim piece on the hood. If one looks at things like the 1970 GTX TV commercial, the 1970 GTX Canadian postcard, the 1970 Belvedere dealer filmstrip, the October 1969 Plymouth "Traveller" magazine, and the 1970 Plymouth dealer Data Book; it seems like the "Root Beer" GTX was updated as the correct pieces became available.

[Arnie Cunningham]

Wow!  More excellent information.
The more I look at the "x"s on the bottom of the dust stripe, the more it becomes clear that they were part of the swirls and not "footprints" as someone described to me.  They are however, an accurate means of determining top and bottom of the stripe.

[Arnie Cunningham]

"Superbird" decals were done differently. The center standing bird was first printed, there was another standing bird about an inch to the left of this one. The birds were then cut out and imported to another sheet where the round lettering had been cut and also imported to. That way all the ink and clear coat didn't need to be put on the lettering. FWIW there is more detail on the big standing birds on the Superbird than the small regular birds. For instance in the purple above the "Superbird's" right eye there is a small black charactor line, like he has "squinted" his eye or something similar.

On the Superbird decals, was the standing bird and lettering on the left headlight bucket a separate decal installed on another decal?  If you bought one over the counter back in the day, would you have received a complete headlight decal with the standing bird or would you have received two separate decals?

[A383Wing]

it looks like a separate decal placed over the bucket decal

Bryan

[Ghoste]

This like the ultimate Road Runner decal primer, this is great!

[pettybird]

"Superbird" decals were done differently. The center standing bird was first printed, there was another standing bird about an inch to the left of this one. The birds were then cut out and imported to another sheet where the round lettering had been cut and also imported to. That way all the ink and clear coat didn't need to be put on the lettering. FWIW there is more detail on the big standing birds on the Superbird than the small regular birds. For instance in the purple above the "Superbird's" right eye there is a small black charactor line, like he has "squinted" his eye or something similar.

On the Superbird decals, was the standing bird and lettering on the left headlight bucket a separate decal installed on another decal?  If you bought one over the counter back in the day, would you have received a complete headlight decal with the standing bird or would you have received two separate decals?

Two decals, AFAIK.  I have a partial set from the 70's. 

[nascarxx29]

The 1970 440+6 decals are one of the things that I believe were not done when the "Root Beer" 1970 GTX pilot car was sent to Vail Colorado in April 1969 for photo shoots. Other things not ready for that photo shoot include the trim ring on the 1970 woodgrain steering wheel, chrome trim around the front grill and the rubber trim on the front bumper (also of note is that particular car did not have the metal "Plymouth" trim piece on the hood. If one looks at things like the 1970 GTX TV commercial, the 1970 GTX Canadian postcard, the 1970 Belvedere dealer filmstrip, the October 1969 Plymouth "Traveller" magazine, and the 1970 Plymouth dealer Data Book; it seems like the "Root Beer" GTX was updated as the correct pieces became available.

Was just on ebay a seen there was a copy of Plymouth Traveler Magazine
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1970-PLYMOUTH-Traveler-Magazine-w-1971-Plymouth-Cars-Barracuda-GTX-Road-Runner-/180910406340?pt=Motors_Manuals_Literature&hash=item2a1f19bac4

[PettyMower]

Redbird,

Here's a guess on the different spacing on the standing Road Runner decal sheets.

The close spacing was intended for the assembly line, where the decals were peeled off the sheet one at a time.

The wider spacing were to be cut into rectangular pieces. Possibly for the parts department counter sales.

Jay

[Redbird]

Jay,

That type of thinking could be the reason for the difference in spacing.

The small standing birds were available over the counter and plenty of NOS examples from back in the day are still out there today.

The decals were put on transfer sheets (what you buy them on when you get a retail type decal) after printing as part of the manufacturing process.

No one peeled them off the the printing sheets on the car assembly line, the decals were too flimsy. So they could have been put on transfer sheets with multiple decals for efficient automobile assembly line purposes.

Good thought.