MOPAR JOHNS EK2 SUPERBIRD RESTORATION!!

[Mopar John]

GREAT stuff John!!

A question, maybe it's the light, but I though the engine and the air cleaner top plate were the same colour. Just getting ready to do mine and would like to clarify if the air cleaner plate is indeed a darker orange? THANKS!

The engine and the air cleaner lid should not be the same color!
It's funny you bring this up as I have bought another set of decals for the air cleaner lid.
There has been some debate as to the color of the lid and I'm working my way through the issue!
I have been told that mine is too dark and should be lighter than the engine similar to a Fram oil filter?
MJ

[Mopar John]

Very cool John... Something else in common......... I bought my first Fender Stratocaster a few months ago and having fun learning how to play it........... But, mine isn't color-keyed to my Superbird..

Just paint the Superbird the same color as the guitar!

[FJ5WING]

B E A U T I F U L!

[Mopar John]

B E A U T I F U L!

THANKS!

[Mopar John]

                                                                                     MCACN DEDUCTIONS
After the judging at the MCACN show it was time to go over the deductions.
The judges were very fair, honest and up front.
The first item was that a 1 point deduction for a nick in the rub strip.
This was an NOS part that I purchased from the late Monroe Schellinger many years ago.
Not too long after the show I purchased another "NOS" rub strip and it had 3 smaller not so noticeable nicks.
I have the other with the Superbird and after studying them they look like the rubber started to dry and snag in the mold?
The next item was a 1 point deduction for the air cleaner base being to shiny on the six pack?
I have been told it should be the same paint as the black used on the upper door frames?
The next item was a 2 point deduction for the steering wheel. I think 1 was for the wood grain wheel spokes and the other for the adapter.
Moving along was another 2 point deduction for the interior in general. This was due to the original seats and door panels being used! I'll take it on those.
The last 2 points were deducted for the original trunk weatherstrip removed from my low mile 1970 GTX race car. Again I'll take it on that!
Keep in mind that this is a 1,000 point concours type show and not the 2,000-2,500 point OE show.

So I had made a list of parts that I still wanted to add to the Superbird.
The second NOS rub strip was the first part found.
Another early find was an NOS body to rear end housing hose.
I had found a pair of NOS hoses for the front brake calipers but wanted to find the one for out back.
I found an NOS rear hose Mopar part number 3461728 dated perfectly 251st day of 1969 for a November 1969 build on EBAY.
I was hanging back to bid when I noticed the auction had ended!@#$%^&*()?
I contacted the seller to see what happened and if he had another available?
He said he had 2 of them and had sold them off EBAY to a friend.
We'll after about 3 weeks of e-mails I was able to purchase one of the NOS rear brake hoses!
I have attached a couple of pictures of the NOS hose.
One more item off the list!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                                  NOS SPARK PLUG WIRES!
Around this time all I had to do was work on my NOS parts wanted list.
I came across a confusing written auction on EBAY for some NOS spark plug wires.
The ad stated that they were for a big block 1967 A body but that the wires were dated 3rd QTR 69?
What they had was an NOS set of wires with the 1967 part number 2888769 made in the 3rd QTR 1969.
Up to this point any NOS big block wires I came across were $750.00 to $2,000.00 depending on the seller!
I won the set of wires for a very reasonable cost and will need to change just one of the plug end boots.
The 3rd QTR 69 date code is perfect for the November built Superbird.
The first picture shows the Mopar plug wire box.
The second picture shows the end of the box with the part number 2888769.
The third picture shows a close up of one of the wires with the 3rd QTR 69 date code.
The last picture shows all the wires fresh out of the box!
MJ
When you put these next to the repros you can see a difference in the wire texture and boot characteristics.
At this point I was very happy with my recent finds and wondered what I would come across next?
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                              RADIATOR CAP!
When we had the Superbird restored we used a nice reproduction radiator cap.
Recently I was able to pick up an NOS cap still in it's Mopar box part number 2998982.
The first picture shows the Mopar box with part number.
The second picture is a top view of the NOS cap.
The third picture is a bottom view of the NOS cap.
The last picture shows the NOS cap next to the reproduction and also a used 1969 version.
I noticed that the 16 is DEEPER in the NOS cap compared to the reproduction and it's on the opposite tab.
The initials on the lower ring are on the opposite side also. ENJOY!
MJ
Next up will be yet another super rare find!

[maxwellwedge]

Hi John - I was told that "SM Co" didn't appear on assembly line caps until late 70 - early 71..........I'll re-check that.

[Mopar John]

Hi John - I was told that "SM Co" didn't appear on assembly line caps until late 70 - early 71..........I'll re-check that.

Jim,
You could be correct on when the SMCO appeared!
If you look at the box that my NOS cap was in it's dated the 17th week of 1972.
So even though this is a correct number cap it could be a superceded part since it was made after the car?
Still let us know what you find out as to when that change happened?
Thanks! MJ

[maxwellwedge]

Hi John

I got a changeover date of August 1970.....which would be close for the 71 model year. It's still a good part - just not 100% correct......but you, me and Geno are always trying to split atoms over these parts - lol!

[Mopar John]

                                                                           SUPERBIRD SCISSORS JACK REVISITED AGAIN!
Back on page 28 of my post I shared the restoration of my Superbird scissors jack.
Fellow member Wingnut426 Pete Veight who has been involved with these jacks for years pointed out several items that proved I had the WRONG jack !@$%^&*(!
What I didn't mention is that for some time I had been trying to buy another jack from a friend who had sold his wing car years ago.
Recently my friend found his jack and after consulting with Pete for it being an original I purchased it.
I then sent it out to Pete for restoration. He did a great job and the turn around time was the best I've seen in this hobby!
The first two pictures show the original scissors jack I bought.
The last two pictures show what it now looks like after Pete's restoration. WOW!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                 SUPERBIRD SCISSORS JACK COMPARISONS!
  I thought I would take some pictures of the jack that was in my Superbird for the last 40 years and the correct one I just purchased and had restored.
There is a picture taken from each side and if you look close you will see all the things that Pete Veight pointed out back on January 28th 2016 reply.
I want to mention that fellow member Bill who goes by billssuperbird on this site also pointed out some things back when the jack was apart.
Thanks to both!
MJ

[billssuperbird]

 

[Moparpoolman]

I've seen Pete's quality of work in person before and it's awesome!!!  If I ever need to get one restored He'll be the first person I call too.

[Mopar John]

                                                        RADIATOR CAP REVISITED!
After the reply from maxwellwedge I decided to look into the radiator cap situation.
I was able to find a correct pre August 1970 cap.
The correct cap is installed with no S.M.CO. on it.
The incorrect cap is on the left with S.M.CO. on it.
Thanks Jim for the detail!
MJ

[hemi68charger]

                                                        RADIATOR CAP REVISITED!
After the reply from maxwellwedge I decided to look into the radiator cap situation.
I was able to find a correct pre August 1970 cap.
The correct cap is installed with no S.M.CO. on it.
The incorrect cap is on the left with S.M.CO. on it.
Thanks Jim for the detail!
MJ

it's the little things........ 

[Mopar John]

                                                        RADIATOR CAP REVISITED!
After the reply from maxwellwedge I decided to look into the radiator cap situation.
I was able to find a correct pre August 1970 cap.
The correct cap is installed with no S.M.CO. on it.
The incorrect cap is on the left with S.M.CO. on it.
Thanks Jim for the detail!
MJ

it's the little things........ 

Troy,
You are correct on the little things they all add up!
On Wednesday I took the Superbird back to Troy Angelly's shop for a list of "little things".
While I was there I checked out the 3 original Daytonas that they were working on!
We need to have the Superbird the best it can be for Carlisle less than two month's away!

I have a few pictures of one of the little things.
The rear shocks on the Superbird are NOS late 1968 C body shocks.
I recently found a matched pair of NOS in the box 1970 model year Police and Taxi shocks date 6C9 or 3rd week of June 1969.
These are not completely correct but a lot closer to what should be on the Superbird.
The first picture shows the NOS shocks still in the original boxes.
The second picture shows the 6C9 date code on one of the shocks.
The last picture shows the original instruction sheet.
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                               REAR WHEEL CYLINDERS AND WINDOW CRANKS!
When we dropped off the Superbird last week we had some NOS parts in the trunk to be installed.
Here are a couple of more of those items:
First up is the rear wheel cylinders. We had the originals restored but they were leaking.
The first two pictures show the NOS ones I found with the correct casting number 3461776.
The second item was a couple of NOS window cranks.
The last two pictures show those.
I am looking for one or two more real nice NOS ones that are in good shape.
If you can help respond to my parts wanted ad in the parts section of this site.
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                 ENGINE OIL DIP STICK HANDLE PAINT!
  A friend of mine who has a couple of 440 SIX PACK cars sent me some pictures of his original engine oil dip stick handle paint.
We had discussed this before and at the time his mostly original car was buried.
This reply has four pictures and I have another four in the next reply!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                             ENGINE OIL DIP STICK HANDLE PAINT PART 2!
Here I share four more pictures of an original 440 SIX PACK engine oil dip stick handle paint.
There has been some discussion as to how far down this handle should be painted.
If you study all 8 pictures from the last two replies you will see that the handle WAS NOT dipped all
the way down to where the stop was for the dip stick tube!
In addition there was plenty of paint on the handle as the extra ran down quite a ways!
MJ

[maxwellwedge]

GREAT stuff John!!

A question, maybe it's the light, but I though the engine and the air cleaner top plate were the same colour. Just getting ready to do mine and would like to clarify if the air cleaner plate is indeed a darker orange? THANKS!

The engine and the air cleaner lid should not be the same color!
It's funny you bring this up as I have bought another set of decals for the air cleaner lid.
There has been some debate as to the color of the lid and I'm working my way through the issue!
I have been told that mine is too dark and should be lighter than the engine similar to a Fram oil filter?
MJ

I might be too late John - Frank has the proper formulation for the air cleaner lid paint.
Hats off to all the parts scrounging you did - I know how hard it can be to find correct stuff the last few years. 

[Mopar John]

GREAT stuff John!!

A question, maybe it's the light, but I though the engine and the air cleaner top plate were the same colour. Just getting ready to do mine and would like to clarify if the air cleaner plate is indeed a darker orange? THANKS!

The engine and the air cleaner lid should not be the same color!
It's funny you bring this up as I have bought another set of decals for the air cleaner lid.
There has been some debate as to the color of the lid and I'm working my way through the issue!
I have been told that mine is too dark and should be lighter than the engine similar to a Fram oil filter?
MJ

I might be too late John - Frank has the proper formulation for the air cleaner lid paint.
Hats off to all the parts scrounging you did - I know how hard it can be to find correct stuff the last few years. 

Jim,
You not too late!
After our last discussion a while back I bought enough paint to do the air cleaner lid and dip stick handle from Frank.
Those are a couple of the items being taken care of before Carlisle!

As far as finding correct parts goes it gets tougher every day!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                        PART NUMBERS AND SOME DATE CODES!
With the Superbird in the shop getting the final details taken care of I've been busy here sorting pictures and getting documentation together.
This batch of pictures shows some hard to find original items.
The first picture is of the original U-joints from the NOS driveshaft we used.
Notice the rear joint still has the special clips and tie strap to hold it together for assembly!
The second picture is a close up of the part number and date code 293 9 of the wiper motor.
Sadly this was one of the last wiper motors restored by Jules the wiperman before he passed away.
The third picture is a close up of the part number and date code 44th week 69 of the alternator.
The last picture is of the 440 SIX PACK fuel pump.
It has the part number 4845S and date code of 21 G 9.
ENJOY!
MJ

[69rtse4spd]

U-joints look famliar John, will look for some nice window cranks but don't know. Everthing looking great. .

[Mopar John]

U-joints look famliar John, will look for some nice window cranks but don't know. Everthing looking great. .

Jeff,
I would like to thank you again for selling me those rare NOS driveshafts for my wing cars!
I have only seen one A body NOS driveshaft for sale since then.
Thanks for the comments on the restoration!
MJ