MOPAR JOHNS B5 DAYTONA RESTORATION!!

[hemigeno]

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

I got it fixed for you... much easier to read now.   

[Mopar John]

                                                                               DAYTONA TRUNK MAT
 Recently a friend of mine stopped by and helped me get a couple of bugs out of the Daytona.
This was from the long dormancy while on display at the Gilmore Car Museum.
Once this was done it motivated me to get to some things I had been putting off like the trunk mat.
This is a long and winding road that will take several installments.
The trunk mat ordeal goes all the way back to the early 2000's when we were planning to get the Daytona restored.
The original trunk mat was in shreads and we had another a bit better in the R4 Daytona but not good enough.
I checked out all the reproductions and not only were the colors way off but none of them were cut correctly!
I started looking for material to cut one out of from one of our originals.
About this time a fellow Daytona owner told me about some material that looked correct on the web site.
I contacted the supplier and got samples late in 2012.
I have attached a picture of that post mark.
In the next picture you will see the sample that was the best match to the original material.
As time went on I was able to borrow another original trunk mat that was in better shape than what I had.
A picture of it is attached also so you can compare the original color and pattern to the fresh sample.
I was ready to order some blanks and start cutting but there was another problem!@#$%^&*()_!
Unless you ordered a roll of this material it was wide enough but an inch short in length to be exact!
After doing some more checking and not wanting to buy a roll I decided to order 5 blanks and
short the end in front of the axle tunnel behind the rear seat.
When I went to order they only had 4 blanks left and had to put the 5th on back order!
More to follow on this journey soon!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                            DAYTONA TRUNK MAT PART 2!
  When I found out that the supplier only had 4 blanks and the 5th was on back order I began to wonder if I should cut them?
What sealed the deal for me is that the supplier checked with their stocking dealers for the 5th blank rather than ordering another roll!
So my 5th blank came from a dealer to fill my order.
By then I had contacted a friend of mine who works with prototypes and show cars near Detroit.
He agreed to cut the blanks using the original as a pattern.
He was going to try and flatten the original the best he could and then make a reusable pattern.
This all sounded good and I drove up near Detroit for a visit and dropped off the 5 blanks in 2 boxes.
My friend ended up being very busy working soemtimes 6 days a week and 12 hours a day!
The project stalled and the blanks and the original pattern sat at his place for about 3 years!
The next thing that happened is my other friends Daytona was being assembled and he was going to need a trunk mat!
I had promised him 2 of the 5 mats when they were cut out.
We decided to have him pick up the blanks the next time he was near Detroit and take them to the shop he was using.
We got very lucky here as the shop had an NOS flat trunk mat and was able to cut the blanks for us!
I have attached a picture of one of the blanks now cut to match the NOS trunk mat! WOW!
We actually had 4 very nice looking and correct fitting trunk mats!
Again all the reproductions to date have the WRONG patterns and WRONG color and are NOT cut right!
So much time had gone by that only 4 blanks were cut to shape?
I had forgotten about the back order 5th blank in the second box and so did everyone else.
About a year later my friend near Detroit came across the other box and we met at a swap meet near there.
I now had the 5th blank in my possesion but it was too late to have it professionally cut !@#$%^&*!
What I did with that 5th blank in my next update!
MJ

[Mopar John]

                                                                           DAYTONA TRUNK MAT PART 3!
  Well the time has come for me to cut out the 5th blank and make it into a Daytona trunk mat!
In my first picture you will see I have one of the professionally cut blanks laying on top of the one to cut.
I have already started with the easy small square cuts in this picture.
In the second picture you will see where I have the whole outside cut and just the details left!
The last picture shows the 5th blank completely cut out and laying on top of the other.
I have them staggered a bit just so you can see how good it came out!
In my next update I will show pictures of the installation of this nice mat in our Daytona!
MJ

[odcics2]

Nice work, John. 

Almost, but not quite, makes me wish my car had a mat!   

[6bblgt]

looks spot-on!     here's an original for comparison

[Mopar John]

Thanks for posting the picture of that puzzle of an original Dan!
I have been trying to figure out why the slot for the spare tire bracket gets wider toward the back on the drivers side on the originals?
MJ

[6bblgt]

I no longer have this to examine in person, but it looks same width just a little crooked VS. the pattern

[Mopar John]

                                                             DAYTONA TRUNK MAT PART 4!
 With the last blank cut out and the weather very hot here in the Midwest, Yesterday was a good day to start an indoor project.
I was putting it off because of all the things that had to be removed to get the old trunk mat out.
In my first picture you will see that the front scissors jack and handle, the rear bumper jack, spare tire and tail light cover all had to come out.
In the second picture you will see that the trunk mat on a Daytona is sandwiched between the floor and the wing brace brackets.
So the wing brace brackets have to come out also!
In the picture that Dan posted of an original it looked like someone tore that mat rather than removing the wing brace brackets!
I was worried about the wing weight with the brackets removed so I went slow and removed one side at a time.
It seemed cool in my shop when I started but when I got to this part I worked up a nervous sweat!
The last 2 pictures show everything out of the way and the old mat ready to come out!
In my last post on this I will show the new trunk mat installed and everything put back together!
MJ

[odcics2]

 

[Mopar John]

                                                                      DAYTONA TRUNK MAT FINAL!
 So I took my time and reached under the old mat and got it loosened up where it stuck to the floor and removed it.
In my first picture you will see the Daytona trunk area without a mat.
In the second picture is the mat I took out. That is something I've wanted to do for a long time.
It should end up in the for sale section soon for someone not as concerned about details.
The next step was to get the new mat in place and see how it fit.
It fit like a glove and that's shown in my third picture.
Things continued to go well and I got everything put back together as shown in the last picture.
I've got a few more details that I'm working on and will post on those soon.
We are taking this 69 Daytona to the 50th reunion at Taladega and hope others are getting ready also.
There are only about 500 days to go!
MJ

[odcics2]

Looks good, MJ !

 

[Mopar John]

Looks good, MJ !

 

Thanks!
  From the trunk mat  I went back to the NOS window cranks! I think it was back in January that I was waiting for my 6th handle to arrive.
Well that one did and with a little luck I was able to complete the second set for a total of 8!
It pays to help friends out as they often help in return with parts that they normally wouldn't sell!
It also pays to go to swap meets as there are guys still out there that don't use EBAY or the internet to sell their NOS stuff.
Attached is a picture of the 8 NOS window cranks that are now installed on the B5 Daytona and Superbird.
Soon I will advertise all the reproduction window cranks in the for sale section.
MJ

[Birdflu]

Nice! Gotta LOVE NOS!

[odcics2]

Any differences between the early and later parts?

[Mopar John]

Greg,
 From what I have seen all the window cranks under the original part number are all the same.
When the number changed you got the same chrome handle but the bigger knob.
MJ

[tan top]

 

[Mopar John]

                                                               TURNING A BAD SITUATION INTO A GOOD ONE!
 Recently I posted about getting the B5 Daytona running better after the long stay at the Gilmore Car Museum.
The other day I did some cleanup and was getting ready to take it for a short cruise to the university and back.
I happened to look under the Daytona and noticed a little puddle?
Upon further review I found that the power steering hose had expanded and looked like a cooked hot dog !@#$%^&*(!
My first picture shows the hose after I removed it from the Daytona.
So the next thing I did was get my 1969 dealer parts book out and see if I could find the part number for the hose?
My second picture shows the page with part number 2537 699 for both cars with and without the power steering cooler.
I checked my NOS parts list for the Daytona and discovered that this was an aftermarket hose as that part number was not on the list.
So I figured it would be a good thing if I could find an NOS hose while I was at it.
I got lucky and found one with the correct part number stamped on the hose.
I show that in my third picture.
My last picture shows the NOS hose and the packaging it came with.
In addition to getting a better hose for the Daytona I repaired something that had bothering me for a while.
Ever since the Daytona was restored the hose between the cooler outlet and the pump inlet had an alignment problem.
Those two tubes are not far apart and the return hose was in a bind in that area.
I was able to move both the pump tube and the cooler tube a bit to make it a straight connection for the hose!
With all this completed and leak tested that short cruise to the university finally happened!
MJ

[odcics2]

Nice!

From being hosed, to driving the car!