Operation Superbird: The Lemon-Twist Bird back to life

As some may, or may not know, the fruit of a long line of "Troy-trade" chapters has gotten me to this point, my own '70 Plymouth Superbird. After I sold my '70 Challenger T/A, I bought this Superbird from a friend of mine who's had it, believe since around '84/'85. He bought it off the original owner pretty much as you see it.....

Now that my job seems to be have saved with God's blessing to me, I believe I can tackle the restoration of the ole' girl.. I am looking forward in ripping through the gears with that pistol-grip 4speed....

Here are some pictures of the car as Allen found it and me hauling it home some 30 years later..

At home in the new wingcar nest. Here's Julie, my little mini-me messing with it already when I brought it home..

Assessing the car at the time.. Floor pans are in excellent shape

Started the disassembly process last Sunday during the Daytona 500.. Things looking good..

Inside the trunk, other than the typical floor trunk pan, is in pretty good shape. Luckily, I have an NOS quarter extension for the driver's side dent repair..

Some more of the rear window area/plug.. Overall, in petty nice shape.

Corner areas along with the diamond covers for the plug on the quarter seam.
That filler the assembly line put on the plug seam was pretty thick.. I kept some of the material for reference later on... I can see where the transition is from across the seam.....

Just yesterday I was wondering about your project with this car. Looking forward to seeing the transformation!

Hey Troy, I tried to send you a PM, but it says that your mailbox is full. If you can, let Allen know that the old yellow Charger 500 needs to get full rear quarterpanels, and not the skins that he bought for the car. I saw a thread on DodgeCharger.com where he was looking to purchase quarter skins. Due to the car having had both a Superbird and Daytona wing mounted on it, the tops of the quarters are shot. He should get full rear quarters, and cut the inner sail panels off them, and weld them on at the window plug seams. I am glad to see that you are going forward with the Superbird project. It will a sweet car when you get it done. I hope all is well with you and your family. Thanks Pete.

Hey Pete... Thanks for the heads up, didn't know about my in box. Allen knows, I made sure he knew the extent of the sheet metal needs... But will remind him...

Thanks Troy,It is really cool to see the old 500 getting restored. When I saw Allen asking if anyone knew where to buy an AMD quarter skin,I knew that once he strips the paint off the tops of the rear quarters he would see that the car needs full quarterpanels. I know he said he bought skins. His body man had a health issue,so his project could get behind schedule. If he has to reorder the parts again later,it may cause even further delays,plus he will have less issues exchanging them now,verses waiting. You and Allen are bringing back two more Aero cars,whats cooler than that! When you get your bird done,and you are blastin through the gears,all your hard work will really pay off! Pete.

The car looks really solid!
Great project.

Operation Superbird; passenger door disassembly..
Well, today is a good day for the disassembly, pretty much have the complete door disassembled. The door, other then the dent along the body line is in awesome shape. Almost feel bad painting the inner door jambs, they are that clean.. Maybe Sunday I can get the back window assembly out. I took tons of pictures

More of the doors.. even the inside cat-whiskers are in great shape and I was careful to save them and reinstall. I want to save and recondition as many original parts as possible.. There's a pewter/potmetal replating company here in Houston I'll use to replate the wing window frames, door handles ( inside and out ) and Plymouth letters from the tail panel. The later I hope can be one where the crispness is saved...

Troy

Operation Superbird;
Was able to knock out some more of the disassembly of the ole Bird.. Got the interior pretty much out and the rear passenger window. Debating on whether or not to take the rear quarter window assembly out other than the actual glass that is out now

back window area "stuff"...

Operation Superbird; passenger door disassembly..
Well, today is a good day for the disassembly, pretty much have the complete door disassembled. The door, other then the dent along the body line is in awesome shape. Almost feel bad painting the inner door jambs, they are that clean.. Maybe Sunday I can get the back window assembly out. I took tons of pictures.

more

Interesting way to secure the back of the headliner to the package tray....

WOW!Great stuff!

D-day has arrived; Delivery of the car to the shop....

Prepped the car last night getting it to the front of the garage and today, making the trip, thanks for my buddy Dave, to the shop... Count down..... In the meantime, I'll start restoring parts I have and then store them on the "ready" shelves.... I'll probably get the leaf springs done along with the differential and front suspension done before completion. That way, I can quickly install the rear and front suspension and tow it back home with it's own tires instead of the anxiety-ridden dolly/casters..

On the road and at the shop... Let the festivities, and hiccups that I know will happen, it always does, begin....

Cool Troy!! I can't wait to see the "Bird come alive.

Thanks !!!! Two j-code Chargers? mmmmmmmmmmm

Troy.... As usual the envy on this end is elevated again! I'm going Saturday to fetch a '69 bee. Supposed to be numbers matching, original sheetmetal, and one repaint????? We shall see!

Cool Troy, glad to see its getting the treatment and not sold off.

Operation Superbird:
At the strippers.... So, it begins... It's starting to feel a little like things are moving forward from the "big picture" aspect. My friend Smitty has the car and taking good care of it... I was back and forth about leaving the underside alone since it was in pretty good shape and I didn't want to have to duplicate the undercoating.. But, with input from my friend Dave, I'm going to press forward and have the complete car stripped. But, instead of painting the undercarriage with body color, I'm going to do what I did with my former '68 Hemi Charger R/T, use David Patik's factory primer paint to paint the complete undercarriage. Then, when the car is painted apply it as the factory did and let the overspray land where it will.... Looking forward to this process....
Also got my rear passenger taillamp bezel from my friend Ralph and got one of the two rear hood bumper support brackets I need to replace since they were modified by the original owner.

some more prior to actual stripping..

In the box are my nose bezels that Mike Goyette, of Dayclona fame, will be fixing for me.

Thank you for posting this resto of yours! Its cool to see a real bird taken apart and all of the unique pieces to those cars. Keep up the great progress!

Nice to the process you are taking. Look forward to more posts.

Okay Troy..... Where's some updates? Lol

You're right.. I haven't here....

Here are pictures from the strippers.. It is in the final steps now.. The plug will be coming out soon and the hood skin will be separated to facilitate repair..

Some of the front fenders.. Notice the modifications of the addition of lead on the front upper leading edge of standard Coronet fenders to match the nose contours.

some more..

Worse part, parts of the hood... I have another Standard Coronet hood that we will use to repair original hood..

Here are some of the rear and front suspension; before and after blasting..

I'll be having the differential and gear box rebuilt. I'll have them shot with epoxy primer, rebuilt, then detailed.....

cleaned up..

Great pics! I love the winged cars. Thanks for sharing.

Operation Superbird:
Here are the latest/greatest... Smitty took the Bird back over to the strippers to take care of the support structure and the back glass plug area (after removal). The car seems to still be in good shape without major surprises... So, it's press-forward time. I'll take the new roof skin and other parts I have probably next week. Hopefully AMD has the shipment on the way. Interesting picture on the roof.. Looks like there was a bonding application between the roof skin and support structure.. Don't want a rattle-can feel.

some more..

Just to keep your anticipation up....

This is going to be scary !!!!

doors and fenders.

Nose..

Been awhile since I updated things... Operation Superbird is now speeding up... Done with the blasters and seal.. Down going backwards ( forwards in terms of project management ) with the installation of new panels.

Here we have the attachment of the wing washers on each quarter.. No drama here

Some more of the rear quarter water gutter repair and trunk..

Got some updated photos from the rear window corner repair... I was able to acquire original upper quarter panel sections in the area that meets the Dutchman/filler panel. As you can see, the original metal had heavy corrosion due to a rat next on an unpainted surface. For a refresher, the section of the upper quarters and Dutchman/filler panel never got paint on them from the factory since the car was painted after the rear plug was installed. Kuddos to Smitty.

Been awhile since I posted on the Bird, but the new AMD roof skin came in today. Buddy Smith, aka Smitty, didn't waste any time in jumping on the mating of the skin with its new car, my Superbird. Progress !!!

Operation Superbird:
Smitty is really into it now.. Working hard on the Bird, finalizing roof attachment, dent pulling and generally pushing forward... He also gets to work on a cool E-body...

some more..
Can anyone guess the Challenger (year and model)?

finally for today...

Coming along nicely...

Some updates...

More.. Gaps are looking good..

Some more... Original hinges rebuilt
The passenger side is looking great.. The driver's side will be even nicer... No work for the most part was required on the driver's side......

Great progress!! Love to see them coming together

Keep them coming, Troy!!!!

Great progress

Update June 29th.. One side almost done.........

1. technique for pulling a dent in the lower rocker panel
2. head on with the front fender
3. angled view of driver's side.
4. another

5. rear where it was tagged and dented.. Pretty much all gone now...
6. fitment of valance extension.. Will be apart when painted independently

Great Job.

On a non car related topic, I hope that you and your family are safe and that the water recedes quickly so that life can return to some sort of normalcy in the near future.

Hello Jay,
Thanks for the safe thoughts.. We did fair ok.. About 1.5" from getting into the house... Too close for me...

Operation Superbird;
Went over to Smitty's a few weeks ago to see the progress on the Superbird. The nose is about to be rewelded back together from having the top skin separated to help facilitate fixing of a dent. The trunk is almost done, went with the halves so we didn't have to remove the taillamp panel.. Brought the wing components so things can be test fitted later. Coming together..

More..
Probably the worst part of the car, lower driver's side of the plug... But very fixable. Can use portions of the original filler panel that needed to be replaced, window channel patch of original is in great shape..

Lastly for now...

Lookin good!

Thanks... May need some help getting a nicer 70 Coronet hood....

Looking good!! That is going to be awesome when its finished!

Operation Superbird Hood:
Smitty has tackled a big part of the paint and body of the Superbird, the hood. He has gotten to the point of getting the donor skin trimmed and mocked up with the original extension.. With the protection to the skin underneath, the hood should never rust again. Moving forward...
Last picture is the upper skin template to preserved the body line down the middle during the folding process

Hello all, I'm new to the forum. I finally decided to join because I came across your post about your car. If your vin is RM23UOA169459 I may have your original window sticker. If it was originally sold at zumwalt Chrysler Plymouth in Santa Rosa California . I used to work there in mid 80s and one day the owner told me throw out a bunch of old paperwork. A bunch of old window stickers and this is one of them. The salesman remembers the the car well because it didn't sell 1971. It was demo model that's why sticker was removed and lost in a file cabinet. The salesman had a nickname for the car which was the yellow hornet. If it is not your car then it's a identical equipped superbird with 440 4v 4 speed,track pack,lemon twist, Plymouth stripe delete car. I once found the owner of the car in 1986 and told him I had the sticker and his reply was he didn't give a chit. So I kept it. Every time I come across a yellow bird I think I found it . I will post a copy as soon as I figure how to.

This is a xerox copy of the original . I hope I remember where I put the original. If this is the same car please let me know and I will dig it up.

We have a lost and found section.

There are a lot of Yellow Superbirds but hopefully we can help track down the one that you have the sticker for.

I have the original buried in box deep in my garage. It will take a bit of time and effort on my part to look for it. If its the number as the bird in the photos then I will do that. Over the past decades I have come across many yellow birds in person and in for sale ads in Hemings and online etc. They were always hemis ,6 packs,or automatics or had dissimilar options. The car in the photos appears to be the exact same as the sticker. The one odd option that stands out is the Plymouth side stripe delete. That is on the sticker and seems to be on the car. I'm not sure as to why I haven't gotten a response here ?????? I'm very curios as to weather or not it's the same car. I will list on the lost and found and if I don't get a response then I will send it out to Barry at the hammtrack registry

Thanks a ton for the offer.. But my Superbird was sold new in the San Antonio, Texas area......


Cheers,
Troy

Operation Superbird; it is over.. The last week has been extremely stressful for me.... With increased frustration with the body shop and the unwarranted reaction of him towards me, I have called it quits on Operation Superbird. It is with much regret, sadness and inner reflection, I came to the conclusion to write it off as a lesson learned and feel the pain of the notorious experiences so many other people have endured.. I wash my hands clean of the situation. Needless to say, no referral by me. I do my part over and over and apparently, that isn't good enough, all because I asked for pictures of progress for money spent of services... 90% of agreed price was paid yet the car was nowhere near ready for paint. There is no way the car could have been done with the remaining amount..
So, the car, for all practical purposes has been sold, what I paid for it originally plus money spent at body shop.. Doesn't include the cost of parts.. I will turn this winged car Mopar-page and go down another path... Who knows..

Here is the yellow-feathered Mopar as she sits patiently waiting for its next home. Then pictures loaded up and heading back towards home. The car will be going to a very good home and WILL see its glory again, just not with my constructive hands.

This sucks....... I am tired..... 😞 Sorry Allen..

Thanks all. The Superbird is sold. I will be discrete about that.. I sold it about 2 hours after all this went down... I s6ort of broke even with the purchase price and the cash invested in it, but not the misc sheet metal I bought. I am getting something else, but I will share that after it happens, don't wanna jinx it. But, I will say that one is a beautiful running driving car and the other is a cool running/driving project. Life is too short for [censored] to be handed you. Communication and integrity are important, especially the later. That is one of the personal characteristics I honor most. Like Marcel said, Karma is a [censored].. I wanna thank Dave Points for helping me go get the ole' Bird. But again, where the car is going will be in REAL good hands.. I have a personal history with this person. Stay away from Elvis Rod Shop in Crockett, Texas..

Troy, I am very saddened to see this.... All of us in this hobby at one point or another have dealt with this scenario of some magnitude! This is one thread I've followed very closely for the interest in these winged cars.... Wish you better luck in the next endeavor! Keep plugging along!
Greg

Wish you the best of luck Troy, very sad to hear.
Matt

Sorry to hear that, Troy. Was looking forward to seeing this finished, though not nearly as much as you, I'm sure. Can't wait to see the next ones!

Living a stress-free life is the key to longevity.

Keep it rolling...

Tony sorry to hear this happen.

I witnessed this with my brother's Superbird and it was a bigger nightmare than what you experienced - parts stolen off the car, poor prep work, increased costs, off schedule - you name it.

Luckily we have found quality guys now.

Congrats on the 500

We had a similar experience with a body shop on my Dads 65 426 Plymouth, shop owner lying, poor prep then basically stole the car and disappeared. Had to go to the Eastern Ky. Mountains to track him down, with the police involved to the car back. It was a mess. Sorry to hear about the Bird, hopefully the next project goes much better.

Operation Superbird; last night home.
Been working like a mad-man to get the car into a state to transport to California tomorrow. The car hauler is showing up around noon. After which, I can bring home my new 1969 Charger 500 and pull the trigger on my next Mopar. Man, did a lot over a weekend... So closed another chapter in the Hawkes-Mopar saga..

California?

Did Julius buy this car?