1969 Dodge Super Bee - Erica's Car

[Flash68]

Wow cool story. And what a piece of work that thing is!

I have been off and on trying to find my dad's old Plymouth Fury for years.... no luck so far.

[DFRESH]

I knew you were a closet Mopar guy. Everything makes sense now.

I laughed out loud on the throttle cable and gas line pics.

[Rick D]

Good for you James Love the story and back ground write up.
I just do not understand why some people are so dishonest Did they know the person that had the car? Seems if hey did they weren't a friend that's for sure. Looking forward to seeing this one get fixed up!

I had a 69 bee when I was in my early 20's ran and drove but was very rusty, I was going to redo it but the city towed it before I could move it off the street I didnt have the title yet so it was gone before I could go get it.

[GrabberGT]

What the heck... I'll play a-round and see where this goes... Subscribed.

[69x22]

Any updates?

[DTM Racing]

James,
If you need help sourcing any parts, let me know. If I don't have Road Runner left overs, I know plenty of people with stockpiles.
Dan

[James OLC]

No real updates at this point - the usual little stuff that no one cares about but that is about it. I have to be honest... after (countless) years building F-bodies I am amazed at how difficult life is when you work on "offbeat" stuff. I'm still trying to find decent disk brakes (which shouldn't be this hard) and need to have a talk with Hotchkis about some leafs and other suspension parts. I was hoping to do that at sema but it doesn't loo like I'm going to make it this year. Hopefully soon things get back on track...

[Sieg]

James,

Very impressed with what you're doing for Erica. It's sickening that such unappreciative people ended up with David's car and gutted it's soul.

David is resting easy thanks to your passionate care.

[crazyfun]

I'm very happy this car went to the right home. I registered to this site to subscribe to the thread. Whats interesting is that I was thinking about making an offer on this car while it was at Blue Marlin Motors in Stuart Florida. If I remember correctly it had the fuel cell in it at the time and a different carb. Hope the progress is going smoothly.

[hp2]

Originally Posted by Rick D

I just do not understand why some people are so dishonest

We don't know all the details of the negotiation to get the car back, but it did marginally run, which was probably a key point of negotiation. Was it less than if could have been, obviously, but I also imagine loss of much of the trick parts was also part of the deal. 'm sure in their mind they only needed to cobb it together enough to drive on the transport.

Also, even for a 2003 build, I can't say everything outside of the engine appeared to be top shelf. Drum brakes, shackled leafs, heck, the wiring could have been hacked way back then but hadn't failed yet. Sure, it looked decent, but I suspect there was a lot of work done on "motor"vation and a lot less on dependability.

Originally Posted by James OLC

No real updates at this point - the usual little stuff that no one cares about but that is about it. I have to be honest... after (countless) years building F-bodies I am amazed at how difficult life is when you work on "offbeat" stuff. I'm still trying to find decent disk brakes (which shouldn't be this hard) and need to have a talk with Hotchkis about some leafs and other suspension parts. I was hoping to do that at sema but it doesn't loo like I'm going to make it this year. Hopefully soon things get back on track...

Yes, once you step outside the F body world, things get exponetially challenging because things are not as easy to find, you don't get 25 different selections on a part, and cost increasingly more.

Suggestions to examine...Factory discs off mid 70s Cordobas, Gran Fury, etc are not too difficult to find and are 11.75 in diameter. This allows you to source factory parts from practically any parts store for ease of maintainence. A place called Dr Diff is reproducing the caliper brackets that are the heart of the big disc conversion. Rotors can be found anywhere and will work with any 15" wheel. You will need to get factory disc spindle for this conversion. Almost any post '73 disc brake car can supply these, except Fury, Monoco and other huge cars.

Nomeclature to help with parts searches, A body - Duster, Dart, Valiant, pre 1970 Cuda. B body - Coronet, Satellite, Road Runner. C body - Fury, Monoco. D body - trucks. E body - post 1970 Cuda, Challenger. F body- Aspen Volare

Power steering, might want to consider it with a big B body with a 440. Even if Erica is a tough girl, muscling a B body with a big block and decent street sized tires will be a chore. Good boxes can be found at Firm Feel. Firm Feel also offers all the pieces you would want for stepping up the suspension as well as rebuild it. You already know about Hotchkis, they are a decent source as wel,l but don't offer all the hard parts you might need and are only recent players in the mopar market. Firm Feel has been doing this for 20 years.

For some reference places, protouringmopar.com, moparts.com, forbbodiesonly.com. These could be a decent places for reference material, parts, and advice on mopar specific stuff. Just be mindful that the mopar crowd is about 50% oem resto, 45% drag race, and 5% everything else.