1969 Super Bee Project Timber Wolf

If you've read the past couple issues of Mopar Muscle, we're sure you know about our latest project car. We're teaming up with the Timber Wolf Speed Shop to build a killer '69 Super Bee that will be given away when it's finished . . . that's right, given away. So if you haven't entered the contest yet, be sure you do. We'd love for one of our readers to end up with this Super Bee in his or her garage.

Last month, we stripped the car and prepped it to go to the paint shop to be refinished. While our Super Bee had a pretty solid foundation, the previous paint job was of poor quality, and the car had to be stripped to bare metal before repairs could begin. Since then, the crew at J.D.'s Paint and Body Shop has been working vigorously to make repairs, straighten panels, and transform our car into a stunning showpiece. By the time you read this article, the car will be covered in multiple coats of Diamont FY1 Top Banana paint.

We also disassembled our Super Bee's 383 engine last month, finding several areas that would need to be addressed. We've sent the block, crank, and heads to Auto Performance Engines, where the block will receive an overbore to accommodate new Speed-Pro forged pistons. The crank will need some attention as well because the thrust surface was worn significantly, and the journals will be ground for undersize bearings. The heads will be treated to a high-performance, multi-angle valve job, and then assembled with new springs, retainers, and locks from Comp Cams. Once we get the engine back, we'll reassemble it with a healthy cam and all new internals.

When we get the car back from the paint shop, we have lots of new goodies from YearOne and Legendary Auto Interiors that we'll use to complete the interior. We'll also be installing new Master Power four-wheel disc brakes.

We hope to achieve a blend of good looks, power, and drivability, and as you're probably figuring out, this car will be a fun ride for cruising, car shows, or the occasional pass down the quarter-mile.

Like many of you, we don't particularly care for this stage of the build because all we can do is wait for our car and engine to return from their respective shops. We've already ordered most of the parts to complete the car, so next month we should be able to start the reassembly phase of our project. Be sure to follow along as we transform this car into a street machine that any Mopar enthusiast would love to own.

The Project Timber Wolf Super Bee is in the final stages of paint preparation, and we're gathering all the new parts we'll need to re-assemble the car. In case you haven't heard, this will be one bad ride and given away when we're finished. Be sure to enter the contest if you haven't already!

1 Upon stripping the paint from the car, several areas of questionable bodywork were discovered. These will all be repaired properly before the car is painted. Remember, the paint job is only as good as what's underneath it.	2 Like most two-door B-Bodies, our driver-side door hinges were shot. J.D. repaired them by reaming the pin holes oversize to accommodate new hinge pins.	3 This is just an example of the quality bodywork a previous shop had performed on our Super Bee. The entire area around the taillight was made from chopped fiberglass and resin. Hey, at least it wasn't newspaper and Bondo! We had new metal welded in place to repair this, of course.
4 We found out our windshield had been leaking, so we removed it to investigate. As it turns out, a replacement windshield had been improperly installed. We'll fix this by re-installing the glass with a new gasket.	5 The hood of our Super Bee was in decent shape, only needing minor work to prep it for paint. We still haven't decided if we should paint the hood the body color or matte black.	6 The guys at J.D.'s Paint and Body pay careful attention to the entire car, ensuring that even the underside of the panels is arrow straight.
7 Making a car straight involves many hours of sanding, filling, and sanding again. This is labor intensive, but it's the only way to do it right.	8 After tearing our engine down, we delivered the components to Auto Performance Engines, where Kevin Willis and his crew will perform all the necessary machine work.	9 A bypassed heater core is a clear indication that our heater box will need work. Instead of rebuilding it to '69 standards, we are working with Classic Auto Air to upgrade it with modern components.