1969 Dodge Super Bee - The Timber Wolf Project

In the publishing industry, we're accustomed to deadlines. Each month, we do our research, write and edit our articles, then turn them in by the deadline (well, at least close to the deadline) so our readers can get their magazine on time. When it comes to our automotive projects, however, we're used to deadlines that are a little more ambiguous. Sure, we'd like to get our projects done quickly, but we know that finding parts, scheduling outside labor, and, frankly, having a limited amount of spare time and money are all contingencies that can keep us from meeting our self-imposed deadlines. While this method isn't a big deal when we work on our personal cars, we must admit when we were given the opportunity to build a car with the Timber Wolf Speed Shop, we were concerned about our ability to meet the imposed deadline so this car could be given away.

We know it's possible to complete project cars quickly because we've done it in the past-the B3 is a good example-but everything needs to be coordinated correctly. Sources of outside labor such as the paint-and-body shop and machine shop can really mess up a schedule if they don't finish their work in a timely manner. Parts procurement can be another issue as back-ordered or unavailable parts can cost hours of valuable time that could be spent working on the car. Luckily, all the parts we needed were quickly obtained from our project sponsors, and our machinist and painter both did a great job meeting our schedule, even when each found problems with their respective part of this build.

When the guys at J.D.'s Paint and Body discovered our car would need to be stripped completely to the original metal, adding many hours of labor to the project, they pitched in and got the job done, even working after hours and weekends. Kevin at Auto Performance Engines also expedited the machine work on our engine parts, getting them back to us in plenty of time to complete the engine for our Super Bee. If it weren't for these guys and the many great sources we used to obtain the parts for our project car, we'd certainly be behind schedule at this point of the build.

As it stands, we're doing pretty well. our car is very close to being ready for reassembly. All the bodywork has been completed, and the car has been sprayed in FY1 Top Banana Diamont paint. We know we'll get a few letters telling us that FY1 wasn't available until 1970, but we felt the theme of this build warranted a high-impact color, and what better color for a Bee than yellow! Of course, we'll highlight the stunning yellow paint by blacking out the hood and adding the obligatory black "bumblebee" stripe around our car's tail.

Inside the car, Classic Auto Air will be upgrading the environmental system with better-than-new aftermarket heat and air conditioning; Auto Instruments will be rebuilding our gauge cluster; and the remainder of the interior will be finished with new parts from YearOne and Legendary Auto Interiors. We're keeping the interior of our Bee pretty stock, adding new parts, refurbishing original equipment, and making subtle upgrades where needed, but we decided to stay with the basic "bare bones" theme that the Super Bee and Road Runner were known for.

When it came to the drivetrain of our project car, we wanted it to be anything but stock. We admit we did consider transplanting a 440 into the Super Bee, but since the car came with its original 383 between the fenders, we decided not to change the numbers-matching engine. Instead we had the block fully machined and will be filling it with new goodies from Speed Pro, Comp Cams, and Clevite, just to name a few. We want this project to be fun to drive so we won't go overboard with cam or compression, rather build a solid engine that will perform well on the street or strip. We'll detail the engine build in an upcoming issue so be sure to stay tuned.