Completing a project like the '69 Super Bee we've been building with the Timber Wolf Speed Shop can be a very satisfying achievement. Since most of you reading this magazine also wrench on your own cars, we're sure you're familiar with the feeling of accomplishment when a job is finished. Making this job special, however, is the knowledge that someone will win this car and be able to enjoy it for years to come. We only hope they appreciate all the effort it took to make this a car any enthusiast would be proud to own.
If you've followed project Timber Wolf from its inception, you know that we started with a worn, but overall solid, '69 Dodge Super Bee. In previous issues, we disassembled the car, tackled the paint and bodywork, and rebuilt the factory engine and transmission. The interior needed help as well, so we had the guys at Auto instruments.com refurbish our instrument cluster, then we added new carpeting from YearOne, and recovered the seats with new vinyl from Legendary Auto Interiors. After reinstalling the engine, we enlisted the guys at Classic Auto Air to rebuild our car's factory airbox and install their aftermarket air-conditioning kit under the hood.
As you can see, we've completed...
As you can see, we've completed the work on our '69 Super Bee project car, and it's ready to go to the Timber Wolf Speed Shop where it will then be given away to one lucky winner. We couldn't resist taking it to at least one car show before we give it away.
Now that the major components of the car are in place, the finishing touches need to be completed. This process is time consuming because we need to pay as much attention to the little details as we have the car's major components.
Just because the car is painted and the engine and transmission are in place doesn't mean our work is over. The interior still needs to be completed, and we'll install an AM/FM/CD player so the car's new owner has some tunes to listen to. Since we warmed over the 383 to give it more power than stock, we'll also be adding Master Power disc brakes on all four corners to ensure stopping is not an issue. The real time-consuming tasks, however, are the little things, such as repairing and retaping the wiring harnesses, making sure all the lights and controls work, installing trim and emblems, and tuning and adjusting our fresh engine and transmission.
This is what we started with...
This is what we started with about six months ago when we affectionately named this project the "General Bee" due to the confused person who applied graffiti on the door. Fortunately, under the cheap paint was a fairly solid, numbers-matching '69 Super Bee.
Admittedly, there were times of frustration during this build, especially when deadlines for completion were nearing, but we've found that to be the case with any project. Fortunately, we didn't encounter any major obstacles and were able to deliver the completed car to the Timber Wolf Speed Shop on time.
Follow along this month as we install the disc brakes, tie up all those loose ends, adjust and tune our car, and add the finishing touches to make this Super Bee a car anyone would be proud to own.
You Could Win This Car Or One Of Five Other Classics At The Timber Wolf Speed Shop. This sweepstakes contest has ended.
After retrieving the car from...
After retrieving the car from the paint shop and rebuilding and installing the 383 big-block, it's now time for the finishing touches to complete the car.
Before installing our new...
Before installing our new carpet, we utilized Hushmat's sound deadener to insulate the floors of our car. This will reduce not only the road noise, but also insulate against the heat generated by our car's exhaust and driveline.
Since our car had factory...
Since our car had factory air conditioning, we had the guys at Classic Auto Air rebuild and install our factory airbox and combine it with one of their aftermarket kits to replace our missing underhood components.
The Classic Auto Air conversion...
The Classic Auto Air conversion replaces our nonexistent hoses with new units and utilizes a Sanden compressor, which is compatible with R-134 refrigerant and much more efficient than the factory RV-2 compressor.
Since our factory gauges were...
Since our factory gauges were pretty much shot, we pulled them out and sent them to Auto instruments.com to be completely refurbished. Adding white faces gives the dash a more modern look.
Like the rest of our car,...
Like the rest of our car, we wanted the gauges to be better than new. Auto instruments.com didn't let us down.