Front seats

I started putting the seats back together today. Seatbacks bolt on the seats by two big screws, the only challenge is to find the holes in the frame through the new seatcovers. I found them!

Good to see more parts coming together again. The black hinges will later be covered, once the issues with the covers are taken care of.

First I had the old arresting clamps plated to a shiny finish, but they are pretty worn on top, where the teeth from the seatback clamp on so I bought a set of new ones. Unfortunately the screws should be dark as well now, I'll have to get that sorted out.

The seattracks have been somewhat of a pain in the A**! First of all, you can't take them apart. When getting them acid dipped to get the rust off, one of them broke and the bearing inside was lost. So I bought another old pair, to salvage the missing bearing. In addition to that I will be needing four retainer springs like the one on the pic, only minus the rust!

splash shield

One of the odds and ends that need to be tended to. This is the driver side inner fender splash shield after the old undercoating has been removed. It keeps the road dirt from reaching the door jambs and the hinges. Unfortunately the passenger side piece was not on the car, being one of the very few pieces really missing.

Shifter

I reworked the shifter linkage today. No big problem, as it worked fine and all the parts are here. Some surface rust on two or three pieces, and those parts of the linkage that are under the car neede cleaning.

The plastic gromet came off the steel plate with a little coaxing, after that the plate could be sanded and painted flat black with the rattle can.

I was careful not to mix up the washers so everything would fit back together as it should.

Lots of old grease on this part, I just cleaned it, no use paintig it as I suppose it never was painted - and above that, it's a piece that won't be seen on the car unless you're lying under it.

All back together and waiting to be bolted back to the chassis.

Body in white

So here it is, the body in white! Finally all the bare metal of the 'Cuda is covered in the first coat of primer. This is the way race teams used to recieve their cars from the factory prior to building a racecar...

The engine compartement was treated as if the panels were part of the outside of the car, as they can be seen once the hood is opend to look at the engine!

Special attention was given to the doorjambs, where the new quarterpanels were grafted on to the body. No messy weld seams will spoil the apperance once you open the doors.

The new sail panel fits perfectly, the rear window was test fitted, as well as the windshield so that there will be no surprises when they are to be installed.

All new sheetmetal in the trunk, where the 'Cuda was most rusty...

Hot and cold

Finally I attacked the heaterbox on a very hot day, how fitting! The box has been laying around for quite a while and I've been reluctant to go at it because it seemed such a complex part. Turns out, it's not rocket science after all.
Again this is not a very sexy part, something I've never seen being worked on in any of the makeover and restoration shows on TV, but as I'm planning on building a car with functional heating and AC it's got to be done!

The box consinsts of two halves, the project is mainly to seperate the two parts, clean everything, replace the worn out foam seals and put everything back together. The new seals come in a handy kit, it includes almost everything you need in one bag, I used high performance double sided adhesive tape to secure the foam.
I was afraid the old plastic of the heater box would be cracky and brittle but its holding up well and should be good for another 40 years of duty.


One half is done, the plan is to finish off the other and put it back in the shelf, as it will be one of the first parts to be put back in the body once it returns from the shop.

More color

With the help of a fellow 'Cuda owner here in Austria I've aquired some original paint for the grille and headlight bezels. It's called argent silver and I've been anxious about getting it for the new grille, since there is no original piece to take measure on my car...

thank's Tom!!!

Color choice

Time to make some tough decisions. The 'Cuda was originally BL1 Sandpebble Beige. A hue that isn't seen very very often as I don't think it was sold a lot and I suppose most of the cars originally that color have been repainted otherwise sometime in their history over the past fourty-something years. I wasn't sure if I would have the balls not to have my 'Cuda painted in one of the very popular high-impact colors, such as sublime green, go mango or hemi ornange. Nevertheless I've been giving the whole lot of new cars that have been popping up in all sorts of beige a closer look - of course starting at the top of the automotiv foodchain, with Porsche!