Sonntag, 21. Dezember 2008

Two quarters make a half


Two quarters make a half and since both quarters are on the 'Cuda, half of the metalwork is done! According to Chris, who is donig all the work, the hard part is over with, all the rest is smooth sailing. There are a few patches to do on the firewall, the floors and around the windshield but nothing is nearly as complicated as the rear of the car, which was practically craftes all new. For a perfect fit of the rear bumper and all the seam surrounding it, the quarters and the valance panel had to be modified extensively, and it really shows.
I've seen many pictures of restored 'Cudas ans very seldomly do the seams under the bumper measure up so well!

The welds of the new body panels have been sanded down, the rest of the holes will be filled with lead before the epoxy primer is applied.
I can already imagine some fat rubber in those rear wheelwells :-)







Samstag, 20. Dezember 2008

Stuff before overhaulin'


Took some more stuff to the galvanic shop. Hoodhinges, the rings that go behind the headlights and the seatrails. I was a little worried about latter, as I could not take them apart completely and they are quite rusty as you can see. The guy at the shop said he thinks they can handle the problem and they should turn out pretty nice.

Montag, 15. Dezember 2008

By the seat of my pants


Opend another front on the project, sit back, relax and enjoy the show...





I started to prepare the seats today. As you can see the seatcovers are not only shot beyond repair, there is also a difference in color between the front buckets and the rear bench. Both will be recovered in bright red vinyl from legendary interiors. To remove the old covers I had to cut about a zillion of those tough little wire loops that the covers are attached to the seat frames with. The seatback of the drivers seat also held a surprise: Another build sheet of the 'Cuda was revealed as I took it apart...







Samstag, 6. Dezember 2008

Rear quarterpanel



The passengerside rear quarter is on the car. It took some time because before the the sheetmetal could be welded on, the window mechanism was revitalized and tested for proper fit - that's a lot easyier with no sidewall on.

Some of the window crank pieces had to be remade from scratch as there are no new parts available, the window goes up and down cleanly, with a lot less friction than before.
The top pic shows the way the rear will look with the rear valance attached, cool car!

All the area behind the rear quarter has been treated with epoxy primer to prevent future corrosion.








The rear window crank turned out really nice...

Dienstag, 2. Dezember 2008

New engine call out


Here is something that will really put the icing on the cake of the new engine bay. The new pie tin. It sits on top of the air filter and reads the correcht " SUPER COMMANDO" engine call out sign for the high performance 383 engine in a 1970 Plymouth.
It is secured by the wing nut on the air cleaner and is, inspite of being reproduction, a perfect fit.
As you can see the old pie tin is of a different type, reading "383 MAGNUM". According to my research, this engine call out was used on Dodge vehicles and not on Plymouth in 1970. I have no idea why it was on the 'Cuda, since the rest of the engine bay did not look as if anybody had changed any parts on it.



Donnerstag, 27. November 2008

Axle finished

The rear axle is ready to roll! Got the news from Doc Stinger yesterday, everything is finished and back in order. Bearings, gaskets and paint - the axle is ready to be installed and will be delivered as soon as I give a go. I think it really looks the part and I can't wait to see it under the car, delivering those ponies from the driveshaft to the wheels.







All pics courtesy of the Doc.

Donnerstag, 20. November 2008

Inside the diff

Good news from the differential. The diff is taken apart and all of the internals, including the sure grip are in exeptionally good shape. No visible wear on any vital part. Doc Stinger will put everything back together, install new gaskets and bearings and then paint the whole thing. I'm very happy about that, since not very many parts con the 'Cuda have proven to be in good shape until now. In the course of the buildup the rear brakes will recieve new wheel cylinders and some new springs as well. On another front, work on the engine will beginn shortly, allmost all of the parts for that are already here...

So with the diff and the engine on track, the tranny already done the whole drivetrain si coming together really well! Now all I need is a car to install everything in..I'll keep you posted!








All pics courtesy of Doc Stinger .



Dienstag, 11. November 2008

Rear axle


News from Doc Stinger. The rear axle has been sandblasted and is ready to be taken apart. All the internals will be checked and measured, new gaskets will be fitted all around. Doc will also make sure the sure-grip has not lost its grip and everything is dialed in correctly.

Sonntag, 9. November 2008

One more time


Finally, the manifolds are done.The crack is fixed abd I've painted them a second time with the heat resistent manifold paint. Next to the manifold is the heat stack, it was also sandblasted and treated to a new layer of paint. The next time you will see these parts, they will be mounted on the engine.!




Montag, 3. November 2008

Manifold fixed


Good News!
I got my passenger side Exhaust Manifold back . Repaired, no more crack!
Since the cast iron was beyond any chance of welding, I took it to Terolab, a company that specializes in advanced surface engeneering technology. As far as I know they do special coatings for things like turbine blades and biomedical implants. Anyway, the people at Terolab were kind enough to squeeze the 'Cuda manifold in so that ugly crack was bonded up with some space age technology. I was promised it will be just as good as welded or even more durable. And once it's painted it will look the part again as well.

Freitag, 24. Oktober 2008

Rear axle


I took this baby to doc stingers moparshop last week to get it worked over.






Doc is this countrys leading expert when it comes to mopar muscle and he will overhaul the rear axle inside and out. It already has sure grip and 3:23 gears, and with the way Doc does business, it will probably be finished long before the 'Cuda ...

More welding




Halftime at the bodyshop.

The trunkfloor is in the car, along with the rear upper valance, all of the inner fenders and a lot of little bits and pieces that had to be made from scratch. the quarters are hanging on for size, before they go on the rear window cranks will have to be installed. Most of the pieces are a pretty good fit, only the trunk extensions are of miserable quality.











Montag, 20. Oktober 2008

Rear Bumper


I started on the rear bumper today. I haven't done the braces yet but the new rear bumper is needed urgently at the body shop, so the sheetmetal at the rear of the 'Cuda can be adjusted correctly.
The two small bumbergards will have to be rechromed as they are not part of the package when buying a new rear bumper...

Samstag, 27. September 2008

Gatorgrain


This is the brand new gatorgrain vinyl top roof! Accordnig to various different sources between o,8 and 2 percent of the 1970 Barracudas were fitted with this option. Ledgendary Interiors has started to reproduce this vinyl only a couple of months ago. Can't wait to see it on the car...

Paint on the mainfolds


I put
some new life on the old manifolds. The special paint claims to withstand tempereatures of up to 760 degrees Celcius! They were still shiny when I took the "after" pic, but have dried up well since then. The flat grey is supposed to be just like the original look. They will need a second coat after 24 hours. Of course painting will not solve the other manifold problem. I hope to have found a shop that will cure the crack on one of the manifolds, if that dosen't work out, I will have to finde anoter one.

Sonntag, 21. September 2008

More Metalwork




Some more progress on the metalwork of the Cuda!The rear end of the car requires a lot of work , not much to show off but very necessary. The top of the rear window frame has been patched, some of the framework around the driver side rear wheel well has been replaced with new parts made from scratch. The panel between the rear window and the deck lid is new and fits quite well.

Montag, 18. August 2008

Manifold trouble





Got my exhaust manifolds back from sandblasting...and what a setback! The driverside manifold is ok but the passengerside manifold is cracked bad. And all attempts to weld the old thing ended in dismal failure. Obviously the material is too old and brittle.Of course headers would be an option but I already bought the whole exhaust to fit the original cast iron manifolds.