Front end

The front suspension is in the car. It took the help of two friends to mount the k-member with the lower control arms onto the frame, sliding the torsion bars in place. That thing was freaking heavy!

In the meantime the steering linkage is in place and bolted together as well. The red konis look good in the tubular a-arms .

Alexs '67 Camaro in the background

Front suspension

In the quest to have the 'Cuda on its own wheels as soon as possible, I started installing the front suspension.

New tubular A-arms replace the original stamped steel versions for better and more precise handling.

The original torsion bars firmly located in the frame support, newly greased in high quality acid-free grease and waiting for the k-member.

Trailer queen

The 'Cuda moved back home today. The paint shop is not finished yet but it's done on the inside and underneath. Now some technichal bits and pieces will be built in then the outside will be painted. I ecpect less collateral damage on the new bodywork that way. Modern state of the art grey undercoating was applied on the underside of the car, less flashy than having it painted but after all, the car is meant to be driven and not to be a trailer queen.

Back in its old place in the garage, the neighbors will move to another corner in the next couple of days to make some room .

Engine

The heart of the 'Cuda is coming together! New bearings, new pistons, new camshaft and timing chain are in place in the old 383 block. The 0.040 oversized Keith Black pistons fit well into the newly honed cylinders.

The oil pickup was refurbished, ready to put the freshly painted oilpan back on.

Inside paint II

More pics of the inside of the 'Cuda.

Inside paint

The master of ceremony covered everything from the trunk in the rear to the engine compartement in front in new glossy sand pebble beige. It's the original color the 'Cuda rolled off the assembly line in, back in 1970.The paint code is BL1. Trunk and engine compartement are done in two stage basecoat / clearcoat , the passenger compartement is without clearcoat because everything will be covered there anyway.

Now it's time to start the buildup, K-member, drivetrain, electrics, trim...until then the fenders will get some more tlc and then the body will be completed and finished outside as well.

Seam sealer

After the summer holiday closure, the paint shop is back in business and continued the work on the 'Cuda. Most of the seam sealer is now on the car, over nine kilos of the stuff went between the panels to make sure water and moisture stays out.

The inside of the trunk is ready for the final paint.