Interior Trim

I started working on some interior pieces. They go around the rear window and over the side windows, from the top of the A-pillar back. They are made of metal and have a structure, or grain on the outside, as if to imitate leather or something like that. The parts around the rear were quite rusty, as the 'Cuda rusted from the inside out and from the rear to the front...

I had the parts media blasted to remove the rust and then I sprayed them with primer so the bare metal wouldn't rust again.

The pieces are now in gray primer, they will later be sprayed in red, to match the seats, the headliner, the carpet, the dash..everything really!

Unfortunately one of the rear pieces was rotted beyond repair. I don't know if the guy at the blasting gun was too motivated in removing the rust or if it couldn't have been done any better, anyway the piece that goes under the rear window now has quite a few holes in it. I decided to prime it, although I will be looking for a replacement.

Engine building

Here's the preliminary mockup of the right side engine valvetrain. It's assembled without gaskets just to see if everything will fit properly. Actually, there was an issue with the pushrods, the ones I ordered were too long, obviously made for engines without hydraulic lifters.

The rockers are 1to1.6 roller tip type.
We also checked the valvecover for proper fit over the rocker arms and even though it doesn't look like it, they clear well.

Pic of the wrong pushrods and the new ones in the right length.

Now I'm waiting for new pistons to beginn building the engine from the bottom up!

hot seat

Got the front seats back from the shop. Did a great job pulling the new covers from legendary interiors nice and tight. The seats will be a little more firm due to additional bracing underneath...

Seatframe

I got the frame for the rear seat back from sandblasting and powder coating. This is the kind of low profile part that you will never see agian once the interior is put back together but I would't want to know it even a little rusty back there in the car. The frames, seat and seatback, looked quite bad as you can see in the "before" picture, but luckily the rust was only superficial. Now that the frames are prepared in glossy black, they can move on to recieve a new foam core. The seats will be made a little firmer than original, via some extra webbing under the foam -
and then it's on to the new vinyl covers!

Wheels

Not that I'm ready to set this thing on its wheels yet but when the time comes I want to be ready :-)

So I got started on the rims for the 'Cuda. This is the type of wheel that was widely used by the racecars of the trans-am series in the late sixties and early seventies. There are a lot of pics out in the net of the Cudas, Challengers and Camaros with wheels like these ringing it out an places like Laguna Seca, Mid America and Lime Rock. I bought these particular rims off a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang used for vintage racing - so they are FIA approved and will take a beating before they break apart. Th wheels were media blasted and prepped for paint. (Luckily ford and mopar share the same bolt circle and the offset fits as well) A good tight fit in the wheelwells!

I have the offer to have the outer lips polished, I think I'll have that done and just paint the inside of the wheel.

Manual labor

Got the original mopar service manual by mail. Hopefully it will enable me to put everything back together, now that the whole car is torn apart to the max. Some of the pics and diagrams should enhance my memory of how everything was before being disassembled, others still seem rather confusing. Hope for the best.

Cool Aid

I've got everything together for cooling the engine. Well, everything exept anti-freeze and a few clamps. The Radiator is the original piece, redone with more cores for better performance and repainted original black. It's not painted very well, even though having it done was quite expensive - I could have bought two reproduction pieces for the same money...The fan shroud and radiator hoses are new pieces I got from year one.

The little white hose from the filler neck to the bottom of the radiator will also have to be renewed, will check if I can get a piece with the right dimension at a local hard ware store...