Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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so you **** your pants, so what.
As they say, "**** happens".
medication can be a pain in the *** or the *****. either way **** happens. at least the Jahova witness won't be knocking on your door any time soon. If they do, tell them to eat ****.
 
ariffle said:
so you **** your pants, so what.
As they say, "**** happens".
medication can be a pain in the *** or the *****. either way **** happens. at least the Jahova witness won't be knocking on your door any time soon. If they do, tell them to eat ****.
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noooooooo comment !
 
ariffle said:
so you **** your pants, so what.
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ariffle said:
As they say, "**** happens".
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I know it's not the end of the world and I realize it's happened to others. But at the end of the day if I can say to myself 'at least I made someone else out there gag a little or put a look of disgust on their face' - then maybe, - just maybe it will brighten my day.

ariffle said:
at least the Jahova witness won't be knocking on your door any time soon. If they do, tell them to eat ****.
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With the dress clothing they must have been Jehovahs and I guess they won't be coming back. First time I ever saw them carrying balloons though...
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I HATE putting that plastic mock block in by myself. After the one motor mount bolt insert started spinning I've been trying to be extra cautious but it's a pain guiding the assembly in without dragging the tailshaft on the ground or gouging the block. Obviously it's do-able because I've done it a few times already but one of these times I may end up telling my son the $500 he paid for that chunk of plastic is busted.

It's back in the car and I've bolted the driveshaft loop to the cross-member. The alignment doesn't seem to be too far off. I'll have to tweak it a little before final welding to get it better centered.

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One thing I noticed is that it's not mounted as rigidly as it did with the stock configuration. To avoid having this thing bouncing up & down against the floor it has to be better. I think I can solve the problem with a third mounting bolt added into the center.

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69_340_GTS said:
I'd use the two bolts that go to the tranny mount. Make a little L-bracket. That'll tie everything together.
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I've got just enough room to put a hole in between the two bolts that attach to the transmission bushing. If I drill large enough I thought I'd weld a tube through it that sticks out far enough to mate with the hoop mount. I should be able to use a 1/2" bolt - at least a 7/16" anyway. I don't think I'd be experiencing any flex except that the thinner sections of the loop mount aren't as strong as I'd hoped. I suppose I could add a lip around the edge that would add strength...
 
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1967 'cuda said:
I've got just enough room to put a hole in between the two bolts that attach to the transmission bushing. If I drill large enough I thought I'd weld a tube through it that sticks out far enough to mate with the hoop mount. I should be able to use a 1/2" bolt - at least a 7/16" anyway. I don't think I'd be experiencing any flex except that the thinner sections of the loop mount aren't as strong as I'd hoped. I suppose I could add a lip around the edge that would add strength...
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there used to be a guy up there in cornhusker land that sold those in alum., on the internet, along w/ alum. heads and stuff. I bought a set of alum. heads and valve train off him. the heads are pretty decent, w/ a few parts changed. the rockerarms were bad upon arrival, and he wouldn`t stand behind them !
 
1967 'cuda said:
Hopefully you won't buy them from the same company I did. The place I ordered mine from doesn't always ship you the same ones. They act as a middle man for a number of manufacturers and it's a crap shoot what you'll get. Mine were great but another member ordered from the same place and got really crappy ones. STINGER FIBERGLASS (AAR) made mine and they do make quality parts. My front valance and nose piece are also made by them. I wish I'd have gotten one of their hoods but I thought I'd save some money going with a cheaper brand. My hood's not terrible but the ones they make are sturdier and finished nicer on the bottom side.
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Thanks, I'm looking for some parts for my Duster and I've heard a lot of horror stories.
 
famous bob said:
there used to be a guy up there in cornhusker land that sold those in alum., on the internet, along w/ alum. heads and stuff. I bought a set of alum. heads and valve train off him. the heads are pretty decent, w/ a few parts changed. the rockerarms were bad upon arrival, and he wouldn`t stand behind them !
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I don't know who that would have been. If he wouldn't stand behind the stuff he sold he may be out of business by now. Aluminum might have been a neat way to have gone because of the weight savings and possible good looks. I wonder how well it would have stood up to a twisted off driveshaft though.
 
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lrazor said:
Thanks, I'm looking for some parts for my Duster and I've heard a lot of horror stories.
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I've read the horror stories too. I originally looked for the cheapest (non-race weight) fiberglass parts I could get because my budget was so limited. I got REALLY lucky that the Barracuda fenders were made by STINGER FIBERGLASS (AAR). I had called some of the outlets and asked questions about quality, etc... and was always assured that parts would fit great. After more research I found lots of complaints customers had made though. I don't know if there is another company out there that has a better reputation than STINGER. Their parts may still need some tweaking to get them to gap properly but most people expect that with fiberglass.

Whenever I tell people that my front end is all fiberglass they're surprised. Unless you look at the inside of the panels it's hard to tell. One other giveaway is the lip on the fenderwells. It's wider than factory. My hood (that was made by another manufacturer) isn't up to the same standard. Although it's pretty good - the bottom wasn't finished very nicely and seems almost as flimsy as a race-weight part. I re-glassed the bottom to give it a smoother look and that may have added some more strength into it.

The fiberglass fenders I picked up at a swap meet (for our '68 Charger) were made by VFN. I have to say that they seem pretty nice too. The fit is good and they seem to be as well made as the parts from STINGER. I'm not as familiar with VFN though.

I didn't see Duster fenders listed on either of the two companies' websites but I'd call to see if they do make them if you're interested. At the time I ordered the parts for the Barracuda they didn't show all of those parts online.
 
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1967 'cuda said:

One thing I noticed is that it's not mounted as rigidly as it did with the stock configuration. To avoid having this thing bouncing up & down against the floor it has to be better. I think I can solve the problem with a third mounting bolt added into the center.
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Add a bolt through the hole in the top of the hoop into the floor board.
 
mosleyme said:
Add a bolt through the hole in the top of the hoop into the floor board.
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The hoop didn't come with any instructions. I wondered if that hole in the top of the hoop was meant to be bolted to the floor. I didn't utilize it when I installed the one on the Barracuda. The thought of bolting through the floor had occurred to me but I'm not sure if the hoop won't need to be located lower. Until I get a driveshaft in it'll be something I'll hold off on. It does seem to be a good solution.

The driveshaft is one of those things we've got to start thinking about soon. I know that my son was concerned about strength and had been checking into aluminum, carbon fiber, and other materials. I'm not sure what diameter we'll have yet or what yokes we need.
 
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Today was D-day. I had to go back to the dentist. As always I was nervous going in. They'd said they were going to pull 2 more teeth in preparation for dentures. Knowing that needles were going to be part of the process, my nervousness grew to a sense of dread. I told myself to buck up and keep my cool. After all, I wouldn't want them seeing me crying like a baby (again).

By the time I got to Lincoln I'd calmed myself down. My back was still acting up so I walked into the office hunched over. The sinuses were flaring up too. I had a headache. The day wasn't off to a great start.

By the time it was my turn to go in my head was throbbing. The dentist had a smile on his face. Sure - he wasn't about to have someone stab needles into HIS mouth and then have them yank out 2 of HIS teeth! I doubt I smiled back. I haven't done a lot of smiling since they took my top teeth. I think I still looked calm.

As soon as I was comfortably settled into the chair the dentist proceeds to tell me he's about to pull 6 of my remaining 8 teeth. Now... - wait a minute. I'd been told they were to be pulling 2! I wasn't prepared for 6! The assistant may have noticed a look of sheer terror because she began making small talk and didn't stop until the session was over. Her words may have been an attempt to drown out the sound of any screams. I don't really know what she was going on about. In my head I imagined it was all maniacal laughter.

I kept my eyes closed as much as I could. Every time I opened them I caught a glimpse of another needle. They must have gotten a volume discount on them. By the time he was done I think I had difficulty feeling my toes.

With (almost) enough Novocaine to stop the pain of an Obama speech it didn't take long and it was over. I didn't mind the crunching sound of each tooth as he took them out. With my eyes closed I pictured the dentist wearing a necklace made of my teeth around his neck.

It's 7 hours since I had the teeth pulled and I still can't talk. My jaw feels as if it's broke and my mouth is still filling with blood. I must be quite a sight. - Hunched over, blood constantly trickling from the edge of my mouth, squeezing my head with both hands while moaning...

The only bright side to the day is that I skipped my antibiotic this morning to prevent stomach problems. It might have been pretty disgusting when the dentist told me he was taking 4 extra teeth.

Tomorrow I go back. The specialist that fits the dentures wants to make sure they're right. With any luck I'll be chewing then!
 
1967 'cuda said:
The thought of bolting through the floor had occurred to me but I'm not sure if the hoop won't need to be located lower.
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You can use washers to fill the space between where it needs to be and the tunnel. Just exercise the rear suspension fully to make sure the driveshaft has plenty of clearance.
 
mosleyme said:
You can use washers to fill the space between where it needs to be and the tunnel. Just exercise the rear suspension fully to make sure the driveshaft has plenty of clearance.
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Sounds like a good plan. I could even make myself a spacer welded beneath the floor so I wouldn't have to fumble with washers.
 
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The teeth are in but I'm not the happy camper I thought I'd be. No one told me that I would talk funny. If you've ever put in a set of those fake vampire teeth at Halloween you might recall how difficult it was to talk with them in. - That's what I'm experiencing. It's like I'm Daffy Duck now.



No one said I'd have trouble eating, drinking, swallowing, etc... It also seems that I'm excreting an excessive amount of saliva.
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I figured I'd have a big juicy steak the day I got teeth. HAH! I struggled with crackers first. Then I worked my way up to mac & cheese. It seems as though the majority of my taste buds were in my gums and the roof of my mouth. I can still taste food but 75% of the flavor is gone. I tried to take a swig of pop and gagged on it. If I took smaller sips I did OK.

The dentist tried to assure me that these things were normal and that my tongue was my biggest problem. According to him it will self-adjust to the dentures and life will get closer to normal eventually. He also said that the mouth produces saliva when it senses something foreign in it and that it will probably diminish over time. I sure hope so.
 
I finally got a little done on the cars today. - Not much but a little.

I brought the Barracuda hood in and started getting it ready for repairs. After rigging a stand for it I removed the reflective film I had on it. It was torn from the break and I really wasn't all that thrilled with the way it looked anyway. After peeling it off there was a lot of adhesive residue still stuck on the hood so I used some paint reducer to get it off. The reducer seemed to aggravate my sinuses and made the hood smell like fiberglass resin. I took a break from it and began working on mounts for the Hemi in the funnycar instead. I didn't get much done but it's more than nothing I guess.
 
I know that everyone's been complaining about the heat but I think hell just froze over.

I got back from Grand Island a few minutes ago and I brought the Roadrunner with me! They ran out of gas as they finished it up so I put 5 gallons in that I kept in the back of the truck. The only drive I've taken so far is when I drove it onto the trailer.

It's been so long since I saw the car I was surprised by how many dings it had on it. They were probably there before. The power steering reservoir must have leaked out because it steered like a truck. I was pretty sure all the fluids were topped off when we took it there. That means they must have run it for quite awhile to have gone through a full tank of gas.

After I take a break and make a few calls I'll unload the car, add more fuel, check the other fluids, and take it out for a test drive.
 
I had been under the impression that they were going to tune the car on a dyno but when I asked what numbers they got they said they only have an engine dyno so their tuning was done while driving.

As suspected, the power steering reservoir was dry. The coolant and oil levels were fine. After gassing up I headed a mile outside of town where I could run it through the gears. It's always difficult to quantify changes without a dyno or a drag strip. The best I can do is guess based on feel.

The car starts easy and seems to run OK. I know it's heavier than the Barracuda and has less horsepower so I wasn't expecting to be wowed by how it performed. After a few times down the road I think I was actually disappointed. Like I stated earlier, I'm just speculating on performance. The glitches didn't show up like they had before and it ran respectably. When I tried a hard launch before we were able to light the tires up pretty easily when the car was running good. Now it seems lazy. It comes on strong but my impression was that the revs climbed faster before and that it lacked the peak bottom end power we'd had when we'd tuned it ourselves.

Now maybe my expectations were too high and I am being unfairly critical. - After all, I don't have any hard data to compare. I do know that she used to get a little sideways during a hard launch before on the same pavement. Now it's more tame. I realize the FAST system's computer is supposed to 'learn' as you drive it and the performance should improve but they may have de-tuned it a bit. I need to throw a light on it and see where the timing's at. The distributor's locked out so any changes to advance would have been done with the laptop.

Spence said he'll be back here in August and I think he'll be happy with the overall way the car runs now but I suspect he may want us to do some tweaking of our own.

We were in a bind when we took the car in. I doubt we'd have chased down the faulty MAP sensor and O2 relay. So I am glad they found those and fixed them. I'm still on the fence with my opinion of the tune.
 
1967 'cuda said:
Now it's more tame.
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Sounds like timing from your overall description. But, you now have a base tune / safe place to start. You can save this tune and keep it separate that way if you totally mess something up you can always go back.
 
mosleyme said:
Sounds like timing from your overall description. But, you now have a base tune / safe place to start. You can save this tune and keep it separate that way if you totally mess something up you can always go back.
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Totally agree. I do need to make sure that we save the setup they programmed before we start modifying it. That way we'll know we have a safe point to return to.
 
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I'm still trying to get used to the new chompers. - Left them in most of the day. The extraction sites must be healing because I have less pain now. Still talking funny and having difficulty eating.

This afternoon my buddy Larry stopped by with his '62 Vette. He's had it ever since he got out of the service in 1968. He had quite the reputation back in the day for having fast cars and he still makes sure I'm not the only one the local PD has to keep an eye on. He took me for a spin in it and I have to say it was pretty sweet to ride in.

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I managed to spend most of the day in the garage now that the misery has diminished. - Still feels like I've got a bag of marbles in my mouth though. My attention was back on the funny today. I'm still fabricating mounts and worked on some structural repairs the body needed. Before I called it a night and bagged the motor, I polished the blower intake.

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