another so cal newbie

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'65 S

Active Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
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Location
Long Beach, Ca
Hi, been checking out this site for a while, figured now that I got the car home I'd sign up.
I grew up next-door to my uncle in Lakewood Ca, he was about 10 years older than me and the year he graduated high school, he bought a new 1965 Barracuda formula S. Thought it was one of the coolest cars ever. I have great memories of that car including the rides I'd get while he was in 'Nam and his mom would drive it once a week to keep everything happy.
My uncle, Rick, passed away suddenly this last February and I was surprised that the 'cuda was going to me. I figured it'd go to one of his daughters but they wanted me to have it. The car is all original, 29,000 original miles on the ticker but has been sitting since 1982. He had squirreled away a ton of parts as well, extra 4 speed trans, engine and rear end out of a '66 barracuda plus the front disc brakes. Rear window, all the side glass and stuff like that. I'm not a Mopar guy, a car guy yes, but this is the only Mopar I ever wanted. So, I guess I AM a Mopar guy now. Been learning a lot from this site over the last 6 or 7 months.
Not going to start on the car until I get a few non car projects out of the way but wanted to check in and say hello.
Few pics, that's me in the flower bed pulling weeds with the '65 just in the shot. Front view from the same day in '67. These were in an album he kept full of pics his mom sent him while he was in 'Nam. Also a few shots from last Saturday when I was able to move the car.
Still has the license plate frames on it from a long out of business Plymouth dealer that was near our house.

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Cool car, great story. Welcome from NW Ohio. You will have fun working on it with all of the family memories attached!
 
Welcome to FABO, '65 S!
Congrats! Great story. I grew up in Montebello and my wife grew up in the South Gate area, we currently live in North OC.
Your Barracuda looks to be in great shape and should be a fairly easy build. What are your plans? Restoration or restomod?
Our Inland Mopars Car Club's 20th annual charity-benefit all-Mopar car and truck car show is May 17, 2020, at California School for the Deaf in Riverside. I hope you'll be able to come on out, with or without the Barracuda, and take a look at some great Mopars.
Post any questions you may have about your Barracuda here on FABO. Lots of knowledge to help you solve any issues the car may have.
 
Welcome and congratulations for getting that time capsule. If you decide to start a restoration or any work, take lots of photos, not just for yourself, but as a reference for others who would value the originality of your car.
 
Welcome and congratulations for getting that time capsule. If you decide to start a restoration or any work, take lots of photos, not just for yourself, but as a reference for others who would value the originality of your car.

Thanks and I was thinking the same thing. I don't know how many original '65's are out there but this one is a great example of a factory car except for the 2 speakers install behind the rear seat. I'll take lots of pictures long the way.
Rick put the Cragars on in '66 and put the original wheels and hubcaps in the Cragar boxes. Hubcaps are almost mint and except for the scratches from the clips the wheels are in amazing shape too. paint looks like new. I was hoping to save the boxes but a family of mice set up housekeeping in one of them and the other barely made it home before falling apart. I did manage to keep the best side of that box and am going to frame it.
I noticed on another A body site that they have measured and saved for future reference the width of the strips down the center. Mine is different than what they have. I didn't know that the stripe was a dealer applied option, that's what it said on the site, but I'll save the measurements for that as well. Someone might be interested?
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Welcome to FABO, '65 S!
Congrats! Great story. I grew up in Montebello and my wife grew up in the South Gate area, we currently live in North OC.
Your Barracuda looks to be in great shape and should be a fairly easy build. What are your plans? Restoration or restomod?
Our Inland Mopars Car Club's 20th annual charity-benefit all-Mopar car and truck car show is May 17, 2020, at California School for the Deaf in Riverside. I hope you'll be able to come on out, with or without the Barracuda, and take a look at some great Mopars.
Post any questions you may have about your Barracuda here on FABO. Lots of knowledge to help you solve any issues the car may have.

Thank you. I'm going to put it back almost original. I'll probably use the sure grip rear end and the front disc's he saved from a wrecked '66 S. Although original the naugahyde on the seats is hard as a rock and the carpet is almost white under the rear window. But it'll be silver w/ black stripe and black interior. Maybe air, the older I get, I gotta have air.
 
Welcome to FABO, '65 S!
Congrats! Great story. I grew up in Montebello and my wife grew up in the South Gate area, we currently live in North OC.
Your Barracuda looks to be in great shape and should be a fairly easy build. What are your plans? Restoration or restomod?
Our Inland Mopars Car Club's 20th annual charity-benefit all-Mopar car and truck car show is May 17, 2020, at California School for the Deaf in Riverside. I hope you'll be able to come on out, with or without the Barracuda, and take a look at some great Mopars.
Post any questions you may have about your Barracuda here on FABO. Lots of knowledge to help you solve any issues the car may have.

Thanks oc, I put that show on my calendar.
My dad grew up in Hollydale, only someone from Southgate like your wife will have heard of it.
 
My dad grew up in Hollydale, only someone from Southgate like your wife will have heard of it.

I've heard her mention Hollydale many times. Where abouts (street) and what years?
 
I've heard her mention Hollydale many times. Where abouts (street) and what years?

They lived on Taft, about 4 houses East of Garfield and a few blocks South of Gardendale. My grandpa bought in the mid 40's when it was new and sold and in the mid 60s, right after the Watts riots. Dad left home in '52 to join the marines at 16.
 
They lived on Taft, about 4 houses East of Garfield and a few blocks South of Gardendale. My grandpa bought in the mid 40's when it was new and sold and in the mid 60s, right after the Watts riots. Dad left home in '52 to join the marines at 16.

Small world. My wife grew up on Karmont, a couple of blocks north of Imperial Hwy. Just west of Los Amigos golf course. She remembers watching the smoke from the Watts riots from their yard.
 
Small world. My wife grew up on Karmont, a couple of blocks north of Imperial Hwy. Just west of Los Amigos golf course. She remembers watching the smoke from the Watts riots from their yard.

There's an alley that parallels Garfield in dad's old neighborhood, one or 2 house's off Garfield, and I can vividly remember going with dad to check on my grandpa during the riots and across the street the house on the alley had sandbags on the roof facing Garfield. The neighbors and my grandpa, armed, were taking turns holding watch up on that roof in case the riots made it that far. My grandpa was younger than I am now. lol
 
Every hot Rodger had an uncle Rick,but not every uncle Rick leaves us a hot rod.
God bless your uncle Rick and your cousins for leaving it to you and now your responsibility is to keep the torch burning.
Good vibes.
 
Great car! Is there any possibility of saving/ touching up the original paint? I know everyone wants shiny paint but there’s a lot of history that original cars like yours can tell.
 
Great car! Is there any possibility of saving/ touching up the original paint? I know everyone wants shiny paint but there’s a lot of history that original cars like yours can tell.

There's not much original paint left, the right side door and rear 1/4 have primer on them, I remember he got dinged in the 1/4 back in the 60s but don't know about the door. Almost all the paint is gone on the top, hood and trunk. I'm thinking of putting it as close as I can to when I was a kid.
 
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