1968 Barracuda - Let it begin (the last build!)

-

MrJLR

Built, not bought
FABO Gold Member
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
5,619
Reaction score
6,711
Location
Menifee, California
I waited until after yesterday's car show, which was absolutely awesome, to start this.

I'm 54 with a bad back and can't keep wrenching forever.....so I'm rebuilding the Barracuda 100% completely to drive the piss out of it for the rest of my life!

By 100% I mean:
Engine
Transmission
Wheels and tires
4 wheel disk brakes
Altercation suspension (almost certainly)
Sub-Frame Connectors
Paint and body
Interior

I'm building it into a great DRIVER.....I want gobs of power, excellent braking, and handling like it's on rails.
Money is there to do this and if I don't do this now I'll regret it forever.
I have some very clear and written in stone ideas for the car that I promise not everyone will agree on. But it's my car, my vision and my dream.

First, let me get this out of the way.....the color.
image000001-4-1.jpg


4.jpg


Yes, it's going GREEN.
I know it's a beautiful color already right now....and I know some will object to another green mopar.
Since I was a little kid I always fantasized of having a green Cuda. This is my chance and I'm going for it.
Trust me, it'll be beautiful.

Engine will be a 318/392 stroker, roller cam, aluminum heads, and fuel injection.
I'm hoping to work with RRR @RustyRatRod on picking the components etc because frankly I trust his opinion. ..along with input from all of you - I never close my ears to ideas.

Gotta have an overdrive of some sort for nice long drives.
MUST have butt-kicking AC! LOL....couldn't care less about the stereo.
The interior is the business end of the experience. ...like I said, bad back, so it's gotta be very comfortable and look great as well.

I'm not 100% on the altercation suspension but it has to handle, steer and stop as close to a modern car as possible.

I work a lot....a LOT....so I only really have weekends to work on this.....
The only things I'll farm out is the machine work on the engine and the paint and body work. I'll do everything else.

So, I have a great little running and driving car out there in the garage....kinda wondering where to start...
Tear it apart and get the body out for paint and get the engine out for machining is sorta what I'm thinking. .

Thoughts and comments are ABSOLUTELY welcome!

This is gonna be fun!!

Jeff
 
Last edited:
That's a helluva green! lol I like green.
 
Sounds like a lot of fun, and a lot of work ahead of you! RRR won't steer you wrong.
Who cares what other people think, it's your car to do as you wish and you have the opportunity and resources to do it.
Is your car currently a factory color?
I have a 68 fastback that is UU1 (frost blue metallic) with a repaint, and I don't think it's quite the right color.
Debating on original color after body work, or I am really leaning towards pearl white as an option since the interior is all blue as well.
 
Good for you!! Great plan! Best to do before we get too old and decrepit, lol. I thought about doing a complete rebuild also, but I'm concerned that it will drag on.

Keep chipping away at it every weekend and you'll get there!

RRR is great putting together the components for a string engine. He helped me with choosing cam and rockers for my 5.9 and it's a beast !!
 
I want to add that I 100% know I'll be putting far more money into this than it'll be worth...don't care.
Money is not an issue on this BUT I sure don't want to be foolish with my money either. I did not win the lottery.

I expect to put 40k to 50k in this.....but 40k sounds a lot better!

Jeff
 
Oh no not green. But that's okay.

If ya go with the AlterKtion, or any thing, I like to mock everything up. Build it as normal and then take it apart for paint. I'd say get all your parts, or most of the parts on hand first. :)
 
With an overdrive, you might be tempted to run big number rear gears, and when you do that, the combo is likely to break loose even 295s in mid-turn, and when that happens, you gotta be fast, or around she will go. It really sucks when that happens in traffic. So far, I've been out front far enough that no one has plastered me; and I only have a 367 with 3.55s.
So I can't stress this enough, there are no street 15s that are any good but in a straight line.
You might at least think about back-halving your fish, with tubs, and sticky tires, cuz
a well-engineered stroker is gonna fry 295/50-15s, probably out to past the speed limit, probably anywhere in America.
 
Oh no not green. But that's okay.

If ya go with the AlterKtion, or any thing, I like to mock everything up. Build it as normal and then take it apart for paint. I'd say get all your parts, or most of the parts on hand first. :)
I kinda thought about that too....
 
With an overdrive, you might be tempted to run big number rear gears, and when you do that, the combo is likely to break loose even 295s in mid-turn, and when that happens, you gotta be fast, or around she will go. It really sucks when that happens in traffic. So far, I've been out front far enough that no one has plastered me; and I only have a 367 with 3.55s.
So I can't stress this enough, there are no street 15s that are any good but in a straight line.
You might at least think about back-halving your fish, with tubs, and sticky tires, cuz
a well-engineered stroker is gonna fry 295/50-15s, probably out to past the speed limit, probably anywhere in America.
Well, I was thinking some big sticky tires on Crager 17" 5 spokes....
But it needs to look right on the car...
 
Last edited:
I waited until after yesterday's car show, which was absolutely awesome, to start this.

I'm 54 with a bad back and can't keep wrenching forever.....so I'm rebuilding the Barracuda 100% completely to drive the piss out of it for the rest of my life!

By 100% I mean:
Engine
Transmission
Wheels and tires
4 wheel disk brakes
Altercation suspension (almost certainly)
Paint and body
Interior

I'm building it into a great DRIVER.....I want gobs of power, excellent braking, and handling like it's on rails.
Money is there to do this and if I don't do this now I'll regret it forever.
I have some very clear and written in stone ideas for the car that I promise not everyone will agree on. But it's my car, my vision and my dream.

First, let me get this out of the way.....the color.
View attachment 1715728334

View attachment 1715728335

Yes, it's going GREEN.
I know it's a beautiful color already right now....and I know some will object to another green mopar.
Since I was a little kid I always fantasized of having a green Cuda. This is my chance and I'm going for it.
Trust me, it'll be beautiful.

Engine will be a 318/392 stroker, roller cam, aluminum heads, and fuel injection.
I'm hoping to work with RRR @RustyRatRod on picking the components etc because frankly I trust his opinion. ..along with input from all of you - I never close my ears to ideas.

Gotta have an overdrive of some sort for nice long drives.
MUST have butt-kicking AC! LOL....couldn't care less about the stereo.
The interior is the business end of the experience. ...like I said, bad back, so it's gotta be very comfortable and look great as well.

I'm not 100% on the altercation suspension but it has to handle, steer and stop as close to a modern car as possible.

I work a lot....a LOT....so I only really have weekends to work on this.....
The only things I'll farm out is the machine work on the engine and the paint and body work. I'll do everything else.

So, I have a great little running and driving car out there in the garage....kinda wondering where to start...
Tear it apart and get the body out for paint and get the engine out for machining is sorta what I'm thinking. .

Thoughts and comments are ABSOLUTELY welcome!

This is gonna be fun!!

Jeff
Looks pretty nice the way it is. You talking about a rotisserie job?
 
I'm going to have a laundry list of questions. ....especially about the order in which to attack this....
I suppose I should get the sub-frame connectors installed before paint of course.....and for that the interior needs to come out....

There will be questions. ...lots and lots of questions!

Jeff
 
If it was me;
I'd do all the mechanicals first, and then drive it for a few months to iron out the kinks. Like you know; overheating, failed electrics, lousy alignments, bigger tires two or three times, and finally back-half/tubbing it, etc. There is a chance that the engine will be in and out a few times before you get it all fitted. And the trans or convertor is almost guaranteed to not be exactly what you want, so it may have to come down a time or two. Depending on so many things, the first chosen rear gears may be wrong. The rear end may have to be narrowed,etc. The list goes on and on.
In all your testing, you may crash the car! Or someone might crash into you!
So IMO,
I would do all the mechanicals one winter,
then spend the following summer dialing it in.
Then do the bodywork and any welding the next winter.
Then whatever mods you didn't get finished, during the second summer. Like spoilers,scoops, fresh-air ducting, and such.
Then the third winter, after you got it all dialed in, then blow it all apart for paint and a new windshield, and spend the rest of the winter carefully putting it all back together.
That's about how I'd tackle it. This way your waaaaaaay pricey paintjob has the best chance to survive.
PS
I was ~44 when the bug bit, but because of both budget and time restraints,lol, the car didn't hit the road until about 2.5/3 years later.. I then spent about 4 summers ironing out the kinks.

Happy HotRodding,
 
Last edited:
The supply chain may be a challenge right now?? Maybe get a wish list of parts. With each part get a couple of suppliers? Contact them about lead time.
Also maybe talk to paint n body/resto shop to see what they offer as advice?
Good luck!
 
-
Back
Top