The Replacement 2nd Gen Barracuda

[Stumpy]

22 years later, I finally picked up another Barracuda to replace the 69 I had to sell when we bought our house. It is a pretty basic manual everything 1968 318 powered 4-Speed no console with an 8.75 rear. After pretty much finishing the 65 Dart Power Pack 4-Speed I'm ready for another project.

Fender tag decodes to this
CAR: Plymouth Barracuda 2 Door Sports Hardtop
ENGINE: 318cid 2-bbl V8
TRANSMISSION: 4-Speed Manual Floor Shift
TIRES: 6.95x14 White Sidewall
MODEL YEAR: 1968
BUILD DATE: March 05.
AXLE: 3.23 Rear Axle Ratio
INTERIOR: High Trim Grade, Vinyl Bucket Seats. White on Red Interior.
PAINT: Beige (Dodge), Satin Beige (Plymouth), Sandalwood (Chrysler), Imperial Navaho Beige (Imperial).
OTHER: Burgundy Metallic Upper Door Frame Color. Red Horizontal Sport Stripe.

MOLDINGS:
2-5: Drip Rail Mouldings
3-0: Body Belt Mouldings
7-8: Wheel Lip Mouldings

ABC OPTIONS:

abc OPTIONS:
b4: Bucket Seats

Pretty straight and clean body wise, It's been repainted in Burgundy metallic with a 69 stripe and white vinyl painted seats.

Should be a fun project.

 

[69FBCuda]

Nice catch.

 

[pa340dart]

Nice ride Only on the west coast

 

[mopar head]

Project? wish all the projects I bought looked finished like yours. lol

 

[xLURKxDOGx]

Nice ride Only on the west coast

They say……..

 

[tonysrt]

Here on the east coast, if the salt doesn't get you, the sand does. Tires shedding the sand at high speed becomes a sand blaster in the wheel wells.

 

[Icetech]

22 years later, I finally picked up another Barracuda to replace the 69 I had to sell when we bought our house. It is a pretty basic manual everything 1968 318 powered 4-Speed no console with an 8.75 rear. After pretty much finishing the 65 Dart Power Pack 4-Speed I'm ready for another project.

Fender tag decodes to this
CAR: Plymouth Barracuda 2 Door Sports Hardtop
ENGINE: 318cid 2-bbl V8
TRANSMISSION: 4-Speed Manual Floor Shift
TIRES: 6.95x14 White Sidewall
MODEL YEAR: 1968
BUILD DATE: March 05.
AXLE: 3.23 Rear Axle Ratio
INTERIOR: High Trim Grade, Vinyl Bucket Seats. White on Red Interior.
PAINT: Beige (Dodge), Satin Beige (Plymouth), Sandalwood (Chrysler), Imperial Navaho Beige (Imperial).
OTHER: Burgundy Metallic Upper Door Frame Color. Red Horizontal Sport Stripe.

MOLDINGS:
2-5: Drip Rail Mouldings
3-0: Body Belt Mouldings
7-8: Wheel Lip Mouldings

ABC OPTIONS:

abc OPTIONS:
b4: Bucket Seats

Pretty straight and clean body wise, It's been repainted in Burgundy metallic with a 69 stripe and white vinyl painted seats.

Should be a fun project.

View attachment 1716456796View attachment 1716456797View attachment 1716456798

that thing looks great, i would keep it how it is and drive it.. (cept the rims.. .needs ralleys)

 

[memike]

Yes sir!! Congratulations on the hook up on this fine fish.
Love my 66 Sedan for 22 years now, it's an Arkansas thang..

 

[4spdragtop]

Beautiful color!

 

[Stumpy]

Time to start digging into the Barracuda. On the short drive from plucking it off the truck, to the stable, I noticed that the only working gauge in the cluster was the ammeter. Even speedo is out. No dash lights either. Exterior lights good except for right back marker. So out came the dash. The dash electrical is a mess from aftermarket stereo install, aftermarket gauges, crispy ammeter wiring and fried rallye cluster gauges. In other words, the cluster is a cluster**k. Between the original cluster and another 67 Dash I had I think I managed to find a working ammeter and oil pressure gauge and think I can get one of the temp gauges to work. But both fuel gauges are fried beyond repair. To add insult to injury all heater/Def controls were disabled in various ways that I would describe as well... creative.

I want to keep the stock rallye dash so I put in an order for new gauges and harness but many parts are so far backordered I've got no confidence in getting them anytime soon. If anyone has a lead on an intact fuel gauge so I can get the car running, I would appreciate it. I'm intending to convert to external voltage regulator so it could be stock or already converted.

As for the dash harness, I've got to get the car running so I'm going to remove it and unhook all aftermarket connections and patch together a working harness that just runs just the original accessories. The plan is to reinstall a stock roller radio, converted to bluetooth, but for now I'm going to run stereo delete to reduce load on the poor electrical system. Given the crispy ammeter wires, I'll probably end up bypassing the ammeter for now and putting in a shunt system with fusible link. I just need to get this car running. I can worry about making it nice later.

 

[RedFish]

Nice ride There is so much going through my brain right now. Can't recall how many gauges and entire rally panels I renewed in the past. 8 year experience. Can't fully commit to going back there again today. So I ad you to follow and wait. Maybe another source will make you smile. Good luck

 

[Icetech]

Time to start digging into the Barracuda. On the short drive from plucking it off the truck, to the stable, I noticed that the only working gauge in the cluster was the ammeter. Even speedo is out. No dash lights either. Exterior lights good except for right back marker. So out came the dash. The dash electrical is a mess from aftermarket stereo install, aftermarket gauges, crispy ammeter wiring and fried rallye cluster gauges. In other words, the cluster is a cluster**k. Between the original cluster and another 67 Dash I had I think I managed to find a working ammeter and oil pressure gauge and think I can get one of the temp gauges to work. But both fuel gauges are fried beyond repair. To add insult to injury all heater/Def controls were disabled in various ways that I would describe as well... creative.

I want to keep the stock rallye dash so I put in an order for new gauges and harness but many parts are so far backordered I've got no confidence in getting them anytime soon. If anyone has a lead on an intact fuel gauge so I can get the car running, I would appreciate it. I'm intending to convert to external voltage regulator so it could be stock or already converted.

As for the dash harness, I've got to get the car running so I'm going to remove it and unhook all aftermarket connections and patch together a working harness that just runs just the original accessories. The plan is to reinstall a stock roller radio, converted to bluetooth, but for now I'm going to run stereo delete to reduce load on the poor electrical system. Given the crispy ammeter wires, I'll probably end up bypassing the ammeter for now and putting in a shunt system with fusible link. I just need to get this car running. I can worry about making it nice later.

View attachment 1716457797

View attachment 1716457798

View attachment 1716457799

View attachment 1716457800

Eck! that last picture is scary

 

[RedFish]

Eck! that last picture is scary

Don't scare me none ( in a hillbilly tone ). Starting something I can't finish scares me ( somber tone applied ).

 

[Icetech]

Don't scare me none ( in a hillbilly tone ). Starting something I can't finish scares me ( somber tone applied ).

Naw, fixing it isn't scary... how close it was to meltdown is

That is a cool car.. i wish i had found one... When i got my car there was a super clean one for 15k near me... it was just too nice and i would hate myself for changing/ruining it

 

[Stumpy]

The first and second thing I bought for the Barracuda arrived.

 

[mpgmike]

1968 was unique for the following reasons: Lower dash pad, circular side marker lights, back-up lights in the tail panel, vertical slots in the grill, and probably other cool things. When I look at the '67, '68, and '69, I find the 1968 to have many unique attributes that make it my favorite 2nd Gen Barracuda. I know yours currently has '69 stripes, but I beg of you to retain as much of the '68 flavor as you can.

 

[1WildRT]

that thing looks great, i would keep it how it is and drive it.. (cept the rims.. .needs ralleys)

Nope!!! Rallies don't belong on a 68.... And those Centerlines are absolutely the icing on the cake.... Really nice 2nd gen FB.... I like it & honestly a 68 Cuda FB is my #1 choice in A bodies....

 

[1WildRT]

As far as the gauges, A body rally clusters and parts seem to be sort of hard to come by... In the past I've swapped face plates on individual gauges, as long as the travel direction is correct the mechanism/electrical components behind the face plate are interchangeable... Might help you find useable parts...

 

[Stumpy]

1968 was unique for the following reasons: Lower dash pad, circular side marker lights, back-up lights in the tail panel, vertical slots in the grill, and probably other cool things. When I look at the '67, '68, and '69, I find the 1968 to have many unique attributes that make it my favorite 2nd Gen Barracuda. I know yours currently has '69 stripes, but I beg of you to retain as much of the '68 flavor as you can.

The stripes will eventually be coming off. It had the 68 stripes originally. Satin Beige with red stripes from factory. Might put 68 stripes back on it. What I'd like to find is the lower gill trim and spear.

 

[Stumpy]

As far as the gauges, A body rally clusters and parts seem to be sort of hard to come by... In the past I've swapped face plates on individual gauges, as long as the travel direction is correct the mechanism/electrical components behind the face plate are interchangeable... Might help you find useable parts...

I'm currently rebuilding the existing dash. The dash bezel is actually in really nice shape except for the unfortunate cut out for the aftermarket stereo. I've managed to piece together a working set of gauges from the original cluster and parts from a 67 cluster I was given. New circuit boards arrived today. I'm really just waiting on a solution for the fuel gauge. I've got a couple irons in the fire that might pan out.

 

[1WildRT]

I'm currently rebuilding the existing dash. The dash bezel is actually in really nice shape except for the unfortunate cut out for the aftermarket stereo. I've managed to piece together a working set of gauges from the original cluster and parts from a 67 cluster I was given. New circuit boards arrived today. I'm really just waiting on a solution for the fuel gauge. I've got a couple irons in the fire that might pan out.

FWIW you may (or may not) have misunderstood me, I'm referring to the actual gauge face, not the cluster bezel... So you can use a fuel gauge from a 72 New Yorker for example & just swap the gauge face.... Assuming both gauges sweep in the same direction....

So, look at this...

NOS Mopar 1969-73 Fury 1971-73 Polara Monaco Instrument Panel Fuel Gauge | eBay

 

[Stumpy]

Nope!!! Rallies don't belong on a 68.... And those Centerlines are absolutely the icing on the cake.... Really nice 2nd gen FB.... I like it & honestly a 68 Cuda FB is my #1 choice in A bodies....

The Centerlines are SBP too. I've got a set of 14" rallyes but I think I'll keep the centerlines. The front tires are 25+ years old and I don't like the size of the rears because I want to remove the leaf spring straighteners. So new tires are high on the list. I'll probably stagger the tire size but go a little less wide and tall than what's on there now.

Right now the rears are 275/60/15 and the fronts are 235/60/15.

I prefer all the same tire size but since the rears are deep dish I'm thinking 255 or 245/60/15 in rear and 225/60/15 might be a good compromise. Give it a mean stance and keep the rears from rubbing when I lower the butt.

 

[1WildRT]

The Centerlines are SBP too. I've got a set of 14" rallyes but I think I'll keep the centerlines. The front tires are 25+ years old and I don't like the size of the rears because I want to remove the leaf spring straighteners. So new tires are high on the list. I'll probably stagger the tire size but go a little less wide and tall than what's on there now.

Right now the rears are 275/60/15 and the fronts are 235/60/15.

I prefer all the same tire size but since the rears are deep dish I'm thinking 255 or 245/60/15 in rear and 225/60/15 might be a good compromise. Give it a mean stance and keep the rears from rubbing when I lower the butt.

Back in the day I had a buddy with a black 69 Formula S 340 Cuda that every couple months he would clean his brushed Centerlines with Tide detergent... He would get his wheel brush a little damp & dip it into a box of powdered Tide & brush his wheels with it.... The Tide was just chemically hot enough to lightly etch the raw aluminum leaving them looking like the day they were installed...

 

[Stumpy]

FWIW you may (or may not) have misunderstood me, I'm referring to the actual gauge face, not the cluster bezel... So you can use a fuel gauge from a 72 New Yorker for example & just swap the gauge face.... Assuming both gauges sweep in the same direction....

So, look at this...

NOS Mopar 1969-73 Fury 1971-73 Polara Monaco Instrument Panel Fuel Gauge | eBay

I did not know that. That gauge is a two pin so I'm assuming you just have to get 12V to an external voltage limiter and feed 5V to one pin and sender to other. I'd have to also modify how the faceplate connects but that looks doable. If these fuel gauge leads don't work out that is definitely a possibility.

 

[Stumpy]

While I'm waiting on gauges I cleaned up the dash bezel and reattached the lenses and lens housings. A couple lenses were just rattling inside the dash. The bezel is really nice. A damn shame they cut it up for an aftermarket stereo. I might try to do plastic repair on it sometime in the future but for now I'm focusing on just getting the car running.