1969 barracuda project "ratfish"
I just scooped up a 69 cuda /6 auto from a guy down the road. I noticed it under a tarp in his yard and talked to him about it. He had driven the car from 1972-2007, as a daily driver. He claims to have personally put 500k on the car, changing the engine 15 times. He stopped driving the car after blowing out both upper rear shock mounts and the driver side rear leaf spring mount when going over an under construction railroad crossing too fast. (you can't make this stuff up). Anyway, the car sat for the last 7 years and then it came to me. This car has had a hard life, it has cracks in some pretty crucial places thanks to the previous owner using it as a work truck and hauling hundreds of pounds of tools and lawnmowers in it daily. (again, not making this stuff up). The car is in bad shape, basically parts car status. But I see it as a perfect ratrod platform. I was able to sweettalk the guy into throwing in a ton of extra parts in with the car, i have a complete 67 and 69 front clip and hoods, two extra fenders, a drivers door, extra gauge cluster, 3 steering wheels, 3 bumpers, v8 k-member and motor mounts, & misc. engine parts. Not a bad start considering the car is complete minus the headliner! My plans are to pull a good running 360/904 combo from a van or motorhome and drop them in and go cruising, cosmetically it will remain rat status, at least for a while. I am going to expose as much original paint as possible and fake the original finish on the front end of the car that has been replaced (sorry patina purists). I work a lot so this will be a slow project, but i promise to keep posting pics when i make progress. Step 1: get the doors, trunk, and hood to open and close properly....a bigger job than you might expect as you will see from my pics to come
I just scooped up a 69 cuda /6 auto from a guy down the road. I noticed it under a tarp in his yard and talked to him about it. He had driven the car from 1972-2007, as a daily driver. He claims to have personally put 500k on the car, changing the engine 15 times. He stopped driving the car after blowing out both upper rear shock mounts and the driver side rear leaf spring mount when going over an under construction railroad crossing too fast. (you can't make this stuff up). Anyway, the car sat for the last 7 years and then it came to me. This car has had a hard life, it has cracks in some pretty crucial places thanks to the previous owner using it as a work truck and hauling hundreds of pounds of tools and lawnmowers in it daily. (again, not making this stuff up). The car is in bad shape, basically parts car status. But I see it as a perfect ratrod platform. I was able to sweettalk the guy into throwing in a ton of extra parts in with the car, i have a complete 67 and 69 front clip and hoods, two extra fenders, a drivers door, extra gauge cluster, 3 steering wheels, 3 bumpers, v8 k-member and motor mounts, & misc. engine parts. Not a bad start considering the car is complete minus the headliner! My plans are to pull a good running 360/904 combo from a van or motorhome and drop them in and go cruising, cosmetically it will remain rat status, at least for a while. I am going to expose as much original paint as possible and fake the original finish on the front end of the car that has been replaced (sorry patina purists). I work a lot so this will be a slow project, but i promise to keep posting pics when i make progress. Step 1: get the doors, trunk, and hood to open and close properly....a bigger job than you might expect as you will see from my pics to come