Left for Dead 68 Barracuda Buildup

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ssba

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I have been around the site for awhile now but have withheld
posting pictures of my A-bodies. Well today I will put one up
here for all to see as embarrassing as it may be.
This story actually began back in January of 02. I had repaired the cover
on a Ford truck seat for a guy that had dropped it off at my shop. He needed
me to deliver it back to his place when the work was finished so I got his name
and directions to his place. Couple hours later I'm pulling in his drive and
I can see all sorts of left for dead cars and trucks taking up a good portion
of his side and back yard that was really just a pasture. Didn't pay much attention
to the old junks that were scattered around till I spotted her. I thought to myself
that's a barracuda. It had no fender,hood or front header panel and was buried
In weeds or brush so it wasn't easy to ID from the truck. I drove around to the back
where the truck was sitting that got the seat repair and as I was unloading the seat
the owner of the property came over to lend a hand. I asked the guy what his plans
were for the barracuda. He smiled and said I'm trading it for a seat repair. I said its a
deal.
So I now have a barracuda I haven't even looked at or even know what year it is.
I knew I had about 30.00 in supplies to repair the seat and a hour and a half labor.
We get the seat back in his truck and I go over to look at my new to me car.
Here's what I see.
 

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Well to begin with its a 1968 barracuda lol. Has seen better days and maybe will again! The small round side marker lights tell you its a 68 and 67's had no side lights and 69's have rectangular side marker lights. So whats your plans with this car? Mine is a 68 also.
 

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I have drove all nite for worse than that!!!Nice roof!!!
 
Well the first thing I notice is its a 68 fastback. Visions of a monster 426 Hemi
Immediately came to mind. Its gonna need some fiberglass fenders and hood.
I clicked a few pictures and seen it was sunk in the ground. I also seen it had some
high back seats from a ford of some kind in it those got to go.
The old guy hands me the end of a chain and I wrap it around the K-frame. He gives
it a tug with his truck and the mice start pouring out of the rust holes in the lower quarters
like a waterfall. I was in disbelief and even more disbelief every second more it continued.
The car leaped up out of the ground and the mice stopped flowing and left to build their condos
elsewhere. As he pulled the car up to the driveway the hopping off the flat side of the tires
Was enough to serve eviction to the last of the holdouts.
 
So my plans are to build this as a vintage drag car. A/MP in about 1973-74.
I seen the late Ken Montgomery run his barracuda as a kid and I always
wanted to drive that car. Well the chances of me owning and driving Kens
Barracuda are not good so this car will have to do the trick for me.
 
That was a good deal!! Even if you decide to part it, just that rear window chrome will make you profit for your seat repair!!

What's the vin#.....5th digit for original engine size.
 
I had to go look.
BH29B8BXxxxxx
Not sure what that translates to due to the motor was long gone.
Here is a photo of the inspiration for this build. Of course I would never copy another
mans car so my plan is to build it as if it was to run in the same A/MP class.
 

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First thing I did when I got it back to the shop was toss out the ford bucket
seats. I stripped the entire interior out to clean up the king size mouse house.
They had set up home in the spare tire well. I removed the driver front fender
and removed all the undercoating from the front inner fender.
 
If I ever get my Dart done and decide to get another project one of those is what I would want....no notch would have to be fastback.
 
First purchase for the car is the rear wheels. 15" x 12"wide Ansen Sprints.
They will need some polishing.
 

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A good look over shows the car was originally from Texas. It has been here
in Indiana long enough for the road salt to get to the lower rear quarters and
trunk extensions. The dents are many and the mouse condo took out the spare
tire well. It had a transmission mount issue that was neglected long enough to
beat the driveshaft tunnel pretty good. I cut out the rusted spare tire well and will have
a few small holes to patch in front floor pan. Pictures of driveshaft beating and cut
out rusted spare tire well
 

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The VIN says it's a high price class, /6 car.

Very cool build idea, love the rear wheels you bought for it.

Sounds about right, It did have factory air-conditioning .
really hard to tell what else it may have had at one time.
This sat in a salvage yard and got picked apart pretty good.
Has a auto on the column shifter. No bucket seat plates in floor.
Light metalic green color with black interior. Could have been
pretty new. Sure had a hard life. My body and fender skills will be tuned
in well by the time I make it around this one.
 
If I ever get my Dart done and decide to get another project one of those is what I would want....no notch would have to be fastback.

Yes when I saw this junker it was luv at first sight. The fastback really seals the deal
for me. I have several mopars and have had some nice ones over the years but this
one is by far my favorite. I let go of my E-body Cuda to help finance this build and have
no regrets.
Keep your eyes open and one will come your way. They don't have to be expensive
to enjoy them.
 
I have picked up a couple old NHRA rule books to help me along the way
with my project of getting it into 1973-74 race ready condition.
The A/MP class has a 7.00 to 7.99 lbs. per cubic inch rule. No ballast allowed.
My engine choice is a 426 Hemi.
Fiberglass body panels are only allowed if installed as original equiptment.
Full interior must be retained to factory specifications.
A roll bar is required.
Full safety glass must be retained and mechanisms must be stock and fully operative.
Must use stock type rear axel. limited slip or spools permitted.
Manual or automatic transmission in stock location
Engine must be standard production model for the same make of car.
Two 4 barrels maximum. fuel injection not allowed.
Any modifications can be made to engine or components. Engine must
be in stock location. Open headers permitted but not to exceed 4" outlets.
Rear fenders may be radiuses no more than 2" vertical clearance and must be re-rolled.
Tire tread and wheel rim must be inside of stock body. No flairing or bulging fenders.
No stock cast iron flywheels. Explosion resistant units required sema 6-1
Stock type fuel tank must be used.
Unibody frame connectors permitted.
Carburetors must be covered by a scoop which is part of the cars hood. No tilt front ends.
Helmets and safety belts required.
Street equiptment required. Fan, generator, lights and water pump. Horn, windshield, wipers,
wiper motors. Outside rear view mirror and hand brake optional.
Required stock dashboard including instruments and wireing. Stock firewall.
Stock bumpers required. No push starts allowed.

That covers most of what is allowed and what is not. The 68 super stock barracudas fit well
in this class and was a natural evolution when they became outdated by year designation
rule in pro stock of two years maximum.
I will be posting up pictures of the parts I collect and plan to use to get my car within the weight class posted above.
 

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So to build this car it is like a project within a project.
The starting point of a great A/MP is a SS/B.
Of course the car you see above pulled from the pasture
is far from being a SS/B.
Taking this into account I should make a list but I am not really that
organized. What I have to do is get my car as close to a Hurst Super Stocker
as I can. I will have to make good use of the special and lightweight parts Chrysler
engineered that gives this particular body choice and year its advantage.
Mopar went way out there this time building the 68 SS/B and because of this some crazyness
now becomes legal in the A/MP class.
The 426 Hemi is now legal in this year barracuda and dart.
Lightweight seats and no rear seat becomes legal.
Thin lightweight glass without regulators is now legal
Fiberglass fenders and hood and acid dipped doors is now legal
Thinner bumpers are also legal.
The Dana 60 axle also became legal in these cars.
There are more modifications done to the SS/B cars but these are the
ones that give this year A-body the edge over any car that didn't come equipped
as such from the factory in A/MP.
 
Second item bought for project is the front wheels. These are ansens also
and are 15"x 4". They have Mickey Thompson sportsman's mounted on them now.
I will use them to hold the car up but will eventually find a square corner
bias ply that has a more suitable look for 1973. These will clean up very nice.
I don't know why but it seems I always buy the wheels first when starting
with a new project.
 

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The car had no face when I got it so I tracked down a complete header panel.
It is pretty nice and will only need detail polishing and fresh paint to get
It up to snuff. The clear lenses have some crazing in them so I will change
them out while I'm cleaning it all up. I will post all of this as I get closer to
fitting them to car
The other grill is for a street car build I have going on.
1 for the track & 1 for the street.

View attachment IMG_20141022_062453_254-1.jpg
 
Can't wait to see more updates, i love these cars.
I love the mouse hotel story, maybe keep it in mind to paint on the side of the car when finished!
 
So to build this car it is like a project within a project.
The starting point of a great A/MP is a SS/B.
Of course the car you see above pulled from the pasture
is far from being a SS/B.
Taking this into account I should make a list but I am not really that
organized. What I have to do is get my car as close to a Hurst Super Stocker
as I can. I will have to make good use of the special and lightweight parts Chrysler
engineered that gives this particular body choice and year its advantage.
Mopar went way out there this time building the 68 SS/B and because of this some crazyness
now becomes legal in the A/MP class.
The 426 Hemi is now legal in this year barracuda and dart.
Lightweight seats and no rear seat becomes legal.
Thin lightweight glass without regulators is now legal
Fiberglass fenders and hood and acid dipped doors is now legal
Thinner bumpers are also legal.

The Dana 60 axle also became legal in these cars.
There are more modifications done to the SS/B cars but these are the
ones that give this year A-body the edge over any car that didn't come equipped
as such from the factory in A/MP.

I´am going to follow this thread very carefully... If you know what I mean :)
 
Since 2002 when I obtained this car I have finally collected most of the
vintage parts to have enough to do a decent mock up assembly.
It has been 14 years worth of research and tracking down impossible
to find parts all done on a small piece at a time budget.
So you will get to see in pictures the good and bad of what I go thru
to fit this collection of parts into the chassis. This will be in real time
as I have time to work on it so it may drag a bit. I only get to work on it
as my job as a upholstery shop owner allows.
This will be the first fitting so anything can and likely will happen as these
cars are known for having very close tolerances and header fit issues.
This is not going to be a fresh rotisserie painted chassis and hand
buffed with a diaper type deal. You seen the the car above and it is
still for the most part the same. Less mice and weeds. When all is fit and well
with all the welding done then I will take it down and make it pretty.
So follow along if you dare and see how the poor guy living on the south side of the
tracks puts a vintage tunnel rammed twin plug race Hemi in a beat to hell barracuda A-body.
The old school cool way. This is Mopar Mad Max territory were treading here. Should be fun.
I believe Bob Tarozzi deserves a mention here as he truly is the guy that engineered
this combination Hemi and A-body for us to copy today.
 
This is Mopar Mad Max territory were treading here. Should be fun.
I believe Bob Tarozzi deserves a mention here as he truly is the guy that engineered
this combination Hemi and A-body for us to copy today.

this is the reason i am following this thread. :happy1:
 
I believe every A body should be saved and I am partial to the 68 Barracuda because I have one. I salute you for saving this one. I can only see it as it is done, not the rust...

"Parts Car"...not in my vocabulary
 
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