1968 Barracuda 383 Big Block torque boxes ?????

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CudaLou

67 Barracuda
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Does anyone own a 68 barracuda fastback 383 car? Im interested in buying one and the car im looking at doesn"t have them. I was under the impression that big block cars and convertibles have them but ive gotten many different opinions. Can anyone positively confirm that they do or dont have them. Thank you. Lou
 
I can positively tell you that my 69 383-s fastback four speed did not come with any torque boxes. I owned the car for over 25 years and had all paperwork including a video when the car was new and have personally spoken to the original owner, so I am positive it was not a rebody. I have spoken to numerous other big block barracuda owners who have had cars without them, or only had rear torque boxes.

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Auto cars should have the rear boxes. Only stick cars or verts got the front boxes as well.

I have seen a well documented 69 440 Auto car ( only way you could get them) that did not have the rear boxes. I question that, but the the car is well documented and has a seal of authenticity from someone.
 
rklein383 said:
I can positively tell you that my 69 383-s fastback four speed did not come with any torque boxes. I owned the car for over 25 years and had all paperwork including a video when the car was new and have personally spoken to the original owner, so I am positive it was not a rebody. I have spoken to numerous other big barracuda owners who have had cars without them, or only had rear torque boxes.

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Very surprised, I have had mine since 1984 and my early 69 383 Auto has rear boxes.
 
1969383S said:
Auto cars should have the rear boxes. Only stick cars or verts got the front boxes as well.

I have seen a well documented 69 440 Auto car ( only way you could get them) that did not have the rear boxes. I question that, but the the car is well documented and has a seal of authenticity from someone.
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440 cars were originally destined to be 383 cars on the line..
 
rklein383 said:
440 cars were originally destined to be 383 cars on the line..
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Understood but! They should have had rear boxes! Not to say the factory did not f’d up on Friday cars.
 
Back to the OP, if the VIN numbers all show 383 I would not be concerned per say but skeptical a tad enough to look deep.
 
My advice is to not even question what Chrysler did. On a 68 you must have a fender tag to make sure the SO numbers match the body numbers. Having said that, never say never but MOST 4-speed cars had rear boxes and some had fronts. See them more often on Dodges than Plymouths. Most automatic cars had neither. I have literally seen 100's of 67 to 69 big block A-Body's in the last 40 years and that is one of the first thing I check.
 
I've never seen a BB A-body with front boxes.
I've never seen a BB A-body without rear boxes.
AS above....:popcorn:
 
HemiSSDart said:
My advice is to not even question what Chrysler did. On a 68 you must have a fender tag to make sure the SO numbers match the body numbers. Having said that, never say never but MOST 4-speed cars had rear boxes and some had fronts. See them more often on Dodges than Plymouths. Most automatic cars had neither. I have literally seen 100's of 67 to 69 big block A-Body's in the last 40 years and that is one of the first thing I check.
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THIS IS THE MAN when it come to 67-69 A-bodies (well Darts mostly, LOL) :thumbsup:
 
Another one for fun...Fast ratio steering with a big block is rare....

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These are my cars at present:

69 Dart GTS 383 4-speed front and rear boxes
67 Barracuda 383 4-speed rear boxes
69 Dart GTS 440 auto rear boxes
69 Dart GTS 440 auto rear boxes
69 Barracuda 440 auto rear boxes
68 Hemi Dart no boxes (been tubbed)
68 Dart GSS 440 auto rear boxes

BUT, I have had a couple of 67 GTS's with no boxes and a couple with rear boxes, one 68 Barracuda 383 auto with no boxes and a couple dozen big block A-Body's with ot without boxes. Lets not even get into the 340's...
 
HemiSSDart said:
These are my cars at present:

69 Dart GTS 383 4-speed front and rear boxes
67 Barracuda 383 4-speed rear boxes
69 Dart GTS 440 auto rear boxes
69 Dart GTS 440 auto rear boxes
69 Barracuda 440 auto rear boxes
68 Hemi Dart no boxes (been tubbed)
68 Dart GSS 440 auto rear boxes

BUT, I have had a couple of 67 GTS's with no boxes and a couple with rear boxes, one 68 Barracuda 383 auto with no boxes and a couple dozen big block A-Body's with ot without boxes. Lets not even get into the 340's...
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My 68 form S fastback doesn`t have them. Was 340 4 speed, now a 505" / 727 .
 
This is great info and I greatly appreciate it. I need to be more specific. The car im looking at is a 4 speed and has a fender tag and vin tag. The motor, trans, and vin all match. The rad support and fender tag match. Nothing seems suspect, except the car doesnt have rear torque boxes. It seems to me that this whole torque box issue is random. What do you guys think?
 
The only thing random is the person on the assembly line the day your car was made. If it has a 4-speed it should at least have rear torque boxes! Of course they would not ad them after the car was painted, so at least we might know where the mistake was made...
 
HemiSSDart said:
The only thing random is the person on the assembly line the day your car was made. If it has a 4-speed it should at least have rear torque boxes! Of course they would not ad them after the car was painted, so at least we might know where the mistake was made...
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Should is the imperative word. Many big block A-bodies rolled off the assembly line without torque boxes.
 
rklein383 said:
I can positively tell you that my 69 383-s fastback four speed did not come with any torque boxes. I owned the car for over 25 years and had all paperwork including a video when the car was new and have personally spoken to the original owner, so I am positive it was not a rebody. I have spoken to numerous other big block barracuda owners who have had cars without them, or only had rear torque boxes.

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You got a beautiful 383 Barracuda! I love it! My own 1968 Barracuda has a 400 based 512 stroker with Trick Flow heads and a 254 duration @.050 with 618 lift hydraulic roller cam all backed by a 4 speed! Yeah!!!

Glen
 
Drackvan340 said:
You got a beautiful 383 Barracuda! I love it! My own 1968 Barracuda has a 400 based 512 stroker with Trick Flow heads and a 254 duration @.050 with 618 lift hydraulic roller cam all backed by a 4 speed! Yeah!!!

Glen
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Thanks, I had a lot of fun with that car. Most of the 25 years I owned it, I had a 440 six pack in it. Just before I sold it, I rebuilt the original 383 and put it in to sell. I bought a 71 Barracuda project car to replace it. Here it is after a few years work on it.

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