First Car -- 1968 Barracuda Notchback

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Chained_360

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Hi everyone!

Now that the spring semester is over, I'm going to try to use part of my free time to update everyone here about my car as I work on her. I joined this forum back in November of 2015 when I got my 1968 Plymouth Barracuda as my first car at the age of 15! I never made a "Welcome Wagon" post when I joined because I didn't know it existed, so -- Howdy! My name is Jacob and I got this car when I still lived at home in Anchorage, Alaska. It is a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda notchback, originally a pretty simple 318/904 car, 10" manual drums, white bucket seats with maroon interior, PP1 Matador red paint, and manual steering. I don't have all the photos from the first couple years of owning her, so I'll upload them as I find them. That being said, here's some pictures of her the summer after I got her (summer 2016), running and streetworthy. She needs some TLC in the body department but the underside is rust free and straight!
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When I bought the car, it had a 1978 360 out of a dodge van and an original A-body 8 3/4" from a '67 Formula S car that was wrecked. The previous owner took some parts from that car and put them in mine, mainly the 3.23 Sure Grip 8 3/4" and the quick-ratio steering box. Other than that, he said everything on it came from yard sales and swap meets! It's not a rocket ship but it does good burnouts and has been an excellent summer daily for the past 5 years. Here's a picture of me when I first got it!
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It had been sitting since August of 2002 and needed a little TLC to be streetworthy, but was otherwise a solid car. The biggest issue on it was the brakes; the master cylinder reservoir looked like the bottom of a pond, so I replaced the MC and flushed the lines. It needed new front wheel bearings too as the old ones were head scored, but the rest of the brakes were good! I also put in a new gas tank, a new Holley 650, replaced the tires, and did the basic maintenance stuff. Plugs, wires, cap and rotor, oil change, new battery, and such. I proceeded to drive it as my daily the following summer and had a blast! This car taught me a lot over that winter, and got me addicted to the right things in life! I'll make a second post in a bit, this is enough for now.
 
The "Notch" body style seemed to fall behind the Fastback in terms of sales and popularity but I have always liked the Notchback. Of all Barracuda models from '64 to 1974, I like the '67-69 models the most. Small platform, great styling and not too common.
Good luck with the car!
 
Great first car! Mine was a ‘69 notchback and I was 15 when I bought it also. There are a lot of great people on this site with much knowledge, wish I had this resource back then. Enjoy it!
 
Welcome, great story! My first car at 15 was a 65 Formula S Barracuda, my father bought it for me to teach me how to work on cars. Well, 40 years later I still have the car. 65'
 
Welcome and nice car!
Got mine at age 16 (1980) 2 days before it was be towed to junkyard.
Great to hear younger crowd having interest in a rare breed.
I got mine drivable and worked on it as I drove it. Was a memorable time.
Sure it will be for you as well.
Don't be shy on here. Any/every question will be answered.
And the opinions are abundant as well.....LOL

Good luck!


Dave
 
I've always preferred the notch cars, I've owned 4 notch cars & 2 FB cars in the past. When I bought my Demon, I was actually looking for a 67-69 notch to build a race car from.
 
Notchies are the best. I got 2

I have always favored the fast backs , partly because of the 68 hemi cars being fastbacks, no notchbacks produced w/ a hemi.
That being said , the notchbacks are really clean looking and growing on me ----------
 
My first car was a 67 fastback 273. Over time went a police 360, 8 3/4 , headers and many Monte SS , Iroc, and 5.0 Mustangs trying to beat me. HAHAHA. Unfortunately it did not like the rain and the cars I happen to unexpectedly come to meet. Good luck !
 
I have always favored the fast backs , partly because of the 68 hemi cars being fastbacks, no notchbacks produced w/ a hemi.
That being said , the notchbacks are really clean looking and growing on me ----------
I owned a 68fastback and used to like them better than notchbacks. For some reason now I like notchbacks better. I dunno why.
 
I love my Notch-Back. ....if it had been a fastback I wouldn't have bought it.....
Welcome aboard! !!

Jeff
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I've been posting here sporadically for a few years but I'm trying to be more engaged with the awesome community here. I'll post more of the story tonight, I spent most of today moving junk out of my parent's garage -- they just sold their house! I'm trying to dig up pictures of when I was restoring it to roadworthiness, but it's pretty sparse. More coming soon!
 
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