Hi everyone, it's been a while since I've posted here, school and a new job have been taking up pretty much all of my time. The joys of being an engineering student, right? I apologize for the lack of updates and progress on this thread here:
[FOR SALE] - 1964 and 1965 Barracuda Reproduction Rocker Trim Clips . As soon as school is finished next week I'll be hopping back on the finishing touches of this project and get parts shipped out to people who want them.
In other news, I am finally working on getting my '68 Barracuda from my hometown of Anchorage, AK to my new home in Indianapolis. This has been a long time coming and I'm very excited that I finally have the resources to do this. After a lot of research, I have decided that the best way to do this is to ship the car from Anchorage to Tacoma, WA on a boat and then pick the car up in Tacoma and drive it across the country with my friend. I have family across the country that I can stay with, and I will have a co-driver so we can rotate driving if we get tired. One of the larger wins here is that I'll be able to pack most of my tools and spare parts into the trunk, and bring them with me instead of shipping them across the continent.
About the setup itself, I have a few questions. The car has a very tame 360, a 904 that's just been resealed and cleaned, and an 8 3/4" rear end with 3.23 gears. The trunk is going to be quite full of goodies: Toolbox, 4-speed, 2 bellhousings, front disc brakes and suspension parts, new calipers, intake manifold, spare Holley 650, floor jack, spare tire, maybe an electronic keyboard, and a few other odds and ends, and then two yahoos and their luggage. Total cargo weight is going to be closer to 400 lbs by my estimate. I know this is pushing the limits of what an A body coupe was meant to haul, but should I have any big concerns for a haul of this size? I'm wondering if getting a set of air shocks is a good idea to keep the rear of the car from squatting.
As someone who's only driven halfway across the country (round trip from Indy to western CO) in an '01 Miata, what are any tips or pointers you might have for someone taking a 50+ year old vehicle across the country? I don't plan on pushing it, I'm going to take my time, sit in the right lane at 65 MPH. I've done a few safety upgrades and big maintenance items, and have a few more planned. I've installed crackedback's headlight relay kit and it worked wonders, I installed a USB charger for my phone, and I have new windows seals and windshield washer parts sitting in a box under my bed. I'm going to replace the U-joints on the car, bleed and adjust the brakes, maybe replace all of the coolant hoses, and fix my defrost setting which currently doesn't work. I had the transmission out last spring and fixed two big fluid leaks on the car, so it should be good in that department. I have gear oil for the rear end, because I'm not sure it's ever been changed in its life.
Is there anything I'm missing, anything you lovely folks might recommend?
