Righty's '74 Barracuda

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Righty Tighty

Righty Tighty

Blame it on the dog
FABO Gold Member
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Location
Sahuarita, AZ
I bought this car in March 2021 in Albuquerque, New Mexico from a gentleman who had had it since the 90s. Unfortunately, he wasn't a great historian, so he hadn't kept really any paperwork on the car. The only real documentation he had (other than the title), was an invoice from the engine builder when he swapped the 318 for a 440 six pack and some gas station receipts and a matchbook. I know, it's technically a "six barrel" since it's a Plymouth...

The invoice from the builder didn't list any specs like cam, pistons, or any of that. It simply stated what he did to the engine. "Rebuild heads - hard seats," "high stall converter," etc, etc. So I didn't really know exactly what I was dealing with.

The story I got from the owner was that when he had the engine built, he broke it in for about 500 miles but never could get it tuned. He said it would idle very high once it warmed up -- so high that he thought the engine would blow, and he would have to kill the ignition in a panic. He got frustrated and pushed it into storage where it sat until I bought it. This was in the late 1990s and it hadn't run since.

More updates to come, I have a year of catching up to do with this thread. Enjoy the pictures in the meantime!

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I see you need an Alternator bracket. That thing looks a bit jiggy. All in all, nice car. What was the price?
 
Thanks! It was rough when I got it, but has a solid base. Virtually rust free and it’s a complete car. I see what you mean about the bracket, but surprisingly it holds just fine. Is that not a big block alternator bracket?

Regarding price, I paid $20k. It’s not my proudest purchase, but I wanted an E body and that’s how the market is.
 
That is a doubled up small block bracket making due.
No worries though, new brackets are not only available but cheap!

The car market is crazy like everything else these. E bodies are always up priced. It is what it is and nothing else matters except it’s YOURS!
(Add in evil scientist laughter!)
 
Ah yes, a quick image search reveals that bracket is indeed "jiggy." Not that I didn't believe you, I just wanted to see what the correct bracket looked like.
 
The car had some cheap headers that went to a single 2" exhaust, so I upgraded to TTI headers and dual X-pipe exhaust with Magnaflows.

I'm not a fan of slotted wheels, so I sold them and bought American Racing Torque Thrusts, 17x8" up front and 18x10" in the rear. I went with Nitto NT555 G2 tires - 245/45 in the front and 275/40 in the rear. I wish I had more meat in the rear, but it is what it is...I'll change that after I burn through these. I also swapped the steel twin bulge hood for a fiberglass AAR hood.
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Got some front seats that are light years better than what came in the car, now I'm waiting on the rear to come back from the upholsterer.
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Who’s hood. I got an AAR hood from Year One and I don’t like the fit, it’s to short length wise.

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I got mine from Stinger Fiberglass. The fit itself was okay, but there were issues with damage that complicated my experience with them. I’ve heard of other folks who had better dealings with them, so mine may have been a unique situation.
 
Is that the correct color it was born with?
 
rumblefish360 said:
Is that the correct color it was born with?
Click to expand...
No, it was born "Frost Green" and has been red, yellow, and now this purplish color. I'm torn on what color to go with once I paint it, but the good news is that I have plenty of time since I can't afford it right now... :D
 
rumblefish360 said:
Ops, wrong picture!

View attachment 1715938454 View attachment 1715938455
Click to expand...
I can't quite tell from your pictures what the fitment issues are, but I can say that my hood is pretty spot on (aside from a repair error that resulted in an incorrect contour). I don't know if you ever saw my thread regarding my Stinger hood experience, but despite all of that, I probably wouldn't count them out. Just be darn sure you inspect the hood with a microscope before signing for it.
 
I did see the thread.
On my hood there is a bit of a gap up front when the back is perfectly set.
 
One of the first things I began doing was freshening up the electrical under the hood. I wish I documented how it looked before I started, but these pictures are representative of basically all of the wiring I was dealing with.
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Oh good grief. Yup! Been there done put up with that cruddy old broken wire stuff. Soooooo annoying.
Still working on it.

So you have a ‘74 FSM? Grab both books. There most helpful.
 
Righty Tighty said:
I bought this car in March 2021 in Albuquerque, New Mexico from a gentleman who had had it since the 90s. Unfortunately, he wasn't a great historian, so he hadn't kept really any paperwork on the car. The only real documentation he had (other than the title), was an invoice from the engine builder when he swapped the 318 for a 440 six pack and some gas station receipts and a matchbook. I know, it's technically a "six barrel" since it's a Plymouth...

The invoice from the builder didn't list any specs like cam, pistons, or any of that. It simply stated what he did to the engine. "Rebuild heads - hard seats," "high stall converter," etc, etc. So I didn't really know exactly what I was dealing with.

The story I got from the owner was that when he had the engine built, he broke it in for about 500 miles but never could get it tuned. He said it would idle very high once it warmed up -- so high that he thought the engine would blow, and he would have to kill the ignition in a panic. He got frustrated and pushed it into storage where it sat until I bought it. This was in the late 1990s and it hadn't run since.

More updates to come, I have a year of catching up to do with this thread. Enjoy the pictures in the meantime!

View attachment 1715938194 View attachment 1715938195 View attachment 1715938196 View attachment 1715938197 View attachment 1715938198
Click to expand...
That 71 cuda front seat is the same color scheme as my 71 cuda I had in high school back in the eighties.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Oh good grief. Yup! Been there done put up with that cruddy old broken wire stuff. Soooooo annoying.
Still working on it.

So you have a ‘74 FSM? Grab both books. There most helpful.
Click to expand...
I do have the ‘74 FSMs. Del was kind enough to load them onto a thumb drive for me.

rklein383 said:
That 71 cuda front seat is the same color scheme as my 71 cuda I had in high school back in the eighties.
Click to expand...
Nice! Probably takes you back… Luckily I know a guy who’s doing a ‘71 clone and needs front seats, so they won’t be going to waste.
 
Looks solid- I'd say you did really good on it.
 
Nice! Probably takes you back… Luckily I know a guy who’s doing a ‘71 clone and needs front seats, so they won’t be going to waste.[/QUOTE]
Here is my current 71 cuda clone project.

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