1966 Barracuda, Commando 4bbl, 4 speed restoration

[Miranthis]

Here is the story so far. One of my Dad's highschool friends bought a brand new 1966 Barracuda in late November or December 1965 at Bruce Motor Co. in Kansas City, Kansas. A gearhead, Greg got the Commando 273, with the A-833 4 speed, and 8.75 rear in 3.23 gear set with SureGrip. He also opted for the HD suspension package and console. It wore 13 inch wheels with drums at all four corners and the standard dish hubcaps. The car was Dark Turquoise metallic exterior with a black interior. In early 1968 Greg deployed to SE Asia and sold the car to my dad. Dad had an aftermarket AC unit installed and it became the daily driver, a job it held until I got it in highschool in 1984. It is the car he drove me home from the hospital in 1970 and it part of every family memory i have.

In high school I improved it with factory wheel covers, a factory tach, three spoke steering wheel and a "bitchin' stereo". In my junior year it was hit just behind the driver's front wheel. I got a new fender and door, started stripping it with Aircraft Stripper and parked it in my Grandma's basement, on the plan to get back to it shortly ....where it sat until May of 2024 when I got it out after my dad passed....

I have now disassembled it and the body is at the restoration shop and the motor is going in for a rebuild. Initial pics here and I will keep it updated.

 

[moparker]

Yikes!! Damp basement. Good for you. Will be watching.

 

[ZooKypr]

Better late than never....Good luck with your resto!

 

[Miranthis]

Yikes!! Damp basement. Good for you. Will be watching.

Yeah, it did not help that I failed to prime, but even then there was a plumbing pipe above the drivers front qtr..... here is a Polaroid from when I parked it last in 86.. I really was planning to prime it..

 

[moparker]

You weren’t as smart back then. I know I wasn’t. At least you hung on to it. Happy for you.

 

[GGs66GT]

Looking forward to your progress on the fish .

 

[340sFastback]

Wow bet you have a lot of memories banging gears. Given the history worth every penny plus some to bring it back.

I have owned my '69 Barracuda since 1979. And yeah as a dumb kid didn't always did the best things to it back then. But like you I held onto to it.

Looking forward to seeing move pictures progress.

 

[Miranthis]

Got a text this morning from the shop --->

It is on the rotisserie. I went by to take some detailed underside pics of things now that I can do it a little more comfortably. For 235K miles mainly in KS and MO (and a number of trips to CO) its not looking like its too bad. Here are some highlights:

Here is the Z-Bar frame side mount that was fabricated by a mechanic in something like 1974 or so. It will be returned to the factory configuration.

On another good note the repair spring was shipped, and the shifter will be rebuilt shortly. Here ia a couple of before and (current status) after pics.

 

[jeff alder]

You made that into a very respectable piece! Looks nice.

 

[Miranthis]

Got an initial post-mortem on the Commando 273. came apart easy enough for the pro, but there were 2 pistons that were frozen in the bore (the ones with the open valves). Builder's comment on bore measurements was, "Cylinders measured +.005-.008” from stock bore of 3.625.” We will also need to over bore a little to clean up the rusted cylinder walls -->

Only minor issues in the crank that should be no issue to clean up, as at 235K miles this is the first out-of-car rebuild with any machining (it was in-car rebuilt, rings and seals maybe, at about 90K miles). Rear main journal, journal 3 and the matching cap --->

Here are the even pistons, 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Should be making some decisions shortly on amount of overbore, cam and the like, shortly. Also, the body should be media blasted shortly as well and i will get updated pics once that is done. In initial discussions, I do think we are going to get the 4 parts of the floor pan replaced with aftermarket sheetmetal.

I did order some springs to try on the inland shifter, but all of them were WAY too stiff. I will pick another range of springs, with lower spring rates, and make a second $40 minimum order (at $3 - $4 a spring) and try again.

Update again when i get more info.

 

[Miranthis]

after a prolonged soak in the parts solvent, I have the manual steering boxes ready to swap worm gear and rebuild. The car came with a fast ratio manual box (with the fractured tab on the right) and it was replaced in the 70's with a standard ratio box (on the left) that was in it until i disassembled the car. The plan is to rebuild the good box on the left and swap in the fast ratio gear set from the original box.

I assumed that the replacement was out of some newer model A body, by to my surprise the case build dates are both 1965. I just can't make out the month stampings around the 65 starburst, but given the slight difference in the way the part number is cast it seems safe to assume that these are not from the same mold.
Original box -->

"Replacement box" -->

I also found stampings on the sector gear cover, below, original on the right the replacement on the left.

The build date for my 66 was B10 (November 10, 1965) on the fender tag. Based on the other threads the B in the date code = 1966 model year (and C is 67, D = 68 etc.). I wonder if 1018 is October 18, 1965? If it is that works with the SO build date being November 10, but what does the D at the end stand for? The code on the replacement box is B1115 with no trailing letter. Also, the first two '1's are a different font, but the other stamping is also uneven in application and such, so it could just be the stamping irregularity,

At this point I am ordering the rebuild kit from FFI and will move the original 16:1 worm gear to the unbroken box.

This fracture sure looks like a casting defect.

 

[Miranthis]

I stripped the two boxes down and have the inside of the "good" box soaking in the parts washer. I wiped the sector gear and worm gears down and i think that the sector gears are the same between the 16:1 and the 24:1. Anyone know for sure?

I think I will use the original sector gear cover and sector shaft with that has been mated with the 16:1 worm gear assembly, so that the finished box is as original as it can be to date of manufacture of the car (the other box appears to have been manufactured 5 days after my car ). I should only need to readjust the bearing end play of the worm gear and the sector shaft pre-load after the replacement bearing and seals, i hope.

 

[Miranthis]

Removal of the needle bearing cages was pretty easy, as I did it carefully with a punch from the "other side" even on the Sector cover. I have a needle bearing installation tool from my Toyota 4x4 front axles that will work to drive it, i just need to put a 1& 1/8 insert on the end of it to stabilize it. I thought about a piece of Delrin, but I think I can just use a short length of 1 & 1/8 wooden dowel. After soaking and disassembly of the sector gears I found a few things.

Another thing i found is the remains of a dark green paint marking (looked brighter in person) on the sector cover of the original 16:1 box

and after a littel more scrubbing and soaking...

This couples with a yellow paint mark on the end of the input shaft that was protected by the steering shaft coupler.

I also have noticed a bit of corrosion seeping out of the metal as I soaked it in water for a rinse. In addition to the normal grey coating of oxidation i have some powdery Al2O3 (Aluminum Oxide, a/k/a corundum, ruby, garnet, sapphire, etc., its one step lower than diamond) that forms on the surface in places, mainly near the seams. Wipes right off, and once i put some corrosion inhibitor, blocking the oxygen, on it it stopped coming up.

I confirmed that the sector shafts are the same between the different ratio boxes.

I have the parts kit on the way in from the kind folks at Firm Feel and will update you all on the rebuild.

 

[Miranthis]

Well, crap. Spoke to Firm Feel today and apparently I was not supposed to remove the cage in the sector cover as they don't make that bearing anymore. I know one of the two cover bearings was trash, but just hoping when I get home I find the other one was not damaged and can be reinsert and repacked.

Live and learn..

 

[Miranthis]

Well, crap. Spoke to Firm Feel today and apparently I was not supposed to remove the cage in the sector cover as they don't make that bearing anymore. I know one of the two cover bearings was trash, but just hoping when I get home I find the other one was not damaged and can be reinsert and repacked.

Live and learn..

Got home and checked. One of the covers still had that cage in it. It is a Torrington y-1812 needle bearing. I used calipers on the ones I removed and all measure the same in every dimension. 1812 is a standard size and just like the two other needle bearings in the case (and the two replacements in the kit). I ordered another one from the net and will try pressing it into the cover. and compare the two once done.

In the other case, the one i already removed the cage from, the cover bearing is the same torrington, but the shaft bearings are Kaydon KN-182212. Searching that bearing number comes up with an NOS MOPAR steering gear bearing #2126890 on eBay, and it appears that both torrington and kaydon supplied the same standard size bearings for MOPAR.

 

[Miranthis]

Got home and checked. One of the covers still had that cage in it. It is a Torrington y-1812 needle bearing. I used calipers on the ones I removed and all measure the same in every dimension. 1812 is a standard size and just like the two other needle bearings int he case and the two replacements in the kit. I ordered another one from the net and will try pressing it into the cover. and compare the two once done.

I know that Matt at Firm Feel advises against this as they have had bad luck with it, but I am going to put blind faith in the use of a standard 1812 needle bearing, at least in the 1966 model year sector cover. Last night I put the calipers to all the removed bearing cages and a whole bunch of needle bearings (five cages worth) and can find no difference between any of them and the specs for a standard inch pattern 1812 needle bearing. Not saying he is wrong and he DID warn me, but I have always been a rebel.

At this point, having removed the original cage from the original date-correct sector cover, I have nothing to lose and a new Koyo 1812 bearing was all of $10. If it does not work, well I have the other sector cover that was made 5 days after my car that I can repack. Not making a concours car, so once it's done, if you get so far into my build before finding an issue that you complain that the sector cover was made 11/15 and the car's SO is B10, well, good for you, but I am not worried.

 

[Miranthis]

Update on several fronts.

1) The car has left for the media blasting. Should have it back in a couple weeks.

2) The steering box has been completed. The first Koyo B1812 I ordered had a tighter inner race diameter on the face without the stamped model info than the one stamped with the identifying info. The inner diameter of the back race was slightly smaller than the front (1.125 dead on, with the needles a little tighter), so it was too tight for the nominal 1 1/8 inch sector shaft diameter. The shaft was 1.127 inch, so slightly above the nominal 1 1/8 (1.125 inch), but fit in the larger end of even the tight bearing. (these are NOT tapered needle bearings, just to make clear, and should have a nearly identical race diameter on both faces) I compared it to the other 2 bearings i got from Firm Feel and both of those needle bearing had inner race diameters of between 1.130 and 1.145, plenty of clearance even with the needles installed, so i decided to order a couple more to see if it was a tolerance issue, to include another new Koyo and a couple of NOS Mopar steering bearings. The NOS bearings ended up being a Torrington and a Kadon, both USA made and like the ones removed from the two original boxes. I used the Kaydon KN-182212 and both it, the Torrington NOS and the second Koyo (and all 6 original races i removed form the two boxes) had race inner diameters loose enough for the 1 1/8 sector shaft to fit, if snuggly. Anyway, the b1812 spec is supposed to admit a 1 1/8 (1.125) shaft, so i guess that the modern tolerances are just biased to "too tight" an inner race diameter. However, with a mix of new and NOS I got it to work smoothly.

To finish assembly, I installed the worm gear, packed the case with grease, and set the preload. Then I installed the sector gear and cover and adjusted to the final preload. Finally, I topped off the box as full as I could with grease and then a little bit of grease and gear oil mix. The steering box is done, with the exception of being painted with some Eastwood coating at some point before reassembly.

3) Still collecting some parts (found a trunk prop rod, flasher parts, and the rear defogger but awaiting delivery of the yoke for the rear end and rear axle bearing kit), pricing some things like rechroming on the rear bumper, and reading up on the rear end and A-833 rebuilds. Also waiting to hear from my Engine guy who has the parts out for magnafluxing and machining.

 

[Miranthis]

3/31/2025 Update

1. Car is still in media blasting. No movement on the 8.75 rebuild until the housing and case are back.
2. Heard back on the 273 Commando rebuild front. The cam has been chosen, after I put my engine guy in touch with the Jim at Racer Brown and I will share the full specs once I get the delivery, but we are going a bit hotter than stock, but will still have great drivability. Will retain the stock push rods and the cam, lifter and spring set price shocked my engine guy in how reasonable it was, but then he, having not rebuilt a 273 before, was pushing a hydraulic roller cam which is pricy. The block and heads are in the machine shop and we MAY be able to get away with 0.010 over on the bore, and certainly would if there had not been a rusted cylinder. That rust may push us to 0.020 over, but even then, for a 4 speed Commando 273 that had 235K miles on it I think that is not too bad. Should know shortly on the magnafluxing and whether the crank will need any under sizing on any journals to clean up the surfaces.
3. Tore down the A833 tonight to the major parts. The input shaft looks like this
   
   
   
   
   which looks ok, but then the 4th gear does not have much wear usually. The counter shaft gear surfaces looked good, but will degrease and do a full, tooth by tooth inspection to make sure.
   
   Until i disassemble the output shaft i can't tell the details of the synchro assemblies there, but cursory review of the gears found no unusual wear or damage. Further update on that once disassembly is done.
   
   The 3-4 shift fork was unremarkable. The 1-2 shift fork did have some odd wear, but was having no shifting issues when last driven.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   No issues with disassembly, until I got to the reverse shaft. The Passon C clamp trick did not work as my 8 inch clamp was too short. So i made due with a long reach pipe clamp. I used a 7/16 socket on the driving end inside the case (held in by a dab of grease) and a 1 1/4 inch socket to catch the shaft and it came out easy. Here is the set up on the case (the shaft presses UP out of the case) and laid out with the case removed to see the order of things. Don't forget the woodruff key!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   That is all for now.

 

[Miranthis]

Minor update.

Background: For my 14th birthday in 1984 my parents suprized me with a Clarion AM/FM Cassette player and front speakers. I was VERY happy, but then horrified that the stereo shop cut my doors and door panels to do it. I counld not be ungrateful for the Stereo, so I did not say anything, but started looking in Hemings Motor News and pestering Harden's Mopar World for unmolested front panels. Over the years, several 66s, a 65, and a 64, and after parking my original 66 in Grandma's basement in 86-87 the parts I collected were stored various places and, like a spring squirrel, I 'thought' i remembered everthing I had and where it was......

THen, today, I was cleaning up at my parents' house as we prep it for sale for the Estate. In going through my old room and closet I found these--->

I had entirely forgotten getting these, let alone putting them in the closet in 1984-5. I thought I had some spares in the garage that collapsed 15 years ago and figured they were gone. When I picked up the car from its storage I only had two front door panels, one black one on the passenger side with the door speaker hole and one gold one, both heavily water damaged and with cuts and such. I figured I was just gonna have to buy new ones, until today. Here is the worst of the backsides:

A tiny bit of water damage on the bottom back end and by the window crank hole. I do think I will see about replacing the backing boards as there are a few of the pockets for the clips that pulled out on this worst one.

As a bonus I also found the missing headliner bow. Mom and Dad were smokers, so the headliner failed by the early 80's above the driver's head. The cotton thread just rotted away. At some point in the mid 80's my trimming and occasional duct tape left the 2nd bow exposed. I removed it, and apparently clearly marked it with a masking tape tag ( ) and put it in my closet, the safest place I could think of at the time I suppose. There it sat from the last Reagan term until today. SO glad I did not put it in the detached garage as the ridge beam was broken by a falling tree about 15 years back and it collapsed. Anything in there was lost including a few small tools, the old steering wheel, some old parts and the like. Also glad they were not with the car as that is a longer story, but they were not safe there. I was lucky to get much out of there.

At this point, I am waiting on the car and big parts to get out of media blasting. Once out I can rebuild the 8.75 rear. I also need to take the A833 case and tail housing over to the shop to blast them in the cabinet, order the rebuild kit and synchros, and paint the transmission in cast iron paint.

More details then...

 

[Miranthis]

She is back from the media blaster. Initial body pics below. The 8.75 housing and 489 case and the drive shaft were also blasted as was a bunch of other parts like the dash, etc. will get more pics after they blow it out and inspect it.

I will be blasting the A833 case and tail housing in the cabinet shortly and then I am rebuilding the rear and transmission, while the pro gets to work on the body stuff.

So nice to see her in the white.

For what it's worth i DO NOT have the top of rear fender cracks that were a thread in the last month or so. You can see all the prior repairs and those will all be fixed properly. As I understand it, no one makes rear quarters, so there will be some fabrication there, esp. on the passenger side that was the worst, but that is all expected. I am eager to see the floors now that they are blasted to see if its "repair" or "replace"

Also, for those keeping score at home I paid $4,200 for the blasting and that included the car, hood, frt qtrs, deck lid, rear end and case, dash, inner fender splash shields, K member and all the associated parts, all the non-chromed grill parts, sway bar and brackets, etc. Basically, anything too large to fit in the cabinet and then some.

 

[GGs66GT]

Looking good !
Now get that body and stuff sealed before it rusts again ! You can always sand it off where you do body repairs, then seal it again.

My Dart was ordered around the same time as yours.

 

[hcallaway]

The right guy with an English Wheel would have no problem with that quarter. Good luck.

 

[Miranthis]

My guy said he just does not like to use filler over a dent when he can pull it, so some of the old stuff will be fixed right.

 

[Miranthis]

Looking good !
Now get that body and stuff sealed before it rusts again ! You can always sand it off where you do body repairs, then seal it again.

My Dart was ordered around the same time as yours.

Dont suppose your dart had a 273 4bbl with the "Commando" air cleaner? Mine was delivered with a "charger 273" air cleaner...

 

[GGs66GT]

I couldn’t get dad to check the boxes for 273 commando , wood grain steering wheel , console floor shifter , Cragar wheels , power disc brakes .

Instead he checked 225 \6 automatic , p/s , a/c , padded dash , am radio , wsw tires , passenger side mirror , remote driver side mirror .

Damm just a few more checked boxes and I would now have what I missed out on a 65 GT that I test drove and when we got back to the dealership they said sorry it’s been sold . It was red with black interior and vinyl top GT .
Just as well it would have probably cost me my license . High School kid with all that power .