1969 'cuda 383 4-speed

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cuda dad...
saw your car on graveyard carz the other night. it was a pretty good segment with lots of air time for your car. mark seemed to be a little surprised at the fenderwell headers holes in the fender wells. i don't know why .... the guy that bought my original 68 barracuda s new cut out the fenderwells and installed hooker fenderwell headers. fenderwell headers on 340s were good for somewhere around 30-50 hp which translated to maybe a half a second on 1/4 mile times. lots of guys hacked out their fender wells on a body cars in the late 60s early 70s. fenderwell headers were also good for "bragging rights" on these cars on the street. i painted my headers bright orange so you could see them on the car coming down the road. this kinda said to other car guys, "yea, go ahead and challenge me to a race..."

both my current cudas have intack fenderwells and i would never consider cutting them out because original cars are just too valuable now. my 68 is exactly like my first 68 except for the fenderwell headers. however, i may look for another fastback 68 with the fenderwells already cut out and build another car that IS exactly like the one i had in high school.

since you are spending a lot of money to get your car restored, i'm sure you're going to have Mark replace your fender wells with original ones. but if i were you, i wouldn't take any "guff" off of anyone who makes a comment about your car the way it is. your car is EXACTLY the way these cars were built "back in the day."

best of luck with the build - i'll keep watching for when they start "blowing apart" your car.
It was a good segment, thanks. If you see my last post I mentioned how I intended to restore it with the headers and Mark talked me out of it. He's right of course, this car needs to be restored properly.
 
It was a good segment, thanks. If you see my last post I mentioned how I intended to restore it with the headers and Mark talked me out of it. He's right of course, this car needs to be restored properly.

GOOD choice.....rare car go ALL original to factory!

I need to figure out when exactly the show is on to I can record it????
 
Interesting development, Velocity Channel ran a Graveyard Carz Marathon this past Sunday. Someone recognized my car and contacted the show. It turns out the guy's dad owned the car for over thirty years, I talked to the dad and he was able to give me some history and the contact information for the guy he bought it from. I got in contact with the believed second owner who purchased the car used in December 1970 from a dealer. He scanned to me the original bill of sale from when he bought it. He told me about cutting the fender wells to install the headers and blowing up the original engine. So now I have forty more years of history for the car! I thought it was pretty damn cool.
 
Interesting development, Velocity Channel ran a Graveyard Carz Marathon this past Sunday. Someone recognized my car and contacted the show. It turns out the guy's dad owned the car for over thirty years, I talked to the dad and he was able to give me some history and the contact information for the guy he bought it from. I got in contact with the believed second owner who purchased the car used in December 1970 from a dealer. He scanned to me the original bill of sale from when he bought it. He told me about cutting the fender wells to install the headers and blowing up the original engine. So now I have forty more years of history for the car! I thought it was pretty damn cool.

No doubt... Very cool!
 
cuda dad...

even though i had already seen the shows, i did watch the graveyard carz marathon again. it was entertaining to see your car again as it is the first A-body to appear on the show. your story of tracking down a previous owner of your car just goes to show the power of TV these days. since your car's prior owner has probably been a car guy all his life and obviously loved mopars, the fact that he happened to watch graveyard carz is not surprising. he was probably pretty shocked to see "his" old car on the show.

i've had a similar experience like yours with my original 68 barracuda. the plymouth dealership mechanic who originally ordered my old car new still lives in my hometown of moundsville, w.va. i talk to him occasionally and he always mentions that he regreted selling the car to me - not that he doesn't like me but that he just regretted selling the car at all. he managed to track down our old barracuda and has owned it again for many years. the original 340 was blown up by the guy i sold the car to and when my friend (original owner) reacquired the car, he put a 318 in it and fixed it up for his daughter to drive. i plan on driving over to his house this summer in my "recreated" 68 barracuda hopefully to get a picture of the two cars together.

hope all goes well with your restoration.
 
Interesting development, Velocity Channel ran a Graveyard Carz Marathon this past Sunday. Someone recognized my car and contacted the show. It turns out the guy's dad owned the car for over thirty years, I talked to the dad and he was able to give me some history and the contact information for the guy he bought it from. I got in contact with the believed second owner who purchased the car used in December 1970 from a dealer. He scanned to me the original bill of sale from when he bought it. He told me about cutting the fender wells to install the headers and blowing up the original engine. So now I have forty more years of history for the car! I thought it was pretty damn cool.

That is awesome. It his neat to be able to speak with the previous owner or owners. I have a 72 trans am I was able to speak with the second owner who had the car since 1975- 2008. You get to hear all the cool story's the car has been through. I watched a couple hours of the marathon as well that day , and seen your car a hand full of times. Looking forward to seeing them work on your car! I love the cars on the show.
 
That is awesome. It his neat to be able to speak with the previous owner or owners. I have a 72 trans am I was able to speak with the second owner who had the car since 1975- 2008. You get to hear all the cool story's the car has been through. I watched a couple hours of the marathon as well that day , and seen your car a hand full of times. Looking forward to seeing them work on your car! I love the cars on the show.
It was in Prattsburgh, NY. He told me they used to drag race late at night right on Main Street. Folks would sit out on their porches until midnight or 1:00 AM watching them.
 
Finally got a little action on the GYC FB page, the work has begun. I was beginning to give up hope.
 

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Finally got a little action on the GYC FB page, the work has begun. I was beginning to give up hope.

so. how much of this have I missed ? this is the first I`ve heard of this. I quit watching the show do to the stupidity of most of the people on there. granted, most it probably was for t.v. , but their silliness isn't what I wanted to see. having bought a new 68 form S 383 car
as my first new car back in the day, and now down to the last fender in total rebuild of a basket case w/ no baskets, I`m very interested in watching again now. will start taping it . keep this thread going, very interested !:coffee2:
mine-----1968 form S fastback-505" wedge-727-dana 60-aftermarket front end-6 point cage-front support bars-4 wheel disc brakes-fuel inj. business coupe. looks like a stocker.
 
You've only missed 18 months of waiting! The show will air new episodes beginning October 15th. They have changed the format and removed the drama. Aside from Royal, the crew is new. It appears that with the new crew and facility, production is at an all time high.
 
....now if it was only a notchback...J/K. I love your car quite a bit! It was on my radar for a minute. Hope Mark is taking care of it at a reasonable price based upon how long it has taken.

G/L with the resto and keep us posted!
 
FYI the 67 FIREBIRDS (not camaros) had factory traction bars.

thanks cuda dad . will be watching. love the fastbacks !! theothers don't even look like barracudas !! anyone ever see a S/S A H coupe or convert. ?? nada-nilch-zip !!
 
All the best!

Thought you have left us and have been waiting in great expectation!

I know the feeling of waiting.

Hope they start moving faster!!!!!
 
After two years, one month, and three days they have finally started working on it.

WOW has it really been 2 years+ ??????
GREAT news.............I just gotta find the show and record it ever week!

Gonna be one BAD *** BB 'cuda when done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
WOW has it really been 2 years+ ??????
GREAT news.............I just gotta find the show and record it ever week!

Gonna be one BAD *** BB 'cuda when done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there are no new episodes yet, I'll post it when I know.
 

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hey cuda dad...

it's great that GYC is starting to work on your car. i also didn't realize it has been there for 2 years. i'm not to comfy with the above pic of them picking up the body with the roof ... but i guess they will fix anything they bend.

i just bought a 69 fastback M-Code and got hooked up with American Metal Direct (AMD) down in Georgia because of the GYC episode where AMD did all the sheet metal on the orange 70 Cuda that was wrapped up in a ball. i think worman calls it the "phantom Cuda." i talked to AMD's shop manager Craig Hopkins about doing my Cuda and he and i worked out a pretty reasonable deal. the M-Code that i bought had been converted to a drag car and had all the underside chassis and floor pans butchered for "drag components." AMD has special frame jigs that they built for A body and E body cars so they can cut and replace the entire floor pans and get them aligned corrected to factory specs. i only found out about AMD's new resto shop by watching GYC!!

i hope worman and his gang keep as much or the original OEM parts for your car as possible. i think you're going to have a great car when it's done. please post more pics on FABO as it goes along ...

best of luck

jim coster
pittsburgh, pa
 
I will keep the updates coming as I get them. Congratulations on your M code. Is it in the registry? Where can I learn more about the details of you car?
 
On Facebook they show wheeling your car around the lot. Glad to see it's finally getting done. Look forward to see it being saved on the show.
 
hey cuda dad...

i submitted a thread here on FABO titled "finally got my M-Code" and have gotten a lot of views and responses. i posted pics of the car on that thread.

got a call from craig hopkins at American Metal Direct down in Cleveland, Georgia saying that the car had been delivered by the transport company and that they were going to examine to the car to see what it needs. i'll post more info on the restoration by AMD when i get them.

hope GYC films you car and includes the pics in an upcoming show. looking forward to seeing them finish you car.

best wishes...

jim
 
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