1969 'cuda 383 4-speed

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i have watched GYC regularly since it first started 10 years ago. i have 4 Barracuda's in my collection, 2 68's and 2 69's. i am working on one of the 69's right now as it is an original M-Code 440 Cuda fastback. i hope to have that car on the road for this summer. i am growing concerned that it is going to become harder to restore all mopars and particularly A bodies as they are not as popular as the B and E bodies. i have already run into two former mopar suppliers slowing down or going out of business. schumacher is either slowing down or will be sold to another company and "Herb's mopars" has gone out of business. if you go on several of the major restoration catalogue websites, i.e. YearOne, Classic Industries, AMD you will run into a lot of "out of stock" for various parts. the same is if you go to Summit Racing or Jegs or other car parts places (Rock Auto) - the parts for A bodies are drying up. i'm sure this is happening because the demand for these cars is declining so the sales of parts are declining so the reordering or even production of various parts are stopping. my view is that if you are trying to restore an A-body Plymouth or Dodge, 67-74, time is running out for this to be done as easy as it was in the past. i was also very disappointed when Mopar Muscle was cancelled because that monthly mag had lots of ads for mopar parts. some guys thought the magazine was just ads, but i liked it. i don't know if there is a MM on line yet or if there will be. as far as i know, Mopar Collector is the only monthly "printed" car magazine left for mopar guys. if anyone knows of other, please let me know. we are all getting older and so are our favorite a-body mopars. i suspect the time is soon approaching when finding parts for an old mopar muscle car is going to be like trying to restore a Packard or a Studebaker or even an American Motors AMX - pretty damn difficult and VERY expensive.
 
I recently started watching GYC. Good to see they seemed to have dropped the drama BS but Mark's obsession with movie quotes and factory option code quizzes gets tiring.

Since he likes to get things 100% correct. Now would be a good time to bust his balls about the dash. 1969 Barracudas had the center dash bezel blacked out as pointed out to me by another member here. I'll give Worman some leeway as this is his first A-body but right now chrome vs. black is 100% wrong.
 
Original unrestored 1969 Rallye dash.
Sorry for the poor pic quality. Just noticed the imprint left from the column-mounted tach.

20200204_125827.jpg
 
Correct.

No shiny in the middle of the pods, pod centers are black with white circumfrance.
 
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I thought it looked different but it didn't click. You are absolutely correct. In Mark's defense, the dash was sent to Instrument Specialties for restoration. I am going to let him know. As far as the car is concerned, the target date for completion is July 31, 2020.
 
KosmicKuda said:
I recently started watching GYC. Good to see they seemed to have dropped the drama BS but Mark's obsession with movie quotes and factory option code quizzes gets tiring.

Since he likes to get things 100% correct. Now would be a good time to bust his balls about the dash. 1969 Barracudas had the center dash bezel blacked out as pointed out to me by another member here. I'll give Worman some leeway as this is his first A-body but right now chrome vs. black is 100% wrong.
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I let him know and he said he will handle it.
 
please FABO folks correct me if i'm wrong - but i recall ALL Barracuda dash assemblies had completely chrome center caps 1967-1969. the 1970 Duster dash is the same as the Barracuda, however, it had the black center caps.
 
20200206_121608.jpg
I had mine sent out and restored. They made mine chrome. I dont remember how they where before I shipped them!
 
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The way these are, and were, done is the entire dash bezel is first chromed. Then the argent silver, wood grain, black, etc is then applied over the chrome. 1969 is black centered, 67-68 left chrome. There were far more 67 and 68 Barracudas made than 69's so the chrome centers are seen more often. Also, the numerals in the speedometer is vertical in 1969. 67 and 68 are radial text.
The picture I posted in #180 is my original 69 Rallye removed in 1980. 1969383s says all are black. Post #189 shows an original non-Rallye with black.

CudaDad, I know he has most of his dashes done by a vendor. Mark knows his B and E bodies so it's good he's finally doing an A. It's going to be a really nice car when finished.
 
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jimharvard said:
please FABO folks correct me if i'm wrong - but i recall ALL Barracuda dash assemblies had completely chrome center caps 1967-1969. the 1970 Duster dash is the same as the Barracuda, however, it had the black center caps.
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Mark said they changed to black pods in 1969 because of safety.
 
It's always exciting when you finally get to see some color on the body. I love '69 Cudas. It's going to be striking with the black accents.
 
It looks good. Great to see it primed and with paint on it! I've been thinking about asking about it on their web site.
 
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