65 Barracuda daily driver

[65barracudaLA]

I've had this Barracuda for about 6 years and it's been my daily driver ever since. Originally it had a V8, but when I bought the car, it came with a hydraulic lifter 2-barrel slant 6. I've done a bunch of work to keep her running. About a year ago I had it blasted thinking I could get it ready for paint in a month, but I haven't gotten very far. It had some rust and a bunch of bondo, so I got some rust free doors, a fender, valance and deck lid. Still, a lot of bondo went back on the car and I've spend countless days sanding it, trying to get it nice and smooth. It's getting there, but this is the first time I'm doing this, so there's a lot of trial and error.

The photo is from the day I brought 'Salma' home in 2009.

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[65barracudaLA]

Over the years I had found a lot of missing trim and a front bumper and so on. This is what she looked like since around 2012.

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[65barracudaLA]

My very first car was white and I never liked white cars. I decided to paint it Chrysler Flame Red. Blasting off the paint in January 2014.

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[65barracudaLA]

I still drive the car on a daily basis and don't have a garage, which slows things down. The first layer of primer was olive green (not gray as I had assumed), so it looked a little bit like a tank... Now it's mostly gray.

 

[barbee6043]

personally like love see people that has the gumption to get things done theirselves and not just throw $$$ at it. and love seeing these cars on the road as work progresses!!!! have clean sheetmetal to work with is worth a ton. keep the faith!!

 

[Hemioutlaw]

Awesome,
And good for you doing the work yourself.

Wonder how many people reading this fell out of their chair when they saw the pic of you doing this outside in January. Ha Ha Ha,gotta love Cali.

 

[goldfish65]

Very nice to see the tlc you're giving (hard work.)

 

[65barracudaLA]

I guess I need to clarify: That's not me, I hired someone to blast the car. But yeah, weather is the last thing that slows down progress.

 

[Tadams]

Awesome car. I would love to see it finished. Keep up the good work.

 

[clifftt]

I guess I need to clarify: That's not me, I hired someone to blast the car. But yeah, weather is the last thing that slows down progress.

What media was used to blast the the paint, and if you don't mind, what did he charge you? Was there much of a mess left over?

 

[rothsauce]

What media was used to blast the the paint, and if you don't mind, what did he charge you? Was there much of a mess left over?

Second this!

 

[65barracudaLA]

I found the guy on craigslist and he came by with his mobile unit on a trailer. He said he was using ground bottle glass and I think that's what he did at first. Like I said there was a lot bondo and a lot of layers of paint. And the paint was some sort of epoxy (?!) and almost impossible to get off. So I think he ran out of ground glass and used sand. You can still find what looks like sand everywhere. The same goes for my friend's driveway, even though the guy laid out a tarp everywhere and took everything with him. I guess soda blasting is better in that regard. Anyways, he charged $450. Ideally you should to take out all the glass to avoid damage. I didn't and taped it all off, but in some places it got damaged. Since I'm replacing the doors with ones that have good glass, it does not matter as much.

 

[clifftt]

Thanks for the reply. Keep us posted, I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[65barracudaLA]

I will... Like I mentioned before the car has a slant six with the super six 2-barrell carter bbd. I put an open air cleaner on it that will only fit with an adapter. After buying the third adapter that melted after a while (it also did not really fit the 2 5/8" neck of the bbd), I was looking for one made out of metal. Apparently that does not exist. So now, instead of the 'Spectre' ones I bought at Autozone, I went with one from 'Trans Depot' that I ordered from Summit. It fit much better than the previous ones. Let's see how long that'll last. The photo shows the melted one in the middle. It warped so much that it blocked the choke linkage!

 

[65barracudaLA]

Got a little more done on the Barracuda. First door jamb is painted! Also, driver side quarter panel is starting to look good as well as roof and hood!

 

[65barracudaLA]

So, passenger side and back are (almost) done. I noticed a couple of little scratches that I hadn't seen before. (The doors and deck lid are still gonna be replaced)

I also started on the front valance. It's got plenty of dings, but at least no rust.

I realized the quality of the pictures earlier was terrible, so I hope those are better.

 

[66fyssh]

Looking good!! You're getting some great work done. I can't wait to see the entire car that color!

 

[Keith Mopar]

Your car is looking good, I love the fact that your driving it.

Red should look good on the Cuda.

 

[65barracudaLA]

The valance is starting to look better- still not quite there yet, though.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Today my Barracuda turned 50 years old! It was built April 29th, 1965 according to the fender tag and built sheet. I wish the car was already painted for this special day, but, well, I'm working on it...

 

[Tadams]

Be happy you can drive yours. Mine is still in the garage after 3 years.

 

[65barracudaLA]

I wish I had a garage... but I won't complain. I worked on the deck lid the other day. It's getting there. Still need to work on the doors.

modern art:

 

[65barracudaLA]

More progress on the deck lid... Exterior is pretty nice now:

On to the inside:

And some paint:

Once the paint has fully dried, I'll put it on the car. Anyone have a spare deck lid hinge? One of mine is bad...

 

[Tadams]

Looking Great. Anxious to see more paint.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Looking Great. Anxious to see more paint.

Yeah, me too!