65 Barracuda daily driver

[65barracudaLA]

I cleaned up the door hinges and painted them. They turned out pretty nice; maybe too nice for a part that you'll never really see...

 

[mjbarbee516]

Thank you for your post. Your car is looking great. Like the other posters said, it's good to see someone doing the work themselves AND on a daily driver.
I've got a 68 Valiant that needs more work than I originally anticipated and I was wondering if I could drive it and work on it at the same time. Your post answers that question.
Keep up the great work. Salma will look amazing in that red.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Yes, it's possible, but I can't really recommend it. It would be a lot easier to be able to leave parts disassembled instead of having to put it back together by the end of the day. On the other hand, this is a car that I want to keep for the rest of my life, so it's worth the effort

 

[Tadams]

I would love to drive mine the way you are. Mine is all taking apart and in the garage

 

[Tadams]

Kinda miss living in LA, actually Marina Del Rey, like 35 years ago. But after a recent business trip, I like my small North Carolina town just fine. Good luck on getting yours complete. Hope to post some picks of mine soon. Have all of the paint and supplies at home now.

 

[65barracudaLA]

I love LA... I live near Dodger stadium in Echo Park. I hope you'll find the time, funds and energy to finish your car.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Here are some more pics from before I started the body work:

Back when I still had my 72 Beetle before making the Barracuda my only car:

At some point I bought some residential carpet for 10 bucks and put it in the car. It looked nice for a while, but now it's bleached out pretty badly.

Before and after:

The seats were pretty torn up, so I put in some from a 86ish BMW 6 series:

 

[Tadams]

Looks fabulous. My problem is time. I manage a mattress store and have had 3 days off this month. I have a couple off after the 1st. hopefully I can do some small things. Thanks for the motivation. I lived at the beach and worked at 1440 Santee St. downtown LA. I complain now about the traffic in our town of 20,000 people. I was in Chino recently and although it is a beautiful place, Carolina is home. Have an awesome day

 

[65barracudaLA]

I was out of town for a little bit, so I haven't really done anything on the Barracuda, but today I got the brand new 60's style license plates in the mail. Even though they are not in the same format as the old plates ("ABC 123"), they look a whole lot better than the standard California plates:

 

[skypower]

Great project keep up the good work.

 

[Tadams]

Really looks awesome. Love the scenery as well. Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing!

 

[barbee6043]

great work! and yes, interesting scenery!!!! we have hills, flat land, grass, and cows!!! ( unless you venture down the Branson and the lake areas!)....

 

[Tadams]

I've been in 48 states and Canada. You can find beauty in all of them! You just have to look harder in some than others. Missouri is awesome as well!

 

[65barracudaLA]

Finally got back to working on the Barracuda. I installed a rust-free deck lid, replaced one of the hinges and started on the rust-free doors, that I got a while ago. I have two questions:
1. Does the glass have to be out to install the window weatherstripping (felt fuzzies)? I'm sure it's easier with the glass out.
2. I want to install a passenger side mirror (I already have one). Is it installed in the same position as on the driver side? Or further back?

Anyways, once the doors are in, I will bring it to the paint shop. I'm still contemplating removing windshield and rear window and clean out the window surround. I plan on replacing the windshield and I have a spare rear window. I'm still hesitant though as I am not sure how quickly I can get the glass in and out.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Still driving it every day by the way...

 

[Keith Mopar]

Car looks good and still driving it, amazing what your doing...

That carpet in the car sure looks good, was it a kit?

 

[65barracudaLA]

Thanks, Keith! And no, it wasn't carpet kit. It was home carpet that I got for 10 bucks at the local carpet store. It's not meant for use in a car, so it's a little worn and faded now, but at the time it was a cheap fix... When I get to the interior I'll probably buy a kit, though.

Here's a picture of the installed deck lid. I like seeing red...

And now the sun is setting and that means I'm done for today...

 

[KENTON]

Great pictures, keep them coming.

 

[65barracudaLA]

The other door had a little more surface rust than I remembered. I put some Naval Jelly on it and I'm about to find out what it did over night...

Also preparing the door jambs for some red paint.

The passenger side door needs some more attention, but it's getting there. I figured the best place to store it for now is inside the Barracuda (I wish I had a garage).

 

[prrc]

looks good. very nice clean car.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Thanks!

 

[65dartcharger]

Awesome restoration. Living in Sweden makes me wanting those weather conditions! Keep up the good work man!

 

[65barracudaLA]

So, exterior of the driver side door turned out to be kind of a pain in the ***. The surface rust was pretty deep and whatever paint was used kept clogging the sandpaper. Still more to do, but I sprayed some primer on it so make it easier to see what areas need attention.

Then, my favorite thing: Spraying red paint!

 

[65barracudaLA]

And another door is red!

 

[65barracudaLA]

Awesome restoration. Living in Sweden makes me wanting those weather conditions! Keep up the good work man!

I actually grew up in Germany and I couldn't stand the cold and depressing winters. And then I moved to California and I will never move anywhere else...