68 barracuda 383s "Driver Paint Resto"

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The resto still goes on and will probably never end lol. One thing was bothering me was for some reason the painter did not wetsand the roof so I took a chance at it . I did half the roof so far. Wetsanded with 2000 grit then polished with compound and wow it looks 10 times better, I was a bit worried about burning through clear but took my time and hopefully the other side goes
just as good . Very pleased with results.

"Pictures"
..before
.. wetsanded
.. after
.. after

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4spdragtop said:
I'm in the middle of redoing bathroom, Leafs looked poor again.
Nice job, ida been sweating bullets doing that lol .
Click to expand...
Hmmm.. house renos .. you just reminded me about my honey do list.. lol.
I still have the other half of roof to do, but wow it looks good, definitely better then the rest of car.
 
Darren said:
This weekend I was finally able to take the first ride in the Cuda since I started the "mini" resto, She ran great just need to finish up the cluster but that will be a winter project.. thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement...

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Click to expand...
Beautiful car Darren..well done!!
 
Hey guys.
Hope all is well, it's been awhile since I posted or even worked on the barracuda, I'm in the process of doing my cluster, it's been a part for 4 years, I'm going to have some questions on exactly how to put back together lol.
I bought a new bezel (from a FABO member) I believe it is from PG classic, I'm also installing a IVR3 limiter and tachometer kit from Real Time Engineering.
I'm also installing Crackbacked's headlight relay kit and wire around in the near future.

20210424_113312.jpg
 
Darren said:
Hey guys.
Hope all is well, it's been awhile since I posted or even worked on the barracuda, I'm in the process of doing my cluster, it's been a part for 4 years, I'm going to have some questions on exactly how to put back together lol.
I bought a new bezel (from a FABO member) I believe it is from PG classic, I'm also installing a IVR3 limiter and tachometer kit from Real Time Engineering.
I'm also installing Crackbacked's headlight relay kit and wire around in the near future.

View attachment 1715727869
Click to expand...

Hey Darren,

Looks like you're off to a great start ! My suggestions, use leds instead of the old bulbs. They will last much longer and be brighter. Tape the chrome parts of the Bezel so they don't get scratched when putting it back in the dash frame. Check the clips in the dash frame and make sure they are not stripped out. If they wont take a screw when you are reassembling, you will end up taking the whole dash apart again to replace them. If the interior is already in the car, take off the steering wheel, and drop the steering wheel column. Also take out the screw that holds the fusebox in place and leave it loose. It will be much easier to install the cluster wiring . I found it easier to connect the headlight switch to the wiring harness and install it after the cluster is in place. Same with the wiper switch. A little modification I made was to replace the screws that hold the heater controls to the cluster with 1/4-20 studs instead. Its much easier to put a nut and washer on the stud instead of trying to thread the screw into the diecast cluster housing to hold the heater controls in place. Before you put the cluster in place, use a 12volt source (old car battery ?) to test all the lights and the gauges.

When reassembling the Bezel, first clean and wax the clear lenses, make sure all the blue light housings are in place and are tight and not leaking light. These blue tubes get quite dirty so clean them well. Also, get a 50watt pencil type soldering iron with a spade type tip. You will need this to melt the tops of the plastic studs when re-assembling the plastic gauge parts. Wherever a screw threads into the circuit board ,and into the diecast cluster housing, make sure to use the star type washers. They cut into the circuit boards to ensure a good connection. Also make sure the dash frame is well grounded , use a test light probe to check it. Should light brightly if the ground is good. Also, if you can find one, get a bezel nut install tool for the nuts that hold in the wiper and headlight switch. Not necessarily needed but its very easy to let a tool slip and gouge your new cluster. I made one with an old deep socket that I grooved out to fit the nut.

This is all I can think of, maybe others will add to this as well. Wish I'd known all of this before I started as I could have avoided some of the issues I ran into when reassembling my dash cluster. Oh well, maybe it will help you out.

Cheers!!
 
Last edited:
:thumbsup::thumbsup:
AAndrews said:
Hey Darren,

Looks like you're off to a great start ! My suggestions, use leds instead of the old bulbs. They will last much longer and be brighter. Tape the chrome parts of the Bezel so they don't get scratched when putting it back in the dash frame. Check the clips in the dash frame and make sure they are not stripped out. If they wont take a screw when you are reassembling, you will end up taking the whole dash apart again to replace them. If the interior is already in the car, take off the steering wheel, and drop the steering wheel column. Also take out the screw that holds the fusebox in place and leave it loose. It will be much easier to install the cluster wiring . I found it easier to connect the headlight switch to the wiring harness and install it after the cluster is in place. Same with the wiper switch. A little modification I made was to replace the screws that hold the heater controls to the cluster with 1/4-20 studs instead. Its much easier to put a nut and washer on the stud instead of trying to thread the screw into the diecast cluster housing to hold the heater controls in place. Before you put the cluster in place, use a 12volt source (old car battery ?) to test all the lights and the gauges.

When reassembling the Bezel, first clean and wax the clear lenses, make sure all the blue light housings are in place and are tight and not leaking light. These blue tubes get quite dirty so clean them well. Also, get a 50watt pencil type soldering iron with a spade type tip. You will need this to melt the tops of the plastic studs when re-assembling the plastic gauge parts. Wherever a screw threads into the circuit board ,and into the diecast cluster housing, make sure to use the star type washers. They cut into the circuit boards to ensure a good connection. Also make sure the dash frame is well grounded , use a test light probe to check it. Should light brightly if the ground is good. Also, if you can find one, get a bezel nut install tool for the nuts that hold in the wiper and headlight switch. Not necessarily needed but its very easy to let a tool slip and gouge your new cluster. I made one with an old deep socket that I grooved out to fit the nut.

This is all I can think of, maybe others will add to this as well. Wish I'd known all of this before I started as I could have avoided some of the issues I ran into when reassembling my dash cluster. Oh well, maybe it will help you out.

Cheers!!
Click to expand...
 
Oh , by the way, this is now a great time to consider the MADD conversion and replace the ammeter with a voltmeter instead. Also, if you are in Ontario, Canada, send your speedo and gauges to to Mr Heaterbox and have them serviced and re-calibrated. These guys are excellent and very good rates. They are in Ontario as well.
 
AAndrews said:
Hey Darren,

Looks like you're off to a great start ! My suggestions, use leds instead of the old bulbs. They will last much longer and be brighter. Tape the chrome parts of the Bezel so they don't get scratched when putting it back in the dash frame. Check the clips in the dash frame and make sure they are not stripped out. If they wont take a screw when you are reassembling, you will end up taking the whole dash apart again to replace them. If the interior is already in the car, take off the steering wheel, and drop the steering wheel column. Also take out the screw that holds the fusebox in place and leave it loose. It will be much easier to install the cluster wiring . I found it easier to connect the headlight switch to the wiring harness and install it after the cluster is in place. Same with the wiper switch. A little modification I made was to replace the screws that hold the heater controls to the cluster with 1/4-20 studs instead. Its much easier to put a nut and washer on the stud instead of trying to thread the screw into the diecast cluster housing to hold the heater controls in place. Before you put the cluster in place, use a 12volt source (old car battery ?) to test all the lights and the gauges.

When reassembling the Bezel, first clean and wax the clear lenses, make sure all the blue light housings are in place and are tight and not leaking light. These blue tubes get quite dirty so clean them well. Also, get a 50watt pencil type soldering iron with a spade type tip. You will need this to melt the tops of the plastic studs when re-assembling the plastic gauge parts. Wherever a screw threads into the circuit board ,and into the diecast cluster housing, make sure to use the star type washers. They cut into the circuit boards to ensure a good connection. Also make sure the dash frame is well grounded , use a test light probe to check it. Should light brightly if the ground is good. Also, if you can find one, get a bezel nut install tool for the nuts that hold in the wiper and headlight switch. Not necessarily needed but its very easy to let a tool slip and gouge your new cluster. I made one with an old deep socket that I grooved out to fit the nut.

This is all I can think of, maybe others will add to this as well. Wish I'd known all of this before I started as I could have avoided some of the issues I ran into when reassembling my dash cluster. Oh well, maybe it will help you out.

Cheers!!
Click to expand...
Thank you for all the info.. it will definitely come on handy
 
So some little progress to report..
I got the gauge lenses polished and installed into the new cluster.
Still waiting on parts, I'm installing cracked back's headlight relay kit and wire around also. I prefer this approach so I can always return to original set up if needed.
I have a spare ammeter so I'm going to convert it to a volt meter and install in the cluster..

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I got a few goodies today.. now I have to find the time to work on car lol.

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Hey guys a few more parts to the cuda.
I purchased Crackback's "headlight relay kit" and his "wire around wire" .
I'm still debating whether or not to install the wire around wire, my wiring seams good. I'm hoping to bypass my ammeter and install a volt meter in the dash.

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Hey guys .. work has been slow on the barracuda.. but got abit down this weekend.
I replaced the wiper pivot seals ..and started replacing the bulkhead connector and sure enough found some melted plastic around one of the ammeter wires going through the connector.. I'm very happy I checked this thanks to you guys..

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4spdragtop said:
Glad ya caught the potential problem now! Less stress and work to deal with it now.
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Yes forsure.. now I have to find the correct connectors. I've been looking locally with no luck. I'll check out Amazon.
 
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