drug home 65 cuda project ( assembly required!)

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barbee6043

barbee6043

barbee 6043
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I mentioned while back I traded off the featherduster for 65 273 cuda project. people wanted pics...got it home yesterday..... hopefull I will be able to download the pics.... I got it from mopar friend. he got it from guy that drove it home in '06
and took it part last year......
the good:99% rust free car ( non existant around here). new seat covers installed (well), new carpet in box. pretty straight. d a 'd down to bare metal except front clip.. rebuilt brakes and front end.. 3 pretty new tires. new gas tank....appearasntly a complete ??? car before he took it part.....

the bad: d a 'd it to bare metal and there it sat- outside LOL ( sorry I had to add LOL)..... surface rust but I can deal with that..... he rebuil t the brakes: checked new master cylinder ( probably YR OR 2 OLD?) but NEVER added brake fluid!!! m c is full of water, the wheel cylinders will be rusted shut......
he took the whole fri--ing car part..... I've bought more than a few of these ( put them back together behind someone else deals before..... but not a first gen cuda,) the rear seat and back trim..... need factory service manual showing all that!!!!he took the engine somewhat apart, he was going to install big block ( huh!??) pulls the motor and takes off heads, intake, timing chain and there it sits. drove it home 8 years ago and sat. will deal with that later.
more bad.... my buddy sold off the front clip before our trade... but he got me another one, pretty decent shape, needs a little rust repair and few dings...... the p o was going to add 4 speed ( had one rebuilt) that got sold off too! buddy has correct s b cable shift tranny, I get to pull that but get spare 273 in process...... ( get exercise!?? LOL)....
all in all, good body, I like the early cudas ( o k so I have strange mopar tastes!! LOL). actually I think the early cudas, darts, first gen chargers etc. are cool and have character that runners, bees 70 up e bodies LACK..... just me....
I wil have to track down some of you 65 cudas owners for questions no doubt.... I have to make trip to buddies to pull the other engine- tranes, pics up 4-5 BIG boxes of parts ..... he has 2 early cuda parts cars but most stuff has been already taken off, so not good source for nuts and screws!!!!
my goal is to have nice driver, i do 98% of the work.... allergic to the paints but have found a good brand X street rod builder that will help me out.... my goal is to NEVER have more in a car than its worth. which nowdays with price of parts it probably impossible to do!!!! LOL....
one thing I must add... guys that have never done a reto, half a-- resto, complete resto, or fix it up reto.....etc..... be careful about NOT having a plan, and just start taking EVERYTHING apart!!!!! especialy if you are not going to do the car on a reasonable schedule>>>>>

I will have to let my "personal photo assistant" upload the pics tomorrow.....
 
http://www.mcmaster.com/#
Ordered mostly black flange headed bolts, mostly 3/8 up to 3 inch by the box load. Also boxes of SS serrated flange nuts of common sizes. Incorrect for restoration, but very functional and fast for putting stuff together. Also have more then 1 car to do, so some extras are OK. So much easier then going through several boxes looking for the right style bolt. Ordered almost all the interior screws in SS by the box load also, royal pain to figure the head size and lengths of ALL the screws the first time. Came close.
 
I will have to make trip back to my buddy's next week to get the big plastic boxes of everything the p o took off, there is a complete new carpet set which is great... they don't give them away. he has several 65 cudas but pretty well striped, hope there will be some int erior screws at least enough to figure what size I will need. company called "Fastenal;" here in springfiled.
I will pull up Lawson's cata logue here next to see what they offer.
"if it was easy, chevy guys would build mopars!!!?????" I think THE DUKE said that first? or was it JAY LENO???
has new computer, satellite, and still can't downl;oad the pics, maybe I can email to someone and they can post!? LOL don't get me stared on the list ( computers #!),, of things that p--- me off as it would be a long one!! LOL
 
That's a LOT of surface rust. But it does look pretty solid. I'd say it's still a really good candidate to work on. Maybe you'll want to upgrade the brake system if you're having to go through it anyway.
 
thank's!!!! to 67 cuda for downloading the pics for me.
its a shame stuff that happens to people. I don't know the p o, just know my buddy drug this car home last fall. looks like p o bought it in 06 and finally titled it in '13. he drove it home I understand . i'd like to meet him, but will wait till it get it back more together, right now I might hurt his feelings not knowing the whole story.
yes it will get dual m c. new brake lines, i'll keep the 10 in drums.
I got a local ( 30 mi away, local for here).... streetrod-bodyman ; ill have him shoot it ..... i'm allergic to the paint. will handsand with 60 grit, have acid solution from auto paint house, to neutralize the surface rust, I will hand apply some epoxy primer where the few dings are,for filler, then take it to painter to apply epoxy and K2 over the whole thing. i'll block it, will go back white ( I love white), and if not perfect it won't hardly show. actually will be a breeze since its so strait and not having to do any metal work... could do it black, but already got a 63 dart that's originally black with red buckets0...I know it looks like death warmed over! but actually NO rust, just f ew minor dings, course gotta find a front clip!!
maybe I should put this on resto thread. but I will HAVE to get where I can download pics!! LOL actually its not ME, its windows 8 ( I think!) LOL
there is nothing I will do that reinvents the wheel, BUT I believe there are some people out there that can see where they can put together a decent car without spends such huge $$$$!!??
I realize there are members that require a big $$ new stroker , an $6000 paint job ( don't even read the thread on " getin out of the paint shop jail")( hopefully that guys car will be ABOVE perfect, but.....).
 
Im in. Had 2 65's for almost as long as I have been driving minus 4 year stint in the Corps and 3 years college. Paint was the last thing I did, and I 'didnt' do it: One Day did a freaking good job for what I gave them, more than happy with it. If you like white, I saw a cool one with a ruby red stripe (factory color!) and a blue striper too, red looked better.
 
there is a member on here with a white one with gold stripe. this car has gold interior and I think the gold stripe looks good anyway, too. sorta suttle....
the thing that is hindged and covers the spare tire well??? is it sheetmetal or what??? carpet covered???
 
Like This! This is my first Barracuda I built in the early 90's.
 

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barbee6043 said:
there is a member on here with a white one with gold stripe. this car has gold interior and I think the gold stripe looks good anyway, too. sorta suttle....
the thing that is hindged and covers the spare tire well??? is it sheetmetal or what??? carpet covered???
Click to expand...

The trunk divider? It is 3/4 plywood.
 
barbee6043 said:
there is a member on here with a white one with gold stripe. this car has gold interior and I think the gold stripe looks good anyway, too. sorta suttle....
the thing that is hindged and covers the spare tire well??? is it sheetmetal or what??? carpet covered???
Click to expand...

Looks like you have your hands full there, guess we know what you will be doing for the next 4 or 5 --------------
----------------------months/years haha!

Trunk/ interior divider panel is wood with carpet overlay.

I have a complete clean 65 if you have any questions, glad to help and currently stripping two 65's that were mostly all there. I would have dragged them home but lack of real estate and excess of Mopes forbids it so trying to salvage what I can. One and maybe both had that trunk divider, but cars are two hrs away and I've already been three times(finger still healing from massive gash I got yesterday removing a molding strip,hahaha) will be going back for sure though. If you have needs let me know, I'm trying to finance a drivetrain upgrade from this pull.Some may think I have delusions of a straw in the drink sitting on the beach life style from some of the stuff I've priced, but this 50 year old stuff ain't growing on trees and if a guy doesn't want to pony up a few bucks for hell of all things the Barracuda emblems well then he can drive around like a dork without em or god forbid put toyota ones on there for all I care, lol. Help out however I can and I agree with you that the 65 with it's signature grill has some of the cleanest lines ever produced. I'd personally rather own 10 or 15 65's for the same money that would get you one challenger.
 
yes B-onefan" yes that's it!!!!! can't help it, I love white cars, I think the gold roof stripe is a killer with the gold int . i'd love a set of old style Coy's up front, yes 14 sbp! black tires... steel wheels in rear.... I have set of reverse chrome 14x7 on rear of the 63 and 5 darts, one set has been sandblasted and painted black..... I need a pair for this cuda!!!!
I sound like grandkids: " I want, I want....." LOL
hemioutlaw: a member told me to rebuild my rarnnies on the kitchen table!! so you could haul those bone cars home an put em in the spare bedroom!! ?? LOL
me: i'm bout retired ( or just plain tired!??), work 3 days per week to mainly feed my car projects!???? social security only buys so many groceries!?? LOL i'm workin on 65 and 63 dart gt's both slant cars too. when I get bogged down with one I work on another!!
if I put this on a reto thread, you will find I have to shop around for new or used parts, i'm not a $$$ guy... and cheap too! LOL
 
Same here. The one I have now is originally powder blue with a black stripe and a lt blue met interior. I hate that color on the outside, so I am thinking of changing it to white, with a lt. blue stripe and lt blue interior.
 
When I was younger I thought there wasn't much better out there than a 3rd gen Barracuda (70-74). Then I started to really like the 2nd gens. Now I'd like to have a 1st gen. I think it's got something to do with those big back windows...
 
back in the 80's I had the hots for 70-71 e bodies..... they are sexy, but after u have rebuilt several you see their short comings! early a and b cars are much better made, for some reason their nots bolts and screws come out and don't snap off???? I love the 2 nd gen cuda, and I think the first gens are "unique"!!!!!! and have character!!?? LOL
 
Nice project. Looks like a wash down and then seal with one of the good wipe-on oxidizing primers. :) Then you can assess how much rework you might need todo.

In the condition I see it, it reminds me of the ratty barracuda in "The Wraith". Good luck with it.
 
Nice project car but you need to understand it will cost you more than it is worth as I am one who knows for sure! I am on my second early a body Barracuda, which I love so much! My first a 66 was set up for drag racing street class with a 318, front disc brakes, dual master cylinder kit, upgraded driveshaft, body and paint job, I had well over 10k into it and when one day coming home from the track in the rain a man creamed it backing out of his driveway thinking he was going straight. It ran 12's in the quarter mile. My current Barracuda is a 65 Formula S also 318 dressed like a 273, with front disc brake kit also dual master, as with your it has 14 inch rally wheels not original to that year but better for driving than the 13 inch wheels it had. I also up graded the rear to 8.25 and did this driveshaft. So far I have put 9k plus into this one and still need to do body and pain to finish it off. It has been on a rotisserie so the bottom and all is finished good! It runs well and inside is clean. My next project is a total electrical system redo by getting a kit like I did in the 66 and taking out all the old wires and installing all new. It currently is a mess and looks bad, I want to clean it up and get the interior lights on the dash to work, I put new bulbs in but it did not help. It as many old early a bodies is a project in the making and a hole I throw money into never expecting to get it back as I love it and it will be mine forever! I was at a show last week for the local Mopar Club and parked next to another 65 cuda, a rare thing indeed. His was very original and done up, originally a California car, and had over 20k into it! As we talked it also came out he knew it was not worth what was put into it but he loved it and has had it for over 10 yrs and it was going no place else! So just keep in mind you get what you want out of these early A bodies and make it a driver, enjoy the riding and have fun doing it! I am here in the northside of Chicago so if you get to one of our shows each month love to see it!

65Cudalover!
 
trust me I know how $$$$ can go into one o f these old cars. if I was building a car to even atttent to make a profit, 1.. I would have to do 99% of the work myself and 2. I would have to be working on a car that warrants that in the first place. even then it could be tough.
I work on cars because I like the car and want it for a toy. I can't afford the $$$ some people put in them. I want a driver and could care less about a car show trophy. I admire the quality of cars and the work and investment,, some people restore, but......
this car came undercoated and it will get fresh undercoating. I personally have NO interest in putting it on its side to peal off undercoating so I can paint its bottom.
years ago when I built cars as my income, I had a guy with a boon truck, he would raise up each end and sandblast the bottom, (true). LOL but we are talking about building an M code runner, or V code e body.etc
this little cuda is one of my toys and hopefully when finished it will be a nice driver and if and when I sell it, I can at least get my money out of it...
its great to be able to buy all NEW stuff for the project, but I have to take the hotrodders apppproach and hunt boneyards, network car friends, sometimes do a little horsetrading, and mostly do all the work on it I can do.
like 65cudalover states: this is a hobby, have fun building the car, and make it a car you are willing to drive and thus enjoy!!!!!
 
barbee6043 said:
trust me I know how $$$$ can go into one o f these old cars. if I was building a car to even atttent to make a profit, 1.. I would have to do 99% of the work myself and 2. I would have to be working on a car that warrants that in the first place. even then it could be tough.
I work on cars because I like the car and want it for a toy. I can't afford the $$$ some people put in them. I want a driver and could care less about a car show trophy. I admire the quality of cars and the work and investment,, some people restore, but......
this car came undercoated and it will get fresh undercoating. I personally have NO interest in putting it on its side to peal off undercoating so I can paint its bottom.
years ago when I built cars as my income, I had a guy with a boon truck, he would raise up each end and sandblast the bottom, (true). LOL but we are talking about building an M code runner, or V code e body.etc
this little cuda is one of my toys and hopefully when finished it will be a nice driver and if and when I sell it, I can at least get my money out of it...
its great to be able to buy all NEW stuff for the project, but I have to take the hotrodders apppproach and hunt boneyards, network car friends, sometimes do a little horsetrading, and mostly do all the work on it I can do.
like 65cudalover states: this is a hobby, have fun building the car, and make it a car you are willing to drive and thus enjoy!!!!!
Click to expand...

I always thought that there should ba a classification at the car shows for true daily drivers. If you happen to be a guy that's put a lot of time and effort into your car and want to enjoy actually driving it, you can't compete with the trailer queens that spend their lives cooped up in garages. - And cars were really meant to be driven.
 
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