"El Mongrel" '65 Formula S Restomod

[rapom65]

Warning: this is going to be a long winded story and if you don’t want to get sucked in leave now. You have been forewarned.

“El Mongrel”​

Part 1
The reason I’m writing this story is two fold. First, document what is done to the car while it spends time in my hands and second, show to whomever has an interest what can be done to an old car, over time, with factory stuff either sourced through friends, junk yards, swap meets, internet or wherever. This will be the sixth A body (working on # 7 now) I will have had a hand in extensively modifying, either my own projects or friend’s, and the only one that has ever been documented. The decision to do this was made at a late date and much has already been completed without taking pictures of the process. Fortunately many others have posted excellent write ups documenting the “how to”. Just use the SEARCH function and spend some time reading.

Prior to the search for and purchase of my little Cuda I had owned a ’72 Demon for over 10 years. It had a solid cammed 440, manual valve bodied 727 and 3000 stall. This thing was quite fun for a while but had slowly morphed from the all around driver I really wanted towards the drag strip which I was into for about 6-7 years. In the process of ownership I did mini-tubs, subframe connectors, roll cage, ladder bar rear suspension, fuel cell, tunnel ram, race mufflers, ect. Slowly it got less and less fun to take out for a cruise as my head was constantly on a swivel looking for “Johnny Law”. With that much power under my foot it was WAY to tempting. Soon it just sat waiting for a day at the drags which was getting to be far and few between. After much sole searching I decided it needed a new home.

A couple months after the sale and being Moparless “the bug” bit me hard. “Got to be an A body but what to get? No, done the Duster, Demon & Dart thing already. Need something more unusual and challenging, this is after all a hobby.” So my interest started focusing on the early A’s and I found an add for a ’65 Formula S Barracuda in Oregon that looked promising. I showed the pictures to my wife and got the response “It’s kind of ugly but in a cute sort of way”. Gee thanks for the support dear. I brought the idea up at work the next day with my two A body buddies and was shot down in flames like a WWI blimp. “Those things are f—king ugly”, “they’re too small to get a REAL motor in” where just a couple of the nicer remarks. That did it, the gauntlet had been thrown and I was determined to show them just how wrong they were.

A trip to Oregon and $1250.00 changed hands for a remarkably solid and complete Cuda. Only two things were missing, the original HP 273 and the A/C system. The story went that the car had broken down on the road and was towed into Yakima, WA. It had sat and wracked up impound fees and was eventually abandoned by the owner. The car was stored inside by the tow company for at least 9 years, in which time the motor and A/C were stripped, before being put up for sale. It was purchased by a well meaning young guy who realized how much work and money it would take to refurbish and just wanted to get his cost back out of. Now it was sitting in my shop and a plan slowly evolved after a long evaluation aided by more than a few ”barley pops”.

 

[Hyper_pak]

More Pic!

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Ok I'm sucked in... But your car is so solid.... Mine should be named Bondo Bucket.

 

[rapom65]

Patience Grasshopper....

Trying to attach a pic of the Demon but they won't upload. More to come.

 

[rapom65]

Cliff you got to work with what you got. Yeah it would be nice to start with a rust free car (seen one of those lately?) you also got to work within what you can afford. One piece at a time and it will get done.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Patience Grasshopper....

Trying to attach a pic of the Demon but they won't upload. More to come.

I think I have been Squished :tard:

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Cliff you got to work with what you got. Yeah it would be nice to start with a rust free car (seen one of those lately?) you also got to work within what you can afford. One piece at a time and it will get done.

I know the original plan was to get it running and drive it while working on the body. I think I have went in a better direction to have a more solid car to drive in the end.

 

[rapom65]

Ok, sorry about that. Pic of the Demon.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

ok, sorry about that. Pic of the demon.

wow!!!!

 

[rapom65]

Part 2
The “vision”: Take the original 1965 Barracuda Formula S to its full potential utilizing as many factory produced parts as possible mixed with a judicious sprinkling of aftermarket equipment to significantly upgrade performance and safety. Do this while staying as true to the factory design as possible and make any mods totally reversible so that the car could be easily restored if desired in the future. And lastly, do all this within a fairly tight budget.

First of all this car had to be everyday, all day drivable. To that end all modifications would be made in the light of the grand touring scheme, not a street car trying to be a race car or a race car masquerading as a street car. Sorry, been there-done that. “Power junkies” will probably be disappointed in the engine choice and power goals, and yes better handling could be accomplished with an Alterkation kit and 17” roller skate wheels. But remember “the vision”: factory parts on a budget. Ok, so here we go.
Goals:
1. Make it fast
2. Make it handle
3. Make it stop
4. Make it long trip comfortable
5. Make it reliable, economical and easy to maintain.
6. Did I say make it fast?

Let’s take these one at a time and break down the plan for each.

1 .ENGINE = Make it fast. We’re not talking drag strip here. We’re talking street fast. Quick, nimble. This thing needs to cruise on the weekends, drive to work on nice days, deal with city traffic, not be embarrassed by some Ford, Chevy or Honda and hopefully take an occasional 1200 mile road trip (MOPARS AT THE STRIP, “FLINGS”, or POWER TOURS). This meant adequate power (325-375 hp by my reckoning), reliability, economy and budget friendly. Ah yes, that damn budget. Oh to find a newer hemi, buy a crate motor or have the “dream stroker” built to plunk between the fenders. Aint happening on this guys income. So scrounge we must. To keep costs in check the decision was made to look for a good running motor with future upgradeability at a “buddy” price. Things we had to consider:

A) An early A body means TIGHT engine compartment. Remember these things only came with slant 6s or 273s, and IIRC were two inches narrower in the engine bay and three inches shorter in wheel base than later As. Not enough power for reaching the goal, within budget, with a /6 or 273. That left a 318, 340 or 360, LA or Magnum.
B) Limited room for exhaust system. After much research it became clear that this was going to be the sticking point in engine selection. TTI had not released their headers for early As yet which only left a few choices: Doug’s headers (budget buster$$), fenderwells (no sheet metal cutting), Spitfires (spotty availability), 340 casting$, some Dakota and Jeep castings that were being experimented with at the time and the stock 273 castings. All the castings would be restrictive in the case of a 340/360 and future upgrading. In keeping with the vision of factory parts and design, not modifying sheet metal and the ever present budget the decision was made in favor of one of the castings depending on the eventual engine purchase.
C) Cooling the beast. On hand was a very good stock radiator (273 w/AC), which I wanted to use, but questioned how it would cool a beefy 340 or 360.

 

[rapom65]

Part 3
After a thorough search of friends, junkyards, newspapers, swap meets, and the internet it looked like a 340 and the matching exhaust castings were rarer than a three dollar bill. Those located were many states away, were incomplete, not running and all outside the budget. Then the search began in earnest for a running 360 or possibly a suitably warmed up 318 someone needed to unload CHEAP! No luck. I read over and over about how 360s were littering the landscape like empty beer cans and could be picked up for a song. Guess I’m living wrong. Then one day while perusing the local Buy & Sell a two line add caught my eye. “’88 318 4 BBL police motor, complete, runs great, $200.00” Hmmm, what the heck does a police motor got besides high mileage? Did some quick research on the ‘80s police 318s and found that they had a strong following from those who’ve actually owned one, were a pretty decent package from the factory due to the quality internals and with the fleet maintenance they received were normally in great mechanical shape despite the mileage. SOLD!!! Best of all this engine would work acceptably with the available and reasonably priced stock 273 cast manifolds and stayed within the factory design mandate (more on this latter).

These are the specs on the police motor as gathered from numerous web sites. Seat of the pants testing tells me the cam isn’t a mild 318 grind. Rated rear wheel hp 175 @ 4000 rpm, torque 250 ft lbs @ 3200 rpm. Block casting #4323330 (’85-’89 flat tappet), special kolene cleaned 360 cylinder heads (casting # 4323345), 1.88 silichrome-1 high temprature steel intake valves, 1.60 nimonic exhaust valves, heavy duty valve springs (340?), high strength rocker arms(same as truck), high temp cylinder head cover gaskets, high temp valve seals and shields, 360 four barrel intake manifold (41 lbs of cast iron!), double roller timing chain, hyperutectic pistons (flat top w/o valve reliefs, piston pin height raised 0.020 due to open chambers of 360 heads, 8.5 to 1 compression ratio), special piston-to-block clearances (allowable by use of the hyperutectic pistons), heavy duty chrome plated oil rings, forged steel connecting rods, lubrite treated camshaft (4bbl hydraulic version had 340 cam: 430/444 lift with 268/276 duration, roller version had 391/391 lift with 240/240 duration) everything I’ve seen suggests this should be a roller cam motor but it is not and does not have provisions for it, windage tray and a heavy duty water pump (large bearing). Although never found in writing I would think the oil pump would be a heavy duty unit also.

Pics of motor after clean up and then painted. Experimenting with twin snorkel air cleaner idea. Ignore the headers and intake (for now). Junkyard alternator and clutch fan (Jeep Cherokee), new motor mounts, bud sourced angled oil filter, 110 gph mechanical fuel pump, swap meet 273 valve covers $60, yeah I stole them!. If you look just below the exhaust ports you can see the holes for the air injection on the 80s heads. Tap them and put in allen head plugs or you will have nasty exhaust leaks with headers.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Are these the holes you said to use the allen screws?

 

[rapom65]

Yep, about a inch below the exhaust port. I think I tapped them for a 1/4 -20 plug. If you don't use the stock manifolds you will have a leak from just above the exhaust valve direct to outside the motor. Not good.


Stay tuned for more kiddies this just got started!

 

[rapom65]

Part 4
Several months went by working on the car as much as possible. It was closing in on Christmas and my two initially unsupportive buds had begun to “take pity on the fool” and his “bathtub with wheels” (their name for “El Mongrel” not mine). They pulled two boxes from out behind their desks and handed them to me. Inside of one was a new set of shorty headers (Laysons knockoffs of Spitfires) and in the other was a LD340 intake. They had decided that those restrictive 273 exhaust manifolds would choke the life out of my motor (they were right) so they took preemptive action. Wow what can you say about friends like that.
I immediately headed up to my shop when I got home that evening and started changing out parts. The original cast iron intake manifold weighed 41 lbs on my bathroom scale! I nearly got a hernia trying to lift it off the motor. Replacing it with the LD340 was like permanently removing the battery from the car.
I soon realized the gift of the shorty headers while a god send for flow was going to result in massive headaches trying to route and fab an exhaust system around the steering column and past the torsion bars. This was going to throw the “follow the factory design” concept out the window right at the beginning of the project. One decision I had made earlier to axe the original power steering in favor of a manual box did help in eventually making it all fit (more on that latter). After many hours of laying under the car and with the aid of BAD (beer assisted design) a plan was formulated to deal with the two opposing issues; factory design and getting adequate exhaust flow. (I have a very long term goal to stroke the 318 when it is time for a rebuild). What I eventually came up with was an exhaust patterned off the original two into one and out the back through a muffler/resonator. Aluminized, mandrel bent 3” exhaust tubing, a 2 into1 merge pipe (2.5” inlets 3” outlet), a 3” turbo muffler and a 3” shorty glass pack were ordered up from Jeggs. Over the course of several weeks a system was pieced together starting at the headers and working back. I have got to give myself some credit, it turned out fantastic. I capped the exit through the rear valance cut out with a stainless tip reminiscent of the original resonator. It is made in three sections all of which bolt together with collector flanges. I had the headers and pipes down past the 2 into1 collector ceramic coated and polished. They came out sweeeeet!

Pics of exhaust fab:

 

[rapom65]

And finished pics of it installed:

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Your Exhaust system looks great.
2 questions..

1.How well does your new system flow?

2. Why not run dual exhaust?

 

[caferacerx]

the more I read, the more I like!

 

[440marv]

what paint or undercoating did you use under it? It looks nice and clean.

 

[67valiant 100]

Your Exhaust system looks great.
2 questions..

1.How well does your new system flow?

2. Why not run dual exhaust?

He wants it to look some what stock remeber:glasses8: Nice build by the way:rock: How much do you think the headers improved over the original 273 manifolds?

 

[rapom65]

Your Exhaust system looks great.
2 questions..

1.How well does your new system flow?

2. Why not run dual exhaust?

Thanks CLiff,

1. I think it flows great for the 318. It's 2.5 inch to the merge collector and then true 3" all the way out. All mandrel bends. Now if I stroke it to 390 I don't know. Depends on how radical I get with cam selection.
2. Three reasons: 1) the transmission cross member only has one "hump" in it for exhaust clearance 2) Wanted to emulate the stock system 3) Look under your car. Ever notice the gas tank is offset to the passenger side of the car? That was to make room for the stock single exhaust. Duals can be done but not within the "vision" (beer haze).

The major reasoning behind not modifying the car (too much) is to be able to take it back to originality. If fully restored it could be worth some big bucks, of course it would probably take more than it would be worth to get it there and that is why I'm not doing a restoration. Just don't want to cut on this one. I've got another project that is underway you will probably like but I'm going to finish this saga 1st.

 

[rapom65]

what paint or undercoating did you use under it? It looks nice and clean.

That is all POR 15 Chassis Coat Black. Front suspension and K member is all done in POR 15 Gloss Black.
How do you guys like that gas tank? That's the original tank with the road film cleaned off. It looks brand new. My '74 Duster's is a rusted up piece of junk. Makes you wonder.

 

[rapom65]

He wants it to look some what stock remeber:glasses8: Nice build by the way:rock: How much do you think the headers improved over the original 273 manifolds?

Thanks. The stock system was 1 7/8" compression bent single exhaust. The cast manifolds were marginal for a small V8 especially the drivers side. It went from a round log and morphed into a flat rectangle that curved around the steering column then back to a round flange. I think I could fart harder than that thing could flow.

 

[rapom65]

Let’s finish up the motor and a few associated systems.
Because I wanted this thing to be able to handle heavy cornering without issue I felt the stock oiling system needed to have some potential issues addressed. The first was access to the oil filter. While building the pipes off the passenger header it was obvious a standard filter and the down pipe weren’t going to share the same space. The answer was an aluminum 90* filter housing which is a fairly well know item amongst the Mopar brethren. A quick call to one of my compadres netted me one at a very fair price. Problem solved.

 

[rapom65]

The next issue was oil control in the oil pan. As mentioned before the engine already had a factory windage tray. What concerned me was that in a prolonged hard turn the oil can be forced up the sidewall of the pan and block, possibly exposing the oil pickup. Air dose a lousy job of lubrication and I’m all about limiting possibilities no matter how remote. I remembered an article in one of my many Mopar mags (going back 20 years) that showed how to build a baffle for the oil pan for not only lateral but also acceleration and deceleration control of the oil. After a lengthy search I located the tech article I was looking for. Using a piece of 18 gauge sheet metal and following the articles instructions I fashioned a reasonable copy and welded it in the sump. Since then I’ve done a few for my friends and never took a picture of any of them. Maybe I can link that article if I can find it online.
I already talked about the intake swap and that leads us to the next project, what carb to run on the 318. I did a massive amount of research on line, talking to my friends and reading old magazine engine builds and induction tests. I even dug out my very old copy of the Mopar engine book for some insight. Recommendations ranged from 500 to 750 cfm depending on cam and compression. I wanted it to be crisp at low rpm yet still have lungs for higher rpm considering the 360 heads, intake and new headers. I finally settled on a 650 vac secondary Holly with electric choke and a metering block instead of a plate on the secondary side. I found the best deal of all places on Amazon.com and with a little trepidation on what was going to be in the box when it showed up placed the order. A few days later the guy in brown shorts rang the door bell and handed me a box. Happy days, inside was a shiny as a new penny Holley just as I had wanted. In no time it was installed. Once I got the rest of the systems hooked up and adjusted it fired right up. With a little tuning she was purring like a well fed cat.

 

[rapom65]

You may be wondering what became of the dual snorkel air filter idea. Well I did finish it but it is one of two non Mopar parts on the whole car. Don’t be a hater, I did try to use a swap meet dual snorkel housing off a Dodge truck (supposedly) that was just plain fugly. You can see it in the first engine pic. It was a neat idea if I could pull it off but it wasn’t going to be done with that monstrosity. During one of my many forays to the Pick-n-Pull I was wandering down the Ford isles lifting hoods so see what kind of ideas I could glean from the factory engineers. Car after car had the same single snorkel air filter housings and I picked one up to toss it out of the way. “Hey that is kind of light” I thought. After flipping the top over I found the lid was aluminum. Cool. Then I started looking at the housing and the angle of the snorkel. A light bulb, yeah probably a 40 watt, went off in my head. “I bet if I took another snorkel and cut a hole right here that that would solve the issue with the snorkel hoses draping over the fan on my “fugly” housing”. So I bought two housing and headed home. A couple hours latter and my new housing adorned the top of my motor. After removing the snorkel from my parts housing I laid out where I wanted the new one installed. I cut two holes with a hand drill and appropriate sized hole saw, connected them with a cutoff wheel to complete the opening, rolled the edge to give the new opening some strength and used some small bolts and fender washers instead of the factory rivets to attach both snorkels. Heck that was easy. Some days latter I decided to strip the paint off the lid and polished it out. It took several more trips to the Pick-n-Pull to find the accordion hoses as they are rectangular on the snorkel end and 3” round on the other. Most of them were hammered so I kept an eye out on my future “junking” forays until I found two in acceptable shape. The core support fittings are both off Mopar products. One is rectangular and came off a Dodge pickup and the other is round off one of the ‘80s land yatchs. The reason for the different shapes was to utilize existing holes in the core support. Remember - no sheet metal cutting.
Housing prior to paint

View attachment Cuda 43.jpg