Father Son 65 Barracuda

[Mike1972]

So it begins. A really cool rebuild of a classic early barracuda. Just a little background on us. We are a Mopar family when it comes to old cars. My dad was a Chrysler Plymouth service manager from the early 60s to late 70s. He has already restored 6 old mopar to which we have only sold 1. I think he enjoys working on them more than driving them. So back to the Barracuda. We found the barracuda at an auction here in Ohio. The pictures did it no justice which probably helped us a little. We went to look at it on the preview day. As we walked up I thought there's no way. But my dad kept saying as we got closer. I think we can do this. Well he is the master and I'm just the helper. We left that day with our plan. As it turns out we were lucky enough to get her. So now the fun begins. I'm gonna try to keep up with the progress. We started back on July and we've made huge progress to this day.
Here are a fee pics from the first couple days. Plus one of the rest of our babies.

 

[Woody'sScamp]

Wow, beautiful collection of Mopars! I'm sure the barracuda will look just as good!

 

[chryslerfat]

Looks great

 

[goldfish65]

Welcome, great car and great to see your love for Mopars, young people are needed to keep these cars alive, you are lucky to have a Dad with the ambition and know-how to pass down to you.

 

[66fyssh]

Nice project!! Lots of fun work to do on that one.

Beautiful collection of Mopars

 

[Tooljunkie]

Nice. Looking forward to your progress, my 65 is in different shape, bought it stripped, have no clue whats missing.
Have fun.

 

[Mike1972]

So a little background on the barracuda. It is a V8 car with A.C. and power steering. The light tan is the original color. It came from New Mexico and was last on the road in 1982. The engine in it was not original. it ended up being a 318 which was basically junk. Out of luck I found 2 65 273s here in Ohio. One was 30 mins from me that had the solid lifters and adjustable rockers so that's what we are gonna put in it. Also found a 4bl intake so it should end up being a fun car to drive. Dad and I are basically doing all the work ourselves. He has just a ton of knowledge up in that head of his. I'm taking very good notes through all of this.

 

[ChrisRomello]

the Best feeling is seeing an old car sitting in the driveway in bad shap knowing that one day it will be beautiful again!

 

[Mike1972]

So as of tonight the body is 95% stripped to bare metal. We bought a new tool to help strip the car. I used the Contour ACT from Eastwood on over half the car. I was very impressed with how well it worked. Did both doors one night in under an hour. That tool helped tremendously. Dad has finished the work on the hood, trunk, fenders and doors. He has a pretty good sized area to rebuild behind the passenger rear wheel. He has cut out all the rust areas and patched in new sheet metal. I sit back and marvel. lol I actually have been rebuilding the 273 myself along with pointers from dad of course. The 273 is gonna be basically stock. Here are some pics as we finished tonight.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Went to look at contour act

Actually Contour SCT
Does an awesome job.

 

[66fyssh]

Ya'll are getting at it!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mike1972]

I'm trying to work a couple days a week on the Barracuda as my schedule allows. Dad is retired so he works on it whenever he feels like it. He does most the body work during the day while I'm at work. His garage is heated so that will help this winter. Hoping to start on the rear end soon. Planning to keep the drum brakes all the way around.

 

[Mike1972]

So here is an update. The car is ready for primer. We went ahead and put the front and rear suspension and brakes together and it' back sitting on all 4s. Gonna keep working on other things until the weather warms up so we can spray the primer. So far I am very happy with the progress. I am shooting for it to be done for a father son car show in June. My dad says we'll be lucky. Here are some pics of the progress.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Looking great!

 

[Mike1972]

Looks like the weather has finally turned for the better. We pushed the cuda outside so we could reposition things in the garage. She's ready for prime then paint. The steering column is done also. Seems like slow going but we want to make sure everything is correct so it all goes back together right.

 

[Mike1972]

Another update. Work has slowed just a little but I can say that all the body work is completed and all the primer has been sprayed. Planning on painting the color on Sunday. Only seems appropriate being Fathers day. I decided on a light silver metallic. I think it will look really good on this cool little Barracuda.

 

[66fyssh]

Great progress! Paint going on is a big step.

Yup, these cars look great in Silver Metallic

 

[Mike1972]

Paint is on! Man what a day. It turned out great. Gonna wait a couple days to put on the clear coat. I picked silver metallic. I took the front valance out in the sun after and it just pops. Here's a few pics inside the barn. Doesn't quite do it justice. Will take more once the clear is on and we roll it outside. On side note dad let me paint it myself with him watching over me. I didn't do too bad so he said.

 

[66fyssh]

Looks great! The entire car is going to pop once it's back together.

 

[MrJLR]

Beautiful work!

Jeff

 

[Tooljunkie]

Gonna be fantastic!
Kudos to the old guy and his willingness to share his wicked skills!!

 

[Mike1972]

Paint is done. Ready to start buffing it out for a nice sparkly shine. Then reassembly. Can't wait to get it back on the road for the first time in 36 years.

 

[Mike1972]

Juat a couple more pics to show our progress. Reassembly is progressing nicely. A lot of cleaning of parts before we can put it back together. The paint turned out great. It's really starting to look good. Gonna have my new tires mounted next week.

 

[pishta]

Love the color! Here is my "Sunburst Silver" 65...

 

[JDMopar]

You did an excellent job painting it! Did you use the factory 65 silver color, or choose a silver from another vehicle that was newer?