Questions about a 66 Baracuda

-
Randall Lowe

Randall Lowe

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Buckingham, Iowa
Greetings from an old B body guy who is about to buy his first A body.
Going to look at a barn find 66 barracuda 273/auto car tomorrow...Any tips for me...I'm afraid I don't know much about the Barracuda (being a GTX owner)...BTW Thanks for the add to your group...Randy Lowe
 
Rust inside the cowl, around the rear window, the chrome strip along the top of the rear quarters, floor boards, spare tire well, behind front wheels. Just fyi the headlight trim and many other parts are one year only so if it has a lot of parts missing from it, that will be a challenge. I'm sure others will chime in to help, welcome Randy and good luck! Pics of b-bodies are welcome here too!
 
goldfish65 said:
Rust inside the cowl, around the rear window, the chrome strip along the top of the rear quarters, floor boards, spare tire well, behind front wheels. Just fyi the headlight trim and many other parts are one year only so if it has a lot of parts missing from it, that will be a challenge. I'm sure others will chime in to help, welcome Randy and good luck! Pics of b-bodies are welcome here too!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your sage advice...I didn't know about one year only parts...Randy
 
Let's see, what I can say for sure, is all the sheet metal except for the doors, hood, doghouse and trunk lid, as well as the bumpers, taillights, grille, front buckets seats, gage cluster and dash trim are specific to '66 only. Collectible?... not that I've seen, but they are great cars. Hood, bumpers and front fenders do interchange with '66 Valiant.
 
Last edited:
Don't buy an early A for its collectability. They don't bring big bucks when selling. Buy one because you like it.
 
Buy it cuz it's about 400 pounds lighter!; than the next generation A's,similarly equipped. That can be between 10% on a 67to71 Dart, to near 20% lighter than a 67to69 FB-Barracuda. They are TNT with a hot 360! Unfortunately they won't take much tire without having to be tubbed :(
 
And it's a Mopar. Doesn't get any better than that. Welcome to FABO.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Buy it cuz it's about 400 pounds lighter!; than the next generation A's,similarly equipped. That can be between 10% on a 67to71 Dart, to near 20% lighter than a 67to69 FB-Barracuda. They are TNT with a hot 360! Unfortunately they won't take much tire without having to be tubbed :(
Click to expand...

And...cuz they are light they are really fun to drive. :)
 
Especially after adding sway bars and thicker t-bars

Sadly - 1st gen barracudas are not worth very much. The formula S would bring the higher end of the money - only about 10% were produced
Fender tag - 31 is 273-2bbl and 32 is 273-4bbl
 
i'm bringing one back from the dead. As stated earlier, the headlight chrome rings, center grill and medallion, bumpers front and rear all one year only. If you remove front or rear windows KEEP THE LOCKSTRIP CORNER TRIM PIECES. You cannot get them anywhere. The dash parts are one year only but easily found. the nice thing about 66 barracuda is there are not alot of them on the road, you rarely see them at car shows, so when you go out in one it draws a nice crowd every time. Dont let us scare you away with all the one year only stuff, if you are persistent you can find your parts, but if you find two sets of lockstrip corners i dibs the extra set. haha.
 
searcher1990 said:
i'm bringing one back from the dead. As stated earlier, the headlight chrome rings, center grill and medallion, bumpers front and rear all one year only. If you remove front or rear windows KEEP THE LOCKSTRIP CORNER TRIM PIECES. You cannot get them anywhere. The dash parts are one year only but easily found. the nice thing about 66 barracuda is there are not alot of them on the road, you rarely see them at car shows, so when you go out in one it draws a nice crowd every time. Dont let us scare you away with all the one year only stuff, if you are persistent you can find your parts, but if you find two sets of lockstrip corners i dibs the extra set. haha.
Click to expand...
What are lockstrip corners?
 
On the bottom corners of that big rear window, there are small L-shaped trim pieces made of flimsy metal that cover where the lockstrip meet at right angles there. As for the windshield lockstrip, I always thought there was just one straight metal trim piece to cover the lockstrip since it curves around the corners and there's just the one seam.
 
goldfish65 said:
On the bottom corners of that big rear window, there are small L-shaped trim pieces made of flimsy metal that cover where the lockstrip meet at right angles there. As for the windshield lockstrip, I always thought there was just one straight metal trim piece to cover the lockstrip since it curves around the corners and there's just the one seam.
Click to expand...
OK...But what is a "lockstrip"
 
Welcome!
Are '66Barracudas collectible?
NO! Unless it's an old a Sox & Martin car an early A barn find means parts car to me.
The early '64, '65 & '66 Barracudas are not in big demand. A "barn find" will typically get you underwater financially very fast just getting it back on the road. First they typically had 13" wheels and 13" tires are almost impossible to find or expensive from Coker.
A usual barn find needs a battery, plus work on brake system and fuel system possibly engine /trans work. That's when you get to the "while you're at it might as well"... upgrade to front disc brakes ( which need at least a 14 " wheel) and a new gas tank.
So just to be clear it's not that there's no upside it's just that you'll never get any of your money back - you'll need to get your value from owing and driving a unique fifty year old car.
What to look for:
Rust: the usual places AND the cowl; a car could look perfect but have a rusted cowl and leak water into the front foot area.
Chrome & trim: one year only & everyone with one of these wants nice chrome on the bumpers & tail light housings. Oh tail lights lens (3 on each side) are another thing that aw hard to find.
Interior: most items can be found but the plastic instrument bezel with nice chrome is hard to find.
Hope this helps!
 
Welcome Randall, as others have said, if you are buying to make a quick sale and make some money there are probably better options. But if you are looking for a car to enjoy and just don't see very many of, then go for it. I purchased my 65 formula S, because I like the body style and when going to some local car shows I very rarely see any that are anywhere close to the original ones.
Good luck
 
Lockstrips are soft metal that rolls into the rubber window gasket that once the lockstrip is installed the gasket tightens to the glass and window frame. In the rear of the window corners are little separate corner pieces because the metal will not bend around corners, you can buy the lockstrip rolls off of ebay but the corner pieces you cannot and most of them are rotted out to begin with, so if yours are in good shape don't do what i did and throw them away (i was unaware of what i did at the time) . i have looked for some for two years with no luck. If your window guy trims the lockstrip roll carefully you really do not need them unless doing a serious restoration but i like to try to keep as close as possible when i can. if you are buying a complete car it will have them, just dont dig out the gasket without trying to save them.
 
searcher1990 said:
Lockstrips are soft metal that rolls into the rubber window gasket that once the lockstrip is installed the gasket tightens to the glass and window frame. In the rear of the window corners are little separate corner pieces because the metal will not bend around corners, you can buy the lockstrip rolls off of ebay but the corner pieces you cannot and most of them are rotted out to begin with, so if yours are in good shape don't do what i did and throw them away (i was unaware of what i did at the time) . i have looked for some for two years with no luck. If your window guy trims the lockstrip roll carefully you really do not need them unless doing a serious restoration but i like to try to keep as close as possible when i can. if you are buying a complete car it will have them, just dont dig out the gasket without trying to save them.
Click to expand...

Should've messaged me about the corners, I have a set for you!!!
 
Welcome to a-bodies @Randall Lowe !! Here's a couple of pics of those elusive rear window corner pieces!

lock corner.jpg


corner 2.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top