South german 65 Barracuda restoration

[Fury]

After my introduction in my other Thread "welcome wagon" and the big feedback of
you guys, i´m starting an extra thread with my restoration:

1965 Barracuda with 273cui and 4 speed. Swiss montage! all original.

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT AND CRITICIZE!

April 2015:
After Picking this beauty up near Frankfurt, first stop at a gas station ckeching the tire pressure
before going on the german autobahn! With hub caps :violent1:

Proud as F!ck but slow and following the trucks on the right lane because the breaks were broken.

The seller almost would´t let me go because he was afraid.
But i wanted to drove it absolutely because i knew it was the last ride for a long time.

Car had a lots of bondo on the lower side panels, sh!tty exhaust and some wear.

My buddy has a little shop and drives classic cars since he has his license.

We checked the body and tried to fix it with some small pieces of sheet metal.

The aim was a daily driver and not a total restoration!
If you have fear driving your top priced mopar you went to far

The centerline i bought on ebay. In my opinion the best for small bolt.

 

[rc_brooks]

Nice! I can only imagine how hard it is to acquire parts for these cars over there. Still, very nice!

 

[Fury]

But more and more appears:

Then I decided to order the repair sheet metals, glad to find even it was very expensive.
Both lower sides and wheelhouses with shipping and taxes at the german duty 1000 bucks!:violent1:

Right side was better:

for the inner wheelhouse i made some patches

also inner side panel

of course some pics show the body after cutting out some pieces. It was matched perfect with the new sheets before welding!

 

[Fury]

Thank you!

Waring parts like breaks, bushings, gaskets, spark plugs/wires and so on you can order
at special dealers in germany.

But used party especially for the early A are very hard to find. No one sells something

Things I replaced so far:
Seatbelts, All Leaf Spring bushings, front axle bushings, spark plug and wires,
breaks and wheel cylinders, gas tank, exhaust, engine oil

Also want to install later:
Grill from Valiant 1964 (From a FOBO member)
Engine upgrade with edelbrock intake and carb...
centerline auto drag wheels
some race style. Maybe the stripes and sponsor logos with number on the door.
Signed up with this cuda for a classic car rally this summer so I will get a number
painted the intake today (From a FOBO member)

 

[65 Dartman]

Looking Good!

 

[ZooKypr]

Stay on it your almost there!

 

[Tadams]

Looks awesome

 

[pishta]

Gotta love the Autodrags. My choice too! Carry on.....

 

[65barracudaLA]

Wahnsinn! I grew up near Frankfurt, but I never saw an early Barracuda anywhere in Germany. Now I have one in here in California. Also red. Good luck!

 

[Fury]

Thank you!

The car was never licensed in germany! Only collector cars.
And because the Swiss is not in the european union if have to to the same paperwork,
like a car from the states

This weekend is near my location in stuttgart the retro classic, biggest fair in europe for classic cars and bikes! For this reason i have to wait for my paint job:violent1:


Primered the side panels to protect the surface

Hopefully the paint job is getting done next week.

Also have to do some canges at the wiring. In Germany you have to separate position light
and turn indicator. So I drilled some holes in the reflector to install some extra lamps

Cheers Julian

 

[Fury]

@65barracudaLA:
I subscribed your Thread. Love it and your idea of a rolling restoration, because you have perfect weather over there! I´m sitting right now with a good beer on my balcony. Great - Weekend

But no spring time here ale:

 

[DieWilde13]

Hey ho and hello from North Germany!
Welcome here and keep up the good Progress! Nice work!

 

[cosgig]

Awesome work, and a great little car you've found!! Our great members from Germany with other early Cudas may be your best bet to find parts in your country!! PapstXX Uli comes to mind, Fury and Diewilde, all may all be able to help!! Sounds like you could get a club together and have a great bunch of members!!! Great to have you and all of these great members with us here at FABO, it truly is an international family!!!

 

[highwaystar50]

Terrific job so far! I am happy to see that you didn't run the exhausts straight out under the rear bumper but instead used turn downs. Like your 65, my 67 had a single exhaust, even with the Commando 273 and if I don't leave it stock or can't figure out a way to run duals down the left side to terminate into a single outlet like was used from the factory, I will do the same thing you did. I've always loved the first generation Barracuda as to me they looked more "sporty" or sports car like, especially with the wood grained steering wheel. Good luck with the rest of your restoration!

 

[Abodybomber]

Nice work.Sooo much harder,to get the parts overseas. Best if luck!

 

[- Marvin -]

Wahnsinn! I grew up near Frankfurt, but I never saw an early Barracuda anywhere in Germany. Now I have one in here in California. Also red. Good luck!

Barracudas were never sold as new cars in Germany, but in the neighbour countries Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands and in Switzerland there were a small number of Barracudas even built - very special and rare cars nowadays. In Switzerland only 1st and 2nd Generation, in the Netherlands - as far as I know - only 3rd Generation Barracudas.

Nice to see one to get restored to his old glory.
Good luck from Austria!

 

[Fury]

Thanks Guys!
Ordering Parts in the USA is nowadays not a big deal, especially today with Internet, just a bit expensive with the taxes.

The Cuda is still waiting for paint job but I ordered my new tires.
Poorly no white letters

I don´t know how long they will last on the rear axle

 

[- Marvin -]

Blue Streak Tires would be the right choice for this Barracuda

 

[MOPARMITCH]

Looks great there Fury !! Was up Marvin ? Good to see ya.

 

[Brad4406]

Other than the cancer that you are taking care of, she's a beauty. Congrats and good work so far.

Are those red lights or just reflectors just inboard of the reverse lights? Whatever they are, they are interesting as I have never seen them before.

I didn't see a front pic. Are you running the front bumperettes as well?

 

[65 Dartman]

Are those red lights or just reflectors just inboard of the reverse lights? Whatever they are, they are interesting as I have never seen them before.

They look like reflectors or could they be Amber turn signals that look reddish in the picture? A lot of countries require rear Amber turn signals.

 

[Fury]

@BRAD4406:
Rear Lamps: in the upper part is a double lamp 5W/21W for tail and turn.

(In Germany a red rear turn indicator is allowed for cars until 1970. Front has to be amber)

The round part of the taillight is a circle reflector and inside the white backup light.
Most cars don't have a reflector part in the glass so you have to put some extra reflectors
on the rear end.

Between the Lights are just reflectors. Don't know if original or not. I will keep them.

@Marvin: You´re right. On steel wheels. I don't like whitewall or stripe tires on the auto drag wheels!

 

[Brad4406]

@BRAD4406:
Rear Lamps: in the upper part is a double lamp 5W/21W for tail and turn.

(In Germany a red rear turn indicator is allowed for cars until 1970. Front has to be amber)

The round part of the taillight is a circle reflector and inside the white backup light.

Fury, thank you for the info, but my question was actually about the reflectors or lights on the tail panel just inboard of the taillight housings. Are they lights or reflectors?

 

[Fury]

Between the Lights are just reflectors. Don't know if original or not. I will keep them

On the panel under the trunk lid

Here the result of the passenger side welding job

 

[Fury]

You´re right no pics of the front:

I like the bumper horns on classic cars but they don´t look very sporty. More like a pensioners car



Took this shot last Friday with my 2 cars: