Green with envy

[flaagan]

Just figured I'd share some progress we've managed with the Barracuda. For those of you that don't know, I've been spending my "free time" over the past... nearly a decade... working on restoring my dad's 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. It's finaly at the point where the body's getting finished up and painted, and getting ready to be a rolling chassis again *real* soon. We got the call from the body shop yesterday that they'd gotten the initial coats of Sub-Lime green on the car (it's original color), so mom, dad, and I took a trip there this morning to check out the work so far. Here's what we saw....

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudapaint/body_paint1.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudapaint/body_paint2.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudapaint/body_paint3.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudapaint/body_paint4.jpg

[Josh_Singh]

so the car is green with envy?

[aesir]

you planning on leaving it straight green, or are you gonna add some white racing stripes or anything else? Racing stripes would look good.

[ChaosEidolon]

Holy crap that color is amazing. I want to eat it.

[KeyserSoze]

[ QUOTE ]
you planning on leaving it straight green, or are you gonna add some white racing stripes or anything else? Racing stripes would look good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Racing stripes on a 'cuda? I don't think so. I've seen 'cudas with a black stripes down the side of the rear quarter panels, or along the entire side of the car, but I don't think racing stripes would look right on a 'cuda.

[Mark Dygert]

I'm green with envy http://boards.polycount.net/images/icons/poly128.gif

[adam]

I love the colour James, good job. Too bad it's completely fucking ugly looking because of the Crapvette!


MUWHAHAHA!!!

[sledgy]

That's looking nice, man! So are you going to restore it to drive or restore it to every-nut-has-mirror-finish show quality?

[eXpendabLe]

schweeet.. remember I called shotgun in the cuda first!

[flaagan]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you planning on leaving it straight green, or are you gonna add some white racing stripes or anything else? Racing stripes would look good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Racing stripes on a 'cuda? I don't think so. I've seen 'cudas with a black stripes down the side of the rear quarter panels, or along the entire side of the car, but I don't think racing stripes would look right on a 'cuda.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Billboards" and "Hockey Sticks" is what they were called. We considered those, but decided against it, since the car didn't come with them. My dad does want to do some rather off-the-wall airbrushing on the fiberglass hood I got for the car, but I'm fighting it the whole way (REALLY don't like the idea).

[ QUOTE ]
That's looking nice, man! So are you going to restore it to drive or restore it to every-nut-has-mirror-finish show quality?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's gonna be a daily driver, but a secondary one.

[TomDunne]

Which engine? I'm guessing the 440?

[flaagan]

[ QUOTE ]
Which engine? I'm guessing the 440?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, 318 2 barrel bored out to a 340 4 barrel setup (automatic tranny), the Hemis / big blocks were murder on the drivability for the muscle cars, made them ridiculously front heavy. There is a all-aluminum big block available from Mopar that weighs about the same as the 318, so we're considering that as an option down the road.

[KDR_11k]

That's not Polycount green. Back to the drawing board with you.

[The3DGuy]

wow thats actually pretty freaking cool. hopefully you get to finish it soon!

[flaagan]

oh yah, just as a point of reference... and this was after the car body had already been through an (ineffective) acid bath... it would take a side trip from the body shop to the powdercoating shop to get the rust blasted off and a special coating put on.
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaresto/dropoff.jpg

(oh yah, and this photo is from about a year ago...)

[Toomas]

Nice color.
Too bad its convertable tho, coupe looks so much better.

And for god's sake get atleast 360 in it, to be honest i didnt know they made 'Cudas with 318's :S

[notman]

Nice to see a muscle car restored. It seems to be becoming a lost art. Great color choice btw /images/graemlins/smile.gif You make the motor city happy /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

[ QUOTE ]
Nice color.
Too bad its convertable tho, coupe looks so much better.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have to disagree with that wholeheartedly. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[ QUOTE ]
And for god's sake get atleast 360 in it, to be honest i didnt know they made 'Cudas with 318's :S

[/ QUOTE ]

Because the Chrysler 318 small block, much like the Torqueflight transmission it's hooked up to, is pretty much bulletproof, it provides plenty of power, and unlike with the big blocks, the car is still drivable. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Toomas]

If you like it then its all cool, its just that i dont like most 4 seat convertables and convertables that have been coupes first, because they look like the roof has been cut off, which is the case ofcourse.

And just for the record 360 is a small block and should weigh as much as 318. Smallest classic Mopar big block is 383.

[flaagan]

Ah, well then, paint me misinformed. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

But yah, like I said in an earlier post, considerations have been made for that Mopar all-aluminum big block, with the option to convert it to a hydrogen-fueled powerplant (with just as much compression).

[Jackablade]

Interesting choice of colour. If I might so bold as to critique it, it seems rather more Mountain Dew than muscle car...

[flaagan]

What can I say, man, Chrysler in the 60's and 70's... /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

... and the best part is, when I roll this bad boy up next to some ricer in a day-glo pink import, I can brag my car came this color stock. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[notman]

lol, well the thing people need to remember is, it won't be so shocking once you decal it and add your other contrasting items... like tires, the top, and the seats, etc...

[flaagan]

The only 'decals' will be the model names, which are small chromed pieces. Besides that, it'll have the black interior / roof / tires. The black and green goes together real well.

[Toomas]

What kind of rims?

[KeyserSoze]

[ QUOTE ]
What kind of rims?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://linked.mroach.com/spinnas150.gif

[flaagan]

Toomas - plans are to get a larger set of Chrysler Rallyes (http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400230+302049&autoview=sku) (larger both in diameter and depth than what was available back in the day) in order to run some of the newer, nicer, low profile sport tires. Currently we just took the stock wheels, had the powdercoated black, and tossed a set of goodyears on them so we had something to drive / roll the vehicle around on.

Keyser /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Toomas]

Magnums look better than the Rallyes but then again i dont know if they look good on 'Cuda.
But in MCO all my big Mopars ran Magnums (tm) /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[flaagan]

MCO... Motor City Online? The doomed driving "mmo" that I still hate EA for shutting down (and doing an absolute half-assed marketing deal to begin with).

In other cuda news, front steering / suspension's about halfways put together (rear axle's been together for a month or two now), couple of stubborn bushing sleeves that made it in with the powdercoating are being an absolute pain to get out now. Fortunately the body shop (as expected) didn't get anything done this past week, so I've got the weekend to work with. There's times I'm *really* glad the body shop guy is taking his time (AND keeping himself busy with other projects)... this is definitely one of those times. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Toomas]

[ QUOTE ]
MCO... Motor City Online? The doomed driving "mmo" that I still hate EA for shutting down (and doing an absolute half-assed marketing deal to begin with).

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes the same thing.
I wanna play it so bad but nooo... fuck EA!

[flaagan]

Just a little update or two on the ol' cuda. Owner of the body shop had a heart attack about a week or so ago, recovered and is already back to workin on the car. Currently the car body's been wet sanded and is waiting for repairs to the paint booth so it can be clear coated. Then it'll get the underbody protection material put on (kind of like that "Rhino liner" truck bed stuff) and we can go over to bolt on the front clip and rear axle. Speaking of which, just finished putting those two together today. Took the following photos of them as we rolled them out of the spare garage / workshop and into the tent where a lot of the other parts are stored. Welded up a custom framework with casters for the front clip so it wouldn't be falling all over itself or dragging the powdercoat off onto our driveway.
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaresto/cuda_axle_clip.jpg

[nealb4me]

What non-IRS craziness is this? :P Good stuff man, can't wait to see the final package even though that's not really the interesting part is it /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[JKMakowka]

http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/plymouth-cuda/images/plymouth-cuda-1970a.jpg

Those black stripes look cool /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Seriously that is a dream car you got there, count me in on the envy club /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

What a morning!

We loaded up the Barracuda's front and rear end on the trailer last night:
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin1.jpg

Early this morning we drove over to the body shop, where the cuda's body had gotten the rubberized coating on the underbody and was sitting up on a lift. My dad and I proceeded to bolt the front end in place, bolting in the A arms, shocks, and front K-member were all bolted in:

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin2.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin3.jpg

, We then moved on to the back of the car and bolted up the rear end's leaf springs and shocks:
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin4.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin5.jpg

When all was said and done, it was a proper rolling chassis, but the body shop owner decided to leave the car on the lift so he could do some other work on it:

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cuda_rollin/rollin6.jpg

The photos cannot convey just how much that paint color (Chrysler's Sub-Lime) reaches out, grabs your eyeballs out of their sockets, sets them on golfball tees, and drives a 500 yard hit down-range with them. The paint supplier for the body shop happened to stop by just as we were leaving, and as he put it "the car just stands out in this shop".... and trust me when I say there are some top-notch cars in that body shop, both old school and new top of the line.

A very productive saturday morning indeed! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[flaagan]

Just figured I'd share a little update for you guys....

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaroof/cuda_topshop.jpg

This was taken today at the shop next to the body shop (they specialize in auto interiors / convertible roofs and the like).

At this point all four windows are in (one in each door and one in the space to the rear of each door). The floor has some dynomat down in it, as per our request. The front windshield was in up until a few days ago, but had to be removed because of the order in which the chrome / black trim around it has to be installed.

This photo was very special and kind of eerie for me to take... the shop owner and I were talking over some of the things I need to bring him so he can get underway... he brought out a battery, hooked it up to the new roof motor, and got that thing pumping and pushing the roof up into the position it's at in that photo.

You have to realize, it's been ten years since that roof's been on the car and moving... /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[notman]

It's been a long time since the last update. What's slowing it down? /images/graemlins/wink.gif Getting the top to work correctly is a huge step though... especially after all the work that may have adjusted the body

[flaagan]

$%#@ yah...

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaroof/cuda_topshop1.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaroof/cuda_topshop2.jpg

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaroof/cuda_topshop3.jpg

[PfhorRunner]

Sex on wheels

[Mark Dygert]

I don't think I could sleep seeing it that put together and knowing it is still has a long way to go.

[chinups]

Wow, love the cuda Flaagan ,IM GREEN WITH ENVEY, nice nice!! Definitaly keep us updated and if you need any help just PM me, i dont mind getting my hands dirty lol

[flaagan]

Vig.. considering how far it's come along to reach this point, it really doesn't have that much farther to go. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

chinups.. the help offer's appreciated, but we really don't want any dirty hands on this thing now. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[adam]

flooj - where are you going to put the PC green smiley? TELL ME THAT MISTER.

Yah, uh huh.

[flaagan]

It's been home for a while now. We got the engine back from the body shop painted Chrysler Engine Blue; with any luck I'll get the engine / transmission together and in this weekend. Plenty of parts on order at the moment, and they'll be going in as they arrive.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_01.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_02.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/engine_01.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/engine_02.jpg

Just a side note; that intake manifold and valve covers aren't the ones that are going in with the engine. Got an eldebrock manifold powdercoated black, and we're looking for a set of black valve covers and air cleaner to go on it. We just got the original stuff painted so it would be in good condition when we store it away.

[KeyserSoze]

That is one blue engine... did they originally come like that, with EVERYTHING painted? With old Chevys at least, I thought they only painted the engine block and cylinder heads, and maybe the oil pan, but not EVERYTHING. I'm glad you're going with a black manifold and valve covers, that'll look much better. Although, that color clashes horribly with he color of the car /images/graemlins/frown.gif.

[flaagan]

Yes, it came this way. Keep in mind that the belt driven stuff on the front is powdercoated black as well. I don't think it clashes at all; seen more than a few like this at the Mopar shows, looks perfectly fine. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[adam]

things are lookin good man

[flaagan]

More eye candy.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_03.jpg

... and see.. more black parts.. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/engine_03.jpg

[notman]

Looking good, though I favor Edelbrock's default aluminum color over black. In your case it looks better with the black valve covers.
What kind of trans are you going to run btw?

[Asmuel]

Fuck man, rad cuda! Doesnt get much cooler than that as far as american muscle goes, you'll be getting constantly hassled by fanboys when your cruisin /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

Notman.. it's got an A-904 Torqueflite transmission. We had it media blasted, had the casting seams smoothed off, and then had it painted silver and cleated coated. The cast aluminum casing sucked up any oils and grime around it, so we did this so it's always clean and easily cleanable.

[TomDunne]

Hey flaagan, if you don't mind my asking... how much money goes into rebuilding a car like this?

[flaagan]

Verm.. considering we had the car in running, working order at the start of the project, as opposed to buying one in similar condition, that's at least $10-15k less what the initial price would be (severe over-value markups on cars as rare as this one currently). The body-shop work has totaled in at around 20-30 grand (of course, this is a bit higher than any normal body shop because we wanted some top-notch work done). We've easily put down another $10-15 k on parts. Overall, I'd say this will end up being somewhere around a $50k project. The only reason we were willing to go that far with the costs (besides the sentimental value of the car) is because when done it could easily sell for a couple hundred thousand on the low end (though there's no plan to ever sell it).

[TomDunne]

Cool, thanks for the info. I knew it would cost a lot, but that's more than I'd have expected.

How much would you expect it to cost if you had the same car and were simply trying to get it in top-notch performance shape? Nothing exotic, just meaning what it would take to restore original high-end 1970s street race capability without regard to looks?

[flaagan]

Let's see... Motor could be anywhere from a few grand (used, good condition) to upwards of 25+K for a full ready to run supercharged crate motor (keep in mind I'm going off current Chrysler prices, may vary greatly on your engine brand / source). Disc brake upgrade kits are generally around 1-3K, and front suspension / steering upgrades are a few grand as well. I'd say with a budget of 10K you could have a pretty sweet setup; low-balling it would be around 5K, but if you're doing performance, I wouldn't want to low-ball it if you value your safety (speaking of which, a good safety harness / roll cage if you're going really crazy with the horsepower would probably be a few grand, and a little more than that on a less common car).

[TomDunne]

Thanks again, very interesting. My dad had a 69 Cutlass Supreme when I was growing up (vanilla, not the 442, but still awesome) and I've always had it in the back of my mind to see about getting one. Never wanted a show car, but something I could have fun driving...

[flaagan]

Heck yah. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

You could always get lucky and find one in decent enough shape to drive around as-is. Don't have to spend a lot of money to enjoy a stock muscle car. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[notman]

Yeah, like Flaagan was saying, prices will vary greatly depending on what you're buying. I know for a long time Chevy Small Block 350s were dirty cheap basically. I believe they still are. The more obscure the engine, the more expensive it gets to rebuilt. For me, I have a Chevy Big Block 427 and it was a bit harder to find parts unless it was a generic big block piece, so parts tended to be more expensive.

I've been out of the loop for a long time now though. My car's slowly turning to shit because family life has taken away my cash and time. Actually, if you're interested in a 79 Firebird with a 427, let me know /images/graemlins/wink.gif I got it to the point it 'ran' but never got the vehicle finished. There's no driveshaft and still has stock axle, which would never hold up to the power, so I've never even driven it /images/graemlins/frown.gif. It's sitting in Michigan looking for a new home.

Flaagan: So you're going with more of a cruiser styel then I assume. I don't have a lot of knowledge on Chrysler's stuff, but I see the 904 has overdrive in it. I was mainly curious if you were going for automatic or manual, but I had some curiousity on the model too /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[flaagan]

notman.. guess you could say that. The car was an automatic to begin with and we weren't going to hack up the body for any reason such as switching to a manual ('sides, the old "SlapStik" shifter's too much fun to get rid of). The fact it's a 904 and not the bigger 727 actually panned out well for us, as the 3" exhaust system we ordered wouldn't fit with a 727. We did swap out the rear dif gears for a positraction setup, so no dogleg burnouts for this ride. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[TomDunne]

Oh man, yeah, the Torqueflite is a must-have for the 'Cuda. I don't think I've ever met anyone who could manually outshift one of those things in a straight line race.

Did you pick the 904 before you knew the 727 wouldn't fit?

[flaagan]

Verm.. original transmission /images/graemlins/smile.gif

This Barracuda was kind of a 'low man on the totem pole' model except for the convertible option. It was originally a 318 2 barrel with a single exhaust. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

... we fixed that problem... /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[TomDunne]

t cam stock with the 904? I thought the 727's were standard. But then, I only know from hanging around garages, so I won't be surprised if I'm wrong /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[flaagan]

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/engine_04.jpg

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_04.jpg

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Engine and transmission are installed.

[Scott Ruggels]

Oh this is looking sweet. Love Cudas. Did a run from Palo Alto to Reno in 3 and a half hours (and only ont ticket) the car had a 440 with a 6 barrel Holley in it, and we had to stop for gas twice (and got the second ticket while fueling by a cop in a Monaco who we passed, accellerating up hill on I-80 (above 300 ft. Altitude that he couldn't manage, and ticketed up for going above 60 But couldn't get us for more. the suspension was tight, for that heavy front end, but it was an impressive ride.

P.S. thrn there was the 20 minute from San Francisco to Palo Alto on I-280 in a 1972 Plymouth Road Runner...

Scott

[flaagan]

wooooooo~

Can you say 3" Exhaust~

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/exhaust_01.jpg

[aesir]

i'm visiting your place once this is built. regardless of if we've met before or not.

I'll be the guy with the crowbar.

[Sean McBride]

Holy shit, the 70 cuda is my favorite car of all time!!! :O

Love the color you painted it. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Can't wait to see how it turns out!

[notman]

WHY ISN'T UNDER THE CAR YET?!! /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Does the exhaust exit in front of the axle?

[flaagan]

yup, doubles back at the muffler then hooks around and points down towards the rear wheels (like so (http://www.stockmopar.com/_images/aar-cuda/aar-exhaust.jpg)). Plan is to get the system hooked up this weekend and then off to the powdercoating shop on monday to get it ceramic-coated.

[flaagan]

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_05.jpg

Got a good bit done this past weekend. Headlights installed and plug in. Got the driveshaft installed, so from the engine to the rear wheels we've got a full drivetrain. Started putting some interior framework in. Almost completely assembled the heater system, if I hadn't misplaced some clips it'd be together and I could have installed the dash and steering column as well. Got the larger radiator installed along with the dual-electric fan setup. Dad got a bunch of interior pieces cleaned up, fixed up, and painted. Overall a very productive weekend, and the ball should really get rolling over the next few weeks.

[LordScottish]

Uhh nice! can't wait to see more

[Rwolf]

Looks like it's gonna make some great noise!

[flaagan]

Dash and heating system / ducting is in (woohoo!), dad's handling cleaning / painting / repairing interior pieces, so the dash may be near complete by next weekend if work isn't hectic.
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_06.jpg

And another fun lil shot of the engine bay.~
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/engine_05.jpg

Kind of amusing, didn't think the first "Barracuda" tag to go on the car would be on the interior. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[flaagan]

Another interior shot, instrument cluster installed (still needs to be wired up), steering column and other interior bits coming soon...

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/interior_01.jpg

aaaand a teaser shot of the AAR exhaust... we still need to finish making a custom hanging setup for the mufflers and tips, but it's all bolted together regardless. AAR cudas aren't exactly commonplace amongst this already-rare breed, and there's absolutely no coverage of how the mufflers / tips are hung from the car in the shop manual (we have the reproduction hangers, but they don't really work as intended when the 'stock' AAR stuff isn't on the car).

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/exhaust_02.jpg

[adam]

http://digiads.com.au/car-news/images/article_218-img_0.jpg

Okay.. NOW I'm green with envy /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Btw flooj have you seen Honda's endevour in to xB territory (http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://news.windingroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/honda-concepts-152.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.windingroad.com/auto-news/honda-step-bus-concept/&h=398&w=600&sz=93&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=i_CWO epFfy-LoM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgreen%2Bscion%2Bxb%26svnum%3D10%26um% 3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN)?

I even like that... and its sooo more bread-box than an xB.

[flaagan]

/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

It looks like it ran into a wall.. and that dash for some reason reminds me of a table at breakfast time.

[Rwolf]

I can hear the guy inside screaming "Come on.. come on... faster!!!" Looks like the Element had a baby.

Anyway you definitely need to give us a audio clip when it's runnin.

[notman]

I'd have to kick my own ass if I drove that Honda. BTW, check out the new xBs. They've been changed.

Flaagan, you know you're supposed to take off the plastic before installation, right? /images/graemlins/wink.gif That instrument panel looks gooooood. Is it brand new?

[flaagan]

Notman.. I figured we'd make some balloons when we fired the car off... or at least a really large version of blowing the wrapper off your straw. /images/graemlins/wink.gif The instrument cluster is the original, we sent it off for reconditioning a while back.

[notman]

Damn, I didn't know you could have them restored like that. Either they do a damn excellent job, it just looks good in the image, or it wasn't bad from the start /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

It looks better than it does in the pict, and they did an excellent job of it. Before we sent it in the pointers were faded almost to white (instead of the bright orange), and all the white text was grey and dirty. The odometer looks brand-spankin' new. Kinda wish we'd also had the little lights / roof control panel done up as well, but that's relatively easy to remove if we want to do that in the future.

[flaagan]

Just a lil' update on things, been rather busy lately, both with this car and other things.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda080507.jpg

[notman]

Can you fire her up yet? Everything looks wired and ready (aside from interior and I'm guessing driveshaft)

BTW, who's caddy in the background? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

Driveshaft's in, whole drivetrain's hooked up. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

We could go through the process of getting it to fire up now, but there's plenty of other things to get hooked up / installed. Granted, my dad wants it up and running first, I'd rather not skip over other details that will be a bigger pain in the ass to install if everything else is slapped on.

The caddy in the background is my dad's 95 seville sts. It's parking outside now since my 'vert vette gets the only garage space left. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[notman]

I figured the drivetrain wasn't complete yet since you have the blocks on the rears. That or the brakes weren't complete. Then again, you may just be more cautious than I am /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Either way, you've got to be getting excited now that it's near completion. Are the rest of the interior pieces ready?

[JordanW]

looking very nice, fixin' up old cars is such a daunting task, i'm sure you'll be happy to be done /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[perna]

Dude, I want to eat your car, that's delicious looking!

[Mark Dygert]

Being this close I don't think I would leave it alone. It's lookin awesome. I can't believe that's a reconditioned dash, wow.

[flaagan]

notman.. (drum) brakes are in (and the lines to 'em), but they don't have brake fluid or the parking brake lines in yet. Definitely 'being more safe' seeing as my dad has personally known a few people killed or seriously injured by cars rolling. Heck, even though it wasted an entire weekend's potential progress a few weeks back, he refused to let me go under the car to hook stuff up since I was going to be the only one at home.

[notman]

Yeah, my dad's the same way... he hated when I worked on my car with no one else around. Actually, my uncle has a nice sized scar on his face from a car that fell off the stands and the metal under the rocker panel caught his face. He was lucky that was all that happened. His buddy was under the car too, but I don't recall what happened to him.

[flaagan]

Some more updates... been a lot of 'behind the scenes' stuff lately... shift linkage, wiring, lights, etc. Getting everything done up correctly behind the dash has and still is a long a tedious thing, with little to no reference to go off of (I didn't take any photos of that whole setup when disassembling it... mistake on my part.)

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work092207/092207_1.jpg

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work092207/092207_3.jpg
Amusing note, the car's only got a mirror on the driver side (and of course the rear view mirror).

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work092207/092207_4.jpg
Still gotta fabricate a mounting bracket for the 8-track stereo so I can fill the gap on the right.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work092207/092207_5.jpg
Hey... shift happens. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif


Oh yah....
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work092207/092207_2.jpg

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[nacire]

Man, I've been in love with Cuda's since I picked out a purple hemi-cuda model when I was like 10. I made that the best model ever, got in there with toothpicks for the small details and everything!

All I can say is you have one hell of a baby on your hands there! I really hope to someday have some heavy metal of my own. Can't wait to see it finished!

[notman]

Mount for the 8track? Are you saying you're putting in an 8track, or trying to fill the space meant for an 8track?

[flaagan]

Putting in an 8-track... well, back in. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
The guy my dad bought the car from put in an 8-track stereo, and it works. I've even got an 8-track to tape converter (big cartridge you put the cassette in). For the short week or two I had the car together and running a decade ago, I would cruise around with the 8-track to tape converter in, with a cassette-to-stereo jack hooked into that, with that hooked up to a portable cd player, with that getting power from the cigarette lighter. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[notman]

Seems like it would just be easier to hide a CD player somewhere... but that's just me :P
Actually, these days it's probably easier to integrate an iPod somehow. But having a 8-track to cassette convertor makes things a little better.

[flaagan]

You think I'd put one of those shiny turds anywhere near the cuda? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Besides, our cell phones each have about 2 gigs of memory, so we can put music on there and wire in a line-in at the very least. Next level up beyond that would be to hide a newer stereo in the dash or center console (been talking about that). Uber-next-stage beyond that... the right most gauge on the console is supposed to have either a clock or a tachometer... was talking with my dad about the idea of getting a small lcd screen, mounting it in there, and putting a car-puter in the 'cuda. Would be a bit of work, but I could do it. Would have GPS nav in the car then. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Fuse]

man i must admit .. that is all kinds of badass

[notman]

haha, well, I meant iPod as more of a generic term. The car-puter would be cool though. I was researching doing the same thing about a year ago, but couldn't get a decent display option worked out. Thinking about it now, using a smaller screen, like you'd need, might be a decent option. I was looking for something 7" or larger. My company was tossing OLLLD laptops at the time and I was hoping to use the LCD from one of them. Unfortunately there is NOTHING standard about LCD hardware in laptops.

[flaagan]

Most of the weekend work was dedicated to getting this lil guy fabricated.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/8trackrack2.jpg

That... is the holder for this...

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/8trackrack1.jpg

That... is an 8 track tape player. Just about as retro as you can get without diggin up one of those in-car record players (yes, they exist). The stereo was originally held in place by a simple metal strip, and I wasn't going to have any of that kind of crap in this car. I made the support out of a piece of L-bar and some metal rods welded to it and then bent to shape.

At this point the instrusment cluster is complete and wired. The wiring needs a bit of cleanup and organization, but otherwise it's complete. The passenger side of the dash still doesn't have the ash tray and glove compartment installed, but that's relatively easy work. At this point, my dad and I are talking about possibly putting the carpeting and seats in next weekend. Here's hoping. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Hito]

was this car originally Automatic? Damn this project looks fun as all hek.

[Mark Dygert]

[ QUOTE ]
... and I wasn't going to have any of that kind of crap in this car.

[/ QUOTE ]hahaha nice.

[bearkub]

all you really need is a PC in the trunk with Winamp to load on start up of the machine and a number pad control in the car. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[flaagan]

Kub... I was keeping up on the car-pc scene up 'til a few months ago (when paying for my new ride became more important /images/graemlins/tongue.gif ), but if the car-pc trend keeps up on the hardware end doing something like that would be a rather easy thing in the not-too-distant future. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[notman]

TUNES!

Nice work on the support... but the record player would have been more retro :P (would predate the vehicle though).
You gonna get some new keys made up? Those are looking pretty worn /images/graemlins/wink.gif

By "wiring complete", does that include the engine compartment?

[flaagan]

notman.. yah, engine's pretty much wired up as well, but much like in the dash it needs to be organized.

Not planning on getting new keys, cause as far as we know those are the originals. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[flaagan]

A slight deviation from this thread... but OH GOD YES PLEASE (http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/29/sema-2007-chrysler-barracuda/)!

(I'll have more WIP shots of our barracuda soon enough!)

[hawken]

that concept car is ugly... inside. did you see it in the gallery? since thats where you'll be spending most of the time with the car, one would expect something a little more classy.

[notman]

I figured you had heard of that. News went around here about that back during the summer /images/graemlins/wink.gif I am hoping it comes to be. I think the latest Mustang design has triggered a new design trend of blending the past with the future. I've been wanting this to happen for about 15 years now, so I'm pretty pumped to see this and the new Camaro.

I agree about the interior images, but it's a concept car, which means the interior will look nothing like that when done. Then again, that's one of my big complaints about Chrysler in recent years... their interiors look cheap and show no imagination.

[flaagan]

Turns out it was just a one-off for some rich mofo...

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/30/sema-2007-chrysler-barracuda-concept/

Which makes hawken's remark on the interior even more true.

[notman]

Definitely, if he didn't have higher expectations than that for the interior :/

Honestly, they had an article about this posted at work. It was suppose to be in the works... It was an article about bringing back old designs. They may have used that car for the photo though.

[notman]

Here you go... the Challenger is going to be made. That's what I was thinking of when I saw the 'Cuda picks

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/29/2008-dodge-challenger-srt8-to-start-at-37-995/

[pliang]

Does it have factory iPod options available?

[flaagan]

Progress!
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork020208.jpg

Got the carpet down and the kick panels / rear panels installed this weekend. Could have gotten a lot more in (door sill plates and door panels) but I kept getting pulled away to work on other stuff. Also, it's not easy getting up underneath that dash area when you're 6'4".... /images/graemlins/confused.gif

Been a while since I've worked on the car, mainly due to helping the parents plan for the house remodel, and just how damn cold it's been in that garage in winter months. /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[notman]

About damn time :P I know how you feel about getting under the dash; I'm 6'5". It's usually not too bad with the seats missing though /images/graemlins/wink.gif

What's the spark wire for? Are you going to have the coil inside the vehicle?

[flaagan]

[ QUOTE ]
What's the spark wire for? Are you going to have the coil inside the vehicle?

[/ QUOTE ]

The electronic ignition setup needs power from something accessory-power driven to turn on, so we're running the cable for that inside and it'll probably end up getting hooked onto something like the windshield wiper line.

[Cody]

This thing looks AWESOME! How much more work do you have [estimated]. A few months?

[flaagan]

Well, all things being well, within 2 months it'll be back at the body shop to get some last details taken care of (body work details that we'd rather have them do). Before that we'll have to get the engine tuned and the suspension / alignment taken care of.

What I've still got to do is get the seats, door panels, glove box, ash tray, and a few other bits on the interior, and then clean up the wiring in the engine bay and under the dash.

[flaagan]

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork030808.jpg

First time in ten years, I sat on the back bench and buckled in with a very satisfying *click* of the lap belt... /images/graemlins/cool.gif

Also got the ash tray / cig lighter installed and wired up, and got the door for the glove box installed (may need to buy a replacement replacement glove box, 'new' one appears to have been damaged).

I would have also gotten the door skins on, but I think the replacement ones we got may actually be too small for the door. I'm going to do some measuring on Sunday to check into this, and the go over our options with my dad when he gets back from SoCal.

Goal for sunday... Get the bucket seats installed.

I can't currently install the center console, as the repairs we did to it quite literally bent and buckled while it was sitting on a shelf waiting to be installed; dad's going to see what can be done to fix the fix.

[flaagan]

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork030908.jpg

Bucket seats.... woohoo mofos!

Tens years since sitting in the driver seat.. buckled in and just sat there for a bit... so effin cool.

[notman]

damn nice... the seats look good. Are those the originals (refurbished)? Too bad about the center console. I'm assuming it'd be in there right if it didn't deform /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

The seats were re-upholstered not long before my dad originally parked the car (almost 20 years ago). Only thing that's been done to them since then was he put a bit more black color on them a few months back.

Yah, the console would have gone in if it weren't broken, but it should be fixed again within another week or so.

[notman]

Damn, the seats held up well for being around that long. Usually the dry rot a little bit... well, at least in Michigan. I would think CA would be drier (thus worse) /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

Well, the car was parked outdoors "under cover" for the ~10 years it sat around (which is why we had so much rust to deal with). After that, they were stored in the garage and then inside the house, and every now and then (read: every year or two) they got wiped down in Armor-All.

[notman]

Ahhh, that explains it. Armor All does an amazing job on leather/vinyl. Still though, that's pretty damn good for 20 years.

[flaagan]

Yup, and damn comfy... old school bucket seats rock.

[flaagan]

hahahahahahahahahahaha..... /images/graemlins/laugh.gif


This just made my morning.

Badass in a can. (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/03/bada55_in_a_can_bada55_in.html)

.... that color is surprisingly close to something parked in the garage.

[notman]

haha, looks vaguely familiar /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[flaagan]

/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/30/john-herlitz-designer-of-70-barracuda-71-gtx-dead-at-65/


Didn't get much done this weekend, got caught up in a bunch of other projects around the house. Managed to get what can be described as 'mud guards' installed in the front wheel wells; they protect the headlight assembly and the door from dirt kicked up from the tires.

[pliang]

[ QUOTE ]
:( http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/30/john-herlitz-designer-of-70-barracuda-71-gtx-dead-at-65/


[/ QUOTE ]

Shitty...

[flaagan]

Managed to get the brake lines bled this weekend, and one or two other small items. Was going to start on adding other fluids and moving the transmission cooling lines away from the headers, but got pulled off once again to help with pre-remodelling projects. Kinda getting irritating that this keeps happening when I'm expected to get the car done in short order before the remodel starts.

[notman]

Kinda getting irritating that this keeps happening when I'm expected to get the car done in short order before the remodel starts.

Especially when you're so close. It sounds like, with a few dedicated weekends, the car would be done :/

[flaagan]

Got the front end all tightened down with codder keys, installed the grill and its trim, and went around checking hoses and whatnot. Should start adding the various fluids during the week so that I can work towards attempting to fire it up next weekend.

Was *really* nice and sunny this weekend, made for nice weather to work in; a tad warm at times, but better than freezing my ass off in that garage during the winter.

I'll try and get a shot of it during the week. Got one this evening but it apparently didn't turn out too good.

[flaagan]

After spending the first half of the day hangin' out and cruising with some like-minded 'vette enthusiasts, I got wrenching on the 'cuda this evening. :poly113:

Sorted through all the vital fluids we had on hand, and ended just going out to Pep Boys and picking up about ~$160 in fluids... all the stuff we had on hand was varied brands and ages and I just didn't feel like gambling with that mix. :poly114:

Spent the rest of the day adding fluids and finding all the leak points and loose ends. Turns out that all the bolts holding the transmission oil pan in place were somewhat loose, among other things.

I hooked up the last few electrical lines and ended up hooking up the battery.... gremlins up the ying-yang to say the least. I couldn't even honk the damn horn (the only reason I'd hooked up the battery in the first place)! :poly142:

I ended today with the battery on a charger, every leak point I could find tightened down and the space beneath it cleaned up, and a list of electrical items to look at tomorrow...

Not how I "planned" the day to go, but exactly as I *expected* it to. :poly104:

[Xaltar]

Looking sweet. My dad had a 65 cuda with a big block 413 he threw into it. It looked like this one http://www.motortopia.com/album/view/p/cars/t/vehicle/v/10850/a/12625/i/my_little_barracuda/po/0/pl/1 except sky blue. Man I loved that car.

[flaagan]

Some more photo's coming soon. Got the door skins installed this weekend, as well as the powdercoated glove box and ash tray doors. I also put the seats back in and installed the visors, rear view mirror, and some roof latch related pieces.

[Mark Dygert]

ohh so close... can't wait to see it.

[LEViATHAN]

THROW SOME D'S ON THAT BITCH!

On a more serious note, that's an awesome car.

[notman]

I need to get around to transfering photos off my camera phone. I've been seeing the new challengers running around, and I thought you might be interested in seeing them. Ahh, the one cool thing about living in the Detroit area :D Seeing the manufacturer development vehicles before they reach the public. My company isn't doing the brakes for anything cool right now, so I have to catch them on the street.

[flaagan]

More picts, as promised...


http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork062308_1.jpg


http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork062308_2.jpg

Steering wheel's off since I still want to clean up inside the column. Door handles on the inside are off since I need to use the dremel tool on the aftermarket panels (holes for the handles are a tad too small). Few other odds and ends I can't think of at the moment have to be dealt with still before the interior can be called done.... but damn it looks nice.

Oh.. and a little side project I just got for free from a friend this morning:
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/nelsonkart/nelsonkart_01.jpg

:poly128:

[pliang]

More pics and I can start modeling this car...

[Mark Dygert]

More pics and I can start modeling this car...
Or... (http://www.the-blueprints.com/index.php?blueprints/cars/plymouth/)

[Jonathan]

Any annoying problems with the chassis of those cars?

From the Mustangs I've worked on, some common problems we had (fox body years), was the "Detroit Lean" (floor cracking under driver's seat, easily fixed with a MIG welder), torque boxes (http://www.mustang50magazine.com/howto/35618_wild_rides_battle_boxes/index.html), and also the chassis really need subframe connectors to help them out. Despite their brick-like-shape, they're pretty good for the dragstrip and even auto-Xing. :)

[flaagan]

Any annoying problems with the chassis of those cars?

From the Mustangs I've worked on, some common problems we had (fox body years), was the "Detroit Lean" (floor cracking under driver's seat, easily fixed with a MIG welder), torque boxes (http://www.mustang50magazine.com/howto/35618_wild_rides_battle_boxes/index.html), and also the chassis really need subframe connectors to help them out. Despite their brick-like-shape, they're pretty good for the dragstrip and even auto-Xing. :)


Well, Chrysler went with the Unibody setup, where the body from the firewall back and the frame rails is all one piece, so I haven't noticed any issues like that. We did have to have the trunk base panels replaced, but that was due to rust. We're considering some frame supports underneath, but that'll wait until the car's done, and considering the exhaust setup, there may be no room for it.

More pics and I can start modeling this car...

You mean like this (http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=34106)? (Never finished that, by the way.)

[Chunkey]

Damn.... that is shaping up rather nicely :D

Should look sweet as a nut, gonna be worth the wait I reckon :) :)

[flaagan]

No new photos for this weekend, but worth mentioning that I got the convertible roof's boot screwed down and its cover slid into place...

Oh... and we cranked over the engine a few times trying to get it to run.

Unfortunately, it seems like it's not sucking up fuel from the tank (probably a leak in the lines is ruining the vacuum), but~, we fed the carb some ether and it did take spark and fire out with a loud BANG a few times, so at least I can say I set up ignition pretty spot on.

[flaagan]

Oh, and duh~, completely forgot to mention that we bought a set of 15x7 Chrysler Rally wheels today from a guy with a Barracuda up in Carson City, and should be getting them courtesy of a friend who's driving down shortly... picts to follow soon.

[flaagan]

Ping Pong, the Rallyes are on! :smokin:

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/rallyewheels_01.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/rallyewheels_02.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/rallyewheels_03.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/rallyewheels_04.jpg

[notman]

I want the smoke of burning rubber surrounding them :P

Looking good... I was worried when I came in here that you were going to report that the eatrthquake had somehow messed up your car ;)

[flaagan]

Hahaha, nah, only that den of despair to the south got shaken up.

[flaagan]

At 7:40 pm PST, it came alive for exactly two seconds....

We're still having issues with the carburetor spewing excessive amounts of gas out of the overflow, so despite a bunch of tweaking we couldn't get it to run again. My father's going to be calling up Holley tomorrow to see what he can find out, and pick up a few replacement gaskets for some of the adjustment screws.

.... but for two seconds, it was alive... and damn it sounded good.

[notman]

ahahah, I remember having that same issue. It only did it too me once I believe... I'm trying to remember what I did to fix it. It seems like it had something to do with my floats, but I had several vehicles with carb problems back then, so I may be confusing things.

Give ya chills that first time, doesn't it? ;)

[flaagan]

From talking with the guys at Holley and a local carb repair shop owner, my suspicion that the float was sticking seems to have been confirmed repeatedly. We'll clean it out soon and that should solve the problem, we hope.

[flaagan]

No-go... fuel bowl's still flooding.

[notman]

I did a quick google search to see if there were any other ideas, and come up with this: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080209173947AAgW9tc

Looks like people are having the same ideas though. Adjust the float, or maybe garbage stuck in the needle valve.

[flaagan]

As the saying goes... "Well there's yer problem!"

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/bustedfloat.jpg

The float on the front bowl ( that large white plastic thing in the center ) had completely broken off its hinge... and of course we found this out at 4:30 pm, so all the stores that *would* have the part are already closed for the weekend. :poly127:

[notman]

yeah, I'm sure it was 'floating' all over that fuel bowl ;)

[Jonathan]

If you ever plan on putting a blow-thru carb/turbo setup on it, just replace them with solid floats if you'd like. :D

[flaagan]

Lucked out. We were up at my father's office attempting to fix the server (no go, so fun amounts of stress from that), and my father went to a nearby Vic Hubbard shop and managed to get a new float... I'm going now to try it out. Maybe this weekend wont be a total waste and total shite.

[flaagan]

It sounds rather good...


A few degrees adjustment on the ignition should have it idling after dinner.

[flaagan]

With ever so slight pressure on the gas pedal we're keeping it going.


Gonna require quite a bit of tweaking to get it spot on (and keeping an idle), but I can officially say that today it started running.

[notman]

Congrats! Any video? ;)

[flaagan]

Not yet, I'll be getting some when it holds idle. :)

[notman]

I video taped during the initial start of the engine. It made for some cool footage... especially since my distributor was off 180, so the carb backfired into an atomic sized mushroom of fire :D

[flaagan]

Yah, we've had a fair share of fireballs and spat-back gasoline. :)

[flaagan]

Well, two steps forward, one step back today. Got a bunch of odds and ends taken care of, sorted out a bunch of info regarding the ignition / carb, and we decided to get the front / rear sway bar kit painted / coated and install it soon. The step back... the power steering pump's pulley turned out to be warped, and I'm having a hell of a time trying to find a replacement.

[fritz]

WOW. this is AWESOME. growing up w/a dad that had a 57 chevy, convertible cutlass, 37 roadster, and a 71 mach 1 mustang....all i can say is i can totally appreciate your taste man

looks AWESOME

[flaagan]

Backfire issue... Solved.

Seems three of the spark plug cables were hooked up in the wrong ignition order, amazing it ran at all.. gotta love old school stuff, so much more resilient than new tech. I believe this happened because the paperwork I had for when the ignition wires were ran many months ago may have gotten mixed up with the ignition paperwork I have for the '86 vette... oops.

That being said... holy crap the car sounds awesome. Video will be happening in the next day or two, barring anything major suddenly happening.

The replacement power steering pulley showed up today, so I'll be installing that along with doing a bunch of other stuff tomorrow.

[flaagan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OfeY7KLdM

[East]

I am glad I can't derive any pleasure what-so-ever from anything vehicular (to me cars are just big, vulgar, loud, and a necessary evil), because this seems like a very expensive hobby.

That said, I have to say your entusiasm is very inspiring and despite my dislike for these things, this is a thread I enjoy following. Keep it up :)

[notman]

Finally, I got a break to view this at home (damn web-sense at work). Sounds damn good... she's got a purdy idle

[Ninjas]

Hot damn! You went from just some pieces to an actual running car-- I have been following and enjoying this thread. Nice to see it finally all put together and working.

[Cody]

That....sounds.....sick...nasty. Amazing, man. How much bhp and torque?

[flaagan]

Cody.. dunno, honestly. One of the things I'd like to do when it's all said and done is to take it to one of the local "dyno days" my fellow Corvette aficionados hold, I'm sure they'd love to know as much as I do.

... which actually leads into the current issue.... the car wont move. An hour or so after that was shot, we went to take it out for its inaugural cruise around the neighborhood. We were supposed to take it on Tuesday to get the alignment and brakes done and get the front / rear sway bar kit installed. We got all ready, fired it up, and I put it in gear.... nothing. Revved the motor up some and it lurched forward a few inches, and then nothing more. Since my sis is heading back down to college next week, we might not get a chance to work on it this coming weekend. This whole situation put us easily a good three weeks behind the schedule we had (particularly since it was supposed to be going to the body shop to get tuned and finalized next week).

The issue could be any number of things, just need to start going down the list. :poly142:

[Cody]

Wow, I wish I knew that much about cars. If that happened to my car, I would have no idea what to do.

[flaagan]

Hehe, well, I gotta admit, I'm a little stumped myself. :poly136:

[notman]

I would guess that either your shifter isn't completely adjusted correctly (so you're not fully in drive), or your torque converter is having an issue... either bad, or not engaging. Actually, double check your trans fluid. I'm sure you filled it initially, but one you actually start the car, and get the fluids circulating, the trans will require a touch up.

This is all assuming that you can rev the enjoy, but it's just not moving.... which means the transfer of power is making it through the trans.
If the engine is sounding loaded when you push the throttle, then you may have an issue with your brakes being locked... or the rear axle has an issue (if you did anything to it as part of the restore).

[flaagan]

Little update for you guys. Spent most of my 3 day weekend working on the car (ugh...). Managed to drive it a few laps around the cul de sac before the transmission stopped working (I'll upload the vid when I get a chance).

Towed the car over to a local transmission shop this morning, heard back from them saying that the pump in the stall converter is likely damaged, which means they're gonna have to pull the whole transmission out to work on it (read: pricey). Pops was obviously a bit bummed about this, as much about them having to pull out the transmission as the price, but it's gotta get fixed. :poly118:

I'm in a bit of pain, when I was bleeding the brakes last night (they're leaking from somewhere), the 'one man bleeding kit' swung loose, hit me in the eye, and I flinched... smacked my head on the fender then bounced back and smacked the back of my head on the concrete.... fun times. :poly142:

[flaagan]

Sorry for a lack of updates.

This past week the car was at the transmission shop getting the transmission rebuilt. Seems at some point (we're not sure if it was recently or many years ago) the stall converter got jammed onto the transmission, so the gears inside got moved around and when the car stopped moving the other day, it was because they'd finally chewed themselves up.

Once that was fixed, the car was towed over the brake / alignment shop it was originally destined to go to. It was towed since the brakes were almost non-existing in grip.... after they fixed the brakes, I was told by one of the mechanics that I should never install drum brakes again. (In my defense, it'd been nearly 10 years since those things were taken apart, and the shop manual actually didn't list all the steps that the mechanic pointed out to me.) They've taken care of the brakes, alignment, other odds and ends, and once they've figured out the leak in the power steering, we'll be driving the 'cuda over the the body shop to get a short list of items taken care of.

[notman]

Very cool... good to hear you might be able to cruise it before the Winter ;) (Although your Winter is different than mine :P)

[flaagan]

Sorry, been a tad busy the past two weeks (in Pasadena taking care of the house we bought down there). Right before I left for SoCal we picked the 'cuda up from the body shop. It has the stock hood, valence, and trunk lid on it at the moment as the shop owner didn't get around to putting on the aftermarket goodies before he left. He's sold the insurance repair part of his business off and as of the end of the year is moving down to Hollister (about 50 or so miles south of here) to have a house and custom-built workshop set up for him to do select jobs in it. He wants the car to be complete as much as we do, so we're all looking forward to taking it in around summertime to get the job finished.

As of now, we need to look into the power steering unit (potentially leaking) and a few noises (most likely loose nuts and bolts) that my father noticed when he drove it home from the body shop. It needs to get tuned a bit better by the guy who tuned it for us recently, as my father said it stutters when you gun it to get on to the freeway. Basically, right now, it's drivable, but needs a bit of work. :)

[ru4it]

dude... must see pic badly *fooming at the mouth*

im trying to restore a 1987 short box chevy truck (plz no comment as to the year) i had my uncle rebuild an engine out of a 1979 chevy truck. its still in the early stages but i hope that it will be a pretty bad ass street truck

[flaagan]

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_homeshots_a01.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_homeshots_a02.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_homeshots_a03.jpg
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cuda_homeshots_a04.jpg


EDIT: My father requested that I take the image of the bad trunk lining up down from here. :D!

[ScoobyDoofus]

Suweeeet! I was just telling my younger cousins yesterday about this car. There was some race car game he was playing and he happened to select a green 67 'cuda.
Keep it up flooj!

[notman]

Very clean looking panels (and paint)... is the trunk closed though? You may want to tweak it's alignment otherwise ;)

[flaagan]

The trunk is an aftermarket one, and from talking with the shop owner the bad line-up is to be expected from aftermarket trunks. We're not gonna worry about it at the moment, but we're bouncing between tossing the AAR wing on it or on the original trunk lid.

[notman]

Either way, it doesn't take away from the beauty ;) Just something that caught my eye because of the way the image is framed :)

[Talbot]

Very nice. :)

[Lamont]

Very nice car. Is this a cruising around town car? I would have went with a hard top, or at least have the option for roll bars to keep the chassis as stiff as possible when you wanna have some fun.

[notman]

It's not like he custom ordered this from the dealer ;) If the convertible was his available option, then that's what you buy ;)

[Lamont]

Yeah, that's where the roll bar comes in, and they sell aftermarket hardtop kits for that car built to OEM spec, you just need to replace both rear quarter panels.

[rv_el]

This is simply bad ass. Quality job there man! great to see somebody doing it!

[flaagan]

Minor update. My father took my suggestion and got some ignition wire hangers that bolt onto the block. Then he once again listened to a suggestion of mine (SHOCK!) and we put heat-shrink tubing on the red wires, cleans the wires up and blends them in with the other black parts of the engine bay.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork2_22_09.jpg

[Lamont]

Good call on the wiring, you don't want all your hard work to look Mickey Mouse when you pop the hood. Man, those engines are cake to work on...

[Rens]

Looking hot man! wish i had a project like that running, good times :D

[flaagan]

Man, dying to wrench on this some more. Working weekends and late hours to get Champions even more awesome than it already is.

Coworker's looking to get himself a '69 Charger, so been having fun helping him figure the ins and outs of what to look for.

[AstroZombie]

Tone down the cube map on the exterior a bit. Those reflections just don't seem realistic.

[notman]

Have you seen any of the new Challengers in your area yet? I'm seeing them almost daily now. I'd love to see one of them next to your Cuda, just to compare the styling. (Obviously they don't offer convertibles yet though ;))

[ae.]

Im not a big car person but damn that looks stunning great job! how long have oyu been working on this btw?

[flaagan]

Astro... lol.

notman... I've seen... one. Black with black stripes SRT8. It's rather sad that I haven't seen more, actually, considering how many my friends have seen. We wholly intend to take it to a Dodge dealership when it's done and park it next to a Challenger.

ae.. going on 11 years now. Car started as just needing the engine dropped back in (dad had parked it for nearly a decade), drove it for a few weeks, and decided that the amount of body work it needed warranted a full rebuild. Many weekends and summers of ripping it apart, cleaning stuff up, getting new parts, getting it worked on and painted, and putting it back together has us at this point. Once again dad and I are busy with other projects so work has kinda stalled at the moment, but should pick up soon.

[A.Kincade]

Damn! Looks great. Good to see it finishing up. Nice work with that engine. Bet she purrs like a kitten.

[flaagan]

We took the Barracuda for a shakedown run this morning to come up with a list of things that need to get address, needless to say the list was long. Big issues are the radiator coolant leaking out of the overflow after a run in copious amounts, all of the instrument cluster not working except the odometer, and the numerous noises coming from the suspension and underbody. All of which were known about, but the extent to which the noises were happening cemented in my father and my mind that we're going to be buying a car lift soon. We need to address the issue, and neither of us wants to be laying on the ground while we're doing so.

I was doing chase-car in my 'vette, so I'll be uploading pictures and video tonight when I get home.

[flaagan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJyegdQ4ZYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XNtJpwS1Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVfvXJRya2c

Didn't get any vids from driving down the freeway, trying to upload a photo I took from that part but I'm having troubles trying to connect to my site's ftp at the moment.

Side note: Had an interesting idea while having breakfast with my father. We have a second set of tail lights which I picked up on ebay, and I'm thinking I may modify them to support LED's along the horizontal slots... a bit of modern styling on a classic muscle car.

[notman]

Damn work web-sense... I'll have to check these out when I get home.

Odd that your odometer is working, but not the speedo. Typically they work together :/ It sound like you have a bad thermostat, or the wrong one for your car. That or the radiator is plugged :/ Something is keeping that water from moving ;)
What kind of issues are you having with the undercarriage?

The LEDs would look cool if you can execute them properly :) They would not only modernize it a bit, but also add that 'custom' touch to it

[Tumerboy]

Congrats Flaagan!

[low odor]

you been working on this for a grip...it looks bad ass..I always wanted the cuda in the phantasm movies

[Firebert]

This thing is simply jaw dropping!
That first video gave me cold chills... and I knew this was not going to happen, but it just had that camera angel and vibe that it was going to....

you're half-way out the garage, she's in her glory bathing in the sun, solar flares are being picked up on the lens, then BAM! fuckin' t-boned by an on coming car Office Space style.... I was just sitting there thinkin' "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" with this huge knot in my stomach.... phew... thank goodness it didn't happen... you've worked hard on this beauty!

[flaagan]

Now that I can access my site's ftp again~....

The '63 mph' is my Corvette's heads-up display on the windshield.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/040509_testdrive.jpg

[Tumerboy]

Seriously Flaagan? You were driving AND taking a picture? FOR SHAME! :::shakes finger:::

[flaagan]

Seriously Flaagan? You were driving AND taking a picture? FOR SHAME! :::shakes finger:::

Hey, it's not as bad as what some of the drivers around here do. :poly142:
At the very least, I was paying attention to the road!

[Mark Dygert]

Holy crap I missed the vids, WOO HOO! It's been a long time coming but hot damn its awesome!

Sounds great too (even with the horrible youtube compression)!

[flaagan]

Sounds great too (even with the horrible youtube compression)!


Yah, if you go the direct pages, it should have an "HD" option for each of the vids.

[flaagan]

Just wrote a check for $2200 to a good friend to purchase a two post shop lift from him... muahahahaha!

[Rwolf]

sweet.

[Smirnoffka]

Looks sweet! Plus you have HUD, which brings you up a knotch in my book!

[rolfness]

PIIIIMMMMP .... awesome job

[flaagan]

Looks sweet! Plus you have HUD, which brings you up a knotch in my book!

I love the HUD on the 'vette. It's trippy the first time you see it, cause the numbers are just floating out in front of you; the look to be just to the right of the driver's side headlight. Now I never even look at my gauges. :poly124:

[flaagan]

Well, was gonna post some stuff about a few quick bits o' wrenching on the 'cuda, but seeing as the powers that be have taken a "this is not your blog" attitude, I'll pass.

If the powers that be want to move this to the P&P section to keep it alive, I'll go with that. PM me if that's gonna be the direction that's taken.

[rolfness]

I personally think you should keep posting in this thread, I dont see why it should be moved either it predates any change in policy and has numerous responses from the community. Besides I think the whole this is not your blog thing relates to something else.

[Rens]

do want please.

[JohnnySix]

I'd say this rates higher on the interest scale that people posting shit like "Why are you sad" or this (http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=69131&highlight=belias)

Keep it up, have been watching a least a couple of years now, am sure there are many more lurkers to this thread who'd be sad it wasn't updated because of a rule brought in for serial spammers.

[bbob]

You just made my inner petrol head very happy..

And feck the "this is not your blog" rule on this one, this is inspirational..


Need moar!

[Slum]

4 years and 9 pages deep with no spam. I'd say this thread is valid.

[flaagan]

Fair enough, guys, I'll keep it goin then. :)

[Krypteia]

These renders are crazy lifelike.... :-)

[notman]

Besides, I think we all know what the real meaning of that 'blog' reference was. It's to stop the "I'm taking a shit" type of non-sense posts. This thread at least has some interesting content.

Needs more kickass video though

[flaagan]

Needs more kickass video though

:D

Weekend consisted of a quick bit of wrenching under the hood. We picked up a blacked out alternator a while back so I got around to putting that in (pics sometime soon). We came to the conclusion that instead of making our own, we should order a trunk relocation kit for the battery, so that and a rebuilt power steering unit will be ordered on Monday. Nothing too major, what with all the other projects going on around the house. Need to fire it up again sometime soon as it hasn't run in a few months. :shifty: :poly124:

[Slum]

Just saw the video.. crazy seeing this finally come together. After watching the progress for so long, the first thing I thought when I saw it driving was. "Oh god, please don't wreck."

So yeah.. drive safe.

[[HP]]

Yeah me too, never saw this thread before!

Epic achievement you're doing here man, must be a great experience making a car from (almost) ground up with good old pop!

Grats on getting this on the road! :) Awesome wheels

[flaagan]

Oh yah, quick side note.. remember that shop lift I mentioned before?

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs056.snc3/14335_192060851021_626801021_3530885_1351324_n.jpg

:D

[Lamont]

How much was it installed? I've seen these as low as 6.5g's with tank.

[flaagan]

Lift itself was bought for $2200. We cut the holes in the concrete with a rented concrete cutter. I welded up a pretty crazy wire mesh for the concrete using rebar bought at Home Depot, since the bolts are welded to that framework. We rented a concrete mixer trailer and filled the holes back in, then lifted the two legs up by hand and bolted them down. All in all, it probably came out to around $3000 on the high side, with the cost of the lift itself and the rebar falling on me (along with a MIG welding tank and consumables).

We're talking about building a garage around it since it really shouldn't be outdoors, and adding a single car garage onto that, where I'll likely put in a four post drive-on lift for vehicle storage. Kinda irked we don't have anywhere on the property that I could use for storage, local shop owner I know sold a four post lift recently for about $1500.

[flaagan]

Just a quick update, rebuilt power steering unit and a battery relocation kit showed up,may get started on installing the kit this weekend. The power steering will likely be done by a local shop since it's a royal pain in the ass to work on.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/powersteering_batterykit.jpg

Also, I'm loving my Droid, found an FTP app for it so I can upload photos to my web site on the go

[flaagan]

Got the main wire run for the trunk mounted battery, and got a bunch sorted out with that whole setup. I'll upload picts once I've got my network storage issue sorted out. :)

[slipsius]

looks badass. though, good luck with any sort of speed bumps with those exhaust pipes. lol

[flaagan]

We're taking the fiberglass hood, AAR wing, original trunk lid, and a rear valence to Trent's new body shop today, followed by going to the GoodGuy's hot rod show. If past experience is anything to go off, Trent should have some sweet rides in his shop. I'll get some images up this weekend, as I can now get some shots of the trunk battery cable installation as well.

[flaagan]

Just to hold you guys over til I get my $#!+ sorted out and get some new photos online, I give you an example of why I love the hot rod and muscle car culture..


Spotted at the Good Guys show yesterday in the for sale area (for a pretty good price), a dragster Pinto.

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs428.ash1/23686_380338596021_626801021_4279867_8213829_n.jpg

[GCMP]

Hadn't seen this thread before! Great job on the rebuild, that's a sweet ride you have there and the engine sounds nice too :poly003:

[notman]

Spotted at the Good Guys show yesterday in the for sale area (for a pretty good price), a dragster Pinto.


lol, nice! My coworker has a Gremlin 1/4 mile runner. I don't know what kinds of times he pulls, but it's a beast. I may see if I can find where I put a photo of it, and throw it up in here.

Update (Found one):

http://www.dragtimes.com/images/19760-1972-AMC-Gremlin.jpg

[flaagan]

Wicked! Dig the paint job, and nice action shot. :D

[notman]

If you lived in my area, he could probably hook you up on the hood too ;) He makes them for many of the racers in the area, because they usually have special requirements for their engines. He made the whole front clip of that Gremlin out of fiberglass.

[flaagan]

Actually, the fiberglass hood that we're putting on the car was bought on ebay from a drag racer on the east coast. :)

[flaagan]

All righty, thanks for being patient with me the past few weeks, now that I've got our server issues (mostly) sorted out, I can get some photos safely stored and uploaded.

I'll start with the alternator...

First... blah-y oldness..

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_oldalt.jpg

And noooow, shiny new-ness!

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_newalt.jpg

Summit Racing parts supplier FTW. :thumbup:


On to the latest 'big project'... the trunk mounted battery setup...

We originally were going to do just the battery box bolted to the trunk, but it didn't come with any cables or other hardware (not even bolt holes). Drilling bolt holes kind of defeated the purpose of the box, which is to keep the trunk from getting fubar'd by leaking battery nastiness (look at a battery tray in any old car and you'll know what I'm talking about). So I combined the trunk relocation kit with the box and viola~!

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_trunkbattery.jpg


It's grounded to the body right by the box, and the + cable's.. well, I'll show you...

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_cable01.jpg

The cable's held in place by the same clips that hold the wiring to the body, it then follows along the same protected channel the wiring does down the driver side of the car.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_cable02.jpg

(just to show the route I'm taking...)

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_cable03.jpg

Once it gets to the front of the car, it's run up and around the other hardware, clipped in place but loops attached to the foot-operated washer fluid pump (if you want to smell a noxious smell, take a whiff of the air that comes out of that thing! :poly142: )

Then, it goes through a grommet in a hole that was drilled into the firewall..

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_cable04.jpg


... and finally, is attached on the engine-side of the firewall to the kill-switch's top post.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/work4410/work4410_cable05.jpg

Next up, I've got to re-route the starter and other wiring that went to the distribution block, originally located up by where the battery was (behind the driver's side headlight). Also, I've got to move the custom radiator overflow box up so it's on level with the radiator.

[limesimme]

Read through the thread, you got one hell of a car right there, great job!

[flaagan]

Gonna stop by Magnum Force (http://www.magnumforceracing.com/) shortly to talk with them about the Flaming River tilt steering wheel (http://www.flamingriver.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=461/category_id=258/home_id=62/mode=prod/prd461.htm) (gonna get one in black).

Decision was made after my efforts this past weekend to get the trunk mounted battery setup finished; dad and I were talking about about how the column's pretty scratched and dirty in the engine bay, and even with a fresh coat of paint it doesn't look that great inside. The tilt's going to come in handy since someone of my height has a hard time getting in and out of the driver's seat, and we'll be looking into a slightly smaller wheel.

Magnum Force's been on shows like Wrecks to Riches and Monster Garage to do custom front end installs; I'd forgotten that they're local (like a mile or two from work) until I was looking up distributors for Flaming River.

[flaagan]

Ordered the column, ended up getting an Ididit brand (http://www.ididitinc.com/retrofit_columns/70_74_cuda-challenger_fs.html) instead (better price, better product), actually ended up being cheaper than the Flaming River setup, should arrive within a few days. We'll be keeping the stock steering wheel since the purpose of this purchase was to have it tilt up out of the way.

[flaagan]

Went forward with removing the headers and steering gear today (removed the steering column earlier in the week). Almost got the driver side header and the steering gear out, but the damn pitman arm wouldn't come off, so now I've got to pick up a pitman arm removal tool tomorrow and get cracking.

I'm actually somewhat surprised I didn't already have one, especially since I swapped out manual steering to power steering on my sister's Bronco over winter break...

[notman]

Yeah, I would have expected you to have some sort of puller that would work ;)

[flaagan]

I tried kludging something together from one of the other pullers we have, but it just wasn't big enough to fit around either end of the pitman arm. No matter, I'll get it sorted out tomorrow, I'm definitely beat from today, not quite as much spring in my step as when I started on this car. :poly136:

[flaagan]

Well, after a weekend of wrenching, cursing, and busted knuckles, the old power steering unit and the headers are out of the car. The headers, the new power steering gear, and a slab of metal that'll be used for a info placard at shows are off to the powdercoaters tomorrow morning. I've been searching high and low throughout the garage and out back to find the damn hardware for the AAR wing, but haven't come across them, and they're supposed to get coated as well. I have a suspicion they ended up with the wing at the body shop, which means I may have to make a quick trip down to Hollister some time this week.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/cudawork_04112010.jpg

[flaagan]

Just got off the phone with the instrument repair company, apparently we lucked out big time. The voltage regulator on the voltage readout in the instrument cluster fried, which is apparently not an uncommon thing. The problem is, though, that the rest of the cluster is powered off of that same readout, and is a 6v setup instead of a 12v, so normally when that regulator goes, it takes out the rest of the cluster with it. Apparently, by some divine fortune, only the regulator went out and the rest of the cluster is fine. We're having the repair company put on a solid state regulator (one they've never had a return issue with) instead of a cheap-from-China repro, which they've had numerous recall issues with. They're also repairing the speedometer free of charge as they can't determine whether it was shipping or our speedo wire which caused the damage.

[flaagan]

'Nother update for you folks. Headers are back and re-coated, and I'm picking up the new power steering gear from the powdercoating shop tomorrow. I was supposed to pick it up over the weekend, and my timing was uncanny; the guys working over the weekend were literally about to walk it into the oven to cook on the paint, which is what they did with the previous one which lead to the seals going out. I ran in and stopped them, and all being well the paint sure be cured by tomorrow.

In between all the other things I've got going on, I've been working on reorganizing a lot of the wiring in the engine bay to get it out of sight. This means a good bit of removing the wrappings and re-wrapping them in ways that work better towards this end.

Also, while my dad and I were pondering over the engine bay Saturday night, I started going off about an idea to get a lot of things out of sight... this was the result of that idea (so far):
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/041710_enginebay.jpg

What that cardboard is covering is a gap between the front fender and the radiator support framework. I'm going to get a sheet of metal cut to size, we'll powdercoat it black, and mount it in that space. The hood spring and latch that are currently there will be gone soon as the fiberglass hood that's being fixed up now wont be using those (hoodpins instead). In that space I'm going to hide the horns and the controls for the dual electric fans.

One of the other quick things done this weekend was to mask and paint the windshield washer fluid reservoir black, so that it blends in. I masked off a strip so you can still tell how full it is.
http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/041710_washerreservoir.jpg

Also, our ididit steering column arrived during the week, so I got that mostly together and ready to go in once the headers and new steering gear are installed.

http://studioflaagan.com/photos/cudaathome/041710_steeringcolumn.jpg

Gonna be a hectic next few days, as there's a handful of things I want to get done or started on this week, and we're heading to Hawaii on Thursday~.