'68 Barracuda Formula S Fastback Restoration
I had a lot of sins to take care of when doing body work on the Cuda. Nothing major other than typical A-Body rust in the lower quarter panels, but there was much bondo and body work on the quarter panels over the years and that had to go. AMD posted that they had 1 set of '68 rear quarter panels left before they want to a universial panel that was not punched for running lights. So I snagged them by putting a deposit down and got ready to ship the Cuda body to AMD Instillation Center near Atlanta. I purchased USCT's wonderful dolly system for rolling the body shell around. These are incredibly strong and bold to the k-frame holes and rear leaf spring perches. (I will put these up for sale shortly as I am done with them.)
AMD took a lot of photos. The first is how the car looked when received. Note the left rear quarter panel damage due to losing a wheel once. Ooops! Trunk floor was in good shape but slighly dented from the accadent that happened before I owned the car. They chose to straighten rather than replace it as the metal was solid.
The interior floor panels were also solid and not touched other than installing bucket seat perches as the car came with a bench seat (not buckets!). Engine compartment was also looking good, but this was due to me having repaired the damage done when I put fenderwell headers on the car in '71. My Bad. Very Bad. Wish I never did that. Looks good, but the guy that put the patch panels in brazed everything, not welded. But AMD didn't have front aprons available at the time and no clue when they would be available, so we left things as they were.
Next is the photo of the rear without quarters and valance. Quarters, trunk extensions and valance to be installed. And after a week or so, the quarter panels are in place looking beautiful.
As AMD works with US Car Tools closely, we decided to install torque boxes, subframe connectors and chassis stiffening at the front aprons and lower radiator support. See the last photos for details of what the work looked like. I finally got the rear valance as I wanted it from the start. Exhaust tips will look great in those openings.
I had a lot of sins to take care of when doing body work on the Cuda. Nothing major other than typical A-Body rust in the lower quarter panels, but there was much bondo and body work on the quarter panels over the years and that had to go. AMD posted that they had 1 set of '68 rear quarter panels left before they want to a universial panel that was not punched for running lights. So I snagged them by putting a deposit down and got ready to ship the Cuda body to AMD Instillation Center near Atlanta. I purchased USCT's wonderful dolly system for rolling the body shell around. These are incredibly strong and bold to the k-frame holes and rear leaf spring perches. (I will put these up for sale shortly as I am done with them.)
AMD took a lot of photos. The first is how the car looked when received. Note the left rear quarter panel damage due to losing a wheel once. Ooops! Trunk floor was in good shape but slighly dented from the accadent that happened before I owned the car. They chose to straighten rather than replace it as the metal was solid.
The interior floor panels were also solid and not touched other than installing bucket seat perches as the car came with a bench seat (not buckets!). Engine compartment was also looking good, but this was due to me having repaired the damage done when I put fenderwell headers on the car in '71. My Bad. Very Bad. Wish I never did that. Looks good, but the guy that put the patch panels in brazed everything, not welded. But AMD didn't have front aprons available at the time and no clue when they would be available, so we left things as they were.
Next is the photo of the rear without quarters and valance. Quarters, trunk extensions and valance to be installed. And after a week or so, the quarter panels are in place looking beautiful.
As AMD works with US Car Tools closely, we decided to install torque boxes, subframe connectors and chassis stiffening at the front aprons and lower radiator support. See the last photos for details of what the work looked like. I finally got the rear valance as I wanted it from the start. Exhaust tips will look great in those openings.