Might buy 64 'Cuda...but A/C and CONSOLE...?! Huh?

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That is a 65 for sure. I have picked up a 64 last week and can see a few differences between the 2 that clues yours to be a 65.
 
I know that the car is not a 66. My question to all is didn't the 66 cars have the slimmer A/C unit and the 64-5 cars have the bigger, boxier unit?

Mike
 
az426hemi said:
didn't the 66 cars have the slimmer A/C unit and the 64-5 cars have the bigger, boxier unit?
Click to expand...

No. Factory fresh-air A/C (integrated with heat and defog, with the slim underdash A/C outlet duct) was introduced in the middle of the 1965 model year. The bigger/boxier unit you're describing is Mopar "Cool-Aire" add-on air conditioning, which was not an integrated fresh-air system and was available as an accessory on A-bodies starting in '61. It remained available as an add-on accessory even after the integrated system went on offer in '65.
 
Yes you can go form 13 inch to 14's;
14x4.5 small bolt pattern rims are cheap,
14x5.5 small bolt pattern rims are available,
but, not as easy to find, as the narrow ones.

If you like the car, buy it.

End thread/8)
 
which car do you like?

buy them both if they are in that shape & pricing is good.
The car is 40+ years old many items could have been swapped /changed.
Both are cool cars & modifications/ parts can be sourced from this site.
Good Luck with your decision & take some pics of the ragtop-- it's that time of the year ,Lawrence!!
 
i know some one will come back and say it doesn;t hold true
but i have 2 /64s and 3/65s ,iknow the 64 used nuts on the wiper arms,plus true 64/s had val.emblem on right rear panel.
just my 2cents.both 64/s r push buttons,65 r consel floor shifts.
and the 64 radio is p buttons if it is there.along with small circle cluster gauges.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 65BCODA
Looks to be a 65............but......just may be a late production 64?!?!
Ma Mopar did some odd things.

"Yes, Chrysler did some odd things, not including building '65 Barracudas during the 1964 model year. "

Slant/Dan
First let me say that I do find your posts to be very informative and interesting.

In your opinoin an early cuda w/console, smaller v-wedge body line on fenders and all appropriate ways seems to be '65 items......but is titled as a 64, #'s correctly match title>car......would this be impossible? This is the case with my own car.....whether it is a typo or otherwise I would not discount the fact that odd things happened back in the day.
 
Here's my 2 cents. Check the vin number. The third digit is the year, 4, for '64, and 5, for '65. As I understand it, the Valiant script appears only on the early '64 production cars, and was removed in the later cars. I don't know exactly when that happened but my car was built in late June of '64 and does not have the Valiant script on it. My car has a/c but I don't know if it was factory installed or by the dealer but it is included on the original window sticker. The controls for the a/c are on the under dash unit itself. There are no a/c controls anywhere on the dash. Another thing is that the dash on the '64 has three separate dials on the right side for the gas, temp, and amps. The '65 has them in one dial the same dia. as the speedometer.
 
Here is what a 64 looks like with factory a/c. In your Vin Tag M with a 3 under it is factory a/c, this is done when the car is ordered. However, the identical A/c kit could also be put in at the dealer but the VIN would not reflect that. Also to clear up some myths power brakes on all Valiants, Barracudas and Darts were done at the dealership. All power steering is factory. Hope it helps, what you have is a 65. I have a very late Barracuda it was built 2 days before the production run shut down. So my Barracuda emblems are like a 65 no long a at the end, I also dont have a Valaint emblem on the right rear trunk facia. No one knows when the change over took place, not even Gaylen. But I can say I have never seen a car built after May that had them.

IMG_3301.jpg
 
I sold Chryslers and Plymouths in 1964 and factory AC was optional, but most were dealer installed.

That is absolutely a '65 dash, but each dealer was limited on the number of Barracudas they could order in '64, and we could have sold many more than we received. Our dealership was limited to 5 cars, but we bought the inventory of several small dealers in the area, which gave us around 15 Barracudas for the year.

It's possible that a late '64 model year build date could have been a mixture of parts as the factory was trying to meet dealer demand, or that early-build '65's were using up '64 inventory.

A late July or early August build date would give that theory some weight.
 
I agree, Production runs ended the second Friday in July. My car was built Second Wednsday in July. I doubt it was the last one built in 64 but it was real close. The next year production runs started the second Friday in August. Roughly giving plants a month to change over tooling.

If you take a picture of the Fender tag and the vin I can break it all down for you if you like.
 
64_Barracuda said:
Here is what a 64 looks like with factory a/c. In your Vin Tag M with a 3 under it is factory a/c, this is done when the car is ordered. However, the identical A/c kit could also be put in at the dealer but the VIN would not reflect that. Also to clear up some myths power brakes on all Valiants, Barracudas and Darts were done at the dealership. All power steering is factory. Hope it helps, what you have is a 65. I have a very late Barracuda it was built 2 days before the production run shut down. So my Barracuda emblems are like a 65 no long a at the end, I also dont have a Valaint emblem on the right rear trunk facia. No one knows when the change over took place, not even Gaylen. But I can say I have never seen a car built after May that had them.
Click to expand...


That is the same unit that is in my car. And my tag has the 3 under the M so that confirms for me where the a/c was installed. Two questions, I see that the front cover matches your dash color. Is that how it came or is that something you did? Second, I don't suppose that the center plate around the control buttons could be found anywhere, mine is missing.
 
No I pained mine. Its supposed to be a gold metalic crome but I can't find anyone to do it. The center pieces usually flaked off or got destryed. I wish someone would remanufacture them.
 
that sure look sharp.
Housing powdercoated, the black part?

So the Cuda is a 1965.
Funny - it's like VWs, where the body and all trim was the same for a couple of years, and you really have to know details to tell them apart...in the 1964-65 Cudas, I guess.

I know the Valiant is a 1964...guy thought it was 11963 and I did not correct him.
He says the Cuda is a 1964, and I realized after I saw it...they look the same as 1965s on the outside.

THANKS for the help.

Other examples of this kind of "knowledge" out there...He also has a 1953 Lincoln Capri HT he thinks is a 1956, on and on.
Nice old guy but I really think he just went out buying anything "old" he could all those last 20 years...
there is no theme in the collection, as if he was a 1949-54 Chevy guy, or this make or that, with the knowledge to go with it, like you usually see when someone has 100 projects sitting around.

I am working on the cars shown $, the Valiant is already "cheap", but he is still a little high on the Cuda.
He does know it RAN but had a broken motor mount, which is why the previous owner sold it!
He has titles for most of them, too...guess he never read them!
 
Looks great there 64 Barracuda. I also noted that your car has the '65 style radio and trim plate, not the regular '64 style with the round pushbuttons.....
 
The Black part of the housing is just regular krylon black paint.

Good eye on the radio. I put the 65 radio in there while i was rebuilding the 64 radio, the correct radio is in there now. And after all that I went with "Secret Audio SST" under the passenger seat in the end. oh well.
 
cavemanmoron said:
Yes you can go form 13 inch to 14's;
14x4.5 small bolt pattern rims are cheap,
14x5.5 small bolt pattern rims are available,
but, not as easy to find, as the narrow ones.

>>>>
"...If you like the car, buy it.

End thread/8)
Click to expand...
..." <<<<

====
I just realized...are you irritated by this forum, or...? WOW.
 
Dash looks 65 to me. but like someone else said its a mopar and they kind of did what ever they wanted on the production line. buddy of my dad bought a dodge truck off the lot in the 60's with all v8 emblems and a slant six under the hood. cant go wrong as long as its a mopar!
 
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