1968 Barracuda Notch - Plano, TX

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Checking fitment on the radio, it will fit better with the brace on the back attached. No issues. New door latches ordered this past weekend. AC vents are on their way. Wiring harness is incoming, probably end of next week. I will have plenty to work on for the next month. Picture of the dash mock up this evening, and a picture of the car in case anyone forgot what it looked like the past six months! Once I get the business of the AC vents sorted out I will be taking my "good" dash pads and these spares to the upholstery shop to figure out what I am doing, then the final metalwork and paint for the dash frame can be done.

Could not find my "washer" knob. Anyone make them or the headlight knob new? Does anyone make the 4-way switch new?
 

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Mocking up AC vents, going to make them part of the lower dash pad.
 

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Will that clear your knee getting in and out of the car? Can you sink it further in to the dash pad - since you're blending it in anyway?
 
Will that clear your knee getting in and out of the car? Can you sink it further in to the dash pad - since you're blending it in anyway?

Measured 4+ inches with me sitting in the stock passenger seat. I plan on pushing it up a little more and in a little more to reduce the "intrusion". I mocked it up to test and getting in and out of the car my legs do not go anywhere near it. I am "only" 5'10"... Josh checked on his convertible, he would probably have 2" less space.

I will do some more fitment testing. The dash frame I have sitting in the car now is a "damaged" spare, so I am not afraid to cut it up more than it is. The lower dash pads are beat up extras also.

I have a local upholstery shop that I am going to work with that can make my lower pad and recover the upper. He does Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and lots of custom work. We already talked about the pads and he is on board.
 
Awesome build Michael,

I went with an identical set of SVE Drift wheels for my 69' Road Runner. It's funny, I also had the Weiand Super Stock Intake. It wouldn't fit under my six pack hood, literally it rose above the front quarter panels without carbs (have solid engine mounts). Thanks for the inspiration with wheel selection, it's ridiculously difficult to find any info related to 17+" wheels on other Mopar forums. I wanted a Hellcat style replica wheel to match my SRT, and these seem to be the ticket. Good luck with your build!
 
Awesome build Michael,

I went with an identical set of SVE Drift wheels for my 69' Road Runner. It's funny, I also had the Weiand Super Stock Intake. It wouldn't fit under my six pack hood, literally it rose above the front quarter panels without carbs (have solid engine mounts). Thanks for the inspiration with wheel selection, it's ridiculously difficult to find any info related to 17+" wheels on other Mopar forums. I wanted a Hellcat style replica wheel to match my SRT, and these seem to be the ticket. Good luck with your build!

The only reason the Weiand fits under my hood is the EFI throttle bodies are so short. The intake is supposed to fit any car that originally came w/ a 6 pack hood. Does your engine sit higher than it should? You could always go to a motor plate and drop the engine, but that would then cause several other issues. Maybe that is why my headers don't clear the steering box...

A little bit of irony there on the "Hellcat style" wheels. I bought my wheels a few months before the Hellcat was revealed, so I had "Hellcat" wheels before the Hellcat.
 
The only reason the Weiand fits under my hood is the EFI throttle bodies are so short. The intake is supposed to fit any car that originally came w/ a 6 pack hood. Does your engine sit higher than it should? You could always go to a motor plate and drop the engine, but that would then cause several other issues. Maybe that is why my headers don't clear the steering box...

A little bit of irony there on the "Hellcat style" wheels. I bought my wheels a few months before the Hellcat was revealed, so I had "Hellcat" wheels before the Hellcat.

Yes, my solid engine mounts place the block around 1.5-2" higher than stock. I run a turbo blow-thru setup and Victor manifold now, so it would have already been back off the car. Yours is a work of art, really incredible setup with EFI. I just installed my SVE Drift wheels today, I'm going to need around a 1/3" spacer for the rear to clear the leafs and another in the front. Mine aren't exactly flush with the body like yours, which I had no real idea what to expect. I still have quite a bit of room toward the fender however.
 
Went ahead and cut a hole in the extra dash frame and extra dash pad to mock up a slightly different idea that insets the AC vent deeper and allows more leg clearance.

Actually think I have the way I will attach the vent sorted out also. The OEM has a round opening with 3 tabs. The opening is 3-1/2" ID, there is a flange inset 0.1" in with a 0.1" lip all the way around. 3 tabs that stick in 0.25" locate the vent and give the vent something to lock into. I can make a ring out of steel that is 0.2" thick with a machined lip that duplicates the OEM plastic bezel. Then weld that ring onto a metal pipe with a 3.5" ID. Weld that assembly into the dash frame. The vents will pop right in. Then I just clearance the dash pad and have it recovered by my local upholstery shop.

Pictures of the hole in the dash frame and the mock up I did today.
 

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Awesome build!

Following closely, there are quite a few things that you're doing that I'd like to do when it's time to swap the 440 into my '69 Valiant.
 
More test fitting today...

3-1/2" steel pipe. Fit check / mock up. OK... I think I have the idea, now I can start on the "real" dash frame. I will get it to tuck up a little tighter, maybe 1/2" up. As it is there is about 6" between my leg and the vent. The junk dash pad is a little chewed up, the one I will be using I will probably let the upholstery guy trim to fit around the vents. Why does it look OK in the car and strange in the picture?
 

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Here is an overview, imagine another vent on the opposite end and two in the middle about 6" apart.
 

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Very little progress as of late, too busy at work and no money. I rolled it out of the garage for a wash and wax. Rolled it back in and took a few pictures. Need to get lowering blocks for the rear but looks pretty good. Plan for the air cleaner is black base, hemi orange top with the 440 6bbl sticker. Suspension, engine and transmission are all in place. Trying to get myself motivated to do what work I can on it. Took a few pictures.
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Did a little work yesterday. A few years ago bought some "professionally restored" head light bezels off E-Bay. The pot metal was pitted and the paint was the wrong color. But... the aluminum part of the bezels was in pretty good shape. My pot metal pieces were in excellent shape, my aluminum parts were beat up. So I drilled out the rivets and did a swap. Since I had them apart I masked and painted the pieces the correct color. Put rivets in and test fit them on the car.

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When I took my grill shell apart out of the car a few weeks back to align the shell and bezel the driver's side plastic grill piece fell out in two separate pieces. When I painted it I knew it was cracked, but since it really does not carry much load, just the turn signal, I thought it would be OK. Apparently not. I found a plastic glue that worked exceptionally well. So, I figured I would tell you about it.

Two stage glue, apply activator, wait 60 seconds, apply glue to one part, squeeze together for 30 seconds - done.

Grill was two pieces - red circles show where it was broken. The black perimeter goes under the pot-metal trim and will not be seen.

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Nice! Im still repairing my cracked 69 grilles. I used jb weld 2part plastic epoxy. I couldnt justify buying 3M product and spending $80 on a gun.
JB was like $10.
Nice work!
 
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