65 Barracuda daily driver

[dibbons]

Check out the Pertronix Ingiter II. That's what I run.

Mine starts up nearly immediately after turning the key.

Funny, when I had the single point distributor in my 318, it would fire up (when warm) instantly as soon as I made contact with the key switch. Now, with the Pertronix system, it starts up fine, but always takes about 3 spins.

There is a graph that Pertronix uses to illustrate dwell, comparing points to their pointless system, and if you look closely at the illustration, the points are shown superior at cranking speed. After that, the pointless system takes over.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Such a cool thread! Has me inspired to get to work on my rig.

What kind of spray set up are you using to paint the doors, engine bay etc red at home? Looks beautiful.

Thank you- the paint is not a 1965 color, it is a newer Chysler red = PR4 "flame red". So for the interior I used a dupli color rattle can. The down side is that it scratches very easily. That might also be, because I didn't let the primer dry long enough or I didn't clean the surface well enough before painting. Not sure. I didn't really care that much about the engine bay and the trunk, so I used Rustoleum "sunrise red", which is a bit brighter than the flame red, but it's also only about 3-4 bucks a can. Since I need to re-paint a few parts I'm actually looking into buying a small compressor and a paint gun, because rattle cans are obviously not ideal.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Funny, when I had the single point distributor in my 318, it would fire up (when warm) instantly as soon as I made contact with the key switch. Now, with the Pertronix system, it starts up fine, but always takes about 3 spins.

There is a graph that Pertronix uses to illustrate dwell, comparing points to their pointless system, and if you look closely at the illustration, the points are shown superior at cranking speed. After that, the pointless system takes over.

View attachment 1715165612

The car already had electronic ignition when I bought it, not Pertronix, though. It's just newer Mopar stuff. And it still doesn't start immediately, it actually varies a bit, but it's a lot quicker than with the old big starter. I had read before that the sound of the mini starter is quite different than the original and I agree. I'm getting used to it, though...

 

[65barracudaLA]

I started mocking up the Kelsey Hayes disc brakes. I know the rotor is still missing... I still need to take the brand new rotors and studs and bearings to the machine shop to get them pressed into the hub. Somehow the brake lines do not line up. I guess I can bend them a bit by hand, but I had hoped that they'd fit out of the box...

 

[65barracudaLA]

I'm still working on prepping the disc brakes. I finally got the last little parts (hose clips). I hope to install them this weekend. Anyways, a friend of mine saw me driving in front of him on the way to a meeting and snapped this picture. There aren't many pictures of me driving the car, but I drive it every single day!

 

[65cuda340]

I just saw your thread for the first time, and read the whole thing; your car looks great. I have had my '65 since '77, when I dropped in a '68 340 and 727 Torqueflite. Your after-paint pictures brought back memories of driving mine home from the paint shop in '82 and putting all the chrome trim back on!

 

[65barracudaLA]

I just saw your thread for the first time, and read the whole thing; your car looks great. I have had my '65 since '77, when I dropped in a '68 340 and 727 Torqueflite. Your after-paint pictures brought back memories of driving mine home from the paint shop in '82 and putting all the chrome trim back on!View attachment 1715172490 View attachment 1715172491

Thanks! Haha, I was born in '77. I bet the 340 is a lot of fun!

 

[65cuda340]

Thanks! Haha, I was born in '77. I bet the 340 is a lot of fun!

Yes, the 340 provided lots of fun. I had it in a '66 Valiant from '72 until I put it in the Barracuda in '77. However, the 340 is now gone, as is everything else except the roof, doors, and rear quarter panels. Here's what it looked like a few months ago.

 

[65cuda340]

..and here is an interior shot from a couple of weeks ago.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Oh wow, not much left of the old car. Is that a Hemi? Are you going to do a fiberglass front clip?

 

[65cuda340]

Oh wow, not much left of the old car. Is that a Hemi? Are you going to do a fiberglass front clip?

Yep, aluminum 433 c.i. 3rd gen hemi, with Hilborn stack injection, dry sump oil system, Tremec 6-speed with PPG sequential shift conversion, independent rear suspension, Detroit Speed front suspension, Alcon brakes, active suspension control, and a few other goodies. I am not using a fiberglass front clip; the front and rear wheel openings are enlarged and flared to allow a drop in ride height and larger tires. The hood will be either fiberglass or carbon fiber, with an AAR-type scoop. Here's a shot of a front fender after modification.

 

[65barracudaLA]

That's gonna one mean machine!

 

[65barracudaLA]

This Dart was driving next to me the other day and I bet this lady has been driving this car since the sixties

 

[66fyssh]

She looks oblivious to your car, did she even notice?

Love that shade she has on the driver's window, lol.

 

[65barracudaLA]

Haha, she didn't notice anything. She looked straight ahead the entire time. The shade is great and so is the furry steering wheel cover.

 

[JDMopar]

LOL....she was vulture necking, so she needs her glasses fixed!

 

[65barracudaLA]

So, I finally had the studs pressed into the hubs and rotors for the Kelsey Hayes disc brakes. The fit of the lines to the hose is really not that great. One is basically rubbing on the spindle and the other is rubbing on the LCA. Did anyone else have that problem? Those were from "Right Stuff Detailing" and I haven't really found any other place to buy them from. Other than that I believe I have everything else other than brake fluid... I'm also cleaning up a lower control arm that has a sway bar tab for the passenger side. The driver side already has one, so then I'll only have to find a sway bar... I'm also installing Prothane LCA bushings on both sides. I'm hoping I can get them finally installed not this but next weekend!

 

[Tooljunkie]

Nice! Disc brakes are a definite upgrade.

 

[65barracudaLA]

I love when I find photos of my car taken by random people on instagram:

This was on a recent camping trip in the Angeles National Forrest. There's no gas station anywhere in the forrest and I almost ran out of gas. Haha, Fish out of water and Fish out of gas. Luckily the way back home was mostly downhill.

 

[Rustyfish]

How did you ever find that?

 

[65barracudaLA]

How did you ever find that?

hashtag search #plymouthbarracuda

 

[Rustyfish]

hashtag search #plymouthbarracuda

Gotta be a shot in the dark

 

[65barracudaLA]

Finally got started on the disc brake swap! Take one last look at the drums:

... and they're gone:

Ready for take-off!

It took all day to take everything apart and since I'm replacing the LCA bushings as well, I cleaned up the lower control arms and painted them black.

More tomorrow!

 

[65barracudaLA]

So, the discs are in! I didn't take many pictures because it already took way longer than I thought. I started Saturday morning and I was done Monday around 1pm... I'm not quite happy with the pedal pressure and I assume there's a leak somewhere by the caliper lines. I might need to order new ones that fit better.

 

[rapidtransitric]

..and here is an interior shot from a couple of weeks ago.View attachment 1715174435

Go in all out I see

Morphed