'68 Barracuda Notch

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rymanrph said:
I finally got my seat belts installed in the car. Its the kit from seatbeltsplus.com.

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Its very similar to the ones that XV Motorsports was selling, but I like the buckle design better on these.

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Please excuse the faded carpet. I have the back seat out right now so I could install the rear belts, but I will probably have to carry my exhaust through the car to the muffler shop. My new Doug's headers are longer than what I had on before so I'll have to get the pipes cut down.

I got my new Lokar throttle cable, bracket and kickdown cable kit. Installation went fine with the bracket and throttle cable until I trimmed the housing of the kickdown cable without removing the cable first :violent1:. At least it doesn't have a specialty fitting on the end so hopefully I can just find some replacement cable without having to order from Lokar.
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How do like the seatbeltsplus belts? Which set did you get? I want some..
 
I got these: http://www.seatbeltsplus.com/product/3-6870-A-Body2BU.html

If you're a tall guy and want to push the bucket seats way back, these might not work for you. Overall, I like them. The quality of the belt material is very good and I like the buckle design. I don't feel like the retractor is very strong and the extension at the bottom tends to pivot if you don't tighten the bolt very tight which can cause the belt to droop (not retract all the way).
 
I've been tackling some little stuff while I wait for wheels and tires. I've been trying to repair my steering column including some missing and some broken parts. I ordered a new turn signal cam, but FedEx decided not to come today.

To get the stance right, I put my rear springs on the correct side and installed 3" blocks. I ended up about 1/2" higher on the driver side, but once I sit in the car it will probably level out.

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The front is sitting a little high now, but I really can't do much until I get the new wheels and tires.
 
rymanrph said:
I think the oil pressure gauge is actually working (but I know the gas and temp gauges aren't). I finally got the license and theft bureau to do their inspection this morning so the title can be issued (almost a year after I bought it).

The little bit of driving that I've done has revealed that my tires rub badly. So new ball joints and wheels and tires are in order.

I'm looking at 17" front and 18" rear TTII wheels. Don't know width, bs or tire sizes yet, but I'm working on it.
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if you want to sell the wheels you have shoot me a pm and I would like to buy them, let me know--joe
 
thejoejoe3 bought my Center Lines and tires, so now its just a waiting game for the new wheels to arrive.

I ordered 18x9.5 Torq Thrust IIs for the rear. There is a 4 to 6 week lead time on those, so I will wait and order the 17x8s for the front and the tires when they ship.

I know they are a pretty common wheel, but I've never had them and no one I know has them. Plus trying to find a wheel in the size I wanted with the back spacing I wanted was pretty hard to do for a decent price.

The anticipated ship date is May 15th, so hopefully I'll be up and running for some good weather soon.
 
Damn, that's a backorder like some of the reloading supplies I ordered about a year and a half ago.
 
txstang84 said:
Damn, that's a backorder like some of the reloading supplies I ordered about a year and a half ago.
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I don't think its technically a back order since they build them at the time of purchase. They are two piece; the fronts are a one piece construction and they're commonly stocked, so I should be able to get those pretty quickly.
 
The estimated ship time was 4-6 weeks. It ended up being two.

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I have a Jeep that I'm flipping, so I can't order the fronts or tires until I get my money back out of it. But at least the front wheels aren't a special order.
 
I sold my Jeep last night, so I ordered my front wheels and tires this morning. They should be here Wednesday. Now I just need to swap out the long wheel studs in the back.
 
rymanrph said:
I sold my Jeep last night, so I ordered my front wheels and tires this morning. They should be here Wednesday. Now I just need to swap out the long wheel studs in the back.
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What is wrong with long studs? I have 3" studs front and rear.
 
I haven't driven it around the block to settle the front suspension, but here are the new wheels and tires:

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rymanrph said:
I haven't driven it around the block to settle the front suspension, but here are the new wheels and tires:

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Since I am guessing: 245/45-17 front, 275/40-18 rear? Looks like they fit! What size and brand are they?
 
Wow!!! that looks Great!! is that all stock suspension? Did you mini tub the back?
 
245/45/17s and 275/35/18s to keep the same overall height. Fit does look good. I'll have to drive it around a bit to see if I run into any issues, but I think I'm OK. I replaced the driver side upper ball joint cause it was worn out, but the passenger side was still good. The ball joints are the same height, but the zerk fitting on the passenger side is much taller and hits the wheel, so I need to swap it out.

The tires are Nitto NT555; a friend of mine recommended them and they were a good price, so I figured I'd give them a try.

I have relocated the springs, but no mini tub.
 
rymanrph said:
245/45/17s and 275/35/18s to keep the same overall height. Fit does look good.
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I'm not a fan of running shorter sidewall in the rear - but maybe you like that? I know some people do. 245/45-17 is 25.7", to keep the same proportion w/ a 18" wheel you would want 27.2" in height. To keep the same sidewall you would want 26.7". A 275/40-18 would give you the same sidewall height. If you can test fit a 275/40-18 and see how it looks. My opinion (and that is all it is) would be that a 275/40-18 would have a better look. You also would get the extra cushion of the taller sidewall.

My front tire is a 255/40-18 (26" tall). My rear tire is a 295/40-18 (27.2" tall). Unfortunately, since the wheels are both 18", this gives the visual effect that my rear wheel and tire are smaller. Better would have been 345/30-19 which is also 27.2" tall, or 295/35-18 which is 26.1" tall. Unfortunately the tire I have is not available in either of those sizes and the 19x13 wheel I would need for the rear is not so cheap either. For now I will "suffer" with what I have. Once the car is on the road I can look at other options.

One that I am leaning towards is 275/35-18 front and 325/30-19 rear. 25.6" front, 26.7" rear.
 
mosleyme said:
I'm not a fan of running shorter sidewall in the rear - but maybe you like that? I know some people do. 245/45-17 is 25.7", to keep the same proportion w/ a 18" wheel you would want 27.2" in height. To keep the same sidewall you would want 26.7". A 275/40-18 would give you the same sidewall height. If you can test fit a 275/40-18 and see how it looks. My opinion (and that is all it is) would be that a 275/40-18 would have a better look. You also would get the extra cushion of the taller sidewall.

My front tire is a 255/40-18 (26" tall). My rear tire is a 295/40-18 (27.2" tall). Unfortunately, since the wheels are both 18", this gives the visual effect that my rear wheel and tire are smaller. Better would have been 345/30-19 which is also 27.2" tall, or 295/35-18 which is 26.1" tall. Unfortunately the tire I have is not available in either of those sizes and the 19x13 wheel I would need for the rear is not so cheap either. For now I will "suffer" with what I have. Once the car is on the road I can look at other options.

One that I am leaning towards is 275/35-18 front and 325/30-19 rear. 25.6" front, 26.7" rear.
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I've never had staggered wheels before, so I haven't really developed a preference, but the larger sidewall was something that caught my eye after I put them on the car yesterday.

Since the tires have already been mounted (but not driven on), I'm not sure if they'll swap them out for me or not.
 
rymanrph said:
Since the tires have already been mounted (but not driven on), I'm not sure if they'll swap them out for me or not.
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Never hurts to ask, especially since you are a good and loyal paying customer and all. 275/35-18 is a very popular size. I used to work at a tire shop, we used to test fit stuff all the time. Wheels is a different story, not many places will take a wheel back that has had a tire mounted on it.
 
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