69 Barracuda Finally "Finished"

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PSUKev

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
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Location
New Alexandria PA
Backstory:
I stumbled across this car in my Grandfather’s barn when I was a kid. It was my uncle’s car and was tucked away as an unfinished project of his. My brother, cousins and I would climb on it when we would play in the barn (I later hammered out those dents). As I grew older I became interested in the car. When I was 15 I moved the car from the barn to my parents garage and took over my uncle’s project. I've owned this car since 1994 and did a little work on it as a teenager which consisted of stripping old paint and priming body parts and general disassembly. I graduated high school, then college, then began working and the car sat… and waited. While the car sat an unfortunate accident occurred and the barn burnt down along with some of my parts that were removed and stored but thankfully no one was hurt and life went on.

Fast forward to 2012:
An opportunity presented itself whereas I had the time, money and space to work on the car and after the encouragement from my girlfriend I began to bring the car back to life (she had no idea what she encouraged). On August 19th I transported the car from my home (east of Pittsburgh, PA) to where I was working (Erie, PA) and there I disassembled the rest of the car, made a list of what I needed and managed to find a complete parts car to replace what was lost in the fire. I made the decision that my money was better spent on buying high quality parts and doing the work myself rather than spending money on labor and skimping on materials. With help from friends, internet forums (that's where you all get an "at a boy") and suppliers tech support I put in countless hours after work and on weekends to slowly breathe life back into this old gal. This is the first car I've “restored” so I learned while I worked but sure enough she came together in the end and I couldn't be happier with the results.

I completed the car and entered it in its first show on August 24th, 2013, 53 weeks after I started working on it. During that time I worked full time at my regular job and took a 1 week vacation so ultimately it took me 1 YEAR almost to the day to complete this car.

The work I did not complete was: machining of the block, rebuilding/strengthening the 904 transmission, welding in the new sheet metal, reupholstering the rear seat and tinting the rear window.

Here's a list of work I performed on the car with some photos to follow. I did keep a spreadsheet with all the parts, part numbers, suppliers and cost (oh God the cost). I'm sure I'll forget some things but hey, I'm human...

Rebuilt the 318 with the following parts:
'69 318 Block, Bored 0.040"
Factory Steel Crankshaft Turned 10/10
Reconditioned Rods w/ New Bolts
Clevite Bearings
Keith Black Hypereutectic Flat Top Pistons
Balanced Rotating Assembly
Edelbrock 750cfm Electric Choke Carb
Edelbrock RPM AirGap Intake Manifold
Edelbrock Aluminum Heads, 63cc Chambers, 2.02" Intake, 1.60" Exhaust
Comp Hydraulic Flat Tappet Cam, 275 Int./287 Exh. 0.525" Lift
Comp Double Roller Timing Chain
Stock Timing Cover
Melling High Volume Oil Pump
Ishihara-Johnson Crank Scraper
Mopar Performance Water Pump
Proform Distributor
MSD 6AL Ignition Box currently running a 6,500 rpm limiter chip
MSD Blaster 2 Coil
Taylor 8.2 mm Wires
CVF Racing Billet Aluminum Pulleys and Brackets
Doug's Ceramic Coated Headers
Mopar Performance Valve Covers and Air Cleaner
K&N Air Filter
90* Oil Filter Adapter
AMSOIL Products Used Exclusively

A904 Trans has a B&M shift kit, B&M fluid cooler, deep sump aluminum pan, new clutches, 2800-3000 stall converter

8-1/4" Rear end with 3.55 gears & a sure grip

Interior:
POR-15 on floor, inside of roof, firewall, wheel wells, everything
New carpet throughout
New headliner
Racing seats w/ brackets
Folding back seat from parts car reupholstered to match racing seats
Door panels sourced from parts car
Console from Craigslist
New dash pad cover
Hidden antenna
New dimmer switch
New glove box liner
New 4x10 speaker in dash
6x9 speakers in rear cargo area
new Alpine headunit
AutoMeter carbon fiber gauges:
Speedo
Tach
Oil pressure (in console)
Water temp (in console)
Fuel (in console)
Voltage (in console)
Instrument cluster and console wrapped in Avery carbon fiber vinyl
LED lighting throughout entire interior
New trunk mat

Exterior:
New front of hood seal
New hood to cowl seal
New weatherstripping (all)
New body gasket set
New trunk finish panel
New grill housings
PPG primer, base and clear
Avery matte black vinyl for hood/trunk
Dupli-Color trim paint used to black out chrome
Plasti dip used to black out bumpers

Body:
New 1/4 panel skins (both sides)
Drivers side front fender lower patch panel
New drivers side rear floor pan patch
New trunk extensions
New rear inner wheel wells
Weld in subframe connectors

Steering, Suspension, Brakes:
New steering box w/ pitman arm
New power steering supply & return lines w/ filter
Hayden power steering cooler
New steering U-joint
Energy Suspension polyurethane bushing set (whole car)
Just Suspension torsion bars
73-76 Upper control arms
73-76 Spindles
KYB shocks (front & rear)
Rear springs re-arched
Added factory front sway bar
Hellwig adjustable rear sway bar
Homemade pinion snubber
New manual brake master cylinder
New stainless steel brake lines throughout
Wilwood 4 piston front calipers
Slotted, drilled front rotors
Adjustable proportioning valve

Wheels/Tires:
American Racing Torq-Thrust M, Black, 17x8, 5.68 backspace (front), 4.5 backspace (rear)
Nitto NT555 tires: 245/45-17 front, 275/40-17 rear

AC, Heating, Cooling:
Aluminum radiator
Removed all AC components under hood
Mopar Performance water pump
New hoses
Overflow catch can

Fuel, Exhaust:
New gas tank
New sending unit
New stainless 3/8" fuel line
Doug's headers
Manual cutouts
2-1/2" stainless Pypes w/ X-pipe & street pro mufflers

Electrical:
Optima battery in trunk
Painless wiring harness
LED brakes, backup, licence plate & front turn signals
No-load flashers
Projector headlights w/ black housings

I think that about covers it. Any questions, ask away.

Below is a link to my dropbox account where I've uploaded a lot of my photos, no need to re-paste them here.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9of2pdnq2171g9f/Zyo3daeoN2
 
Thanks everyone. It was a hell of a learning experience. The only thing that I was really nervous of was painting the car but I'm really happy I did it. It's not perfect, I know where the runs are but it was my first paint job so I'm really pleased with it. I still haven't color sanded it (I'm just putting it off).

2 things really surprised me about it: 1. I did the whole car in a year and 2. I maintained a relationship with my girlfriend when I worked on the car about 2 hours every day after work and 15-20 hours every weekend.
 
Very nice work congrats on finishing your project. Now get out and drive the wheels off it and have some fun.
 
Very nice work congrats on finishing your project. Now get out and drive the wheels off it and have some fun.

darn nice lookin fish! should have mine running this spring (hopefully) bob
 
that's a nice looking cuda. I have one question though. the last pic. does it have a "glass" hood on there? If so how did that come about. If not I think it would be cool seeing it at a cruise with the hood closed and all the rest of the cars open. nice work.
 
that's a nice looking cuda. I have one question though. the last pic. does it have a "glass" hood on there? If so how did that come about. If not I think it would be cool seeing it at a cruise with the hood closed and all the rest of the cars open. nice work.
A buddy of mine is a photographer, it's 2 photos merged into one with the hood faded out.
 
GREAT WORK. I just got my hands on a 1969 cuda that has been apart for 20 years. I am a Dart person. This is a 340 s 4speed, ac, pb,ps. Do you know of any assembly manual for this car? ALL interior has been removed and is stored in boxes..
 
GREAT WORK. I just got my hands on a 1969 cuda that has been apart for 20 years. I am a Dart person. This is a 340 s 4speed, ac, pb,ps. Do you know of any assembly manual for this car? ALL interior has been removed and is stored in boxes..

Thanks!

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

That's the only place I go to look for free manuals. Otherwise I have a lot of photos you are welcome to thumb through from when I took the interior out of my parts car. I would just have to upload them to my dropbox account.
 
Very nicely done.

Thanks, I've since lowered the car with 1.5" blocks in the rear and cleaned up some of the wiring I never got to last fall.

I've put about 50-60 miles on it this spring so far. I still have a few kinks to work out but I'm slowly getting there. Certainly nothing that will keep me from enjoying the crap of it all summer. I just don't know if I want to drive it 300 miles to Carlisle Chrysler show or tow it. I have no doubt the car would make it but I'd arrive with bleeding ears and an empty wallet depending on what premium runs this summer!
 
Stunning! You have some obvious creativity skills! What did you do with the tail lights? Is the metal powder coated or painted??
Congrats again! For jugglin the bride and the car!
 
Stunning! You have some obvious creativity skills! What did you do with the tail lights? Is the metal powder coated or painted??
Congrats again! For jugglin the bride and the car!

Most of the chrome is painted with dupli color trim paint. The bumpers are painted with plasti dip. I've got a better set of bumpers that I'd like to get powder coated.

Juggling work, the lady and the car was def. a challenge!
 
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