joeycuda
Member
Hey all,
Been lurking for a while and thought I'd join. Here's my long story -
Bought a '69 Barracuda notchback project in the around '97 I think. I wanted to restore a car and it would be a learning experience (and money pit). I think there was a Mopar forum or 2 that I read, but compared to today there was next to nothing. Most of the info I got was from a self proclaimed Mopar expert that worked at NAPA.
The car was originally seafoam turquiose, white vinyl top, black interior, 318, 904, console, A/C, AM radio, bucket seats, power steering, but manual drums. It was a decently optioned car, but was in bad shape.
Body-wise, it had been badly repainted dark red, and part of it was in primer. Little rust or rot actually, except some around the rear window where the vinyl had been. Interior was nasty, full of acorns, seats rough, just bad. Plenty of interior trim was missing.
The car didn't run, well, they got it to start a couple of times. Original 318 had a thermoquad that backfired badly. The ammeter had melted, and the dash harness had melted around it. Pretty much everything worn out. Suspension rubber was worn out, like at the strut rods it was metal on metal.
From the late 90s for several years, I did an extensive restoration and learned a ton.
-Body was redone, inside and out, in Y2 Sunfire Yellow
-Bought all the missing stainless trim, better grilles, etc on Mopar forums of the day
-Tore apart down to the K-member being removed..urethane bushing kit
-Spent too much at Year One and The Paddock on front seat upholstery, headliner, carpet, door panels, sill plates, you name it
-Found a better dash harness, used a couple of repro harnesses
-'73+ style spindles, disc brake hardware, propor valve, with new calipers, hoses, master cylinder, power booster
-New steering sector, etc
-Swapped to later style radiator and water pump
-8.75 A-body rear with 3.23 posi, had axles redrilled for 4.5 (wish I knew about Moser axles then)
-727, had it rebuilt
Got a junkyard '77 360 block, had it bored 30 over, etc..Summit Racing budget rebuild kit. '71 J heads, machined, etc. MP cam, Edelbrock intake, Holley 600cfm, better water pump, got an original krinkle black air cleaner with the new 360 pie pan.
-MP electronic ignition kit
-Cragar S/S wheels
Also, even though I had found a good dash harness, I bypassed the alternator, running 8ga wire through the bulkhead to the dash harness. I added a Powermaster alternator and the newer style VR. However, the gauges never worked.
etc.............
I made a nice showcar and driver out of it. Got married, small garage, and it went into storage for several years in a giant steel building that was my wife's late dad's trucking business. Every time we went out there, the car was fine. Bro-in law would start it now and then.
Out of sight..out of mind..
Time car to move the car, to go get it. It looked as though someone dumped a 5gallon bucket of mouse droppings inside it, on the inner fenders, in the trunk, etc.. Really bad..it stunk, etc. Mice had taken up in it. There were "in" and "out" holes in the headliner.
Got it home, pulled the carpet out and cut the headliner out with a box cutter.
THAT is how it sits and has for a year+
It has been many years since I drove it, and now it needs a lot of work to put it back how I had it, but I'd like to go further.
I've been reading the forums and have come to the conclusion that I want to do the following:
-Obviously restore the interior again. I have new carpet set already. Will need headliner, and a bunch of dis assembly to do the job
-Use FatMat, DynoMat, or something similar
-Upgrade the headlights with the relay mod
-Pull the wiring, re-pin every terminal, try to near eliminate the voltage drop
-Replace ammeter with voltmeter, with that stealth mod on here
-Get EVERYthing working in the dash
-Use the replacement RTE dash voltage limiter (bought it)
-Add a Map Light switch
-I had bought a new engine harness, but I will build new wiper and headlight harnesses using new crimp terminals and wire to match the OEM.
-Add a center speaker in the dash (just realized there's a new replacement)
-Move the AutoMeter tach I installed from under the dash to the steering column
As crazy as it sounds, I also think it would be fun to add the rear window defogger, but I see it would eliminate a rear speaker.
Thanks all for the info here...
Joey
Madison, AL
Been lurking for a while and thought I'd join. Here's my long story -
Bought a '69 Barracuda notchback project in the around '97 I think. I wanted to restore a car and it would be a learning experience (and money pit). I think there was a Mopar forum or 2 that I read, but compared to today there was next to nothing. Most of the info I got was from a self proclaimed Mopar expert that worked at NAPA.
The car was originally seafoam turquiose, white vinyl top, black interior, 318, 904, console, A/C, AM radio, bucket seats, power steering, but manual drums. It was a decently optioned car, but was in bad shape.
Body-wise, it had been badly repainted dark red, and part of it was in primer. Little rust or rot actually, except some around the rear window where the vinyl had been. Interior was nasty, full of acorns, seats rough, just bad. Plenty of interior trim was missing.
The car didn't run, well, they got it to start a couple of times. Original 318 had a thermoquad that backfired badly. The ammeter had melted, and the dash harness had melted around it. Pretty much everything worn out. Suspension rubber was worn out, like at the strut rods it was metal on metal.
From the late 90s for several years, I did an extensive restoration and learned a ton.
-Body was redone, inside and out, in Y2 Sunfire Yellow
-Bought all the missing stainless trim, better grilles, etc on Mopar forums of the day
-Tore apart down to the K-member being removed..urethane bushing kit
-Spent too much at Year One and The Paddock on front seat upholstery, headliner, carpet, door panels, sill plates, you name it
-Found a better dash harness, used a couple of repro harnesses
-'73+ style spindles, disc brake hardware, propor valve, with new calipers, hoses, master cylinder, power booster
-New steering sector, etc
-Swapped to later style radiator and water pump
-8.75 A-body rear with 3.23 posi, had axles redrilled for 4.5 (wish I knew about Moser axles then)
-727, had it rebuilt
Got a junkyard '77 360 block, had it bored 30 over, etc..Summit Racing budget rebuild kit. '71 J heads, machined, etc. MP cam, Edelbrock intake, Holley 600cfm, better water pump, got an original krinkle black air cleaner with the new 360 pie pan.
-MP electronic ignition kit
-Cragar S/S wheels
Also, even though I had found a good dash harness, I bypassed the alternator, running 8ga wire through the bulkhead to the dash harness. I added a Powermaster alternator and the newer style VR. However, the gauges never worked.
etc.............
I made a nice showcar and driver out of it. Got married, small garage, and it went into storage for several years in a giant steel building that was my wife's late dad's trucking business. Every time we went out there, the car was fine. Bro-in law would start it now and then.
Out of sight..out of mind..
Time car to move the car, to go get it. It looked as though someone dumped a 5gallon bucket of mouse droppings inside it, on the inner fenders, in the trunk, etc.. Really bad..it stunk, etc. Mice had taken up in it. There were "in" and "out" holes in the headliner.
Got it home, pulled the carpet out and cut the headliner out with a box cutter.
THAT is how it sits and has for a year+
It has been many years since I drove it, and now it needs a lot of work to put it back how I had it, but I'd like to go further.
I've been reading the forums and have come to the conclusion that I want to do the following:
-Obviously restore the interior again. I have new carpet set already. Will need headliner, and a bunch of dis assembly to do the job
-Use FatMat, DynoMat, or something similar
-Upgrade the headlights with the relay mod
-Pull the wiring, re-pin every terminal, try to near eliminate the voltage drop
-Replace ammeter with voltmeter, with that stealth mod on here
-Get EVERYthing working in the dash
-Use the replacement RTE dash voltage limiter (bought it)
-Add a Map Light switch
-I had bought a new engine harness, but I will build new wiper and headlight harnesses using new crimp terminals and wire to match the OEM.
-Add a center speaker in the dash (just realized there's a new replacement)
-Move the AutoMeter tach I installed from under the dash to the steering column
As crazy as it sounds, I also think it would be fun to add the rear window defogger, but I see it would eliminate a rear speaker.
Thanks all for the info here...
Joey
Madison, AL
