69 Notch Barracuda - Rebirth

[JAndrea]

There is a subtle but noticeable difference without the extra foam strips along the sides. And The foam strips have to go right up to the sleeve!

Here is the “flat” seat again...

 

[1969383S]

@JAndrea

How does that feel? They look fuller!

The uppers are were it really shows!

if only!

 

[1969383S]

I have posted for 6 years about using that foam for a Standard fish interior!

Had hoped to save some folks some grief!

 

[JAndrea]

YES! It might look like I’m NOT particular.. when looking at the 50 year old patina of the paint.. but even the paint looks exactly like I want it to look!

@JAndrea

How does that feel? They look fuller!

The uppers are were it really shows!

if only!

 

[JAndrea]

I know.. I’m seeing your posts now. I didn’t do any research before jumping into the seats.

I have posted for 6 years about using that foam for a Standard fish interior!

Had hoped to save so folks some grief!

 

[1969383S]

Well you are doing what it takes, and very nicely!

 

[JAndrea]

Seats are both in. The head rests/restraints still need to be refurbished and stabbed into the seats.

The real drama came where least expected.. the Grant steering wheel. I know better now, since it seems many people have issues with the horn on the Grant wheels.

The second I bolted it in, according to Grant’s specs, and cranked down my negative battery terminal switch, my horn started whaling intermittently every time I gripped and/or rotated the steering wheel.

Remember that I recently installed a new signal switch from SlantSixDan?

Dan’s switch is excellent. The Grant steering wheel, however, is NOT so “Universal.” Granted (no pun intended), it is about as “universal” as anybody should reasonably expect, however.

After hours of testing, researching, installing, turning, and pulling... disconnecting the horns for the more tolerable sound of the relay triggering, I finally noticed a “nick” mark on the signal cancel “finger” of the Grant adaptor (it’s really hard to see under the hub where the contact might be occurring)... and the wheel trails making their way further and further to the center of the ring... until finally the wheel just fell over the copper edge and into the inner hub itself. There was also a lot of grinding snd clicking sounds. Of course, it made sense that the horn was beeping every time the finger nicked the spring loaded contact “wheel” on Dan’s new switch, or touched the inner hub, since this created a premature grounding of the horn circuit to the steering post as the adaptor/hub rotated. So, obviously, I took the dremel to the finger at the wheel contact point on the finger The problem wasn’t fixed. It took more testing, into finally I realized from the wheel paths on the contact surface, that the spring/wheel was simply bending more and more toward the axel post. So, I tried various shims to raise the hub and lessen the downward force onto the switch contact wheel, but the more I raised the hub/adaptor, the less the cancel cam finger was doing its job to cancel the signals (the reason I tore into the column in the first place)! finally I modified the spring/wheel... well.. okay... I poked in my beefy wire cutter and snipped off the contact wheel, bypassing it all together. I then snipped the black power source wire leading to the wheel contact and added a few inches of new wire, then exposed the last inch of wire and threaded it up through the spring on the switch (where the wheel used to sit). I really wanted my wooden Grant wheel, so this was the best option at the time. I snipped the wheel off thinking I could fab a homegrown brush mechanism to maintain constant contact in its place (a throwback idea from my Yamaha RD350 spring loaded brushes that carry current from the generator’s rotating surface into the wires leading to the dual coils!) to carry the current up to and through the copper surface (using the natural spring of the wires themselves) into the horn button wire. Though shotty, and hastily executed, my theory worked perfectly! No more intermittent grounding/beeping, yet I still have the horn when I want it via the Grant button ! I can make this a more permanent solution anytime in the future, so not worried about the longevity right now.

 

[JAndrea]

Working on the head rests now..

 

[moparmat2000]

I have posted for 6 years about using that foam for a Standard fish interior!

Had hoped to save some folks some grief!

Where did you post that at. I am waiting on legendary seat upholstery, and have the legendary padding kits for a 69 notch. Do I need something else ?

 

[JAndrea]

Here is one post. The PUI padding is more expensive, but I’d go that way if you have the Deluxe covers.

You can also just put additional outside strips of padding on the upper surface.

Where did you post that at. I am waiting on legendary seat upholstery, and have the legendary padding kits for a 69 notch. Do I need something else ?

 

[moparmat2000]

I am using the same base covers you have

 

[JAndrea]

Love the covers. It all went really smooth, but it’s a LOT of work.

Tips

• Leave the internal head rest hardware in place, so you don’t forget to put it back in.
• Once you dry fit the cover on, peel the cover edges back a little and cut, or make special external markings for where the head rests insert through the cover, as well as the front mounted seat belt clips. I forgot to do this, and it’s going to be much trickier to do it after the fact (locate through the cover and padding)!

I am using the same base covers you have

 

[JAndrea]

After the new signal switch install, I forgot to check the brake lights (the signals worked fine, so I just assumed I was good to go). I didn’t know at the time how integral the turn signal switch is with the brake lights. I knew something was up, since when I hit the brakes, the right signal dash lamp came on (I think the left would have come on as well, but my left turn signal dash lamp has never worked... it worked on the bench so just another thing I have to track down, but not critical). Turns out, when I hit the brakes, the current was going to the front parking lights on both sides... and NO brake lights

When SlantSixDan’s switch came, the green wire colors were too close to tell the difference, and the tan colors were the same... but one wire had tiny black lettering and one didn’t.

I must not have paid enough attention with the tans, but with the greens there was no way to tell which was which when as they exited the sheathing at the end. I won’t make the same mistake again, and will do much more thorough testing.. with multiple tiny alligator clips, and make sure EVERYTHING is correct before inserting the new wires into the old plug and snapping it back together.

Anyway.. i looked at my diagram and followed the brake light wires (on each side) all the way up the the harness/plug leading to the turn signal switch and that told me exactly which colors I had wrong (the ones matching the colors leading to the front parking lights on each side).

So, I had to swap 4 wires (greens and tans) in the new switch/plug to make the brakes and everything work correctly. For the dark green, I just put a black dot (or ring) on the new switch wire near the plug.

I then jotted this all down in my ‘build’ journal for future reference.

 

[JAndrea]

Wrapping the headrests with cheap trim that works just fine... vinyl filler (no photo) where there wasn’t enough material to glue down the trim.

 

[4spdragtop]

Turned out awesome!

 

[JAndrea]

When I bought my project, it came with an installed fiberglass hood from a 340 6-pack (according to the sticker ghosts). It also came with some vintage hood pins, which may have been original to the hood, because they are pretty gnarly looking. They’ve have been sitting on the shelf for five years.

Today I finally decided to clean them up and install them. I had to drill out the smaller hood bumper screw holes first.

After some “engineering,” I realized that hood pins are NOT just a decal/gimmick.. My fiberglass hood is fairly well twisted, and I’ve just been living with it because I’m not too particular, and I like a skanky look. But, I’m realizing that if you align the windshield side of the hood as best you can, the hood pins are designed to give you much more freedom to correct and align the front end twisting perfectly (I don’t have an updated pic yet of the proper alignment at the windshield side).

 

[JAndrea]

Gasket matching my new Performer RPM intake.

Im just using my 60 gallon air compressor, die grinder, and some cheap tungsten bits. This gives me good speed control, as well as overall ease of use and accuracy due to the size of the tool.

This is a warm-up to do some porting over the winter on my heads.

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[JAndrea]

Head rests are also stabbed in now (moldings not screwed down). Some blemishes on the original head rests where I tried to fill some holes with vinyl filler, but whatever.

Glovebox liner from Detroit Muscle also installed.. perfect fit!

 

[mygasser]

Seats are both in. The head rests/restraints still need to be refurbished and stabbed into the seats.

The real drama came where least expected.. the Grant steering wheel. I know better now, since it seems many people have issues with the horn on the Grant wheels.

The second I bolted it in, according to Grant’s specs, and cranked down my negative battery terminal switch, my horn started whaling intermittently every time I gripped and/or rotated the steering wheel.

Remember that I recently installed a new signal switch from SlantSixDan?

Dan’s switch is excellent. The Grant steering wheel, however, is NOT so “Universal.” Granted (no pun intended), it is about as “universal” as anybody should reasonably expect, however.

After hours of testing, researching, installing, turning, and pulling... disconnecting the horns for the more tolerable sound of the relay triggering, I finally noticed a “nick” mark on the signal cancel “finger” of the Grant adaptor (it’s really hard to see under the hub where the contact might be occurring)... and the wheel trails making their way further and further to the center of the ring... until finally the wheel just fell over the copper edge and into the inner hub itself. There was also a lot of grinding snd clicking sounds. Of course, it made sense that the horn was beeping every time the finger nicked the spring loaded contact “wheel” on Dan’s new switch, or touched the inner hub, since this created a premature grounding of the horn circuit to the steering post as the adaptor/hub rotated. So, obviously, I took the dremel to the finger at the wheel contact point on the finger The problem wasn’t fixed. It took more testing, into finally I realized from the wheel paths on the contact surface, that the spring/wheel was simply bending more and more toward the axel post. So, I tried various shims to raise the hub and lessen the downward force onto the switch contact wheel, but the more I raised the hub/adaptor, the less the cancel cam finger was doing its job to cancel the signals (the reason I tore into the column in the first place)! finally I modified the spring/wheel... well.. okay... I poked in my beefy wire cutter and snipped off the contact wheel, bypassing it all together. I then snipped the black power source wire leading to the wheel contact and added a few inches of new wire, then exposed the last inch of wire and threaded it up through the spring on the switch (where the wheel used to sit). I really wanted my wooden Grant wheel, so this was the best option at the time. I snipped the wheel off thinking I could fab a homegrown brush mechanism to maintain constant contact in its place (a throwback idea from my Yamaha RD350 spring loaded brushes that carry current from the generator’s rotating surface into the wires leading to the dual coils!) to carry the current up to and through the copper surface (using the natural spring of the wires themselves) into the horn button wire. Though shotty, and hastily executed, my theory worked perfectly! No more intermittent grounding/beeping, yet I still have the horn when I want it via the Grant button ! I can make this a more permanent solution anytime in the future, so not worried about the longevity right now.

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thanks for the heads up, i'll also be fitting a grant woodrim wheel soon so now i know what to look out for
neil.

 

[JAndrea]

valley pan..

 

[JAndrea]

Just slapping some parts together and getting ready for the intake and carb swap soon. I kept the carb that I rebuilt for my old 383 build. It’s an AED Holley (4150) 750 DP HP-HO, and should be perfect for my stock RV 440. I’ve got a 1” 4 hole carb spacer, but not sure if it would be a little better (low end TQ) to have an open single, or dual hole spacer? I don’t think it would make much difference in my case, so not worried about.

 

[MrJLR]

Notch-Backs RULE!!!!!

 

[JAndrea]

Bro

Notch-Backs RULE!!!!!

 

[1969383S]

Notch-Backs RULE!!!!!

Mopars Rule! When done right! A-bodies are much better!

 

[JAndrea]

Installed the insulated trunk divider (I pulled the old stinky, busted one last summer) from Detroit Muscle and it made a big difference as far as the rear seat squeaks!

Wow, does that passenger side rear seat belt look like a Black Mamba!

Speaking of Black Mamba... that’s the engine color scheme I’m thinking of!