Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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famous bob said:
wood is lookin good! be a shame to haul stuff in it and mess it up. fired the barracuda again after changing the oil-filter, went to 15w40 helped the hot low oil pressure when idleing. also shimmed the oilpump relief spring w/ a .058 s.s. washer. seem to have got the oil pan leak stopped, (fingers crossed), ran it through the gears on jack stands. had to readjust the dist. a little, timing on the hand held is spot on now. dropped the timing back to 18, and 34 total. 17" mechanical fan in a close fitting alum. shroud took care of it this time. new elec. fan came in , installed it in front any way, the fast 2.0 will trigger it at 200. got to get a nuetral starter switch on it, so my dumb a$$ doesn`t do something stupid again . when it warms up, going to get ti down and drive it around the neghborhood. still need a front end alignment on the aftermarket front end bad--------------------happy happy happy !!!!!!!!!! love the fast 2.0 so far!:blob:
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I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have painted the box floor instead. I definitely didn't want to turn the truck into a show only vehicle. I guess I'd rather risk marring the floor than use it as a venue to show off my somewhat limited woodworking skills.

I've been telling my son about your FAST 2.0 build. We're anxious to hear more about how it behaves when you get it on the road. Today I talked to him on the phone and we were kicking around more ideas about the issues we've had. I'm still researching info online. I know that the top of our throttle body is blackened. It's probably due to the early time when we'd first installed it and had some backfires. What I don't know is if any of the sensors could have been damaged a long while back when that happened. That is just one of the ideas we'd discussed.

I'm glad to hear that the temperature issues you had seem to be settling down. I still recommend that you (and everybody else) check into that Evans coolant. I've never had an engine that we put a bunch of miles on that didn't have a lot of crud in the water jackets when it came time for a rebuild. (even on motors that had regular coolant changes) That's got to affect cooling. I know that we haven't been using it very long yet but if the info we read about it is accurate we won't have to worry about that anymore.
 
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1967 'cuda said:
Thanks sireland67. You're right. I am going to have to figure out some way to prevent damage to the wood. I've been considering a tarp. Years ago I had a custom one made for this truck that attached with Velcro. It was black with a big red and white pentastar sewed into the middle of it. Unfortunately mice had gotten to it when I had it in storage.

I never did put in any form of bedliner. My floor was always painted the red as it had come from the factory. I suppose I'll have to try to protect it. I'm planning on hauling a tool box, floor jacks, and generator when I go to the races. One concern I have is whether or not a rubber mat would trap moisture and actually ruin the wood. I guess it would work OK if I only used it as a pad while I had stuff in the back.

If the truck is outside the only way to protect the side wood would be a car cover. It would be cool to have a custom one made that fit down over the stacks.
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I just used the rubber when hauling stuff, if I was running empty the liner was in the garage.
My truck was a daily driver, I looked hard for a cover for the top of the bed and could never find one that did not require drilling.
Sadly I tore the truck up on black ice, but the bed survived without a scratch.
I know I hand sanded the wood back down at least 4 times while I owned it.
The cool thing was the wood got slightly darker each time it was aged and stained.
 
SNKEBIT said:
John, what is the 02 sensor reading when you have this issue? TPS?
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The last few times out when the problem showed up it was reading 13.5. It fluctuates a lot when driving but I've tried to get a quick read from the display each time. My son suggested that I set up the GoPro so that it records the screen as I'm driving and with me narrating a live report of engine behavior. I haven't seen any major changes in the readouts when I've looked but I am keeping my eyes on the road at the same time. It's possible that there could be a trend that I haven't noticed.
 
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1967 'cuda said:
The only heaters that I have are forced air propane or kerosene. I've been doing a great job of keeping the dust from the wood so far. This basement is relatively clean and totally critter free. I know that they say you can set up a fan to assist in drying but one of my main concerns is getting dirt in the finish.

The third coat wasn't reduced as much as the first two. It seems to have dried within the eight hours. When I compared the sanded board with the other six I couldn't see any difference. It's no smoother. So I'm getting ready to put on the fourth now. The first two coats called for 25% thinner. Coats 3 and 4 call for 10%. The final coat is supposed to be unreduced.

I layed out the stainless steel strips between the planks to see how they'd look. I think I'll be more than satisfied with the results I'm getting when it's done. The wood is not as smooth as glass yet but it does have one heck of a shine to it.

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NiQU work! As for considering ,outside protection : A lot of late model mini & full size trucks, have hard fiberglass bed covers available. Get some measurements, do some research. Food, for thought.
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Abodybomber said:
NiQU work! As for considering ,outside protection : A lot of late model mini & full size trucks, have hard fiberglass bed covers available. Get some measurements, do some research. Food, for thought.
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Thanks Abodybomber. I really like the looks of some of those fiberglass bed covers. The ones that I'm most familiar with have hydraulic lift cylinders and seem pretty easy to access. They don't require bows to keep them from sagging either and they never flap in the wind. One of the things that I don't like about the ones I've seen is that they aren't easy to remove if you need to haul something tall. I may end up going back to a Velcro tarp. Maybe I could give it double duty. - It could keep the bed protected from the weather when it's on and when I need to haul things maybe I can put it on the bed floor for protection from scratches?
 
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sireland67 said:
I just used the rubber when hauling stuff, if I was running empty the liner was in the garage.
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sireland67 said:
My truck was a daily driver, I looked hard for a cover for the top of the bed and could never find one that did not require drilling.
Sadly I tore the truck up on black ice, but the bed survived without a scratch.
I know I hand sanded the wood back down at least 4 times while I owned it.
The cool thing was the wood got slightly darker each time it was aged and stained.
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I didn't have to drill any holes when I used a Velcro tarp. The tarp was made wide enough that the Velcro was affixed to the bottom of the side rails on the box and you couldn't see it with the tarp off. - You could see the strip on the tailgate and the one along the front of the bed though. My goal when I had that one made was to avoid drilling holes. It did work great and I never had problems with it coming loose. The only issue I had was that it sagged. I probably should have run at least one bow with it for support.

I'm still on the fence about which style to go with. A vinyl tarp could be rolled up and stored behind the seat. It could double as a floor protector. The fiberglass style that Abodybomber suggested would probably look the best. I don't think anyone sells one for the shortbox stepside Dodges, at least I hadn't seen any the last time I'd looked. I will have to check again. If the cost isn't too bad I may go that route.
 
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As always, I'm hopping back and forth between projects. I contacted Hemidenny today and talked to him about ordering a K-member assembly with a power rack, QA1 shocks, and Wilwood brakes. It's the next expenditure my son wants to make for his Charger.

This would be the first assembly we'll have gotten from him. After researching several threads on several forums we feel pretty comfortable with the decision. Denny said he will likely have the first B-body version ready to ship in a month. We had several questions regarding options. Denny knew enough about his design to help us sort things out. There were some things that we did need to know to ensure compatibility with our drive train.

If my son remains adamant about going to a dry sump oiling system I know now how the pan will have to be designed so that it clears the rack.

I know that that new disc brake setup I'd already installed won't be compatible with the spindles he uses.

One of my concerns was always going to be about a power steering pump. There never was one on the car when we got it. With a 3" blower belt it was likely going to be a nightmare setting up brackets for an alternator and a steering pump. Denny had a recommendation for a smaller low pressure pump from Speedway Motors that should be adaptable for our application.
 
As I finished putting the fifth coat of varnish on the wood I noticed some slight curdling along some of the edges. Why it's doing it on this final coat and didn't on the others is beyond me. This last coat is unreduced. The layers beneath mean that there is a heavier build up of varnish than before. I'm hoping that these flaws will vanish as the varnish dries. If not, I'll have to sand and repair.

The wood for the sides of the box warped from exposure to moisture without having a protective finish on them. I cannot simply sand and apply varnish to those pieces. I searched online for repair methods and am hoping that I've found a solution for the warped planks.

I read that applying moist towels to the cupped side and driving the moisture into the wood with an iron will help. The second step is to apply dry heat to the convex side of the wood. If it doesn't work I'm supposed to repeat the process while clamping the wood down to a flat surface.
 
66340SEDAN said:
Love this thread...its always something different and love catching up. :happy1:
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Thanks 66340SEDAN. I am looking forward to working with one of HemiDenny's K-frames.

I wish I had the time to read through all of the threads on this site. I know that I've picked up a lot of really good info from a lot of different members. Without this site I'd really be lost. I may be dumber than a stump but you guys prevent me from making half of the mistakes that I'd make otherwise. I tend to copy things that others have done that I liked, so I'm constantly robbing ideas from other members.
 
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1967 'cuda said:
Thanks 66340SEDAN. I am looking forward to working with one of HemiDenny's K-frames.

I wish I had the time to read through all of the threads on this site. I know that I've picked up a lot of really good info from a lot of different members. Without this site I'd really be lost. I may be dumber than a stump but you guys prevent me from making half of the mistakes that I'd make otherwise. I tend to copy things that others have done that I liked, so I'm constantly robbing ideas from other members.
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Ever hear of the "Mopars in the Park" show here in Farmington MN? The best damn Mopar show in the Midwest, infact, I have had people tell me its WAY DAMN better than Mopar iat the Strip in Vegas......you should come up, its at the end of May, beginning of June :glasses7:
 
Here is the wood bed in my dads 1959 Dodge Sweptside....love the finished oak...and BTW...he that himself too and always is cooler when you can say that :glasses7:
 

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66340SEDAN said:
Ever hear of the "Mopars in the Park" show here in Farmington MN? The best damn Mopar show in the Midwest, infact, I have had people tell me its WAY DAMN better than Mopar iat the Strip in Vegas......you should come up, its at the end of May, beginning of June :glasses7:
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I checked and I see that it's about 410 miles from where I live. Google maps says it's 6&1/2 hours each way. The worst thing about it is that I've got to ignore most car stuff when Spring comes around this year. I've got a commitment to a house restoration that is time sensitive. If I'm lucky I'll be able to squeeze in a few local shows and hopefully one trip to the strip. It's a long story about that house so I won't get into the details but unless a certain amount of renovation is completed by July, Teresa will lose it.
 
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66340SEDAN said:
Here is the wood bed in my dads 1959 Dodge Sweptside....love the finished oak...and BTW...he that himself too and always is cooler when you can say that :glasses7:
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I take it he doesn't haul brush, firewood, or greasy motor parts in the back. LOL. How old is that finish?
 
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Abodybomber said:
Agreed .,for now...
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Sooner or later my ADHD will completely take over, you'll all realize that I'm insane, and the only folks reading my ramblings will be the ones betting on how soon they cart me off.
 
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The pickup is surrounded by snow drifts in the back yard and Teresa had the Sebring, so it was time to clean the snow off of the 'Cuda if I wanted to go up town. I only drove it a few times last month. After a few pumps on the go pedal it fired right up. The roads are extremely sloppy here right now and I would have preferred taking the car out on a nicer day, but I needed to buy an iron to help with the wood project.

The cheater slicks may not be made for snow but a slight rev of the motor got me through each of the messiest areas. The folks around here are used to seeing me drive these old musclecars all year 'round but they don't usually see it happening in all this slop. I ran a few errands and parked the car back in the drive. - No sense in packing the wheelwells with snow.
 


The nice thing about keeping a record of what I've been working on - on FABO is that it not only allows me to track my own progress, but I also get to annoy a handful of people across the U.S. at the same time. I figure that reading my stuff will make their next visit to the dentist seem less painful in comparison. So I'm actually performing a good deed and can now consider myself to be a contributing member of society.

The side wood really looked sad. I have no one else but myself to blame. It was stupid to leave it unprotected outside. Oh well I don't suppose you want to hear me cry about spilled milk. I'm just hoping I can salvage what I've got.

I decided not to apply the wet towels and heat to the wood until after I sanded off the discolored wood and dirt. My fear was that I might drive the discoloration deeper into the wood grain. There are some minor cracks in the wood and I don't know if I should fill them before applying the varnish or just hope that the varnish will fill and protect it from further damage. You can see the warpage in these pics.

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The amount that the boards were warped actually decreased a bit during the sanding process. They still have a long way to go before they're flat.

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Well Teresa came back home after spending the past few days babysitting some of her grand-kids. When she walked in I showed her the iron that I bought and told her it was an early Valentine's Day present. I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone. The iron shaped bruise on my forehead tells me that she wasn't amused.

Despite Teresa's lack of appreciation for the early gift, I had still thought my day was going pretty good. - That is... - until I saw the parade of ankle biters that she'd brought home with her. I realize that there are a lot of guys out there that are grandparents and you probably look forward to seeing your grandchildren. But Teresa's grand-kids aren't your typical grand-kids. Try to imagine having a half dozen big screen TVs showing The Omen all at the same time. She thinks they're all adorable. I'll bet that Adolph Hitler's mom thought he was cute too.

I guess it's Karma for not having bought her the iron that cost $2 more.
 
I am just totally amazed!! It's infreekinbeleevable!! I tried the trick where you use an iron to straighten the wood and it worked!!

The first step is to lay the wood down on a flat surface with the cupped side up. I used our kitchen Formica counter top.

Step two is to lay a towel over the surface of the wood and saturate it with water. I doubled up a medium weight bath towel and then poured tap water over it from a cup.

Step three is to turn the iron up to it's highest temperature and very, very slowly work your way across the board as the water turns to steam. It doesn't hurt to leave the iron sit in spots for long periods of time. I just watched to make sure I wasn't scorching the towel. Then you remove the towel and wipe up whatever moisture is on the counter.

By the time you're done with that last step the board will already be fairly flat. It does call for a fourth step though. You flip the board over and cover it with a dry towel. Then you apply heat as you did on the other side of the wood. I used a thinner towel for this backside. Without the moisture it was difficult to transfer heat through a thick towel.

The last step is to step back and grin, because it really does work!

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I still have a few cracks that need attention but otherwise the wood looks perfect.


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\\:D/\\:D/:hello1::smile::smile: I had dished out around $500 for that side wood and was really bemoaning what an idiot I was for letting it get damaged. I am so super relieved that I was able to salvage it.
 
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