Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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I've been continuing to tinker with the roll tarp. It's been a bear to work with without scratching the heck out of the pickup box. So far I haven't screwed things up too bad. I'm pretty close to finished with it now.

In order to make the modifications I had to set it all in place and then remove it several times. I used gorilla tape to hold the rails to the bed sides while I took my measurements. Whenever I had to disassemble I placed towels over the places most likely to scratch. Even still, it had a tendency to fall apart as I removed it.

I got nervous when it came time to drill holes. My truck box may not be perfect but it was pretty close. It felt like I was defacing it when I drilled the holes to mount everything down. I guess the holes can be filled back in if the truck is ever redone without the bed cover.

I still have to re-paint the rails and narrow the lid that covers the roll top enclosure.
 
Thanks ariffle & Abodybomber. Until I finally get it completed I won't be sure I'll be able to actually pull off this modification. Right now I'm optimistic. I'll feel sick if this doesn't work. - Not only will I have wasted time and money but I'll have drilled a bunch of holes in my truck for no reason.
 
1967 'cuda said:
Thanks ariffle & Abodybomber. Until I finally get it completed I won't be sure I'll be able to actually pull off this modification. Right now I'm optimistic. I'll feel sick if this doesn't work. - Not only will I have wasted time and money but I'll have drilled a bunch of holes in my truck for no reason.
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67' fabrication gone wrong, always makes me reel back. I more than understand,the apprehension.
 
The weather today was great and awful. It was in the 80s which was great! But the wind was extreme! I was trying to work in the driveway but that wind kept blowing everything around. That roll tarp is fairly heavy but it wanted to fly like a kite when I was fitting it.

I decided to paint the rails a satin black. Red might have looked good but I'm afraid the rails may be prone to show wear.

It's late at night now and I'm still at it. The rails are painted and I've narrowed the lid.

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One of my problems was trying to figure out how to splice the two halves of the lid back together. I had removed 10" from the middle of the lid. After looking online for some form of plastic splice/Tee/channel I couldn't come up with anything that I wouldn't have to have custom produced.

I decided to use a portion of the section I'd removed from the lid to make my splice. Once epoxied in place it should work really well.

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There were several odd aspects of this project that I hadn't written about.

The keylock mechanism is attached to a series of articulated bars that engage the side rails. I had to revamp the setup to remain functional. The lock cylinder was originally centered on the cover. The only way I could have maintained the centered position would have been to have removed width from both sides of the tarp. I decided to offset the lock towards the driver's side instead.
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The box that the roller is in has drain holes in the bottom of it. There are supposed to be tubes for the water to drain through when you wash the truck and when it rains. I didn't get the tubing that originally came with this cover. So I went to the hardware store and purchased 5/8" tubing and fittings. I'll be drilling a couple of holes in the front wall of the truck box and let the water drain between the box and the cab. I didn't want to run the hoses down through the bed floor. I would rather have them hidden.




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That is really an awesome project on the roller John. It will sure come in handy to protect your stuff and the nice wood bed when you need to, and I think it adds to the looks of the truck.

I also know what you mean on drilling holes in the body - back in the day I had full length ding protectors on my cuda that were drilled and riveted on! So when I get started on body work I think I have about 20 drill holes to fill in, but from looking at all the major metal work that guys on FABO regularly do, these should be an easy but probably pricey fix.

Bummer on the window, that crack fix looks interesting and maybe worth a try if not too pricey.
 
Cuda68Scott said:
That is really an awesome project on the roller John. It will sure come in handy to protect your stuff and the nice wood bed when you need to, and I think it adds to the looks of the truck.
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Cuda68Scott said:

I also know what you mean on drilling holes in the body - back in the day I had full length ding protectors on my cuda that were drilled and riveted on! So when I get started on body work I think I have about 20 drill holes to fill in, but from looking at all the major metal work that guys on FABO regularly do, these should be an easy but probably pricey fix.

Bummer on the window, that crack fix looks interesting and maybe worth a try if not too pricey.
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Thanks Scott. I've liked the general look of the roll up covers ever since I first saw them. I knew I needed something to protect the bed floor but never really figured I'd get anything other than a Velcro or snap tarp. The cost of these aluminum roll ups was cost prohibitive. - And to top it off no one offered any off the shelf covers for these Dodge short stepside boxes. No matter what, I was going to have to have a custom cover made.

I guess there shouldn't be roll covers on any other 'Lil Reds unless someone paid big bucks to have one custom made.

I know what you mean about the metal work done by other members of FABO. It made me cringe a little less when it was time to drill the holes.

The windshield? Well, crap happens. I learned a lot from the installation. The advice from ssba helped a bunch. Without it I would have struggled a lot harder getting the glass in. I won't rule out attempting to do the next one myself, but I know I'd like to have a second set of hands to help. I'll definitely do a more thorough inspection of any new glass before trying to install the next one. I'm still at a loss as to the cause of the break.

When I've tried to recall the steps I went through I think I might have been better off de-burring the edges of the window opening. The jagged edges kept the rubber seal from sliding around. Maybe some burr was the cause of the break too. - Like I said, it was a learning experience. I'll be more experienced and better prepared next time.
 
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It was a slow day in the garage. Yesterday was extremely windy but the temperature was almost 90'. Today it never got out of the 40s.

I removed the wood from the sides of the box in order to finally install the missing nylon washers. I also had to elongate a few of the mounting holes so that I could get the last few fasteners in. I had to complete the wood install before doing the final installation of the tarp box. It interfered with access to my fasteners for the wood.

I re-adjusted the tensioner spring for the tarp so that it should help the cover glide open easily. I had looked online for instructions of how to set it but didn't find any. They are apparently preset at the factory and wouldn't need adjusting unless someone disassembled them like I did. I made an educated guess.
 
I know what you mean, it seems like it takes me forever to do anything.
Grey hair sucks.
 
John, you might have not done anything wrong when you installed the windshield. It might have been something as simple as temp difference.. I drove my 96 Indy Ram thru a self-car wash and when I came out I had a cracked windshield!!!! It was cold outside that day and the water was hot. I learned a damn good lesson that day for sure. Good thing for insurance for me. BTW that cover is looking good on the Lil Red.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. I really wish I knew for certain why the glass cracked. If I did know, I'd have a part of the procedure that I would know to be more careful about. BAD KARMA struck again. Maybe I should have given Gophzilla a proper burial.

If the weather behaves tomorrow I should be able to finish installing the cover. I glued the two halves of the lid together tonight.
 
1967 'cuda said:
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That truck is a tank.
I had a 76 with the extended cab lwb and 4wd.
440 auto sob got 4mpg.
It would pull anything any time in any weather.
Traded it off for a almost new 94 Dakota, the payment on the Dakota was cheaper than filling up the power wagon twice a month.
100 gallons of gas each fill up is hard on the wallet even back then. The guy I bought it off of showed horses and had custom tanks built for the truck.
 
SNKEBIT said:
oh,oh. I think the floor fell out.........................:D
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SNKEBIT said:
Nice job.:cheers:
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I still have a bunch of work to do before I install the floor.

I finally ordered a new fuel tank sending unit yesterday. The electrical connectors had corroded off of the original one. Yikes! The only one I could find was over $100.

I still need to wire in my trailer wiring connector. To do it correctly I need to run very heavy wiring back to keep my trailer batteries charged.

I also need to set up my back up camera. I don't want to put any dents in the rear of the truck when I'm hooking up the trailer.

I might as well install new shocks while I can do it standing up instead of on my back.

I also need to revamp my spare tire mount too.

I'd still be able to do all of those things if the floor was installed but it'd be easier to do them without it in.
 
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SNKEBIT said:
Is that thing rust free?!?!?!?!?!?!?!:prayer::blob::cheers::glasses7:
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I wish. No the truck is pretty clean but the back 10" of the bed floor is rusted out and so is the tailgate. The bedliner has got the floor covered. I wasn't asking much for the truck but it's not perfect by any means. The 400 has always fired right up (even on the coldest Winter days) but the manual choke is stuck so it was cold blooded. There doesn't seem to be any issues with the 4-speed. I haven't driven it much but I did tow an enclosed trailer to the drags in Iowa with it. No issues towing. I'm not certain of rear end gearing but I suspect it's 4.56s. I kept the speed around 55 mph. It's got dual tanks and I suspect the gas mileage to be a little above 10 mpg.

With all the other projects going on I've never spent much time on the truck.
 
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Cuda68Scott said:
Need a video of that bedcover opening and closing!:hello1:
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Now this one is not one of the powered roll covers. As cool as it would be to hit a button and have this thing glide open and closed, I'll have to endure the drudgery of having to touch it. LOL.


 
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sireland67 said:
That truck is a tank.
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sireland67 said:
I had a 76 with the extended cab lwb and 4wd.
440 auto sob got 4mpg.
It would pull anything any time in any weather.
Traded it off for a almost new 94 Dakota, the payment on the Dakota was cheaper than filling up the power wagon twice a month.
100 gallons of gas each fill up is hard on the wallet even back then. The guy I bought it off of showed horses and had custom tanks built for the truck.
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Ouch! I never actually tried to figure out the fuel economy (or lack of) on this truck but I'm sure it isn't near that bad. Although I haven't driven it much I did pull an enclosed trailer to Iowa and back with it. We pulled my open trailer with the Ford at the same time. We didn't have to make any extra stops for fuel with the dually. Considering it was pulling the heavier load and running higher RPM I thought it did fairly well. I wouldn't want to be using it for constant long hauls though.
 
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Another frickin' day with little to show. The temperature started in the 30s and finally made it into the low 50s for awhile this afternoon. I attached the cargo lamp, connected the door handle rods, sealed the insides of the doors with some 8 mil plastic, attached one door panel (still waiting on new clips for the second one), connected my dash wiring and speedometer cable, and installed a new antenna.

The other day I noticed that one of my low beam headlights was dark. It appears as though the plating on the inside of the glass had flaked off. I ordered a new pair from Missouri.

I had only detailed out one of my tail lights so far. Today I went to remove the lens from the second one and found out that one of the lens screws wouldn't budge. The housing is plastic but the screws were rusty. The head of one of them twisted off. I fought it for an hour before I gave up and ordered a new (old stock) light assembly out of California.

I searched the garage and haven't found the black plastic washers that go to my window cranks. I'm sure I've got some somewhere.

According to the tracking number my new fuel tank sending unit is still in Georgia and won't be here until next week.

 
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