Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

[1967 'cuda]

I decided to go with Lucas Plus Racing Oil 10256-1 for an engine lubricant.

And I ordered a case of B&M Trick Shift for the tranny.

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[Abodybomber]

Even though I had a complete exhaust system on the car already, it didn't have any extra room around the rear axle. The difference in axle diameter between the 7&1/4 and the Dana made things even tighter. I decided to simplify things for now. I ordered a pair of Purple Hornies from JEGS.

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This should be interesting, lol...... Nice work.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Frustrating day! It took me 2 hours to get the passenger side header in place. I thought it would be smooth sailing after that. I had already gotten the driver's side in place (but not bolted on) when I dropped the motor in. I fought it for several hours because it did not clear my steering box. It seemed so close that I thought I could get it if I just tried seating the engine in the K-frame with a little tilt. After that didn't work I beat the bejeezus out of the tube that was holding me up. The only thing that I had that would reach it was a pickle fork. I hammered on it for a long time before I decided to heat the offending portion with a torch. I really didn't want to mar the ceramic coating but there was no way that side was going to go on without a nasty dent. Well, I ended up poking a hole through the tube. I was so frustrated that I gave up on it for the day. It will bolt up now (and the damaged area is hidden by the steering gear) but I'll have to weld the tube up tomorrow.

You can see a bit of the hole next to the big nut in this picture.

I did pick up 4 gallons of that waterless antifreeze after I stopped fighting the header.

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[1967 'cuda]

I probably should have stayed on task with the left header, but I decided to tackle the shifter install instead. I had hoped that it would go easier today for me than yesterday had.

I chose to order a shifter that was intended for pickups. With the bench seat I wasn't able to position the shifter as far back as I would have been able to if I was running bucket seats. So I wanted a longer arm that would extend far enough up and back that I wouldn't have to be reaching forward for it.

With as many unemployed people as there are you would think that Hurst would be able to find some decent available tech writers. Installing a floor shifter may not be the equivalent of brain surgery but I'm sure brain surgeons are given better instructions on how to do their job. At first I was grateful that the instructions were in English. - Until I tried to follow them. There were references to numbered brackets without a guide to distinguish which bracket was which number. - And no stampings on the parts either. I wish I had the opportunity to test fit these parts before I installed the drive train.

The day started late because the driveway was wet this morning. I made steady progress until I heard we were expecting nasty thunderstorms with large hail. My garage was still crammed full of various loose parts and tools from 3 different vehicles. I moved the Duster and the Sebring under the trees in case the hail did come. The '69 Chevelle will have to fend for itself out in the open along with the pickups. I did get the Barracuda inside.

In an Ag state like Nebraska we're usually grateful for rain, but it's been awfully wet so far this Spring. It's been years since I've seen this many mosquitoes.

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[1967 'cuda]

I haven't gone outside since the storm hit. The sirens came on and our power went out shortly after my last post. It just came back on a few minutes ago. I'll have to check for damage in the morning. A friend in town posted pictures of storm damage from around town. We had extremely high wind and a lot of hail.

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[fstfish66]

hope every thing is kool out there,,

 

[BrianT]

hope every thing is kool out there,,

I agree. My buddy in Nebraska sent me a picture last night and he had a fist full of TENNIS ball sized hail! It destroyed his car.

 

[1967 'cuda]

hope every thing is kool out there,,

I agree. My buddy in Nebraska sent me a picture last night and he had a fist full of TENNIS ball sized hail! It destroyed his car.

Thanks for the concern guys. We've got uprooted trees all over town. Some porches were torn off of houses. There's a lot of power lines still down. It looks like the wind did a lot more damage than the hail. I'm glad I got the vehicles sheltered before it hit. Other than some branches down and a leaning mailbox, I think I came through it OK. I haven't gone out to our farm to check out damage there yet. A lot of other towns got it worse.

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[fstfish66]

looks like golf balls

 

[1967 'cuda]

looks like golf balls

We were lucky in David City. Despite the damage we had, other parts of the state had it far worse.

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[1967 'cuda]

My alternator would not clear the new heads in it's old position. It needed to rotate higher away from the head. No problem. I'll just get a longer belt. - Or so I thought. As it turned out, my alternator tension bracket needed to be longer also in order to accommodate the new position.

It may not be the best solution, but for the time being I decided to lengthen the old bracket. Once I get everything else sorted out on the car I can go back and make a new one and use this old one for a pattern.

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[airwoofer]

Told ya the TTI A body headers woulda been better. They have a tube that slips off so it can go around the steering linkage. Glad you made it through the storms with minimal damage.

Why did mike recommend 20W-50 oil?

 

[1967 'cuda]

Told ya the TTI A body headers woulda been better. They have a tube that slips off so it can go around the steering linkage. Glad you made it through the storms with minimal damage.

Why did mike recommend 20W-50 oil?

Mike didn't specify the 20-50. When I asked him about oil recommendations we talked about brands and mineral versus synthetic. LUCAS is one of the brands he has a lot of confidence in. I'd already read to use a mineral based oil during break in periods because the synthetics can prevent the rings from seating. I did some comparisons of zinc content and felt the LUCAS was a good choice. The so-called Racing oils tested better in the comparisons of wear prevention and longevity that I'd looked at. Back 'in the day' I was accustomed to running 40-50 weight oils in my race engines.

It would have been so simple for the maker of these headers to have put a dimple in the steering gear area. - Really makes me want to slap someone.

 

[Abodybomber]

Lucas is great product. If you need a picture of the Hurst bracket installed, I can grab pictures ,tomorrow. Running a Hurst shifter,should be the same.(727).

 

[1967 'cuda]

Lucas is great product. If you need a picture of the Hurst bracket installed, I can grab pictures ,tomorrow. Running a Hurst shifter,should be the same.(727).

Abodybomber, I decided to mount the shifter using nutserts so I won't have to try squeezing my hand above the transmission housing to install nuts. I think my biggest issue may end up be routing the cable. The location that the instructions say to put the hole through the floor for the cable does not look like it will work. I'm considering trying to come through the firewall and running the cable under the carpeting. The cable is about 5' long and it's difficult to find a way to run it and stay away from exhaust.

 

[famous bob]

Abodybomber, I decided to mount the shifter using nutserts so I won't have to try squeezing my hand above the transmission housing to install nuts. I think my biggest issue may end up be routing the cable. The location that the instructions say to put the hole through the floor for the cable does not look like it will work. I'm considering trying to come through the firewall and running the cable under the carpeting. The cable is about 5' long and it's difficult to find a way to run it and stay away from exhaust.

same problem here, going to wrap the cables and headers to gaurd against the heat--firewall would be too far forwars on mine for the cable to go thru--just sayin

 

[1967 'cuda]

same problem here, going to wrap the cables and headers to gaurd against the heat--firewall would be too far forwars on mine for the cable to go thru--just sayin

I don't know if my cable would be the same length. I bought a truck version of the shifter so that I would have a longer shifter arm. - The cable length might be longer.

 

[1967 'cuda]

More shifter woes. I believe I've gotten the brackets figured out. I think I've figured out a workable route for the cable. But now it looks like I need to modify the shifter handle.

The problem that I've run into is that the shifter handle hits the dash when in park. If I move the shifter base farther back it will prevent me from being able to adjust the bench seat forward when Teresa drives the car (she's short).

The only solutions that I see are to cut and bend the arm back a few inches or to mount the shifter base at an incline. If I do the latter, the plastic base cover will not be able to cover the shifter.

I hate to cut on this new shiny arm but it looks like that will be on the agenda tonight.

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[1967 'cuda]

I still have to test fit before I weld it back up, but I was shooting for a 2" difference and it's pretty close.

BEFORE & AFTER

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[1967 'cuda]

The fit seems perfect! If I'd bent it any further back it would have gotten awkward shifting. - Any less and I'd still have dash clearance problems. I was able to keep the cut underneath the plastic housing so there won't be any tell tale signs of the modification after it's all together.

 

[1967 'cuda]

OK, maybe I got overconfident. Everything seemed to have been working out with the shifter UNTIL I connected the cable to the shifter. After connecting it The dang thing would not ratchet through all the gears. I disconnected it and it (the ratchet action) seemed to work perfectly again.

I think my problem now is being caused by my cable routing. I currently am running through the interior from the firewall instead of poking through the floor next to the shifter. Although the cable still slides through the sleeve it does have a bit of drag on it caused by the sharper turn the cable has to make by not exiting at the instructed position. In this picture I've got the cable above the carpeting. It's supposed to go through the floor where it contacts it.

When I checked online for info about this shifter it seemed as though there were several people that were having trouble getting it to work. - But the guys that got it set up right seemed to really like it.

Tomorrow I will try to re-route the cable again. I haven't made any holes for the cable to pass through yet. I went through a plastic plug in the firewall the first time.

Removing the original column shift arm was simple enough. Now I've got to figure out what I want to do with the old hole on the column.

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[1967 'cuda]

First of all I'd like to advise anybody installing one of these shifters to remove the carpeting before you begin. It's difficult to take measurements and mark the floor with the carpet in place. You will also end up with shavings embedded in the carpet.

If you can, do the install with the transmission mocked in place and able to be taken in and out. My carpet was glued to the floor and I didn't want to pull the seats out either. So I muddled my way through the install with everything in place. That meant that the seat was also in my way at times. - But without the seat there before starting, I would not have been able to figure out the shifter location.

One issue to contend with is how close the transmission housing is to the transmission tunnel. It makes the use of a hole saw impossible. I had to drill small holes for the mounting bolts and for the grommet that the cable needed to pass through. The grommet needed a 1&1/2" hole. I didn't want to drop the tranny so I had to use a combination of an air nibbler and tin snips to make the larger hole. There was only around 3/4 inch clearance between the transmission and hump.

With the new hole made for the cable to pass through, my shifter now ratchets properly.

BEFORE & AFTER

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[1967 'cuda]

The next problem I ran into was with the transmission itself. Sometimes I ought to slap myself.

I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong. I think I've got a bent parking lock control rod. - And I'm pretty sure it's my fault. When I'd re-assembled the transmission I had trouble getting the rod to slip into the tail shaft housing. So, I tried to force it in by tightening the tail shaft bolts, but it wouldn't pop in. - And that's no doubt what caused it. The shift lever on the transmission won't snap into the park position like it should. With all of the different assemblies going on at the same time I hadn't checked it out before putting it in the car. Luckily it's not a difficult repair and I haven't put in the transmission fluid yet.

As the car has been lightened it has seemed as though it reacts harsher to bumps. The rear shocks that were on the car were gas charged and I wanted to go back to oil filled to see if it would soften the ride.

So, today I thought I'd pick up some new shocks for the rear at one of the parts stores. I'd stopped working on these old cars 25 years ago and just got back into it a few years back. Yeah, I'm still expecting parts to be on the shelf when I go in. Doh! Well none of the parts stores I tried had any on hand. - And worse yet, the only shocks in their books were gas charged. So I went back home, stripped the paint off the old shocks, repainted them, and put them back on. I'll look for replacements after I get the car back on the road.

I'm hoping to get the drive shaft back in the next day or two.


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[1967 'cuda]

The 'chrome' vinyl that I'd applied to the bottom side of the hood isn't exactly show quality but I still think it's an improvement over the old unfinished fiberglass.

I still need to get a dust shield for the 727.

The Purple Hornies may end up rattling against the floor. Right now they're tight up against the transmission cross member rather than hanging with a gap. If I have to, I'll notch and reinforce the cross member, but I think I'll try installing some heat resistant pad in between first.

The drive shaft loop fit very nicely. I will finish welding the sub-frame connectors after the car is running and I can put it up on a hoist. The undercarriage needs a good cleaning and a re-paint after I get things done.

As well as I was able to get the shifter to fit in the car, the pistol grip is going to be replaced by the black knob. After I'd bent the arm back it made the pistol grip sit at an awkward angle.

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[733404spdCuda]

The Purple Hornies are going to rattle your fillings loose...