Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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I dig the crop duster idea,,and really like the rear window bee,,,i was thinking if i go 2 of those,and put A bee in each side of my rear slider,,,then i wouldnt have to worry about the center window ??? what are your thoughts since u have installed one ????? ill pm u,,,not sure wcich decal u made for me,,, where did u get the rear window bee ??? it looks kinda transparent may work in my coupe rear window,,, i call it my 1940 dodge super bee,,, need an emblem for the grill,,,,maybe the stick on hell cat fender bee,,,,,,
 
fstfish66 said:
I dig the crop duster idea,,and really like the rear window bee,,,i was thinking if i go 2 of those,and put A bee in each side of my rear slider,,,then i wouldnt have to worry about the center window ??? what are your thoughts since u have installed one ????? ill pm u,,,not sure wcich decal u made for me,,, where did u get the rear window bee ??? it looks kinda transparent may work in my coupe rear window,,, i call it my 1940 dodge super bee,,, need an emblem for the grill,,,,maybe the stick on hell cat fender bee,,,,,,
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The bee is 18&1/2" long from tip of head to tip of stinger. The circle is 10&1/2" in diameter. I absolutely cannot see the design from the inside of the truck. It just seems to have a slightly darker tint to it when you're inside. The window thing went on so easy that I don't think you'd have any problem unless your sliding window 'rubs against the other glass panes.

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My inspiration for the CROP DUSTER was this picture of my funnycar.

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I bought the Bee window shade off eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231112474196...84.m1497.l2649

It cost $49.

I made these decals on transparent vinyl. - Thought they might work on windows. - So I printed them reversed.

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I also had some air cleaner ones made. They're lying around somewhere in one of the tool boxes.


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I was going to play with some lace hood stripes, but I better keep concentrating on the rest of the lettering & paint first.

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I decided to make the PLYMOUTH black on the quarters. After creating a template the size I wanted, I positioned it on the car. I moved it around until I was happy with the location. The next step I took was to lay down some masking tape under where it would be. Then I took a few sheets of carbon paper and taped them over the masking and put my template over that. After tracing the insignia, I had the lettering transferred where I wanted it and used a razor blade to trim off the excess. Now all I need to do is spray my gold paint over it and peel the mask back off and I'll have my black lettering.

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very kool,,,,i also liked those 241 hemi decals u had pics of that lookked like the 426 air cleaner decals,,,, I pmed u
 
I keep changing directions on the layout. I want it to be bold and legible from a distance. I decided to incorporate a large Duster logo on the sides.

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I masked it off so that it will be black with a gold background when done. I doubt that this Duster will ever have that iconic look of a Sox & Martin car or the Melrose Missile, but I am shooting for a 'catchy' theme that has the right feel to it.





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My new wheel studs showed up today for the Duster but I'm still waiting on the lug nuts. In case they don't get here in time, I've already found someone willing to loan me 10 for a few days. I can't change out the studs until I get the lug nuts because they'll be too long for the closed ended lugs I have on it now and I don't want it sitting on jack stands while I wait.

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I searched the shop but couldn't find my airbrush. It's been a long long time since I'd used it and I guess it's not gonna get used this time. I masked off a stripe area on one side of the hood scoop and thought I'd see if I could get enough control with an aerosol can to make some fish scales. It didn't go very well. Without some means to reduce the flow rate and pressure, it was putting on way too much paint. The flash time between each row of scales would have to be pretty long to prevent making smears with my template. I took the paint back of with some thinner. I still had the lace to try. Because it will receive a more even pattern of paint, I might have more success.


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After removing the last experiment I cut some lace to try next. Don't worry. I'm not in any trouble. I left our tablecloths alone and bought a few dollars worth of fabric from Walmart.

I assumed that the lace would need to be stretched slightly to remove any wrinkling there might be and that I would only be able to give it a light coat to prevent it from soaking the fabric.

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I still had the area masked off from before so it wasn't much work putting the lace down. The garage isn't very well lit so it's hard to get good pictures of the gold on the black.

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After removing the tape I could tell that it was going to need a pinstripe to outline the panel. I chose orange because of the orange metal flake that is on the side lettering. (- and because I didn't have anything else)

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Hopefully everything will tie together once I get the gold paint on the sides of the car. The pinstripe does help to finish off these small panels.

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Now I need to duplicate this on the other side of the hood. I probably should have cleared the first panel before removing the mask but I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the lace effect until I saw it uncovered.




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I realize that this thread has gotten way off track by covering the work of other projects while the 'Cuda waits for me to get back to it.

I went back to the first post I had on this thread and looked at the photos of the Barracuda when I'd purchased it. The car looked pretty clean but not quite finished. I had never intended to dump as much time and money into it as what I did. It was supposed to be my daily driver with all of it's flaws. (except that ugly steering wheel cover) As I recall I paid $7000 for it.

I've always had a hard time leaving well enough alone. Gradually I fixed the flaws and scrounged up pieces that had been missing. But I'd managed to keep from spending much. I had dreamt of the day when I had finished all of my other cars and could get wild with the fastback. - But it was unlikely I was ever going to get to it.

After it got wrecked I was in full panic mode. It really had been my daily driver and I wanted to get it back on the road asap. Unable to find decent affordable front fenders made me decide on fiberglass. Things snowballed from there. I couldn't see painting the front clip and ignoring the flaws I could see in the rear quarters. - And of course I found out how bad those quarters were when I stripped off the paint. The car had crossed a line. Instead of being a 'some day' restoration it became project #1.

At this point I would say that I don't really have any regrets with the car. I had bought it to drive 'right away'. - And I thought the price was reasonable at the time. Circumstances changed after the crash. It was no longer drivable. Had I had a crystal ball and been able to see into the future I would have bought a basket case instead. After all, I did end up changing engine, transmission, rear end, quarter panels, suspension, brakes, tires, wheels, gas tank, fuel & brake lines, etc, etc... I'd probably have $5000 less in it now. Oh well, it's all about the journey I guess.

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In an effort to create a climate controlled garage I've left the door open between the garage and the house and put a fan in the doorway. I know I have to close it up when I paint but at least the heat and humidity are under control. Today I need to get the sides of the car shot.

It sounds as though I'll be getting a little extra help preparing everything tomorrow. Mike (the buddy that's going to pull the second trailer) is coming down to give a hand. I always scoff at those reality car building shows on TV. They're constantly fighting some unrealistic deadline to get their vehicles done. Well...
 
airwoofer said:
The fish is wrecked? I haven't followed this thread much after it went off the fish.
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No. Nope. Hopefully never again! I was referring to the time over a year ago (or is it 2 years now) that my son had wrecked it. After the front end was crunched is when I really started working hardcore on it. She's sitting comfortably inside of the enclosed trailer right now waiting to go racing this next weekend.
 
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airwoofer said:
Whew! Is the engine running right now?
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It's running pretty good right now. My problem with running rich seems to have been caused by too high a level on my floats. I'd never known that slight adjustments to the floats could make a difference. I always thought that you had to be excessively high or low before you'd notice a change. A friend of mine told me that even a small amount of extra fuel in those bowls will push gas faster. I haven't been driving it much over the past few weeks because I've been tied up in the garage on the other projects.

I want to take as many tools and parts with me to the drags this weekend so I can play more with tuning if I need to.
 
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I'm still prepping the Duster for the gold paint. I wish I still had all of the shop supplies that I used to have years ago. It's been a long time since I did any paint on a car. - And 'back in the day' I had better equipment and shop space. I keep telling myself "It's only a race car" and "As long as it looks good from the cheap seats".

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Your duster looks pretty sweet to me. Nice way to use your imagination. NICE !
 
Thanks Cawley. In general I think that the Duster has the right look. It's got a good stance, nice tire/wheel combo, etc.. But there are so many flaws in the body and the workmanship wasn't great on the rest of it. I'm not knocking the guys that originally built it. - But they weren't real concerned with details. It was all about making it go fast.

That's why I'm not afraid to play with the paint. It looked good before from 20 to 30 foot away but otherwise, eh.

Well the primer is on.

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I'm still trying to decide where to put the contingency decals - or whether or not to use them at all. I ran out of orange pinstriping so it'll be a while before I can get it all the way done. Now I've decided that the cage needs to be painted orange too. I'm also considering painting the wheels gold. What do you guys think so far?

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