Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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Looked like very nice weather for a show. Did not see any second gen Cudas in the photos, I think you would have been a trophy shoe-in! The one that got away because no bait on the hook.....
 
I think that I've come to the conclusion that trophy winning show cars and true daily drivers are 2 different animals. I still enjoy going to the shows to see all of the cars and to shoot the breeze with other car guys but daily driving takes it's toll on a car. I've gotten a few gravel chips, there's burnt rubber from the slicks stuck to my rear quarters, bugs in my radiator, etc.

I think that I'm going to be more selective about which shows to enter my cars in from now on. I think I'll avoid the really big shows. There are too many 'built for show only' cars. - And there are so many of those aren't built by the owners. It's not as much fun talking with guys that have manicures. I need to see some grease under those fingernails. The car clubs that put on the local shows are predominantly filled with die hard bowtie members. It really gotten under my skin when I've seen them blatantly ignore 99% of the non-GM cars. (you know they do when the judges don't spend 1/10th the time inspecting the Mopars)

I really enjoyed the show I went to in St. Paul, Nebraska last year. I didn't win (of course) but I felt that the judges made decent choices on which cars did. There seemed to be more cars there that were owner built and driven. The street drags they put on afterwards were fun and were possibly what had drawn in more of the daily drivers. I plan on re-attending this show.

I also liked the High Optic Mopar show in Omaha. It sounds strange but I might have liked it more if there weren't so many Mopars there. I would normally have spent a lot of time checking out each of those cars at any other show. But they seem less special in a sea of hundreds of others. It was almost like looking at Camaros and Chevelles at the other car shows. Still, I'm planning on returning to this show.
 
Same here the Blue Dart (R.I.P.) was a driver, it had nicks and dings in the body, the motor was clean but not sterile but never the less it got a ton of attention, kids loved it, old men talked for an hour about seeing cars like this back in the 80's when the whole prostreet category was new. Now the truck my dad has of course is a completely different category, perfect paint, perfect everything cause of course its a rarely driven (work takes him everywhere a lot, he wants to be home but gotta do what pays the bills, so not his fault) and it usually wins or places at every show it enters. In fact last Saturday in Muncy Pa at a all mopar show we took first in our category. Me myself I'd rather have a daily driver or a driver car then a show car cause I like driving them everywhere to shows, the track or just to cruise ins. I think it was 3 weeks before my blue dart was wrecked, I drove it 300 miles one way to a show while my dad trailered his truck there. his was all clean and shiny and mine looked like it came out of the swamp cause a lime truck I was following hit a bump and sloshed the lime crap all over the dart........ that was fun time cleaning it up, but I won that time for 1. Youngest driver 2. peoples driver choice while my dad won best in show..........


sorry for the rant and long sentence...... lots of coffee very hyper
 
67 prostreet gt said:
Same here the Blue Dart (R.I.P.) was a driver, it had nicks and dings in the body, the motor was clean but not sterile but never the less it got a ton of attention, kids loved it, old men talked for an hour about seeing cars like this back in the 80's when the whole prostreet category was new. Now the truck my dad has of course is a completely different category, perfect paint, perfect everything cause of course its a rarely driven (work takes him everywhere a lot, he wants to be home but gotta do what pays the bills, so not his fault) and it usually wins or places at every show it enters. In fact last Saturday in Muncy Pa at a all mopar show we took first in our category. Me myself I'd rather have a daily driver or a driver car then a show car cause I like driving them everywhere to shows, the track or just to cruise ins. I think it was 3 weeks before my blue dart was wrecked, I drove it 300 miles one way to a show while my dad trailered his truck there. his was all clean and shiny and mine looked like it came out of the swamp cause a lime truck I was following hit a bump and sloshed the lime crap all over the dart........ that was fun time cleaning it up, but I won that time for 1. Youngest driver 2. peoples driver choice while my dad won best in show.......... sorry for the rant and long sentence...... lots of coffee very hyper
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Sorry to hear the Blue Dart bit the bullet. But glad to hear from someone that believes these cars need to see more road miles. It isn't as uncommon to still see an ol' Chebby or Ford on the road as it is a Mopar. I totally agree that they seem to get more than their share of attention from the general public at the shows. (whether or not by the judges) The 'back in the day' stories that are brought up by folks that remember them are the best. And there's little that can beat the feeling you get when you notice the jaws drop when you're heading out to get groceries.
 
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I finally started shooting some paint on the trunk lid. I can tell that I'm not nearly as steady as I was 3 decades ago. Air brushing is always a layering process. Often it's not until all the various layers and details are added that you can really decide whether or not you like your designs. So far it's not exactly impressive. Doing stripes and outlines without a decent pinstripe brush is near impossible. A good clear coat over everything will often add depth and even up the finish enough to help flaws disappear. By the time the rest of the details are added I'm hoping it looks better. If not, - well it's just the drag car and I can always strip the deck lid and start over.

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1967 'cuda said:
I finally started shooting some paint on the trunk lid. I can tell that I'm not nearly as steady as I was 3 decades ago. Air brushing is always a layering process. Often it's not until all the various layers and details are added that you can really decide whether or not you like your designs. So far it's not exactly impressive. Doing stripes and outlines without a decent pinstripe brush is near impossible. A good clear coat over everything will often add depth and even up the finish enough to help flaws disappear. By the time the rest of the details are added I'm hoping it looks better. If not, - well it's just the drag car and I can always strip the deck lid and start over.

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Looks pretty good, to me! Nice collection, of One Shot.
 
Thanks Abodybomber. I still need to add some fine black lines between the white and the lettering. I may add in some shadowing yet.

1-Shot Sign Painters enamel never was cheap. I checked the prices on it the other day and about crapped my pants. It's 3 times higher now than when I used to buy it years ago. I read that the new cans aren't as good as the old ones they used to sell. They say that the color holdout doesn't last as well and that it doesn't flow out or self level as well either. I guess they changed the formula because of lead content or something. These cans are all 30+ years old inventory left over from when I used to do sign painting. With the exception of a few cans, - they're still good.

I'd read that they wouldn't have had to change from their old formula because the art application was exempt from regulations, but someone making decisions within the company did anyway.

I was having trouble with the edges of my template lifting when the air hit it so I weighted it down with several cans. I couldn't find an adhesive that would temporarily hold the paper in place. The spray adhesives were too strong and didn't allow me to reposition things. After doing the lettering I came across some glue sticks that are intended for children's school work. I am trying them on the edges of the cartoon image templates.
 
1967 'cuda said:
1-Shot Sign Painters enamel never was cheap. I checked the prices on it the other day and about crapped my pants. It's 3 times higher now than when I used to buy it years ago. I read that the new cans aren't as good as the old ones they used to sell. They say that the color holdout doesn't last as well and that it doesn't flow out or self level as well either. I guess they changed the formula because of lead content or something. These cans are all 30+ years old inventory left over from when I used to do sign painting. With the exception of a few cans, - they're still good.

I'd read that they wouldn't have had to change from their old formula because the art application was exempt from regulations, but someone making decisions within the company did anyway.

I was having trouble with the edges of my template lifting when the air hit it so I weighted it down with several cans. I couldn't find an adhesive that would temporarily hold the paper in place. The spray adhesives were too strong and didn't allow me to reposition things. After doing the lettering I came across some glue sticks that are intended for children's school work. I am trying them on the edges of the cartoon image templates.
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Wow,on the glue sticks. It works. Achievement through necessity. For old school painting style,product quality has been down hill a while.
 
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The TCI stall converter from SBeeMan arrived today. I wish I had a transmission jack. I'd like to get it put in later this week. THANKS SBEEMAN!! If it works as well with the 408 that I think it will, - I'll be in 7th heaven! (or at least pointed towards it when I leave the line)

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More mural shenanigans. It's difficult to paint a picture of a black car on a black car. - Sort of like painting a picture of a white rabbit in a blizzard. You just can't see it. To solve that I started on a corn field background.

The gold needs to be shaded yet so that it highlights the body lines. I need to add the PLYMOUTH, CROP DUSTER logo, and contingency decals to the side. I'm not sure if I want to add interior detail or just paint glare on the windows. I keep telling myself that it will look better when all of the details are finished. - And that it's just a race car. I know that my quickie paint job on the sides of the car didn't turn out bad but I would have been much pickier if the black paint hadn't had flaws.

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I purchased a set of Sharpie brand PAINT MAKERS off of eBay. They're not marking pens with ink. They have enamel in them. I'm hoping that they will work for the final detail work on the mural.

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1967 'cuda said:
I purchased a set of Sharpie brand PAINT MAKERS off of eBay. They're not marking pens with ink. They have enamel in them. I'm hoping that they will work for the final detail work on the mural.

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Testor's used to make paint pens, in the day.Worked well to do car club logos on windows. Love the chicken,LMAO!
 
Another day with little accomplished. You'd think the rest of the world would understand by now that I need my garage time. I had to get some yard work done and then I got roped into running errands by the 'ol lady. (I can call her that because she doesn't read these threads and I've hidden all the sharp knives in the house)

I ended up having to run to Columbus, Nebraska to get shopping done and deliver some cash to one of Teresa's daughters. I tried to make the best of it by loading up the 'Cuda on the trailer and taking it along. They were having a Show 'n Shine at the Ramada Inn.

When we stopped at Menards to pick up some supplies I found these cool DODGE caps for sale. At $8 I couldn't pass it up. They had a bunch of them on the shelf. I should have picked up a few. They're actually embroidered.

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We made it to the Show n Shine late. It was already getting dark. After unloading the car and bullsh*tting with folks for awhile we headed on over to the DQ for some chili dogs. The 'Cuda is still as loud as ever and I cringe at the prospect of getting pulled over. - But man, it sure sounds mean.

You'd have thought that they were giving away free ice cream at the DQ. It took a half hour to make it through the line and order our food. - Another 20 minutes to get it. When we hopped back in the Barracuda it was dead. No power anywhere. Luckily the Ramada was only a few blocks away and the truck and trailer were there. I snarfed down the dogs as we walked back to the truck.

I had a battery charger and generator in the back of the pickup so I figured that I was all set up to recharge the Cuda's battery. I didn't have my toolbox with me but I did have some tools. It didn't take long to figure out that I was going to need them. Even with the charger on, I was still dead in the water. I had a 12 volt test light that helped me determine there was power to the bulkhead connector on both sides of the firewall. I traced the problem to a wire connector to a pigtail that I'd installed off of the back of the Ammeter. (I'd run a couple of pigtail wires off of it to make it easier to install the cluster. That way I didn't have to struggle so hard to tighten those two wires on the back of the gauge while the dash was in.)

Teresa tends to get panicky when stuff breaks down. You'd think she'd have more confidence in my ability to fix things by now. (that's the way I view it)

I put the car together and now it doesn't want to start. What kind of idiot am I? (that's the way she views it)

It took about 20 minutes to trace the problem and about 2 more to fix it. No harm. No foul. Just life in the fast lane.




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I decided to forgo sleep and work on the mural. I started out by re-making some templates to assist in the body shading. I probably added too much white into the gold for the top shade, but I'll reserve judgement until after all the lettering is applied. I added more cornstalk background. It still needs to continue across the deck lid (behind the chicken and farmer). According to the UPS tracking, my paint pens are in Omaha. Hopefully they'll deliver later today. I really need them to add detail and to correct flaws.

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I hope that this thread isn't boring folks to tears. I'm pretty slow at doing the trunk graphics. I thought some might find it interesting to see it evolve as more details were added.

The paint pens did show up today and I began by adding tread to the front tires and the CROP DUSTER logo on the side. I feel that the added black stripe in 'The Rapid Transit System' helped to make it stand out more. I struggle to keep my wrists from smearing areas that have fresh paint on them. - So I tend to jump from one spot to another. If I had a steadier hand I wouldn't need to lean on the trunk as I work.

The paint pens are great and awful. They're easier to control than a brush but they tend to want to plug up and not flow paint. You have to depress the tips often to replenish the paint on the tips, but sometimes it takes a great deal of effort to get that paint to come out.

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