Finally getting an early A-Body

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Being it is not a Formula do as you wish with it. The value wont change much and if I had a 4 speed in mine I would keep it. Makes it more of a a fun drive in my eyes.
 
I agree, make it a beast! And if I recall arent the fenderwells already cut for some nice beefy headers?
 
Tony, since it's yours, and you had one way back in the day, how about a tribute to your old fish?? Make it the way you want, and I'm going to vote for the 4 speed. It's all there, and with a little tunnel work you would be good to go. Besides, don't you want to test the scattershield?? Oops, that's the teenager in me talkin', I mean rowing through the gears is a lot more fun than stomping a slushbox. But, do it the way you want it and keep us in the loop!!! Geof
 
Yes, but I have no experiance with fenderwells at all. I am alittle leary of them being so close to the hood when driving 1or200 miles a day. Also I have access to a sweet pair of replacements inner fenders. Don't the tires rub also, the roads around here are pretty narrow and whindy and rough so that may not be practical for the amount of driving I do. I sure would like to hear your guys opinion. I am leaning towards more of a mild pro-touring car than a bracket drag car which it was getting set up for so I am thinking spitfires. Small blk has a set of '70 a-body oem disc brake set-up for the front that I am going to buy and it comes with a sway bar. I already have a disc brake set-up for the rear.
 
I agree badawg and cosgig, I am keeping the four speed for sure. I am loving the fact of having an early fish again but now that I can I am going to make it the car I always have wanted. My high school cuda was a cream yellow 4 brl 273 commando/auto posi. The cream is out along with the auto! Thanks, having you all's support means alot to me. I feel there isn't anything on these cars that can't be figured out and fixed. Isn't that a very cool deal, what a great site this is.
 
This lesson is for you Vic.

American Motors = Twin-Grip
Buick.................= Positive Traction
Ford..................= Equa-Lock and Traction-Lok
MOPAR...............= Sure Grip
Oldsmobile...........= Anti-Spin
Pontiac...............= Safe-T-Track
Chevrolet............= Positraction

Your in the land of MOPAR now so out with the posi stuff.

Don't worry about calling him Tony as he's use to a large variety of names on the job.
 
Small Block said:
This lesson is for you Vic.

American Motors = Twin-Grip
Buick.................= Positive Traction
Ford..................= Equa-Lock and Traction-Lok
MOPAR...............= Sure Grip
Oldsmobile...........= Anti-Spin
Pontiac...............= Safe-T-Track
Chevrolet............= Positraction

Your in the land of MOPAR now so out with the posi stuff.
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Being a mostly gm owner in my past, that took me a while to get used to also lol

Tony I have a 440 going into mine with schumacher tri-y headers and spool mounts. Going to be damn close but Im bound and determined to get it all crammed in there without cutting into anything.Go big or go home right? lol
 
Badawg - do you have the 440 sat in the car with the headers on yet? I'd like to see some pics if you have. What spool mounts are you using?
 
Not yet, still a couple weeks away or so. I bought the mounts from schumacher also.
 
No problem smoking the tires in all gears for Vic. His right foot is BIG and HEAVY. Even with a small block he'll be trying to check out the scatter shield i know.
 
I can only imagine how good its going to run when you and Vic are done with it Smallblock. Cant wait to see it!!
 
I'm just the driver!8)

easy chair guy.jpg
 
Hey guys, I got a little work done on the cuda today and it is really close to starting it up. I haven't had a points unit for a while so help me refresh, the single wire from the distributor goes to the neg. side of the coil and the hot (key on) goes on the pos. side right? Isn't there suppose to be a wire coming from the starter relay also to the pos.side?
We also got some disassembly done like small blk did and we also found out I need front floors. Everything is still looking as good as I thought it would.

grill out.jpg


front floors bad.jpg
 
There is just a couple spots that will need a little patching but so far it is really looking like an easy one to fix. The wife got all the old carpet out and we'll be able to save alot of it. I will be needing bumpers but everyone does I guess. My grill center section is in need of some repair it looks like, that is going to be some tedious work.

rear end striped.jpg


center section out.jpg
 
HEADERS,,,,if you can avoid fender wells,,do so, we all had them once upon a time,,i did i saved the piece that was cut out,, and now have different headers and the piece is welded in,,the hole, if to big weakens the structure of those old A bodys,,

here are the options,, 1- custom made,,big bucks

2 hooker model 5208, small hole in lower fender well needed,available,,

3 TTI, headers,expensive

4 dougs headers, expensive,

5 spit fires, best bang for the buck,may have to wait for them

there are several topics on this board on this,,i think the spit fires are the best deal,,,no cutting of sheet metal,,but some other mild modifications needed,,,
and im nto to sure on this one,,,but i think it would work,,some one may know ?????? dodge dakota or ram truck 5.2 magnum exhaust manifiolds may fit,,if so they look nice,,and im sure flow better then any early manifold,,and cheap to buy and easy to find

i have a set here i bougth for my street rod,,,if some one needs measurements
 
Vic Storm said:
Hey guys, I got a little work done on the cuda today and it is really close to starting it up. I haven't had a points unit for a while so help me refresh, the single wire from the distributor goes to the neg. side of the coil and the hot (key on) goes on the pos. side right? Isn't there suppose to be a wire coming from the starter relay also to the pos.side?
We also got some disassembly done like small blk did and we also found out I need front floors. Everything is still looking as good as I thought it would.
Click to expand...
Only 2 wires going to the coil, Tony, unless you have a tach!! Distributor to neg. and harness to positive. Looking good so far!! That grill center is not hard to find, and I believe its the same from Valiants, just the emblem is different. The emblem is the hard to find part, at least one in good shape. Keep up the good work!! Geof
 
fstfish66 said:
HEADERS,,,,if you can avoid fender wells,,do so, we all had them once upon a time,,i did i saved the piece that was cut out,, and now have different headers and the piece is welded in,,the hole, if to big weakens the structure of those old A bodys,,

here are the options,, 1- custom made,,big bucks

2 hooker model 5208, small hole in lower fender well needed,available,,

3 TTI, headers,expensive

4 dougs headers, expensive,

5 spit fires, best bang for the buck,may have to wait for them

there are several topics on this board on this,,i think the spit fires are the best deal,,,no cutting of sheet metal,,but some other mild modifications needed,,,
and im nto to sure on this one,,,but i think it would work,,some one may know ?????? dodge dakota or ram truck 5.2 magnum exhaust manifiolds may fit,,if so they look nice,,and im sure flow better then any early manifold,,and cheap to buy and easy to find

i have a set here i bougth for my street rod,,,if some one needs measurements
Click to expand...
Fstfish66, I have the spitfires on my car, and I must be one of the lucky ones, as I bought mine early on and received them right away. They were only $188.00 back then, and the person who turned me on to them received one of the first sets. They told me that the ones they received needed some minor mods to fit in, but Harold supposedly changed them up a little, and mine went right in. All I had to do is turn the 90 degree filter adapter a little to make clearance to remove the filter. There was scant little clearance to tighten the pass through bolt back down, but I did it. I do have manual steering and an automatic though, and in Vic's case with the scattershield he may have some clearance issues that I did not encounter. I thought I read that you couldn't use them with a 4 speed, but that too may have changed. My muffler guy squacked about the clearance where they dump, but that was only to trump up the price a little. I'm pleased as punch with mine, they really woke up the little 273!!! Just a little insight from ol' cosgig!!! Geof
 
I knew you could not let your Barracuda set:cheers: looking good Vic

You have been busy :-D
 
cosgig said:
That grill center is not hard to find, and I believe its the same from Valiants, just the emblem is different. The emblem is the hard to find part, at least one in good shape. Keep up the good work!! Geof
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Pretty sure they are different, but can be made to work.
 
I think that small blk has a hump I can buy so that part of the floor is takin care of, where can a guy buy some new front floor pans? I can cut some out from here but thats alot of work when I could be working on something else.I quess that I may be looking at TTI's or Dougs so I can get a good fit. Spitfires aren't going to fit probly so i'll go for the next easiest thing. Thanks guys.
Thanks Geof, I'll be testing that tomorrow, I am dying to hear it run and then to get it out of there. I am ready to start striping paint and getting this bad girl ready for her new make-over. The wife got all the carpet cleaned today and it turned out to be in real good shape.
I am hoping that I can fix that grill but it is pretty loose and pretty bent up, I for sure have my work cut out for me. The hood, and everything I can get unbolted is going to the local media blaster, I can get everything done for under $100 and save days and days of sanding, then there will be nothing left to do but the body itself.

floor striped #3.jpg


green wire on dash.jpg
 
Hell_Fish said:
Pretty sure they are different, but can be made to work.
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Hell Fish, look at the one on the front of my car. That came from a 66 Valiant parts car I had as my car was hit in the front end when I got it. Only the emblem is different, but the holes are the same to mount them. Also, look at the one on MeMikes car, also the same. At one time I had 3 of them to choose from, so I painted one the correct flat black, one body color and the third I left primed just in case. In the end I chose to put the correct flat black on, I thought it looked the best. Sorry, Vic, that was 5-6 years ago and sold the extra ones with some extra grills I had for Valiant and Barracuda. I still contend that they are not that hard to find. If I come across one, you'll be the first to know!!! Geof
 
Man, what a beautiful car Cosgig, I truely love the color and the only reason I am not going with a blue is that I already have a blue one but yours is a vision, very nice.

Ya I am looking for a center grill and front floor pans. So far I think everything is cool, but I did have some trouble with the drivers rear window not wanting to crank down very easy. Probly just an oiling issue, we'll see this weekend. oh, does anybody make replacement lenses for the turn signal indicators?
 
Vic I have an extra center grille. I had the same as you with the "V" type emblem and found 1 complete with the fish emblem pretty cheap. So consider my extra 1 yours. Also, I just cut my own lenses from some stock.
 
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