My 1969 1/2 440 ‘cuda

[doczapp]

I’m pretty sure my m code had the 63 on it under the undercoating….it had that color paint under it..my lower splashes and inner fenders were all cut up for headers. What a job fixing all that

 

[2sixtynines]

Finally got the underside painted. Did two coats of R4 red. Fortunately I had the car painted in 1982 before I lost the fender tag so I knew what the correct color was. Completely wire wheeled the rear axle assembly. Did half of the backing plate before realizing I didn’t get a before picture. Had to use some needle point grinders with the dremel tool to get every bit of rust and crud off of them.

 

[340sFastback]

That red underside looks outstanding

 

[2sixtynines]

Thanks, glad you like it.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Very nice work! Love the red. 440 car with drum brakes all around. Gotta love it! lol

 

[2sixtynines]

Thanks! Just gotta make sure I don’t go to fast!

 

[mygasser]

Thanks! Just gotta make sure I don’t go to fast!

yeah, right.

 

[fink]

I stripped the undercoating off of my m-code cuda and found 63 painted underneath. I believe it stands for the engine code for a 383. that way they put the correct k-frame with the car as it went down the line. then on m-code cars they installed 440s. my cuda also had a small tag that had a-13 stamped on it with the inner fender tag. I also have a good picture of wiper motor. I also noticed a white paint mark on the lower control arm and orange paint on the torsion bar adjusters.

 

[doczapp]

Looks good man! Looks to easy with a rotisserie…like to know how many hours I have looking up on my lift..sold my rotisserie a couple years ago said I’m not doing it no more and here I am again… I found the 63 on my car to

 

[2sixtynines]

Thank you. Didn’t have a lift and wasn’t about to crawl underneath the car to try and strip it. The metal cost $300 and a friend welded it together. Made it way easier. Wouldn’t have been able to do it without the rotisserie.

 

[2sixtynines]

Cut off the core support and inner fender wells. Stripped everything down to bare metal. Wanna make sure it lasts. Like my older brother used to say, if you’re gonna do the job, you may as well do it right.

 

[fink]

I know it is a lot of work, that is why this car is last one I am doing that I go completely through and restore. I do not have a rotisserie I made dolly wheels that are adjustable and strip everything by hand. not a very quick way of doing it. I also got a second car with the deal and I cut inner fenders out of it to fit in the holes from the headers. it takes a long time but getting them to fit in like a jigsaw puzzle makes easy to butt weld [ no overlap] everything and makes for better looking welds on bought sides and I kept most all of the factory spot welds that way. I was lucky because the car had no rust. I would love to have had a rotisserie but my garage is old school, I might print up a shirt that says ROTISSERIES ARE FOR SISSIES even though I would like to have had one !!

 

[mygasser]

nice job on the fender wells
neil.

 

[2sixtynines]

Incredible job on the fender wells. You should have seen the garage I first used the rotisserie in. Old wooden one that was falling apart. Had to put plastic on the inside of the roof to keep the rain and snow from getting on the car. The metal for the rotisserie cost me $300 and a friend welded it for me. I got off cheap. That cars gonna look nice when it’s done. Looking forward to seeing it completed.

 

[2sixtynines]

Cleaned up the lower control arms and replaced the bushings. Painted them with Eastwood’s detail gray for the bare metal look. I believe they should have been painted to look more of a brownish gold. Cut the inner fender wells off of a front clip that I had purchased years ago. Cut all the spot welds out so they could be re-welded in the correct spot.

 

[2sixtynines]

Fortunately when I bought this car it had a 383 in it with the original exhaust manifolds. I sandblasted them, then painted them with POR-15 black paint. Then I painted them with Plasti-kote Hemi orange 500 degree paint. Found out later that the exhaust manifolds can get up to 1000 degrees. Lesson learned.

 

[fink]

your car is a 440 a-body or a 383 ?

 

[2sixtynines]

It is a 440. The original owner traded the car in for a 1972 Plymouth Duster. Somewhere between 1972 and 1975 the second, third or fourth owner took out the original 440 and swapped it with a 383. In 1975 the original owner spotted it at the used car lot and purchased it thinking it still had its original engine. When he found out it was a 383 he sold the car to the fella that I purchased it from.

 

[fink]

that is what I thought, I was not sure because I need 440 exhaust manifolds. I have 383 ones that will work. I have lost out on three of them that I tried to buy!

 

[2sixtynines]

Good luck in your search. Hang on to them 383 manifolds. You may end up having to use them. It would also be cheaper than buying a set of 440 manifolds.

 

[2sixtynines]

Got a rather ratty looking fender from the state of Washington. Outside looked horrible. Inside wasn’t too bad. Paid $100 for the fender and $150 to ship it. In the third photo you can see someone cut a chunk out of it. Didn’t notice that when I bought it. The bracket for the headlight was also missing. Had to take an extra fender that I had and have a piece cut out of it as well as the headlight bracket. Fortunately the fender I had to use wasn’t that great. Stripped it all the way down to bare metal before taking it to the body shop.

 

[2sixtynines]

Body shop did a terrific job on it. When I got it back I decided to paint the inside black and paint the R4 red on the head light area and where the fender bolts are located.

 

[340sFastback]

Saw crazy high prices at Carlisle last year for second gen Barracuda fenders. Asking anywhere from $2,000 - $3,000 for a pair. One guy had several sets of restored '69 grills and had a pair of clean rust free original paint '69 fenders for $2400. I don't think he sold any of those parts. But we are lucky if we can even find those parts at all.

After carlisle guy posted all the grills for sale on Facebook so I know for sure those didnt sell.

Based on parts I saw at last years Carlisle I am guessing a lot of hoarders died and widows sell off stash to flippers. Because I have not seen that level of parts selection up there in the last 20 years. All the sudden a flood of hard to find parts appear to be surfacing up there.

 

[2sixtynines]

That’s totally nuts. Glad I got my parts when I did.

 

[340sFastback]

That’s totally nuts. Glad I got my parts when I did.

Well....AMD decided making parts for chevys is more profitable so it aint looking like we ever gonna see new doors fenders for these cars. So most likely prices will go much higher in future....