BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Kick panels turned out decent. Hoping the door panels turn out like what I’m envisioning in my head. Should have at least the back panels done tomorrow. I glued felt on the Masonite and then glued the vinyl on.
My First Mopar- 1966 Barracuda project
- Thread starter BenNSB
- Start date
-
Rustyfish
Member
Looks great!
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Think I’m going to use weather strip adhesive for the mesh. An embossed accent print might be option. The fabric store had a cool looking cork checker board vinyl I might use, very sixties.
Last edited:
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Converting the Valiant non/AC dash to a Barracuda A/C dash. Fun times.
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Great progress, looking good.
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Got to go back and shore up the booger welds tacking it in place, but every tiny bolt hole lines up and the ashtray fits. I’ll clean it up, grind it down and use a thin layer of body filler. Then a 2K high build primer, followed with a 2K satin gloss black and it will be ready for install.
66jim
Well-Known Member
Looks great, like your thinking on the door panels. Just a suggestion, eliminate the mechanical voltage regulator for the gauges and use electronic regulator(s) bench test the gauges before install. The electrical on the printed circuit board is crappy and prone to cracks if you need to take it on/off. Replace it with a multi pin connector with
a pig tale this way easy on/off. Good luck!
a pig tale this way easy on/off. Good luck!
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Thanks, and thanks for the tip. I’m planning on getting white faced 2” aftermarket gauges and white decals for the Speedo and “Performance Gauge” which I will be retrofitting with a 6K rpm tach and using the tachometer decal, but that’s on down the road for now.
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Good stopping point for today. (I just placed the Valiant’s heater plate, the push button A/C plate is buried in the car somewhere.)
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Working on the speedometer and retro fitting a tachometer. (The vacuum gauge “Performance Indicator” isn’t going to cut it.) Going to paint the needles later.
Challngd73
Well-Known Member
Looks good
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Got the rest of the gauges faced with white decals. Got to paint the needles and refurbish the bezels.
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Door panel turned out okay. Got the passenger side left.
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Picked up an okay rear bumper and scored a trunk lid. Front bumper was rough but worth the price for the brackets. Going to massage it into something more presentable for the time being. Slowly but surely...
Big Ben 16
66barracudaNS
This is great. I can’t believe how nice the door panel turned out. What a money saver. I might try to copy your work. DM
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Worked on the dash and trim. Mostly surface rust on the Valiant donor dash. Got to body fill my weld seams, strip the rest, spray high build primer, block sand, and spray with 2K matte black. Still need to paint the flat black outline stripe and black out the inside off the gauge pods on the trim pieces. Little by little...
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
chamugtx
Active Member
I congratulate you. incredible restoration. a good job you are doing in your home. that vehicle is beautiful .. I hope more photos !!!
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Cleaned the tachometer and speedometer lenses (2000 grit wet sand then mirror glaze polish by hand) and sanded the bevels before priming and painting with satin black epoxy. The two lenses to the smaller 4 gauges are next, along with repainting the lettering white. Still need to grab a flat black paint pen to finish the accent line around the main housing and grab a bright orange for the gauge needles.
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Not too shabby for 55 year old lenses.
Challngd73
Well-Known Member
Looks amazing man. Good job. Just went through that process this week with mine.
I must be missing something, why didn’t you just use the Baracuda a/c dash instead of carving it up and grafting the bits to the Valiant dash ?
That said you’re doing great work on this project.
BTW you might want to raise the location of the gas filler to avoid fuel sloshing down the side of the quarter when doing hard right turns and it would make refueling easier also.
Where are you mounting the fuse block , headlight and wiper switches ?
Keep at it .
That said you’re doing great work on this project.
BTW you might want to raise the location of the gas filler to avoid fuel sloshing down the side of the quarter when doing hard right turns and it would make refueling easier also.
Where are you mounting the fuse block , headlight and wiper switches ?
Keep at it .
Last edited:
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
The original a/c Barracuda dash was rotted on the bottom and part of the top due to rust holes in the a pillars by the windshield that allowed water in that just pooled up for decades. I used the good metal out of the original and grafted it on to the deal I found.
With the gas filler, I have a vitrion o-ring billet gas cap that should seal up nicely to prevent the overflow. (I hope.)
I have the stock harness, but I might just go all new blade style universal type harness and mount it where the stock was. I have the old part of the original dash for a template for the wiper and headlight switches, they will be going in the stock location on the dash. I just haven’t cut out the holes yet.
Well that explains it , thanks .
Are you going to run a volt meter instead of the ammeter ? It would allow you to run the alternator to the battery and take the load off the firewall connection and low amp meter and allow you to run a 100+ alternator for things like electric cooling fan , EFI , etc .
Trust me the stock ammeter won’t handle a 60 amp alternator very long especially with the a/c on .
Are you going to run a volt meter instead of the ammeter ? It would allow you to run the alternator to the battery and take the load off the firewall connection and low amp meter and allow you to run a 100+ alternator for things like electric cooling fan , EFI , etc .
Trust me the stock ammeter won’t handle a 60 amp alternator very long especially with the a/c on .
BenNSB
Well-Known Member
Yes. If I use the stock harness I will be rewiring it, eliminating the need for the ammeter wires running through the bulkhead and making the necessary provisions to ensure the wiring to the 2000’s alternator is correctly changed and not going to burn down the car. (I learned quite a bit early on in my high school hot rodding days after a couple V8 S10 mishaps and gremlins.)
Much like my tachometer solution, I’ll be utilizing the stock ammeter face and needle with the guts of a new voltmeter with the same sweep. I’ll post plenty of pics when I get to those gauge mods.
Should be very similar to this ‘67 Dart that was modified. 12.5 v will read on the “D” side and when running 14.6 v or so would be on the “C” portion of the gauge.
Thanks for looking out, I appreciate the tips along the way.
Last edited:
-
