My First Mopar- 1966 Barracuda project

[BenNSB]

Finally welded the perches on the rear and installed the gas tank. Unfortunately the girdled aluminum cover won’t work. Mocked up the shocks and going to see if I can run the Mountaineer rear sway bar. Hooked up the brake lines and bled them. Also got replacement door panel trim for the front doors.

 

[BenNSB]

 

[mpgmike]

The stance in that 1st picture is iconic 1974! Guys would install air shocks pumped to 150 psi to get such a desirable look. (I know it's just an "I'm working on it" picture, so please take it as a joke.)

 

[BenNSB]

The stance in that 1st picture is iconic 1974! Guys would install air shocks pumped to 150 psi to get such a desirable look. (I know it's just an "I'm working on it" picture, so please take it as a joke.)

Haha! I used to draw ‘32 coupes jacked up like that in the early eighties when I was little.

That pic was giving me American Graffiti vibes.

 

[BenNSB]

Wallet took a hit, but I finally pulled the trigger on these pieces of the puzzle.

 

[BenNSB]

And a Hellwig front sway bar is on its way.

 

[BenNSB]

Installed the Borgeson power steering box and the driver side tubular control arm. Old ball joint did not want to budge and ate up daylight. I’m determined to use the driver side truck manifold. I can lift the engine up 3/4” and clock the steering box slightly counter clockwise. Hopefully that will give me enough clearance for a fitting. Slowly getting there…

 

[BenNSB]

Passenger side upper control arm was much easier. Surprised I got the tie rod to free up enough to adjust by hand. The 67-72 exhaust is going to work perfectly. Thinking of using 1970 Super Bee tips.

 

[BenNSB]

Got this in the mail today.

 

[BenNSB]

Pain to install by myself in the dark, end links were uncooperative. My midnight wrenching looked good in the daylight. The side are almost dead level. When I push down on the front fender the other side goes down with it, I might get to make use of the Viper bolstered seats now.

 

[JDMopar]

Hopefully, the front hung calipers won't cause you any grief with the sway bar end links. If they do, you can swap the spindles side to side and use Volare brake hoses. It's coming together nicely, so keep up the good work!

 

[BenNSB]

Hopefully, the front hung calipers won't cause you any grief with the sway bar end links. If they do, you can swap the spindles side to side and use Volare brake hoses. It's coming together nicely, so keep up the good work!

Thanks! I need to replace the lower ball joints so worst case scenario I will swap the calipers to the rear. My neighbors get baffled when I put it together and tear it apart, “I thought you had it together?”

I like the trail and error, I get to learn as I go and it’s fun to see what hodgepodge mix of parts will work. (Those are ‘69 Camaro braided lines on the front brakes.)

 

[JDMopar]

I think the 69 Camaro hoses will work if you have to swap the calipers to rear hung.

 

[GGs66GT]

From the looks of it you’re using 73 - 76 A body disc brakes.

It looks like you put the left spindle on the passenger side and the right on the driver’s side. This would set you up for front calipers, but to add insult to injury you put the left caliper on the passenger side and the right caliper on the drivers side.
Pull it apart and swap everything side to side . This is supposed to be rear caliper set up .

How’s that go …. Doo !

 

[65barracudaLA]

Pain to install by myself in the dark, end links were uncooperative. My midnight wrenching looked good in the daylight. The side are almost dead level. When I push down on the front fender the other side goes down with it, I might get to make use of the Viper bolstered seats now.
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Hellwig only lists 67-up front sway bars - did it still bolt on without issues?

 

[BenNSB]

Hellwig only lists 67-up front sway bars - did it still bolt on without issues?

The end links were a bear, but once in it’s nice. Hellwig part number is 55914.

 

[BenNSB]

From the looks of it you’re using 73 - 76 A body disc brakes.

It looks like you put the left spindle on the passenger side and the right on the driver’s side. This would set you up for front calipers, but to add insult to injury you put the left caliper on the passenger side and the right caliper on the drivers side.
Pull it apart and swap everything side to side . This is supposed to be rear caliper set up .

How’s that go …. Doo !

‘74 Dart brakes. I know I had intentionally placed them forward initially, I think I just left them after realizing the new ‘66 lower ball joints I had weren’t going to work. Got the correct 1962, 1973-76 Dart lower ball joints on order. I want to see if the front mounted calipers will clear the sway bar mounts. I will switch the calipers to the rear, since my hard lines are routed behind the a-arms. “D’oh!” Lol

 

[BenNSB]

Got the passenger side exhaust hung. The junkyard 1998 Ram collectors worked when swapped sides. They cleared the 727 trans and torsion bars. I used a 2” coupler with a 2-2.5” reducer and a section of 2.5” pipe to connect to the 2.5” ‘67 Barracuda exhaust. I can swap to a header collector if I decide to go that route later. Hopefully I’ll get the driver side done tomorrow.

 

[mygasser]

Got the passenger side exhaust hung. The junkyard 1998 Ram collectors worked when swapped sides. They cleared the 727 trans and torsion bars. I used a 2” coupler with a 2-2.5” reducer and a section of 2.5” pipe to connect to the 2.5” ‘67 Barracuda exhaust. I can swap to a header collector if I decide to go that route later. Hopefully I’ll get the driver side done tomorrow.

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i've done the same thing myself when hooking up a system to manifolds, as you say easy enough to add headers later that way
neil.
ps you won't believe how much 'crisper' the motor sounds once you do add the headers.

 

[BenNSB]

Exhaust is installed and tightened up. I’ll weld the tips on later, since the need a different hanger. I didn’t have to trim much off at all to get it to fit, maybe 6” total off 4 pipes.

 

[BenNSB]

Transmission cooler lines fit nicely. Just had to bend the front connections slightly to mate up with the 16”x22” B-Body radiator.

 

[BenNSB]

Don’t know if it was because I went with a different spindle and lower ball joints off a ‘74 Dart, but the sway bar hit the ball joint mounting bolt. I shortened the end links by 1 1/4” and relocated the calipers to the back side. New ball joints in and I got the driver side tie rod loosened up and now the tires up front are both in line. Still have to bleed the front brakes again and adjust the upper control arms, mount the radiator, and connect the trans cooler lines up front. Spent about 4 hours working on it in a heat index of 105 degrees.

 

[BenNSB]

So much fun…

 

[Rustyfish]

So much fun…View attachment 1715965076View attachment 1715965077 View attachment 1715965078View attachment 1715965080 View attachment 1715965079View attachment 1715965082 View attachment 1715965081View attachment 1715965083 View attachment 1715965084View attachment 1715965085

Nice work, that's not an easy area to repair from scratch!

 

[BenNSB]

I’m expecting to hit newspaper at this point.