65Cudafix
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I'm new to this forum, never been in any forum before...
New to MOPAR, always had Ford's usually pick-up trucks...
New to Auto restoration, retired out of military after 35 years and we had mechanics to fix our cars and trucks... Was an officer so never really even did routine maintenance, in the military vehicles have drivers that do those sorts of things... Was in the Infantry so we basically just walked anyway... When my 'civilian' vehicle (usually a ford pickup) broke or needed an oil change, I'd just have the wife take it to the shop - since I was usually out walking in the woods somewhere...
So, I thought now that I've some time on my hands, I might as well try my hand at restoring to driving condition (not to take to shows or for pictures in a magazine) a 65 Plymouth Barracuda that I found on Craigslist...
I've been at it a couple weeks now and have learned ALOT... Did you know they make cars in Canada?!! And those cars can and are different than American made cars?!! My Plymouth Barracuda says "V A I A N T" across the trunk lid ( the 'L' has been lost), I believe AMERICAN cars said "PLYMOUTH". My VIN is also too long and the paint and trim codes on the tag under the hood don't make any sense. Seems no one knows exactly how or why Canadian cars are different? EH?... Just adds to my overall sense of foreboding... At least it ain't metric!!!
Previous owners are an interesting lot also, did you know SOME previous owners spray under coating on their roof so it will appear (from a great distance) like a vinyl roof?? At least it doesn't appear that they did it to cover up rust... There is plenty of rust, but not (so it appears) on the roof, seems it was well undercoated...
All I've accomplished so far is:
Gut the interior... the seats appear in good enough shape, ceiling liner has a rip along one seam about 10 inches, the carpet is worn and sun-faded and will need replaced and I'll need to find someone to weld in some floor panels... but I have it all down to bare (rusty) metal...
I pulled the tires off and it appeared the brake drums were rusty also, I had them 'turned', and thought I'd replace the pads and cylinders... The interior brake hard ware was all rusty so I set it in vinegar for a day or two and cleaned up all those little springs and things as best I could... But broke a spring putting it back on... I went to the Auto Parts store to see if they could replace it, guess what!! They had replacements for ALL the springs for only $7 (per set) !!!
Seems like I put a lot of time trying to clean all those brake parts and pieces to save $7!!!
Ive also discovered that there are LOTS of other parts and pieces that I can get at the local Auto Parts store, like spark plugs, distributor caps... But there are some that they don't have and that I can't find on-line... Like:
The fill nozzle for the gas tank, seems the prior owner take gas tanks out (and all parts and pieces like the sending unit) and don't replace them... Fortunately, I found LOTS of gas tanks on-line that say they will fit and most of the parts and pieces (like gaskets and the aforementioned sending unit) except for the fill nozzle (filler tube) and gas cap.... I have the tank strap except for the bolt that attaches it to the car, so I need one of those as well but first things first.
I could/should have gotten more accomplished except for three reasons: 1) I'm retired so I'm cheap and go slow 2) I REALLY don't know what I'm doing, and 3) I live in northern Minnesota and it is literally freezing in my garage, despite two portable space heaters.
So, if any on this forum chose to take pity on me and throw me a bone...
Anyone know where I can find a 'filler tube' and gas cap? or a tank strap bolt??? Local Auto Salvage Yard guy laughed at me...
Thanks,
65Cudafix
I'm new to this forum, never been in any forum before...
New to MOPAR, always had Ford's usually pick-up trucks...
New to Auto restoration, retired out of military after 35 years and we had mechanics to fix our cars and trucks... Was an officer so never really even did routine maintenance, in the military vehicles have drivers that do those sorts of things... Was in the Infantry so we basically just walked anyway... When my 'civilian' vehicle (usually a ford pickup) broke or needed an oil change, I'd just have the wife take it to the shop - since I was usually out walking in the woods somewhere...
So, I thought now that I've some time on my hands, I might as well try my hand at restoring to driving condition (not to take to shows or for pictures in a magazine) a 65 Plymouth Barracuda that I found on Craigslist...
I've been at it a couple weeks now and have learned ALOT... Did you know they make cars in Canada?!! And those cars can and are different than American made cars?!! My Plymouth Barracuda says "V A I A N T" across the trunk lid ( the 'L' has been lost), I believe AMERICAN cars said "PLYMOUTH". My VIN is also too long and the paint and trim codes on the tag under the hood don't make any sense. Seems no one knows exactly how or why Canadian cars are different? EH?... Just adds to my overall sense of foreboding... At least it ain't metric!!!
Previous owners are an interesting lot also, did you know SOME previous owners spray under coating on their roof so it will appear (from a great distance) like a vinyl roof?? At least it doesn't appear that they did it to cover up rust... There is plenty of rust, but not (so it appears) on the roof, seems it was well undercoated...
All I've accomplished so far is:
Gut the interior... the seats appear in good enough shape, ceiling liner has a rip along one seam about 10 inches, the carpet is worn and sun-faded and will need replaced and I'll need to find someone to weld in some floor panels... but I have it all down to bare (rusty) metal...
I pulled the tires off and it appeared the brake drums were rusty also, I had them 'turned', and thought I'd replace the pads and cylinders... The interior brake hard ware was all rusty so I set it in vinegar for a day or two and cleaned up all those little springs and things as best I could... But broke a spring putting it back on... I went to the Auto Parts store to see if they could replace it, guess what!! They had replacements for ALL the springs for only $7 (per set) !!!
Seems like I put a lot of time trying to clean all those brake parts and pieces to save $7!!!
Ive also discovered that there are LOTS of other parts and pieces that I can get at the local Auto Parts store, like spark plugs, distributor caps... But there are some that they don't have and that I can't find on-line... Like:
The fill nozzle for the gas tank, seems the prior owner take gas tanks out (and all parts and pieces like the sending unit) and don't replace them... Fortunately, I found LOTS of gas tanks on-line that say they will fit and most of the parts and pieces (like gaskets and the aforementioned sending unit) except for the fill nozzle (filler tube) and gas cap.... I have the tank strap except for the bolt that attaches it to the car, so I need one of those as well but first things first.
I could/should have gotten more accomplished except for three reasons: 1) I'm retired so I'm cheap and go slow 2) I REALLY don't know what I'm doing, and 3) I live in northern Minnesota and it is literally freezing in my garage, despite two portable space heaters.
So, if any on this forum chose to take pity on me and throw me a bone...
Anyone know where I can find a 'filler tube' and gas cap? or a tank strap bolt??? Local Auto Salvage Yard guy laughed at me...
Thanks,
65Cudafix
to the fray!!! Best bet for finding the hard to find stuff is to put up a wanted ad on here - there are so many people in the know here... and a bunch of great parts resources!! SO - change the L to an R and have a VARIANT 
- isn't it great undoing other peoples *ahem* repairs!?? That roof sounds like a challenge and a half!!!
