Street Cruser

[KosmicKuda]

Looks like the logical place for turnsignals is outboard of the headlights.
Start paying attention to other cars then go junkyarding. Kind of a narrow D?

 

[my68barracuda]

Looks like the logical place for turnsignals is outboard of the headlights.
Start paying attention to other cars then go junkyarding. Kind of a narrow D?

and that is a good though as I need to fab up a piece of trim for those corners, I will look into that, thanks

 

[my68barracuda]

Finished the grill install and the revised radiator ducting today.
Relocated the material trimmed from the center of the 67 Coronet grill to the outside of the head light bezels to finish those spaces
Installed the turn signals / parking lights behind the main grill to keep the keep the look of the front end uniform.
I will wait for warmer weather to do the polish and paint.
For the trim around the grill perimeter, l probably will hire that out to get a nice professional metal finish.

 

[KosmicKuda]

Kinda like a cross with a 69 Charger 500. They flushed the grille to elimibate the very un-aerodynamic scoop effect for NASCAR.

My 68 is a plain Jane car and I've day dreamed about doing a mild custom and possible changes would be to custom build a vertical bar flush grille, shave the drip rails, flush the windshield, shave and refit the bumpers, that kind of stuff.

Good luck and I hope to see your car in person again.

Just to keep this legal, I put my /6 64 away for the winter too.

 

[my68barracuda]

The OE steering wheel in the 68B, for a 50+ year old part is about perfect, no cracks, scratches, or wear so I really did not want to subject it to a lot of hard tugging like one would get into with Autocross.
I also wanted a wheel with a little thicker rim and a more racey appearance. For me a Mopar Tuff Wheel was the answer.
Getting the Tuff Wheel was easy, getting the steering column adapter to position the flat Tuff Wheel about where the dished OE wheel sat was more difficult. New adapters have been out of stock at the aftermarket suppliers since at least last August. Occasionally the OE adapters from the 70's are listed for sale and last month I bought one.

Finished up the install today. I like it.
The OE 68 steering wheel and the Tuff Wheel are in the photos below.

 

[my68barracuda]

Made the trim to surround the front grill and headlights. Used aluminum angle stock from Lowes, heated it with a torch to get soft enough for bending and then braised the ends together using a propane torch and aluminum brazing rods. Practiced some new skills on this project.
Some of my goals on this project were:
1) maintain the OE shape-size-attachment points to make it easy to return to the stock grill surrounds
2) utilize qual head lights with one opening being a cold air intake
3) the change is to have a positive effect on the front end aerodynamics and remove weight.
4) have the new front end look like something that Chrysler/Plymouth could have done back in 1968

The 1967 Dodge Coronet grill insert and head light surrounds have not been cleaned or re painted. That will happen with warmer spring weather. That gives me time to decide to: black the grill and bezels, or make them all shiny, or a combination of both.

 

[mygasser]

ooh! that would be really cool with the 66/7 charger 'hideaway' headlights

 

[my68barracuda]

ooh! that would be really cool with the 66/7 charger 'hideaway' headlights

Oh Yea, but I would not want to guess what those pieces would cost.
I got the head light bezels for $35.00 for the pair and the grill section for $200 shipped, so that was enough of an investment.
I have all of the OE grill and surrounds. In ‘driver’ shape but needs a complete restoration.
Part of the motivation to do this project was to have a grill on the car so I have the time to restore the OE parts at my leisure, if I choose to reinstall them.

 

[my68barracuda]

This post shows the Roller Rockers and the valve cover revisions made to provide clearance for the rockers inside the valve cover after the B3 spacers were installed.
These rockers were purchased from Jim Cox probably five years ago. They are new never ran, have pressurized oiling to the roller tip and the adjuster end.
The B3 spacers moved the rocker shaft up a bit over .200 I checked the clearance with molding clay, rolling the engine over by hand. The outboard adjusters hit the valve cover hard. The adjusters below the valve cover internal baffels just touched the baffels. This is with a valve cover gasket installed in the valve cover.
Link to the B3 discussion Rocker Arm Geometery - Slant Six Forum
To provide a safety margin I repeated the clearance test with the valve cover gasket removed and the valve cover bolted in place and made modifications for clearance.

Photos below show the Roller Rockers, the valve cover modifications, and a side by side comparison of a stock valve cover and the modified valve cover.
I applied Loctite 290 to the welds. Loctite 290 is a wicking fluid intended for sealing porosity in welds and metals.
The cylinder head I am using is a 1987 Hydraulic Head and valve cover.

 

[abdywgn]

Nice work! (for above and below posts)

 

[my68barracuda]

The cylinder head being used is a hydraulic head and the camshaft is the stock 87 core reground, so the rear journal has the groove for full time rocker oiling.
I had previously added a brass bushing to the outside diameter of the rear rocker hold down bolt to restrict the oil flow up to the rockers. That worked.
With the .200 thick B3 spacers installed I needed longer rocker shaft hold down bolts.
I made the rear bolt by welding a steel bushing to a standard 5/16 inch grade 8 bolt then grinding the manufactured collar down to the same diameter as a special OE bolt collar.
I then installed the brass oil control bushing that I had used earlier.
It is understood that with the mechanical rocker shaft being used the special rear bolt no longer serves as a mistake proof device to get the rocker shaft set in the correct orientation.
I use the collar on the special bolt to position the brass oil flow restrictor so that is why I duplicated it on a longer bolt.

 

[my68barracuda]

Back on the grill work, this has been a cold spring in Indy, been waiting for the temperature to get up in the mid 60's to spray paint.
photos below are of the bezels and grill sections. Polished and painted.

 

[halfafish]

Back on the grill work, this has been a cold spring in Indy, been waiting for the temperature to get up in the mid 60's to spray paint.
photos below are of the bezels and grill sections. Polished and painted.

View attachment 1715901881

View attachment 1715901882

View attachment 1715901883

View attachment 1715901884

Wow. That is some snazzy stuff!

 

[my68barracuda]

The grill parts are painted, polished and installed.
Like I have done on other vehicles that I own, I like to make minor customization mods.

I still have all of the OE 68 Barracuda grill and head lamp surround parts, and in doing this conversion none of the OE grill or lamp surround mounting points were modified, so the OE grill and surrounds could be reinstalled easily. That was one of the goals of this project, to be able to take it back to OE if desired. It would not be insurmountable to restore the 67 Dodge Cornet grill back to useable condition in a B body.

Have one more big item to get done, The ring and pinion in the 8.75 is an original Mopar unit. Probably has lot of miles on it and it is just noisy, has a whine.
I have a new 3:55 gear set, minor install kit and a gasket set on order from Dr Diff.
That is next weeks project.

 

[my68barracuda]

The last big project for this year is changing out the ring and pinion in the 742 differential. It has an off throttle howl. The gear set is a 3:55 and I am replacing it with a new 3:55. The ring gear in there now has a manufacturing date of 1968, who know how many hard miles, adjustments and mis adjustments it has seen.
Got the new gear set and assembly parts from Dr Diff.

I plan to do the differential reassembly tomorrow, and have the axels and everything back in place by this time next week.

 

[my68barracuda]

The differential is assembled, plan is to put it back in tomorrow.

I used a few pieces of scrap iron to build a frame to mount the differential housing to my engine rollover. That worked out well.
Later in the process when setting up the back lash I attached a strip of steel to the housing to hold the magnetic dial indicator base.
Worked great to be able to slide the base right in on a tooth without any fixture adjustments.

Some particulars on the final set up:

The final large bearing shim thickness ended up at .0970, with the OE gear set it was .0950
The pinion bearing shim thickness ended up at .0395, with the OE gear set it was .0510

Torque to turn only the pinion 10 to 11 inch lb
Torque to turn the complete assembly 25 inch lb
Backlash in four places spaced around the ring gear
.0075
.0075
.0008
.0100

Installed new ring gear bolts
For the pinion nut, the FSM specifies 240 FT lbs, Dr Diff says that is wrong and the correct value is 170 Ft lbs.
Installed a new nut and washer and I went with 185 FT lbs and a drop of Red Loctite

 

[my68barracuda]

Sure is nice when a plan comes together. I eyeballed the tilt and clocking of the axel housing mounted in the 68 Barracuda and made a platform to hold the assembled 742 differential on my floor jack to match the tilt and angle. Strapped the housing to the platform and rolled it under the car, lifted the differential with the jack, rolled the jack back and BOOM, it was in, it may have taken me more time to type this than to get the differential back in. That was nice.

 

[my68barracuda]

Drove the 68 Barracuda out of the garage yesterday. I had a list of projects that I wanted to get done when I drove it in the garage early last November. The car was running and drivable, the projects were aimed at making the car more of what it can be.

One of the project items that still is not right, when I put the roller rockers on, I also added a B3 valve train geometry kit. The B3 kit raised the rocker arm shaft around .230 which caused the roller rockers to contact the valve cover. I had made modifications to the VC to address the clearance issue, but they were not enough. The rockers were hammering pretty hard against the VC on the initial start. I added a second VC gasket. That stopped the pounding, but the rockers are still close as with my hand on the VC with the engine running I can feel a light tapping.
I believe that I will take the existing VC that I have already modified and section it and weld in a 1/2 in band to raise the top.

The good news is the motor fired up from its 6 month slumber without an issue. I drove the car around the neighborhood and it seems fine.

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

Did I ask you this ..I don't know... so what does the head flow.

 

[RustyRatRod]

This is coming along great, John. But from one friend to another I need to tell you something. Maybe you've noticed, maybe not. You're missin a headlight. lol

 

[halfafish]

Drove the 68 Barracuda out of the garage yesterday. I had a list of projects that I wanted to get done when I drove it in the garage early last November. The car was running and drivable, the projects were aimed at making the car more of what it can be.

One of the project items that still is not right, when I put the roller rockers on, I also added a B3 valve train geometry kit. The B3 kit raised the rocker arm shaft around .230 which caused the roller rockers to contact the valve cover. I had made modifications to the VC to address the clearance issue, but they were not enough. The rockers were hammering pretty hard against the VC on the initial start. I added a second VC gasket. That stopped the pounding, but the rockers are still close as with my hand on the VC with the engine running I can feel a light tapping.
I believe that I will take the existing VC that I have already modified and section it and weld in a 1/2 in band to raise the top.

The good news is the motor fired up from its 6 month slumber without an issue. I drove the car around the neighborhood and it seems fine.

View attachment 1715933033

View attachment 1715933034

Yeah Buddy. Your punch list looks like my punch list. The eternal gottagetitdone stuff can be overwhelming. Good job moving the project forwards.

 

[my68barracuda]

Did I ask you this ..I don't know... so what does the head flow.

I’ll dig the flow sheets out and post the numbers. It may be a day or two.

 

[volaredon]

I dunno if he would do one for a /6 or not, but on the 360 magnum in my Durango I put a set of valve cover spacers on it. there's a guy on eBay that sells different thickness valve cover spacers for less than 1/2 of what (taller) Mopar performance valve covers go for, I bought a set and put them on when I put the 1.7 roller rockers on that engine.you will need 2 v c gaskets (not included) and he sends some longer studs along with them. Makes it easier to line up than finagling bolts thru a cover, spacer and 2 gaskets
(Hey I got them with a parts trade for almost free)
This guy does them for several Mopar GM and Ford V8s I'll have to look, the guy sent me a couple of his cards with them. His name is Dan "something" and he's out of Pa.

 

[my68barracuda]

I dunno if he would do one for a /6 or not, but on the 360 magnum in my Durango I put a set of valve cover spacers on it. there's a guy on eBay that sells different thickness valve cover spacers for less than 1/2 of what (taller) Mopar performance valve covers go for, I bought a set and put them on when I put the 1.7 roller rockers on that engine.you will need 2 v c gaskets (not included) and he sends some longer studs along with them. Makes it easier to line up than finagling bolts thru a cover, spacer and 2 gaskets
(Hey I got them with a parts trade for almost free)
This guy does them for several Mopar GM and Ford V8s I'll have to look, the guy sent me a couple of his cards with them. His name is Dan "something" and he's out of Pa.

Don, thanks

 

[MOPAROFFICIAL]

I’ll dig the flow sheets out and post the numbers. It may be a day or two.

Seems like a pretty stout build.
Getting the air in has ways been the more difficult part of running the slant. The small bore doesn't allow for big valves without shrouding them really bad.. which of course has effect on the flow characteristics from one side of the port to the next. I hear 200-220 cfm is about it. Most I've gotten was 202cfm on one port and the rest 196-199cfm w/1.7 intakes.