Hi, I am proud owner of a 67 Barracuda Coupe that is used as a bracket racer in southern Wisconsin. Vehicle as been in my family since 1977 and has always been configured as a race vehicle. It is a 4-speed car, 4:86 gear, and used to be a +0.60 383 ( more on that later) with a best time o 11:21 @ 121 MPH. Lots of fun. As you might expect the engine has been apart and back together many times at my hand with no issues to speak of.
Now the rest of the story (this is the tale of woe part). In 2005 we moved from Minnesota back to Wisconsin. Due to various career opportunities I have had the chance to live in Minnesota (twice), Illinois, and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is home though and in 2005 as we planned future retirement tat's where we chose to settle down. During the move I stored the 67 at my son's house. Was balmy 60's when we stored so no one considered "maybe we should drain radiator/ block" question. Needless to say, mercury took a plunge while car was in storage and punched out two freeze plugs on passenger side of engine. While disappointing, my reaction was "great, freeze plugs did their job!" Replaced plugs and back to race operations. Car running pretty consistent 11:80's which at that time was where we expected to be. All is well in the world.
2007 / 2008 - car just doesn't respond as we think it should. 11:80's now fond memory and mostly seeing mid '90's. Plus car has become somewhat inconsistent.
2009 - son is driving and has misfortune of grenading the rear end. Wiped out posi, ring, pinion, and mostly everything else in the housing. At this time car was running 4:56 gear set. Parked car to divine how to pay for putting it back together. Season over.
2010 - car stayed parked. Other priorities in household budget. Life just happens sometimes.
2011 - decided to upgrade rear end. Strange axles, spool, 4:86 gear set, indestructible bearing caps. Went together well. Back to track. Occasional 11:70, mostly 11:80's, but very inconsistent. Tweak lots of stuff but no real change. Also note that clutch adjustment seems difficult to achieve and seems to change on it's own. Figure that can't be it - I haven't messed with clutch in years. Loose patience and actually break down and ask friend for his opinion. Very smart guy, lots of tranny/clutch experience. His advice is "your clutch is probably junk. Might be worth while to take a look at it. Get home, pull trans etc and low and behold pressure plat is SEVERELY warped. Check book a bit low - park car and start think about street car.
2012 - upgrade clutch to 5 paddle disc, new pressure plate, flywheel, throw-out, fabricated new linkage. Back to track once again. 11:40 off the trailer. Couple mid 11:30's. high fives all around. Wrap it up for the day. Next time out son's turn to drive. Car goes 11:50. Check all in pits and notice engine is now pumping what could be mistaken for a nice latte' out between head and block on both banks. Figure this doesn't look right so back to dis assembly mode. Remember the unasked "maybe we should drain radiator/ block" question from way back when? Well, turns out #2 and #4 cylinders are both cracked. Latte' stuff is result of putting lots of water int0o crankcase and then mixing at high RPM. Not pretty.
2013 - after much deliberation, decide to sleeve bad cylinders and try to save the motor. Engine to shop, work completed and I bring all home for reassembly. Shouldn't be much of a project as I have done this many times before. Engine back together and in car. All seems well. Back to track - son driving. 1st pass gets a bit out of shape and he shuts off early. 2nd pass he again turns off early and is not running by time he gets back to pits. Quick visual inspection shows evidence of oil and coolant on exterior of engine. Doesn't look very normal.
Now the tale of woe part. Dis-assemble engine one more time. Metal shavings throughout, #2 rod bearing gone and rod cap heat discolored. #1 rod bearing severely damaged, crank badly scored, #2 cylinder (one of the previously sleeved) cracked, evidence of piston to valve interference on #1 and #2, Long story short - engine has morphed into very large paper weight as it is no longer good for much more. Ultimate cause or the carnage - assembly error! Someone put #1 piston assembly down the #2 hole and vice versa. Look for someone to blame. Find culprit staring back at me from mirror.
And now the opportunity part - decided to upgrade to RB. Have some good 383 parts on shelve that will be sold at reasonable prices and some that will be given away to good home for cost of shipping. RB is a 499 CI stroker so excited about new season coming up. More on that in another post.
Now the rest of the story (this is the tale of woe part). In 2005 we moved from Minnesota back to Wisconsin. Due to various career opportunities I have had the chance to live in Minnesota (twice), Illinois, and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is home though and in 2005 as we planned future retirement tat's where we chose to settle down. During the move I stored the 67 at my son's house. Was balmy 60's when we stored so no one considered "maybe we should drain radiator/ block" question. Needless to say, mercury took a plunge while car was in storage and punched out two freeze plugs on passenger side of engine. While disappointing, my reaction was "great, freeze plugs did their job!" Replaced plugs and back to race operations. Car running pretty consistent 11:80's which at that time was where we expected to be. All is well in the world.
2007 / 2008 - car just doesn't respond as we think it should. 11:80's now fond memory and mostly seeing mid '90's. Plus car has become somewhat inconsistent.
2009 - son is driving and has misfortune of grenading the rear end. Wiped out posi, ring, pinion, and mostly everything else in the housing. At this time car was running 4:56 gear set. Parked car to divine how to pay for putting it back together. Season over.
2010 - car stayed parked. Other priorities in household budget. Life just happens sometimes.
2011 - decided to upgrade rear end. Strange axles, spool, 4:86 gear set, indestructible bearing caps. Went together well. Back to track. Occasional 11:70, mostly 11:80's, but very inconsistent. Tweak lots of stuff but no real change. Also note that clutch adjustment seems difficult to achieve and seems to change on it's own. Figure that can't be it - I haven't messed with clutch in years. Loose patience and actually break down and ask friend for his opinion. Very smart guy, lots of tranny/clutch experience. His advice is "your clutch is probably junk. Might be worth while to take a look at it. Get home, pull trans etc and low and behold pressure plat is SEVERELY warped. Check book a bit low - park car and start think about street car.
2012 - upgrade clutch to 5 paddle disc, new pressure plate, flywheel, throw-out, fabricated new linkage. Back to track once again. 11:40 off the trailer. Couple mid 11:30's. high fives all around. Wrap it up for the day. Next time out son's turn to drive. Car goes 11:50. Check all in pits and notice engine is now pumping what could be mistaken for a nice latte' out between head and block on both banks. Figure this doesn't look right so back to dis assembly mode. Remember the unasked "maybe we should drain radiator/ block" question from way back when? Well, turns out #2 and #4 cylinders are both cracked. Latte' stuff is result of putting lots of water int0o crankcase and then mixing at high RPM. Not pretty.
2013 - after much deliberation, decide to sleeve bad cylinders and try to save the motor. Engine to shop, work completed and I bring all home for reassembly. Shouldn't be much of a project as I have done this many times before. Engine back together and in car. All seems well. Back to track - son driving. 1st pass gets a bit out of shape and he shuts off early. 2nd pass he again turns off early and is not running by time he gets back to pits. Quick visual inspection shows evidence of oil and coolant on exterior of engine. Doesn't look very normal.
Now the tale of woe part. Dis-assemble engine one more time. Metal shavings throughout, #2 rod bearing gone and rod cap heat discolored. #1 rod bearing severely damaged, crank badly scored, #2 cylinder (one of the previously sleeved) cracked, evidence of piston to valve interference on #1 and #2, Long story short - engine has morphed into very large paper weight as it is no longer good for much more. Ultimate cause or the carnage - assembly error! Someone put #1 piston assembly down the #2 hole and vice versa. Look for someone to blame. Find culprit staring back at me from mirror.
And now the opportunity part - decided to upgrade to RB. Have some good 383 parts on shelve that will be sold at reasonable prices and some that will be given away to good home for cost of shipping. RB is a 499 CI stroker so excited about new season coming up. More on that in another post.
