Trying to save a ‘66 Barracuda

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briansb71

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Total nub, so please be patient with me? I located a ‘66 Barracuda that needs an entire radiator core support. Unfortunately, the car was attacked pretty hard as a parts car at some point but I feel sorry for it, its cheap, and don’t want to see it go to the fish cannery so I’d like to grab it and try to do something with it. I am not totally interested in drop dead originality, so will any post ‘67 A body core fit with no or only basic modification? 70s Valiants, Darts, and Dusters are much easier to find parts from around here, if they will fit. Anything specific I need to have in mind when hunting down and chopping out a used support? I know there were some radiator size differences but not what I’d need? The plan would be to run a 225 and a 904 and to eventually build a decent looking driver out of it; but a beat around “rolling project“ until then. Did the 904s physically change much through the ‘70s or will pretty much any bolt in? Finally, any specific 70s drive shafts to be on the look out for that will fall right in there or am I looking at having a new one made or tracking one from another ‘66 Barracuda? I am unclear on the rules yet. Thanks for your help!
 
i agree with MO, and suggest seeing if you can run down a core support. exhausting that option, i suppose you could start with the support out of a 70's car and hack it up enough to get you where you need be.

to what extent is it cut out? just the middle or end to end?

the 904 remained essentially unchanged from 68 on up and even into the 999/998 variants there is compatibility, so besides getting the mount right it'll bolt in. because of the wheelbase difference, you're probably looking at having one made. but you could always pick one up and at least be ahead with the yokes and just have it shortened.
 
some good early a body groups on fb, plenty of them being parted out, check them out.
 
The entire core is missing end to end. I think either it was damaged beyond repair and someone cut it out to replace it and never got back to it or it had a good one that someone took for another car. It appears that whoever did it took some time to remove it and didn’t just hack it out. All things considered, I would probably be better off tracking down a ‘66 Valiant for a parts car. Of course, like so many other things, they seemed easy to find and literally cheaper than dirt up until a few years ago but so far, the only cars I have come across are either too nice to cut up, overprice, or already have been parted and missing what I need. The body on the Barracuda was really too nice to have been used as a parts car, which leads me to believe that it was done quiet a while ago when nicer cars were more common and it really didn’t matter. Basically, everything from the cowl forward that would unbolt is gone (plus the core support) and everything from the cowl back remains, minus a few trim pieces. I hope I am correct in assuming that a from clip (fenders, hood, bumper, grill, lower grill panel) from a ‘66 Valiant 4 door will fit the Barracuda? I know the grill is a different design, but if it fills the void until I could locate the correct “egg crate” grill, that would be good. The 4 door seem to be the most common ‘66 left around, so if these parts transfer over, it would make my job easier! At this stage in the game, I am really just trying to know what my options are before grabbing it. If all the big parts don’t interchange, it would really get more frustrating and spoil the fun of trying to fix this one and probably be better to find a more complete car … however, if the Valiant goodies fit, it is probably game on!

Thanks to all for your comments and ideas!
 
The Valiant stuff will work. Do you have and engine and trans? Driveshafts are the same as Dusters and Valiants, using the same trans and rear.
 
No engine or trans yet, but locating a 225 and a 904 doesn’t seem like it will present much of a problem; doesn’t seem to be any shortage of them on facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc. So driveshafts were all the same length no matter the year - from ‘66-‘75ish? No matter the wheelbase?
 
briansb71 said:
The entire core is missing end to end.
Click to expand...

I have a complete radiator core on a 65 Barracuda, I'm pretty sure it will fit. I'll leave that to the experts here to confirm. How about a few pics of the front of your car so I can see if what I have looks right?
 
briansb71 said:
No engine or trans yet, but locating a 225 and a 904 doesn’t seem like it will present much of a problem; doesn’t seem to be any shortage of them on facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc. So driveshafts were all the same length no matter the year - from ‘66-‘75ish? No matter the wheelbase?
Click to expand...
Only the short wheelbase I said. The 67 up only moved the front wheels forward.
 
Pre 68 Trans will have a small snout to match the early crank, then it got big in 68 so they don't cross over unless you put an early trans on a later crank with a bushing. Try and get a matching pair. The 66 was a one year fender and grill as you know. Going to a 63-65 clip is bolt on , even off a Dart (Canadian models were half val and half dart for some reason) iirc the Duster 904/8.25 was the same length as the 66 904/7.25 buy I can't guarantee that. I wanna say 49.5"? The rad support will be 4" wider on a post 66 car.
 
I was probably unclear, but I located the car, but as of yet, I have not purchased it. I am really not a “Chrysler guy” by design, but the early Barracudas have been a bucket list car on my list for a long time. My first experience with one was my aunt’s (by marriage) mother drove a pretty beat ‘66 Barracuda when I was a little kid (mid 1970s). I had seen plenty of Valiants by that time, but never a Barracuda and I was fascinated by that huge back glass! I digress, I have a fairly strong mechanical knowledge having restored a few cars, novice welder, not bad with bodywork just slow, but very limited knowledge of Chryslers and what parts interchanged and when, thus why I am here. Tim, thanks for the offer on the core support, I might take you up on it later, but I am not quiet there yet. The missing parts on this car present both a challenge and an opportunity to me, but I really wanted to nail down what all of my options were before buying it. I already had in mind buying a 1974 or older 225 and 904 as a unit, just to simplify the parts search. Now knowing there could be some issues mating the two together, I’ll definitely confine the search to buying a complete unit. I still don’t think I’ll have much of a problem locating that. I honestly don’t know which rear end is in it, or if it was a v8 car or a six. It was an automatic and all of the shifting parts are intact. Good to know about the Duster drive shafts as well as being able to mod a newer core support if I am up against it. Definitely want to keep the ‘66 look and I am sure a Valiant parts car will turn up; this is definitely going to be a long term project (unless I win the lottery!), so I have the luxury of time to track down the bigger and Barracuda specific parts. I have found that it has worked out best for me to buy a restorable car and slowly put it back together; even with all the extra time and work required, it just works out better for me to ‘pay as you go‘ rather than trying to save up to buy a finished car or taking out a loan. Life just keeps getting in the way, so better to have most of a Barracuda than none at all!

Thanks again to all for your info, advice and suggestion!
 
'65-6 A-body has the same radiator core support for the 22" radiator (recommended for any engine size). The '63-4 will work also but, only came with a 19" wide radiator. Fine for a 6cyl however. As mentioned, if you get a complete unbolt front end, any '63-6 can be a donor. If you want to keep the '66 look, '66 is unique. Valiant and Barracuda share the same sheet metal up front including the front bumper assembly, but, naturally, moldings and emblems will vary depending on model. The VIN and fender tag will tell you if it's a 273 car or 6cyl. The fender tag will also give you some option info too. The driveshaft will depend on which rear end you have, and which Plymouth A-body and it's rear end is the donor. It's mainly matching the correct length and u-joint size. It's not a big deal getting one too long and having it shortened either. If the transmission crossmember is missing, a '63-6 one will work. The exact one is '65-6. When getting the drivetrain, there are year differences in such things as motor mounts, oil pan, carb, etc. Finding those might be a little more of a challenge as the '67 and newer versions of the parts I mentioned won't work without modification. Once you find out if it's a V8 or 6cyl, and which you decide to install, we can give you more details.
 
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