When does money outweigh sentimental value? 1968 notchback build thread

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Installed the steering column. Cut the wires and re terminated to a gm plug. Got the borgeson joint drilled, pinned and everything attached to each other.

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I think sentimental value or the lack thereof actually should be a huge consideration here. I was never looking for an A body Notch...I always wanted my 69 440 Road Runner from HS back...or an E body Cuda but I knew the 68 Notch was my Dad's dream build and when I had the shot to buy this one I jumped on it. My Dad passed years ago and the car has inherent challenges on top of the design challenges I've added...and I wouldn't change a thing, nor would I quit this build! Family and/or past connections are huge for guys and gals with cars they love, you see it and feel it in person, and in darn near every Overhaulin, Phantom Works etc. episode, my wife will never understand the connection factor that I and thousands of other folks do in this arena. The point is the connection is there, you have a connection with your Notch and have already dug into it and made it yours! I agree with many other comments in that, maybe there's a notch out there with a pristine body, but it will be expensive and it won't be yours. I also agree that the pics you have shown is damage that is fixable, it's all fixable. My two cents: go with your heart/gut...this is a muscle car! I mean nothing about these things really make financial sense right? We've got every other area in our lives to consider and/or worry about "financial sense". Good Luck!
 
I think sentimental value or the lack thereof actually should be a huge consideration here. I was never looking for an A body Notch...I always wanted my 69 440 Road Runner from HS back...or an E body Cuda but I knew the 68 Notch was my Dad's dream build and when I had the shot to buy this one I jumped on it. My Dad passed years ago and the car has inherent challenges on top of the design challenges I've added...and I wouldn't change a thing, nor would I quit this build! Family and/or past connections are huge for guys and gals with cars they love, you see it and feel it in person, and in darn near every Overhaulin, Phantom Works etc. episode, my wife will never understand the connection factor that I and thousands of other folks do in this arena. The point is the connection is there, you have a connection with your Notch and have already dug into it and made it yours! I agree with many other comments in that, maybe there's a notch out there with a pristine body, but it will be expensive and it won't be yours. I also agree that the pics you have shown is damage that is fixable, it's all fixable. My two cents: go with your heart/gut...this is a muscle car! I mean nothing about these things really make financial sense right? We've got every other area in our lives to consider and/or worry about "financial sense". Good Luck!
Well said
 
She found her home. What should have been a 10 minute job was an hour.

PRO TIP: Make sure the biscuit mounts aren't upside down. LoL.

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Been playing wire mock up. Both with the trans controller and the engine compartment. Here is the engine harness/bulkhead from American auto wire. Trans harness is on hold, I had to order some pins to re terminate.

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Also, here's the Holley EFI harness. I deconstructed, shortened and eliminated. Here is what Holley sent.

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Here's deconstructed

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Here's what I eliminated and removed

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I'm combining the Holley stealth Terminator with the hyper spark ignition to run electronically controlled timing. So I eliminated two harnesses and created a jumper.

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Here is some cutting back, re splicing and re pinning

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Here's the EFI harness after I was done with it, before it gets loomed.

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Here's a couple pics of layout.

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Beautiful
Hey thanks. Reconfigured the battery/power distribution box. Added a battery lug and moved the busbars. Had to order a few more proprietary Holley pins for the ignition box and coil. That way I can add and subtract wire without splicing.

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Also installed a 12v DC fan to keep air moving.
 
Won't be long now, that car is coming to the end of production.are you going to take it down the dragstrip?and what will you do with your self when you finish the barracuda.you have done a terrific job.that is something to be proud of. Motor looks good in the hole.and it's a pump gas beast. I talked with Ed Miller Saturday night I'm going to his bone yard and pick out another car to work on. I will send you a picture of the next project. I finish em,sell em and repeat.except the barracuda it stays here.love.your car and once again you have done a good job. I will pick you up a project if you feel the urge to continue with the addition
 
did you drill a hole to route the wire from the tach and display, or just squeeze it under the dash pad along side the bracket? also wondering what the paint code on your tag is. looks the same as my 68' but you never know from pics
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did you drill a hole to route the wire from the tach and display, or just squeeze it under the dash pad along side the bracket? also wondering what the paint code on your tag is. looks the same as my 68' but you never know from pics
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I did not drill a hole. I kept it as low profile as possible and snuck it between the dash pad and frame. Body color is TT1 avocado green and the interior is dark metallic green, no idea on code. The paint is Sherwin-Williams automotive. They only offered TT1 in there low-level paint. My painter would only use their top of the line, so I took their ultra 7000 color samples and matched it the best I could. It's extremely close.
 
looks great, my valiant is FF1, but i think the repaint came out closer to TT1, fine with me. the tach in my valiant is going in the same place, and i was thinking of running it down the defroster vent hole, but this looks good too
 
Tell me about the third brake light... I have a Hella that mounts up top. I’m curious how this one turns out. Integration does not look as elegant but it isn't really noticeable and it is just above the field of view in the rear view mirror.
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All right, I said I would update when I've got this figured out. So here's my third brake light process.

2004 Audi TT third brake light. Fits with minimal modification on a notch back.

Here's what it looks like stock.

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On the sides there were pieces that extended out. I trimmed them off flat on the bottom.
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Then I pie cut the corners

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I then heated and bent the bottoms up a bit

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It came with 2 metal retention clips that held it to the Audi, I repurposed these.

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I removed the clips and used them to pinch the brake light, were I bent the plastic, and the package tray together.

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I added to quarter inch rubber bumpers on the underside. This helps supply a little tension to the third brake light and wedges it against the glass with a tiny bit of pressure.

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I re-soldered a third brake light flasher into the power side of the LED. since the second gen barracudas have such small brake lights, that should help draw attention while braking.

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Then I hit it with some Herb's interior dye to match the interior. And without further adu, here's the final product.

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I got all the wiring from the firewall back done. Dash harness is complete, transmission control, rear harness including third brake light and fuel pump power, rear speaker wires and under seat sub. Here is the sub mock-up, Fab and complete.

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Here's some pics of the interior and harnesses. First is transmission control module by compushift.

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This is engine compartment to interior. This houses can bus 1, can bus 2, TPS signal and reference return, fuel pump supply and vacuum hose for my performance gauge.

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And the rest of the wire layout inside.

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Oh and I picked up my seats from my upholsterer. They turned out pretty well, I'm extremely pleased with them. They're modeled after the original 68 deluxe interior, including the medallions.

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I guess it's time to update this thread. Been a while and i've been getting after it. Here is the steering support sector bearing. This is from firmfeel. However it doesn't work with the borgeson box. The box is a metric thread and the support nut from firmfeel is standard/stock. Matt at firmfeel ended up sending me a blank support nut that I drilled and rethreaded to M22x1.5.

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Header fitment... Well not really. Idk who Doug is but I suspect he also owns Milodon. These are D453's and I had to 'massage' 5 of 8 header tubes. Idk why they don't include a hammer with every purchase.

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I guess it's time to update this thread. Been a while and i've been getting after it. Here is the steering support sector bearing. This is from firmfeel. However it doesn't work with the borgeson box. The box is a metric thread and the support nut from firmfeel is standard/stock. Matt at firmfeel ended up sending me a blank support nut that I drilled and rethreaded to M22x1.5.

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Is firm feel going to eventually offer one of those for a borgeson box,
 
Next was driveline angle. Ended up 2* to 2.3* down on the balancer and tailshaft. Then tacked the uscartool trans mount and got it welded up.

Got an aluminum driveshaft made and started mock up on a driveshaft loop.

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