71 340 Cuda convertible...ANOTHER UPDATE

[1 Wild R/T]

I'm fairly sure his guy knows exactly what he has. He has been selling off his father's collection for a few years now. He had another 71 Barracuda Convertible project and a 69 Coronet Convertible project and a few others.

So what does that mean?That he has a real jewel here and should hold out for more? Or that he knows this thing has been cobbled together like Frankenstein but he's hoping some buyer won't see that?

Every time I hear the words, "I know what I have here" the source is almost always from some delusional old codger with some rusty pile of junk that's melted into the ground so bad you can hardly tell what it once was. And he wants 500 times what it might be worth because he heard of a halfway similar car at Barrett-Jackson. Those words give me pause more than "barn find" or "cream puff."

We all agree that a real Cuda Convertible is worth good money when finished but this thing is a hunk of crap and it will take some real skill here along with a mountain of cash. It would be cool to see it saved and I hope it is but if it's as bad as it appears, $5k is more like it. And I think that's generous.

Pretty sure what Chris means is the guy knows it's a steaming pile but has no problem representing it as mostly original & when questions are asked he claims ignorance....

[BFM_Cuda]

Interesting update from Alan... maybe we will see it on ebay again.



Honestly, I'd be interested if the price was fair...   

[70 Challenger Lover]

I can't get past the whole reaching out to Alan thing. That reeks. For a no reserve auction to go so high, there must be al least two bidders willing to pay that kind of money. It hasn't been very long yet he's willing to give up on the winner with an 18k offer. And rather than move on to the next guy in line who is only a hundred bucks behind the winner, he reaches out to someone who showed interest but never actually made an offer. I bet the legit bidders stopped bidding at half that amount and the seller is just being greedy.

[Crocha617]

I'm fairly sure his guy knows exactly what he has. He has been selling off his father's collection for a few years now. He had another 71 Barracuda Convertible project and a 69 Coronet Convertible project and a few others.

So what does that mean?That he has a real jewel here and should hold out for more? Or that he knows this thing has been cobbled together like Frankenstein but he's hoping some buyer won't see that?

Every time I hear the words, "I know what I have here" the source is almost always from some delusional old codger with some rusty pile of junk that's melted into the ground so bad you can hardly tell what it once was. And he wants 500 times what it might be worth because he heard of a halfway similar car at Barrett-Jackson. Those words give me pause more than "barn find" or "cream puff."

We all agree that a real Cuda Convertible is worth good money when finished but this thing is a hunk of crap and it will take some real skill here along with a mountain of cash. It would be cool to see it saved and I hope it is but if it's as bad as it appears, $5k is more like it. And I think that's generous.

Pretty sure what Chris means is the guy knows it's a steaming pile but has no problem representing it as mostly original & when questions are asked he claims ignorance....

Exactly what I meant. I guarantee his guy has been around mopars convertibles since he was in diapers and knows exactly what this pile is....

[worthywads]

he's fishing, fish back: ask for pics of the body stampings 

+1 on getting some pictures of the 3 matching numbers.  Without those matching it's worthless.

Assuming they indeed match, one thing that I see when looking at this is that from the dash forward it is actually in way better shape than going back.  Good enough that it is mostly usable, inner fenders pretty clean, front frame rails look pretty good, shock tower good.   Area where the doors mount pretty good, and the cowl area and firewall, except for the chopped out section on the passenger side?

It would be doable and perfectly legal to find a decent donor convertible and swap on this front clip.  It's possible that's what happened way back when this may have had a bad rear ending and the donor was the back of a hardtop.

Would that be looked at as "saving" the 'Cuda, or essentially re-Bodying?

[CudamanTom]

It would be doable and perfectly legal to find a decent donor convertible and swap on this front clip.  It's possible that's what happened way back when this may have had a bad rear ending and the donor was the back of a hardtop.

Would that be looked at as "saving" the 'Cuda, or essentially re-Bodying?

Well I would think getting the rear half of a vert would be needed if indeed the front half had the stampings. The door jamb wedges would be my big concern without looking at the rest.

[worthywads]

It would be doable and perfectly legal to find a decent donor convertible and swap on this front clip.  It's possible that's what happened way back when this may have had a bad rear ending and the donor was the back of a hardtop.

Would that be looked at as "saving" the 'Cuda, or essentially re-Bodying?

Well I would think getting the rear half of a vert would be needed if indeed the front half had the stampings. The door jamb wedges would be my big concern without looking at the rest.

My 70 Challenger convertible is missing the wedge on the passenger side, I was unaware of such things when I bought it 27 years ago, the passenger window is also hardtop.

[6bblgt]

If the front dog house section was originally from the orange 340 convertible then why was the top half of the windshield frame changed?

[1 Wild R/T]

It would be doable and perfectly legal to find a decent donor convertible and swap on this front clip.  It's possible that's what happened way back when this may have had a bad rear ending and the donor was the back of a hardtop.

Would that be looked at as "saving" the 'Cuda, or essentially re-Bodying?

Well I would think getting the rear half of a vert would be needed if indeed the front half had the stampings. The door jamb wedges would be my big concern without looking at the rest.

My 70 Challenger convertible is missing the wedge on the passenger side, I was unaware of such things when I bought it 27 years ago, the passenger window is also hardtop.

Same wedges were used on A, B & C body verts so they aren't hard to come by... And they are kind of important as they keep the body from flexing enough to close the door gap which would chip the paint off the edge of the door...    Vert Glass is reproduced if you care...

[anlauto]

If the front dog house section was originally from the orange 340 convertible then why was the top half of the windshield frame changed?

That's what I find confusing 

[Shoooter]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didnt 71s have a dent in the top of the passenger inner fender? I thought 70s didnt have these markers?

[worthywads]

Same wedges were used on A, B & C body verts so they aren't hard to come by... And they are kind of important as they keep the body from flexing enough to close the door gap which would chip the paint off the edge of the door...    Vert Glass is reproduced if you care...

I'm not sure how the wedge works?  Is there just a hole in the door jamb and the springed wedge thing screwed in.  I'll have to go take a look at the side with one.

I quick google found a pair for $275 and $199.

Is the door jamb different or can it be recreated simply by cutting out the hole?

Sorry I'm hijacking this thread.

Yeah I know the windows are available, I'm saving to buy a full set sometime, someone etched Teresa with a rose on the quarter windows.......

[1 Wild R/T]

Same wedges were used on A, B & C body verts so they aren't hard to come by... And they are kind of important as they keep the body from flexing enough to close the door gap which would chip the paint off the edge of the door...    Vert Glass is reproduced if you care...

I'm not sure how the wedge works?  Is there just a hole in the door jamb and the springed wedge thing screwed in.  I'll have to go take a look at the side with one.

The wedges are spring loaded to force the wedge to create as much separation between the door and quarter as possible, if you hit a bump & the body flexes in such a way the the door & quarter separate further the wedge slides to prevent that gap from closing... So after a drive the gap at the top of the door to quarter gap could be wider than it was before the drive, but the gap can't close down while driving....  When you open the door the gap will return to it's normal position...

I quick google found a pair for $275 and $199.

Is the door jamb different or can it be recreated simply by cutting out the hole?

I replaced the jamb on my Challenger with one from a hard top... Cutting the hole is pretty easy... If you want the details correct the screw holes are raised & dimpled which is harder to duplicate but if you interested in doing it I can tell you how I did it, just not in this thread so we don't hijack it any further...

Sorry I'm hijacking this thread.