Day 1: Initial Inspection and cleaning
Thats alot of pics that are upside down... :D
whoops, don't know why they posted like that!
Thats what I get for using my phone, lol!
Oh well, I tried.
And welcome....
yes welcome! And I don't see any pics. upside down is still better than none.
Lets try this again!
Are you in Australia ? :australia: :D
saweeet!!!
Was a phone thing, I had to flip the photos on my computer.
So what's the story ? Is this a project you just picked up ? What are your plans now that everything is right side up ?
Yes, I just had the car delivered last night. I have been looking for an AAR in this state for around 4 years now. The build will be to set the car up for SVRA racing the same way Gurney's AAR was in 1975-77 when it was raced as a privateer in FIA GRP 2 racing. Of course his actual car was repatriated to the states after it was found in France and now competes in its original Trans Am configuration. This will be a "moment in time" tribute to one of my favorite stories in European road racing. Not a clone car though, it is going to be repainted in its original FJ6 Sassy Grass with AAR decals and I will add the lighting, period wheels and vintage sponsor decals to that. Of course safety wise it will be set up in accordance with current SVRA rules etc. So right now my guides are: SVRA rulebook, 1976 FIA appendix J for Grp 2, and a bunch of old photos from when these cars were driven in anger in France in the mid 70s! Should be fun!
Transamcuda site has an album devoted to the Euro racing Cudas btw if you haven't seen it and there are some good articles and videos online as well. Like this:
So was it important for you to start with a real AAR ? Wouldn't any 70 Barracuda do ?
One of the AAR's I've had in the past, the new owner used those "static" type decals on it, so he could take them off at any time and put them back on when he felt the need....of course it was a bone stock AAR restoration, not like what you're planning :bigthumb:
From your pictures, I see yours was an auto on the column car. Rallye cluster? :alan2cents:
Yes the car was originally an auto, the fender tag has D32: Heavy Duty Auto, A62: Rallye Instruments, and C16: Console.
Quote from: SassyAAR on April 03, 2020, 08:16:20 AM
Yes the car was originally an auto, the fender tag has D32: Heavy Duty Auto, A62: Rallye Instruments, and C16: Console.
OK, the new floor's thru me. That was why i did not see any previsions for a floor shift. :-[ Cool project
Yes you are correct in that if I simply wanted to build a car as an AAR clone for SVRA racing any donor car would work and as long as it was within the rules it could run. Personally I wanted an actual AAR as homologated for Grp 1 and 2 racing, not a clone. The same way a privateer in 1970 would have simply bought an AAR to enter it rather than another model and then modified it. Or the way the Chrysler France team simply bought 4 Hemi Cudas for Grp 1 and raced them in essentially showroom stock form. Since my inspiration for this is Gurney's last car chassis #50231 that ended up at Le Mans etc. and raced with its 340 engine as a Plymouth I wanted an AAR for purely personal call it "purist" reasons. Besides AARs are my favorite :bigthumb:
That's cool....sounds like it's going to be a fun project. :twothumbsup:
Yes, I will be putting in a 4 speed hump anyways so there will be some cutting of the newish floors soon. I say newish because from what I can tell there is evidence of at least two different restorers over a long maybe 10-15 year period of time for this car and it was so dirty when we got it we figured it had sat in a barn or dusty shop for some time as someones neglected project.
Glad I was able to get it off the trailer ok, only two bolts in one side holding it in.
Gotta love Midwestern field cars, ::) I think those oak leaves have been there awhile!
Time for a coffee break and to order more parts while the PB Blaster sets in.
So unfortunately the car will need more body work than I originally thought. As I get deeper into it and sand away the thin fresh layer of primer I keep finding more and more bondo, body filler etc. :verymad:
It is no where near ready for final priming and paint and will need new metal and also some welding re done on a jig as I am not convinced it is straight.
As far as the rear axle housing and the K member, I have only ever seen rust this bad on actual steel ships . . . sitting in saltwater lol!
The pitting is deep enough in some parts I may just need to start with a new housing and find another K member.
:crying: :console:
Sounds like what we deal with up here in Ontario all the time :'(
Yes: Primered bodywork means nothing until you strip it off and see the mess.
Yes, I may be done with E bodies and Mopars for that matter lol. I seem to have the worst luck with these cars.
Maybe I am being too harsh since the bondo is covering pinholes and swiss cheese looking perforation in non structural areas but when I am told "all metal" body in white I don't expect to find plastic.
I have been stripping the axle housing and what worries me is deep rust pitting vs surface rust compromising the integrity of the housing. I know the metal is pretty thick on these but if I grind down to eliminate the pit I fear I will just have thin spots randomly throughout. Does anyone have any experience with this? How much is too much grinding?
The K member will need some 12 gauge steel welded in to fix the holes and I will probably add some bracing as well while I am at it. The rest of the front was literally worthless and held together with two very rusty vice grips, lol. I had hoped the front end would be a lot of disassembly and restoration, instead it was mostly cutting apart worthless rusted chunks. The bottom of the power steering box literally fell off as I was moving it, looks like it had cracked from freezing?
To do it right you should be blasting the entire body down to bare metal, but it depends on your budget because that will open a huge can of worms...
The rear axle housing and K Frame are pretty readably available for a reasonable amount, so you could be better off sourcing cleaning parts to start with. :alan2cents:
Oh no: I see this over and over again and it is disheartening. Sorry for what happened but it's happened to lots of others. That steering box is a first for me though, I've never seen that before. Honestly, it's a setback but I think you should just pick it up, fix it right and fulfill your dream. The good thing is you're doing a modified car so you can take a few liberties with it. I hate saying this but I would peel that roof skin off, sorry but I think it must be done to get a look at the roof structure and fix anything that needs it. Also, really inspect the frame rails.
Yes, you are right. I think media blasting will be the only way to go in order to do it right. Not originally in the plan or the budget though.
Also, not exactly Ontario but this car spent at least some of its life in Ohio so it has seen its share of salty winters I think.
@ Runcharger, unfortunately what you are describing was never in the plan or the budget. I am a mechanical not paint and body guy and the engine intended for this vehicle was already in progress. I may just cut my losses and call it a win for the other guy, I know my limits. Maybe it can go back into hibernation in my Dad's barn, lol.
Problem is....now is NOT the time to cut corners....What tends to happen, is you rush to get it into paint, ASSUMING the existing body work is okay or done right....then you continue on with the project spending tons of money to make your dream come alive....only to have previous body work issues come out and bite you in the ass....Can you imagine having all that money invested and the body starts bubbling out next year... :pullinghair:
The extra time and MONEY spent now might be a set-back, but it's a heck of a good way to insure the future of your project.
Professionally strip the entire shell and body panels to bare metal...then start to fix the rust, body work, and then add glorious coats of the FJ6 green :drooling:
Yes, exactly. I refuse to do a job incorrectly especially on a unibody when it comes to structural integrity. Also this being an AAR I feel it deserves that any work to be done is done correctly. (Of course any car does, but AARs are special to me ;))
On that note I called a local shop that I am familiar with that specializes in high end vehicles to inquire about who they would recommend locally for blasting, metal work, etc. and he laughed at me and and pretty much told me to pound sand. Oh well, I figured although it wasn't a 911 he might at least know someone who would work on a Mopar.
There is a company named dustless blasting. Google it, and they should be-able to find someone in your area that can help you out. :alan2cents:
Thanks, I'll look into them.
Now for some good news for this thread!
Been sitting awhile.
Whats ya got there? :)
Unobtainable cylinder block I think.
Banded and wrapped pretty well in plastic and vapor barrier paper. I have never actual seen one of these new as delivered so this is interesting.
I always wondered why they made a 2 bolt and a 4 bolt block? Why not just make them all 4 bolt and one part number?
Maybe that's part of the "Resto" part? I agree though considering there are 13 different part numbers. :o
Up on the stand
Very cool....
Front end
Casting number
Bottom end
Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is going on? Tell us more about this engine.
I applaud your interest in making this a road racer... vintage racing is the best!
A good friend of mine runs this SVRA '67 B'Cuda (Brian Garcia) in the midwest area... a crowd favorite!
I love seeing Barracuda road racers! Great looking car, I got interested in vintage racing after my first trip to Elkhart Lake about 20 years ago actually! :bigthumb:
Nsmall, the block is an R3 race block. That I know of there are 13 different part numbers for the various R3 castings but when I ordered this one it was also called the "restoration" block to replace the original TA block. It has a tall deck, 59 degree lifter angle, non-siamesed bore, and stock 2 bolt mains. Just like the original TA and the Hemis it is cast from high nickel iron and then heat treated for stress relief, it also has the extra material in the webs like the TA blocks to facilitate 4 bolt mains.
Pretty freaking cool.......... carry on :cheers:
Update: after welding in some patches on the front frame rails and replacing one of the 5/8 square nuts for the K member bolts I got it up on the body casters and in the drive way for the dustless media blaster to take it down to bare metal and reveal all of the previous sins.
I knew from my paint meter there was a lot of bondo, never expected as much that came off though.
Interesting location of the prior quarter patches. I assume from back in the day when no repop metal was available. What's the plan for the quarters?
:o Yup...I've found lots of crazy surprises like that before....time for new full quarters in my opinion...
Was the whole back end clipped by chance? Probably not as they should have just kept the dooorjams intact with the quarters I guess. Crazy stuff back then. You could probably use that if you know someone good with a TIG, but I imagine the other attachment points aren't good either.
Since I will be doing a considerable amount of cutting into the quarters anyways for wheel flares, relocated fuel filler etc. I intend to fix these rather than buy new ones. These are fairly new anyways as the previous owner installed them.
From what I can gather from the history of the car I don't think it was ever hit in the back. It WAS neglected in a field for a very long time and stripped of parts though before someone decided to start rust repair on the body.
The plan for the quarters is to fix the weld point. Looking inside there is plenty of material from when the previous owner lap welded over what was left of the original door pillar and quarter.
When it was lap welded over it pinched the original quarter tab in under the new quarter. Obviously this is why they had so much filler in here to blend the panels together.
With a 45 cut through the overlap I can get enough flex in the original quarter to have my helper push the panel into alignment and close the gap for a butt weld.
Starting at the bottom and working slow I spot welded it into place to hold it as we move inch by inch. Pretty tedious, short cut, push, weld, repeat but it is aligning much better and will eliminate the overlap on the inside once done.
Good job, It's ugly fixing other's poor work but at least you don't have to pay for the metal I suppose.