Well I thought I'd put my restoration thread here for folks who need answers restoring a 1970 Cuda. I found that I got frustrated by sites like forebodiesonly, cc.com, etc because folks would talk about how to do something but if you needed a visual reference you were hosed. So I took pics of areas where there were none so hopefully this would help some folks out.
You can find the thread here: http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=83942.0
Additionally I will be adding onto this thread on EBO and continuing on going forward. This will also allow me at some future date to take all the pics and text and move it over here. So this also serves as a placeholder.
Enjoy!
Bryan
New update: The Cuda is in final paint touch up and I hope to get it back and take it to the Saratoga show when I get back from my trip to Europe!!
I'm also ditching the Dales Cuda shop 440 stripe for the Performance car graphics stripe so I won't have a gap at the door! It came out awesome on my last FY1 Cuda.
Quote from: HP_Cuda on June 27, 2017, 12:26:06 PM
Well I thought I'd put my restoration thread here for folks who need answers restoring a 1970 Cuda. I found that I got frustrated by sites like forebodiesonly, cc.com, etc because folks would talk about how to do something but if you needed a visual reference you were hosed. So I took pics of areas where there were none so hopefully this would help some folks out.
You can find the thread here: http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=83942.0
Additionally I will be adding onto this thread on EBO and continuing on going forward. This will also allow me at some future date to take all the pics and text and move it over here. So this also serves as a placeholder.
Enjoy!
Bryan
The 2 pics you posted here look good and the story at CC is good but none of your pics from CC showed up on my computer. Enjoy your trip.
WOW
Thanks! Looking forward to this trip.
It looks like cc.com requires you to login to see the pics.
Beautiful car top and bottom ! :bradsthumb:
Great job man!!! :clapping: I agree the stripe will look better without the gap. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to you winning your first car show with her. :1place:
Read your thread backwards.
Unfortunately,couldn't load pages 1-8.
So is the butyl tape the only way to go for the windshield and rear glass installation?
Is DMT where you bought the carbon fiber for the dash gauge panel? Did you have to custom cut it? Any advice? Tools? Template? I like the wood grain, but I am interested in something different. Maybe post a link to where you bought it if you can.
Thanks. I enjoyed seeing your project. Post some pics here if you want. Its the easy site for pics.
Neil
Nevermind, found the carbon fiber on ebay for cheap. Is it cheap looking? I am assuming the pattern for the console and dash match? If you dont me asking, do you live in CA? If so...where?
Thanks
Hey nsmall
I live in Cupertino, CA which is in the SF Bay Area. Currently I have to listen to the loud banging in my back yard because they are apparently building a large spaceship for more entitled millennials.
Anyway, from my experience I liked the butyl tape cause it gave consistency around the entire window and it was standard back in the day. You can certainly go with someone who likes to lay down a bead of caulk but I found out with my first window the guy wasn't consistent and layed a thin bead on one side and thicker on the other. This resulted in the drivers side lower portion of the window too low and everything else higher. Tried to save the window but it cracked while pulling it out. So there you have it.
The DMT CF overlays look nice to me and they actually line up between surfaces like the switch panel to the gauge panel. I think its a matter of taste but I like it. It even matches my CF pistol grip shifter!
Weird about pages 1-8 as I just clicked on the link and logged in and I saw all my photos. The problem is over time they will start dropping off and that's a real bummer. Good thing I have them all now.
B
Hey since my data tags were long gone when I bought it who wants to take a guess at the Cuda's original color?
:D
FK5 :alan2cents:
You are probably right Alan but doesn't it look like burgundy???
Thanks for the info. Sorry about the spaceship construction.
As for the original wood grain... did you have to remove it? Just curious if this will cover up the wood grain completely?
Thanks
Yep had to remove it. I think it was a combo of peeling, stripping with a putty knife and liberal use of carb spray. As I remember that glue was a pain to remove but it did finally come off.
I have enjoyed the thread since the beginning over at cc.com. This is one of my favorite cars on here.
Well just got back from the UK (tired as hell) but will be calling the shop to see if the final paint is done.
:veryexcited:
Bummer the paint isn't done yet but will be in the booth this week so very soon.
:crying:
Paint is down and she should be home within 2 weeks!
:banana: :banana: :banana:
Quote from: HP_Cuda on August 12, 2017, 11:48:08 AM
Paint is down and she should be home within 2 weeks!
:banana: :banana: :banana:
Now I like that!!!!!
Great color!!!! :veryexcited:
No more nicks, imperfections, buff burns on edges in the paint.
Now I will have to really be extra careful around my ride.
:cheers:
Looks fantastic!! :clapping:
Man those new Performance graphics 440 stripes will really pop now!
Can't wait to see them!
Snuck out today and down to the shop. Color sand is done and now the buff is next.
Hope to have it back in a week!!!
Should be home by this weekend, had to source some parts. Many thanks to MoparDave for helping me out. Need to give him a call for more parts.
Here are some teaser photos.
:clapping: :clapping: Looks amazing!!! Congratulations! :bravo:
Sweeeeet!!! :wowzers:
Thanks guys, can't wait to get it home and finish her up (very carefully).
When Mike gets back I'm sure he will really get on my case for a drive.
:)
Very nice, I am excited for you! :banana:
Finally got the windows figured out, the locks working and the vapor barriers went in 2 days ago.
Looking to put the rear quarter panels in and the door panels and I don't think there is anything major left to do!
:wrenching:
Rear quarter panels are in - what fun!!! :banana:
Pics coming soon.
Quote from: HP_Cuda on October 08, 2017, 05:13:09 PM
Rear quarter panels are in - what fun!!! :banana:
Pics coming soon.
:needphotos: :needphotos: :rebelflag" :rofl: :rofl:
B,
Your car looks great.
Are you ready to cause Mayhem with me?
Love the color. :banana: :twothumbsup:Car is looking great!
That's the plan Mike, and hopefully keep it out of the thread Wrecked, Mangled and Destroyed Mopars
;)
Quote from: Topcat on October 08, 2017, 06:57:25 PM
B,
Your car looks great.
Are you ready to cause Mayhem with me?
Some pics of the progress.
Quote from: HP_Cuda on October 08, 2017, 08:38:50 PM
That's the plan Mike, and hopefully keep it out of the thread Wrecked, Mangled and Destroyed Mopars
;)
Quote from: Topcat on October 08, 2017, 06:57:25 PM
B,
That would be a good plan !! The car is looking great :bigthumb:
Are you ready to cause Mayhem with me?
Well after putting the door panels on I was staring at them and enjoying my interior when I got this feeling something was missing. Yep you guessed it - the Cuda emblems on the door panels. So out they came again, ughh and lucky for me I had tooling marks on the back of them to note where the emblem holes go. But one upside that even Alan may appreciate - it gave me a chance to paint the cup holder hardware black.
Glad I had some extra clips cause I bent two of them and didn't want to fool with trying to put them back to their original shape.
Glad that is done. Onto some small issues to iron out - get the speedo to work, add OS sensor bungs, clean up, and add trim rings and center caps.
:popcorn: Looking Good!
Looks great , need to keep it out of the mangled mopars section for sure !!
Looks great!
Hope to see it on 4/21.
Quote from: HP_Cuda on March 28, 2018, 10:15:19 AM
Well after putting the door panels on I was staring at them and enjoying my interior when I got this feeling something was missing. Yep you guessed it - the Cuda emblems on the door panels. So out they came again, ughh and lucky for me I had tooling marks on the back of them to note where the emblem holes go. But one upside that even Alan may appreciate - it gave me a chance to paint the cup holder hardware black.
Glad I had some extra clips cause I bent two of them and didn't want to fool with trying to put them back to their original shape.
Glad that is done. Onto some small issues to iron out - get the speedo to work, add OS sensor bungs, clean up, and add trim rings and center caps.
HP-Cuda. Could I ask you how the upper door panel clips attach to the door frame? Did you put the bottom or top of the panel on first? The service manual is no help on this. The door panels were already off my car when I bought. Neither panel had the upper clips and I just recently found out about them and ordered a set from Dave at Roseville. However, I'm having trouble getting the clips to attach to the door frame so I either have the clips on the panel wrong or I'm trying to attach them to the door frame incorrectly :thinking: :dunno: Any help on this would be appreciated. I know it can't be that hard but........ :headbang:
Quote from: usraptor on May 02, 2018, 12:23:25 PM
Quote from: HP_Cuda on March 28, 2018, 10:15:19 AM
Well after putting the door panels on I was staring at them and enjoying my interior when I got this feeling something was missing. Yep you guessed it - the Cuda emblems on the door panels. So out they came again, ughh and lucky for me I had tooling marks on the back of them to note where the emblem holes go. But one upside that even Alan may appreciate - it gave me a chance to paint the cup holder hardware black.
Glad I had some extra clips cause I bent two of them and didn't want to fool with trying to put them back to their original shape.
Glad that is done. Onto some small issues to iron out - get the speedo to work, add OS sensor bungs, clean up, and add trim rings and center caps.
HP-Cuda. Could I ask you how the upper door panel clips attach to the door frame? Did you put the bottom or top of the panel on first? The service manual is no help on this. The door panels were already off my car when I bought. Neither panel had the upper clips and I just recently found out about them and ordered a set from Dave at Roseville. However, I'm having trouble getting the clips to attach to the door frame so I either have the clips on the panel wrong or I'm trying to attach them to the door frame incorrectly :thinking: :dunno: Any help on this would be appreciated. I know it can't be that hard but........ :headbang:
the clips go onto the trim panel and reinforce the plastic tab against the door frame when mounting the trim panel. I'll see if I can find a picture I had.
Thanks Dave :twothumbsup:
Quote from: MoparDave on May 02, 2018, 01:42:58 PM
Quote from: usraptor on May 02, 2018, 12:23:25 PM
Quote from: HP_Cuda on March 28, 2018, 10:15:19 AM
Well after putting the door panels on I was staring at them and enjoying my interior when I got this feeling something was missing. Yep you guessed it - the Cuda emblems on the door panels. So out they came again, ughh and lucky for me I had tooling marks on the back of them to note where the emblem holes go. But one upside that even Alan may appreciate - it gave me a chance to paint the cup holder hardware black.
Glad I had some extra clips cause I bent two of them and didn't want to fool with trying to put them back to their original shape.
Glad that is done. Onto some small issues to iron out - get the speedo to work, add OS sensor bungs, clean up, and add trim rings and center caps.
HP-Cuda. Could I ask you how the upper door panel clips attach to the door frame? Did you put the bottom or top of the panel on first? The service manual is no help on this. The door panels were already off my car when I bought. Neither panel had the upper clips and I just recently found out about them and ordered a set from Dave at Roseville. However, I'm having trouble getting the clips to attach to the door frame so I either have the clips on the panel wrong or I'm trying to attach them to the door frame incorrectly :thinking: :dunno: Any help on this would be appreciated. I know it can't be that hard but........ :headbang:
the clips go onto the trim panel and reinforce the plastic tab against the door frame when mounting the trim panel. I'll see if I can find a picture I had.
Yeah the clips attach at the bottom.
So you will want to hang the panel from the top and ensure the three tabs at the top are on the top of the door then pivot the panel down, then ensure the door cup holes line up (or close), then pop the clips in the door at the bottom and finish up the door cup, then window crank and the side screws.
Great to see the progress of this.
Looking good.
Yeah the clips attach at the bottom.
So you will want to hang the panel from the top and ensure the three tabs at the top are on the top of the door then pivot the panel down, then ensure the door cup holes line up (or close), then pop the clips in the door at the bottom and finish up the door cup, then window crank and the side screws.
[/quote]
Thanks, HP-Cuda, I guess that part that is confusing me is whether the clips just sit on top of the metal inner door edge, or does that metal door edge slip into the center of metal clips? Try as I could, I could never get the edge to slip inside the clip and finally just left the clips and molded door panel edge on top of the inner door metal edge. It just seems to me if the clips are supposed to just rest on top the door edge, what purpose do they serve? :dunno: The plastic edge/lip of the door panel sits on top of the door edge fine without them. :notsure:
The clips go in the door panel and are inserted into the metal retainers on the door panel.
When you hang the door panel at the top the plastic tabs are supposed to secure the panel at the top. If you do it wrong you will see the gap between the inner whisker and the glass is quite large. When you put the door panel on right you will find the clips should line up below pretty good. In some instances you may have to move them a little. So I like to start at one end and ensure that at least 3-4 clips are aligned in the holes at the bottom before I start hitting them in.
Hope that helps,
B
Well I love it when I get good news once in awhile. For quite some time I thought my speedo was just kaput because it was the original speedo for the car (wanted to keep some things with the car) and I've never seen it work.
Fast forward to last nite, I was searching and came across another mopar site which gave me a nugget which I believe completely solved my problem. Well I know it has because I disconnected my speedo cable at the 833 and spun it counter clockwise with a crescent wrench and low and behold the speedo actually worked!!! So friggin happy since I really didn't want to rip the dash apart again.
Below is the graphic which led me to the discovery. Basically I had the pinion in but not pointing to the number range I needed. I had a 31 tooth gear because I am running 28" rear tires and 3.23 gears. So once I clocked it at the 6 o'clock position pointed at the 26-31 range - whammo it's all good! One thing about the graphic is that it does not show the pointer area at the 6 o'clock position but it does show where it should be.
Hope this helps someone else down the road.
B
Great to hear. I "learned" that many years ago with mine.
Now you are going to have to slow down.
Now I have no excuses to tell the cop right?
:haha:
That's messed up a few people over the years.
Glad to report that the speedo now works and is pretty darn accurate within 2 mph based on the GPS app I have.
I didn't know I could do 40+ mph in first gear, scared my daughter a bit.
:haha:
Well after four long years I can say this project is complete. I put the Cuda in the local Mopar Alley show and had a ton of compliments on the color, paint, build, etc. The biggest kick I got was watching folks look at the before picture and then looking over the Cuda in person. Most of them were floored.
I have included pics of the show to mark the celebration of bringing this dream to life.
I will continue to post pics of this build as I modify things. There are plans for O2 sensors and put it on a dyno and maybe some small things like adding Dakota digital gauges later.
I would like to thank folks who have helped me on this journey. 4speedfish(Bob), Topcat(Mike), Roy Miller, Ed Shimirani, my family, my close friends and mostly my late grandfather Sterling who inspired me to take things apart and put them back together.
Thanks all,
Bryan :banana:
Congratulations now get out and enjoy.
Hope you don't mind but here are a couple snapshots you posted of the "before"
Incredible transformation.
Mike.
Beautiful car and great color. Man talk about a jig saw puzzle :perfect10:
Bryan,
I'm so glad to finally see you and your car finally. :slapme5:
It had been so long ago since we saw each other; at first I didn't recognize you. :haha: :-[
(He decided to cut his hair shorter)
Car sounded really good and when you revved it; it was spitting water like crazy!
That's a sign of excellent volumetric efficiency. :bravo:
He told me he still wants to dyno it, And I would love to see what the specs say.
Quote from: YellowThumper on June 11, 2018, 01:39:00 PM
Congratulations now get out and enjoy.
Hope you don't mind but here are a couple snapshots you posted of the "before"
Incredible transformation.
Mike.
Hey....you gotta start somewhere... :haha:
Turned out really nice! Great job!!!! :ohyeah:
checked out your build thread at CC from your link you posted on page one of this thread. Wow. You are either crazy or very competent. I will go with competent and might I add confident. What a major success and accomplishment to finish this PROJECT.
Congratulations.
Maybe post some pics on CC? I basically never go there as this is my home now and it seems that way for many who make it over here.
Yeah although this is my new home I should go back and at least post some of the finished product.
Thanks for the compliments.
:drinkingbud:
I saw the car at the show but missed hearing it runs. Great to meet you Bryan. Paint and gaps looks really good. I saw the antenna was not installed, radio delete?
Congrats on a job well done. :clapping: :worship: I know the feeling of finally getting it done enough to drive and take to a car show. :twothumbsup:
Nah, have the antenna just didn't have enough time. Pretty easy to add and then send to my audio shop.
Fired it up for Mike and others, funny how guys across the show were revving the hell out of their motors and then the cops showed up.
Quote from: 7212Mopar on June 13, 2018, 12:44:04 PM
I saw the car at the show but missed hearing it runs. Great to meet you Bryan. Paint and gaps looks really good. I saw the antenna was not installed, radio delete?
Thanks! I'm really looking forward to the next show. I love seeing folks really surprised by seeing the before pics and then look at the Cuda. :twothumbsup:
Quote from: usraptor on June 13, 2018, 04:23:08 PM
Congrats on a job well done. :clapping: :worship: I know the feeling of finally getting it done enough to drive and take to a car show. :twothumbsup:
Its crazy to think you resurrected that skeleton. I bet you have a big smile when you drive the car.
A long time coming, wow! Congratulations on seeing the process through :bradsthumb:
Had an issue where the Cuda would backfire under idle. Really strange. Went though and replace all plugs, checked all wires, dismantled the distributor, evacuated all the gas, refilled gas. Still had the problem.
So my last resort was rebuilding the carb, well that did the trick as I think the PV went bad which is kinda weird.
https://youtu.be/ytFiENjBNrM
B