E-Bodies.org Cuda Challenger Forum

Hello everyone! I'm back!   ...well, new here, but back on a mopar forum.    I'm 70Cuda383 from Moparts.   

Well, after getting sucked in by the book of faces, I kinda fell away from logging into forums on different websites, and then just got busy with life and basically faded away from internet forums.   

Deleted facebook after getting fed up with their lame algorithms that kept showing me useless ads and not showing me actual posts from friends, along with all the political and social justice drivel from both sides.

Anyway, I'm logging into this forum because after "life happens" I'm finally getting back to working on my 1970 Barracuda Gran Coupe, one of the 8 or 9 that were part of the St. Louis Blues NHL Hockey team promotion done by a local dealership in the area.

- I began working on it around 2006 or so. Replaced the trunk floor.   
- Then left active duty USAF and moved back to Ohio in 2007, Moved again to take a new job in 2008, market crashed and got laid off in 2008.
- Got a new job and built a shop in 2009, replaced the driver side quarter panel and wheel house.   
- Deployed to Afghanistan in 2010-2011.   Came home and did the "stay at home dad" thing with the kids for a few years, which meant one income and not much discretionary funds to pay for parts.   
- Messed around with Dakotas often trading labor for parts and parts for parts, built my current Dakota through a bunch of "horse trading" (5.9 swapped, top end built, T56 trans, big brakes, Hotchkis suspension, etc)
- Took a new job in 2013 when kids went to school and started saving up money for the Cuda
- Quit the job in 2015 because they expected me to work 60-70 hours a week non-stop.  Decided to use VA benefits and get a 2nd bachelors degree; and being back on 1 income meant not starting on the Cuda
- While in school, we bought a vacant property and built a new house.  Sold the old house, moved into an apartment, put the Cuda into storage with everything else we owned minus 2 bedrooms worth of furniture and a couch/dining room table, ec.  Moved into the house during finals week of the "junior year" at OSU.
- Graduated in May 2020 with a BS in Welding Engineering and got hired by a company that makes air tanks for the commercial trucking industry.

And now, today... We're both gainfully employed, we have some spare money saved up, and I will be jumping head first into the body work stage of the project, with the goals of finishing it up in time for my oldest son's high school graduation.  He wants to drive it on Route 66 as a high school graduation celebration.    --and he's starting his sophomore year in 2 weeks!

Anyway, that's my introduction and I'm sticking to it! haha.

 :welcome: to the site. :cheers:

Wow - that's quite an adventure you've been on.  Great to have you among us, so welcome (back) from Buffalo, NY.  :wave:

Welcome back!! Kept your Blues Cuda... Excellent! 

 :welcome:  Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people on the site. Don't forget to check out the Resources section!

P.S. post lots of photos!

Yup, I couldn't get rid of it.   It's not worth anything in its current state anyway.  bare shell with suspension on it.  And lots of rust!    it needs firewall/cowl, floor pans, roof skin to repair window channels, passenger quarter and wheel house, gonna re-do the trunk floor now that I've learned a few things since 2006.    Might replace the tail panel if I decide not to repair it. 

at least the fenders and doors are solid, frame rails are solid, hood will likely be replaced with a fiberglass option. 

Gonna build my own brakes for it, probably do a Tremec TKX 5-spd transmission since it's supposed to shift like a T56, but not have the bulk of the T56.    I never liked how the TKO shifted.   

Leaning towards keeping the 383 based motor, but been eyeballing the Gen 3 hemi stuff.   a cammed up 6.4 would make more power than a 383 based stroker.     

No fender tag or build sheet for the car, so while I can show an overwhelming amount of evidence that it's a St. Louis Blues car, I don't have anything to document all the original options or pedigree; which somewhat opens up the options in terms of resto-mod.

If I had the fender tag/build sheet, I'd probably be looking at a accurate/complete restoration and not modify anything.    --at least anything I plan to do could be easily returned to "stock" should the fender tag suddenly pop up somewhere someday.

I'll have to get a photo thread going to document everything.

Welcome here! Fellow USAF buddy!

Here's what I would do....Finish the car on the outside to resemble the original St. Louis Blues car..... Do they have a more modern logo now ? If so make that the one exception on the outside, and add 17" rims...
Then under the hood...New Gen III hemi, TKX 5speed, front and rear suspension upgrades, Vintage Air, Dakota Digital, modern seats etc...etc...

Best of both worlds, and the perfect resto-mod version of a classic rare edition Barracuda :twothumbsup:

 :welcome: from Riverside, California

 :welcome: Welcome back and way to go on sticking with the Cuda through all those ups and downs. :cheers: 

Looking forward to seeing some pics.

Love those St. Louis cars.  Great colours!

Welcome, great story. Looking forward to some pictures of your progress!  :wave:

 :welcome:

Quote from: anlauto on August 09, 2021, 09:49:41 AM
Here's what I would do....Finish the car on the outside to resemble the original St. Louis Blues car..... Do they have a more modern logo now ? If so make that the one exception on the outside, and add 17" rims...
Then under the hood...New Gen III hemi, TKX 5speed, front and rear suspension upgrades, Vintage Air, Dakota Digital, modern seats etc...etc...

Best of both worlds, and the perfect resto-mod version of a classic rare edition Barracuda :twothumbsup:

My biggest hurdle is I want that clean, simple, old school look under the hood and inside the car.   Inside I will likely stick with original looking seats, but likely with custom 2-tone covers to match the blue and white exterior.    The dash will remain stock-ish, but I will put in all autometer gauges.    I will probably fabricate my own wire harness for everything and simplify as much as I can. 

I'm nervous about the Gen 3 hemi and having tons of wires and sensors and what not all over it.   Plus, it just doesn't look "old school"     Unless ya'll have some pics of Gen 3 hemi's in older cars, dressed up to look like an older original style engine.

I'm also not sure about the AC.   My Dakota left the factory without AC, and I enjoy it for the most part.   Although I do tend to leave it parked when it's north of 90 degrees...     Again, I want that clean and simple looking engine bay, not cluttered with AC lines, condensers, driers, etc.

I'll make a dedicated thread with pics of the car going back to 2003 when I originally purchased it, and the work done to date.

meanwhile, I mentioned a Dakota, so here's a few pics of the farm truck

Yup, you were building the Dakota about the time I left Moparts.... Been a few years... Lotta good people over there... To bad about the owner...

Welcome to the forum.Got my last cuda out of Parma Ohio a few years back . You have a Awsome truck  tough as nails  beautiful. Cheese  :australia:

Cheers  :australia:

 :welcome:
there is a consecutive run of at least 14 St. Louis Blues Gran Coupes (probably a bunch more - there are 25 St. Louis Blues '71 Satellites)

BP23L0B132719 thru BP23L0B132732  @Filthy Filbert (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/filthy-filbert_12805)  can you share your VIN?

there is also a run of red & black F&R rubber bumper 318 Gran Coupes built for a similar (but unknown to me) promotion

Quote from: 1 Wild R/T on August 09, 2021, 05:39:01 PM
Yup, you were building the Dakota about the time I left Moparts.... Been a few years... Lotta good people over there... To bad about the owner...

Yea, I fell into the trap of 'I can do this to the dakota for only $600... the Cuda needs thousands of dollars'

My wife like to point out that if I had never spent a dime on a dakota, then the Cuda would be done  :)) :))

I hear ya on Moparts.... I was a moderator at one point.    Lots of good guys.  Notably from your neck of the woods, Stu.     He hosted a party for my wife and I when we vacationed in CA after I returned from Asscrackistan.   Few years later we met up with his daughter when she was working at Disney.  Kevin "feet's" told me about Stu's diagnosis.... I thought 'I need to reach out to him' but couldn't figure out how to say "hey dude, heard you're gonna die. I love you and I'm gonna miss you" and he was gone before I could figure it out.    Kinda wish I had just been that blunt, simply to have had one more conversation with him.

Quote from: 6bblgt on August 09, 2021, 07:24:59 PM
:welcome:
there is a consecutive run of at least 14 St. Louis Blues Gran Coupes (probably a bunch more - there are 25 St. Louis Blues '71 Satellites)

BP23L0B132719 thru BP23L0B132732  @Filthy Filbert (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/filthy-filbert_12805)  can you share your VIN?

I will share the whole story on how I discovered what I have.  But... you just listed my VIN in your post. 

Cliffs notes for now: I bought a red gran coupe. Based on the flaking paint, it seemed to be an orange car originally.   I thought the white I saw on the package tray was primer, and that the blue pieces on the dash were replacements due to dash/electrical fire.  Barry out in Alaska told me to look for blue n white based on my VIN.    As I tore the car apart further, I found evidence of blue n white under the orange.

Quote from: Filthy Filbert on August 09, 2021, 07:55:52 PM

Quote from: 1 Wild R/T on August 09, 2021, 05:39:01 PM
Yup, you were building the Dakota about the time I left Moparts.... Been a few years... Lotta good people over there... To bad about the owner...

Yea, I fell into the trap of 'I can do this to the dakota for only $600... the Cuda needs thousands of dollars'

My wife like to point out that if I had never spent a dime on a dakota, then the Cuda would be done  :)) :))

I hear ya on Moparts.... I was a moderator at one point.    Lots of good guys.  Notably from your neck of the woods, Stu.     He hosted a party for my wife and I when we vacationed in CA after I returned from Asscrackistan.   Few years later we met up with his daughter when she was working at Disney.  Kevin "feet's" told me about Stu's diagnosis.... I thought 'I need to reach out to him' but couldn't figure out how to say "hey dude, heard you're gonna die. I love you and I'm gonna miss you" and he was gone before I could figure it out.    Kinda wish I had just been that blunt, simply to have had one more conversation with him.

Stu is missed for sure.. And I'm sure he would have understood & appreciated hearing the blunt truth...