1970 Barracuda Reanimated.

[Marty]

Really like that '70 V Code.  So did the potential buyer buy them?

The buyer lives in Hawaii and was contacted today. I won't know anything at the moment if the sale went through.

The Challenger and 'Cuda will be going to Mecum.

[Marty]

Working on the door assemblies.

Installed the door weatherstripping, roof rail seals, door stop bumpers, and felt kit.

The window guides/stabilizers were removed and cleaned up a bit. I carefully removed the worn material with a razor blade leaving the rubber cushion. I replaced the worn surface with the soft loop side of Velcro.

Installed and adjusted the striker making sure the stripe and body lines stayed constant and the door opened and closed with no effort. The windows seal at the top and move up and down freely.

Cleaned off the years of crud that was stuck on the windows with lacquer thinner and 0000 steel wool. Finished up with a coat of wax. The windows are in great condition.

Prepped the rear torque boxes and applied a couple coats of epoxy primer. I need to get them installed shortly since the rear will be ready soon.

[Marty]

I decided to make my own moisture barriers. I rolled out some masking paper and cut it to the size of the door. I made an impression from the door to the paper and cut as required. Once the paper was fitted, I applied a couple of coats of clearcoat, per side to waterproof the paper.

Installed the left rear torque box. It was trimmed to fit, welded in, epoxy primer was applied then sprayed with low-gloss black.

[Marty]

Finished installing the right rear torque box. I sealed the weld with panel adhesive but have yet to paint it.

The Dana was dropped off today. Changed the gearing to 3.54's.

[Marty]

Finished up the right torque box with some low-gloss single-stage black. While I had the paint out I refinished the media-blasted rear suspension parts. Excluding the shocks, calipers, and discs. They just were wiped down with solvent then primed and painted.

I inspected the leaf springs to see how the RPM protection was holding up. I saw some spots with some flash rust developing so I scrubbed the spots with some #0000 steel wool and recoated both springs. For the most part, the RPM did its job. Apparently, I just missed a few areas. I suggest a minimum of two coats instead of one.

The hard part was muscling the Dana in place. Once bolted in, the rest of the parts were installed.

[dodj]

  
Getting my popcorn out. It's been four months. I'm expecting quite an update soon.

[usraptor]

 
Getting my popcorn out. It's been four months. I'm expecting quite an update soon.

Ditto! 

[MoparCarGuy]

The second Barracuda to be looked over was also a 1971. 318/automatic. Restored(ish.) Unfortunately, I didn't get a clear picture of the tag.

Here is a clear picture of the tag. The Mopars 5150 guys just bought that Barracuda at Mecum Kissimmee 2024 for $42,900. There is a video HERE. Not a bad price for a clean `71.

[Marty]

I took a break from the Barracuda to regroup. I'll be reporting back shortly.

[Marty]

The second Barracuda to be looked over was also a 1971. 318/automatic. Restored(ish.) Unfortunately, I didn't get a clear picture of the tag.

Here is a clear picture of the tag. The Mopars 5150 guys just bought that Barracuda at Mecum Kissimmee 2024 for $42,900. There is a video HERE. Not a bad price for a clean `71.

A colleague of mine rebuilt the engine just before it went to Mecum.

[Marty]

I was sidetracked for a while to refinish a 1971 Hemi Cuda. It gave me a break from my own Barracuda.

When I found my Barracuda, it came with the 440, 4-speed, and Dana. As I was loading things up I didn't pay attention to the 4-speed. We just grabbed it and loaded it in the trailer. Recently, I took it out to get it rebuilt and noticed it was the wrong one. It was a 1968 B body trans with only the one shfter mount.

The search for another 4-speed started. Hopefully something local. A friend of mine last weekend went to Joplin, Missouri to pick up a 1970 Roadrunner and a 1970 Z/28. Somehow the conversation went to 4-speeds. The gentleman said he had an M22 Muncie and an A833 out of a 1970 E-Body for sale that just came out of the transmission shop. I was contacted, and I told him I'll take it. It was dropped off along with a 1970 Corvette on Monday.

The purchase included a freshly rebuilt A833, Shifter, shifter linkage, pistol grip, Aluminum bell housing, and mounting plate. I hope to get the 440 and the four-speed installed this Summer. looks like having the wrong transmission put me ahead of the game with having the complete assembly instead of having to track down all those added parts. That doesn't happen often.

My front torque boxes also arrived and are epoxy-primed and ready for installation.

[dodj]

The old paint job reminds me of the paint jobs you would see in Camaro Craft magazine...I mean Car Craft magazine. ...Early 80's maybe?

[Marty]

The owner told me it was done in the 70's. The things we thought were so cool back then. Not so much now.

[Marty]

Crawled back under the 1970 Barracuda to install torque boxes. The box was trimmed and prepped for fitting then welded into place. Touched up the welds and sprayed on some epoxy primer using a Preval bottle. Finished it off with low gloss single-stage black.

The 1971'Cuda engine compartment was prepped and refinished. The finish in the engine bay was in excellent condition so I used a red Scotch-Brite pad for the prepping. But first I wiped the area down with Prep-All to make sure oils and other contaminants were removed.
 Just before sealing I applied two coats of adhesion promoter to ensure that all the hard-to-reach areas were able to hold the paint. Spraying on "two coats" of adhesion promoter is important to hold the paint. Once flashed, a coat of epoxy sealer was applied. Two coats of Tawny Brown Metallic were applied then two drop coats finished off the base coat. Clear as required.

*It's important to note. Whenever I spray metallics/polys, I always use slow or very slow quality reducers. Never fast or medium. When spraying silvers, I use"very slow" reducer only. Then I finish with a drop coat. This way I reduce mottling and striping. The slow base stays wet longer so the metallics can flow, mingle then settle properly together. Slow reducers also dry more thoroughly since they stay open to the airflow longer. Good gun control helps too.

I also started wet sanding the body using 1000,1500,2000,3000,4000. I used 3000 and 4000 foam discs/wet on the D.A to finish up the color sanding.

[Marty]

Dug out the heater box and did a quick inspection. Very minor damage but overall nice shape. Disassembled it and did some heavy cleaning using #0000 steel wool and lacquer thinner. The only spot that needed attention was a hole the size of an eraser that needed some attention. I placed a piece of tape on the outside of the box and packed the hole from the back with some panel adhesive. Removed the tape. The repair was smooth and did not need any further attention.  Prepped and painted all the metal items. Sprayed on two coats of adhesion promoter, letting it flash in between coats. Three coats of low gloss clear coat. 6-1 mix. Reassembled after curing using the heater box rebuild kit.

E-Brake. Media-blasted the brake assembly. Applied one coat of epoxy primer then refinished the assembly. The release handle was missing the bushing. I found some bushings at the local parts store. I picked the one the handle fit then filed the outer side till it press-to fit into the flange. I did apply some glue to make sure it stayed in place. Dorman PN 14041.

Finished wet sanding the 1971 'Cuda and the buffing begins. Finished up the front fenders.