JimAAR from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

[Jim AAR]

I own a 1970 AAR, 4 spd in EB7 - Jamaica Blue (only 4 in EB7 are currently registered on the AAR Registry) that i bought on June 15th 1979 for $3200.00 before I even had a drivers license, my buddy had to drive it home for me. It is ALL numbers matching, All Original sheetmetal, never been in an accident.

Unfortunately it was minus the six pack and air cleaner, front and rear spoilers, Rally wheels and original buckets. He said he sold the six pack because it was too hard to tune and the original buckets because he liked the Charger buckets better, but of course they did not fit correctly, so he drilled holes in the floorboards and they then rubbed against the door panels making gouges in them.

It had 15x10 and 15x7 Centerlines on it which i took off and put on a 1971 340 Challenger i bought for a $1000.00, which i redid the heads, timing chain, painted and detailed and sold it for $5000.00 in 1985, so it essentially paid for the purchase of the cuda.

I restored it partially in 1982-84, removed the engine and trans and rebuilt them, and all the front end (bushings, ball joints, tierods all the rubber), removed the fenders, sandblasted the exterior firewall & front end, stripped the body paint (You could still see the outline of the Strobe stripes etched on the metal), put the six pack back on (I didn't use the original vacuum carbs because i could only get them used in 82 and didn't want the headaches of them, so i used the straight accelerator pump ones that were brand new and virtually maintenance free.

It is starting to show it's age, I am contemplating doing a full restoration.

I am going to put the stripes and spoilers on for now or maybe if i can get enough time and money put it on a rotisserie and do it all. The good thing is i won't need many parts, just lots of labor.

[Chryco Psycho]

Welcome @Jim AAR  from Panama !
Thanks for posting the pix of the AAR , it is an amazing color combo & one great time machine you have there !! I love the non vacuum , all manual carbs !!
Thanks for joining .
 

[xx88man]

   from Chilliwack, BC.  I LOVE your Cuda...absolutely awesome!     Enjoy the site...lots of great people and a wealth of knowledge here.   

[nsmall]

Great story and great car.  I love hearing about how long some of you can keep a car.  Sounds like you got a great deal considering the prices of AARs today. 

Ask questions about the price of parts as a full restoration is expensive, yet you seem to have already have what you need so maybe you will be fine.

[HR738]

Welcome Cool color, lets hear some more... blue or black interior? Options ?

[Cuda Cody]

Welcome @Jim AAR     Cool story!     Thanks for sharing.  Love me some B7.  That's is one color you do not see very much and I would LOVE to own one day.  Just awesome.   

[CudaMoparRay]

Great car welcome from Sylmar, CA

[Jim AAR]

It was sold at Westport Chrysler Plymouth in Winnipeg in the summer of 1970 (don't know the exact date), I bought it from a guy who bought it from a used car lot, so I'm the 3rd owner. It's been in Winnipeg it's whole life.

Fender Tags:
R11 V6H Y07 26 EN1
J45 J82 M21 M88 N44 N94
EB7 A53 B51 C16 G55 G34
EB7 H6B5 000 331 C41322
E55 D21 BS23 JOB 289xxx

TRANS AM on the 2nd tag

I have 1 Build Sheet that was taped to the back of the glove box, if there was another under the back seat, it was gone. It's in pretty decent shape but had some tearing from when I took it off as its thin paper to start with and being a Canadian car, the heater was used a lot and it gets pretty warm there. So I used scotch tape to tape it together as that's all there was to use in the 80's and now the tapes yellowed, it is still in very good condition though.

There were 3 blue AAR colors in 1970:
EB3 - Ice Blue Irid - There is only 1 registered on the TA/AAR Registry
EB5 - Blue Fire Irid - There are 96 registered on the TA/AAR Registry
EB7 - Jamaica Blue Irid - There are only 4 registered on the TA/AAR Registry
AAR Registry link-  http://www.transamcuda.com/2015/08/color-totals-for-aars/

My regrets from the early 80's were not buying the numbers matching 1970 Hemi Cuda in triple black for $6000.00 and the numbers matching 1970 Challenger TA in FT6 – Tan,  that had a bench seat and automatic in the tree (he cut a hole in the tunnel (badly) looked like he used a can opener and put in a Mr Gasket Vertical gate shifter. I almost bought it but he wouldn't budge on the $5500.00 he wanted, i offered him $5200.00.

My friend had a 1970 Hemi Cuda,  In Violet with a white interior with leather seats who was the 2nd owner. It was pretty cool cruising in Winnipeg in the 80's, many times there would be about 6 or 7 of us with Cudas, there were (4) Hemi Cudas (FC7-In Violet, (2) TX9-Black Velvet's, FK3-Burnt Orange), (1) 440-6 (EV2-Tor Red), (1) 340 (FK2-Vitamin C), we would go cruising 2 or 3 abreast or in a row, we sure turned some heads, I wish that I could have heard the rumble coming down the road, all of us had headers and the Hemi  Cudas with headers are so loud (They have a distinctive ting to them and you can recognize that sound anywhere, only a Hemi makes it).

So I had some time this summer and decided to fix a couple electrical issues I had and started to gut the interior to get under the dash easier and when i lifted up my carpet i freaked because apparently the sandblasting caused some water leaks through the upper firewall by the vents and the drivers floor board had some what i thought was just surface rust, so i started to wire wheel it and created some pin holes, so decided to remove all the interior seam seals, grind all the floorboards (the factory paint was virtually nonexistent, very light color coat), so i just riveted some steel over the holes with sealer between and underneath for now and primed it, so a few hour wiring fix became a 3 month grind, literally.

Decided to do the trunk floorboards as well the same way for now as they had some pinholes after the grinding. It's not the best but it will do for now as i would like to do a complete restoration on it eventually, the paint is starting to crack and has numerous chips and scratches.  My main goal was to keep any water out and stop any rusting until I eventually do a full restoration.

I won't do a concours restoration as they are basically full of crap, they never came from the factory painted all pretty like that (not even on their best day), I know as mine was virtually untouched other than exterior paint when I bought it and I have spent countless hours on it wire wheeling underneath etc. As a matter of fact, mine never really had any of the exterior B7 blue body paint underneath and the interior and trunk was very minimal paint. They never used full exterior like coats of paint on the underside or interior, probably only one just for the color.

I want to still drive my car on nice days (it'll never see rain unless i get stuck in it, too hard to clean, lol) and it would be a waste to make it a Trailer Queen, muscle cars were built to be driven and enjoyed and not displayed in a museum.

[dodj]

Welcome from 7 hours down the road in Thunder Bay! 

[Brads70]

   Welcome cool ride and story to go along with it! 

[anlauto]

Welcome from Ontario....I absolutely love B7 om an AAR......A few years back I missed out on buying one here in Ontario, it was also blue interior and a 4 speed if I remember correctly. It was a project car.

[blown motor]

Another welcome from Ontario.

[Jay Bee]

  and another welcome aboard from Ontario. 

[Chryco Psycho]

Great story , you have had your car a few months longer then I have had mine , great that you never let it go !

[340challconvert]

Welcome from New Jersey
B7 is a great color (my favorite on an e-body)
Really like the look of your car!