1970 Barracuda Reanimated.

[dodj]

You sure have a number of interesting cars to work on. Thanks for taking the time to post up pics and brief descriptions of methods.
Your own car must be starting hold up a fair amount of dust.....

[Marty]

Unbelievable!!! This is the second time you've found me! (Corvette forum. 1970 LS-5 Corvette. I still have it.) Yes, I remember your Olds. I still remember the day you brought it in the hobby shop.  35 years? Where does the time go. Still doing the paint/restoration gig, it never slowed down.

[Marty]

You sure have a number of interesting cars to work on. Thanks for taking the time to post up pics and brief descriptions of methods.
Your own car must be starting hold up a fair amount of dust.....

Your very welcome.

I keep painters' plastic on the Barracuda...but the body filler/primer dust still gets through. It's a never-ending chore sweeping it up.

I tried to take a break to catch up on the list cars I've committed to, but no one listened.   It's hard to say no.

[mtull]

Unbelievable!!! This is the second time you've found me!

I read the updates to your forum threads for months before I realized it was you.  Glad to hear you still have the LS5 and happy to 'virtually' see you again. 

I think you painted the H/O 15 years prior to when I took those pics.  10 ~ 15 years after you painted the car, the Oldsmobile community determined the paint formula for the gold stripes (only offered by one source at the time) was way off so they adjusted the formula.  The stripes were repainted and the tires were changed over to reproduction Polyglass.  For full disclosure, the house in the background is not mine nor is it in my neighborhood.

Anyway, I've distracted way too much from your thread already.  Thank you for sharing your work for all of us to enjoy, looking forward to seeing more progress!

[Marty]

The gold paint I used was bought out of Florida. Supposedly that gentleman was the only one that had the OEM formula. I don't recall how I located him. Maybe he was in Hemmings Motor News. It came in enamel only. Jim at MATTO's had a Basemaker converter that made enamel into a basecoat. It was a DUPONT product.

 Sometimes in the paint world you're at the mercy of who mix's your paint. One gram off can make a big difference. Try not to have your paint mixed on a Monday morning. 

Keep in touch!

[mtull]

Yep, your correct, there was only one guy at the time.  He wouldn't share the formula if I recall correctly?  I 100% don't believe any fault could ever be placed on you or they guys mixing the paint.  The issue was with the formula.  Information on the Internet was not widely available like it is today.  Luckily the Oldsmobile community was eventually able to find a more accurate solution.

TTYL
M.   

[Marty]

You're correct. He owned the formula...at that time. It was only a matter of time before someone figured it out.

[MoparCarGuy]

For those interested, the BS23R1B253218 "Creamsicle" HemiCuda is discussed HERE.

[Marty]

Still working on the Camaro. I got caught up in a "while I'm at it" phase.

I went by the performance shop to do some bodywork on a 1968 Shelby GT-500KR, so I checked in the other building and saw that the orange 1971 'Cuda was being disassembled. So, that means the first one on the to do list will be the 1971 HEMI. It was put on a rotisserie to get media blasted.

Hope to get back on my Barracuda next week.

[Marty]

Continuing the heater box assembly, I had Bill Meerholz put together a blower motor for me. Awesome personal service. He restored my faith in independent restoration parts services. Highly recommend. Someone in El Paso could learn a lot from him. I installed all the firewall insulation and installed the heater box, and the rest of the components. One step closer to the dash assembly installation.

The 1971 Hemi 'Cuda was hung on a rotisserie to get media blasted and epoxy primed.  Some fiberglass patching was removed from the inner wheel wells revealing some nasty damage. The transmission tunnel also had some hackery going on.

[dodj]

Ugh...that wheel well repair will take a day or two....

[Marty]

Thanks to a fellow forum member, I was reminded about the dashboard reverse light. There are so many details that can be missed when you put these cars together it's nice to have an unofficial QA department. 

The dash harness was wrapped in harness tape and placed into the dash frame. The American Auto Wire harness has relays, so I attached a fiberglass strip to the back of the glove box and attached the relays to the strip. I'm not much into the wiring part of this project, I just focused on the instructions and managed my way through.

Installed some small parts onto the inner firewall. Defroster ducting, brake switch, clutch switch (Fixed the broken wire.), and gas pedal. The brake booster was cleaned and prepped for epoxy primer then a couple coats of gloss black. Installed.

The vent cables were cleaned up and partly lubed with dry lube till they moved freely. One of the cables had its mounting base broken off the handle. I found a piece of scrap plastic and used the other cable to trace the shape onto the plastic. Cut out the new base and drilled the holes. The broken handle was prepped with 220 sandpaper along with the new base. Using Superglue I tacked the new base onto the vent handle to keep it in place. Once it had cured, I ran a bead of super glue along the edge then sprinkled some baking soda onto the wet glue. It instantly hardened. I did this all around the edges till the glue/baking soda had built up and filled all the cracks. The repair is super strong so I have no doubt it will hold up to the use of the cable. I cleaned up the repair a bit with sandpaper then sprayed the area with semi-gloss. The handle itself was cleaned then the lettering was filled in with white paint from a paint pen. Once dry, I wiped off the excess with a paper towel dampened with Acetone. The handle was then polished using compounds.

This one owner, very rough 1969 Roadrunner showed up last Wednesday for final paint.  The quarters and trunk floor have been replaced, then the body was media blasted. I did the bodywork at the performance shop while I waited for a slot to open at my shop. 383/Four speed. All original except for the carburetor which was swapped out for a Holley many years ago. One junk repaint.

[RUNCHARGER]

Thanks for the dry powder tip. I find Autobody materials change so fast it's almost impossible to keep up. As a hobbiest that only does a car every year or two I'm always behind on what the current best practice is.

[Marty]

Glad I could help. I got caught up in the newest auto body sales pitches years ago and all it cost was more $$$. I never really notice any difference in the final product. I decided to keep things simple and stick with what I know and what worked. Your skill and knowing your product are where it all counts no matter what materials you use.

[Marty]

Back to the power brake booster.

When I ordered the brake booster reinforcement plate it came with the pedal linkage. How convenient. I find out now after ordering this part months ago that it wasn't a direct bolt on. It was too wide for the booster pedal rod, the hole in the booster pedal rod was too small and it didn't include the correct length bolt and spacer.

The power booster and master cylinder was ordered for 1970 E-Body, and it did bolt directly to the firewall, so...

What I did.

Discarded the supplied bushing. Found a 5/16" steel tubing and using a tubing cutter cut it to fit the inside of the linkage walls. 9/16" wide.

Ran a 5/16 drill bit through the tube so that the bolt would slip to fit.

Drilled the pedal push rod out with a 5/64" drill bit so that the bolt/sleeve would slip to fit.

Used four washers with a 5/16 opening to center the pedal push rod. Two per side.

The bracket attachment bolt was replaced with a 3/8-4" bolt,

Found two 1" spacers and cut one down to 1/4" (1 1/4'total)

Found a new shoulder bolt at Mancini Racing. $14.