1970 Cuda resurrection

[usraptor]

Thanks Dave 

[HP_Cuda]

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    Any help on this would be appreciated.  I know it can't be that hard but........ 

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.

[YellowThumper]

Great to see the progress of this.
Looking good.

[usraptor]

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?     The plastic edge/lip of the door panel sits on top of the door edge fine without them. 

[HP_Cuda]

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

[HP_Cuda]

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

[YellowThumper]

Great to hear. I "learned" that many years ago with mine.
Now you are going to have to slow down.

[HP_Cuda]

Now I have no excuses to tell the cop right?

[RUNCHARGER]

That's messed up a few people over the years.

[HP_Cuda]

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.

[HP_Cuda]

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   

[YellowThumper]

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.

[Lemontwist]

Beautiful car and great color.  Man talk about a jig saw puzzle

[Topcat]

Bryan,

I'm so glad to finally see you and your car finally.   

It had been so long ago since we saw each other; at first I didn't recognize you.      
(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.   

He told me he still wants to dyno it, And I would love to see what the specs say.

[anlauto]

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...