71 B5 Cuda 340 4 speed

[Shane Kelley]

Man that looks sooooo good!
The wheels are sweet! What are your rim back spacings and tire sizes?

5" rear 4.25 front. 275/40-17 and 245/45-17

[Cudakiller70]

  Thank you

[Shane Kelley]

I'm down to 2 weekends left. Slow progress in the evenings. I still try to accomplish something every night. Waiting on square Butyl tape to install front and back glass. I didn't realize that stuff is getting hard to come by. Ebay is the only place I could find it and only one person had it. 3m discontinued it.  I have finally finished the glass and trim on RT side. Left side will go faster now that I have it figured out. Thanks to Alan's tip on installing glass. Door dropped down further than I wanted. To my chagrin I'm going to have to raise the rear of the door about 1/8 inch. When I assembled it prior to paint I had it 1/8" high at the rear. Amazing how much that weight is pulling it down. That would be 1/4" drop.  Should be able to accomplish quit a bit this weekend. I have decided to change the front leaf spring mounts so I can lower it. I want to drop the car 1' all the way around.

[Cuda Cody]

It looks awesome.  Absolutely freaking awesome.

I've been telling people for years to do what I do when doing bodywork.  I put 52 pounds of dead weight to pre-sag (usually heavy chain spread across the bottom) in the door while doing the bodywork.  That's exactly how much all the interior guts and door panels weigh.  It works perfect every time and yes you are right it's almost 1/4" of drop when you take the weight out.  Without it in there it's hard to raise the door and still get perfect lines.  I picked up the idea back in the 90's from Dodge when I saw them doing it to Vipers at the factory.  They would pre-sag the doors with sand bags.

Amazing how much that weight is pulling it down. That would be 1/4" drop.

[Shane Kelley]

It looks awesome.  Absolutely freaking awesome.

I've been telling people for years to do what I do when doing bodywork.  I put 52 pounds of dead weight to pre-sag (usually heavy chain spread across the bottom) in the door while doing the bodywork. 

Amazing how much that weight is pulling it down. That would be 1/4" drop.

Thank you!
I used a couple of concrete patio blocks when I did the bodywork. But when I assembled it for paint they had walked off here at the shop. So I rolled the dice and guessed at it. Came up snake eyes it seems. I can fix it but I would have rather not had to mess with it.

[Shane Kelley]

More picture updates. Real time hog things this past weekend. I don't don't feel like I made a lot of progress. Side glass is all done and adjusted. Alan say's that's one of his favorite parts of reassembly. I officially hate it! Tedious and time consuming. Most the exterior time in on and weatherstrips in. Only thing left on interior is RF seat, LF door panel and sill plate. Decided not to go with the buttons on seat bottoms. I just didn't like the look. I had to use them on front uppers to get the cover pulled in at the top or I would have left them off also. The rear seat cover is fighting me.I can get it perfect until I shove the lower in and I causes the upper cover to loosen up and get some wrinkles. Hoping they will lay down with some time. 

[Rev-It-Up]

The car is looking fantastic!   

[rebelyell]

I really love that color! Beautiful car.

[Shane Kelley]

Shout out to Stephan @ SF-Resto for a quick turn around and excellent restoration of my wiper motor. He took care of any little pits or imperfections. I'm very pleased with the final results. 
Also talked to Mopar Dave and he is getting my rear seat covers done in leather to match my front seats. I just keep looking at the front seats and loving the way they look and feel then I look at the back seat and just looks shiny and cheap. The grain and sheen are just worlds apart.

[Cuda Cody]

That's turning out to be one of the nicer 71 cudas out there.   

[82firebird]

Love watching your progress Shane. You are doing it right and the results show! Keep up the good work!

[Shane Kelley]

Finally got the front and back glass in. That 3/8 square butyl tape is getting hard to come by. 3m discontinued it. I only found one person in California on Ebay with a different brand. That's the only place I could find it. This coming weekend is my last weekend before the car show. Have one seat,air breather and some suspension work. Ride height adjustments,sway bars, etc. I plan on bringing it to work Monday for the alignment. Looks like I'm a few weeks out for the leather rear seat cover. Wish I had it now, but not a biggie. Still waiting on my restoration battery. If it's not here in time I will yank the one out of my Road Runner to use in the Cuda.

[MoparDave]

Finally got the front and back glass in. That 3/8 square butyl tape is getting hard to come by. 3m discontinued it. I only found one person in California on Ebay with a different brand. That's the only place I could find it.

could have called. I have about 6 rolls. but your good now.

[Rev-It-Up]

Still waiting on my restoration battery. If it's not here in time I will yank the one out of my Road Runner to use in the Cuda.

Sounds like you are trying to finish in time for a show right around the same time as Carlisle....

[MoparDave]

for those that do not use the Urethane and like to use the 3/8 Butyl tape/ribbon sealer. I have that in stock 15.00 for a 15 foot roll. + the ride
i'll post this up on the sale section also.