73 Cuda resto

[Deezel]

FINALLY, after a lot of set-backs finding a reputable bodyshop that I'm happy with, the Cuda is in for body and paint!!

I bought the car in May of 2022 pretty much knowing I was going to strip it down and build a car to my liking. I drove the car over the summer of 2022, then started to tear it down in preparation of the restoration in November of 2022. After being strung along and let down by 3 different shops, I finally found one that was willing to take on the project.

This will be a fairly longish build that I don't anticipate being finished until the spring/summer of 2025. I decided to document it here as I KNOW I'll be needing some help along the way to get this car finished.

Here's what it looked like when I bought it:



And here it is now, tore down and getting ready for the blaster:











It'll be interesting to see what's hiding under all the old paint and filler! I will try to continue to update this thread, as much as I can, as time goes on.

[Cuda Cody]

   Exciting!   

[70_440-6Cuda]

Beautiful!

[cnm2215]

You, sir, are my new best friend. I just bought a '73 Cuda three weeks ago. I'm new to all of this, but excited to learn and grow!

[anlauto]

Looks like it was nice when you bought it !
Looks pretty darn solid

What are your "long term" plans for it ?

[Deezel]

Looks like it was nice when you bought it !
Looks pretty darn solid

What are your "long term" plans for it ?

It's one of those 20/20 cars, looks great at 20 feet and 20 mph! Has some rust issues in lower 1/4's. Floors and frames are all 100% with only light surface rust. Car was definitely taken care of during its lifespan.

Car will be stripped down and anything that needs to be replaced, will get replaced. I'm kinda going in the direction of restomod with some modern upgrades but still retain the "old school" cool about these cars.

Going to keep the car a hardtop and not replace the vinyl roof. The Dashtop interior panels will all get replaced with new Metro panels and will be black instead of white. Have already ordered new custom seat covers and interior parts from Legendary that will match paint scheme of car. I'll reveal the color once it's been painted.

I do have the numbers matching 340 and 727 for it but am leaning towards a Blueprint 408 stroker with an overdrive tranny. Haven't decided on what tranny to use yet. I have an All American Billet serpentine kit for LA motors. I have checked and this will fit on Blueprints 408. It will be cooled with a Cold Case 26" rad with dual electric fans. Motor will be fuelled by a Holley Sniper 2 with Hyperspark and new Holley fuel tank with electric pump inside.

The 8 3/4 rear will probably get replaced with a dana 60, most likely with a 3.91 sure grip. It will get narrowed and I will install a 1" spring relocation kit to fit a bit more meat on the back. I'm going to put the original drivetrain aside for the next owner (in about 15 years after I'm done enjoying the car) should they want to bring the car back to factory condition. It is a BS23H car with all documentation so someone may want to restore it to factory spec in the future.

Steering column will be an ididit tilt with Dakota Digital RTX rallye gauges, cruise control and GPS speedo module. Vintage Air has already been purchased as well. I will be rewiring with the American Autowire wiring kit.

Suspension will be Hotchkis TVS with QA1 k-member and lower control arms. Will also replace torsion bars with larger ones. Steering box will be replaced with a Borgeson.

Still deciding on brakes but pretty sure it will be Wilwood disc all around.

[Deezel]

Car is blasted and I'm quite surprised at what was hiding under the old paint/filler. For the most part, the car is pretty solid so I really don't have too much to complain about.
I will have to replace a few things that I thought would be OK but it's all part of the game I guess.

[ebodyproducts]

That is one of the cleanest cars I've seen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deezel]

I finally got a pallet of parts in from AMD! Delivered it to my body man so he can get a good start on it in the new year. Still waiting on the roof skin but was told it should be here in the first week of Jan.



I also picked up my dash frame and parts that I had blasted and painted. There's no way I would have ever got it looking as good as the shop did. The dash pad I received from Dash Pad Pros fits and looks absolutely perfect. It's hard to believe there are so many horror stories about getting a dash pad from them. Guess I was one of the lucky ones...

Here it is almost fully assembled and ready to be wired. 

Still deciding on what stereo to put in but I'm leaning towards a factory look reproduction stereo that has all the new technology installed, like bluetooth.

[nsmall]

Thanks for sharing.  Awesome project.

[usraptor]

That dash looks great. I agree to go with an original type looking radio with modern guts. My 'Cuda came with the original 8-track so I had it restored and put it back in the dash.  Along with a box of old 8 tracks I put on the passenger floor, the 8-track radio often gets more comments/compliments than any other part of the car at car shows. Looking forward to watching the restoration come along.

[cnm2215]

Very nice! From where did you get your new rallye instrument panel?

[Deezel]

Very nice! From where did you get your new rallye instrument panel?

Picked it up from Summit Racing. It's a Dakota Digital RTX.

[nsmall]

Looking great!

[Deezel]

It's been awhile since I've posted an update. Body work is progressing but was hindered due to a warped trunk lid. It's been an uphill battle trying to get it replaced but the new one should be in any day now. These are older pictures and I'll try to get some more recent ones posted in the next little bit.









Another battle has been trying to procure a donor Dana 60 for the build. I started looking for one back in December and FINALLY found a good candidate yesterday. There have been many found for sale but the problem is, the ones selling them believe they are made of gold. I paid $100 for an excellent condition core so my hats off to the seller.

Motor block got the green light from the machinist and is now back in my garage awaiting the arrival of the rotating assembly. I ordered the Scat assembly from Summit back at the beginning of March but the estimated shipping date keeps getting pushed back. It's estimated shipping date is now mid-June. In the meantime I got it painted to keep any rust at bay. With all this extra waiting time, I've been arguing with myself on whether to go with the hydraulic flat tappet, that I already have all the parts for or just bite the bullet and go with a retrofit hydraulic roller, to avoid any potential failures.