Dave D's 73 Cuda

[Djdimart64]

Well, this marks the end of the 23rd year since my Cuda has had any miles put on it. The 12 years sitting in the yard at my mother's place certainly took their toll.

This year has shown some exciting progress, all the cancer has been removed. This entailed replacement of the following, both rear frame rails, quarter panels, outer wheel houses, rear floor pan, trunk floor, tail panel, and deck lid. There are also other associated small parts and brackets plus about 6 home fabbed patches. I can honestly say the car is now rust free.

The Hotchkis TVS suspension kit has been installed with the exception of the frame ties. The tunnel has been modified for the Tremec 5 speed..

The car has been epoxy primed while disassembled to ensure as many surfaces as possible are sealed from the elements. Body work is about 85% complete and hopefully will get to a shop for paint in the near future.

I am disappointed that I did not get it running this year, but OT at work and never ending rain this year in the mid Atlantic region put serious limitations on my work time. All in all, I think I did pretty well since all the work is my own, nothing has been outsourced yet.

Thanks to all who post on this forum, especially Shane Kelly, Cuda Cody, Mopar Leo and many others. Without the wealth of information you provide, I would truly be lost.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays for those that celebrate in other ways. May the new year bring you all health, and prosperity.

Dave D

[Rich G.]

Good luck and happy holidays. Hopefully Santa will bring you some goodies to push your project along the way!

[Cuda Cody]

Hopefully next year is the year that you drive it and update us with some cool photos of it all done!       Have a great new year.

[Spikedog08]

Sounds like some good progress!   But . . .

[ToxicWolf]

Sounds great.  We've all been there. Just  keep up the good work. 

[nsmall]

Way to hang on.  Good luck on "finishing" the project.  Post some pics.  Check out other folks restoration pages on this site for inspiration.

[Djdimart64]

Just getting back to work after the holidays and some quality time with my wife.

All rotating and reciprocating parts for the 340 are at the machine shop for balancing. This wasn't planned but is necessary. My car currently has a 71 340 in it, but at some point some ditched the 71 forged cranks and put in a 73 cast crank. Since I am changing to a manual trans, I figured it was good insurance to validate the assembly was correctly balanced. Hope to get all the parts back and reassemble the engine this weekend. After that, I'll be able to wrap up mechanical work and get ready for paint once the weather is better. Will start posting pics, but I am not nearly as good as Shane Kelly

[RUNCHARGER]

That's a really good decision. I put a 68 formula S together once and it was a shaker. Luckily they were able to balance the flywheel off the car and it cured it but I made my mind up not to take the chance again.