Our 72 'Cuda project

[Mrbill426]

So this is our little "project", a (now 3rd owner) '72 Cuda I stumbled  upon in Ohio in '02, and brought with us out to Washington in '03.   At first we had plans of making it a street/strip car  and so assembled all kinds of performance goodies for it including rounding up a donor '66 Imperial for the 440 it was packing.   Plans do change and we decided we would probably get more enjoyment out of it by restoring it.  After all it was almost 100% original, just tired and (more than we realized) rusty.



The Imperial in the background is not the '66 that is my departed grandfather's '64 Crown that he purchased in '65; a un-restored and tired survivor.  It is driven once or twice a year anymore, and needs a ton of work.

[Mrbill426]

A couple pics of the engine before it was pulled.  As I said pretty much original except someone swapped out the Thermoquad for a some sort of street legal Holley, and the heater water valve was replaced with a generic one along the way.  Also note the temporary  Accel super coil.  The A/C had been converted to R-134   



Yep it's all pretty ugly under there; slam the hood and walk away, right?

[Mrbill426]

Engine out.  Can't recall but I think I had replaced the water pump right after buying the car.

[Mrbill426]

It's hard to make out the numbers on the crank, and frankly I am not sure I am even looking at the right ones to identify it.  I think it is forged though.

[RUNCHARGER]

Wow: That looks great in white. I think you're taking the right path restoring it. It's all there and it's got the right stuff.

[Mrbill426]

Cylinders still have a crosshatch and almost no ridge.

[Mrbill426]

Thanks, we think so too.  It is was white on white except for the carpet, dash, console, package tray, and kick panels.  Not claiming by any means that it is some rare car but I have not seen another one like it.

Wow: That looks great in white. I think you're taking the right path restoring it. It's all there and it's got the right stuff.

[Mrbill426]

With the engine out we begin to see just some of the "cancer"...   

[Mrbill426]

Rust around hood hinges on those sides...



Not sure what the black "splatter" on the firewall was all about; sort of a undercoat type substance.    Anyone have an idea?

[Mrbill426]

The mystery:  What exactly (and why) did some body shop Frankenstein the right side radiator support?    Note smoke wrenched sheet metal (patch?) and snipped-in and bolted support. 
The car came with a 26" radiator yet it looks like a 24" support was put in then cut out??    The VIN on top matches the car though. 

[Cuda Cody]

Looks like a nice solid project.     Maybe someone cut the opening to fit a custom radiator.  It does not looked wrecked or hit in the front at all.  And your VIN number is still there so that's a good thing.  Easy to fix it right and it will be as good as new.  Thanks for sharing photos of your project.   

[6bblgt]

It's hard to make out the numbers on the crank, and frankly I am not sure I am even looking at the right ones to identify it.  I think it is forged though.

2532457 = FORGED CRANKSHAFT ('72 340 used forged crank up to engine number HM340 3911 8000 - assembled 4/12/72)

what's your engine number? (front of block under driver's side head)

[Mrbill426]

Thanks for the input Cody.  I don't think it was ever intended for a custom radiator mainly because of the prior owners.  It's just weird how it was cut and pasted on the right side; make no sense to me.  I have receipts from I think 2 different body shops, but they are hard to decipher due to the lingo they use on work orders.     We fixed it later on with a new piece.   The right front frame rail was about 1/2" higher than the left, making us believe it took a hit at one time.

Looks like a nice solid project.     Maybe someone cut the opening to fit a custom radiator.  It does not looked wrecked or hit in the front at all.  And your VIN number is still there so that's a good thing.  Easy to fix it right and it will be as good as new.  Thanks for sharing photos of your project.   

[Mrbill426]

I think I see "457" on the crank.  The end of the block is too rusty to make out any numbers at all, but I took some pics of the castings.

It's hard to make out the numbers on the crank, and frankly I am not sure I am even looking at the right ones to identify it.  I think it is forged though.

2532457 = FORGED CRANKSHAFT ('72 340 used forged crank up to engine number HM340 3911 8000 - assembled 4/12/72)

what's your engine number? (front of block under driver's side head)

[Cuda Cody]

Love watching E-Bodies come back to life.