Project Beast Car - My 73 'Cuda Restomod

[rdf]

I'm a proud owner of a 1973 'Cuda which I bought from a member of another site that I belonged to at the time.  It originally had a 318 in it but when I purchased it, it had a 360.  I drove it for about a year but the motor had major overheating issues and it really couldn't get out of it's own way to be truthful, lol.  So I decided to have a 440 built and to "redo" as much of the car as I can.  I started this project back in 2008 and knew it was going to take me a while to complete so I haven't been rushing my progress at all.  Motor is a 1973 440 with an eagle stroker kit in it, bringing it to a 499.  The build took a couple of years (mostly me saving money to send to the shop) and was completed in June of 2010.  I then found a 727 that needed serious help but sent it to the same guy that built my motor and he built it up nice to fit the motor. 

I would say 6-7 years passed where I only got to work on it a few days out of the year.  I have 3 kids and they are all very active in sports and such so time for working on the 'Cuda wasn't on my side.  During that time though, I did manage to pull off a pretty decent trade (in my books anyways).  At the time, I owned a 155g saltwater fish tank and was looking to sell/trade it.  So I put it up for trade on Craig's List hoping I would get a mig welder or something along those lines but I got an email from a guy who asked me if I needed any body work done (to any of my cars) and that he'd be willing to trade for it.  I thought it was a scam at first but after numerous emails and us meeting in person, I knew I found a sweet deal.  So the deal was I had to prepare the body as much as I could, stripping it down and sanding the majority of the problem areas and then send it to him.  He would finish all the body work, fixing what he could, on his weekends off and then paint everything for me.  I didn't even have to buy the paint, which is called Dupont Hot Rod Black and looks like a flat-black color.  It took him about a year but I would go up almost every weekend to check on it and any progress that was made.  In the end, the paint isn't "show" ready but to me, it looks good enough....especially for trading a saltwater fish tank!

At any rate, I'm finally getting some time to work on it again and it feels good.  During that 8 years, even though I didn't work on it much, I did manage to buy almost everything I needed, so now everything is in boxes just waiting to be installed!  I'll post some before and after pictures once I get them off PhotoBucket.  Anyways, I still have quite a bit to do to get it running so I'll be sure to keep this thread updated and I post a lot of questions so I'm hoping members can help me out. 

Here's what I'd like it to look like when all is said and done!

[Cuda Cody]

This will be fun to watch!!!        Good luck and let us know if you need any help.   

[rdf]

Ok, found some of my old pix so I'll post them up and try to put them in the order in which they were done....no promises though, 

[303 Mopar]

Looking forward to watching this one come together.  Be sure to post plenty of pics and videos!

[rdf]

More pix...not the roof pic....that's the only part of the paint job that I don't care for, but I think the guy that did it was tired of working on the car and just wanted to get it done.  I'm hoping I can spray it and smooth it out a little bit.

[rdf]

More pix

[Chryco Psycho]

Looking good !

[rdf]

More pix

[rdf]

More pix....the last pic is the fiberglass hood that I still need to purchase.

[rdf]

Here's my new gas tank...was gonna put it in last weekend but I wanted to know what the 4 stubs are for on the back of the tank?? They connect to 4 hoses up on the body but I can't tell what it's connected to.  Any ideas??




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[rdf]

Here's my new radiator too!  Well, new to me.  My neighbor and good friend owns 2 mopars and he got a new radiator about a month ago and he wanted me to have his old one!  It includes the dual electric fans and the wiring harness!  Feel blessed to be on the receiving end of this one!





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[dave73]

Based on your rendering, guessing you have followed Aaron becks kuda build? I'm subjective, you're basically building the sister of my challenger. Mine is hot rod black, full hotchkis/qa1 suspension, 512 stroker etc

[rdf]

Based on your rendering, guessing you have followed Aaron becks kuda build? I'm subjective, you're basically building the sister of my challenger. Mine is hot rod black, full hotchkis/qa1 suspension, 512 stroker etc

Yes!!!!  He is the one from the old site that would do all these mock ups of Cudas and Challengers.  Him and I worked for a little bit on what look I was going for and he sent me 20+ renderings of my car.  The guy is a master at art and mechanics!


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[Brads70]

Looks like a really fun build, enjoy! 

[gzig5]

Welcome.

That rendering is almost exactly what I am shooting for with my 73. I snagged a copy for my screen saver.  Your car is looking good.

Whose rear spring mounts are those?