1970 4 door cuda?!?!

[ECS]

How will you make the door trim panels?

Here are a few "rough" pictures of the Interior Door Panels that were custom fabricated to fit the rest of the custom alterations. We used a very hard wood along the Door openings to provide a consistent Window Gap. The altering of the Body Panels caused the openings to be unorthodox so thin wood strips were used to bring the gaps back to a default (straight) opening. The panels will be thinly padded and covered with a grained Vinyl that will match the rest of the Interior. Once covered, the metal sub-panels and wood strips will look like a one piece unit.

You will also notice the black line on the bare Door Panels that is tapered & shaped like a forward motion "V". (Those templates will be replaced once all the fabrication is complete.) That pattern will be recessed and stitched in the Door Panel design and will run back to the custom Foam pieces that are located next to the rear seats.

Also shown is the location of the Interior Light Box next to the rear Seat. When the Carpet is installed, the Box will raise up just enough to perfectly join with the the Rocker Panel (interior) curve next to the Sill Plate.

 

[ECS]

Here are a few photos showing the conversion process for the custom Telescopic/Tilt Steering Column. We had to use a stock C Body (Imperial) setup in conjunction with a stock E Body setup. They had to be cut apart and the two units merged together to fit the stock E Body Dash configuration. (The slot that allows the telescopic lever to move from left to right was hand cut & formed from an original Cuda column.)

The Tilt Lever and Column Shifter Lever were covered with rust & pits. They had to be re-used in order to make the new setup functional. It took over 16 hours to sand and polish the metal to look like chrome. The levers in the pictures below are NOT Chrome but bare metal. They were sanded with 80 grit sandpaper followed by 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 & 2000 grit paper. Then they were hand polished using 0000 steel wool with Mother's Polish. A final hand polishing with a soft cloth and Mother's polish gave them their final luster that looks like Chrome. I'll post more photos later that show the finished progression.

 

[plumgtx]

wow, great job on the **** levers. my GTX column shift looked alot like yours so I got one from an auction i believe they said off a new yorker. it looks good but not as good as yours. how will that finish hold up? probably better than chrome???

 

[ECS]

wow, great job on the **** levers. my GTX column shift looked alot like yours so I got one from an auction i believe they said off a new yorker. it looks good but not as good as yours. how will that finish hold up? probably better than chrome???

The metal is so smooth that it should be almost impervious to oxidation. I treated them with one of my patented products (AMMO) to keep them protected. As you can see in the pictures, you can't tell they have been treated with the invisible moisture barrier.

Below are a few photos of the Interior "mockup" of the Car. The Custom Door Panels, Seats, Interior Foam Pads and Carpeting all turned out exactly like we planned. We have to assemble the entire Interior and then take it apart again to make sure all of the custom items work in unison. The areas between the A Pillar & C Pillar are a completely "new" design so it is important to test fit everything before starting the final assembly. Ignore the shabby parts in the pictures. They will all be replaced with the actual components that will ultimately be used when the vehicle is complete. These old components are just for test fitting everything. (I included a picture of the actual front Seat that will be used in the Car when finished.) We should be hitting the Paint booth sometime soon.

 

[mmissile]

Looking very cool.

 

[ECS]

Here are a few pics showing the custom PRNDL that had to be made along with the Dash Pad in place and the Door Jams being sprayed with black paint. Also shown are the custom Door Rods (Before & After) that were refurbished to look new again. They will never show but we are making sure that everything on this car will be "new" looking when completed.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Incredible attention to details. Even the ones unseen.
I also like how you have the torn seat pad giving the allusion this is a real car that has been driven daily. lol

 

[ECS]

Incredible attention to details. Even the ones unseen.

The custom Door Panels are mocked up and ready to be covered in black vinyl. The composite (board) panels will be replaced with new ones after the "old ones" have been used as a format to fabricate the custom replacements. The vinyl pattern & design will mimic original Door Panels from a stock 2 Door Barracuda.

 

[ECS]

Here are a few photos showing the custom Weatherstrip that we made for the outside of the Door openings. The are metal reinforced, with rubber & felt on the lip. Also pictured is the Carburetor that will be use on the 340 Engine.

 

[ECS]

.......Also shown are the custom Door Rods (Before & After) that were refurbished to look new again. They will never show but we are making sure that everything on this car will be "new" looking when completed.

We were able to find "original" style cloth sheathing for the anti-rattle material that insulates the linkage. I replaced the "cleaned" original covering and NOW they look new again. Here is a comparison between the originals before cleaning, after cleaning and the new replacements that were found.

 

[ECS]

Incredible attention to details.

We are also making progress on the Power Train part of the project during the breaks we have had while painting the Car. One area that was a concern was the options for the Exhaust System. We didn't want to use the typical Chrome Tips that are used on most Cudas, so we decided on going with the California "Turn Down" Mufflers. This prompted me to push forward in having them manufactured. They are one of the "new" products that has resulted from the progression of this project. I posted these in the Exhaust section a while back but they are the exact type that will be used for this vehicle.

 

[ebomb]

Amazing project! I was wondering if you left the back of the door panels primer or did you paint these?

 

[ECS]

Amazing project! I was wondering if you left the back of the door panels primer or did you paint these?

They were also painted black. The previous pictures just showed the "jammed" areas that were painted. Things are moving along quickly so I'll start showing more updates. Thanks!

 

[resq302]

Dave, those pics look awesome ! I hope you get those seats recovered as I'd hate to be the person who sits on the pass side ! lol.

I saw that you will be using a 340 carb. What kind of block will you be using? Modified 318?

 

[ECS]

I hope you get those seats recovered as I'd hate to be the person who sits on the pass side ! lol.
I saw that you will be using a 340 carb. What kind of block will you be using? Modified 318?

We already have some nicer seats but could leave those ugly ones if they add some "originality" to the project. (lol) The car will have a July 1969 dated 340 Engine. I'll post some photos of the power plant early next week.

 

[resq302]

Good to know you are going with a 340 block to match up to the 340 carb. Will you also be using the 727 auto trans too?

 

[ebomb]

Where did you come up with those door designs and the metal skin panels?

 

[ECS]

Where did you come up with those door designs and the metal skin panels?

We had to design them to fit the B Body Door Frames we started with. Those Door Frames still had to undergo major reconstruction to work with the overall theme. Below are a couple of photos showing how long the Door Skins were before sizing them to fit the Frames. Steve is standing behind one of the custom Door Skins in the second picture. The were tall and large when the sections were welded together.

 

[ECS]

Good to know you are going with a 340 block to match up to the 340 carb. Will you also be using the 727 auto trans too?

Yes. A 727 Transmission will be used. I'll have pictures of the Power Train to post soon.

 

[resq302]

Dave,

I can't remember if you had mentioned before or not but will you be reproducing all of the inspection marks and such on the components that you clean up? I seem to recall there was some kind of crayon or grease pencil marking on the trans of the Valiant. Just curious if these will be getting replaced on this car as well.