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1970 Cuda convertible

1970 Cuda convertible restoration/restomod

General Description

I purchased the burnt orange Barracuda convertible, May 2015, sight unseen, on Ebay. The car was in Casper WY so I flew there to pick it up in June. After the test drive, the Cuda was as described (pretty much). This was a good thing since I had already paid in full. Test drive complete, I headed off to my home in Alaska.
Wyoming was hot and dry so I didn't notice the wipers were inoperative until I entered a rain storm near Missoula MT. I turned on the switch and the wipers immediately parked themselves and never moved again. Luckily my brother lives Near Kalispell and knew an old school mechanic who was able to get them to work but only on high or off. 3 days later I picked up my car and headed off again to Canada and Alaska.

Prior to crossing into Canada, I filled up with cheep American gas. A Cuda admirer, next to me, complemented my ride and asked if I knew I was leaking gas under the tank. I pulled forward so that I could check it out and not have to lie down in the puddle of gas. The tank had stopped leaking so I continued the trip filling up my tank every morning before departure. I encountered 20 miles of dirt road, South of Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory, but it did not cause me any paint concerns since I was having the car restored. Other than the wipers and the gas leak, the rest of the trip to Anchorage AK was uneventful averaging 500 miles per day.
It amazed me that many younger Canadians along the Alaska Highway could not recognize nor had even seen a Barracuda.

An old school mechanic replaced the leaking fuel sending unit, wiper motor, and installed a pointless distributor before the restoration began in August 2015.
The Alaska restoration included minor rust repair, body work, replacing the chrome bumpers with painted elastomerics, and stripping/painting the whole car. A tilt steering wheel was installed as well as electric windows, 4 wheel disc brakes and a vintage looking modern stereo. The plan was to have the restoration completed by Summer 2016 so I could drive it to my house in Florida. That didn't happen! Due to back ordered parts (9 months for an elastomeric rear bumper which never arrived) and waiting for Winter to end before painting, the Alaska portion of the restoration was not completed until November 2016. Concerned about Alaska's and Canada's winter road conditions, I decided ship the car to Seattle then drive it to Florida instead of leaving it in a Canadian ditch in or wrapped around a moose.

The mid-November road trip from Seattle to Florida was uneventful except for an attaching bolt which fell out of a front brake caliper. The caliper then makes a loud thud every time you step on the brakes. Just try to get a fine thread replacement bolt in nowhere Wyoming. We washered the crap out of one that was 1" too long. It lasted until it was replaced in Florida.
The Florida restoration consisted of installing 17" front, 18" rear Foose wheels with red line tires, silver accenting the hood and seats and outlining them in red. Next year's mod will be an anti theft system, a custom center console with storage, BU camera/GPS, USB, headphone jack, 2-12v outlets and 2 cup holders, and any thing else I can think of between now and then.

This car is intended to be a daily driver. It is not a numbers matching vehicle but I still receive lots of thumbs up and a few inquiries as to what what it is every time I take it for a drive or go to a car show.

HISTORY : I purchased a 1970 Barracuda 383 purple and white (sound familiar?) in 1970 (2 photos attached). I sold it in 1975 to a friend who totaled it 2 weeks later.
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Category
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David B
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