1970 Barracuda Help - Insight

[Cazbah362]

Folks,
Guess I am not sure what forum to place this in, so my apologies up front. First, I have a 1970 Barracuda, 318/4 speed car I am currently in the process of re-doing. I don't want say restoring, but building to what I prefer, with the basics of original. The engine and trans are not original. Car is a Go-Mango orange, front sway bar, no a/c and no p/s, 8 3/4 with fender tag. Car is getting new PPG paint as we speak, staying factory color.

Also, since car is close to AAR, I was trying emulate a lot of the AAR features such as deck lid (It has original AAR lid and fin), no metal badges, and shaved the antenna up front, but did not make relocate to the rear, and such. Hood will be AAR too down the road, right now factory non-cuda hood.

Questions:

Frame connectors: Adding these, do they distract from the value of the car. I was looking at US Car Tools version, I have them on my Dart and they installed nicely. I like the fact they look clean and follow the rails, what I would suspect factor would look like if they had full frames. Thoughts?

Dash: I was going to send this to Just Dashes and change from Barracuda to Cuda. Where would be the best place to send a dash and is the Cuda worth changing to? Just dashes is expensive and I am a bit leery on sending the dash with the vin. What do others do hear?

Engine: Right now I have a nice little 360 ready for the car, however I have a 451 (B) ready as well. 360 is Plymouth blue and about 375/400 hp, 451 is about 650. I want to be able to cruise and enjoy, but wow 451 would be cool. Looking for thoughts. 4 speed is staying, and its a 23 spline, small clutch, so this would be an upgrade cost to a scatter shield and larger disc set-up. And probably a 18 spline later in life ($$), and, and ($).

Engine color: Car is orange on black - I did blue for a bit of contrast, but now I am thinking orange was probably more era correct.

I like building for my self, but always need to have a plan if life gets crazy and need to liquidate, this is a hobby. My worry is over build and its to custom for the market.

I understand this is a bit of a vent, writing is helping me work through these thoughts as well, so please keep that in mind.

 

[moparleo]

Do what you like. After all as you said, its just a hobby. Don't worry about collectors value being affected by frame connectors. Your car is not a Cuda and not a rare combo so you won't be hurting any perceived value you might have. There is no such thing as a Cuda dash. Just dashes is expensive up front but many people have tried to save money by using someone less expensive only to end up going with Just Dashes anyway after spending their money with someone else first.

Go with the 360. Especially if you are not upgrading to power steering. A package with the same weight as the car came with so you can change torsion bars and springs later if you want.

 

[challenger6pak]

I agree with Leo. Do what you want. The car is not original anymore. The frame connectors are a plus when the car is not original. If your dash is not cracked, leave it. You really won't need an 18 spline trans unless you have a lot of torque and the car hooks up well. Orange is more era correct for the engine. I don't think your car would be hard to sell once you have it together as planned. If you have to sell it in the future you may lose some money and you will most likely lose your time investment. Isn't that what hobbies are all about? I hope you have fun with it. Post some pics.

 

[ramenth]

I agree. It's your car, do what you want. In the end, satisfy yourself.

I wouldn't recommend sending the VIN tag along with the dash pad. You can buy the rivets to re-place it when you get the dash back. (Plus, I didn't think Just Dashes would handle the dash with the VIN attached, or they'd chuck the tag. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

[Ray]

Agree don't send the vin.

 

[Ray]

Folks,
Guess I am not sure what forum to place this in, so my apologies up front. First, I have a 1970 Barracuda, 318/4 speed car I am currently in the process of re-doing. I don't want say restoring, but building to what I prefer, with the basics of original. The engine and trans are not original. Car is a Go-Mango orange, front sway bar, no a/c and no p/s, 8 3/4 with fender tag. Car is getting new PPG paint as we speak, staying factory color.

Also, since car is close to AAR, I was trying emulate a lot of the AAR features such as deck lid (It has original AAR lid and fin), no metal badges, and shaved the antenna up front, but did not make relocate to the rear, and such. Hood will be AAR too down the road, right now factory non-cuda hood.

Questions:

Frame connectors: Adding these, do they distract from the value of the car. I was looking at US Car Tools version, I have them on my Dart and they installed nicely. I like the fact they look clean and follow the rails, what I would suspect factor would look like if they had full frames. Thoughts?

Dash: I was going to send this to Just Dashes and change from Barracuda to Cuda. Where would be the best place to send a dash and is the Cuda worth changing to? Just dashes is expensive and I am a bit leery on sending the dash with the vin. What do others do hear?

Engine: Right now I have a nice little 360 ready for the car, however I have a 451 (B) ready as well. 360 is Plymouth blue and about 375/400 hp, 451 is about 650. I want to be able to cruise and enjoy, but wow 451 would be cool. Looking for thoughts. 4 speed is staying, and its a 23 spline, small clutch, so this would be an upgrade cost to a scatter shield and larger disc set-up. And probably a 18 spline later in life ($$), and, and ($).

Engine color: Car is orange on black - I did blue for a bit of contrast, but now I am thinking orange was probably more era correct.

I like building for my self, but always need to have a plan if life gets crazy and need to liquidate, this is a hobby. My worry is over build and its to custom for the market.

Just build what you want if and when the time comes theres always a buyer.
Trust me my car is anything but original and I could sell it with a phone call.

 

[Cazbah362]

All,
Thank you. Happy to hear my thoughts fell on some listening ears. Ramenth, thank you for the VIN information and all for confirming it. I sent my GTO's dash in, it turned out wonderful but was expensive. VIN is the concern on this one, so I will handle how you suggested.

 

[challenger6pak]

And, even though it sounds crazy, lock up the loose VIN or put it where you know for sure you can't lose it. I have a friend that is on this board who had a fender tag accidently tossed by someone at a shop because it was stored, at the shop, in a drawer with sand paper. It wasn't even loose. It was in an envelope. So be careful with it.