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70 Cuda clone convertible

72*birdman

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72*birdman

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I started out with a well optioned 1970 Barracuda convertible. Painted with optional High impact Lemon twist paint originally with a white power top and white interior, 318 V8, 904 console shift automatic, bucket seats, factory air, luggage rack, dual painted mirrors. Car came with a set of 15” rally’s on the back and 14” rally’s on the front. Top was missing but the seats had been recovered and also came with a new black carpet in a box. It also had a new gas tank and sending unit but the gauge still did not work. An 8¼” open differential rear end. It had the original flat hood on it but came with a sassy grass dual scoop Cuda hood that was set up for hood pins. The fender tag, dash tag and build sheet were all still with the car, although the build sheet was in rough condition.
Drive train: Motor: All new hoses, plug wires, water pump, fuel pump, freeze plugs and filters. The newly rebuilt 1970 340 Engine with a casting date of: 7/7/69 was cleaned and honed, there was no ridge in the bores so it remained Standard Bore 4.040 and will be running Factory OEM 10.5:1 Pistons with NOS MP Moly Rings on OEM 1970 Bushed Rods. New Clevite Cam, Rod and Main bearings and a Stock steel crank which also remained Standard/Standard. Camshaft is a Summit Cam #SUM-1708 .480/.480 Lift Hyd. Cam & Lifters. Heads are rebuilt “X” heads with OEM 340 HP Springs, Proform #66869 1.50 ratio roller rockers, and a set of black Mopar Performance aluminum valve covers. Installed a factory 90 degree oil filter mount. Oiling will be done by a Melling HV/Oil pump & pickup and aided by the factory windage tray. Intake gases will be run thru a Mopar performance 1970 style unsilenced air cleaner with new 340 pie tin to a Edelbrock Performer1406 carburetor (650 CFM , electric Choke) sitting atop an Edelbrock Air Gap Intake. The exhaust system will consist of a set of Headers running thru an all new stock exhaust system of mufflers, heat shields, piping, hangers, resonators and tips out a new dual cutout valance. Spark will be from a standard post 1972 Mopar electronic ignition system.
 

72*birdman

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Transmission:
A new Bob Mazzolini built 904 automatic 2.74 low gear with a deep pan, racing clutches, shift kit and an external transmission cooler. A Hughes Racing 2500 to 2800 stall convertor. New transmission mount and U-joint.
Suspension:
Replaced the factory Barracuda 8¼” open 3:23 rear end and leaf spring set with a factory 1970 Cuda 8¾” rear end and heavy duty leaf spring set. Set up with a 3:55 shurgrip and all right hand thread lug studs. Acquired, sand blasted, replaced all bushings, restored and installed a factory rear sway bar.
The front suspension including factory sway bar was removed, disassembled, sand blasted and totally rebuilt with all new parts. The front drum brake system was upgraded to disks with all right hand thread lug studs, new hoses and a new aftermarket 9” booster master cylinder combo. A new set of 4 gas shocks completed the suspension work.
Engine compartment upgrades:
The 26” factory heavy duty radiator which was standard on air cars was rebuilt and re-cored. Factory air conditioner system was upgraded to all new fly by wire vintage air system. 2 speed manual pump washer/ wiper upgraded to a restored 3 speed variable with electric pump. Front drum brakes upgraded to disks with new master cylinder booster combo. All factory information and maintenance decals were upgraded and replaced
 

72*birdman

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Body upgrades:
Added a complete aftermarket factory fog light set up. The Dual painted mirrors were upgraded to 1970 year correct set of chrome. New windshield installed. The Barracuda flat hood was replaced with a Cuda dual scoop hood, a set of new hood pins and ”340 Cuda” emblems. Convertible rocker panel moldings replaced with new 70 Cuda fish gill rocker moldings. Installed New side marker light reflectors. Added the 70 Cuda only set of front grill red bars. Replaced the pentastar emblem. Added the Cuda only stainless tail panel molding, painted the insert area Organasol and added the “CUDA” tail panel emblem. Added new through the pan dual exhaust panel and the iconic square Cuda exhaust tips. Restored a date code matching set of 15 X 7 rally wheels and added a set of NOS 1970 center caps. Upgraded tires to a new set of 235 60 15 BFG TA radials.
New front and rear bumpers, rear bumper guards and all bumper bolts.
Trunk upgrades
Installed new weather strip and trunk mat. Acquired and restored a 1970 “Cuda” jack including emblem. Acquired and restored a space saver spare tire including emblems.
Acquired a space saver air canister and mounting bracket. Replaced the top motor pump - cylinder lines, both lift cylinders and the warning emblem, replaced the fluid and re-welded the top motor bracket.
Interior upgrades:
Replaced the standard gauge cluster with a refurbished set of rally gauges. New clear gauge cover lense, wood grain face plates, brake and turn indicator lenses, refaced gauges and upgraded to a quarts clock movement. Replaced the standard gauge under dash wiring harness with a new rally gauge remanufactured harness. Replaced the one speaker air dash with a recovered factory 3 speaker air dash. Transferred the original vin tag to the new dash and installed it with new factory rivets. New door and quarter panels, sun visors, and carpet. Added Cuda emblems to the door panels. Upgraded the nonfunctional standard air conditioning to a Vintage Air system. Installed a 1971 and later factory AM/FM radio in the dash mated with the 3 speaker dash and with an addition set of speakers under the front bucket seats. Installed Eastwood brand sound deadening & heat reduction body insulation. Installed a new top and acquired and replaced the missing passenger quarter glass. Replaced all the factory insulation panels, all weather striping, body plugs and rubber bumpers.
 

72*birdman

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Paint job:

After the car was stripped it was evident it had been in a passenger side collision. This explained the missing quarter side glass. The passenger side rear quarter was replaced along with the trunk floor extension due to the collision damage. The passenger door had previously been replaced when the poor quality repair was done. The windshield had also been replaced but was installed incorrectly. It had been glued directly to the frame causing the drains to plug and rust holes to develop there. The windshield broke while trying to get it out to repair the rust issues. The windshield frame took a lot of work to clean up the mess that been made of it. The holes had custom metal patches cut and installed. The door jam required straightening with the port a power to make the window roll up straight and the door to latch correctly. Addition straightening was needed on the front of the door pillar at the door hinges where the body had been pushed in. Finally due to numerous rust pinholes the trunk floor, tail panel, and the driver side lower rear quarter behind the tire were all replaced. All 3 were probably save able but the metal was thin and rust pot marked. The rest of the car was in very good shape with no signs of rust at the typical trouble spots the hood hinge mounts, battery tray area, and dog leg areas of the front fenders. The only other significant issue found was one of the convertible top motor mount factory welds was cracked due to its poor quality. The top frame was hand sanded, rust proofed, had the back bow straightened and then painted. The engine compartment was also hand sanded and then painted lemon twist before the cowl area and radiator support were painted black as done from the factory. The floor and trunk pans were painted even though they will not be seen. Every nut, bolt and part of this car was apart cleaned and painted if appropriate at one time or another.
 

DetMatt1

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Bravo! The only thing I would do differently is use a set of factory 340 hp exhaust manifolds.
 

72*birdman

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Bravo! The only thing I would do differently is use a set of factory 340 hp exhaust manifolds.
Made more progress on braking system. lines all run time to pull the master cylinder, bench bleed it and pressure up the system.

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72*birdman

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Had a chance to put some serious time on the car this week with the help of a good friend. We got the engine, tranny, headers, and tranny lines in. Also got the vintage air condensor and drier test fit.
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72*birdman

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Been working on the engine compartment. Installing accessories and new vintage air system.
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72*birdman

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Nearly complete on vintage air installation. Had to change pulley setup. Hoses under the dash are a tight fit. Stance is starting to get close the more I add to the motor.
 
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