chickwitha_Cuda
Active Member
TL;DR:: Hi! This is my Car! I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway!! Enjoy my misadventures!
Long version-- Hello Everyone!
This is kind of my introductory post, and unofficial journal of restoration... Part-time lurker, but it's past time I start participating. I'm a bit late to the party. Little history-- after 2 years of looking, saving, and trying to prepare; I purchased my 1974 Barracuda 318 in February 2021. I found it in Illinois, the gentleman bought it to restore/flip, but decided to let it go and use the funds on bigger projects. He only had it about 3 months so all restoration/modifications had been done by the previous owner who had it for at least 20-30 years... I'm a die-hard AMC fan, but wanted my first project car to be something that was a bit easier to find parts for. The 'Cuda has been one of my favorite cars since I was a little girl and one i always just assumed was financially out of reach. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have been able to own this car so much earlier in my life than I anticipated.
I'm already well into restoration and modifications of my own this past year, so I'll break things down into a couple different posts in this thread...
In this first post you can see when I first went to see the car and when she got home. A few of the details I knew and determined when I first bought the car::
Motor is a non-number's matching 318. Mainly stock, it had an Edelbrock intake manifold, and Edlebrock carb that was WAY too big for it. Missing kickdown linkage.
727 Torqueflite transmission
7.25 Rear end
A/C car
Minimal rust. Few holes smaller than a silver dollar. ((Floor pan, battery tray, etc...)) No major bondo as far as anyone can tell with a magnet. Rust damage around the rear windshield.
Front and back bumper damage... ((Like they backed into, or drove into the garage wall... Super minor.)) Badly repaired damage on the grill.
Driver's seat badly cracked and split. Foam is pretty squashed. All other seats in good condition.
Dash badly cracked and the previous owner badly drilled speaker wire over the missing speakers.
Original radio replaced with cheap cassette player
Paint was a backyard job that looks amazing at about 10ft but as a professional graphic artist drives me crazy with color discrepancies, wobbly lines, and terrible color matching....
Long version-- Hello Everyone!
This is kind of my introductory post, and unofficial journal of restoration... Part-time lurker, but it's past time I start participating. I'm a bit late to the party. Little history-- after 2 years of looking, saving, and trying to prepare; I purchased my 1974 Barracuda 318 in February 2021. I found it in Illinois, the gentleman bought it to restore/flip, but decided to let it go and use the funds on bigger projects. He only had it about 3 months so all restoration/modifications had been done by the previous owner who had it for at least 20-30 years... I'm a die-hard AMC fan, but wanted my first project car to be something that was a bit easier to find parts for. The 'Cuda has been one of my favorite cars since I was a little girl and one i always just assumed was financially out of reach. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have been able to own this car so much earlier in my life than I anticipated.
I'm already well into restoration and modifications of my own this past year, so I'll break things down into a couple different posts in this thread...
In this first post you can see when I first went to see the car and when she got home. A few of the details I knew and determined when I first bought the car::
Motor is a non-number's matching 318. Mainly stock, it had an Edelbrock intake manifold, and Edlebrock carb that was WAY too big for it. Missing kickdown linkage.
727 Torqueflite transmission
7.25 Rear end
A/C car
Minimal rust. Few holes smaller than a silver dollar. ((Floor pan, battery tray, etc...)) No major bondo as far as anyone can tell with a magnet. Rust damage around the rear windshield.
Front and back bumper damage... ((Like they backed into, or drove into the garage wall... Super minor.)) Badly repaired damage on the grill.
Driver's seat badly cracked and split. Foam is pretty squashed. All other seats in good condition.
Dash badly cracked and the previous owner badly drilled speaker wire over the missing speakers.
Original radio replaced with cheap cassette player
Paint was a backyard job that looks amazing at about 10ft but as a professional graphic artist drives me crazy with color discrepancies, wobbly lines, and terrible color matching....
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aboard. 
. I like your plan of attack.
