SuperDuty455
New Member
Hello everyone,
My name is François, and I'm from France between Dunkirk and Rouen. I'm passionate about American cars, especially the 1970-74 Barracuda.
As a kid in the 90s, I enjoyed watching Nash Bridges, and you see where it's going : the '71 convertible was captivating, not to mention how well it was featured in the series. It quickly became a car I wanted.
Years went by, and here I was in 2007 looking for my first car. At the same time, the price of Barracudas was skyrocketing and was already way out of my very small budget... So I settled for more affordable models : I started with a 1979 Firebird, then a 1984 Trans Am (which I still have), and many others: a 1974 Firebird Formula, a 1983 Camaro Z28 (restored and sold), a 1987 Trans Am GTA (sold), three 1979 Mustangs (I still have one), a 1979 Mercury Capri, an 1980 Mustang Cobra (yes, I love Foxes), a 1979 Trans Am (which arrived in December along with a 1988 Mustang as a gift!), and a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (sold).
Fast forward to November 2021, when @Vettefab here tells me about a 'Cuda that might be for sale...1 km from my house.
He had already looked at it some time before and it seemed very interesting to him.
I wasn't betting anything, having no idea about the price, but Fabien and I arranged an inspection with the owner. Sure enough, it was a genuine 'Cuda 340 BS23H0B, fender tag present, well-optioned, overall in good condition, a 440 HP Police Patrol model from 1978, possibly drivable although the 1994 Pennsylvania road tax sticker suggested it hadn't been driven since.And almost complete, with a set of Rally Wheels in like-new condition.
The seller had bought it three years prior but hadn't done anything to it, and he was starting a family, so it was unlikely to ever happen.
We discussed the price, and what he told me was more than fair... without hesitation, I put down a deposit and worked hard to secure the remaining funds as quickly as possible. The owner was very friendly and let me work on it before the final payment to get it running again so I could drive it home. A month later, it was at my place.
Several life events prevented me from making as much progress on the car as I would have liked, but I've still managed to do quite a bit of work on it since then.
One issue that was a little difficult to pinpoint was the serious lack of power: when stationary, there's no problem, the engine responds correctly, but when driving, with the pedal to the metal, it roars but not much happens.
I got it running again after it had been sitting for 27 years : I don't know the condition of the carburetor, and nothing under the hood is original; who knows what's been done to it? In short, driving it is a chore, so I only used it one a handful of short trips around town, but nothing else.
One of the first things I wanted to do was replace the upholstery. It had already been redone in the front, but the vinyl had become very hard and was falling apart. It was so sharp I sliced my back every time I sat down. The rear seats were original, but the vinyl was so brittle I tore holes in it just by pressing on it.
So I removed the old seat covers and had them remade by a craftsman. I took the opportunity to add some extra foam padding before fitting the new ones, and then I installed them myself.
In June 2025, I started preparing it to go to Le Mans Classic with Vettefab. I did a lot of work to improve the engine's reliability: ignition, cooling, carburetor rebuild, adjustments, and I even remade the engine wiring harness with new wire (the original was falling apart).
Despite all that, there was no improvement in power. Then, while crawling underneath, I noticed that one of the gearbox cooling lines was pinched. I took it apart and straightened it, but unfortunately, the damage was done; the gearbox suffered from oil starvation. This is undoubtedly the cause of the problem. I had to give up on going to Le Mans Classic with my 'Cuda, so I went with my Trans Am instead.
But now I want to put an small block back in. The easiest solution would be to rebuild the current 727 and keep the 440, but that's not what I prefer (and legally it's a problem in France).
340s aren't exactly common and when you find one, they're very expensive.
318s are generally a little too low on power in stock form, and I don't fell like rebuilding an engine just yet.
So I think a 360 is the better choice. I thought of a 5.9L Magnum at first as they can be found here, but then I'd need to either keep the whole EFI setup, but that's a big job, or convert it to carb, but it's a whole lot of parts to find so more cost.
But I've just found an early 360 4bbl with its 727 for a good price, that would be a perfect candidate. I did also find 1973 A-Body 340 exhaust manifolds (close enough) and valve covers, so I have what I need to "disguise" another small block.
My name is François, and I'm from France between Dunkirk and Rouen. I'm passionate about American cars, especially the 1970-74 Barracuda.
As a kid in the 90s, I enjoyed watching Nash Bridges, and you see where it's going : the '71 convertible was captivating, not to mention how well it was featured in the series. It quickly became a car I wanted.
Years went by, and here I was in 2007 looking for my first car. At the same time, the price of Barracudas was skyrocketing and was already way out of my very small budget... So I settled for more affordable models : I started with a 1979 Firebird, then a 1984 Trans Am (which I still have), and many others: a 1974 Firebird Formula, a 1983 Camaro Z28 (restored and sold), a 1987 Trans Am GTA (sold), three 1979 Mustangs (I still have one), a 1979 Mercury Capri, an 1980 Mustang Cobra (yes, I love Foxes), a 1979 Trans Am (which arrived in December along with a 1988 Mustang as a gift!), and a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (sold).
Fast forward to November 2021, when @Vettefab here tells me about a 'Cuda that might be for sale...1 km from my house.
He had already looked at it some time before and it seemed very interesting to him.
I wasn't betting anything, having no idea about the price, but Fabien and I arranged an inspection with the owner. Sure enough, it was a genuine 'Cuda 340 BS23H0B, fender tag present, well-optioned, overall in good condition, a 440 HP Police Patrol model from 1978, possibly drivable although the 1994 Pennsylvania road tax sticker suggested it hadn't been driven since.And almost complete, with a set of Rally Wheels in like-new condition.
The seller had bought it three years prior but hadn't done anything to it, and he was starting a family, so it was unlikely to ever happen.
We discussed the price, and what he told me was more than fair... without hesitation, I put down a deposit and worked hard to secure the remaining funds as quickly as possible. The owner was very friendly and let me work on it before the final payment to get it running again so I could drive it home. A month later, it was at my place.
Several life events prevented me from making as much progress on the car as I would have liked, but I've still managed to do quite a bit of work on it since then.
One issue that was a little difficult to pinpoint was the serious lack of power: when stationary, there's no problem, the engine responds correctly, but when driving, with the pedal to the metal, it roars but not much happens.
I got it running again after it had been sitting for 27 years : I don't know the condition of the carburetor, and nothing under the hood is original; who knows what's been done to it? In short, driving it is a chore, so I only used it one a handful of short trips around town, but nothing else.
One of the first things I wanted to do was replace the upholstery. It had already been redone in the front, but the vinyl had become very hard and was falling apart. It was so sharp I sliced my back every time I sat down. The rear seats were original, but the vinyl was so brittle I tore holes in it just by pressing on it.
So I removed the old seat covers and had them remade by a craftsman. I took the opportunity to add some extra foam padding before fitting the new ones, and then I installed them myself.
In June 2025, I started preparing it to go to Le Mans Classic with Vettefab. I did a lot of work to improve the engine's reliability: ignition, cooling, carburetor rebuild, adjustments, and I even remade the engine wiring harness with new wire (the original was falling apart).
Despite all that, there was no improvement in power. Then, while crawling underneath, I noticed that one of the gearbox cooling lines was pinched. I took it apart and straightened it, but unfortunately, the damage was done; the gearbox suffered from oil starvation. This is undoubtedly the cause of the problem. I had to give up on going to Le Mans Classic with my 'Cuda, so I went with my Trans Am instead.
But now I want to put an small block back in. The easiest solution would be to rebuild the current 727 and keep the 440, but that's not what I prefer (and legally it's a problem in France).
340s aren't exactly common and when you find one, they're very expensive.
318s are generally a little too low on power in stock form, and I don't fell like rebuilding an engine just yet.
So I think a 360 is the better choice. I thought of a 5.9L Magnum at first as they can be found here, but then I'd need to either keep the whole EFI setup, but that's a big job, or convert it to carb, but it's a whole lot of parts to find so more cost.
But I've just found an early 360 4bbl with its 727 for a good price, that would be a perfect candidate. I did also find 1973 A-Body 340 exhaust manifolds (close enough) and valve covers, so I have what I need to "disguise" another small block.
