I have read that the assembly of the Barracudas and Challengers wasn't always of the finest attention to quality when it came to door gaps and panels lining up. The attention to detail doesn't look very precise on my 1974 'CUDA. Where the quarter panel meets the roof skin is quite wavy on both sides of my car. I am wondering if this was a common factory defect as well as poor door and hood gaps. Does anyone have information about this issue?
Quality of original Factory Panel fitment on the "E"body cars.
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70chall440
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All the information you will find will be anecdotal based on people's experiences and opinions. Back in the day, most people paid no attention to these things as the cars looked "ok". Panel fitment and panel gaps are a relatively recent issue or "thing" most likely as a result of all of the car shows, YouTube, etc. Not saying it is a bad thing, but just trying to give some prospective.
Original fitment and gaps varied greatly car to car overall; given that they were brand new when built there were guidelines during the assembly process and things had to fit relatively well because they had to sell the car and if it looked like crap, no one would want it. Point being that the people doing this for 8 hours every day for years I am sure had a "feel" for it and was able to slam them together very quickly. I am sure that there were some QA standards that were checked but having owned a number of them and having been around them for a very long time, all things are relevant meaning that most people don't pay any attention unless it is horrible.
All that said, 40+ years later, having been rode hard and put up wet, things tend not to want to line up as they did when new which requires some massaging to get them in the ball park. Many people want the panels to be gaped equally everywhere which takes some effort but it does look nice.
When I built my 70 Challenger (2000 to 2004) I built it as I did back in the late 70's/early 80's and to be honest paid no attention to the gaps and thought they were good. When I built my Cuda 2 years ago I paid a lot of attention to the fitment and gaps and at one point went to the Challenger as reference and realized that the gaps on the Challenger are horrible in comparison to cars built today (factory or custom), point being for many years I never gave 2 seconds of thought about the panel gaps until I did... If I ever redo the car I am sure I will pay more attention to them but to be honest I don't think it makes a lot of difference depending on the type or level of build.
Original fitment and gaps varied greatly car to car overall; given that they were brand new when built there were guidelines during the assembly process and things had to fit relatively well because they had to sell the car and if it looked like crap, no one would want it. Point being that the people doing this for 8 hours every day for years I am sure had a "feel" for it and was able to slam them together very quickly. I am sure that there were some QA standards that were checked but having owned a number of them and having been around them for a very long time, all things are relevant meaning that most people don't pay any attention unless it is horrible.
All that said, 40+ years later, having been rode hard and put up wet, things tend not to want to line up as they did when new which requires some massaging to get them in the ball park. Many people want the panels to be gaped equally everywhere which takes some effort but it does look nice.
When I built my 70 Challenger (2000 to 2004) I built it as I did back in the late 70's/early 80's and to be honest paid no attention to the gaps and thought they were good. When I built my Cuda 2 years ago I paid a lot of attention to the fitment and gaps and at one point went to the Challenger as reference and realized that the gaps on the Challenger are horrible in comparison to cars built today (factory or custom), point being for many years I never gave 2 seconds of thought about the panel gaps until I did... If I ever redo the car I am sure I will pay more attention to them but to be honest I don't think it makes a lot of difference depending on the type or level of build.
rklein71
Well-Known Member
I remember reading the reviews about the Cudas and Challengers from Motor Trend and Car and Driver back in the day. One of the complaints was the poor fit, especially windows.
70chall440
Well-Known Member
Yeah they were/are pretty "rattely" and the use of all of that plastic didn't sit well with many. While I love them, they did/do have a lot of issues in this area and over time when things wear it just gets worse. The other brands were not a lot better so there is that. The biggest problem with E bodies, especially Challengers was/is the size of the doors. They are so long and heavy that they wear out the hinges especially back in the day when they were being slammed frequently. This is the reason that many E body outside door handles were/are broken, the hinges wear, the doors sag making them hard to open and people pull hard on the handles.
Thanks for the input. The way that my 'CUDA looks at the "C" pillar and door gaps causes me to wonder if it was wrecked at some point or if there was some other shoddy body work done at some time. I am only the second owner and when I first looked at the car before I bought it I thought it was all original even though I noticed some of the defects. It had been covered in a garage since 1998 and still had the bias ply tires on although they were flat. The first owner had died so there was nobody to ask about it's history. Even the paint and stripes "look" original. The car only has 38,623 miles showing and all the sheet metal and undercoating underneath look original to the car. If it was repaired I can't help but wonder why a shop would leave a wavy roof to quarter panel seam since it would be easy to smooth that area. My dilema is if the car is original I would leave it but if it is not then I would want to straighten out some issues.
So thanks and apparently it could either be shoddy repair work or it could be factory original.
So thanks and apparently it could either be shoddy repair work or it could be factory original.
57fury440
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The 72 Barracuda we have I bought new. It had a paint run at the bottom of the passenger side quarter panel. The sail panels on the roof came wavy from the factory. Overall the panels on the one I ordered fit pretty good but still do not compare to todays cars.
70chall440
Well-Known Member
Post some pictures of what you are talking about. I can tell you that factory paint and/or body left a lot to be desired. I have seen Mopars that were "wavy" in the C pillar area become so because when they built the car they only put 1 or 2 spot welds in the C pillar joint and slammed lead over the top. Another potential issue can be the lead separating from the joint but this usually presents as rust.
Make no mistake, this cars were not anywhere neat today's standards are far as fitment and finish. I've see loose bolts, missing bolts, etc. and then you ad in 40+ years of hard use. Keep in mind that even cars that were babied experience issues due to just shear use, the bushing degrade over time, more pot holes are hit, etc.
Make no mistake, this cars were not anywhere neat today's standards are far as fitment and finish. I've see loose bolts, missing bolts, etc. and then you ad in 40+ years of hard use. Keep in mind that even cars that were babied experience issues due to just shear use, the bushing degrade over time, more pot holes are hit, etc.
57fury440
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Loose bolts? When I got mine it had a clunking noise in the front end when you hit a bump in the road. I got it home and looked under it and found the factory never tightened the bolts holding the sway bar to the chassis. It was an easy fix and I did it myself.
Thanks. I added a couple of photos. So it could be a factory defect, then. My doors do sag slightly.
Cuda Hunter
Well-Known Member
that kind of door sag is not surprising on a non restored hinge. It's not too bad really.
Everything looks factory to me.
Is that factory paint? Or has it had a respray at some point in it's life?
Everything looks factory to me.
Is that factory paint? Or has it had a respray at some point in it's life?
I think that it is factory original paint. It still shines decent.
Cuda Hunter
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Looks pretty good from the pics.
Do you have a build thread or pics of the whole car?
Do you have a build thread or pics of the whole car?
70chall440
Well-Known Member
The door sag is normal, the wavy sail panel is a bit hard to see in the pic but it seems a relatively normal I think. There seems to be several lines, one up by the quarter seam and one lower, but I am not sure. The reason could be a wide variety of things. What to do about is up to you but it will require a complete respray. Personally, I would live with it and keep it as is until which time you decide you really want to go through the car.
I didn't find the build sheet yet, but the fender tag is still in place.
Cuda Hunter
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That's a stunner! Great looking car!
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