1971 "CUDA 392HEMI Auto RESTOMOD
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This is going to be an exciting project !
Take one original 1971 Barracuda, 318 4speed, purple and white convertible and give it a slight upgrade.....
Watch out for this correct appearing OE restoration including the famed 426 HEMI backed by a heavy duty 18 spline Hemi four speed and followed by a nice 3:54 Dana 60 rear axle. All wrapped up in fresh coats of " In Violet" FC7 purple paint, white top and interior and of course the famous white billboard stripes...
A few more nuts and bolts to remove and it's ready for media blasting...
John at Fishburn/Proctor in Rockwood ON, made sure there was none of the old paint and undercoating left behind. She's as clean as a whistle now !
With very minimal rust repair required, it's directly off to the body shop.
Terence and his crew at Saunders Customs Body shop in Acton ON. will get her looking new in no time !
No more seeing RED...a quick trip to Techno-Strip in Brampton ON makes cleaning the old paint off of the exterior body panels a breeze !
Quickly work has begun on the underside. Cleaning up some previous shoddy work, and taking care of the pin holes in the floor and frame. Also adding the special HEMI reinforcement plates at this time....
Body work is well underway. Lots of attention to detail even in the places that nobody will see. Now that's the sign of quality work !
With all the metal work, and body work finished on the shell of the car, it's time for the first coats of epoxy, followed by some high build primer
Blocking all done, it's time to start the paint process.
Up first, the underside, an are rarely detailed as much as this one will be.
A fresh coat of epoxy primer, followed by a "dip coat" grey just like the factory applied, followed by the simulated body colour overspray coming in from all sides. When finished, it will look just as it did in 1971.....Only better. !
The gang at Saunders Customs have knocked it right out of the park with this one. Those fresh blinding coats of FC7 In Violet paint look amazing !
Some minor assembly, a nice cut and polish and it will be ready to come to my shop for assembly.
Well with the body fully assembled and polished to perfection, Terence and his crew at Saunder's Customers have done it once again ! Now the fun begins
With the "black-out" done first, the assembly can begin. Got the heavy Dana 60 out of the way first....phew....
Moving forward...Both sides of the firewall filled out, just waiting for that big 426 HEMI ! .....and look at that pretty face....gorgeous !
With the instruments beautifully restored by Brain Ball at Mr. Heaterbox, the whole car is starting to come together....up next will be to install the new bright white convertible top :)
Like whip cream on a Sundae! Scott Davis did an incredible job installing the new white top and gorgeous white leather seat covers...
Stay tuned for a crazy UPDATE on this car...gone is the 426 Hemi 4spd plans, say hello to a 392 crate Hemi with an automatic and custom front and rear RMS suspension .....
...and so it begins, the car is back in my shop after about 18 months of storage waiting for the Hemi to arrive that never did, now it's time to take it in a different direction.
After some partial dismantling, the brackets removed for the new RMS suspension, and the four speed floor removed for the conversion to automatic...it's back to the body shop, where the guys at Saunders Customs will fill all the unnecessary holes (59 at last count) and weld in everything else.
With all the holes welded up and body worked, it was time to tackle the floor. You don't often get the request to change a car from manual to automatic, but using another reproduction front floor, Saunders Customs was able to preform the task flawlessly ! With minor body work, factory dip primer and overspray in place, from underneath you can never tell the change was made.
Check out that RMS rear suspension bar made to look like it was factory installed. A true work of art !
With all the paint work expertly finished it's time to re-assemble, hopefully for the last time.....
Start with a lot of heat and sound protection, then the fun stuff begins....New dash assembly with Vintage Air, and Dakota Digital this time. RMS front and rear suspension and of course that glorious Gen III 392 Hemi !
All Done !!
