Quick Build: RIP….

[FASTBACK340]

Thanks Larry! The 1:1 I affectionately call my Metal Mistress. And the Wife is cool with it….

Back to the build: Like I mentioned, I drilled and pinned all my exterior trim. All emblems, scripts, and badges are being done with Keith Marks `68 Barracuda decal set. Here's a shot of the wipers, mirrors, and door handle mounted. All the trim shown is from the Lindberg `64 Belvedere. Fortunately all Mopar door handles and mirrors are similar, so the B body stuff works on my A body.

And for you Mopar guys watching the details, yes, the door handle buttons will be black….. ?

[Tony T]

Nice build...love the 1:1 as well!

[FASTBACK340]

OK. This has to be THE most tedious stuff I've done in a while. Changing the upholstery pattern is almost as challenging as starting a fire underwater.

I started with a Harts Parts resin Mopar bench seat. It's apparently for a later model and possibly a B body, but you run with what ya got. It does have the correct headrest, which are not installed yet.

I also made the rear cargo deck.

I also fabricated a pistol grip shifter, and have a billet tach for the dash. Once I finish adding the pattern to the seat we set ride height and start priming stuff. This has been a blast! ?

[FASTBACK340]

I just bought 2 sets of reproduction license plates for my build. These are really nice!

BESTMODELCARPARTS.COM

I'm off the next 2 days. Hopefully I'll have the seat pattern done shortly and I can start….. PAINT. ?

[rprata]

Looks good! I have a '69 'Cuda kit I just picked up over the weekend!

[mnwildpunk]

I love these fish a lot better then the 70+ cudas. Hate the 71 grille. Something about these barracudas is the style is so sleak and sexy I really dig um both the model and 1:1 are aces in my book

[Skypower]

Things are looking good. Very impressed.

[FASTBACK340]

I lost the entire evening last night….. I'm feeling a bit run-down and I fell asleep in the recliner early last night. Not feeling much better today. I'm going to go after that seat now. Hopefully in the next update we'll see colors here-n-there….

I see the page is getting views and I appreciate the interest. I'm trying some ideas and it is taking a bit longer, but the detours will save me time when I do the full detail version in the future. Fabricating most of the grilles and headlights, removing cast-in details and installing late-issue kit chrome door handles and wipers. Adding or deepening panel lines. Re-scribing trim & moldings. I see so many mega-detail builds of common cars I wanted to do a nice 1968 Barracuda and I'm giving it a good try.

To be continued...

[lordairgtar]

Awesome so far

[FASTBACK340]

I love these fish a lot better then the 70+ cudas. Hate the 71 grille. Something about these barracudas is the style is so sleak and sexy I really dig um both the model and 1:1 are aces in my book

Obviously I'm in agreement as it really is a landmark version. The first generation Barracuda's were actually an option package on the Valiant, and are badged as both. The second generation was built with the plan of accommodating everything in the Chrysler engine family, a big plus. 383's and the 440 made it into these cars from the factory. Then if you break it down further, the `67 & `69 shared certain styling cues (egg crate grilles….reverse lights mounted on rear valance….) making the `68 a unique body variant. Throw in the fact that it was technically the first year for the Hemi Cuda and you can see why I'm an owner and lover of this particular year. To this day NHRA still has the Hemi Super Stock shoot-out at the Indy Nationals featuring the Hemi Darts & Cuda's. Nothing special, huh? The third generation became a Camaro-chaser and it cashed-in for Chrysler Corp. Now in 2015 something new is possibly going on sale from Chrysler with the name Barracuda on it.

<fingers crossed> We'll see.

[1930fordpickup]

Looks great.

[FASTBACK340]

OK…. the seat pattern is going to make me taste some single malt Scotch WAY EARLY on New Years Eve! I was getting cross-eyed and had to do something else.

So I decided to set ride height.

I'm finishing that ^%$# seat before dinner as I want to paint the interior & chassis tonight and maybe prime the body tomorrow and start blocking it out. I'm so loving this build……. ?

[FASTBACK340]

OK….. really bad pictures done with my phone while holding the part standing in the basement in bad lighting. But the point is we got the interior, wheels, and chassis painted.

Now I'm off to a New Years Eve BBQ to overdose on all the stuff I stay away from normally…… Back to the workbench tomorrow.

[Skypower]

I bought this kit to steal parts from for my 71 Cuda build, but found lots of detail parts such as wipers, door handles and interior stuff so I decided to keep it together till I build my 68 Cuda and I will get another one for when I build my 69 Cuda, I guess I better make that 2 extras because I used to own a 67 Cuda also so I'll need those parts for that one also. Anyway just thought I would give you heads up might help with getting the right stuff for your next build.

[FASTBACK340]

I have one of those Hemi Dart kits. I'll probably use that chassis when I do my full detail build as it's identical to the Barracuda.

But for your build you get to leave the Hemi in it though…..

[slusher]

Nice progress John..

[FASTBACK340]

Urrgh…. Too much food last night. Groggy from my caloric intake and a stuffed gastronomic system. Good time to sit at the workbench and let it all go to my hips…...

Today will hopefully see the interior get real close to done and get some primer on there body. I'm shooting for this weekend for the final assembly. Updates to follow during the day.

[Skypower]

Sweet cant wait to see the updates.

[MrObsessive]

John, this is a really sharp project you got going on! That 1:1 of yours sounds nice and mean..........reminds me a lot of how my '69 AMX 390 sounded........I so miss that car!

Good job on the vent windows as well! That detail can be finicky as you want to get the geometry of the shape just right, and symmetrical on both sides

I hear you on overindulging on "forbidden foods''. Having lost upwards of 100 lbs, I can tell you that when I eat something that's too sweet or fattening-------it can be like a hangover for me the next day! That's when I know it's time to get back on track, lest the pounds quickly start racking up again.

[FASTBACK340]

Thank you for your compliments Bill. Coming from you that means a lot to me. Remember how I would study your in-progress builds at the CPMCC meetings? Know it or not, you were one of my teachers…..

As for the food-binge, once in a while I "go off" and enjoy a taste (or more….) of all the stuff I enjoyed too much of in the past. See, like Bill I too lost a huge amount of weight. Back in the mid-90's when I lived in Lancaster County, Pa. I was up to 338 lbs. After some health scares, a reality check, and many years of correcting bad habits I'm down to 188 lbs. and feel amazing for an old dog. I was 182 during the summer when I was dying in the heat and couldn't hydrate fast enough at work, but I've been maintaining for about 5 yrs. now.

But last night….. wow. I ate everything but the pattern off the dish.

BTW: I have up-date pix to load. BRB…..⏳

[FASTBACK340]

OK, to be 100% truthful…. I hate the interior. The seat was difficult as it was my first attempt at a seat pattern change. The paint looks horrible, and the dash photographed like %$#@…… BUT, the upside is the NEXT TIME I build this, I now know what NOT to do!!!

Good, bad, or indifferent, here's the fruits of todays efforts:

Wheels and tires look killer. Thanks again to Chief Joseph for his drag radials!

While it represents my interior, I know how to do it better on the full detail build

The dash really does look terrible in photo. It's not nearly as horrific as in the pictures…..

That's a Parts by Parks steering column with a parts-box steering wheel very similar to mine.

While I'm not happy with the interior details, for my intended purpose of a "quick-build" I'm OK with it. I still have to mount the Tach to the dash and have the third brake light ready for the back window when we get to that point. Now we wash the body and get some primer on it. BUT…. they are predicting a snow-storm tomorrow. While I may end up with a snow-day Friday, I can't paint. Hmmm…. maybe we dig out that Lancer next.

[om617]

It coming along nice,love those steelies

[MrObsessive]

Thank you for your compliments Bill. Coming from you that means a lot to me. Remember how I would study your in-progress builds at the CPMCC meetings? Know it or not, you were one of my teachers…..

As for the food-binge, once in a while I "go off" and enjoy a taste (or more….) of all the stuff I enjoyed too much of in the past. See, like Bill I too lost a huge amount of weight. Back in the mid-90's when I lived in Lancaster County, Pa. I was up to 338 lbs. After some health scares, a reality check, and many years of correcting bad habits I'm down to 188 lbs. and feel amazing for an old dog. I was 182 during the summer when I was dying in the heat and couldn't hydrate fast enough at work, but I've been maintaining for about 5 yrs. now.

But last night….. wow. I ate everything but the pattern off the dish.

BTW: I have up-date pix to load. BRB…..⏳

John, thank you so much for that compliment! Sometimes we don't know when we're making an impact on someone!

Yeah, I'm a real big believer in "Cheat Days" which is usually Saturdays for me. Come Sunday though, I don't wanna see the stuff in the house until the next time. I'm right now down to 240 wearing a size 38-40 in pants. Back in mid '09, I was up around 330 lbs wearing 3X shirts and size 50 in pants-----------and was busting out of those! Headaches, backaches, knee aches, and just not happy with the way I looked (I daren't come outside shirtless! ), and not feeling well most of the time made me make some major changes.

The model is coming out great! I wouldn't sweat the interior details too much since this is a curbside, and it is a closed car.

BTW, I always wondered how well Revell's '69 Dart chassis would fit under one of these? I have the MPC '69 Barracuda as well, and that was always a project in the back of my mind to do a detailed model of that car.

[FASTBACK340]

BTW, I always wondered how well Revell's '69 Dart chassis would fit under one of these? I have the MPC '69 Barracuda as well, and that was always a project in the back of my mind to do a detailed model of that car.

I'll get back to you on that…. I have that kit on my bench right now. I'll test-fit it tomorrow night.

And as for the weight loss, congratulations Bill! It took me about 10 years to properly lose around 150 lbs. without going to extremes. It didn't go on overnight, it wasn't coming off overnight either. Re-programming the way you eat is the ONLY way to lose weight.

Just a few weeks before being hospitalized back in the mid-90's….

Me today. I definitely feel 20 yrs. younger!

[Mopar - D]

John great progress both on your Barracuda and your health. I'm looking forward to see what you find out with the Dart chassis. I also have aloud unbuilt AMT 67 Barracuda and would like to detail it out when I get around to build it.