66belair Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 That's some nice work you've got there. I'm going to try that trick on the grille in my kit. Looking really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynoMight Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Good job, and congrats to your step-daughter for graduating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) Thanks Mike, just be careful as you sand the back of the grill.. Take it slow, and use a good lite to hold it up to, every so often, as you go, so you can see how close you are to sanding it through. When it starts to look really thin at the grill grates switched to 400 grit, and then just as you are about to sand through to the grill grates switch to 600 grit. And another thing I did was to use my air brush as a blow gun to keep the sanding dust down. Also when using the 400 and 600 grits.. use them wet. Keep everything as flat and even as you can so it thins out even and sands through even. Extremely light sanding the closer to the end you get. It took me about 2 hours to get it, and I only did one side of the grill area at a time. Edited June 6, 2014 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Thanks alot Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Top notch work you're doing here, Jim - and I love the subtle stripes on the rear fenders (muscle car stripes often look a bit flashy for my taste). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I see you foiled the door tops. My reference stuff does not show a trimmed door top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford guy Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 You're doing great Jim! It's looking real good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 I see you foiled the door tops. My reference stuff does not show a trimmed door top There are alot of pics that reference chrome trim on the top of the doors if that's what you mean. It was a option for the cuda. a google search for "70 hemi cuda" should provide you with lots of images of them. building it with or without the top chrome door trim would be correct as it was a factory option.Here is a image of a Hemi Cuda that where through a Barrett Jackson Auction: And here is one that went through a Barrett Jackson Auction without the chrome door top trim: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Awesome so far. Can you elaborate on sanding down the fender flares? Hi Lee, As far as sanding down the fender flairs, The first thing I did was to find alot of pics of 70 cudas from different angles to get a idea of how they should look. There is no exact measurement to go by, so with a small peice of wood block to wrap a sanding sheet around.. I held my breath and, using a 400 grit sanding sheet to start with I began sanding the over flaired fenders. Using light sanding and taking just a little at a time. It's all eyeballed work.. Sand a little at a time and work slow. When I had them close to how I wanted them to look, I switched to 600 without it wrapped in the wood block to smooth down the sanding marks. I wanted mine to look like most of the pics I have of the 70 cudas, which seem to show the fender flairs a little more prominent near the top and tapering down to almost nothing near the bottom of the fenders. Very time consuming, and easy to mess up. Be very sure to have good refference pics and do not sand to much at once. It's better leave a little to much flair than to take off to much and end up with a useless body. Also remember if your going to go for the chrome trim look on the wheel opening as I did, ther will be no mold lines as a guide for foiling. I had to be very careful and light handed when doing the foil trim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Thanks for those pics. I am a rivet counter ford guy but enjoy the dodges. I noticed some had the trim and some didn't. Good to know it was an option. I see the kit has the trim on the doors. Do you know if it went hand in hand with wheel well trim? Reason I ask is my build is no console, no wood grain on dash, dogdish cap car and I was planning no wheel well trim. Hate to do one and not the other. Know what I mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Thanks for those pics. I am a rivet counter ford guy but enjoy the dodges. I noticed some had the trim and some didn't. Good to know it was an option. I see the kit has the trim on the doors. Do you know if it went hand in hand with wheel well trim? Reason I ask is my build is no console, no wood grain on dash, dogdish cap car and I was planning no wheel well trim. Hate to do one and not the other. Know what I mean? The version your talking about whould be the base model without any of the trim packages. The base model was built with the drag racer in mind with all the go power, but with alot of the extras deleted for weight management. So you would be correct in your version to delete the wheel well trim and door trim. Also no vinyl top, no power steering, and some really base models even deleted the radio. The drag racers loved getting them this way, it made less work for them to have to strip them down for the track. And the budget buyers loved them cuz they could get a powerhouse street machine on a base model budget. How I remember those days back in my teen years, strolling the streets of my old east coast home town and seeing some of my highschool friends whos' daddys' bought them the dealer budget versions of the cudas and challengers and camaros and mustangs and even catching a ride with one of them once in a while and envying them for what they had.. Aaaa Youth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow12 Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Yup I love the "stripper" muscle cars. Only real option my model is getting are the rocker trim and the painted bumpers. It's how I would have ordered one in 70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Thanks Mike, just be careful as you sand the back of the grill.. Take it slow, and use a good lite to hold it up to, every so often, as you go, so you can see how close you are to sanding it through. When it starts to look really thin at the grill grates switched to 400 grit, and then just as you are about to sand through to the grill grates switch to 600 grit. And another thing I did was to use my air brush as a blow gun to keep the sanding dust down. Also when using the 400 and 600 grits.. use them wet. Keep everything as flat and even as you can so it thins out even and sands through even. Extremely light sanding the closer to the end you get. It took me about 2 hours to get it, and I only did one side of the grill area at a time. I plan on trying this sometime, thanks Jim... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 1970 Barracuda (et al.) brochure : http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1970PlymouthDealershipDataBook-01.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 1970 Barracuda (et al.) brochure : http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1970PlymouthDealershipDataBook-01.shtml Hi John and thanks for the info link. I remember seeing some of this info back during my years working for chrysler. Though I didnt work for them durning the muscle car years, alot of the info for the cars was still floating around corprate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 More interior work the past two days.. The interior is about finished with just a few details I will be adding once my aftermarket supplies arrive. Waiting on seatbelt hardware cuz I ran out of them, and a few other goodies to dress up the interior. In the mean time here is a few pics as I was working on it. I will be starting the chassis and engine soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaneyme Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 This is turning out great. After seeing this WIP and Marcos Cruz's black 'Cuda on this month's cover of the mag, I have no doubt I will start on mine soon. Thanks for the updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Very nice interior work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbben Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Stunning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) Thanks Guys. Things are going a little slow right now, time wise, my Son had to go into the hospital and have a section of his colon removed. He has crons and he had a flair-up that wouldnt stop. They decided there was too much scaring to take care of it with medication. I did find a little time yesterday to start some work on the cuda chassis. I plan to detail it out with brake and fuel lines and parking brake cable. There were 2 different type parking brake systems offered on the barracudas, so Im including a couple pics of the type Im going with on this build. my aftermarket parts will be here today and tomarrow so I plan to finish out the dress up on the interior this weekend, time allowing. I will post pics once I get the interior finished. This is the style of parking brake system I am using on this build. I was also thinking about adding the seat mount bolts, but it might be a little too much LOL. Start of the parking brake cable system. I made the bracket and pull linkage out of styrene plastic, and the cable is scale dreams crome hard line wrapped in a thread of copper wire, then painted metalizer aluminum and coated with dull coat. I will make the cables coming from the rear hubs as I work on the rear end. I painted the gas tank tamiya flat aluminum and plan to make and add heat shields for the exhaust on each side of it. And since the fuel lines go into the car near the front of the passenger side leaf spring , I have to test fit the leaf springs to check for clearence before running the fuel line. In the above picture, you can see I've also started on the rear suspenion. The rear end was painted semi-gloss black and the hubs were painted steel. If you look at the hubs you will see the parking brake linkages I made for the parking brake system. The little square you see near the bottom of the pic, is the bracket for the parking cables that will run from the wheels to the cable and linkage already on the chassis. Two small holes were drill in it to accept the parking brake wheel cables and it will be mounted to the chassis once the rear end is completed with the cables. I also made the brake line, and the tee fitting is scratch made from a styrene square and drilled out for the lines. It will get painted brass once the line is attached to the rear axle and hubs. I will also run the chassis brake line going to the back axle at that time, but I still have to make it and add line hangers for it. Though you dont see the leaf springs in these pics the are painted but still drying and will be detail painted before everything is assembled. I also am making gas tank straps out of styrene strips to give the gas take better detail. Sorry about the slow going here, and hope to have time to get more done over the weekend. Edited June 13, 2014 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66belair Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Sorry to hear about your son,I wish him the best. You are doing some nice work on those small details. Looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I pray you son has a fast recovery. Awesome work on this project... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynoMight Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I pray you son has a fast recovery. Awesome work on this project... x2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFchronos Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 I pray you son has a fast recovery. Awesome work on this project... X3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Sorry for the delay in posting progress on the cuda. I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for my son. He went through his opperation and everything went fine. He had a few complications afterward so he isnt home yet. But he is improving day by day. I did get a little time over the past few days to get some work done to the cuda's chassis. So I thought I would share where Im at with it so far. In this fist pic I have the rear brake line run and the fuel and vapor return lines done. I also made the exhaust heat shields by the gas tank as well as gas tank straps, since it seemed to me to be the one area of the chassis that revell didnt spend much time on. I also added a inline fuel filter, even though, one wasnt really present on a fresh from the factory cuda. I just thought it looked good. Sorry for the pic quality in some of the pics. In the next 2 pics you can see the work I completed on the rear axle assembly. I mounted the brake line and rear parking brake cables. In the next pic is the exhaust system, cleaned up and painted in testors metalizer dark anodinic grey on the pipes areas, and the mufflers are done in testors metalizer stainless steel. This gets everything ready for assembly on the cassis and the resaults are in the next few pics. Oh and also I painted the shocks Tamiya silver leaf and then overcoated them with testors clear semi-gloss top coat. This was to give them the factory gloss siver look that the mopar shocks came in, but semi gloss black was also a correct color for mopar shocks for the cuda. I just like the looks of the silver shocks. I hope to get started on the front suspension to complete the chassis, as well as the final details for the interior, in the next few days. Then on to building and detailing the engine. Bare with me if things go a little slow on the updates, Im running to the hospital alot to spend time with my son during the day. And the hospital is almost 40 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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