FASTBACK340

Growing up most of my friends older brothers & sisters would turn us on to the COOL music. King Crimson was a favorite amongst us. Who wants to listen to Kieth Richards when you Cactus and King Crimson etc….. Yeah, I'm familiar with Adrian Belew. He laid the ground work for solo guitar virtuosos such as Steve Via and Joe Satriani. He was "out there" before it was routine or acceptable. And as for John 5, at just about the one minute mark he starts getting insane….. It's a minute and twenty seconds of pure guitar gymnastics…. perfectly executed. Man, I love music. It's like playing with numbers or words. Arrange it right and make it something original.

X2 LOL !

Yup, I'm going blind…. those are Chevy hub caps. After I washed them it looked like a poorly done Plymouth emblem. Now under a magnifier I can see. My bad big time…. So now I'll try the Arrowhead Specialties machined aluminum ones. I also have the rear brake hose junction block mounted and the hard lines run. We're also going to plumb the fuel pump, filter, and tank later on. Here's what I do so braided line look like a hose and not a ribbon. I push the braid back (think finger-cuff's….) and slide a thin piece of bendable wire inside, then pull the braid back towards the ends to tighten it up. Now not only is it round, but it holds it's shape. And it's a solid built-in mounting pin. More on this later…. It's an absolutely beautiful day here in the NYC area as it's almost 60! Hard to stay indoors and build, but this car is too special to let it drag on……. so I'm at the workbench. Stay tuned…..

Well, after 2 consecutive days of 50+ degree weather, all thats remaining is the debris shoveled up with the snow. Every corner is an archeological dig. And they're predicting snow for tonight and back into single digits by Friday…. and I wanted to take the Barracuda out today but I can't! <Grrrr!>

The best part is my Wife doesn't mind. Most of the time she joins us!

I have a set from Arrowhead, but they are kinda bland & generic. When I first washed these hub caps they looked "ok". I noticed the Chevy emblem embedded but after a wash, it was presentable. Now I'll probably go with the Arrowhead pieces and doll them up a bit. Those caps are a disappointment….. Now, if I could reduce a 2" emblem down 25 times…..

No, I'm going with the satin black like on the 1:1. Paint was too delicate for around these parts..... powder coating will last.

The hub caps I bought from Scale Equip. LTD. are based off of Chevy caps. It's all I have to work with unless someone knows of a kit-source for these Dog Dishes?

I used to have an inexpensive set of dial indicators I can't find….. so to be totally honest, I just eye-balled it. On my car the line is 3/8" so I just guessed a size until it looked "right". I always have my eyes open for "material". For example, I tack welded something Friday and I noticed the .035 MIG welding wire is a nice, soft copper colored wire. I rolled up about a foot and brought it home…. Always looking! And as for making fluid lines; Where ever I have to make a bent I either make a nice crisp bent using a set of mini needle nose pliers or gently pulling the line around a file or knife handle for the curves. And make a slight initial bend and check where it fits. It's easier now to straighten the piece, or start over, before you spend too much time on it. I can tell from experience that nothing kills your build faster than screwing up the last bend after making all the others right! I'm headed out shopping shortly, but I'll have some time later today. More updates to follow…..

Thanks….

All the chassis hard lines & cables are attached I also started the rear axle hard lines for the brakes. I painted the drilled end of some small evergreen square stock. This will be the junction block for the flex hose. Here's the rear axle alongside the chassis so you can see the orientation of the cables. And here's a peak at the new rims I'm using along with the dog dishes laying on them. The front tires are the Dart kits pieces, and the MT Drag Radials are from Chief Joseph. I still have to make the electric Holley fuel pump & billet filter and run the braided lines. Next in line will installing the engine so I can route the exhaust, then the front and rear suspensions. Oh…and paint the body. To be continued…..

Nothing bothered me today, which is nice. My neck felt good, it was nice and warm (a direct correlation I believe…) and i was able to BBQ without the winter parker and gloves. If it wasn't for a wrecked car I'm baby sitting in my yard, I think I might have taken the Mistress out for a romp.

I started chassis assembly tonight. When I bent up the brake & fuel lines I was asked how they stay attached. Although I try & bend them to fit as snuggly as possible, I drilled a small hole at the point the lines bent. This is what I used to secure the lines. I had gotten this from one of my friends from the LIARS club out here on Long Island. It was described as surgical suture for heavy surgery. It's basically stainless steel thread…. Yeah, it's THIN I take a short length about 8" long and loop it over the brake line And twist it from behind. Then I weaved them from one opening to another….. After threading them together this prevent the thin wire from pulling through the drilled holes. And hopefully it'll look this tight & neat. I also installed the e-brake apply cable. If you can, buy a RB Motion grab-bag if you see him at shows. I always find neat little fittings and attachments that work in various applications. Here I used some cable ends for the e-brake cables. Because of the way the brake cable is routed I had to install them before the sub-frame connectors. On my car these lines & cable fit under the connector, but it would have been difficult to to do in scale. I still have to secure the fuel feed line. I'm hoping to have her up on wheels tonight, tomorrow the latest. More to follow

I've worked at new car dealerships for over 30 yrs. ……. Porsche/Audi & Infiniti have been the most "professional", and I use that term loosely. Where as the 2 Nissan stores I worked with were the stereo-type shady thieves that everyone knows & loathes. I don't like dealing with the sales staff at MY dealership. The last new car we bought was in `04, as it was my Wife's GTI was her first new car. We dealt with a co-workers friend whom was the sales manger at the dealership. We managed to get it for less than we were expecting, never danced with the F&E guy, and VW had 1.5% financing. We dropped the deposit, signed the papers, and drove it home. Today I'd probably buy a year-old from Enterprise or a similar nationalally-known rental outlet. Most used rentals are no worst for wear than lease cars, if not better. THEY take the depreciation hit, and you get a good deal. Especially since the rental agency will definitely service them & keep them safe. Used popular performance rental cars the buyer-be-aware policy is in effect here. Used lease cars are bad investments most times as the leaser rarely maintains them as their own. We just replaced an engine under warranty because the oil was never changed in 25K miles….. But I agree about arming yourself with facts and financing before even walking in. It's a shark tank.

The oddest combo I ever saw was a `71 Fury 4 dr. for sale with a slant six / 3 speed standard on the column. I spotted it at a local cruise night about 15 yrs. ago. Clean, low mileage car too. Growing up my neighbors older brother bought a brand new B5 Blue `70 Barracuda. Steel wheels, dog dishes. Looked so mean. And it was a /6 - auto…. As for variety, whats to dispute? I agree, everything shouldn't have a Hemi. Unless they tool up a new `68 Barracuda, then of course I'd demand it.

Doug, what a great project! The reference material alone should be enough motivation! That r/s shot of the blower & hat w/ the linkage is soooo….soooo….nice. After I get these Barracudas out of my system, maybe it's time to build some drag cars next. This rail looks fantastic, keep it up.

Ditto on the wheels… wow. Those really are nice looking. BTW: I worked for Porsche in the late 70's - early 80's. It's hard to tell from the box art, but Porsche had a very light steel color that had a blue-ish tint to it, and a very light blue metallic. So either-or would be a nice choice (I prefer the steel).

I just went back and looked at your master cylinder lid retainer clip. As much as it sounds so trivial an item, you reproduced it perfectly. Back when I described how to make a dipstick, I said "Keep trying until it looks right…". I don't know how many attempts you made, but the one you kept is a winner. It's so hard to maintain that mindset throughout a project. But just continue improving each build with 2-3 little tricks like this and by the time you hit a dozen it'll come second nature. You definitely "got it" as far as the motor skills to do detailing (some people really are all thumbs…) but it's the mind and drive that's hard to come by. Stay with it Bob, your really doing good.

Just be careful trying to jam too many tricks into "learning" builds. But if you keep at it the way you have been, your going to have a sweet piece built. Nice work, I like your determination and drive. Build on….

I'm trying my best to get it done. I'm hoping to start paint by the weekend….. but I think I got it.

I remember when Sunoco 260 (Real high-test) hit 1.00 a gallon. I traded my `68 383 4 spd. Fastback Barracuda (I still cry myself to sleep about losing THAT one….) for a `70 Caddy Sedan Deville. My gas mileage shot up from 6 to 11! Then I too sold my Caddy and bought a `71 Super Beetle. While not my first VW, I did run them exclusively for the next 15 yrs. <sigh…> I couldn't sell that factory big-block A body for $1,200 in `79. Today the exhaust manifolds and K frame are worth that. Back on-topic: I know why there's so many Hemi kits. It's to make up for almost every street rod out there having a small block Chevy.

I'm hoping to see it there as well Rich. You'll get it done no problem.

G`devening gang. Today was a lost day as far as serious bench time. Tomorrow's not looking much better. And what I did manage to get done, some I have to do over. I masked the fuel tank to shot it with some metalizer and it reacted with the semi-gloss black I shot on the chassis. I walked away to let it dry, and me to regroup. On a positive, the engine is pretty much done. The headers will go on when the block is mounted. The carbs & air cleaner not until I'm ready to close the hood. It's a game of fractions. I lowered the engine a bit, shaved the manifold a bit, shaved the carbs…the air cleaner. I'm trying not to go after the hood, but I can cover any grinding with the hood insulation pad that's going on. We'll see. Here's a few shots of the front of the engine. The alternator is wired and brackets in place. I also tried to replicate the aluminum handled dip-stick. Here the carbs/manifold is laid in place and the fuel line routed. And finally I have one of the modified Hemi headers held in place with a clamp The rear end and K frame/suspension are painted and drying. The engine compartment gets painted body-color next so I can start assembling the chassis. Next up is the body preparation which I have about 40% done so far. It's going well at this point and all test fitting should leave no surprises later. But you never know. I was applying bare metal and had the glass in on the first go-around.

NICE!!!!!!!! Good to see your car coming together Rich! She looks really nice cleared and trimmed. Now for the interior…..