'66 Barracuda Funny Car Rebuild

[Snake45]

Here's what's left of my original, first-issue AMT '66 Barracuda "Hemi Under Glass." I built it back in the day, painting it Candy Pagan Gold (don't remember if it was AMT or Pactra, they both had the color) with the black parts IIRC hand-painted Testor gloss black, or maybe crudely masked and sprayed, I don't remember now, but it didn't look very good, so I took the body off and replaced it with a new AMT '67 Barracuda body. Then I stripped the '66 body. I must have had the idea to build it stock-ish (more or less) and put it on the unused '67 Cuda chassis, because I tried to cut the hood out using a Craftsman shop knife (box cutter). I pretty much screwed up that whole panel line in the process, and still didn't get all the way through. 

At some point over the years I lost the glass and all other body parts of the '66 HUG, and all the unused parts of the '67 Cuda (I do still have the body, but it's got a couple cracks and breaks in it now). Maybe 10, maybe 20 years ago I ordered replacement grille/front bumper, rear bumper, and taillights from Modelhaus, which are in the little bags in the pictures. I was still intending to make some kind of street cruiser out of it. 

In the meantime, AMT reissued the Hemi Under Glass and I picked up a couple of them, which I still have unopened to this day. I'll use the body and new chrome from one of those for my street bomber, if I ever get around to building it. 

Also in the meantime, I found and "rescued"/restored a yellow '66 promo which was in nice shape except for very worn chrome. Started thinking about using the shiny Modelhaus  chrome to replace the worn promo parts. 

So then I started thinking about making the old original HUG body into a front-engine first-generation funny car, perhaps on a frame modified from an AMT Double Dragster. Still want to do that, but in the meantime, I think I'll restore the original HUG frame and put the body on that. Thinking of using the bad chrome parts from the promo and painting them silver. Will have to make the glass, I guess.

The body is in MUCH worse shape than it looks in the pics. In addition to the damage to the hood area I mentioned earlier (red putty has now been applied to try to fix), there are scrapes and scratches and gouges and chipped edges all over the thing, and the C-pillar was cracked/broken clear through on the right side (though very cleanly). Almost every square centimeter will require some kind of smoothing, filling, or refinement. This is fun work to do while watching TV. 

Instead of having it ride high like the HUG, I'm going to try to drop the front end into a bit of a rake. This might be as simple as mounting the front axle on the top of the elliptical springs instead of under them. We'll see what happens. 

[Lizard Racing]

I remember the original Hurst ad for this car.  There was a napkin sketch of the car with the caption: "Put a Hemi back here … and run like hell."  Nobody thought it would be popular as a wheelstander.

OBTW, did you see Jay Leno's Garage when the current owner of the car crashed it trying to turn a corner?  leno was in the passenger seat with all the cameras attached. 

You have a good start saving an old build.

[geemoney]

i desecrated my original..SAD

 I have a re pop as well, love yours, GO GO GO

I thought Riggle was driving a 68 version when he and Jay rolled it.

[Deuces]

I seen that video.... Felt sorry for the cuda....

[Snake45]

This isn't going to be a wheelstander. The chassis of the AMT HUG is actually closer to the '65 Barracuda raced by Tom McEwen and others (I seem to remember McEwen crashed it?). This will be sort of a 1966 version of that car. In my head the paint is two-tone green. Trying to think of a good name for it. Am considering using WARLORD. I always liked that '67-'68 Cuda funny, and actually saw it on the road on its trailer once when I was a kid. Near as I can tell there wasn't a previous version of that car or name, so I'm thinking in terms of a phantom/what-if 1966-67 racer. 

[Steamboat]

I started building the 66 reissue a few months ago and lost interest.  The parting lines are so misaligned at the C-pillar that I really could cut and reglue it and do better. 

Also,  after doing some research I discovered that the original used a v-drive to connect the rear axle which the AMT kit does not have.

I'm interested in this thread.  Maybe it will get me motivated to complete the build!

[Snake45]

22 hours ago, Steamboat said:

I started building the 66 reissue a few months ago and lost interest.  The parting lines are so misaligned at the C-pillar that I really could cut and reglue it and do better. 

Also,  after doing some research I discovered that the original used a v-drive to connect the rear axle which the AMT kit does not have.

I'm interested in this thread.  Maybe it will get me motivated to complete the build!

I hear ya on the C-pillars. Spent an hour or so on those last night and still didn't get 'em completely cleaned up. Onward....

And yes, the HUG used a V-drive, not the arrangement on this kit, which as I mentioned seems to be based more on the McEwen (et al) funny. That's why I'm not worried about finishing it as HUG, just going my own way with it just because I hate wasting anything, especially anything 50+ years old. I HOPE you'll get motivated to drive on, too!