Home
Before the Restoration
After the Restoration
After the Restoration (2018)
Goodbye
Restoration Journal2001:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2002:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
November
2003:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
2008:
August
2017:
April
June
August
Car Dolly
In-Dash Tach
Send Me Email
Watch a Clip
Have a Listen
References
Library
Barracuda Owners Email List
Restoration Journal
February 1, 2001
Spent 30 minutes figuring out exactly what kind of rear end my car has. This involved scraping rust off the casting ID and reading manuals/surfing the web. Without getting into the details, I'm still not sure what I have. I'm hoping folks on the email list can help me.I then finished removing the rest of the windshield molding. I'm really glad that's done - I'll now be able to remove the windshield and start unbolting the dash. The bottom molding piece was especially difficult to remove, as there was some kind of adhesive (tar?) holding the molding to the weather stripping. I ended up using 2 screw drivers instead of the batwing for that piece.
February 3, 2001
Spent a couple hours organizing the basement. Making sure every part is labled, putting everything someplace other than in the middle of the floor, etc.February 4, 2001
Bear came over again. Since I had an extra pair of hands. we did some 2 person jobs - removed the windshield. I was hoping to save the gasket, as it was still in good shape, but cutting it up make the windshield extraction much easier. We then removed both the doors, which was quite easy.Bear gave me some torch training for removing bolts. We worked on the bolts holding the front bumper to the frame. We got one of them out, one woudn't budge, and one broke off. One more bolt to remove/break, and I'll have the bumper off!
After working on the car, we went to take a peek at his '69 340 Fastback. It's beautiful. I'm really looking forward to getting a ride in May. My wife went with us, and seeing a fully restored Barracuda got her a little fired up about our car! It's a little hard to be fired up about it right now, as it becomes an empty, dirty, rusty shell in our garage.
February 9, 2001
Removed the plastic anchors from the cargo area (white piece of plastic that the trim screws grab onto) and the left trunk hinge. Then moved onto the driver's door and removed the weather stripping, stainless trim that was under the weather stripping, and the plastic piece that runs the length of the headliner. Also removed the stainless stell trim on the drip rail.I was afraid of bending this trim during removal, but tips from the email list helped a lot. The only trim left near the driver's door is the lower quarter window piece.
February 11, 2001
Organized the basement, and assembled the first of 2 work benches. It will be great to have a work surface in the basement.Also removed all trim from the hood, so it is now ready for the body shop.
I also took some documentation shots of the car in its current state.
Click on any image for the full-sized version:
Cargo area (shifter in background) |
No headliner! |
Will be replaced by 340 |
Radiator's view of engine |
Left, rear interior |
 |
Passenger floor pan |
 |
Left, front suspension |
February 12, 2001
Tried to remove all decorations from the trunk lid. Got everything off except for lower trim piece that runs the width of the lid. The nuts are pretty rusted; coat 'em with Liquid Wrench and try again tomorrow...February 13, 2001
Built the second of my 2 work benches. Now I've got a 4'x8' workspace!I was able to remove the lower piece of trim from the trunk lid after the nuts soaked in liquid wrench overnight. The trunk lid is now bare and ready for blasting.
I started removing the brackets from the rear bumper. The nuts/bolts are extremely rusty. It might be easier to cut them offf...
February 15, 2001
Removed the molding under the quarter window on the driver's side. Very easy, having been told by members on the list how to do it.I then moved on to the rear window. After my experience on the windshield, removing the stainless molding was straight forward. I then sliced up the gasket with a utility knife, and my wife helped me extract the window. All glass is now off the car.
February 17, 2001
Continued stripping body parts down to their bare essence, so that they'll be ready to take to the media blaster. Removed all tags, trim and headlight receptacles from both fenders.Also gave Jeff (whom I met through Bear) and told him I'd like to buy a 340 he's got. It's a 73 motor, so some major changes may need to take place to get it to produce the kind of HP the 1970 engines did, but the price was right. I also mailed a check to an Ebay seller for my 3.23 carrier. Those are the only 2 major changes I'm planning for the car, so I've got all my parts lined up now.
February 18, 2001
Moved on to the doors (I seem to be spending a lot more time in my basement than the garage these days, now that I've got a decent work space!). The innards of the door are not as complicated as I had thought. I removed the interior handle, panel, regulator and window. All that's left is the exterior handle, locking mechanisms, and the window vent.Of course, I videotaped each stage of the disassembly. I've been doing that all along with anything except the most trivial assemblies.
February 21, 2001
Finished stripping down the driver's door to nothing but sheet metal. Flash light and hand mirror were exremely helpful for figuring out how things fit together inside the door. The key to removing the vent window and front window guide was an allen bolt that gets loosened by putting the allen wrench through a small hole in the inner door panel. I then removed the handle, key cylinder and locking mechanism. Took lots of video tape.Although the mechanisms in the door are pretty simple, I ended up with quite a few parts to store.
I then moved on to the rear bumper; I still hadn't removed all bolts due to excessive rust. I bought a nut buster which worked like a charm. The rear bumper is now ready for rechroming.
February 22, 2001
Tore down the passenger side door to nothing but metal.February 23, 2001
Back to the garage for the first time in quite a while. Finished removing the front bumper. 2 of the 4 bolts holding the bumper to the brackets broke. Got the final bolt holding a bracket to the frame out without breaking it. Had to stand (literally) on the wrench to get it to turn.I then tried to extract one of the busted bolts from the frame (2 bolts holding the brackets to the frame broke off). I drilled a hole in the bolt and tried the easy out. Wouldn't budge. People have told me patience is important, so I just sprayed liquid wrench on it and moved on.
Removed the horns, battery tray, and tried to remove the windshield washer chamber. The screws holding it are rusted to the point of not receiving a screw driver. I'll have to cut them off.
February 24, 2001
Back to the basement. Started cutting the studs that hold the outer, cylindrical grille piece to the front clip, using a dremel tool. Very slow going, tedious work.February 26, 2001
Back to work on the grille. Decided there wasn't any way to save the studs holding the grille to the clip, so began grinding them off, using a dremel tool and grinding disk on my drill. I sawed off 3 or 4 before stopping. Drilling out those studs and fabricating some replacement will not be fun.Back out to the garage. Tried to remove bolt from the frame w/ the easy out again, and it still won't budge. Extremely frustrating. So I continued removing stuff from the engine bay, working my way counterclockwise. Had to grind off the screws holding the washer fluid reservoir, as they were rusted beyond belief. Removed the voltage regulator, wiring harness connectors and wiper motor before calling it a night.
February 27, 2001
Just spent an hour or so on the car tonight. Removed the fan and alternator. The wiring harness is almost free - just a couple connections to the distributor left.February 28, 2001
Picked up my motor! Bear and I went to Jeff's shop to grab it. Got a peek at a couple of Jeff's cars while we were there. A couple very night Challengers and a 68 Dart. Always fun to see other people's projects.We then took the engine to the machine shop, where I met Keith. I thought we were just gonna drop off the engine and have a short discussion about my options. Boy was I wrong! Before I knew it, it was 10:00! Keith is this friendly, helpful guy that knows a shitload about motors (he's been building them for 15 years). I had told him I was a novice, so he educated Bear and me. As we were in the shop, there were lots of heads, blocks, pistons, cams and everything else to use as examples when he spoke. It was beautiful - I got a real education on how the internals of a motor work, and the options available when building one. It was invaluable.