69 Barracuda FB. The next evolution

[gomopar440]

I'm just planting this thread here as a seed for my next Mopar project. It's a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Fastback, ex-race car That I will be picking up near St Louis. The plan is going to be very similar to my previous R/T/A project posted here. It will still be a pro-touring type build, but modernized a bit more. Sorry, not sorry to the purists out there that want a pristine museum quality resto. I'll be driving this car a lot, and I want it to be exactly what I want it to be when it's done.

The engine will be a 400ci B block, stroked out to 500ci, and the initial setup will be carbureted with basic electronic ignition. The first trans will be a TF727, and the axle will be a 8&3/4 Sure Grip. After I get the drivable,

Phase 2 will be to add full modern controls such as EFI, coil near plug (LS style), full roller rocker drivetrain. The TF727 will be swapped out for an 8 speed ZF 8HP70 auto trans out of a 2015-17 Challenger or Charger. The engine and trans updates will make the setup much more efficient and smoother driving. I still have a lot of research to do to sort out the technical details to make it all work, so that's why I'll be starting out with a more traditional engine and trans setup first. The first engine/trans setup will allow me to get kinks worked out of the suspension, body and interior while keeping the car useable before I kick off Phase 2.

I decided to go with this A-body Barracuda instead of another E-body primarily because the weight difference. I'm still going to lighten the Barracuda with a lot of fiberglass body parts like I did with the R/T/A, so the weight advantage will get even better in the end.

Anyway, I'll be starting the project as soon as I can get the car here. Until then, here are the pics from the FB ad.

 

[gomopar440]

I'm thinking of replacing the front end sheet metal with a one piece race front end from VFN. It's a 67-68 part, but will fit if I also use the 67-68 hood. I look the look of the X shape of the center of this front end better than the Y shaped center of the 69 grill anyway, so it's an overall win. For the hood, I'm going to use VFN's AAR style 67-68 bolt on hood.

 

[gomopar440]

I may have found another Barracuda Fastback race car. This one is a '68 and has had the floor, crossmembers and rear subframes removed, However it comes with a full set of fiberglass (1pc front end, hood, doors & trunk lid) and some sheet metal sections (upper cowl and quarters). It doesn't come with any window glass though. The existing body shell is in MUCH better shape than the '69 FB pictured above as it is already blasted and primed. The missing rear sub frame rails is my biggest concern with it. Gonna think on it before pulling the trigger on it.

 

[gomopar440]

Well, after a 9hr road trip, an egg McMuffin and 4 Red Bulls, I've got good news and bad news.

Bad news: The yellow 69 FB race car was farther gone than I wanted to deal with, so I ended up passing on it.

Good news: The seller had about a dozen A body Barracudas, mostly fastback, and I was able to find a 68 FB that was mostly together. It already had the quarter panels replaced and he's going to include all the missing parts needed to make up a complete car. This 68 has a 360, 727 and 8&1/4 rear. The current revised plan is to get it reassembled and running on the 360 while I build up the 400/500 stroker. I'm going to skip the 727 for the stroker and go straight to the ZF 8HP70 8spd trans, which will also take time to collect the needed parts for that trans swap.

Anyways, I'm wiped out, so here's some pics to keep you animals fed for a while...

 

[gomopar440]

I forgot to mention that it's already got front disc's and the large bolt pattern bolt pattern all around.

Btw, the 400 is a 78 truck block.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Looks like you'll be busy for a while! Have FUN!!!

 

[gomopar440]

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting started on it.

The guy will deliver the car here around the middle of this month. That leaves me with a bit of time to clean up the 400 and prep the garage (add lights & sort tools) before it gets here. So far I bought an air compressor to run tools, a pneumatic die grinder, LED lights, an engine hoist and a portable evap cooler so I can work in this Arkansas heat. The evap cooler won't be here until the 10th, so I'm currently only working for short periods at a time.

BTW, I've had an idea floating around my head about the direction I want to take this build. Rather than spill the beans up front, I'm thinking I'll explain it as I progress through the build. A lot of the sub-goals will parallel a Pro-touring type build, but there will some major changes with the body and suspension along the way.


@dodgechargerfan Hey Dave, can you modify the thread title to: "69 68 Barracuda FB - The Next Evolution"

 

[gomopar440]

Those Uni-Lug wheels are going to get swapped out before it hits the road. They'll stay on there while I work on the car for now, but they're headed for the bin eventually. I already found the new wheels I want to put on the car.

 

[gomopar440]

Today I only broke two exhaust studs, and unscrewed one stud completely out while removing the right exhaust manifold. At least the ones that broke off didn't break off flush with the head.

From what I'm seeing during the block clean up, this engine was a seriously oily boi. Whoever had it before thought that RTV cures all ails apparently.

It's a shame that some of that oil didn't get onto the water pump bolts. I had to cut off the bolt and then cut into the water pump casting to release it's grip on the mounting bolt. After I relieved the rusted grip with the cut, I was finally able to pry the water pump off the bolt. After the WP was removed, the bolt threads weren't seized in the block and unscrewed with vise grips on the remainder of the bolt body.

 

[gomopar440]

Now that the block is clean (mostly), I'm starting to remove some casting sand occlusions and some excess flashing material along the cast parting lines. Those rough occlusions are full of sand when i run over them with the carbide burr. I only got this much done before the brand new HF die grinder broke. Going to go back to HF and swap it out since it's only a day old.

And, yes, I am a bit OCD about detailing parts like that a lot of the time...

 

[gomopar440]

While cleaning and deburing the 400 today, I finally decided on a name for the direction/theme I'm wanting to build this car to. I'm going to call it a Rally Rat, whatever that means. It makes sense to me looking at the vision I have of it in my head. Sorta like Ken Block meets Mad Max...

And for the car's actual name, after a bit of radio inspiration on a recent road trip, I'm calling her Black Betty.

 

[gomopar440]

I REALLY wanted to put some All-Terrain tires on this build, but I can't find anything available that will fit without lifting the car to the moon. These tires are the closest I could find to match the image in my head with the sizes that aren't too far off something remotely realistic. I'm going with 275/40 R17's at all four corners. At least that's the current plan.

That's all for now. I'll just go back to my little cave and wait for the car to get delivered next week...

 

[gomopar440]

I've pretty much decided on a few of the bigger parts I want to put on the 400/500 engine.

For the heads, I'm thinking about going with CNC'd Trick Flow 240's, rather than the Eddys or Stealths. That decision is mostly based on the shape of the combustion chamber on the TF 240's.

I like the look of the Mopar Performance cast aluminum valve covers, so I'm leaning towards those to top off the heads.

For the intake, today I ordered an Edelbrock Victor 383 for it. I'll need to get some injector bungs welded into it before I do the EFI conversion.

 

[gomopar440]

Thinking about the suspension, I'm eventualy going to do a coil-over conversion up front and a mono leaf spring out back. Since I want to go for a taller rally car profile, the torsion bar setup wouldn't be able to maintain proper suspension geometry with the taller stance. I'll also planning on doing a simple spring over swap to get the height I want in the rear.

A few variables I still have to decide on are going to be the flange to flange width of the rear axle, and the wider width of the front A-arms. I'm already planning to turning the car into a wide body, so the wider track width is already being acounted for.

These big suspension mods are all going to be done much later on though. In the begining, the car will be brought to running and driving shape first with the factory suspension while I dial in the rest of the body, wiring and driveline.

 

[b-body-bob]

coil-over conversion

Not one that puts all the load on the shock towers, right?

 

[gomopar440]

Not one that puts all the load on the shock towers, right?

Not that I'm aware of. I believe that the coil over setup has it's own coil over upper mounting points tied directly to the K-frame. I'm still going to add reinforcements between the cowl, inner fenders, and the top of the original shock towers to help stiffen the front end.

The delivery date for the car is set for this Saturday.

Until then I've been cleaning up the 400. I got an original set of valve covers so I could replace the original one that had an open gouge through it. I just want these valve covers intact to keep humidity from rusting the interals. They'll get replaced with some cast valve covers before it goes into the car.

I also picked up an intake for the 400, an Edelbrock Victor 383 tunnel ram. I couldn't find any EFI ready B-block intakes, so I got this one with the intent to get some injector bosses welded in when I add EFI to it.

 

[gomopar440]

FB Marketplace finally came through for once (twice?) today.

This afternoon I picked up a working parts cleaner for $30. It's an older setup, but just needed a quick cleanup before I can start using it. On my way home I picked up five gallons of mineral spirits to put in the barrel under the wash tub.

After I got back home, I finally got a reply about an older, but completely intact and un-seized, Holly 4bbl I inquired about a few days ago. So, I headed back out and picked up the $60 carb next. The carb is a 1850-4 single inlet 600cfm elec choke/vac secondary model. I'm going do a basic rebuild on it first and then use it to get the 360 running.