69 Barracuda FB. The next evolution

[RUSTY Cuda]

I had 2 medias, green kinda triangles & some granular light brown stuff, I used the green mostly cut rust great , the other stuff was for shining up, but the stuff came out so clean I really didn't need it.
I also put eastwoods metal wash in with it that seemed to help a lot.

 

[gomopar440]

I'm pretty sure somebody said some wordy durds here at some point.

 

[gomopar440]

Guess I shoulda mentioned that the car is here now. ..

I coated all the visible rust with rust converter first. The humidity here is pretty bad, so it was a top priority. After that dried, I sanded some of the rust down to bare metal where it was bad in a few places. I made sure to feather the existing paint to the bare areas. After a quick wipe down with acetone, I coated it with some primer sealer. I'm not really doing any bodywork to it right now, just rust mitigation.

That's as far as I got so far. I had to come inside to cool off for a while.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

You gots some work to do!!!

 

[gomopar440]

You gots some work to do!!!

Understatement of the year right there...

That statement coming from you makes it hit way harder.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I put in my 20 years, I'll enjoy watching you toil in my retirement, it will bring back some great memories, yea & some not so great!

 

[gomopar440]

It's only been one day of running a RO sander and my hands and forehead arms feel like I've got a full blown case of carpal tunnel.

Looks like someone ripped the driver's side mirror was ripped off at some point.

Not looking forward to tackling the other side. It looks worse than the driver side, but the driver side actually has gallons of bondo on the door and fender. I think I've made up my mind to get fiberglass fenders in the future. For now, the current ones will stay where they are. I'll keep an eye out for a better driver side door.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I ran drills & sawsalls all my life, add in the 2 cars for the last 20 years & when I came in at night I had to click the mouse lefty, right hand was shot.
Good thing is it went away fast when I finished that kind of work on the car (retired from work befoe that)
Now I can compute all night , no car_______ ple in the tunnel!

 

[68R/T]

I coated all the visible rust with rust converter first.

As I'm sure that Rusty can tell you from his own experience that rust converter by itself does not prevent future rust if exposed to the elements, It needs to be sealed with paint, and primer by itself may not work because most primers are porous. Humidity and moisture can still penetrate

 

[gomopar440]

As I'm sure that Rusty can tell you from his own experience that rust converter by itself does not prevent future rust if exposed to the elements, It needs to be sealed with paint, and primer by itself may not work because most primers are porous. Humidity and moisture can still penetrate

Very true. That's why I chose primer sealer specifically, not the easier to find primer filler stuff.

The work I'm doing now is just needed to buy time so I can work on the mechanicals first. I'll tackle the actual major bodywork after the car is a runner.

 

[gomopar440]

After taking a quick look at the engine bay, I've got a better idea of what I'll need fix, replace or add before I can get the 360 to run.

On the engine itself, at a minimum it needs:
- distributor (missing)
- plug wires (missing)
- spark plugs (missing)
- exhaust gaskets (missing)
- exhaust manifold nuts & bolts (missing)
- oil filter (missing)
- air filter (missing)
- carb (I've already got a carb rebuild kit coming in the mail. As soon as it gets here I'll clean and rebuild it.)
- engine wiring harness (missing)
- radiator (missing)
- radiator hoses (missing)
- water nipple in the intake manifold (holes rusted through)
- heater hoses (worn)
- alternator (missing)
- ECU (missing)
- coil (missing)
- ballast resistor (missing / need depends on distributor, coil and ecu choice)
- fan belt (worn)
EDIT to add:
- fuel pump (damaged)
- battery, box & cables (missing)

As you can see, there's a lot needed to get this 360 back to a ready to run state. Of course there's always the possibility that there may be internal issues with the 360. I'll deal with those issues if or when they come up, but I'll also need all that listed stuff adressed regardless.

 

[gomopar440]

I endured the heat for a bit and got the 360 cleaned up to look for any hidden issues. Rattle can rebuild FTW!

I found the fuel pump outlet had been smashed upwards. So, I added a fuel pump to the list of needed parts.

I'll also need a battery and battery cables, but I want to move the battery to the trunk area and use a LiPo battery in a sealed battery box.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I have a brand new distributor for you, It was replaced because a faulty igi control took out the pick up coil, we replaced it because the cap moved slightly without the dist. moving, so it would need a pick up coil & a cap I suppose
Let me know if you would like it, just pay shipping.
I actually paid extra for that because it had the tan cap!

Crap, I may have an accell or mallory? came with the car, not sure if I sold it off, I'll dig through the spare parts!

 

[gomopar440]

I'm not stuck on keeping the ignition all mopar, so a MSD or Mallory setup would also be an acceptable solution. LMK what you have and we'll figure it out.

A new fuel pump is on order and should be here by Wednesday.

I started running taps through the threaded holes on the 360, right up until I started getting overheated and had to come inside. I also tried to remove the rusted heater hose nipple on the intake, but it just crumbled when I grabbed it with some vise grips. I'll have to pick the pieces out bit by bit and then re-tap the threads afterwards.

And just to give an idea how hot it is here today...

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Watching the grand kids again tomorrow may not get to dig around till wed, but I'll see what I have in the "parts" bin & let you know!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

108!!!!!! I was overheated doing the lawn at 80!
Would not even open the door at 108!

 

[gomopar440]

@RUSTY Cuda Yea, I was NOT amused. And today is supposed to be hotter... Btw, I found a blue 68 door shell in NJ if I can figure out how I can get it shipped to Arkansas. Feel up for a road trip?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Not a chance, I'm on a 2 hour max driving limit!!!!!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

OK, I still have both the new one..................& the mallory, came in the car car did run when I got it............................
With some spaghetti that was hooked up to it............................I can send both, for you or if you know someone who could use them, still cleaning out around here!

 

[gomopar440]

Damn, I should have waited. I just bought a used MSD Pro Billet distributor, with spark plug wires, on Ebay. For the electronics, I decided to go with a MSD Ultra 6AL box and a MSD Blaster SS coil. I'll pick the box and coil up next payday.

I've used one of those Mallory Unilite distributors on a 440 in one of my first Challengers. It worked perfectly, and I wouldn't hesitate to use one again. Thank you for the offer of the distributors, but my 360 only has one hole available...

Not a chance, I'm on a 2 hour max driving limit!!!!!

Actually I was wondering if you might be able to go look at it and see if it's solid, or just another rusted up bondo job. With your Cuda building background, you've probably got a nose trained to sniff out that bog stuff from a mile away.

This is the FB Marketplace listing for the door.
Facebook

EDIT: Forgot to mention that yesterday I ordered a new fuel pump and a set of exhaust gaskets for the 360 from a local parts store. Gotta send some business towards the little shops to help keep them around.

I still need to figure out what I'll need to re-attach the factory exhaust manifolds to the block. Right now, I only have the studs at the ends of each head, so I've got to find the rest of the hardware to fill in the holes in between.