Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

Next I put in the inside hood release, I think I may have another wrong part, pretty sure this should be straight! 20231128_132135.jpg& outside there's a little clamp for a screw, but nothing to screw it to?
I took a look at the header panel drop bracket & saw nothing there either? 20231128_132156.jpg
Last mystery is the gaping hole behind the booster, the only thing left (I think) to come out is the heater control cable, gotta dig that out & see how big its fire wall plug is, that hole seems over kill for that little cable? 20231128_154323.jpg
 
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So this is why I chipped the door, am I going too crazy, I was trying to move the whole door back a tad.
It's the last thing holding up putting the whole front end back together, after the chip I decided I need help if I want to move it & that is hard to arrange?
Is this a livable gap or way too wide?
20231128_132922.jpg
 
pretty much frozen at this point it was back inside, pulled out the box of wires, chucked the old engine harness after trying to see if there was anything worth saving, out that went.
Also tossed the cut up neutral harness.
then took a look at the A/C wire I had in there, it actually looks like what I need, but mine comes from under the dash & this was plugged into the firewall plugs???
It has the green for the blower motor & the black for the compressor which extends to reach it!
One pin was plugged into the open plug on this neutral switch which went direct to the firewall (no second plug?)
Blue was in the left side of the main plug (at this point not sure which?)
20231128_141043.jpg
& found this extra blue wire? 20231128_141121.jpg
 
Start looking for this bracket amongst your parts:

s-l1600.jpg



That's the cable bracket for your hood-release cable. It bolts to the hood latch support and was only used on 1973-'74 Barracudas and Challengers. The hood cable won't work without it. The factory part number is 3670110.

I've been trying to find one of these for over a year with no luck. When I do find one, it includes the latch. I don't need another latch and I really don't want to pay $175 for a simple bracket.


I think the hood release handle doesn't fit because you have it assembled incorrectly. The lower plastic dash trim goes on first, then the handle gets installed. You may be missing a bracket for it as well.
 
Crap, I don't think that is here, when I got the car the inside handle & a short piece of cable was tied to the latch, so it was an outside release at that point.
If I still had my break I could probably make one, maybe I can still make a crude one, see what kind of metal I have laying around.

Also don't have a lower dash trim for that side, the side cover goes on just above the handle, didn't know there was another piece over there, as usual on these cars, the other side is missing the skinny middle section of the lower trim.

Don't remember a lower trim on the other car either, do remember some kind of spacer when I put the handle on, the screws for this one were short, wouldn't even fit a spacer, guess I could make my own & put a longer screw in to at least get it straight.
Gonna try some more searching & see what this stuff looks like!
 
OK, looking at the trim more closely it doesn't affect the hood latch handle but there are three pieces of lower dash trim you should have.

Left:
s-l960.jpg



Right:
s-l960.jpg



And the truly-painful one, the AC trim panel:
s-l960.png



I say that last one is truly painful because it's not reproduced, and a good one can set you back $400 or more. I got very lucky and found one on eBay for $160 while I was flat on my back and had nothing better to do. Cracked ones are usually over $200.
 
Have the left, not sure about the right, & the fat half of the A/c one.
When I was searching I saw a repaired one for 400 & a broken in half (but on the big side) for 200 I think mine is staying naked in the middle!
Just took the left out & held it in place, defiantly above the handle. 20231129_140031.jpg
Then I removed the left screw & loosened the right, when it finally got to straight it drops down to within an 1/8" of the brake handle, I think it's staying crooked!
Hmmmm winder if there's enough room to move the right screw into the left hole, that looks like it would be close to straight. experiment next time out?
paged through the whole body book trying to find picks of that & the bracket,
One of that, looks to be direct to frame.20231129_152257.jpgFound a few of hood releases with the cable, but none showed the bracket.

I made a rudimentary copy of your pic, having no idea if I should scale up or down & for the life of me I can't see anything or way to bolt that up & have the clamp anywhere near the one on my cable, Now I most likely have the wrong cable judging by the crooked inside! 20231129_150433.jpg
Gonna see if I can find a pic of that assembly, I doubt it's a big topic anywhere?
 
Bumper bolts & ball joint boots came yesterday, grease is due in today.
I can now do 1/2 the ball joint job over AGAIN!
20231128_173425.jpgThen I go out to mount the rear bumper, holy crap, bolt holes nowhere near the brackets, it's a good thing I didn't make my junk run, the inner brace was going to go.
Mounted the brace........... 20231129_140652.jpg& then the bumper, far from gleaming chrome but I think for now I will live with it. 20231129_142354.jpgeven the worst areas don't jump out at you too bad? 20231129_142409.jpg
 
That listing ended, but I sent a message, if he had just the bracket for sale?
can't hurt to ask, he probably wants 100 for it anyway!
I'd go 20!
 
You have the right cable for sure. The E-body one is different from A, B, or C-body parts. I believe all of those have a horizontal handle rather than vertical.

RUSTY Cuda said:
Found a pick of the handle in a challe, it looks crooked!
Click to expand...
They were not installed crooked. There was a small plastic wedge placed between the handle's left mounting screw and the dash frame at the factory. It was neither serviced nor shown in illustrations, and often got left stuck to the dash when the cable was removed. It's virtual unobtainium these days since Mopar never gave it a part number and 99% of guys don't even know what it looks like.

Use a longer screw on the left and shim the bracket with a fender shim or couple of machine washers painted black so they're not obvious.
 
Norm was the guy from that bracket listing, He answered, as a set only!

I did remember the spacer from the other car, more rube goldberg stuff coming I guess!
 
So it looks like the front bumper should have that brace behind it also.
but at least 2 outer holes line up with the bracket, so at Least I can mount it.
Wondering if I get a repop & order the 73 if it will catch all 4 or if it's completely different? 20231130_124948.jpg20231130_125006.jpg20231130_131248.jpgdid manage to straighten that end a little bit, still off a tad.

Also getting a quote from the place in newark for replate, but they don't straighten! see what kind of #'s they throw at me?

Will do a quote from south jersey later, a lot more typing involved there!
 
So I found 2 holes that looked like a good place for a bracket, just not sure if anything else goes there, then I'm in trouble? 20231130_140338.jpg
Had a strip of fairly heavy metal, notched where the bends would be to try & make them crispy. 20231130_140518.jpggot the 1st hole drilled & couldn't leave well enough alone, tried to get the bends a little tighter, snapped one right off just as I was thinking of a weld bead over those bends. 20231130_143219.jpgSo back to the beginning, got enough metal for 2 more tries!
 
So not enough room to move it over, & by the time it's straight it's almost touching the brake handle, for now I think I'm leaving it cocked! 20231130_132008.jpg
 
1973 & '74 bumpers are 100% identical.

The holes you found in the hood latch support are the ones for the factory cable bracket.
 
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