After one year of gathering parts for the restoration of my ’73 Barracuda, I am going into business with a friend of mine, and am raising cash for this venture. So, the Barracuda is for sale. I purchased it last year for $3,100, then bought a recently-rebuilt 360 short block for $400, a crate of parts including correct seats, E-body rear end housing and axels, inner and outer trim panels, steering column, hinges, etc. for $1,300 (including shipping), new rear deck lid for $150, nice tail lights, new shifter plate… anyway when I add it all up it comes to slightly over $6,000. I would like to get $5,500 for the car with the parts, but would take $4k, as $5,500 is not working. As you can see by the photos, there are many extra parts that could be traded or sold to offset the purchase price, although I could only show a few here. I have many more that show the remainder of the parts. The car has some really good points and really bad points. The good: Original B5 Blue w/Blue interior with trim and vin tags (I have a picture of a restored one shown just to remind folks how good looking this color combination is). Very limited rust – mostly just at the trunk where it got hit. Floors, frame, doors, front, are all rust free. I believe the 318 that is in it is original, along with the transmission. It might even run, given it was parked after it was rear-ended.
The bad: A close look at the photos will show that the left rear frame rail was bent when it got hit. It appears the crappy bumper guards transmitted the force of the impact directly to the frame rail. This is a straightforward frame-straightening job, though, and is far cheaper that the usual level of rust repair needed on cars in this price range. Also, the previous owner cut the trans tunnel, but I have the original part back in place and it just needs to be tacked in. The grill on the shelf is pretty dry and cracked. I planned to replace it. I only have a bill of sale, but I have not had problems with older cars in CA in the past – I just use a service to do the lien-sale paperwork for me. It’s really easy. The blue plate shown one the driveway is original to the car.
The driver’s side of the car has been stripped to bare metal. The black primer is just a thin coat to keep it from rusting. The door is dead straight – the pattern you see in the photos is just from the paint. The right side was in the process of being stripped when I decided to sell it. I think it shows that the panels have minimal bondo and are largely rust free. The front right fender is pretty crappy, though, and unless you love to practice body work probably should be replaced.
The dash has one of those covers on it that can be glued in place, though I just set it on to get it out of the way. The rear seat side panels are excellent (purchased separately for $150), as are the front kick panels. The green door panels are quite good but unfortunately have speaker cut outs. Of course, for those of you that remember, just about everyone had done that back in the day. The instrument panel set in the car is excellent. The A/C parts are a mix of good/usable and poor. There are many, many overlapping A/C and other interior parts, as can be seen in the photos. I think the hardest stuff to find is already gathered. Around here third members are pretty cheap (there is a nice 3.23 ls for sale in craiglist for $300 right now), and I believe it could be a running project car fairly quickly.
I wanted to list the car here before craigslist both to verify my price and if possible avoid having to explain everything to non-Mopar people. I welcome any comments regarding the price (from neutral parties that are not actually making offers), as the market is on the down low at the moment. If my pictures get pulled from the site please email me and I’ll send a set. I also have many more pictures available that show the parts and details of the car much better than I am able to with only the 10 posted here. The car is located in Placerville, CA one hour East of Sacramento. You can call me at (530) 644-2180 or email me at
wdrane5@hotmail.com. Thanks.
Walter Drane
Topic: 1973 Barraduda Project Car - Maybe $4K? Or some of the Parts? (Read 2085 times)
