Well I’ve been a member since 2013 when I bought my second Barracuda. I’ve read numerous threads on this site and have appreciated all the support and opinions. It’s now time to record this journey. As with many of you on the site I had one when I was in high school. It was not a first owner car but more the 1980’s passion trying to rebuild on a teenager’s budget with rivets and bondo. I had a 1970 base Barracuda with auto on the tree. I hated how it drove but loved the look. My dad never liked the car and expected me to fix everything before it hit the road; so he thought. Well the short of it is that he and my brother were key to my brief six-month ownership where I replaced numerous front end parts repaired the quarters, floors, dents and put a fresh coat of paint before I sold it and went into the Army. I always wanted to do a “real” restoration so now is my chance.
One of my sons is a natural when it comes to mechanics and is in a four-year program in Pennsylvania. He found a 1973 Barracuda on Craig’s list that in short was only 15 minutes from my house. I went with a friend to hold my rose colored glasses so that I would make a rational choice but really, as soon as I saw those lines there was not much holding me back. I bought the car that had been torn down, labeled and in boxes. Most of the critical items: mechanicals, glass, interior, grill, and steering were there and the body had certain work I knew that I would replace. Supposedly a body guy had worked on it but frankly I did not care for the work performed. The car is a numbers matching 318/LA-904 with 2.76 gears car originating in North Carolina and traveled with a long stay in Pennsylvania. He also had a rotating 340 dated February 1972 with “J” heads, Edelbrock single plain and exhaust manifolds from a 1978 truck that was a reasonable match to the August build date . I bought it super bowl Sunday 2013 and was in my garage the following weekend.
I spent many hours researching the car and available parts. I went to the Nationals at Columbus with my Dad, Brother and son in August 2013 and met 4-Cruizin. I was thrilled to see how many people love these e-bodies and he connected me with this site. This site has been fantastic and has saved me hundreds of dollars and hours. I’m pretty much a newbie in this but have just enough talent, support and drive to do most of the bodywork and mechanics on this car myself with my son doing the motor and drivetrain. I won’t claim this thread to be an ideal story but hopefully provides enough do’s and don’ts for others wanting to learn and take pride in their own restoration of these e-bodies.
