Author Topic: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)  (Read 3740 times)

Offline forumpete

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My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« on: April 19, 2016 - 11:14:17 AM »
Good morning guys, I'm nearing the end of my rebuild for my '70 'Cuda clone rebuild.  A little backstory on the car; my dad bought me the car 17 years ago when I earned Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts.  The car was not running and was in pretty rough shape.  We had big dreams of father-son bonding in building the car together but quickly realized we were in WAY over our heads.  We  ended up handing the car over to a local builder who did all the body and interior work as well as a little motor work to get 'er movin.  I drove the car any chance I could get my last couple years of high school before leaving for college.  Immediately after school I moved from Kansas City MO to Houston TX and the car sat untouched for probably 10 years.  I know I know, I'm a horrible owner...  Anyway, about 5 years ago GoodGuys came to Kansas City so I flew home and with the help of a good friend/forum member we got the car back on the road to attend the show.  By the end of the weekend the car was spewing every kind of fluid it had from every orifice.  I was traveling full-time for work so once again the car sat.  Fast forward to current time, about a year ago my Dad was kind enough to trailer the car down to me and my work began.  My original plan was to simply replace the gaskets on the motor and get on the road.  Long story short that snowballed and I ended up doing a complete rebuild.  I did a 440source 512 kit and an A833 swap. 

Full disclosure, the motor was built by a local race engine builder so I can't take credit for that.  I was told going in they weren't the cheapest around but that they were great guys and very thorough.  I will way they lived up to their reputation.  With some more help from friends and family the motor and tranny are in and I actually took her for a ride around the block Sunday!  This has been a LONG time coming but I am downright ecstatic to have the car up and running and in my own garage.  I'm getting married in September and we'll be driving away in the car.

And now onto the pics:

2011 Good Guys:






Car arrives in TX:



Motor coming out:




Engine bay cleaning for paint and repainted:




Fresh coat of paint on the motor and headers:




Motor dropped in place (now the fun begins):



New trans hump sitting in place and pedal assembly installed:





And FINALLY things coming back together:


MSD box relocated under battery:

Hidden switch for electric cutouts:


Vids:
http://vid142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/forumpete/20160417_162323.mp4
http://vid142.photobucket.com/albums/r119/forumpete/20160417_162431.mp4

Thanks to you guys for the help in putting this thing back together and thanks in advance for the many questions I'm yet to ask!
« Last Edit: April 19, 2016 - 11:15:50 AM by forumpete »




Offline 340challconvert

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2016 - 11:19:24 AM »
Nice Car
Best Of Luck with your impending marriage!
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Offline dave73chally

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2016 - 11:52:02 AM »
Nice, did you install the trans with the linkage attached?
73 Challenger
512 / 4spd / Hotchkis & QA1 Suspension

Offline forumpete

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2016 - 12:11:32 PM »
Nice, did you install the trans with the linkage attached?

I did not, 1-2 and 3-4 linkages have to be removed to install the trans so I pulled reverse off too.

Offline dfrazz

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2016 - 12:48:40 PM »
Video of her running or it didn't happen!   :bigsmile:



Offline Chryco Psycho

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2016 - 08:19:10 PM »
 :2thumbs:

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Offline Bullitt-

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2016 - 08:46:57 PM »
Tasty      :woo:
Wade  73 Rallye 340..'77 Millennium Falcon...13 R/T Classic   Huntsville, AL
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Offline Brillo1974

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2016 - 09:55:10 AM »
Sounds and looks awesome! :2thumbs:
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Offline WildJones

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Re: My 70 'Cuda rebuild (Pic Heavy)
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2016 - 11:20:57 PM »
Wow,  so many similarities between your story and mine hahah.  Car sounds great.  Mind telling me what your exhaust setup is?  Have any more (longer) videos of it idling? Any motor specs? Happy with the outcome?
Mike
95682
1970 Cuda