nice new project..

[74cuda4spd]

just sold my 70 challenger and recently aquired this little..(rusty)..beauty.
74 cuda 360 4spd with a 391 sure grip!..iam about to put a '91 crate 360 in it ive never had
a manual mopar so its going to be real fun trying to get that clutch..etc goin..!





i hope to make my cuda look like this one..it was on ebay awhile back...

[Street_Challenged73]

It looks like it'll be a good project.  How complete is it?  I'd assume you have the front fenders, grille, and hood for it?

[Rev-It-Up]

Sounds like a fun project!  The body looks like it's in pretty good shape.  Where is the rust?

[sleepychallenger]

for the small block 4 speed set ups i have been finding parts every where and for cheap. i was trying to do a BB 4speed and those are hard parts to find. all I have is the trans and the hump and now i have given up and am now selling.    good luck on yours. i beleive that the bell housing and flywheel can be found at texasacres.com

brewers also has everything for your 4 speed.....EVERYTHING   

[74cuda4spd]

well there is a considerable amount of rust all around the fire wall..in the pics you can see a hole in the top part of the cowl on the right..its worse on the left.
there is a hole in the front right frame rail..and rear left rail.. and a hole in the roof..heres a pic of the damage..its not too bad but its my first time dealing with this kinda thing...but the bad thing is whoever "fixed" the car before i had it..hid rust..there was expandable foam everywhere..and the hole in the roof was filled with NEWSPAPER and bondoed up....lots of jerks out there..

[71340RT]

Looks like you will have your hands full fixing the rust. It's always tough knowing if you got it all out or not. Good luck with the Cuda project and keep us up dated with pictures.

[RUSTY Cuda]

You got 3 of the same spots I had, I'm sure we will match up on many more, hopefully for you not all I had! the tail end looks pretty good in the pics? Good luck,Rich.

[74cuda4spd]

well theres one more though...they put a patch over a hole on the drivers side..but what they really did was put a huge piece of metal over the floor and hole..so it rusted worse...
does anyone know where i can buy good sheet metal near dallas tx so i can fix the roof and frame?

[1972cuda]

for rear frame rails try shermanparts.com they sell rear frame rails as opposed to caps

[RUSTY Cuda]

For skin patches I just bought a sheet of 20 guage , my PPG paint store had it, I think 2'x3' sheets, hood hinge area patches are available repro, or even the whole inner fender, auto body spec. all the big houses have most of the parts, just check who is closer cause if you buy a lot shipping could be a bit steep! Rich.

[74cuda4spd]

cool thanks for the help guys iam gonna need it!

[Johnny Cuda]

Looks like you got a lot to work with! Good Luck!!

 

[74cuda4spd]

lol thanks..its gonna be a long but totaly worth it process

[wart1de]

How are you going to repair the front rail? I'm about half way into capping my front rails.

[sccarts1]

mine was far worse . my jerks used steel wool and bondo. i manufactured all the parts (except the 4 speed floor hump and left front frame  rail)
from flat stock. but i have 30 years experience building signs and a 10 ft sheetmetal brake. if you can handle the job then use the light guage
stuff  sold at body supplys for the intricate stuff and the heavier guage stuff is available from jc whitney. take advantage of thier free shipping offers. i rebuilt every thing you can imagine...window surrounds...jambs..rockers...doors ....fenders...quarters  valences..tail panel  ...cowl... firewalll..floors...trunk...roof..  wheel houses..   and then some..................ugh.   but the good news is your can learn from any mistakes i made
and not have any do-overs.  as far as 4 speed... go with a  23 spline setup...  you'll save thousands.. ii'm not finished but this is how far i've gotten