Hi all,
Time for another update on the extremely slow progress on my Cuda. Due to work I didn’t have any time to work on the car in October and early November. To be honest I haven’t even been able to keep up on here (even just as a lurker) as much as I would like.
Anyway on to the update. At Thanksgiving I was able to get back at it. I’ve been using Second Skin Audio Damplifer and put a layer of that on the firewall and on the roof. I then put a layer of the Heat Wave Pro over that on the roof. I plan to use that same combo on the firewall and on the floorboards under the front seats. Since I’m in AZ I need all the thermal insulation I can get.
In my usual tradition of a couple steps forward, a couple steps backwards I decided I wasn’t happy with the tail section black paint. When I painted it back in June it had a lot of what I would call dry overspray or texture on it. I’m not sure if it was too hot and flashing off too quick or if I just screwed it up in the actual spraying. I used flattening agent in the clear coat (30%) to give it a semi-gloss look. So at first I attempted to wet sand it out with 1500 grit knowing that if I sanded it and polished it, then it would be full gloss. So I was thinking I could convince myself that it would be OK….. but I ended up accidentally sanding in to the base coat. So at that point I ended up sanding everything with 600 and recoating the entire panel. The good news is that it came out MUCH better this time (again with the 30% flattening agent). The 60 deg December weather probably helped.
I spent a while cleaning up the stock tail lights with plastic cleaner and plastic polish. They came out good, except one of them has some small sun cracks. It’s only noticeable up close and in the interest of getting the car running I’m not going to worry about it for now plus they could always be changed out easily in the future. Some day I’d like to do custom LED tails so that’s the time I’ll change it. In this picture I just mocked up the rear spoiler for looks.
The other thing I got done over the holiday break is I got all the brake lines installed. I went with Fine Line brake lines even knowing that I would have to modify them some due to the subframe connectors, hydroboost, etc. I figured it was still easier then just attempting to start with straight lengths of brake line. I also installed the Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve and the master cylinder. I had forgotten about the rear flex line but ended up getting a Wagner one on closeout for $17 from Rock Auto. It fit great and looked like the stock one. The picture below is before I found the bracket and spacer to connect the two lines.
I also got the hydraulic clutch hooked up at the same time. I used a Motive power bleeder on the brakes which allowed me to do it by myself and it worked really well for a while but then started leaking out of the master cylinder cap. The clutch I bled with a friend and it took a long time but it finally worked. I think I experienced real joy when with the transmission in gear you could push in the clutch and turn the output yoke!
Once I got my tax return I went on a buying spree
I bought the complete FAST setup from Rich at FASTMAN EFI. The new XFI 2.0 firmware will be out soon which is supposed to self-tune so it should be a nice setup. The hard plastic case on top is for the 92mm cable TB surrounded by foam. I think it’s the nicest packaging of any car part I’ve ever bought.
Here’s a shot of the new TB installed. You can also just make out the Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. I also removed all the stock 6.1 hemi wiring. Before the FAST showed up I didn’t know if any of the stock wiring was needed or not. It turns out the FAST system replaces all of the wiring. The one thing I did do was take apart the stock 6.1 hemi harness to scavenge the main power wire off the alternator. It’s a nice heavy gauge wire with a fusible link on the end of it, so I figure I can reuse it. Anyway if you’re going to use the FAST system with the 5.7 or 6.1 you can take off all of the wiring before you even install the engine.
The other thing I bought was the Vintage Air system minus the AC compressor (the stock 6.1 hemi compressor works fine). To mount the Vintage Air Gen IV box they want you to drill holes and run bolts through the firewall. Unfortunately I’ve already smoothed and painted my firewall. This lack of planning on my part meant I had to make custom mounts.
My advice is to buy and mock up all of your parts prior to going in to paint. Or in lieu of that take a look at Vintage Air’s website and their install instructions and weld studs to the inside of the firewall in the proper place before painting the car. I ended up making some simple angle iron right angle brackets and bolting them up through the top of the cowl. I’ll cover the bolt heads in the cowl with silicone to water proof them. It’s not a perfect solution but it is solidly mounted. Here’s how the Gen IV box looks installed in the car.
Here’s a close up of the mounting brackets.
I also wired up the gauges and fitted in a JVC CD player and reassembled all of the dash. My gauge panel looks a little dated now especially compared to some of the sweet custom ones that folks on this site have made, but it will have to do for now. It was nice to make some room and actually put the dash back in the car, however I’ll probably have to pull it back out at least once more. I still have to make holes in the firewall for the huge FAST EFI harness, the heater hoses and the AC hoses (again I wish I would have done all these things before it was painted).
Finally I got both the lower and upper grilles installed in the car along with the AAR fiberglass front bumper. I had to make my 3rd set of custom bumper mounts to finally get it mounted right. It needs a little sanding to fit better on the passenger side. I’m hoping I can do that with having to repaint the bumper. We’ll see. I also haven’t decided on if I’m going to do the front blackout paint or not yet. I know most Mopar folks say you have to do it, but I’m going to wait until the radiator and AC condenser are installed and then decide. I’m worried if I black everything out it will wash out the grille and you’ll miss the detail in the grille. The hood is open in these pictures because I hadn’t hooked up the remote hood release yet and it’s a pain to open with the grill now installed. LOL On the plus side, it now at least looks like a complete car.
Anyway that’s it for now. I’m working on the wiring and trying to figure out where to mount the two FAST ECUs (any advice?). I also have to figure out where to mount my battery in the trunk because the roll bar prevents mounting it in the very rear passenger side (again any advice?).
Travis
72 Cuda
