Author Topic: Frustration with dad and my restoration (Read 2541 times)

jims70cuda · « **Reply #15 on:** December 28, 2009 - 07:57:24 PM »

Orange 70 - Yes, Dads are never wrong, and I haven't reached that rank. (Still waiting for a better half)

The bad thing is the 340 isn't matching. It is a 73 block that the previous owner got after something broke in the original. And for me it's going to be a pain putting in the suspension and trans anyway, why do it twice?

73 Chally - Reasons/Goals: First and foremost, I want the car to drive and keep up with most everything on the road. I should to be able to take it to a drag strip if I want (and I hope it will beat my neon SRT). If I want to take it on a weekend trip, it should be able to go. I prefer the manual and EFI because I am comfortable with it. I have never adjusted a carb, but can program my fuel/air ratio on my SRT. I also don't want the high RPMs when I am cruising on the highway, but I like the hole-shot performance the 3.91 gives. Firm Feel is an option and I plan on using their power steering, I just like the fact that XV has complete suspension packages. The stock suspension is pretty much shot, so I'm having to replace or refurbish it no matter what.

JS29 - I looked into the production numbers and saw that 1788 were made. I didn't think that is rare, the 72 RR my father owns is 1 of 329 being an original 340 4 speed. His is numbers matching where mine won't be. I knew it was an awesome car when I first decoded the fender tags and thats why I bought it. The previous owner was slowly making it a Hemi clone. Thankfully, he found a better half and his progress stopped.

Bullitt- · « **Reply #16 on:** December 28, 2009 - 09:06:27 PM »

I don't see why you would want to keep the stock type steering box if your going to the trouble of changing to an aftermarket suspension... I'd get a rack & pinion IF drive-ability was the plan.

priderocks · « **Reply #17 on:** December 28, 2009 - 09:18:11 PM »

1) You'll probably have your foot it in so much you'll never realize the mileage savings- would not let that be a factor. Control? I would give up my 4-speed for an auto any day. Driving in traffic is a pain.
2) I'll bet you rue the day you went with fuel injection. EFI is cool on new cars but I've never heard of a retro kit that ran really good and that didn't require constant tweaking.
3) I would stay with factory suspension with inexpensive minor tweaks. E-bodies are just not great platforms to start with to accomplish a good handling car. Heck, my mother-in-laws 90 Camry wagon will eat my Challenger anywhere that ain't straight. Put the money toward an EVO.

BIGSHCLUNK · « **Reply #18 on:** December 28, 2009 - 10:14:20 PM »

Ok I'll take a stab at this. I'm always an advocate of you car your money!! But don;t shoot yourself in the foot (or wallet) Some upgrades are really cool for sure, but I 'd really try to how much and the type of driving you'll be doing. Mileage, firstits a muscle car, is that an issue?? But... even NIKKI is respectable on the interstate if I keep her steady. Handling, sway bars and sub connecters go along way (mine were $10 in materials) the XV stuff does look real cool tho. Shaker, works for me but with my crate and a single DP makin the base was a real PITA! Automatic, IMO (for me that is) cost/benefit ratio nawwww. My 727 squaks the BFG's just fine!

torredcuda · « **Reply #19 on:** December 29, 2009 - 06:43:32 AM »

Quote from: 72hemi on December 28, 2009 - 06:40:31 PM

Judging by the options on the car I am going to take a guess that it is a 70 cuda. Like was stated its your car and your money. If it were me and my car I would do the 4 speed conversion, install the fuel injection, get the suspension upgrades (either from XV or another source like Firm Feel) and I would add the shaker hood. But I would start with a plain jane barracuda and build it the way I want and not modify a factory 70 BS23 car.

Rare or ot it is an original BS23 340 `cuda with a lot of nice options,I`d retore it 99% stock.If you want a Pro tourer sell the `70 and find the 318 round taillight Barracuda you really like and modify the heck out of it.

thedodgeboys · « **Reply #20 on:** December 29, 2009 - 07:21:48 AM »

Hummm tuff one
There are plenty of examples of stock and mostly stock cars out there and I love them all.

However they are not the friendliest on the streets as a steady driver or long trips compared to newer cars. $:-\$

If it�s not super rare do what you want and enjoy it. I took my highly optioned convertible and made it what I wanted to drive with a 6.1 hemi 6-speed and coil over suspension.

(I can go back if I want to)

It�s a blast to drive and that was my end result; some don�t like it, but they don�t own it; so it is what it is!

It�s always tuff to go away from factory stock on older cars. Look at all the ones made into race cars now that�s crazy and fun� Just my 2 cents

Good luck

In 40 years your kids may be asking you the same questions�

HP2 · « **Reply #21 on:** December 29, 2009 - 09:16:25 AM »

Quote from: jims70cuda on December 28, 2009 - 06:05:16 PM

1) Replacing the 727 with a manual because I like the control and fuel savings; he says just use the 727 and add an overdrive from gear vendors
2) Add fuel injection since I know absolutely nothing about carbs and it would increase mileage; his response, learn and you won't drive the car enough to see a difference
3) Replace the suspension with the XV1 kit; his rebuttal is it would be a waste of time and money and the you won't be driving it to that performance level
4) He thinks I should add the shaker hood (it came stock with the sport)

1) Manual trans. Hard to argue with that one. Rowing your own gears is a freaking blast. Yes, the swap is pretty irreversible, but I can think of instances where it not only adds pleasure to the vehicle, but also value. Instead of a fancy 5 or 6 speed, you could always go with a Passon 4spd with OD in the four gear cluster. Stock 833 trans with OD, no additional floor mods required that may come with other aftermarket transmissions. One contingency on this; depending on the engine build, spinning it slower may or may not necessarily yield improved mileage. Matching the cruise rpm to the torque curve gives better mileage, within limits, than simply spinning the engine slower.

2) Fuel injection. Hmm, kinda with your Dad on this one. A properly tuned carb is going to be very close in mileage. The efi will get maybe an extra 2-3 mpg over a good carb tune and will not necessarily produce more power. Payback for the couple thousand dollar expense will take years and years. Unless your planning a pretty radical engine build with uber high compression and a radical cam profile, the carb will work pretty dang well. Tuning a carb isn't really all that hard either. Set it as lean as possible without the engine pinging. If you get an Edelbrock, tuning is pretty simply and their included booklet explains it all. If you are still intimidated by it, 30 minutes on a chassis dyno will tell you exactly where the tune needs to go. FWIW, my carbed 440 in my auto trans truck regularly get 12-14 mpg with a 4:10 rear end.

3) XV L1 kit. Gotta side with you on this one. If your going to rebuild the entire suspension, your going to spend $2200-2300 to buy all the comparable quality pieces that come in the XV kit. Since they dropped their prices, you can get everything they have for around $2500. With 15" tires, this will make your E body comparable to any late model performance sedan easily. Change to 17" rubber with low profile rubber, and your running with Vettes. The XV1 kit will produce wheel rates similar to a BMW M3 series, but this isn't about all out performance, it is about pleasure of driving. Being able to hammer it on an on ramp and not worry about body roll is well worth it on this one. Also worth including on this one is their chassis stiffening kit. Watch their vide on body flex and you'll be sold on adding it.

4) Shaker hood, hmmmm. They look kinda cool, but are a bit pricey. As far as fresh air induction goes, they aren't the most efficient but are better than under hood heated air. They can be reveresed pretty easily and would probably add value. However, alterations to the intake on the engine could make this one a no go. Too tall of an intake and a shaker isn't working.

73Chally · « **Reply #22 on:** December 29, 2009 - 10:16:13 AM »

I agree with you on everything but the suspension. I had mine rebuilt a couple years ago (including the rear) with all new bushings and new torsion bars for under $1K, and have no problem through the turns at normal speeds. Unless he plans on some road racing or going crazy through the twisties, I just don't see the benefit in the extra money. Also, does the $2,500 include installation, or would that be a DIY or pay more to have it put in? The $1K I mentioned included full installation. Parts were only about $400. I think an XV suspension would be pretty cool, but for me there would be absolutely no added benefit for the extra $2K+ it would have cost me.

dodj · « **Reply #23 on:** December 29, 2009 - 10:29:25 AM »

For me it would just be a decision of 1-stock (investment) or 2-pleasure (I'm drivin' it).
If it is to be #2 then I would rip out anything and everything I wanted to (could afford to), to make it the car I want to drive.

Chryco Psycho · « **Reply #24 on:** December 29, 2009 - 10:41:54 AM »

I see 2 things here
there is no substitue for a manual trans , no way would I live with an auto
the Injection is Awesome , no comparison to a carb IMO but very costly to install , it is your $$ this is a decision you have to make .
the XV suspension is too costly for the gain , you can get more effective gain for less $$ , when I talked to XV about their system they actually admitted that 50% of the gain was from wheels & tires alone
The shaker hood is actually restrictive as the opening is not big enough to properly feed a performance big block so it is only to achieve the desired look of the car , personally i prefer the AAR hood

sleepychallenger · « **Reply #25 on:** December 29, 2009 - 11:52:11 AM »

seems to think you wont drive the car much...i drive mine every day...make it how you want to so that you enjoy driving it and will hit the road with it more often.

jims70cuda · « **Reply #26 on:** December 29, 2009 - 01:57:56 PM »

Thanks for all the input/suggestions. I think I'm up to a half dollars worth of

and I appreciate it. Sometimes I just need outside opinions beside the one that I hear everytime I call back to the states for updates. And just as I guessed, opinions on both sides of each issue have logic behind them.

Now if I had the stock engine...I would put it back stock, no questions asked. But now I will probably just find a date coded engine to keep on the side along with a date coded 727, if I ever do sell it and the new owner wants to return it to stock.

I'm still pretty certain on the manual. Besides my first car (86 Fiero), all my other cars have had 5 speeds and I just like rowing the gears. Traffic won't bother me, especially if I can upgrade to a hydraulic clutch.

Does anyone here have an EFI engine that is not a late model hemi or wedge? CP? How well does it run? Pride, what was your negative experience?

Same with the XV1, I know a few have it. How much better does your car handle? How much does it compare to Firm Feel upgrades?

One thing is I would drive it...maybe not as a daily, but it would see the sunlight a lot. My neon SRT currently does it all; summer daily driver, drag car, autocross and show. It's showing some wear in the front due to rock chips, but overall is holding up quite nicely. It has 300+ hp and I can get 30mpg on the highway cruising. I do care a little about mileage. Not hippy or anything, but just think if I could get a Cuda 340 5 speed with EFI that runs low 12s in the 1/4 and gets 25mpg on the highway? How impressive would that be?

I also like the AAR hood more than the shaker, but unless I was going to make an AAR clone I wouldn't add it. My neon SRT is another story. If anyone has seen the Panther Pink neon SRT, she has the AAR hood in flat black and it looks amazing.

the_engineers · « **Reply #27 on:** December 29, 2009 - 04:45:35 PM »

Quote from: jims70cuda on December 29, 2009 - 01:57:56 PM

...my first car (86 Fiero)

I was with you until you admitted this. Now, you're on your own

dodj · « **Reply #28 on:** December 29, 2009 - 04:49:21 PM »

Quote from: the_engineers on December 29, 2009 - 04:45:35 PM

I was with you until you admitted this. Now, you're on your own

Chryco Psycho · « **Reply #29 on:** December 30, 2009 - 11:32:05 AM »

I built a 440 with a big roller cam that dynoed at over 700 gross HP that we installed EFI on & the car runs simply amazing , the negative is only cost.
Hydraulic clutch is no issue , it is easy to set up , Tilton & McLeod have hyd clutch units

Author Topic: Frustration with dad and my restoration (Read 2541 times)

jims70cuda

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration

Bullitt-

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration

priderocks

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BIGSHCLUNK

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torredcuda

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thedodgeboys

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HP2

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73Chally

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dodj

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Chryco Psycho

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sleepychallenger

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jims70cuda

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration

the_engineers

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration

dodj

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration

Chryco Psycho

Re: Frustration with dad and my restoration