73 Cuda

Author Topic: 73 Cuda  (Read 4070 times)

Offline Burpin Chunks

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #30 on: October 23, 2004 - 11:17:06 AM »
Everyone is a purest these days...... Hey I have a complete 100 percent original numbers matching factory specks 72 cuda..... responce... what its not a 71. lol you cant ever win. Go with what color combo you like. unless your a purest. I personally have never met a true purest. I plan on being one of the few to have a 72 convertible. and 80 percent of the dillholes out there will think it is original. 15 percent wont be sure and have doubt and 5 percent will have original hemi show cars with pictures to prove it, since they dont drive theirs and know its a chop job.




Offline AprilsPink72Cuda

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #31 on: October 23, 2004 - 03:34:34 PM »
Nice Cuda. She sure looks sweet.  I hope you have a lot of fun with it.  I got my first Cuda just this past July.  I haven't been normal since!  LOL :P

Offline 73_Cuda_4_Me

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2004 - 07:10:31 AM »
Thanks all for the kind words...

Plum6Pak... Undercarriage is in pretty good shape... only front driver's side floor pan has rust-through, which I will take care of this winter... trunk floor is all new... I still have to get new carpeting for the interior.. Last week I got the factory AM/FM radio working, finally... by the way, I even have one of these!!!

 :P

No purist here... but with two engines, I can paint the spare 1970 the orange, then when I get original 73 engine out for rebuild, can paint it blue as should be... I won't be in any hurry to get it back in, if spare engine runs as rad as I think it will... heeheehee

[attachment deleted by admin]
1973 Plymouth Cuda BS23H3B567783

R11 V6X EN2
M21 M25 M31 M88 N41 N42
V1X U B41 C56 G37 J54
JY9 A6X9 0 703 501616
E55 D34 BS23 H3B 567783

Offline 73_Cuda_4_Me

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #33 on: October 24, 2004 - 09:12:00 AM »
Also, it appears that the 1970 340 ws originally red, and not orange, even though current color is orange.. you can see some red showing through here...

Bear in mind that the Cuda the way it is is my BEGINNING point! I bought it September 6th, just as it is... since then, have fixed tranny link shift shaft, as was bent from rubbing on top of header, got all the lights working, re-worked the front disk brakes (bleed scres had been stripped, so caliper pistons rusted to cylinders), fixed gas tank sending unit, got radio working, sandblasted headers and installed new exhaust gaskets (they had 3 gaskets each), put in new valve seals to try to stop the oil-burning (to no avail), but compression is 130 to 150 on all cylinders on the original engine.

Have a set of 360 heads for the spare 70 engine... would they be advisable to use (once get new valve seats installed and new valves all around)?

This was a deal I couldn't pass on... to get this good of a starting point for the money was one of those once in a lifetime deals for a numbers matching 73....

 ;)


[attachment deleted by admin]
1973 Plymouth Cuda BS23H3B567783

R11 V6X EN2
M21 M25 M31 M88 N41 N42
V1X U B41 C56 G37 J54
JY9 A6X9 0 703 501616
E55 D34 BS23 H3B 567783

Offline RusTy/SE

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #34 on: October 24, 2004 - 11:47:17 AM »
  Weren't 68-9 small blocks the red hue? Even the 340's? Your last pic even shows the block heater. Cool shot 8) Drive and enjoy her and all the thumbs-up and smiles you'll receive. Heck even the few times i've driven my 73 thunderbolt greaseslapper while in crappy primer was priceless. Enjoy :D 8)

tfn
Russ
2001 Durango     1B4HS
1970 Challenger  JS29U
Restoration thread: http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=27173.0
Member since December 13, 2002

Offline JS27N0B

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #35 on: October 24, 2004 - 08:44:55 PM »
That photo looks like Hemi Orange is the color underneath, not red. But the engine looks to be painted the Race Hemi Orange color which is lighter and would make the color underneath look more like red.
Do you think this possible?
1970 Challenger R/T Convertible 383/auto 1 of 516 *now sold after owning for 18yrs
2007 Chrysler Aspen Limited AWD
2013 Tige' RZR 343hp
2016 PCP Challenger SRT Hellcat


Offline 4Cruizn

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #36 on: October 24, 2004 - 10:14:03 PM »
That photo looks like Hemi Orange is the color underneath, not red. But the engine looks to be painted the Race Hemi Orange color which is lighter and would make the color underneath look more like red.
Do you think this possible?

JS27 . . .that was exactly what I was thinkin' too!! lol     

Offline oldvamoparfan

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #37 on: October 25, 2004 - 10:40:44 PM »
I have not owned a '73 340 car, but my brother had a '72 340 Duster several years ago that was supposed to be alloriginal.  It had a reddish orange motor.   I have red in Mopar mag a couple years ago (dont remember issue) that some 73 340 engs were red.  If that is correct or not, I cant say.  I know all 318 car engs were blue.   Ovmf
'72 Challenger 360,  '05 Dakota,   04 Town & Country,   '82 Yamaha 650 Maxim

Offline oldvamoparfan

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #38 on: October 25, 2004 - 10:42:38 PM »
PS:  I echo the comment that you have a very nice car as it is, & repeat my earlier statement.  ENJOY!!!!     Ovmf
'72 Challenger 360,  '05 Dakota,   04 Town & Country,   '82 Yamaha 650 Maxim

Offline Street_Challenged73

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #39 on: October 25, 2004 - 11:04:41 PM »
73_Cuda_4_Me, that's an awesome car you have there!!!! :o 8) 8) 8)  Keep us updated with that spare 340 you're going to be building up.  I am going to start rebuilding mine when I get back this summer from college.  I can't wait!! :-[
1973 Dodge Challenger......................The ongoing project. (00/----\00)
1991 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin-Turbo....The sunny day cruiser (RTBoost)
1990 Toyota Celica GT Liftback...........The new daily & winter driver.
All-American Muscle: 'Cudas and Challengers...Still the Elite and always will be.

                                                                                             
                 
Street_Challenged73 from Wisconsin

Offline whitesatinmopar

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #40 on: October 26, 2004 - 08:57:30 AM »
 ::) Gone for a week and shezzzzzzz, hey that's a sweet looking Cuda for sure. Never saw anything but blue blocks in 73 models, but hey we all know Ma Mopar did occacionally stray from the norm from time to time, and sometimes with no apparant reason or explaination, right?, lol. Hey 4C, looks like you may have a "mate" comming to CARLISLE with you next year, - great!
1969 Polara 500 vert.
1970 Charger 500
1971 Dart Swinger
1972 R/R 440+6 (wanabe)
1973 Challenger

Offline 73_Cuda_4_Me

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #41 on: October 27, 2004 - 06:38:42 PM »
Thanks ovmf and all... I'll just keep pluggin away at spare engine...

StreetChallenged73... I'll keep you posted on engine work... I got hold of a NICE small-block book from a friend of mine...
HPBooks "how to rebuild your small-block mopar"... by Don Taylor and Larry Hofer(ISBN 0-89586-128-3)

Excellent reference with casting numbers, types of heads, and differences between the different size motors and between same size 340's by year... even the TA340 of 1970 is covered...

Here is the auto-tranny shift linkage update I made to clear the header on the driver's side... the original actually bends down into the header, so was tearing bushings up and bending the shaft...

And the headers I re-did... one before sandblast and paint, the other afterwards... both came out great...





[attachment deleted by admin]
1973 Plymouth Cuda BS23H3B567783

R11 V6X EN2
M21 M25 M31 M88 N41 N42
V1X U B41 C56 G37 J54
JY9 A6X9 0 703 501616
E55 D34 BS23 H3B 567783

Plum6Pak

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #42 on: October 27, 2004 - 11:56:11 PM »
 :o Wow 73, that is a nice job, you are very good at fabbing up parts! Nice to be able to bead blast those old parts and make them look new, check this out. I think that is my favorite part of all of this.  :)

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline Street_Challenged73

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #43 on: October 28, 2004 - 12:18:41 AM »
73_Cuda_4_Me, wow, did you do an awesome job with the fabrication of that new linkage! :o 8) :o  Those headers really are night and day between what they used to look like, too.  Like Plum6Pak said, it really is unreal how you can take something that looks as dingy as that K-frame or those headers and turn them into something that looks mint.  I'm so glad I'm to the stage where I start getting all those reused parts cleaned up and repainted. ;D :P
1973 Dodge Challenger......................The ongoing project. (00/----\00)
1991 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin-Turbo....The sunny day cruiser (RTBoost)
1990 Toyota Celica GT Liftback...........The new daily & winter driver.
All-American Muscle: 'Cudas and Challengers...Still the Elite and always will be.

                                                                                             
                 
Street_Challenged73 from Wisconsin

Plum6Pak

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Re: 73 Cuda
« Reply #44 on: October 28, 2004 - 12:23:46 AM »
StrChally73, be sure to get a few before and after pics, even if you don't post them here, you will have a nice journal of your work and what you brought it back from. I have a couple of hundred pictures in my Challenger folder on my computer and will organize them into a nice biography when complete.  :)