I finally purchased a 1970 'cuda

[X66 714]

As a kid in high school in the early 70s, I had always wanted a 1970 cuda. Talked about it all the time. Found several at that time for cheap but insurance would've been a killer so I put that thought on the back burner sadly for way too long. Last month I made the leap & purchased this 1970 cuda. I was alerted of it by a friend & made a phone call. I was the 1st caller but within 2 hours the guy had 30 other calls. He decided he would let me have the first chance before talking to the others. We had several pleasant conversations before we both came to an agreement.

The car is a non-numbers car. It was originally black, 340 automatic. No fender tag & no build sheets. It was raced in the Phoenix area but I don't have all the details. It was painted over 10 years ago, maybe closer to 20 & has sat indoors all these years before the previous owner made arangements to purchase & finish it. He has built a 440-6 & changed it to a 4 speed. Tons of work has already been done & he will be completing it before he delivers it back to Arizona where it has been for most of it's life. The guy who told me about the car also made a road trip for me to look the car over. He reported to me that with the exception of the new floor tunnel, it still has all of it original floors & sheet metal. This was a big plus as these cars seem to have rust issues. The car is missing a few items & will never be 100% but I should have a good time with it. It's missing Road lamps, fish gill rocker moldings, & wheel lip moldings......Joe

[Steve Shauger]

Congratulations Joe it will be a stunner when finished!!!

[markinnaples]

That's cool! Congrats on getting something you've wanted for so long. I bet that's going to be a great driver. Keep us updated on it when you get it delivered.

[dykstra]

Congratulations!

[3X24SPD]

That'll be a sweet project for you! Good score.

[Bill Pritchard]

these cars seem to have rust issues.

Speaking from experience, that's an understatement! Glad you got one from out here where that would be far less likely. Congrats on the long overdue purchase :biggthumpup:

[Xplantdad]

Way cool Joe! Congrats :worship:

[napa68]

That's awesome Joe!

[Pro Stock John]

Congrats Joe, is that panther pink?

[X66 714]

Congrats Joe, is that panther pink?

Sort of. :) Plymouth called it Moulin Rouge but it's Panther pink to me & I love it :)
Joe

[PeteLeathersac]

‘

More congrats also looking forward to updates!!
:beers:
~ Pete

.

[A12pilot]

“Living the dream”. Good on ya! Congrats and have fun with it. That’s what it’s all about!

Cheers
Dave

[1967Z28]

Congrats Joe. I'm happy you finally got one.

[SuperNovaSS]

I’m excited for you. Do I understand the post correctly that the deal includes the seller finishing the car for you?

Jason

[carnut4life]

Congratulations Joe! Can't wait to see it when it's back on the road, it's gonna be a beauty.

[Maxsg1973]

Right on! Congratulations Joe. Cool car

[Crush]

Delayed gratification !! Better late than never.
Congrats!

[X66 714]

I’m excited for you. Do I understand the post correctly that the deal includes the seller finishing the car for you?

Jason

Yes Jason. That is correct. He was finishing up the engine last week. He ordered a new exh system from Gardner. He ordered all the seals for the doors & the headliner. Car has new tank, fuel lines, brake lines. suspension, brakes & steering are all new & done. Dash pad was done by Just Dashes. Has rally gauges. Grill, road lamp bracket & front bumper now installed. It will be a running, driving, completed car when he brings it to me......Joe

[Andy]

Nice! You'll definitely enjoy that one! I've had a lot of fun with my 'Cuda.

[black69]

I called on that car as soon as it popped up on FB. Nice find. It was right by my house, I could have gone and looked at it for you. I liked it was an original black car, but it was the color on it now that got me all excited.

I believe you will be very happy!!


Bob
68z, 69L78,
71 cuda, 70 cuda convert (both 340 4spds)

[njsteve]

Just an FYI: Does it come with the original stainless steel moldings for the grill? I mention that because while the reproduction grill and headlight buckets that they make today are a 10 out of 10 in terms of being perfect, the stainless outer surround moldings that come with them are a 1 out of 10 and don't even fit the grill and buckets.

[X66 714]

Just an FYI: Does it come with the original stainless steel moldings for the grill? I mention that because while the reproduction grill and headlight buckets that they make today are a 10 out of 10 in terms of being perfect, the stainless outer surround moldings that come with them are a 1 out of 10 and don't even fit the grill and buckets.

It's supposed to have original grill....Joe

[X66 714]

I rec'd some pictures of the engine yesterday. In the back ground the cuda now has the grill & bumper....Joe

[RALLY]

Sweet Cuda you have there. 440 six pack are quick and a lot of torque. When you stomp the gas pedal you can feel that six pack carburation really work. Good luck and love to see the finished product.

[sixt9rsx33]

Congrats Joe! You will love the Cuda for sure. The look of the car from so many angles is epic. I love the fish scale rockers and the grill. I had a nice AAR that I sold this April and frankly regretted selling it. I will have another one and this time will be a four speed.

[X66 714]

I guess over this weekend, the eng & trans have been installed. The guy is moving pretty quickly on the car...Joe

[X66 714]

I rec'd more picture of the cuda yesterday. He's moving along at a pretty good pace. I'm getting excited. The car is only 52 miles from MCACN. I guess I'll take a little road trip while I'm there :) ..Joe

[Too Many Projects]

Is he building the whole car as part of the price, or enough for you to transport it ? Only 52 miles away sounds like a group field trip to ogle...:biggthumpup:

[X66 714]

Is he building the whole car as part of the price, or enough for you to transport it ? Only 52 miles away sounds like a group field trip to ogle...:biggthumpup:

The car will be a done, running driver when he delivers it. I'm not sure how he would feel about a group of people showing up :)
I told Sheri I wouldn't build any more cars so this is working out great....Joe

[66cayne]

I told Sheri I wouldn't build any more cars so this is working out great....Joe

very clever of you...

[Mr70]

I told Sheri I wouldn't build any more cars so this is working out great....Joe

And she believed you?
Does she have a sister?... ;)

[X66 714]

And she believed you?
Does she have a sister?... ;)

I take real good care of Sheri so she flexes... a little. Some would even say I spoil her.

Yes, she has 2. But you would kill me if I introduced you to either. All these cars will require work from time to time. Messing with cars is the only thing that keeps me from going bat crap crazy some days :)

Joe

[Too Many Projects]

And she believed you?
Does she have a sister?... ;)
https://www.yenko.net/forum/cache.php?img=https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Femo ticon.activeboard.com%2F49792%3FAWSAccessKeyId%3D1 XXJBWHKN0QBQS6TGPG2%26amp%3BExpires%3D1702944000%2 6amp%3BSignature%3DptZXB%252FVwc1sOnnZGIZ5URgSq1AI %253D

I get asked that too, when car guys meet my wife. She has 1 sister and it sounds like she is just like Joe's S-I-L's. Polar opposite. My wife has been MORE than patient and flexible with my addiction. I'm told I married an angel...:smile:

[turbo69bird]

Your car looks great , don’t take this the wrong way but a girl I knew in high school had exactly the same car ( she was a pretty cool girl) .it’s probably in my yearbook. Her and I got hotrod of the year award senior year . I had a 69 bird convertible. It’s cool to see that car in that color again brings back memories. I’m pretty sure her dad built and gave her the car he was a big mopar guy.
Jeffrey Beals who (had a 300f w a B1 motor that ran low 9s iirc in the late 80s) was in my town owned memory motors IDK if anyone knew of him on here. but he had some really nice REAL HEMI cars. My Dad, him Bob gaudreau all hung out together my dad had a 56 D500-1 convertible in high school. Bob gaudreau had a few Pontiac race cars one for Stephen. Pontiac one for Paul dodge pontiac , and a few mopars sponsored by dealers.

So anyway it was a pretty big gear head town that’s why girls had bad ass cars like that in high school too. Great car you have there.

Is it gonna be a driver for you?

[X66 714]

Great story. I will drive it. Being in Az we're able to drive them most days....Joe

[69M22Z]

I take real good care of Sheri so she flexes... a little. Some would even say I spoil her.

Yes, she has 2. But you would kill me if I introduced you to either. All these cars will require work from time to time. Messing with cars is the only thing that keeps me from going bat crap crazy some days :)

Joe

First time in 30 years I've seen Sheri spelled the same as my wife's name.

[X66 714]

I guess I needed to follow up on my own post. I didn't get the car till mid February & ever since I've been diong repair, replacements or modifications to it. I've put only about 150 miles on it since I've had it.
The entire brake system had to be redone &/or replaced. Dot5 coming out of wheel cyl, calipers, master cyl & brake hoses. The new Dot5 doesn't play nice with rubber components of today.I got all that done & cleaned. Now running Dot 4 & all is good
.
I had wheel lip molding, rocker moldings, pentastar, hood pins & hood emblems to install.

I had to pull the grill, bumper & valance to paint the radiator core support black. Seeing car colour through the grill looks like crap.

It got new wheels & tires.

Road lamps now installed.

Steering column had to be removed & rebuilt with the proper length shaft for power steering.

Carburators took lots of time. Missing & broken parts. Finially got the engine running good & responsive. Best idle is about 1050 rpm.

It's birthday is in November so I'll post some more pictures then.....Joe

[tom406]

Amen to painting the radiator support black. I can’t stand seeing body color behind the grille. It’s amazing how often that’s missed, even on professionally built cars.

[Too Many Projects]

Sorry to hear you've had so much trouble with your "new" car, but it seems you have taken care of the issues. Body color on the support...how hard is it to paper over that for paint...:rolleyes2:

The paint looks good in the pic, hopefully he did a good job on that for you.

[X66 714]

Sorry to hear you've had so much trouble with your "new" car, but it seems you have taken care of the issues. Body color on the support...how hard is it to paper over that for paint...:rolleyes2:

The paint looks good in the pic, hopefully he did a good job on that for you.

Paint is over 15 years old. The guy who looked at the car for me described the paint at about 8.5. Very little body work has been done, possibly both lower quarter panels. It was painted by Rainbow body in Wisc. I love the colour & it gets alot of attention. Sat in a building for all these years waiting to be finished.

The issues were basic automotive issue so working with it was just old school science. That I can do....Joe

[Too Many Projects]

Yeah, I went back and re-read the thread. For some reason I thought the PO had it painted and was doing the reassembly.

[dykstra]

Looks killer!!

[X66 714]

Here's some more pictures. I have the correct fender mounted turn signal lights. Other than that, I think the exterior is done. I still have the rear speaker to install, repair the RH seat track & install the rest of the pieces that made up the A01 light option which includes map light, time delay dash & key lights. During the time of taking the car apart to paint the core support it was noted that the car wasn't black as I had originally thought. It was pale green metalic, FF4, with a vinyl top of unknown colour. With the exception of the rear valance all sheet metal is original Mopar....Joe

[napa68]

That's a great looking car Joe!

[Jonesy]

Car looks great Joe!!

[RALLY]

Very nice car. Paint looks good and that 440 under the hood is killer.

[R68GTO]

The car looks great Joe. Will be a very fun driver for you to enjoy!

[bergy]

That car is beautiful - great job on the resto!

[1967 4K]

You guys are talking about the radiator support being black on a 70 Cuda. When you open the hood the top and inside of the support will be the car color but the outer inside you see looking through the grill would be black. Was that black sprayed after the support was mounted and from the bottom up?
My friend is doing a 70 B5 blue Hemi Cuda.

[X66 714]

From what I could determine, the black was sprayed over the colour after the body was painted. The core support was all welded to fender wells & unibody if you will, not like a Camaro. Coverage was determined by who was holding the gun....Joe

[1967 4K]

Thanks

[X66 714]

Drawing