1973 Plymouth Barracuda

The Barracuda is coming into the shop today to get started.

Fear not, even though it has no floors, no trunk pan and tons of rust, give us time and it will be the ultimate hot rod.

Larry is continuing on the disassembly of the Barracuda.  So far today the doors and hood have come off.

The new custom frame for the Barracuda is in the shop.

The Barracuda is ready to start its transformation.

Larry is finishing up with the body work for the hood of the Barracuda.

Larry is building a jig for the Barracuda with we will use to brace the vehicle and set it on the frame, to make all the measurements and alterations.

Larry has started to work on repairing the firewall of the Barracuda.

It was Christmas in the shop when our client came in to unwrap his new 20″ Carbon Fiber wheels for the Cuda!

We reinforced the body and built a stand for the Cuda, so we can measure for the new custom rear end.

You can see in the pictures below all of the structural repairs that we have made to the front fenders on the ’73 Cuda.

We are working on getting the body lined up on the custom frame today for the Cuda.  We also recently finished putting together the front clip and fabricating the inner metal piece where it used to be plastic on the lower valance.

We are getting the front clip mocked up on the frame today and are mocking up a lower front lip spoiler out of cardboard to decide on the design.

We are testing measurement and fitment of the wheels for the Cuda.  Also, we have hung and test fit the doors.

Now that we are done with the body work and fitment for the front fenders of the Cuda, we have applied a layer of filler and we are sanding them down till smooth.

The fenders for the Cuda have been moved into the paint booth to get primed.

The drivers fender is finished and in prime and Chris is working on extending the upper control arm mounts for more adjustment.

We are done with fabricating taller mounts for the front upper control arms on the Cuda.

Chris is continuing on with the fabrication of the floors for the 1973 Plymouth Barracuda.

Chris is working on fabricating a custom radiator/core support shroud for the Cuda today.

The hood has been mounted for the Cuda and Chris is going to start working on cutting out the scoops and shaving the vents.

New fuel cell installed in the Cuda.

Chris is working on fabricating the floors for the Cuda.

Rear wheels tubs installed.

Full floors getting installed for the Barracuda.

The engine and tranny are being mocked up in the chassis for the Cuda.

Chris is working on finishing up the fabrication of the floors and the firewall.

Chris has moved on to fabricating the firewall today.

Chris continues to finish up the welding for the trans tunnel and firewall.

Chris has installed dynamat on the interior of the Cuda.

Chris is working on turning the hood into a functional ram air hood and adding the 2″ extensions to the rockers.

Mike is finishing the work on the hood and is test fitting all body panels.

Now all the panels are test fit for the cuda.  Mike is having to adjust a few panels to get them to fit just right.

Mike is working on finishing off the tail panel and trunk for the Cuda.

Mike is finishing up the body repairs to the passenger lower door and the passenger lower rocker panel.

Mike is working on getting the rear bumper flush for the Cuda.

Getting the suspension, brakes, rear end and wheels set up on the Cuda.

The front and rear suspension is set up for the Cuda.

The motor mounts for the Cuda have been fabricated and installed.

The tranny crossmber and bear claw latches are installed.

The firewall for the Plymouth has been remodified to fit the engine and transmission and Mike has dropped the engine back in.

Mike is fabricating the new transmission tunnel for the Cuda.

Mike is working hard on fabricating the custom headers for Cuda.

Mike is working on seeing how the hood can be adjusted to clear the intake.

Mike is working on mocking up the engine bay for the Cuda.

Rear end for the cuda is painted.

Inner fender wells are done and Ben is working on wiring.

Ben has fabricated the lower front valance for the cuda.

Ben has the cuda up on the rack today welding the underside of the frame.

Ben is working on fabbing up the new floors for the Cuda today.

First pieces of the new floor going in.

Installing the new floors.

The engine is set back in for test fitting and so we can start getting the exhaust figured out.

Modifing the oil pan to give more clearance.

Fabricating the front metal grill.

Final welding on the front grille.

Fabricating and installing the exhaust.

Both sides of the exhaust moving along nicely.

Installing the new electronic master cylinder.

Working on the hood for the Cuda.

Rockin and Rollin of getting this hood customized to get it raised above the dual ram intake.

Ben continues to work on customizing the hood for the cuda and the new rear lower valance is in house.

Ben is working on finishing up the welding to the hood and starting on the fabrication to the rear lower valance.

Cutting out the front end for the radiator and working on fabricating the exhaust tips.

Ben is wrapping up the hood and has installed the new Lokar throttle cable and the coolant overflow tank.

The new front wheels are test fit on the Cuda and they worked out great.  They are smaller but still fill up the wheel wells and easily turn.

Working on finalizing the exhaust for the Cuda today.

The exhaust for the Cuda got wrapped up today.

Mike is doing the tedious task of getting the hood smoothed out for the Cuda.

Mike is working on final body work for the hood today.

It does not look like much in the pictures but Mike is over 3/4 done with body work and almost ready for priming.

Continuing body work.

Working on the doors, the jambs and the deck lid.

The new hood hinges are installed for the Cuda.

Justin is working on the body repairs to the fenders.

Mike is smoothing out the underside of the hood.

The body work on the hood is done and Mike has primed it.

The hood looks amazing now.  Mike is smoothing out a few small areas.

Working on fabricating the new dash.

The engine is pulled back out so Mike can finish the engine bay and Mike is working today on finishing up the dash.

Mike has finished the cowl and is almost done with the custom dash.

Working on the engine bay and the front bumper.

Mike is still working on finishing up the front end for the Cuda.

Finishing up the frame and underside of the Cuda.

The Cuda is on the rotisserie and ready for some serious paint work.

Finishing up the seam sealing of the underside of the floor on the Cuda.

The exterior of the Cuda is primed.  Next dan will move to the interior and then the underside and the engine bay.

Paint has finally been laid for the Cuda.  The firewall, front frame, loose panels and suspension have all been painted.

Custom Paint

Front suspension painted

Underside of deck lid painted

Core support painted

Loose panels painted

Firewall and front frame rails painted body color

Underside of hood painted

Core support cover painted

Painted control paint

Inner fender well painted

Building custom street rods is what precision restorations does best!  What is wonderful about building a custom street rod is that every car is new.  

To us the definition of a custom street rod is a classic car that has been modified and upgraded to go faster and perform better.

For this Cuda we went all out.  The customization of this vehicle starts at the front with a one off grill and goes all the way back with a frenched bumper and custom tail pan with every part upgraded in between.

Below is a quick list of the upgrades to this vehicle:

– Custom built full frame will tube reinforcements
– Dana 60 full floating rear end
– Dutchman Axles
– Wilwood disk brakes
– Hothkis tubular suspension
– Custom hood raised to clear the engine
– 900 hp big block hemi
– Custom built automatic tranny with paddle shift
– Electric master/booster
– Shaved doors and trunk
– Custom built floor
– Dash chopped and moved forward to give more interior space
– Custom two tone paint job
– Smoothed front inner fenders and firewall
– Custom built headers and exhaust
– 20″ Carbon fiber wheels
– Digital gauges
– Custom waterfall center console

I could go on and on, but you will just have to keep watching to see how this vehicle develops