1966 Barracuda. Converting to RHD

[Bozwell]

hmmmm.


haven't posted for a while as i contemplate what to to. i think i have a plan.




as you may recall i posted how this Barracuda was "restored" in the 80's and been off the road for many years till recently.

the most recent advert in the US before it came to the UK proudly shows new front floor panels having been "welded" in.

you will notice the use of quotation marks .

whoever put the floor panels in needs a swift kick in the nuts. I could have pop riveted them in better.

so basically i have got to remove the bodged floor repair panels and redo them properly. (which should be fairly easy as there are just a few spot welds holding them in as well as some pillars of weld where the floor doesn't meet the chassis.) and while i'm there I may as well make and fit some frame connectors.


but it doesn't stop there. The shiny Blue paint is of the non stick variety so the Barracuda needs a full bare metal respray. the only saving grace is that the paint is so thin and comes off really easily.

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also a small one inch long corrosion hole around the screen had been filled with blue silicon sealer (historical bodge not done recently i might add) so a small amount of welding otherwise not too bad.

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but the other odd thing was the amount of sealer in the gutters used? just looked a mess

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but strangely not hiding corrosion, probably just caused the surface corrosion seen now though.

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i will no doubt find more.


but the plan.


you're not going to like this one.

it will get converted to RHD with a power rack but stay drum braked and automatic. To be painted the original pale Blue with a Formula S stripe, both in a flat finish with possibly some fake patina, we shall see.

Didn't need another restoration but iv'e ended up with one.

there is little love for these early Barracudas so no moaning about how i'm going to 'ruin' it by being RHD They were available in RHD form.

[mygasser]

there is little love for these early Barracudas so no moaning about how i'm going to 'ruin' it by being RHD They were available in RHD form.

it's your car and despite the fact that yes it's no problem driving a lhd car here in the uk it is without a doubt easier when they're rhd.
there is no argueing that fact, it's just easier.
i've had lots of lhd cars/trucks and they are no problem. but.... it is easier rhd.
would ford produce rhd mustangs if it was easier to drive a lhd one here? no, they want sales so......
neil.

[Bozwell]

I was going to leave it LHD and sell it in a few years when the other was done. But as i now have to put more money, time and effort into it just to sort the bodges with no increase in value i'm turning it into a keeper.


And i will probably keep the other one when done as well as it should be quite a different vehicle.

anyway.


The floors....... F***IN unbelievable. i wasn't joking when i said i could have pop riveted them in better

very few spot welds that mostly popped apart with a lever bar, splits and cuts i guess to get it to fit and not re-welded, just covered in underseal and around 10 inches in one place without a single weld. Also a 15 inch cut in the LH sill when the old floor was cut out and not repaired before the panel was put back over it. .

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the above picture is from the American advert before it came to the UK (Link Here)


and how it is now

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at least the floor panels are savable.

bit of prep before they go back in (+weld the cut/split sill)

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Will be making frame connectors to go in at the same time with brackets to the seat mounts for extra strength (they always split anyway as the metal is very thin gauge and flexes a lot.)

[Bozwell]

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S800 nearly there. Axle still to sort out.

[Bozwell]

part way through making the frame connectors.


but while the floor is out i finished the gear linkage (note the awesome hacking of the floor)

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changed the lower worn rubber/brass bushed mount for a 1/2 inch rose joint and rose jointed the remaining linkage. now has zero play and a very positive feel when selecting gears.

another issue i could feel when driving the car home was that the throttle was heavy anywhere over 1/3 throttle and extremely heavy nearer full throttle. Inspection of the linkage determined that the quadrant on the gearbox went to a dead straight position and wouldn't allow for actual full throttle and was just trying to bend the linkage. The secondary choke only opens at the last 1/4 of throttle movement.

possibly due to the Edlebrock carb' linkage changing the position of the quadrant no adjustment i tried was going to work? Cut and welded one rod attachment point on the quadrant to change the pivot angle so there is more adjustable angle to play with and re-adjusting the rod lengths now has full throttle and a light linear pressure to the throttle linkage and kick-down lever.

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[Blue]

Nice work, these are the sort of jobs most people seem to ignore and then complain the car doesn’t perform like it should. With no slop I can imagine how positive the shifter will feel now.

[Bozwell]

Just need to make the rest of it perform the same and be reliable.

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love how simple everything is. so easy to work on

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quite a solid old beast though i suspect it has had a slight rear end knock at some point as there are little nodules of filler poking through the metal work on the inside of the right hand rear wing.

[Bozwell]

not very exciting updates. the floor repair sections are straightened and pretty much ready to go in. but they'll be last after all the other chassis mods.

swapping all the handbrake linkage to mirror image what was on there means making sure it'll all line up and clear the chassis connectors. putting the left hand connector in I noticed the axle not sitting right.

some people should not be allowed any where near a set of spanners. (another US F*** up among others including bending the hand brake cable guide so the cable rubs the prop-shaft instead of the bodged dual exhausts. Welding said dual exhaust bracket straight to a rear seat belt bolt so i had to snap said bolt, bending the gearbox cooler pipes so the pan can't be removed, making the exhausts one piece with crappy welds so they have to be chopped apart. and so on )

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U bolts not done up properly so there is a gap between the leaf spring and axle mount.!!!

The axle will be coming out anyway as there is play in the pinion that shouldn't be there so it'll get all new bearings and seals. I should have the U bolts off the other Barracuda somewhere as i'm swapping the axle in that one.


doubt it'll be on the road this year.

[Pete]

Great stuff as usual!

[Blue]

The standard of workmanship among the Americans does seem to be spectacularly inept. Its bad enough on standard cars but ship in a race car or hot rod and you really are opening yourself up to the whole gamut of oh my god...

The one piece welded exhaust system does seem to be one of their favourite tricks with mounts randomly tacked to anything within reach, I've come across that more than once.

[MattH]

The standard of workmanship among the Americans does seem to be spectacularly inept. Its bad enough on standard cars but ship in a race car or hot rod and you really are opening yourself up to the whole gamut of oh my god...

The one piece welded exhaust system does seem to be one of their favourite tricks with mounts randomly tacked to anything within reach, I've come across that more than once.

Totally agree. the "work" that had been done on Mandie's 57 Chevy truck was eye opening.
Twin circuit brakes, one wheel on one circuit, the other three on the other.
The Corvette front clip was fitted, i suspect in about two hours with some coach bolts and pigeon poo weld. It is entertaining to work through and correct it all.

Mo Brown calls it "de-hicking" !! He is going through the same process with Elliott's Duster now.

[Bozwell]

Frame connectors in with just a few more welds to finish. Reason it took so long was that with a conversion like this you always need to think 5 steps ahead and look for reasons why something cannot be done.

so i had to mock up the RHD stuff to mount the handbrake to see where it'll need to go through the chassis to mirror how it was originally fitted.

the hole in the side of the right hand frame connector is for the handbrake cable to go through. if i had not worked that out it would have meant a complete redesign of the handbrake linkage.

also i have made brackets for the outer seat mounts and will still need to make u channel brackets for the inner seat mounts to attach to the frame connectors. the floor moves so much and cracks otherwise. (hence the repair on the left hand inner seat mount.)

can make a start of getting the floors back in now.

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[Bozwell]

One floor mostly there now.

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and there isn't half an inch gap between the floor and chassis.

[Pete]

Fantastic work as ever there!

[Bozwell]

Cheers.


'Passenger' floor now fully welded into position.

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the repair panels are galvanized which is why the paint came off easy and they aren't rusted.

welds will go rusty though so need's paint that also adheres to galvanized metal.