Convertible ’Cuda hungers for summer
Barracuda’s restoration included performance improvements galore
Jim Bagshaw: Wheels reader Occupation: Happily retired engineer
The Car: 1969 Plymouth Barracuda convertible
I’ve been a Mopar guy since my first car, a new 1969 Barracuda Formula S, purchased shortly after my wife and I were married. Grace, however, felt somewhat sad trading in her lovely 1964 Valiant V-100.
After retiring in 1999, I restored a 1970 Plymouth Superbird over a 12-year period, back to how it was as the 1971 Sunset Speedway Pace Car, but I always wanted a convertible with a modern fuel injected engine.
It fit nicely with my bucket-list plan to cruise the old Route 66 to California. The opportunity came in 2010 when my son, Dave, spotted an ad for a ’69 Barracuda convertible with a 318-ci V8, automatic transmission, console, factory AC and 88,800 miles on it. Some body parts needed replacement, but as the frame was solid, I bought it.
Disassembly began in September 2011, and, as in all restorations, several surprises arose. Body parts requiring replacement included the trunk floor, rear valance, driver’s side and rear passenger floors, which were tackled with Dave’s welding skills.
I also had to find a better quality hood, left front fender and trunk lid.
The body was blasted with low-pressure crushed glass at Ontario Blasting Specialties Ltd., in Mississauga, then taken to my favourite body shop, Pete’s Auto Body, in Owen Sound. They coated the car in epoxy primer, installed new quarter panels and prepped and painted it in a 2010 Dodge Viper “Bright Blue Pearl” colour. Modern drivetrain parts turned it to a fun driver. These included a 2010 6.1 L Hemi engine with a FAST XFI 2.0 fuel injection system, a 5-speed OD manual transmission and clutch from Passon Performance, a complete front/rear coil-over suspension from Reilly MotorSports Inc. and a Moser Engineering 8-3/4 3.55 rear axle.
Several original parts needed restoring and many new ones were ordered. Then came the fun part of putting it all together, which continued over five years. I fired up the engine and rolled the car out of the garage in July 2016.
After learning how to tune the engine using a laptop, I drove the Barracuda to the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, in Pennsylvania. The car won a first-place award and was the subject of an article in Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine.
Grace and I set out on our Route 66 tour on Sept. 24, 2017, heading to Pontiac, Ill., to meet up with other folks for the journey. Everything went well until clutch problems developed in Lebanon, Mo. I didn’t think it would make it through the 11,000 km round trip, so we left the car there and rented a fine little Chevy, as no Mopar rentals were available, to continue the tour with new-found friends.
Returning through Lebanon we picked up the ’Cuda and ar- rived home safely on Oct. 22. We had a great time on the Route 66 trip and I would highly recommend it as a bucket-list item.
I’ve done a little more fine tuning of the fuel injection system over the winter and the car is ready go on local cruise nights and to Moparfest, Canada’s largest all Mopar car show in New Hamburg, Ont., on Aug 18 and 19.
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