Mopar Muscle Association UK

Meanwhile, somewhere up North

pics of engine on Dyno courtesy of Dave Billadeau .


Thanks again to Dave Bishop for lending me his Moroso oil pickup so I could get the engine finished. The part now appears to be in stock at Summit so should finally be with me in a few days.

Back down South:

Bodywork - outer panel final test fitting .

Re-bushing door hinge pins

Outer panels fitted . I was fortunately able to buy a pair of used front wings in the UK. One of them needs some straightening but they're ready-blasted, and very solid. Rear part-quarters still to be finished - one came with the car and is reasonable quality, one is AMD and is good.
The AAR Hood is just laid in place for now. It came from Stinger Fibreglass in Florida and is very nice in terms of fit and finish.

Fantastic build and write up!

Amazing work Matt.

This was the awesome replica I was talking about at Wheels Day. Difficult to see in this photo, it’s in the middle of the photo I’ve been told.

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Matt wrote: Thu May 09, 19 10:45 am Meanwhile, somewhere up North

pics of engine on Dyno courtesy of Dave Billadeau .

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Thanks again to Dave Bishop for lending me his Moroso oil pickup so I could get the engine finished. The part now appears to be in stock at Summit so should finally be with me in a few days.

EDA I presume? Looks familiar

That’s EDA’s dyno, been there myself a few times over the years, last time with Gavins 440. Great bunch of guys and true honest dyno results. Great work Matt and good to catch up with you at Wheels day on Good Friday.

Fantastic work Matt, are you still on course for American Speedfest.

Hi Derek,

Unfortunately I don't think the car will now be properly ready for Speedfest . I had entered to race there, but withdrew my entry yesterday as I think neither I nor the car are going to be prepared enough for that. I had hoped to have the car finished around a month ago, but things have slipped a bit.

I do have a track day booked at Brands on the 23rd May, and there's just a chance i'll have the car complete enough to do some initial testing then. The body is in for final paint at the moment (more updates on that tomorrow) , but that's started a week behind schedule already and now George the painter will be away for four days this weekend due to family illness.

If I'm lucky I'll have the painted shell back at the end of next week, after which it's hopefully just a matter of bolting all the bits on. That might just be doable over five days, it's more likely to take ten or fifteen. I'm not sure at the moment.

Cheers

Matt

Great work and she is gone look the part, well done Matt

Amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep the pictures coming

Brilliant stuff Matt, liking the grey. I did mine by hand so not quite such a good finish.

Mark B wrote: Thu May 09, 19 1:25 pm Amazing work Matt.

This was the awesome replica I was talking about at Wheels Day. Difficult to see in this photo, it’s in the middle of the photo I’ve been told.

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Fishtail Cuda from Hot Rod Garage on Motortrend,nice I think Matt’s will take the biscuit though,wish I had your skills

Time to measure for the custom propshaft.

Silver Sport Transmissions usually supply the prop as part of the Tremec deal, but since this involves actually doing the installation and *then* sending them the measurement for manufacture, I decided to get one made in the UK.

So with the engine and transmission in , I put a load of ballast weight in the boot and raised the axle up to near ride height.
Normal technique for measuring a prop length is to push the transmission slip yoke in all the way, then pull out around 3/4 to 1"

However the shifter extension on the Tremec actually fouls the slip yoke ears if the yoke is pushed fully in. Only after the yoke is already out about 1" do you begin to get clearance.

Phoned SST and they confirmed this , and said to pull the yoke out a further amount after initial clearance is achieved. I did this and ended up with (IIRC) just over 2" of slip yoke exposed. Considered this for a bit and decided to go with it as:

1) Not much alternative
2) No significant radial play between yoke and transmission = not much scope for vibration
3) There still looks to be adequate yoke engaged in the transmission to give strength and stability.

THe yoke takes a 1330 UJ , so I had a prop made with 1330 yokes at both ends, then bought two conversion UJs 1330-7260 and 1330-7290 so that I can fit either size of 8.75 rear.


Whilst the rear axle was up in position I measured the pinion angle , and was pleasantly surprised that the rear axle was 1 degree down relative to the trans. After fitting a non-standard transmission and mount, and non-standard rear springs, at least this is somewhere near the ballpark. I've got some 2 degree wedges I can use to adjust the angle if required after road testing.

Went to Silverstone a fortnight ago to see a mate race his modern mini with the CSCC . Amongst the stuff in the pits (apart from numerous Mustangs) was this nice Camaro , which was racing in the 'Swinging Sixties' series. I can possibly squeak into this series with the Cuda, as E-body production started during '69.