1972 Plymouth 'Cuda - 5.7L Hemi, T56 Magnum

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I've recently "finished" my build. It's a 1972 Plymouth 'Cuda I bought when I was 17, 13 years ago now that I took off of the road in September 2014. The car was torn apart for some pretty significant modifications and some typical rust repair. It took me 3 years to build, I did all of the work inside my standard 2 car garage, except paint. I am a 30 year old engineer (BSMET, MBA) with former BMW master technician experience and a father of one [so far]. It's been fun building the car and I am looking forward to putting lots and lots of miles on it.

Some of the high-level improvements are:


5.7L Hemi

Cammed
TTI 1-3/4" headers
Megasquirt MS3 Gold Box


T56 Magnum - (former 904 automatic car)

New close ratio (0.63) transmission from Silver Sport Transmission
Hydraulic clutch, wilwood master


Fuel

TanksInc EFI tank w/baffles
Marine-style fuel sending unit
JakeFab fuel puck with Aeromotive 340lph pump
-6AN lines
Corvette filter/regulator


Wilwood front and rear brakes

6piston 12.9" fronts
4piston 12.2" rears


Hotchkis Suspension

Torsion bar, 1.0"
Strut Rods
Upper Control Arms
Front/Rear Sway Bars
Aluminum Tie Rods


US Car Tool - Chassis Kit

Lower Radiator Support
Front/Rear Torque Boxes
Boxed T-cap section w/additional chassis frame member
Subframe Connectors


Interior

LizardSkin Ceramic Coated Underchassis + 1/2 firewall
RaptorLiner bedlined floor
New carpet, seats, dash, etc.
Vintage air a/c conversion
Speedhut Custom Gauges

Mounted in customized factory bezel
3D printed tach holder




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[Build-It-Break-It]

Wow very cool,beautiful car.

[kochevy67]

Beautiful and tastefully done

[raustinss]

I like it ....not too many pro touring mopars. Truth be told id like to see more , how you guys innovate products to overcome the common mopar issues . Being as us chevy guys have most of the A and F body issues solved

[wfo guy]

Looks real good! :)

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Thanks for the nice comments, it's been pretty good to me so far. I have about 500 miles since the restoration and it has proven to be pretty solid, the few bugs have been pretty minor.


I like it ....not too many pro touring mopars. Truth be told id like to see more , how you guys innovate products to overcome the common mopar issues . Being as us chevy guys have most of the A and F body issues solved

Mopars are harder to find going against the grain. If they are a pedigree car, they'll be stock. This one was just a 318/auto car and was pretty ripe for restomodding it.

Cost and selection differences are certainly apparent when looking at Mustangs or Camaros against Mopar. AMD fenders for this are about $600/ea, Camaro $300/ea. The restored dash pad alone was $1,000! They're harder to justify on some parts, but I do think it's kinda cool being one of the few Plymouths and certainly one of the only 'Cudas wherever I take my car. But I like 'em all! :6gears:

[Cop Magnet]

Beautiful!
Nice to see a finished project from the first post.

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

Could you please put a link to your original build link? Is it still around? I remember seeing it awhile ago, but would now like to revisit it again. The car looks great, glad to see it still around.

[USAZR1]

Beautiful car and well executed,too. What part of Texas are you in?

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Could you please put a link to your original build link? Is it still around? I remember seeing it awhile ago, but would now like to revisit it again. The car looks great, glad to see it still around.

It's here somewhere but was a victim of the great Photobucket shut-down and all of the pictures are removed.

- - - Updated - - -


Beautiful car and well executed,too. What part of Texas are you in?


Thanks! I am in Denton.

[USAZR1]

Thanks! I am in Denton.

Very cool. I'm just up the road from you, in Wichita Falls. Are you bringing your Cuda to the Goodguys event, this weekend?
I hope to have my 70 Elco there, Saturday.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Very cool. I'm just up the road from you, in Wichita Falls. Are you bringing your Cuda to the Goodguys event, this weekend?
I hope to have my 70 Elco there, Saturday.

I would love to, but have other plans already. How is that show? I have never been to a GoodGuys event.

I am also curious how the autocross is, my tires are too old to be fast, but it'd be fun.

[qnitro]

I see you hanging out in the square in Denton.. that's where I live, have to hook up sometime.. beautiful car

[USAZR1]

I would love to, but have other plans already. How is that show? I have never been to a GoodGuys event.

I am also curious how the autocross is, my tires are too old to be fast, but it'd be fun.


Goodguys has two events/year at TMS, March and October, and there's always a ton of cars in attendance. It's been raining here,all week, so I may not make this event.
I haven't been to one of their autocrosses,,yet.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I see you hanging out in the square in Denton.. that's where I live, have to hook up sometime.. beautiful car

Thanks, I am around the square almost daily. I'm sure i'll see you around.

[redmist]

Thanks much for the business on the Jakefab fuel puck! Beautiful car! Let me know if you have any issues ever, or if you see ways to improve it.

Cheers!


Ryan

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Thanks much for the business on the Jakefab fuel puck! Beautiful car! Let me know if you have any issues ever, or if you see ways to improve it.

Cheers!


Ryan

I'm a fan of it Ryan! The TanksInc fuel pump kit is very poorly designed, to me.

As far as suggestions, I would consider a lower cost version and let the customer pick if they need a "finished" unit, or a more "raw" unit...if you won't get killed too much on any sort of volume cost breaks you may be taking advantage of. Something closer to the $50 mark will likely help your volumes and make it an easier decision for the customer deciding between you and TanksInc.

Just my 2cents!
Mike, Engineer, MBA

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[GoodysGotaCuda]

Updating some pictures

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...and every cool car needs one of these
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/11/q2LqHmk-1.jpg

[Motown 454]

Sweet Ride!

[Jimbo1367]

Beautiful car. Tastefully done.

[rrunner68]

Yep, that's pretty much the right way to do them. Great looking car.

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I guess I haven't kept this very up-to-date. I'm up to about 5,300mi on the car and it is just about ready for the next car show season and spring weather!

I rebuilt the differential recently along with a new clutch pack and 3.73 gears. New Nittos arrived and have actually provided me some grip, I have to get used to the back end not wanting to come around on a 1-2 flatshift.

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[Tincup]

Sweet......

[Rolling_Thunder]

Question for you -

How do you like the Gold Box for your hemi? I am swapping from a factory ECM to another system (really considering the Gold Box) and was just looking for your input - I assume it came pre-programmed for your tune on the hemi and you went from there? Any regrets? What throttle body did you utilize (talking to them they asked if I was going LS or Ford - I assume for the IAC and TPS sensor connectors)

[1sikride]

She nasty

[reedld]

I’ve always liked this car, very nice job! Modern MOPAR in a classic is very rare and challenging ( not to mention pricey!).
Where did you get the new nittos? Did you add the letters?

Leon

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Question for you -

How do you like the Gold Box for your hemi? I am swapping from a factory ECM to another system (really considering the Gold Box) and was just looking for your input - I assume it came pre-programmed for your tune on the hemi and you went from there? Any regrets? What throttle body did you utilize (talking to them they asked if I was going LS or Ford - I assume for the IAC and TPS sensor connectors)

It's both good and bad and it HIGHLY depends on what YOU want to learn and put effort into. The learning curve on the MS was pretty steep for me, I setup sequential injection/spark on a 4cyl FSAE car and it went pretty well, but dialing in all of the features on the MS took some time and research. That said, it is a learning curve, I could probably get there in two days if I had to start from scratch again.

The ECU came with a "base tune", which was really just enough to get it running, from there, you're on your own. It did fire the first time and I have enjoyed learning it's capabilities and playing with different functions. I have been powering through setting up knock control, and I do have functioning traction control on the 'Cuda with an undriven wheel reference.

I have a BBK Hemi cable throttle body that uses a Dodge 4.7L IAC and TPS.




I’ve always liked this car, very nice job! Modern MOPAR in a classic is very rare and challenging ( not to mention pricey!).
Where did you get the new nittos? Did you add the letters?

Leon


Thanks! I actually got the tires from TireMedic.com, the website is a little basic but they were the best pricing I could find. The letters are from TireStickers.com.