PT A-body cudas?

[loki993]

My current Idea is to do a Pt/G-machine A-body Cuda Notchback. The E-bodys get all the love, and the money, So I figured Id give the A-body version a try. I had one a while back and loved it. Theyre definitely different, theyre light and can be had for a relatively low price. I dont have the money right now, but the plan is for a full on g-machine with either a chevy 5.3 or 6.0, maybe turbod maybe not, full fuel injection with t56 6 speed. I know its a sin, but you just cant beat the price of the chevy motors and again the goal is different. There may be some slight body mods, a little massaging here and there, who knows Its something that will come together as it goes, but there will also be a plan. I dont know when I will do it, but I will do it.

anybody got some good pics or want to show off their A-bodys?

[wellis77]

I don't have any pics as of yet but I'm beginning a 69 Dart shortly, full-on PT. I'm building a stroked 5.7 Hemi for it, Art Morrison chassis, Viper brakes, t-56... It's gonna be sweet and I can't wait to get going on it.

Curious why the Chevy 5.3 or 6.0 rather than either the 5.7 or 6.1 Hemi? You can find the 5.7's everywhere these days and they are capable of a lot of power. You can run the t-56 behind it AND should you ever decide to sell, I have a feeling it'll be easier to sell with a Mopar motor than a Chevy. What are your goals the necessitate the Chevy vs. the Mopar engine? Just curious...

[loki993]

cost mostly. The price of entry for a LSx motor is a lot lower than the new Hemi. Also parts for the chevys are cheaper, the LSx has been put in everything from a Vette to the most pedestrian cargo van. IMO they make power easier and for less money. Im also of the opinion that the LSx series motors are the best motors out there, nothing else can even come close to them. Therefore id like my favorite motor in one of my favorite cars.

[Krazed]

There's not a whole lot of A-Body Barracuda's out there on these forums ( I only know of two including myself). Let alone a lot of them in the world for pro-touring as a style. I have a lot of work to do yet to my car, and I do mean a lot, but you can see my sig for way out of date progress.

[USAZR1]

A good friend of mine has a black 72 Dart that he wants $3K for it. The car has a healthy sounding 318 w/headers and lumpy cam. It also has a dual scoop hood. If I were into Mopars,I might be interested in turning it into a decent protourer.

[loki993]

There's not a whole lot of A-Body Barracuda's out there on these forums ( I only know of two including myself). Let alone a lot of them in the world for pro-touring as a style. I have a lot of work to do yet to my car, and I do mean a lot, but you can see my sig for way out of date progress.

Yeah I saw your car, it looks good. The reason I want to do a protouring A-body specifically is because there isnt a lot of them. Theyre pretty light cars so I figure it shouldn't be that difficult to make them handle, they will take just about any V8 you can think of so they can be plenty fast, the one I had before had a 440, I wont do that again. Done right they should be able to out drag and out handle the bigger E-bodys no problem, along with most other cars for that matter. All the while having something different among the seas of E-bodys, B-bodys, Chevelles and Camaros.

I toyed with the idea of going even more different and going with a 64 polara, fury,etc or a 62 dart or polara. You see even less of those, but the age of the cars makes them pretty hard to find in decent condition and even harder to find parts for, the Cudas hard enough. When I had mine before there were a lot of trim pieces they werent even making in the aftermarket. That was about 8 years ago so I think theres more out there now, but you get the point.

[CudaSRT8]

Personally, I think it would be a mistake to put a Chevy in a Mopar. For me, looking under the hood and seeing a Chevy would be like looking at the many thousands of Ford, Chevy and even Mopar street rods and seeing a Chevy under the hood. Yeah, I guess it would be different, but not particularly in a good way.

I'm building a '69 Cuda fastback with a stroked, 6.1 based GenIII Hemi, TKO 600 and aluminum 8 3/4 rear. I can't really call it a full on PT. More like a GT touring car. It will certainly be different and without much effort, the drivetrain alone will be much lighter than the stock small block w/4speed that originally came in it. It should easily run 11s in the quarter.

You should check out the latest front (AlterKtion) AND rear (Street Linx) suspensions available from RMS for the A body Mopars.

You could build a REAL NICE and GREAT handling A body while keeping it pure Mopar. If I ever saw a Mopar with a Chevy in it, I'd walk away in utter dissappointment and say, oh gawd, the dude ruined a nice car.

Sorry, couldn't help but share my opinion on this. I tend to be a bit of a purist in regard to body/engine combos. Chev to chev, Mopar to Mopar. Keep 'em pure...

[406 Q-ship]

Let me start by saying that I would be considered a Chevy guy, I am mostly loyal to GM (because I have ton of GM parts), but I have many favorites including Mopars and Fords. I will say this that yes it might be cheaper to build an LSx compared to a 5.7/6.1 Hemi but I think that the Barracuda (I am a big fan of the early Barrcuda coupes) would be much cooler with a Mopar in it. Instead of the Hemi how about a big inch LA engine, a 400 CID small block with a cool fuel injection system and you should be able to keep the weight down without to much trouble. Good luck in your build and look forward to seeing it no matter what direction you go.

How is it go with the Mopar crowd........Mopar or no car.

[hangten]

I have a 75 Dart "Hang 10" that I'm working on now in a more 70's Trans Am style. Built a LA motor to 410ci. Should be fun on the Power Tour in a year or two when my boys get older......

[bsclark]

I've got a 69 cuda at home I'm building with a friend. The grills for those things can cost more than an ls motor.

At BS we like big power and happy customers. We've put plenty of chevy engines in fords and got a 56 f100 with a blown hemi in it that we finished a couple years ago. I think in general people are used to seeing the chevy/ford thing, but the primary reason for hybriding a car or truck should be power in my opinion.

A chevy in a Mopar? you're gonna get plenty of strong opinions, I'd make sure it was sinfully quick.

[loki993]

I've got a 69 cuda at home I'm building with a friend. The grills for those things can cost more than an ls motor.

At BS we like big power and happy customers. We've put plenty of chevy engines in fords and got a 56 f100 with a blown hemi in it that we finished a couple years ago. I think in general people are used to seeing the chevy/ford thing, but the primary reason for hybriding a car or truck should be power in my opinion.

A chevy in a Mopar? you're gonna get plenty of strong opinions, I'd make sure it was sinfully quick.

I know and when its done it will be.

The reason Ive decided on a Chevy motor is because they are very easy to modify and make power easily. Ive heard that the Hemis are hard to modify and also have computer/trans issues when you swap them. Im sure the computer issues have been worked out, but in not sure about the modifying part. when they first came out I heard the the limit of reliability was about 500hp before you have go into the block and start messing with that stuff, which is an expensive prospect with the Hemi. I also read an article about a stroker kit for the Hemi that requied sleves for the cylinders becasue the block cant be bored. the whole deal was like 9Gs and the power wasn't that impressive. Also used motors were selling for lots more than an LSx. Now I dont know how much of that has changed, so a lot of that may not be true anymore.

A fuel injected LA is definitely a thought, I suppose.

[USAZR1]

Instead of a late hemi,why not one of the alum-head 380hp or 425hp 360ci crate engines? It would be cheaper and a lot simpler,not to mention it would haul some serious booty.

JMO but no way would I run a Chevy engine in a Mopar or vice versa.

[GMachineDartGT]

Not a Cuda but an A body. Good fun for sure.

[Krazed]

I personally don't have any issue with putting an LS1/2/7 whatever in an A-Body Barracuda. I think it's your car, do what you want with it. Who should tell you differently? Build something different.

In all honesty, my long term plans include popping in an LS2 and a T56 into my Cuda some day. Why? Because it is RIDICULOUSLY Cheaper than putting in ANY Hemi, new, old, modified or not.

The cost to build an LSX Drivetrain vs. a Hemi Drivetrain is thousands of dollars less. So much so, that its almost sickening.

I say, go for it. Go grab that Craigslist/Ebay LS2/t56 for sale somewhere, and build up that badboy for less than $5000. It'll be lighter, faster, more torque, and have way more parts available for it.

Not to mention how much easier of a time you'll have making all the electronics work.

Enjoy it, after all, it's your car.

[loki993]

I personally don't have any issue with putting an LS1/2/7 whatever in an A-Body Barracuda. I think it's your car, do what you want with it. Who should tell you differently? Build something different.

In all honesty, my long term plans include popping in an LS2 and a T56 into my Cuda some day. Why? Because it is RIDICULOUSLY Cheaper than putting in ANY Hemi, new, old, modified or not.

The cost to build an LSX Drivetrain vs. a Hemi Drivetrain is thousands of dollars less. So much so, that its almost sickening.

I say, go for it. Go grab that Craigslist/Ebay LS2/t56 for sale somewhere, and build up that badboy for less than $5000. It'll be lighter, faster, more torque, and have way more parts available for it.

Not to mention how much easier of a time you'll have making all the electronics work.

Enjoy it, after all, it's your car.

thats pretty much exactly why I chose the LSx motor. That plus they make power, easily. I can get a pullout 6.0 and make 500hp in no time flat, for small dollars. With the right heads, pulloffs from a different LSx and some boost and were talking seriously fast. They have even started putting aluminum 5.3s in the pickups lately, 05 on IIRC. so theres a lot of options out there.

[rjsjea]

Oil pan, motor mounts, steering box, motor offset, etc.....will have to be figured out using an Ls motor. Starting with an AlterK front suspension (or sim) would make fitting stuff a lot easier.

I'm not a purist by any means, but something seems odd putting an Ls in an Abody mopar. After all the 6.1 hemi in my Demon says hecho in Mexico!!...So I say go for it

[67autocross]

I'm putting a LS engine in my dart that I'm doing, it's the only way to get an all aluminum small block for the car. It will be done with an Alterkation front end that you can buy with no engine mounts.
They fit better than the Gen 3 hemi and save a least 50-80 lbs, and lots of guys are putting chevy auto transmissions into mopars now for the over drive so I thought way not the engine to.

[loki993]

Do you think it would be a problem dong the swap with a stock front end? I wouldnt think so, sure there may be a few issuesb ut I dont think they would be much of a problem.

[Krazed]

The only problem is going to be headers. Honestly, I'd suggest having the Alter-K-tion front end as a standard for any of these builds. The torsion bars just get majorly in the way of exhaust installs.

[High Plains Mopars]

Hmm. I'm unfamiliar with the LS engines, but I've seen a couple posts on this site bemoaning that they are not as easily or cheap to hot road as the gen 1 chevys. I'd guess that for the cost of aquiring a 6.0 LS, doing the rebuild, and adding the upgrades, you could easily be in 500 horse territory with a stroked LA. I've got a stock stroke 360 that is 425 horse and I only spent $3500 on it.

While the A body is not real popular with the pro-touring crowd, they are big time popular with the autocross and road race crew and there are alot of them out there in highly massaged, stock style set ups.

For somethig slightly different, you could always try to pick up this one; http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290339217371&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:MOTORS:1123

[67autocross]

The only problem is going to be headers. Honestly, I'd suggest having the Alter-K-tion front end as a standard for any of these builds. The torsion bars just get majorly in the way of exhaust installs.

When I install mine with the Alterkation front end I'm just going to order a bunch of off the shelf headers for chevy cars and try them all and see which ones fit best. I don't thnk it will be hard to find a set that works with no T- bars in the way.

[topbrent]

This is a thread revival.

Any updates on the LS install?

I am working on the same thing with my valiant.

[DartorDemon]

My current Idea is to do a Pt/G-machine A-body Cuda Notchback. The E-bodys get all the love, and the money, So I figured Id give the A-body version a try. I had one a while back and loved it. Theyre definitely different, theyre light and can be had for a relatively low price. I dont have the money right now, but the plan is for a full on g-machine with either a chevy 5.3 or 6.0, maybe turbod maybe not, full fuel injection with t56 6 speed. I know its a sin, but you just cant beat the price of the chevy motors and again the goal is different. There may be some slight body mods, a little massaging here and there, who knows Its something that will come together as it goes, but there will also be a plan. I dont know when I will do it, but I will do it.

anybody got some good pics or want to show off their A-bodys?

Please post pics on how you mount the LSx if you do go through with it. I'm doing a 73' plymouth duster pro touring and i'd love to do an LSx swap.(due to price as well). The big hinderance for me has been the mopar nuts who are hell bent on an absurd "mopar or no car" mantra. IMO it causes more pissing and moaning than if a person wanted to put an import engine into a mopar.(which someone basically did with an SRT-4 swap)

[wellis77]

Forget the nuts!!! It's YOUR car!!! I will say though the price of the Hemi swap is coming down. There just isn't quite as much after market support for it yet. Here's to hoping...

[67autocross]

I have not got to the engine install just yet, but it will be a LS. I was waiting for the Mopar A body RS 600 trans kit to come out and was going to order one with a chevy bell housing and use it to base the engine location.
Should I start a build thread on this car?

[wellis77]

Ummmm, yup! Get started on the thread already... PICS PLEASE!!!

[autoxcuda]

You guys are complaining about price of the Gen III Hemi stuff, but you are buying after market trans kits and fabricated front clips $$$. :nopity:

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43803&d=1295160699

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43796&d=1295160494

43803

43796

[Removed user as requested]

Hi

You have chosen to start with a car that is not so common in Pro-Touring which makes it a cool idea. I understand the whole E-body love as I used to own a 70 Challenger. However it never replaced the love for a B-body Charger which I now own and plan to take it to the next level. Looking at your ideas on what to do... please try and do some more research on MOPAR engine choices and what can be done with them... I dont mean to to be rude or offensive to the rest of the pro-touring people who own beautiful camaros, firebirds, mustangs etc but why on earth would you want to stick those engines in when MOPAR make killer engines? I understand the price etc you mentioned but if you are going to build a propper pro-touring car which is going to cost huge $$$ then the $ cant be an issue and since it cant then be an issue, considering you chose to do a rare car, keep it rare (in a good way) and keep a nice Mopar engine in it as that is what belongs to it. Dont do a rare car and then stuff it by sticking a chev engine into it. Im not against chevies or their engines or anything like that as if someone was to stick a mopar in a chev id say they were stuffing the chev up. Try see all the different options avaiable and who can do what. With all the alloy blocks available im sure you can get something light with huge tq and hp out of a mopar and it will look right to. Ultimatelly your choice what you do as it is your car and you should enjoy what you like by building it how you like, im just giving you my own personal feelings about it and something to consider. Good luck on your project and look forward to seeing its progress.

[mikedc]

With all the alloy blocks available im sure you can get something light with huge tq and hp out of a mopar and it will look right to.

There are currently no (streetable) alloy LA 340/360 block options and there probably won't be any coming in the forseeable future.

The B/RB Mopar engines and the modern Mopar gen3 Hemis are all $5000 just for an alloy block.

Staying Mopar is nowhere near comparable in price to the GM alloy V8 options, end of story. I don't like it any more than you do but that's how it is.

[67autocross]

I don't mind spending money........

[lnirenberg]

Its always nice not see yourself coming and going at a show and the notchback A body certainly fits the bill. I am a Chevy guy but I'm not a big fan of brand mixing when it comes to engines. There are a lot of good older Mopar iron blocks out there and with high flowing aluminum heads and one of the EZ tune EFI options you can build an indestructible and very healthy pump gas motor at a reasonable $ per hp. Just my thought but in the end he who owns the iron and the check book makes the call.

[cobragt]

I have to agree,stick with a mopar block. I've never been a big fan of cross breeding unless it comes to putting an American V8 in an import.