Heavily modified 1970 Cuda

[Godbolt]

Fantastic work!

This quote from an early post of yours made me laugh- "I cut the forward cabin floor pans out, then the rear cabin pans; then i didn't like the trunk pans so I cut them out. Then I didn't like the quarters or dutchman's panel so I cut them out."

[windows]

Wow! Great fabrication and design. Going to be awesome.

[67SSDan]

Well that escalated quickly! Cool stuff!

Dan

[bmbrzmn101]

Definitely some fantastic work!! Looking forward to your updates. What type of suspension and brakes will you be using? And what are your plans for the exterior. Chrome vs no chrome or painted trim , single color paint or something stock like.
Chris

[70B5Cuda]

Well that escalated quickly! Cool stuff!

Dan

Thanks! Although it seems like rapid progress, I've owned the car 8 years and it's spent 5 years In fabrication. There have been long periods of time where nothing had happened but the timing has all been perfect. Financially, the slow periods allowed me to do some things that I never could have done if the car had just been slammed out. You know what they say: good, fast, cheap...pick two out of the three.

[70B5Cuda]

Definitely some fantastic work!! Looking forward to your updates. What type of suspension and brakes will you be using? And what are your plans for the exterior. Chrome vs no chrome or painted trim , single color paint or something stock like.
Chris

Front will be Reilly motorsports alterktion. Rear will be pan hard bar, 2 link, airbags, and a torque arm. Brakes will be will woods. Rearend will be strange 60 with 4.10's since the 6th gear in the TR6060 is 0.50. I plan to minimize chrome. Body will be B5 metallic blue. Wheels will be gunmetal...more pics coming soon.

[70B5Cuda]

I picked up some cheap 315 tires on craigslist for mockup. I hadn't decided on a size at this point but the 315s were way too narrow. I wanted the tubs to be bigger then my street tire in case I wanted to mount some slicks and take it to the track at some point.





The 315 isn't big enough. I have tons of space left

[70B5Cuda]

I spent a LONG time thinking about which wheels to go with. Ultimately I went with Forgeline. I ordered my wheels through Matt's Classic Bowties. The folks at MCB were professional. Their communication was excellent and their customer service was unparalleled. I would highly recommend MCB. They sell many other brands of wheels as well. Do yourself a favor and at least talk with them and get a quote before deciding on a vendor.

I went with powder coated gunmetal with a clear over it. Im really happy with the wheels. I think the gunmetal will look sharp in contrast to the B5 blue paint I plan to use. I was determined to go with a 345 width on the rear tires but Michelin ran out and after they strung me along for 4 months with promised shipping dates, I finally settled for 335's Super Sports. Im a little disappointed I couldn't get 345's but I can always buy them next time.

[70B5Cuda]

The rear wheels are 20x12 and the fronts are 19x9







I've got a mild stagger as I wanted the center to be seen and not too far recessed.

[70B5Cuda]

Once I received my wheels, Matt took measurements to dial in the dimensions for the rearend. I placed my order with Strange Engineering and I picked this beauty up from the UPS dock. Its a powder coated Strange Super 60 with 4.10 gears, S track limited slip, upgraded axles, chrome moly yoke, late big Ford ends,and F body housing, which has extra metal on the driver's side and is provisioned for a torque arm.

[70B5Cuda]

At this point frame rails were new from the rear bumper up to the firewall and I wasn't sure I wanted to have new front frame rails constructed. They looked pretty solid, but Matt convinced me it needed to be done and as usual, he was right. Once he cut a window in the side of the right front frame rail, it was disgusting inside. Mice had lived in the front frame rails as well....

[70B5Cuda]

Matt traced the profiles of the side and bottom of the front frame rails. He then cut the four sides and started boxing it. Similar to the rear rails, the front rails will be raised up into the car about 2.75". The RMS Alterkation system I will be using can be seen in these pictures.

[70B5Cuda]

In the first picture, Matt is holding the template against the existing frame rail to show how the profile will change

[70B5Cuda]

All boxed in. Matt's the MAN!! I am very jealous of his skills.

[70B5Cuda]

One last picture with the original front frame rails:



I gotta admit...its scary to see the front frame rails gone!

[70B5Cuda]

BOOM!

[70B5Cuda]

Well, I just condensed 5 years of work into 2 days worth of posts.....progress from this point should be slower but steady. Hope you've liked the pictures so far. I am grateful the project is in Matt's VERY capable hands. I want to give him full credit for his work. I simply did the grunt work to get it torn down and now the fabrication Jedi master is at work. He has had tons of great ideas along the way that have been incorporated. Thanks Matt!

The inner fenders will be addressed soon. The new inner fenders will be smooth but retain the same general lines as the factory pieces. I have bought all my sheetmetal from Jeff Brown at 521 Restorations and am about to make another big order for a roof skin, door skins, new fenders, trunk lid, door hinges, etc. If you are considering buying AMD, you should check Jeff/521 out. Prices have been good and customer service/communication has been very good as well.

We hung an original fender on the car and it felt good to see some color on the car again

[813Demon340]

Love your Cuda build! I can second for Jeff being a great guy to deal with on AMD metal. I look forward to your progress!

[67SSDan]

Thanks! Although it seems like rapid progress, I've owned the car 8 years and it's spent 5 years In fabrication. There have been long periods of time where nothing had happened but the timing has all been perfect. Financially, the slow periods allowed me to do some things that I never could have done if the car had just been slammed out. You know what they say: good, fast, cheap...pick two out of the three.

Oh I know all about that! If you look at the dates in my build thread (which I haven't updated in a while), you'll see.

Good times!

Dan

[bmbrzmn101]

Front will be Reilly motorsports alterktion. Rear will be pan hard bar, 2 link, airbags, and a torque arm. Brakes will be will woods. Rearend will be strange 60 with 4.10's since the 6th gear in the TR6060 is 0.50. I plan to minimize chrome. Body will be B5 metallic blue. Wheels will be gunmetal...more pics coming soon.

Looking forward to it, I like your plan with everything!! It will be it
Chris