Dave’s 68 Barracuda

I purchased this car in October 1997. It was a \6 three on the tree car with only factory undercoat and AM radio as options. It was originally QQ1 Fire Blue Metallic with medium blue interior. Since I wanted the car to be noticed it had to be painted one for Chryslers Hi-Impact colors and I have always liked Sub-Lime so… To compliment the outside the interior was changed to black.

My plan for the car was to do the body work and interior and get the car back on the road with the \6 and then swap in a v8 at a latter date. The PO gave me an Offenhauser 4bbl manifold and headers for the \6 so I decided to use them with the hopes of a little more go.

 

                  

 

As I read a little about performance \6’s I decided that the engine needed more compression so I had 0.060” shaved off the surface of the head (approx. 9:1). The stock camshaft was also shot so I put the engine back together with a COMP Cam 252S High Energy cam. I tried a Holley 600cfm vacuum secondary carb but that was just too much carburetor so it now has a Holley 390cfm vacuum secondary carb. You can see from the picture the headers are 6 into 2. The two collectors were just begging for dual exhaust. I had a 2 ¼” dual system bent up with glasspak mufflers (this is a little too loud for my taste and the mufflers will be swapped for something quieter).

The one other major mod is the transmission. The 3-speed column shift had to go. The car now has an A833OD overdrive 4-speed with a Hurst floor shifter.  The overdrive combined with the 3.23:1 rear gears makes for a hi-way runner but I think the overall performance would be better with 3.55’s or 3.91’s.

 

 

                  

My daughter gave me one of the stainless steel hose dress up kits for fathers day so, after slipping the braid and simulated AN fittings on the hoses, I decided a chrome valve cover was in order and I purchased one from Clifford Performance along with the installation kit.

Other mods to the car include: The heavy duty 6-leaf rear springs, 340 Formula S front torsion bars, KYB gas shocks and American Racing slotted chrome steel wheels.

Since starting to make the rounds of the local cruise nights I have re-though my decision to swap a v8 into the car. The \6 with headers and a 4bbl is real attention getter. I am now planning a ported head with oversize valves for more go. I also plan to up grade the 7 ¼ rear end to an 8 ¼, convert the front drums to disks and take advantage of the wheel options that will come with the large bolt circle studs used with the disk brakes and larger rear axle.

In December 03 I made two very significant updates to the Barracuda; (1) I swapped 73-76 A-body Disk Brakes into the car, and (2) I rebuilt an 8 ¼ rear end with 3.55 gear and a sure-grip. This necessitated a change in wheels since I now have the 4 ½” big bolt pattern.   As you can see above the car looks quite good with it’s new rally wheels.

 

 

July 05 Update: Well I did it. I built a 360 small block for the Barracuda. The specs are:

Block bored 0.030” over and zero decked for Keith Black KB107 Flat Top Pistons. The stock rods were replaced with Eagle I-Beam rods and the rotating assembly was balanced. The cam is a Comp Cams XE268H, with a roller timing chain. I am using Magnum heads and a Professional Products Crosswind intake. With the closed chamber heads, zero deck pistons and 0.039” head gasket I have 10.6:1 compression. The estimated power for this engine is 375 HP. It runs great in the Barracuda and I fulfilled my goal of building an engine with enough power to scare myself. ;)

Below are some Pictures of the engine build and install.

             

 

                            

My daughter is now running a muffler shop so she did up a new exhaust for me. The 2.25” H-pipe system with glasspaks was replaced with a 2.5” X-pipe system with Flowmaster 50 Series Delta Flow mufflers. The system sounds great and is quiet enough cruising to make several hour trips bearable but sounds awesome under WOT.

The new engine runs great with awesome power from 1500 rpm to 5500 rpm and still pulls past 6000 rpm. I am currently using a 600 CFM Holley vacuum secondary 4bbl but that may change.

My next mods will be to swap in power steering with a Firm Feel fast ratio box, sub-frame connectors and some sway bars.

July 06 Update: I have added the sub-frame connectors and an ADDCO sway bar to the front of the car. I also decided that the sub-lime paint needed something for contrast so I added the stripe that you can see in the picture at the top of the page. This is a 69 stripe and I had the 360 call out cut in the stripe in place of 340. I have also installed a Mopar Performance billet distributor that has allowed me to easily dial in the advance curve for the engine and a MSD 6A ignition box to fire it off.