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Projects Almost Funny - AWB Barracuda Funny Car Build

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by squirrel, Nov 27, 2017.

  1. Then there's this guy.

     
  2. Yes,
    Yes, I said that.But they have a wealth of construction, hemi and body knowledge, the Valiant and Cuda in 65 were practically the same car..It's what they do for a living.
    Part of the fun is chasing down parts, but time is relatively short for your project.They might have a handle on fiberglass, hemi building, transmissions wheels, etc. Maybe some short cuts for you.
    Personally I hate working with fiberglass , making stuff that is.It's hard to mold correctly, messy and ITCHY.
    Of course that was 200 years ago, maybe things are different now.
     
    squirrel likes this.
  3. Subscribed,I have a soft spot for the '65 Barracuda's,I met my wife sitting in a gold one the day after Christmas in 1966.

    She was riding shotgun with her cousin in here dads car.

    This is not the car but looks identical,her uncle totaled it on New Years Eve.:rolleyes:HRP

    8c4d5196a91a7eeb97039c7fb5fa795a.jpg
     
    kiwijeff, mgtstumpy and squirrel like this.
  4. carryallman
    Joined: Jan 5, 2009
    Posts: 399

    carryallman
    Member

    jim -i wished i was closer to you - ive done lots of tig welding /chassis work thru the yrs ! you could just do the cutting & planning & give the orders to what you want & when you want it !! damn this looks like a fun project !!!!!!!!! maybe you could plan a work week -a bunch of us fly in & bust butt building a race car ?????
     
  5. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,138

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Wow, we're half way there!
    How hard was that!
     
    loudbang likes this.
  6. Wait....did HRP just post a Formula S car with blue streaks that he got spanked by his future wife ?....god luv him !
     
    loudbang likes this.
  7. I'd just be in the way, never was a good mechanic or fabricator.
    Eights can be hard to come by.My cousin. the late Marv Buchanan. could run high eights in his bracket 64 Chevy 2, and it was a full on race car. ONLY with his BBC motor though.Interestingly Marv did not use a trans brake, crossover box, stutter box or any modern crap or electronics. He ran like he did in 1968,with driving skill !! He won a Wally, led Team Woodburn for years.A real racer. MY POINT IS, 8's aren't easy, especially with a real street strip car! But if it WAS easy, I guess Jim wouldn't be doing it! As I said earlier, most of the 'Cuda's pictured were 9 second cars, and that's with low % 's of nitro. This will be quite the achievement!
     
  8. I'm almost positive it had a 273,I know it was a 4 speed and it was pretty quick. HRP
     
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  9. Hemi Joel
    Joined: May 4, 2007
    Posts: 1,528

    Hemi Joel
    Member
    from Minnesota

    Squirrel, I went to the Frank Hawley School of Drag Racing, and I highly recommend it. Despite having raced for years, I still learned a ton of good info; some things that I had never considered before. I think I am a safer, more aware racer because of it. And it was fun! In the grand scheme of things, it's not that much money. Plus you don't have to worry about trying to do license passes in your new, untested car. You can focus on the car, and getting it dialed in.
     
  10. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,935

    squirrel
    Member

    That's exactly what I was thinking, Joel.
     
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  11. 400 turbo w/ gear vendors?
     
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  12. Glasstek makes race weight fiberglass. Premade fenders and hood would take less time to stretch then making new ones from scratch. They also specialize in make preformed Lexan windows, but I didn't see them listed for barracudas. May be worth looking into.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2017
  13. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,935

    squirrel
    Member

    I took off some body parts tonight, and weighed them...

    hood 55
    fender 20
    trunk 20
    door (complete) 75
    frt bumper (with brackets) 20

    Looks like if I buy a bunch of 'glass parts, I'll spend over $2k, and then have to modify stuff. This will take some thinking...and probably some experimenting.
     
  14. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,138

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    That race weight glass won't live long on the street knowing the miles Jim will no doubt put on this car.
     
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  15. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,935

    squirrel
    Member

    a couple weeks ago, I was welding up cracks in my race weight steel fender....

    IMG_20171120_143428.jpg
     
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  16. They also sell heavier glass parts, don't know how much they weigh.At least you can sell the steel OEM stuff.
    This ain't going to be easy! but learning then making your own won't be easy either!
    Glass bumpers painted silver were standard back then!
     
  17. Johnny Gee
    Joined: Dec 3, 2009
    Posts: 12,602

    Johnny Gee
    Member
    from Downey, Ca

    There's a reason the factory put so many bolts at specific locations. My 56 is no where near what your Nova is and my stuff suffers as well from no inner fender wells with a home built core support with minimal additional bracing so sheet metal won't flap around as much. But that's what one puts up with to be :cool:.
     
  18. race cars are supposed to have stress cracks in the body
    its like scars on hands that work
     
  19. Fabber McGee
    Joined: Nov 22, 2013
    Posts: 1,286

    Fabber McGee
    Member

    The nice thing about laying up your own glass by hand, you can make certain areas thick as you like. Around bolts, along the edges, anyplace you think might be a stress area. You can also glass in some reinforcements of tubing or fiberglass rods (like old tent poles) or nylon rope saturated with resin. Lots of options.
     
  20. Fabber McGee
    Joined: Nov 22, 2013
    Posts: 1,286

    Fabber McGee
    Member

    Working with glass is a sticky, smelly, itchy pain in the ass, but when you're done it's a lot of fun to say, "I did it myself." And you get just what you want, not what someone else wanted you to have. Want a 6 foot fender with a tire bulge on top... no problem.
     
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  21. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    Idea for the front view

    1.jpg
     
  22. Wayne67vert
    Joined: Feb 23, 2012
    Posts: 130

    Wayne67vert
    Member

    This company has all the latest in fiberglass, carbon fiber and the accessories needed to make molds, vacuum bags, supplies and all the other goodies you might need.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]1-800-838-8979
    M-F, 8-7 EST
     
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  23. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    Jim as with others I am a fan of your exploits. I keep reading how fiberglass is an itchy proposition but there are ways to fight that and I believe you are not going to let that stop you anyways. I worked for years with fiberglass repair and mold and panel fabrication but had to get away from it due to skin rashes (probably from over exposure). A few years ago I started to work with fiberglass again and the only time I itch is when I am too stubborn or stupid to not take some precautions.

    I use Tyvek suits that I make into shop coats and then use a bit of a product called pr88 Skin Barrier Cream (google it and it is inexpensive)-it works believe me. When I use it on my exposed skin (face, neck, ears) there is absolutely no itching at all. I do most of my fiberglass fabrication and repair outside in summer so I don’t have to breathe it too much and wear a respirator when working with the chemicals (MEK and styrene, etc) on the larger projects (such as panel fabrication or molds).

    Not sure where you can buy your fiberglass products locally but I order from U.S. Composites out of Florida. I find their products to be excellent and shipping is reasonable and timely. Once you get onto the fiberglass panel fabrication end you will probably get an earful on tips from the HAMB and maybe locally. I would use only mat as opposed to cloth and if I was to want to go light weight I would probably lean towards using standard mat (like 1 ½ oz) in the high strength areas (unless the high strength areas are complex and then I would use 3/4oz doubled up) and more light weight mat (3/4 oz) in the field. You can experiment and find what you like. To make quality pieces though I believe you will have to make molds which is relatively easy. Looking forward to your progress.
     
  24. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,138

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Jim, I'm thinking Jim (squirrel) will love any tips to get this monumental project done on schedule.
    I'm the last one with hands on fiberglass experience but I have some glass work in my future too. I have talked with Karl Wescott about adhesives for getting the aluminum trunk riser in my roadster bonded to the glass and he said "Methacrylate" is the answer.
    I'm thinking that aluminum "doublers" glued at critical mounting points and maybe some "spars" midway on those extended fenders would help race weight fiberglass live if that route was taken.
     
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  25. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,935

    squirrel
    Member

    Thanks for the tips. It looks like something else I'm going to get to learn about...
     
  26. coupemerc
    Joined: Jul 16, 2007
    Posts: 406

    coupemerc
    Member

    Jim, I have a 1965 426 hemi block that I might part with...just sayin
     
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  27. jimdillon
    Joined: Dec 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,291

    jimdillon
    Member

    DDDenny I am sure Karl Wescott knows what he is talking about so I would follow his advice on bonding aluminum. That being said as to Jim's project I am not sure I would want to add any aluminum. As soon as I say it, someone will chime in that it will work fine but I am not an advocate of adding other substances with different expansion rates etc. With vibration and stress from racing and the effects of the sun, I would try and stick with 100% composites that expand and hopefully vibrate together. Fiberglass does not like stress and if you bond let's say aluminum to it there may be stress related cracking etc down the road. If you want strength then it may be more wise to add more mat strategically IMO. As soon as Jim starts playing with he will learn quickly.

    As I said earlier, molds will be the way to go. That way you can make a piece and see if will pass muster and if not make another piece with the necessary adjustment. Also if God forbids he should damage a part down the road he has a mold ready to make another more perfect part.
     
  28. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,138

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon


    JD
    You are dead on regarding expansion rates, the other thing, no matter what is used on the backside, especially on thin glass parts, after sitting in the sun, those reinforcements will show from the outside.
    Something tells me that's not gonna be a big issue for Jim.
     
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  29. mcsfabrication
    Joined: Nov 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,057

    mcsfabrication
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You'll find that aluminum and fiberglass/polyester resin composite have extremely similar expansion/contraction rates. Best of luck with the project.
     
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  30. [​IMG] Staring is good!
    I'm curious as to what you envision for a chassis?
    Something "old school" like this? Rectangular box?
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Ignore the suspension here.
    I'm assuming you will use MoPar SS type leafs in the rear.
    Assuming a tube axle up front, a Dodge PU or Red Wagon type in front?
    OR, do you not care when it comes to internal, barely visible stuff.
    Just wonder how you see the combo of 8 sec. and daily, distance driving.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2017

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