Finished off a list of projects for the 68 Barracuda today.
Drove the car around the neighborhood again today, I am really going to like driving this car.

One of the projects was a compression test.
cylinders 1 to 6 on an engine that has not been started for a week

195, 190, 185, 180, 190, 175 range of 20 with an average of 185

cylinders 1 to 6 on a warm engine

190, 190, 185, 180, 190, 180 range of 10 with an average of 185

warm vs cold, tighter range with the same average compression, that's good

I worked up an alternative front grill for a couple of reasons.
1) to do something different and take a few more pounds off the front of the car
2) to have something on the car while I renew the OE front trim.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

I have insurance on the 68B starting 7/15/21 and will visit with the IN BMV early next week to get a license plate on the car.
Going into the files to find the title I also got out the cars owners manual that was in the original plastic pouch in the glove box of the car when I purchased it in 2009.

The owners manual lists the: buyer, date sold, dealership and the salesman. There is an interesting warranty disclaimer on the pouch, to keep the warranty in effect the cars owner must present all receipts for service and repairs to the dealership on the anniversary of the sales date.
Also on the warranty book is a statement that the Chrysler Corp 5 year / 50,000 mile warranty is valid only for the original purchaser. The second owner has a 24 month / 24,000 mile warranty

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Great stuff John!

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Have insurance and license plates on the 68 Barracuda. For the insurance I went with Haggerty. For the plates Indiana allows vintage cars to display an Indiana plate from the year of the vehicle, so I did that. I have been driving the car close to home until I get confidence it its reliability. I have 36 miles showing on the odometer, I had the odometer set back to zero miles as part of the rehabilitation project. So far nothing has fallen off or leaked out.
I am running a MS3 Pro for fuel and ignition control and a MSD 6A box and a Blaster SS coil, mentioning that as I had an interesting issue with misfires above 3000 RPM early on in the tuning process.
That is now resolved and I will put a post up on that issue to share what was learned and for comments.

the misfire post is at
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=66107

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Congratulations on the troubleshooting and getting it back out on the street John!

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

After several around the neighborhood drives and additional engine tuning figured it was time to take the 68B on a short excursion.
I had M follow me in her car and we went on a 9.5 mile drive that included a short highway stint where I had the car up to 70 MPH, some boulevard 45 MPH driving and some stop and wait and then stop and wait some more city traffic. We had both reset the cars trip odometers to zero and both cars registered 9.5 miles when we returned. I clicked the AC on for about the last mile of the drive and it was blowing cold air.

Good news - out and back with out incident.
I have quite a bit of shrouding around the front of the car, the air that does get in is ducted through the radiator. On a 85 degree, high humidity Indiana day, the engine temps stayed in the 195 range. I have twin electric fans with one of them running all the time the motor is switched on. Shut the car off , let it set for a few minutes and it restarts with out issue, the temperature gauge is pegged on the restart but it pulls back down to the hot side of normal quickly.

Used the infra red non contact thermometer to get the temperatures of some components after the 9.5 mile drive.
All temperatures are degrees F

8.75 differential and housing 110 to 115
Battery, trunk mounted 85
Coil, fender mounted in engine compartment 149
MSD box fender mounted in engine compartment 144
Fender next to coil and MSD box 125
Alternator 165 near front of motor
Starter 180 at rear of motor
Oil filter top 177
MS3 ECU in passenger compartment 93

I don't see anything alarming. I will let the car cool, check fluids and take it for a longer drive over the weekend.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Good report John! Enjoy it and your spark plugs!)

Greg

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

The Night Time is the Right Time,,
out for an evening ride checking the lights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eiXTFvqK3Q

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

An update of the off season - winter projects for the 68 Barracuda.
1) Driving it this past late summer and early fall it was obvious that the fuel level gauge was not accurate. I installed a Meter Match that should resolve that issue. With next summers driving I will be able to confirm that.
2) I have the OE '68 Barracuda front head light and grill assemblies, however although I am a big fan of the second generation Barracuda side profile and rear body lines but I was never really sold on the front end treatment. I really like the 1967 Dodge Coronet head light and grill arrangement and I think that would look fine on a '68 Barracuda, I am about to find out.
I purchased at a reasonable price a set of '67 Coronet head light bezels and with some minor rework was able to adapt those to the '68 Plymouth quad head light mounts that I already had. I have also located a '67 Coronet grill that looks to be in fine shape and the seller worked with me on the pricing so that will come in without a major hurt. That part is still in the shipping process, I should have it late next week. Posted below are photos of where that project is today.
3) A later winter project will be installing a new ring and pinion in the 742 differential. The 355 gears in there currently have a lot of howl to them.
4) I have all the parts to swap the OE steering wheel over to a Mopar Tuff wheel. The OE steering wheel is in about perfect condition, no cracks or worn areas so I want to preserve it. A thicker steering wheel rim will be also better for grip and car control.
5) Will also do some wire re-routing - cleanup under the hood.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Lookin' Good John.

I used a metermatch for the fuel gauge as well and I like it.

For some reason when I set the Full point it reads different when the car is just keyed on vs. when the Car is running - I suspect it's in the 5v Volt Regulator in the dash but It's just a suspicion for now. I have not done conclusive testing.

Greg

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Greg, look closer at the Meter Match instructions posted on line, towards the end they give instructions on how to adjust the Meter Match to compensate for the voltage difference with the engine on vs off.

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8

Will do. Thanks!

Greg

_________________
http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Funny you would notice a different fuel gauge reading after car has run for a while. I also experienced the same thing with solid state constant 5 volts voltage limiter recently installed.

I think the reason is the gauge coil is slower to warm up with constant 5 volts vs. pulsating 12v. After a period of time the five volts eventually gets the job done. Also my temperature gauge reads lower than before the change over to solid state limiter.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

That is the dash regulator I have also.

Greg

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update on the front end - grill revision

Made new mounts for the B Body head light bezels, used light weight aluminum for the brackets. The '67 Coronet headlight bezels and grill section are secured. I like the look.
I was wanting to do a front end treatment on the 68 Barracuda that was different from stock, but still retained the appearance of something that Chrysler could have done in that era.
I wanted to give the front a unique look but not modify any of the OE 68 Barracuda sheet metal so it would be easy to change it back to stock.
The next part of this project will be re making the radiator ducting and finding a spot for the front turn signals.
The second photo is really close to the final product, I need to decide if the bezels and grill get polished or blacked out or are a combination of the two. There will also be trim added to the grill edges of the nose cone section.
The last photo is the 68 Barracuda masquerading as a late 60's Dodge B body

_________________
Doo Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl are friends of mine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX8Nj8ABEI8