some poor man progress

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:09 pm

well, i've had it with the dragging of sidepipes, the choking of the exhaust, lack of performance, etc. i've had the air shocks pumped all the way up, raised my torision bars 3", and still bottomed out - so they're gone...well, kinda....

here's the new exhaust system i "built" with 3" to 3" header reducers, a flex-section to make the bend toward the driveshaft and help with vibration, and the side-pipe tubes which have glasspacks built-in. they exit right infront of the rear axle, using "swinger 360" exhaust hangers bolted to the floor area under the rear seat, and attached to the pipe with the factory brackets that came on the sidepipes. they flow great, sound wonderful, no leaks, no bottoming out - it's a beautiful thing - and somewhat vintage, as some people didn't have the money to go all the way over the axle with performance exhaust, so they would turn it down right in front of the axle...

this is the console plate mod i posted awhile ago installed with chrome screws - looks pretty sweet - i also did the dash insert and gauge cluster - i'm going to trim them out with aluminum when i get the chance...i LOVE wrinkle black - my only concern is going to be when it comes time to clean the interior

obviously the car hasn't been cleaned in awhile, and the paint from whenever it was changed from a blue car to a black car is chipping away on the dash, so it will be touched-up when i get a new dash pad or cap - probably going to get a cap for now, due to the intial cost plus my car spends a lot of time outside and don't what it cracking from the extreme temp variations

check it out...TAZ and a chrome skull necker knob HAHA

and here's the car from a distance - this is a strange look for me, as the sidepipes have been on it for the last 4 years...it's really obvious how much i have raised the suspension...car sits a lil high in the front (maybe good for most, but i like it lowered a lil bit more

and another shot

oh, and just so everyone knows...i got dual springs on my double pumper now - looks really nice and installs real slick like - kind of like that edelbrock air cleaner - i saw some weirdo drilled a hole through the top of his so he could secure it with a wing nut, since he couldn't figure out how to mount it

anyway, that was my weekend

Smellslike1974 · Post by **Smellslike1974** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:16 pm

I think hotwheels should make a car like yours.

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:17 pm

wouldn't be too hard lol...take any wacky idea mopar had, put on some crazy teenager touches and you got it made

mopar71 · Post by **mopar71** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:38 pm

Good Job!

Smellslike1974 · Post by **Smellslike1974** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:52 am

landon1 wrote:wouldn't be too hard lol...take any wacky idea mopar had, put on some crazy teenager touches and you got it made

Its sad that theres no more side pipes,but it still looks just as good.

ROGERLEE · Post by **ROGERLEE** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:36 am

looks good, how did you get the black wrinkle finish??did you just paint it like that??, also i use to have a set of side pipes on my cuda many moons ago, it use to flood in charleston sc, when i went thru the low areas and there were plenty in charleston, my side pipes would sound like an outboard motor, pretty cool.

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:47 pm

yeah, i painted them in wrinkle black...i've done it before to my valve covers, but then went to the all-orange look and really, kinda miss the wrinkles - you can pick it up at any parts store - they used to carry it at walmart along with engine enamel and factory-matched paint, but don't carry that stuff anymore either. i think i bought dupont - i'm really happy with it. i set the console plate out in the sun to get more wrinkles out of it, so i was worried about how it would turn out not putting the dash pieces in the sun to heat-up, but they turned out just as good.

i really liked the sidepipes, but choking a 440 down from a 3" header reducer to 2" pipe was killing performance - oh well, maybe on a different car someday

73X · Post by **73X** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:44 am

Looks good Landon, I bet you are the talk of the apartment complex!!!

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:59 pm

haha...every time she gets started up i see curtains flyin open and the talk probably is "that goddamn kid with that damn loud-ass car"

especially since i leave for work around 6am

landon1 · Post by **landon1** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:23 pm

well, i tried trimming out the dash cluster and insert with argent/aluminum paint marker, and i don't like it at all...the vent insert looked good, but the instrument cluster has TOO much stuff going on, so it looks strange...oh well, guess i'll re-do it when my DASH PAD gets here woohoo...the all black textured is kinda cuda-looking, and plain, but i like that look