valiant171 wrote:
Well, well...
A lot of questions to answer to:
I was just trying to get a feel for it...sheesh
To the purists: I have had this car for 15 years and have no intention of selling it ever I would rather ball it up on turn 1 at BIR! My other car is a 1 of 8.
To the A body pundits: The 70's A-body platform was the best handling, rigid, and most innovative small car. (ie electronic dizzy).
I have done some research on the Supra tranny even called one I guess thats the way to go.
I don't have a problem with you or anybody modifying their car. It's yours, do what you want. I just don't want to see another car get cut up with more enthusiasm than follow-through. I've parted out a couple of those that once were somebody else's dream and aspiration.
Somewhere out there is a 2nd gen Barracuda that had the front inner structure replaced with (I think) FWD '80's Mazda. Outside was all Barracuda, but under the hood was a transverse Mazda drivetrain, firewall, inner fenders, frame rails, suspension, etc. It was on eBay a couple years ago. It didn't find a new home.
For your 5-speed desire, bang for the buck the Supra trans is probably the best way to go. Don't know what you have between the front fenders now, but a used Magnum 318 or 360 is a very junkyard friendly low-buck swap that will really wake up an A-body.
How light do you want to make the Demon? My Barracuda when it still had iron heads and a copper/brass radiator weighed in at 3400 lbs. Since then it's gotten a fresh motor with aluminum heads and an aluminum radiator. Haven't reweighed it yet, but there was a noticeable rise in the front end with all the aluminum. I'll weigh it again after the 5-speed is in.
The Duster/Demon is lighter than a '68 Barracuda fastback right out of the box so you have that going for you.
So what's the 1 of 8 sitting at home?