The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[njsteve]

Drove the cuda to a show out in PA today. Around 60 miles, roundtrip. She drove great. 90+ degree day and the temp gauge never went above the 1/3 mark. The pollen was a nightmare though. It was actually raining pollen from the tress we were sitting under. I gave up dusting after an hour. My wingman brought his Sassy Grass Green AAR which when covered in pollen looked like it was covered in green flocking fuzz.

Fun show. Approximately 150 Mopars in attendance with a good 1/3 being all sorts of versions of Hellcats and SRT Challengers. (I so want one of them purple ones).

[njsteve]

The refurbished Sanyo FT-489 arrived back today. Only took a couple minutes to swap it with the other radio. It sounds amazing! This guy does incredible work. It plays my old high school Bob Seger tapes just like the old days, only better sounding through the modern-ish speakers.

Now I guess I have to find a matching amp/equalizer...

It's the old tale of "Give a mouse a cookie...and he'll want a glass of milk"...etc.

[KevinW]

Looks like a cool show! I have these two equalizers if they are vintage enough for you.

[njsteve]

Some friends and I decided to go on a little covered bridge cruise across the NJ/PA border this afternoon. We had a 68 SS396 Camaro, a 63 SW Corvette, and a 66 Corvette restomod. It was a fun 70 mile cruise around the area. The 'cuda ran great and the new stereo sounds just like the old days.

The first song that was playing on the radio when I started the car up was AC/DC "Highway to Hell."

[njsteve]

a couple more taken by my friends.

[427TJ]

Oooh, a BY/black hat SS396 Camaro. (With black CA plates.)

[njsteve]

Here's the results of me spending an inordinate amount of time blacking out all of the gills on the rocker panel moldings.

The vendor back in 1970 who produced these originally, sprayed them black first and then followed with silver from the forward end so the backside of each gill would remain blacked out.

I have tried to duplicate that process before on prior cars and it just never comes out right.

What's the old saying? work smarder not harder? ;-)

I simply sprayed the entire rocker molding argent first and then sat at my kitchen counter with a wide, bevel tip permanent sharpie marker and got a result that just about duplicated the original look. The way the black sharpie ink soaked into the textured fiberglass panel gave a feathered edge in the same way the dusting of silver paint over black would have done.

Here's how they came out after several hours of hand marking each louver gill at the dining room table when my wife was out shopping:

[njsteve]

My buddy and I drove the cars to another show today. We took a couple shots from his garage before we left. I have 303 miles on the car now!

[CTBob]

Nice work, Steve! …And, yer buddy's double-A-R looks, well… …Sublime!

…And, is that, perchance, a SIAC decal in his left quarter window?

[njsteve]

Actually it's quite Sassy (Grass). :-) And yes, that's an old SIAC decal from back in the day.

Interesting connection of his car to me. He has a "Don Garlits 1990" sharpie autograph on the underside of the trunklid. My old red 70 Charger had the same exact autograph. Don Garlits signed it at a World Of Wheels car show in Tampa, Florida in late 1990. Turns out that 'cuda was parked in the mopar display, next to my three Chargers (the 69 Daytona, the 70 R/T-SE and the 71 sunroof car) at that same show under a prior owner 30 years ago!

Here's the fbook link ro a video clip in case you can access it. https://www.facebook.com/10000498220...75709315938459