1966 Barracuda Clutch Z-Bar Installation

Continuing with the Z-bar refurbishment, I purchased some new bushings, clips and seals for the Z-bar from Brewer's (seals aren't in the photo), a company that specializes in MoPar manual transmissions. The parts were about $40 shipped to my PO box.

1966 Barracuda Clutch Z-Bar Repair

I just couldn't seem to get the clutch in my Barracuda adjusted right. I'd push the clutch pedal to the floor and there was still a little resistance in the shifter handle when shifting into gear, which meant to me that the clutch wasn't releasing fully. It was almost there but not quite. And I had the adjusting rod to the point that the throwout bearing was just clear of the pressure plate fingers when the clutch pedal was all the way released. Another issue was when I released the clutch, there sometimes would be quite the shudder. Something just wasn't right. So I delved into the problem, and found that the Z-bar had a lot of play in it. And it had been repaired at some point in its past.

'Cuda Sun Visor Repair

The preferred fix for a sun visor that has lost its stitching is generally not to drill holes in the thing and use rivets. Someone previously decided to do just that though. And it didn't hold up all that well to boot.

Dash Circuit Board Pin Repair - Barracuda

A few nights ago I was driving my 1966 Barracuda and decided it was time to fix the wiper motor issue, and it was also then that I happened to notice a couple dash lights weren't working. Then my high-beam indicator light went out. I tapped on the instrument cluster and the dash and high beam indicator lights all came back on. So since I had the dash out of the car to work on the wiper motor, I also did some detective work to fix the dash lights. Here's what I found:

Sluggish Windshield Wiper Motor Repair - Barracuda

Living in Washington State comes with certain things deemed necessities that may be considered optional in some states. Windshield wipers come to mind. Yes, I know wipers are mandatory equipment in all states but if you lived in SoCal for instance, you could probably get by most of the year without needing them. Not here. We may need 'em any month of the year.

So here I am, driving the Plymouth Barracuda home the day I bought it from my brother earlier this year and it starts raining lightly. I try the wipers and they swipe up, then stop. Hmmm. My brother was right, the wipers do need some attention. So a couple days ago I pulled the dash out of the car and removed the wiper motor to see what's up.

Inland Shifter Rebuild - Barracuda

Those familiar with mid-Sixties Mopars will know that in 1966 Chrysler made a giant step backwards with their 4-speed cars. Prior to 1966 Ma Mopar had been using Hurst shifters on their A-833 4-speed cars. In 1966 though, they changed to a shifter made by Inland. The one nice feature of the Inland shifter was that it had a reverse lockout "T" handle, which is pretty cool.

The shifter in my car was woefully out of adjustment and a bit sloppy, but the main issue was that when pulling the shifter to the left to engage 1st or 2nd gear, the shifter would partially enter the reverse gate and lock out 1st/2nd gear engagement until the shifter handle was moved to the right slightly. This process got old quickly so I removed the shifter from the car and disassembled it to see what the issue was.

Chrysler 8-3/4" Differential Adjustment - Barracuda

My Barracuda had a strange rubbing noise coming from the differential when I drove it home the day I bought the car. I wondered if one of the tires was low and causing the Sure Grip to make noise. Nope, wasn't it. I then checked the axles for end play. That wasn't it either. I checked the axles for excessive run-out on the lathe (the photo below shows measuring in the middle of the axle but I checked bearing and spline ends too). Still not the problem.

Small Door Panel Repair - Barracuda

An unwanted guest made its way into my Barracuda prior to me purchasing the car. The guest was brash enough to chew a small hole into one of the door panels.

Door panel and seat back color change - Barracuda

The interior of my "new" Barracuda is quite green. The original color was a light green/gold color that Plymouth called Citron Gold. Somewhere along the way the previous owner put in new seat covers and floor carpet. The seat panels are a light green color velour but the seat backs, console, door panels, armrests, and carpet were finished in a very dark shiny green. Here's a shot of the green door panel. I'd painted the armrest earlier just to test to see how it looked.

Driver's Side Vent Repair - Barracuda

The vents in these older A-body cars leave a little to be desired in terms of aesthetics. They are a simple door with a latch, and you reach under the dash and rotate the latch then pull the door open. My Sport Fury on the other hand has tastefully-done small chrome-handled cable pulls right under the steering wheel that you pull to open, and both can be opened from the drivers seat.

Back to the 'Cuda's vents though. The driver's side vent door was broken off and the opening had been taped up with duct tape. When I finally pulled it out, I noticed someone had also stuffed burlap into the hole to help keep drafts down.

Out With The Old - In With The...... Old? 1966 Plymouth Barracuda

I thought I came up with a pretty clever title. I don't want to look on the ol' Interweb to see how prevalent it is. I want to think I'm just that clever to make up something like that. Um, yeah...

Anyhoo, I've written a bit about my 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury with its 325-horsepower high-compression 383 V-8, AFB 4-barrel carburetor, and 4-speed manual transmission. This photo was taken last week at a county park on Indian Island, WA.