New Member from CA, with 70 'Cuda 340

[DaveBob]

My 70 'Cuda was my first car, purchased in 1977, for $1300. I am the third owner and know the second owner and original owner. The original engine has never been rebuilt and has only needed a valve job and a timing chain. When I considered doing a rebuild, I found another 70 340 and rebuilt it first, to try out the best shop I could find. The fresh motor runs great, but I wasn't 100% happy with the shop. So, I plan to use the fresh motor in another 70 340 E-body that's missing it's original motor (if I can find one). But, I still need to find a good shop that I trust with the original motor, so I can remove the current motor and reinstall the original one. Meanwhile, I am doing a 4-wheel disc conversion, with 13" front rotors and 6-piston calipers, and 12" rear rotors with 4-piston calipers. The inspiration for doing the bigger brakes was finally finding 17x9 forged aluminum wheels with the correct offset (in the picture showing just one wheel on the car), and which provided room for the bigger brakes. Prior to the 17x9's, I had 16x8's on the car (in the picture of the whole car), but they weren't big enough to clear the brakes I wanted. I also installed TTI headers and exhaust system, a 1.125" Quickor front sway bar and an OEM .75" rear sway bar. And, I just installed a brand new 489 third member, stuffed with 3.91 gears and a Torsen style limited slip, and a 4-speed pedal set that I restored, in preparation for installing a 5-speed manual, to replace the automatic.

 

[moparleo]

aboard. Great buy for a 15 year old.
What type of build was done on the engine and what didn't you like about the place that did the work ? Looks like a little overkill on the brakes though. Did you take pictures of your conversion ? Some members would be interested in seeing the conversion.

 

[340challconvert]

Dave to FEBO from New Jersey
That is one nice Cuda
Any pics of your upgrades would be appreciated!
People appreciate the hard work that goes into conversions like yours.

 

[DetMatt1]

Welcome to the site from the Motor City!

 

[Rapidfire]

Welcome from Nebraska! Great to have you here on FEBO!

 

[fasjac]

Welcome from Little Rock! Nice looking ride. Love those big brakes.

 

[Fishgutz]

Beautiful Cuda, the elastomer bumpers give a really sleek look. More photos please, nice choice of wheels and tires. Welcome from Northern CA. Happy Hot Rodding!!

 

[moparlee]

Welcome to the site from Michigan! Your Cuda is a stunner in that color.

 

[DaveBob]

aboard. Great buy for a 15 year old.
What type of build was done on the engine and what didn't you like about the place that did the work ? Looks like a little overkill on the brakes though. Did you take pictures of your conversion ? Some members would be interested in seeing the conversion.

I went to work at 14 to buy the car, and eventually had $900 to give the second owner, who agreed to let me take the car and pay him $400 later. The machine work was excellent on the motor, performed by Bob Lambeck. But, Bob unfortunately hired a knucklehead to do some of the assembly, which I redid after taking delivery. Yes, I could have gone down one or two sizes in brakes, but for the $5k total for the rotors, calipers, master cylinder, adjustable proportioning valve, all new stainless lines, new E-brake cables, etc., saving a few hundred to lower performance didn't seem like the thing to do. Plus, I plan some hot laps at Willow Springs Raceway, on the track day that is part of the Spring Fling car show out this way. I did take some pictures of the conversion and would be happy to share them. However, what may be more helpful would be to describe all of the modifications and adjustments needed to make things fit and work correctly, that are not covered in the instructions.

 

[DaveBob]

Welcome to the site from Michigan! Your Cuda is a stunner in that color.

Thank you. And aside for some repaint work on the front fenders and bumper, it is still the original paint, as applied in October 1969.

 

[DaveBob]

One upgrade I did was to run a vapor separator fuel filter and return line to the tank. Since I'm running a 3/8 supply line, I needed a filter with 3/8 inlets and outlets, and found one from a 454 Chevy application. The fuel pick up from Mancini Racing accommodates the 3/8 supply and 1/4 inch return. I think the supply and return lines were from Inline Tube. I have tried lines from The Right Stuff, but they were horrible. Aside from not fitting as well, the way they do their hose barb ends necks the line way down and restricts the flow. The 1/16 bleed hole internal to the filter and feeding the return bleeds off about 1 psi of pressure. The orange insulation covering the fuel lines is from Earle's Supply. I also run a 3/8 thick phenolic spacer under the carb. I have choke wired open, since it never gets cold enough here to use a choke. You'll also notice a fuel pressure sending unit, which was easy to plumb in after switching to AN fittings for the carb inlet. I now have no hot soak issues, even on a hot day, after letting the hot engine sit for a while and restarting it.

 

[DaveBob]

Dave to FEBO from New Jersey
That is one nice Cuda
Any pics of your upgrades would be appreciated!
People appreciate the hard work that goes into conversions like yours.

Thank you. I replied to your message previously, and shared a fuel system upgrade that I did - a vapor separator and return line, but it got posted separately, so you will have to search for it. I'm sorry about that. I don't know why it did that.

 

[DaveBob]

Beautiful Cuda, the elastomer bumpers give a really sleek look. More photos please, nice choice of wheels and tires. Welcome from Northern CA. Happy Hot Rodding!!

Thank you. In the deep burnt orange color, only a front elastomeric bumper was an option. As for the wheels, I would have preferred a silver rather than the grey powder coat, like I did on the previous set of wheels from the same manufacturer. But, since that company has expanded, I was afraid I would never get the wheels at all, if I made a custom order this time. As it was, it took about 6 months to get the wheels. Since they are forged out of one piece of aluminum, they are stronger and lighter than cast or billet aluminum, so the set of four saved me about 50 lbs of unsprung weight compared to my 15x7 rally wheels. Each of the 17x9 wheels are even a few pounds lighter than the the 14x5.5 wheels that came on my car new. Here's a couple pictures of a new wheel next to one of the original wheels.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

Welcome from Panama !

 

[Rich Followell]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[Cudakiller70]

Welcome from California! Nice ride, love the rims.

 

[Fishgutz]

Thank you. In the deep burnt orange color, only a front elastomeric bumper was an option. As for the wheels, I would have preferred a silver rather than the grey powder coat, like I did on the previous set of wheels from the same manufacturer. But, since that company has expanded, I was afraid I would never get the wheels at all, if I made a custom order this time. As it was, it took about 6 months to get the wheels. Since they are forged out of one piece of aluminum, they are stronger and lighter than cast or billet aluminum, so the set of four saved me about 50 lbs of unsprung weight compared to my 15x7 rally wheels. Each of the 17x9 wheels are even a few pounds lighter than the the 14x5.5 wheels that came on my car new. Here's a couple pictures of a new wheel next to one of the original wheels.

View attachment 73966

View attachment 73967

 

[Fishgutz]

What size tire are you going to wrap around those pretty wheels? And you’re running 17 x 9’s on all 4? Post some photos when you ’em bolted on. Enjoy the Ride!!!

 

[DaveBob]

What size tire are you going to wrap around those pretty wheels? And you’re running 17 x 9’s on all 4? Post some photos when you ’em bolted on. Enjoy the Ride!!!

I am running 17x9's all the way around, wrapped with 255-40-17 Falken Azenis tires. The Azenis tires are better tires than many costing far more, and for the relatively soft/grippy compound (200 treadwear rating), they are one of the only ones that are NOT unidirectional, so I can rotate them side to side. And, as an added bonus, they are just a small enough diameter to fit a full size one in the trunk. When I bought the wheels, I bought six just in case they discontinued my +10mm offset and to have spares. BTW - stock 15x7 rally wheels have a +6.35mm offset and stock 14x5.5 rally wheels have a +12.7mm offset, so a +10mm offset is less than an eighth of an inch inboard from the stock 15x7 and a little more than an eighth of an inch outboard from the stock 14x5.5. So, nothing rubs, lock-to-lock on steering, and nothing rubs on bumps or weight off wheels on the lift.

 

[autoxcuda]

Car sorta looks familiar. Bob, are you in SoCal?

Looks good!

If you are rebuilding the 340 or a 360 I’d go with a 4” stroke kit.

Just a simple way to get HP and TQ while being easy on valvetrain.

For engine building at the higher end look into QMP in Chatsworth. Brad started out working for Lambeck many years ago.

Hope to see you out at Willow Springs...