Here is one of the first bolt on parts that was acquired for this project. Notice the difference in this Wiper Motor compared to the typical Assembly Line Units. It is one of the earliest dated Motors made for the 1970 model year. On the very early units, the barrel is longer and the stamped numbers are smaller. Also included in the photo is the VIN plate that will be displayed and riveted to the dash pad.

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Here are a few pictures showing some previous assembly stages. One of the photos shows Bill Embree assisting with the the process. He is the Gentleman that was a career Employee of the St. Louis Chrysler Assembly Plant. He was actually involved in the building of the Car Bodies at that Facility. He said that many of the “hand assembly” stages of those vehicles were similar to what we experienced with this project. His input has been priceless!

Cowl Panel Body Stamping

Cowl Panel Body Stamping

Horizontal View of Driver Side

Horizontal View of Driver Side

Bill Embree (knelling at the passenger side door opening) helping to access the "squaring" of the Body Panels

Bill Embree (knelling at the passenger side door opening) helping to access the “squaring” of the Body Panels

We decided to do this project because after completing 3 OE Cars in a span of 8 years, the work was no longer challenging or exciting. You can only visit the same watering hole before it becomes boring and routine! We thought it would be fun/different to build a “Concept Car” that had actually been made by Chrysler but never available to the Public!

Here are a few photos from earlier stages of the project. These illustrate some of the major reconstructive measures that were taken to convert the “conventional” body panels. It has been a difficult engineering challenge with many twists and turns along the way. Steve Been is a Master Technician when it comes to metal fabrication. This one of a kind oddity will certainly raise some eyebrows when complete! Stayed tuned.

2 Door Cuda (left) - 4 Door Cuda (right) Quarter Panel

2 Door Cuda (left) – 4 Door Cuda (right) Quarter Panel

2 Door Cuda (left) - 4 Door Cuda (right) Quarter Panel

2 Door Cuda (left) – 4 Door Cuda (right) Quarter Panel

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Trunk Floor - Inner Wheel Well

Trunk Floor – Inner Wheel Well

Quarter Panel in place - noticed custom rolled & crimped edge

Quarter Panel in place – noticed custom rolled & crimped edge

Front Clip & Spot Welds

Front Clip & Spot Welds

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It will be a Hardtop! The roof was actually lowered about an inch. We removed the B Body sections and what you see are the E Body panels welded back in place. If you look at the photo of the roof (shown below) the top section was split in order to lower the trajectory so it could be bent DOWN to meet the E Body replacement section. The drip rail section also had to be split apart and re-formed to match the downward slope. The sail panels had to be completely remade from scratch on an English Wheel. The Roof required a lot of engineering changes to work

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More Pics

The great thing about Concept Cars is they were a test bed for things that might have “NEVER” happened in a regular production vehicle so EVERYTHING was fair game 2thumbs!

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