The Goal: Bring the Hemicuda Into the 21st Century

by Randy Holden

Matt Delaney of Shreveport, LA, is no stranger to the Mopar hobby. In our August, 1995, issue we featured his B-1 powered Duster, which is now running 9.80s!

Ever since he was a youth though, Matt's had a fetish for 'Cudas. He blames this on watching "Mannix" episodes as a child. For years he's searched for the perfect Hemicuda to no avail. Having owned several 440 'Cudas before, he wanted the step up, and looked at three restored Heicudas before realizing he didn't want a restored car. They were more museum pieces than drivable cars, and that's not what he wanted.

Rethinking his strategy Matt found an immaculately clan 'Cuda body literally sitting on a desk in the corner of a local body shop! The bare shell sat atop an old wooden desk, having been completely disassembled in 1979 and left after its owner lost interest in the car. A 440, 4 speed car, the drivetrain had been long lost. Matt cut a deal in 1996 and the fun began.

Drawing upon his years of experience with 'Cudas, he vowed to correct all the factory's shortcomings with the Hemicuda. Basically, he realized that E-bodies rattle too much, were generally not well assembled, and with a Hemi up front, they handled terribly. In other words, he wanted to take a 28-year -old 'Cuda and make it feel like a brand new tight 300M.

To call Matt obsessive would be an understatement. The body was put on a rotisserie and he and his friend Robert Stackowitz pressed, poured, and forced paint into every crevice on this sucker. The frame was beefed up to help prevent flexing, Magnumforce tubular upper control arms were installed to help handle the weight to come.

A clad plated sway bar was added, a Firm Feel rebuilt T/A steering box was used, all polyurethane bushings went everywhere, Cordoba 12" front discs were installed, and a skinner B-body Dana 0 now sites on factory springs moved inboard 3". This allows maximum rubber under the stock wheel wells.

To kill rattles and make this thing tight as a drum, the passenger compartment was coated with Dynamat to deaden the sound and eliminate squeaks. Practically every bolt is Teflon coated. Above the headliner is a layer of silver insulation to deflect noise and heat. The inside of the doors are coated, and 1974 "Cuda windows and power mechanisms were used. Matt says they're more heavy duty and rattle less! This boy did his homework! Even the console is filled with the padding and insulation to keep heat an d noise sway. Slamming the door sounds like slamming the door of a new LH sedan. It's just a solid whump rather than a tinny clatter.

Legendary Interiors custom made the seats. Those are 1971-style gray houndstooth inserts with black leather over new foam front and back. Note that the dash pad doesn't have the Barracuda name in it. This is a rare late 1070s NOS factory pad. By that time, the factory was selling just one dash pad for both Challengers and Barracudas and made them without the names embossed.

Practically everything is NOS, including the Pistol Grip shifter. The leather wrapped steering wheel is a Grant unit perched atop a billet aluminum spacer custom made by Grant themselves. When told their generic adapter didn't work right with the E-body steering column, Grant fabricated the piece and only charged him $14! That's service!

The engine is a technological marvel. The block is a new Ray Barton 528" unit with Barton ported and polished aluminum heads. It uses Manley rods and JE 10:1 compression flat top pistons. The 'Cuda thrives on pump gas. DLI stainless roller rockers reside within the wide valve covers, and hydraulic Competition Cams .530 lift cam moves the valvetrain around. Then things get rather high tech.

A well known problem with the Hemi is that it tends to bog off the line, developing most of its power on the top end. To solve this, being a fast boat junkie as well, Matt knew what to do. Rance Fuel Injectors was called upon to build a custom fuel injection system, using all the Hemi's specs. Matt's only concern was that a stock Shaker scoop would be able to fit under the hood. The Rance injector uses a custom made Cutler throttle body and sits atop a reworked Indy aluminum intake. Dual fuel rails sit above either side of the intake and are fed by a high volume electric fuel pump. The works is controlled with a stat-of-the-art Acell lap top computer which plugs into a module in the glove box.

The computer allows the flow of the fuel to be manually programmed and changed every 400 rpm and monitors a host of other factors. It works with the oxygen sensor to ensure the engine is never leaned out and will shut the electrical system down in case Matt misses a shift and the engine starts to over-rev. When driving normally, the computer operates the fuel injection system in an economy mode that nets Matt about 14 mpg on the highway. At over 30% throttle, this computer automatically shifts into a performance mode and ups the gas to the preset gulping specifications! With this arrangement, matt gets the ultimate in driveability.

Matt and his friends David Gunn and Robert Stackowitz finished the 'Cuda about six months ago, On a chassis dyno, the "Cuda recorded 518 horses and 570 lbs. of torque! And remember, this thing gets great gas mileage, idles smooth, and is as dependable as a new Viper. It runs low 12 second quarters with ease and cruises lazily at 80 mph with 3.54 gears. Matt's putting about 500 miles a month on his purple cruiser. One further detail. As we go to press, a custom A/C system is in the works.

Can you really have it all in a muscle car? Can old and new technology live in harmony? After seeing this machine, we've gotta say, absolutely!