I have had this car since 2003. I bought it off of ebay for a really good price. It was my first Mopar. Immediately (even before I took possession) I began to change it and make it my own.

It had been brought back to life initially by Hodge's Restorations in South Carolina. It has gone through a lot of changes since then, and I have grown immensely as a Mopar enthusiast/car guy.

The paint/body work that they did was average. Probably a 4-5 footer I'd say. Runs down low, thick filler in places, etc... Guys I know might disagree and say it was nicer, but it's my perception that matters, so the time had come and it needed to be redone after chasing down bad spots here and there from poor adhesion, etc...

I pretty much got the car to mechanically how I wanted it with a 480+ hp 408 stroker, reinforced chassis, tuned suspension, etc.. I actually spent more on the car AFTER I owned it than it cost me initially, if that tells you anything about what I've done to it. This car isn't going anywhere, so the dollars invested means nothing to me. So the car came apart last fall and I decided to go black.

It was originally a B5 Gran Coupe. Hodge's painted it EV2 with an AAR scheme in 2001, and now it is black with an AAR scheme... because really... what is better than a black on black Mopar? Nothing, that's what!

Here's a pic of the first day it arrived.

Here's a pic of it several years later after the tens of thousands of dollars I spent on it. Yeah, hard to tell from a pic...

Here's another on the same day. Man, it's been a while since I've seen/driven her... I miss it.

Let me tell you, not to toot my own horn, but this sucker is fast and handles great! The car used to have a lot of weak points, the least of which was the paint. It just got to the point where I improved the car until the weakest point was the decent paint job... and the tires, but that's another story...

So it's going black. I am certain that another EV2 Mopar is in my future because it really is one of the best colors in my opinion. I have always really liked EV2 on Challenger TA's...

So here is a pic of when I dropped her off at Paintshop101 in San Antonio... sans engine, trans...

Here's a pic from a couple of months ago. Yeah, it seems backwards. That side of the car (passenger) had been swiped in the late seventies. I have even talked to the original owner... and eighty something year old lady! The quarter had been repaired 1970's style (poorly), and at some point the door and front fender had been replaced as well. It wasn't a real impact sort of collision, just tore up some sheet metal. Hodge's cut the old quarter off and replaced it (before the full quarters were available). When they did, it looked OK... but it was a little crooked and the door appeared to stick out at the body line a bit. Paintshop101 refit it and got the body lines to line up. We are paying close attention to the horizontal body line.

The Year One hood has warped up and there was too much of a gap between it and the header panel. Paintshop is fixing that.

Here's another from around January. Another thing that had always bothered me from the day it arrived was the joints where the quarters meet the roof on both sides. Hodge's didn't do a fantastic job in these areas and you could see the filler in these areas in most lights. We are absolutely going to make sure that doesn't happen again.

HEre's one from just about a month ago. Progress has been made. The hood fits much better and the gaps between panels are looking SO much better.

Another.. I'm also taking the opportunity to weld in some XV inner fender braces, and a lower radiator brace. I had to modify it to fit, but I am installing one of their engine bay braces as well. So now with sub frame connectors, torque boxes, leaf spring reinforcements, and the above mentioned items, this thing is going to be ROCK SOLID!

Lookin' good Steve; I can hardly wait to see her done.



Dave

Here's some pics that were taken today: 6/10/09. Here you can see an inner fender brace. Note: the original B5 paint still there where I think the control arm bumper/stopper should be located...!

Here's a newer pic of that passenger quarter. The fenders and doors have the initial coats of black already... my car is just waiting in line. Just a few more things to do before paint!

Sweet Steve.. Look forward in seeing her up close..

T

I checked out the XV Motorsports and am motivated to get back to work on the 'cuda project. did you get the entire XV CHASSIS STIFFENING SYSTEM?

I bought my subframe connectors from US Cartool. Got my torque boxes from Harms.

I bought the lower rad support, the engine bay brace (bolt on), and the inner braces from XV - This sucker was solid after the torque boxes and connectors. I can only imagine how tight its gonna be after the XV stuff.

Man I wish they made a good 15" tire, cuz then I'd be in business! I just can't stomach the idea of big wheels on my car though...

We are on the same path... a few years ago I bought the US Cartool subframe connectors and Harms torque boxes. I have replaced the front frame rails which I think are fine; however to tighten it up even more I plan to get some of the XV stuff.

What kind of exhaust are you going to use? The reason I ask is the sub-frame connectors make it more difficult for the side exit exhaust. I found a set-up by Spin-Tech which I think will work great.

I have TTI headers back to TTI head pipes with servo controlled cutouts grafted onto the head pipes, then the exhaust runs back to Accurate Ltd. high flow AAR mufflers and out the diffuser-less Accurate Ltd. side pipes.

I took a 6" diameter 3/8" sidewall pipe and cut out some "channels" to graft into the subframe connectors. Super rigid and turned out really nice. It was A LOT of work, but I've seen what you took on with your Cuda, so I know you can handle it. Here are a couple of pics.

Here is where I tacked that carefully sectioned piece of pipe and tacked it into the connector.

Here it is before grinding.

And here after grinding... ( I welded inside and out)

Note: Before I welded these in, I drilled a big hole in the middle of the arch and ended up plug welding the apex of the arch to the bottom of the rear sub frame, then grinding it back smooth again.

It is a very unnoticeable detail and it is under appreciated because no one would ever notice... but my car is so much tighter because of the connectors and I still get to keep the AAR theme true.

Here are the latest pics. Set to go into the booth Monday 7/6. The doors and fenders were black, but they finished up the body and went for one last test fit and thought it could use just a little more TLC. I am ecstatic to see the black in the headlight bucket!

Here's a rear shot. We are over on time, but the car's looking good, so I can deal with it.

Looks really good!

Got proof the car was in the booth today, so its all good! Body looks straight and man, I am excited. Next pic will hopefully be of a black Cuda, not a gray one.

Well...we're waiting.

Joe

Black is SO

Yep...that's a black car. I can tell cause it's sucking up all the flash from your camera.

Cool

Joe

OK...It's black now.....GET IT TOGETHER !

Not all of us work as quick as Alan...

Steve at Paintshop101 says it will be ready to pick up within two weeks. They put the final polish on it yesterday after these pics, but the front end back together, and are spraying the flat black today. I am certain that this thing will be drop dead gorgeous once they get it done and cleaned up. I am impressed with the panel fitment/body work.

is it an orig black car???

I was kind of thinking that was a wasted effort as the car looked pretty darn good red, then you posted the black photos. Looks great!

Sheldon

Looking good Steve....looking good!

Joe

Ok, for those of you who have been following along... she is back home!!!

I have to put her back together over my Christmas break, but at least my baby is back where she belongs.

I really want to thank Steve and his crew at Paintshop101 in San Antonio for sticking this project out and not producing anything less than perfection. My project should have cost me twice what it did, but Steve stuck to his word like a MAN and did the right thing.

If all guys were like him in the biz, paint/body guys wouldn't have such a bad name. If I were a rich dude, I'd have paid him more because I know it should have cost more. THANK YOU STEVE ENOCHS.

You guys who are reading this, please help me pay him back and give him a shot on your next project.

Here's Steve and I talking it over one last time.

Back shot. No way to tell you how mirror clean this car is. It needs a detail. I can handle that.

Me.

On its way back home...

I like it, the car looks awesome. Makes me want to get back in the garage and do some work on my Duster...I am going black also, I hope it turns out as nice as the Cuda.

That is SICK looking!!

Can't wait to see it back together!!

Joe

great looking cuda

holy smoke!! wow, congratulations, super nice.

After some medical setbacks and lack of time, I have been able to do just a few things to the car. It has been on a body dolly for months, and I was able to install a B body rear into it yesterday. Its nice to get the rear wheels back on the ground, if only symbolic.

That's a B body rear with SS springs and Dr. Diff's relocation brackets. I am running the Scarebird rear disk brake setup.

From swapping to the E rear housing to the B rear, I will be able to run a set of shared 15X10's (5.5" back spacing) that I'll use on both my Super Bee and my Cuda. When I'm not running the spare aftermarket wheels (most of the time I won't be), I'll use the 15X8 Rallyes I already own. The wheel adapters you see are there to put the wheel back where it was in the wheel well when an E body rear was being used. The B body rear is 1" shorter on each side, so these are 1" adapters. ALSO, you can't run the Scarebird disk setup with Rallyes unless you use these adapters because of interference. The adapters make everything fit and look just right.

I wanted to ditch the 8.75 rear in my Super Bee in favor of a Dana (High HP), so I literally had it laying around (now I have an E body 8.75 to sell instead). I invested in the relo kit and the adapters for about the cost of a couple of rims. So essentially these changes saved me the cost of two tires because I can share between the two cars and it saved me some space. Plus I didn't know going into this that the Scarebird disks didn't work with Rallyes... having them fit with these adapters was just a fortunate bonus!

Side note: I had some center bushings machined to press into the adapters for good measure. I didn't like how the wheel was going to only be supported by the lugs (as opposed to how the wheel also rests on the axle center normally). I also had to bend the rear sway bar ends in to fit with the different length housing.