Customer Reviews

Challenger and Barracuda Restoration Guide, 1967-74 (Motorbooks Workshop)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book of information , but definately NOT a "restoration" guide. It provides good information about the options and details to each year make and model but not much more. If you are looking for details about restoring your car (chalk marks, correct finish's, fasteners, etc) keep looking elsewhere. There are also numerous errors contained in this book as well as the "Charger, Roadrunner, Superbee Authentic Resto Guide" written by the same author, no surprise there! Buy it for the information, but don't think you're gonna take home any show trophies after reading it .

This book provides valuable illustrations and photos of these beautiful automobiles, and also some of the little known details that can help make your restoration complete.

Don't expect this to be the only resource you'll need to complete a concours restoration, but you'll find it extremely useful for coming to understand the different options that were available for your model year, and more importantly, those little things that were unique to a particular year model.

I've found it to be a very helpful resource for my first restoration, a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S.

If you want to know what the proper tire pressure for a 'cuda or challenger was or what color the aircleaner was, get this book. If you want help or guidance fixing up your car, look elsewhere. This book will tell you all about what the original specifications were for these cars (which might be helpful to some) but has no information on how to repair them to the point where knowing which direction a sticker faced would help.

Of the 3 E-Body restoration guides that I own, this one is the best if you are looking for part #'s,where they are found on the car , specifications and paint types/colors used.
This book has very little historical info,very little 'why it was done that way' and it does NOT have a single color photo of a Barracuda or Challenger to highlight a specific statement in the text. However, if you are looking to find out the proper paint color (or lack of) for a specific part by year or are looking for a book with the greatest number of Part numbers/codes for the E-Body then this is the book to have.

Use this book to find the correct item part # for your year of Cuda or Challenger as well as proper color for that part. To make your search for that hard to find part easier, get the related book, 'The Part Interchange manual' to find that part from other cars that will be an exact fit.

Thanks to this book,for example, I found out why I could not get my wiper motor to work properly. The 1970 Challenger that I bought as a partial restoration was using a 1970 2 Speed Windshield Wiper with a 1972 variable speed wiper motor. I also now know that my 1970 Challenger which I bought re-painted with Y1 Banana Yellow matches the paint code on the very good Fender decoder in the book BUT the engine is NOT supposed to be painted Banana Yellow.

My biggest gripe with the way this book is written is that it takes a lot of time to 'get to the answer' because you have to read the entire Chapter on a topic in order to not miss the information on the Cuda or Challenger you are looking for. That is because it is very common in one paragraph that starts to discuss a part for the Barracuda,for example, to switch mid-paragraph and start discussing the Challenger. For an owner of a 1970 Challenger, one would think that one could skip reading a paragraph with 1968 in the Title but not with this book.

An example of a properly organized book is the 'Original Challenger and Barracuda 1970-19754 restorer guide ' since it's Chapter's are broken out by Year and each Chapter has specific sub Chapter's by Cuda or Challenger.

The bottom line is that I always start with the '1967-1975 Restoration Guide' before I open my other restoration books.

Very good reference book for Mopar restorations. I wouldn't start to restore a project car without it.

This book is loaded with info, codes, casting numbers, diagrams, and photos. There is a lot of useful info. Many of the diagrams look to be directly taken from Plymouth/Dodge chasis and body manuals, but with additional info. If you are going to do a complete A to Z restoration, you will need more info than what is offered here, but show me one single book that covers an entire restoration on E-bodies, and I will buy it. Its my observation that you need a full library of reference sources and this book has its place.

This book is well organized and has a plethora of useful information, including part numbers and photographs. However, the author appears to be chiefly interested in the "E-body" cars (1970-74), as opposed to the "A-body" Barracudas (1967-69). The amount of information on the A-bodies is disappointingly small, and I noted several statements that are factually incorrect, as well as overly sweeping generalizations, and confusions between similar features. I personally am mainly familiar with the A-body cars, and I am willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume that the E-body information is accurate. I am even willing to recommend this book to A-body owners, with the caveat not to take every statement at face value -- the part numbers and other statistical information are probably worth the price.

A handsome, well-designed book that is loaded with information.

272 pp, something like 325 b&w illustrations: photos, vintage photos, detail photography, charts, technical drawings, tables, and reproductions of vintage materials from the manufacturer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Decoding VINS and Fender Tags
Powerplants
Frames, Suspension, and Steering
Transmissions and Drivetrains
Brakes
Wheels, Wheel Covers, and Tires
Exterior Sheet Metal
Interiors
Electrical Systems
Options
Index

This book is good but not great at giving some insight into the correct part numbers, paint colors, finishes, etc. that one would need to do a proper restoration of a Barracuda or Challenger.

This is a good reference book to have but you will need an assembly manual to tackle a restoration. The book has very little in the way of practical restoration tips and a lot of rehash of Chrysler data.