These photos were taken by Denny Aungst & Mike Potts. The rights to them
have been released to the garage club for use as they see fit.
All rights reserved 2000.
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| Mike has purchased another Belvedere for his new cool ride at Maple Grove Raceway
last week. (04-07-2007) |
| Looks like a pretty cool Plymouth. Details to come soon. |
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Michael Potts
Garage Club Treasurer '08-'09
& member # 59
'70 Hemi Cuda "426" - '67 Belvedere II
Featured member January 2007
Updated 4-15-2007
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What is the ideal car for someone who grew up in a family owned Mopar dealership? How does a 1970
Plymouth 'Cuda sound? Then lets even make it a Hemi, one of the real Hemis, a 426.
Mike bought this 'Cuda back in 1985. It originally sported a 440, 4 speed transmission, and a Dana rear. The springs
were slid in with some home built tubs for the big tires in the rear.
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So, for starters, a little background might be nice... I've known Mike since he was riding his
Honda 50 and I was stuck driving go carts. Finally we got larger motorcycles, then ATVs. Heck, Mike had one of
the trickest Yamaha Warriors around and didn't even race it! I remember getting to hang out at his parent's Chrysler/Plymouth
dealership. I always thought that was so cool. Boy, if we knew then what we know now about that Mopar iron!
Mike's first 'Cuda bought in 1983, also a '70 Plymouth Gran Coupe which was a 383 cubic inch automatic car with
an 8 3/4 open rear and some serious airplane gears. That car had scary top end on the interstate, but wasn't the
quickest out the hole. A set of gears would have solved that issue. It was brown with a black interior and was
Mike's daily driver.
Here is a shot of his brown 'Cuda parked behind my car at the high school like everyday. Next to that is one of
Mike at Maple Grove raceway at a King of the Street flagman race:
Click images for full sized view:
 
Mike also cruised many cars that came through the dealership over the years. I remember a cool
red & white 1963 Polara with a 413 Cross Ram and a set of brakes that always wanted to pitch you through the
windshield. He had a small collection of Mopars parked at the dealership at one time. This picture below shows
(left to right) Mike's cousin's 1967 Dodge Dart with a 340, auto and an 8 3/4 posi, Mike's brown 1970 'Cuda, a
friend's AAR 'Cuda with a 340, six pack, and an 8 3/4 posi (under the cover), and two of Mike's challengers. The
first is a '74 Dodge Challenger Ralley with a 318 and auto, whiloe the second was a '70 Challenger RT with a 383
Magnum, 4 speed and 8 3/4 posi.:
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Mike also briefly owned a '70 Plymouth AAR Cuda That is not pictured here fromDec. '89 to May '91. Bought for only
1800 bucks, the car had a 340, six pack, 4 speed and an 8 3/4 posi with 3:55 gears. |
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Eventually, Mike wanted a serious car. After a few years of cruising his first 'Cuda (and maybe
a loss to my Olds at Maple Grove the day the above picture was taken, but that's a story in itself.), Mike was
prompted to purchase his current 'Cuda seen below.
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To the right is a nice shot of Mike's two 'Cudas side by side at the dealership. The brown
was a stout 383, but nothing compared to the 440 beast next to it.
Below is a shot of the blue 'Cuda's engine compartment when he bought it. It changed several times as Mike's
performance desire grew.
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click image for full sized view:
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What was kind of unique in Pine Grove during the 80's was the fact that a street car was cruising
around with some severly wide rear tires and a narrowed rear. At one point it had a dual quad tunnel ram sticking
out the hood. Even cooler was the fact that Mike's Mom used it regularly to go to work. Where was that? She was
a middle school teacher at Pine Grove. Talk about turning heads on the parking lot at the school.
click images for full sized view:
 
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After several years of driving the Pro-Street 'Cuda, trying out Nitrous and a dual quad tunnel ram
set up, and a growing dislike for the bright orange stripe down the side of the car, Mike finally decided to pull
it apart to create his dream car.
Mike actually bought a Baker 426 hemi and a "K" frame to install it in his 'Cuda. He also wanted to put
a better transmission into the car and since he didn't care for the manual he opted for the 727 torqueflite. The
car has new tubs and is being completely gone over.
To the right is a pic of the car in the process of restoration. Below is the concept sketch Mike is using. |
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| Mike's New Hemi: I know, you've read far enough and want to
hear about the Hemi. Well how does this sound for a drivetrain? Start with a 472 Hemi rated at 675HP and 650 lb/ft
of torque, Bored .060 over with 12.5:1 Compression Ratio, a 4.15 Forged "Hank the Crank" Crankshaft,
a Lunati Solid Roller Cam, Ported & Ploished Steel Heads, Pete Jackson Gear Drive, and a Dual Quad Intake with
a couple 600 cfm Carter AFB's. Back that up with a 727 Torqueflite rebuilt with Red Line Clutches, Turbo Action
Cheetah forward pattern manual valve body, and a 10" TCI converter with a 4500 stall. Finish it up with a
narrowed Dana 60 and a set of 4:88 Posi gears to turn those big tires. Let's just say, "Wow!" |
click images for full sized view:
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| Eventually, Mike decided it was time to clean house and narrow down his focus. He sold all his project
cars, with the exception of his brown 'Cuda. The brown 'Cuda was used for parts to improve the blue 'Cuda. He used
things like the roof skin and other body parts. Mike said he is considering reassembling the brown 'Cuda after
the Hemi is finished since the parts he used are now readily available again through the reproduction companies.
Since the blue 'Cuda was apart and he needed a daily driver he started looking for his next ride: |
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Mike's Mustang GT convertible: At this point, Mike bought
himself a 5.0 Mustang GT. This drove a lot of top down miles and many of them were weekend trips to Ocean City.
Though it was not severly modified, he did install several bolt-on performance items like Nitous Oxide, underdrive
pulleys, wheels, exhaust, and the like.
He did have it painted, once. It originally was the two tone blue/silver scheme you see on most. He liked the solid
blue paint that he opted for much better. The photo to the left is of Mike. |
The Street Bike phase: There also was a time when a lot of
our friends in Pine Grove, bought street bikes. Not to be left behind, for a while Mike had a Suzuki Katana 600.
This shot is from a test & tune day the club had at Beaver Springs back in '99 or '00. Mike could do about
107 mph in the quarter with this thing. |
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Mike's PT Cruiser: Mike, being a Mopar guy his entire life
with the exception of owning the Mustang, was looking to buy a new car when the PT Cruiser was first coming out.
Mike ordered one, a touring edition, when the waiting list was formed. Too bad he bought it before the Turbo model
came out. This was to be his daily driver so the lower operating costs and higher reliability of a naturally aspirated
car was a smarter move.
Here it is at a car show in Niagara Falls. His is the red one directly in front of the camera. |
The Belvedere: What's Mike cruising now? Mike's Latest purchase
was the four door, ClassicJunkyard.com cruiser pictured to the left. Currently not much more than a 318 powered Plymouth Bevedere with a fake
flat black "6 pack" hood scoop and olive green paint. The "hot rod" touches do give it some
head turning potential at first glance.
Mike says he did buy a drivetrain for the Belvedere including a 440 HP Engine, bored .030 Over with 11.5 to 1 pistons,
915 Closed Chamber Heads, and a Lunati Bracket Master ll camshaft & lifters .
Hey, the guy's gotta do something for fun while his 'Cuda is down!
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