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. |
| Mike has purchased anotherBelvedere for his new cool
ride at Maple Grove Raceway last week. (04-07-2007) |
| Looks like a pretty cool Plymouth Belvedere. Details
to come soon. |
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Mike Potts
'70 Hemi Cuda "426"
Featured member January 2007
Updated 12-20-2006
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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:
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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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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!" |
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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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