Car Craft's 1971 Plymouth HemiCuda Clone

1971 Plymouth Hemicuda Clone Under The Hood

After more than a year of waiting, and waiting some more, it's done. This no-holds-barred, build-a-brand-new '71 HemiCuda clone is out on the street, drawing crowds at cruise nights and blasting down the dragstrip.

So, what has been done with the car since it was let loose from Ultimate Rides? Well, exactly what's described above, as a matter of fact.

As soon as the car arrived in California, we snuck it up to Los Angeles County Raceway, where even in an out-of-tune state (it had a mongo-serious bog we didn't have time to cure) it made a few respectable passes down the track. After many chances to drool over the paint and bodywork, Hemi mill, new Year One interior, and generally flawless car-crafting efforts, we headed out to a few local cruise nights to test the car's wow factor. The tune-up when it came to blowing the troops away at a local gathering was in top form, as the car was the center of attention in the cruise-in parking lot.

Now that we've got your attention, here's a final look at this awesome street machine that was outlined last month and in the Jan. '98 issue of CC. While not an original HemiCuda, it's still a real one as evident by its 510-horse Elephant that makes it just as cool as any Hemi E-body built by the factory before it-if not more so.

With deadlines looming and no time for involved tuning work, the Hemi clone still ran pretty well at the strip. After wilting in LACR's stifling 104-degree heat, we skedaddled with a corrected timeslip that read 12.94 at 108.1 mph. An ultra-nasty bog meant 60-foot times were well over 2 seconds, and a few hours of tune-up time would've easily shaved a half-second off our best effort. So would a nice cool evening.
With deadlines looming and no time for involved tuning work, the Hemi clone still ran pret
A HemiCuda just wouldn't be complete without a Shaker hood and matching functional air cleaner setup. Externally, the Shaker hump looks identical to stock but, underneath, the folks at Ultimate Rides modified the air cleaner assembly to work with a single four-barrel carb and a K&N filter element. Also, since the Wedge-type motor-mount ears on the new Mopar Performance block offset the engine to the passenger side more than stock, the Shaker base had to be offset to fit properly in the hood.
A HemiCuda just wouldn't be complete without a Shaker hood and matching functional air cle
All '66-'71 426 Street Hemis came factory-equipped with a pair of Carter AFBs, but this one uses a single Holley 850 on a Mopar Performance dual-plane intake. Extensive flogging on Dick Landy's engine dyno resulted in 510hp at 5,900 rpm and 505 lb-ft of torque at 4,100.
All '66-'71 426 Street Hemis came factory-equipped with a pair of Carter AFBs, but this on

The trunk is clean and simple and home to an Optima dry-cell battery housed in a Moroso battery box.
The trunk is clean and simple and home to an Optima dry-cell battery housed in a Moroso ba
Cabin appointments result in a time warp back to 1971 by way of bits and pieces from Year One. The Slapstick shifter controls a B&M TorqueFlite trans, and the only real deviation from stock are the white-faced gauges from Instrument Service Inc.
Cabin appointments result in a time warp back to 1971 by way of bits and pieces from Year
Center Line and BFGoodrich are the wheels and tires of choice for the Hemi clone. The popular Radial T/As are now available in 16-inch sizes-so the Mopar uses P225/50R16s in front and P255/50R16s at the back. The Fluted Billet Star wheels have 4 1/2-inch backspacing and are 16x7s in front and 16x8s at the rear.
Center Line and BFGoodrich are the wheels and tires of choice for the Hemi clone. The popu

SOURCES
MSD Ignition El Paso 915-857-5200 www.MSDIgnition.com	Mopar Performance & Accessories P.O. BOX 21-8004 Auburn Hills MI 48321 800-992-1997 www.mopar.com/performance
Master Power Brakes 110 Crosslake Park Dr Mooresville NC 28117 888-351-8785 www.mpbrakes.com	Drive Train Specialists 877-874-7327 www.drivetrainspecialists.com
BFGoodrich P.O. Box 19001 Greenville SC 29602 877-788-8899 www.bfgoodrichtires.com	Dick Landy Industries 19743 Bahama St. Northridge CA 91343 818-341-4143
YearOne, Inc. Braselton GA 30517 800-932-7663 www.yearone.com	Griffin Thermal Products 100 Hurricane Creek Rd. Piedmont SC 29611 864-845-5000
PST Montville NJ 07045 877-226-4101 p-s-t.com	Hedman South 730 Branch Dr. Alpharetta GA 30201 770-664-8880
Center Line Wheels Santa Fe Springs CA 800-345-8671 www.centerlinewheels.com	Instrument Service Inc. 11765 Main St. Roscoe IL 61073 815-623-2993
Dynomax Monroe MI 734-384-7806 www.dynomax.com	Speed & Sport Chrome Plating 404 Broadway Houston TX 77012 713-921-0235
B&M Racing & Performance 9142 Independence Avenue Chatsworth CA 91311 818-882-6422 www.bmracing.com	Ultimate Rides 11640 Gateway E. El Paso TX 79927 915-859-5155
Holley Performance Products 1801 Russellville Rd P.O. Box 10360 Bowling Green KY 42102 270-782-2900 www.holley.com