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Boy, am I glad to have this one done. Well, nearly. Still have to fabricate an upper radiator hose and come up with a side mirror or two. Anyway this is an AMT '77 Pacer Wagon. It's been build as a sleeper for this years Cannonball CBP. It's set up as a racer/drift car. I've added the twin turbo Toyota 2JZ from the AMT Supra kit. The turbos are plumbed backwards in that kit so some creative fabbing had to be done. I added an 90's Corvette front subframe and suspension. I modified the kit rear suspension, adding traction bars and a panhard bar. I built a six point roll cage and tucked it as tight to the roofline as possible to keep it as hard to see as possible. I fabbed a drift-style e-brake, using the arm rest as place a 1:1 builder would hide the brake mechanicals. Paint is Krylon and I used a chalk based weathering kit for the surface rust. On to the pics. It's not perfect, but I think it's a pretty convincing sleeper. Also, thanks to Ace-Garageguy for invaluable engineering advice.

I don't usually create separate build threads for CBP builds but this one is unique and I wanted to share it and get some feedback. When we discussed "sleepers" as this years Cannonball theme, I immediately thought - AMC Pacer. Knowing the coupe had been recently released I asked a friend and club member, if he had one in his dragon's hoard of model kits. He said yes we quickly struck a deal. Imagine my surprise when he showed up with a vintage MPC wagon kit. So in addition to the Cannonball CBP, the plan is to turn this into a drift car. It will be built completely for the Cannonball, and then with a quick wheel/tire change, some added decals perhaps, be completed as a drift car for contest. I've never competed in the "tuner" category before. Looking forward to it. After some suspension advice from Bill Engwer (Ace-Garageguy), I got busy. To put the "tuner" in this one, I'll be using the Toyota 2JZ from the AMT F&F Supra kit. I know it's not as good as other kit 2JZ's, but it's what I've got, so I'll make do. The 1:1 weight of the Supra and the Pacer wagon are very close. If the Supra went fast, this should too. Here's the original chassis. Some quick work with my trusty #11 and some sheet plastic. New tank, and an AMT 90's Corvette front subframe. I will be using the original parallel leafs, but have added the Ford 9 inch, traction bars, and a panhard bar, which you will see in pics later today. That's all for now, gotta get to work.