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MPC 1973 Ford Mustang


doorsovdoon

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I've heard this isn't a great kit, so I went and bought one! Not sure when this one was released but it's old. Most of the parts were loose off the tree but everything seems to be there.

Love these old kits though, pretty cool looking through this when I opened it. Check out the instruction sheet where you can win all sorts of goodies, like Rupp mini dune buggies and bikes, and Jim Wangers Chevy Vega van... no idea who he is. I did Google him but came up with the guy behind the Pontiac GTO? There's also a "Street is Neat" medallion in there too... might wear that with an open shirt next time me and the Mrs go boogying on down to the discotheque! xD

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Nice find of this original annual kit.  It was reissued a few years ago in basically the same format with the same box art.  Since the first issue in 71 the kit included road race and drag version parts and it was even issued with Boss 351 markings.  The latest iteration is the 007 version under AMT branding.  Since the kit originated from the 1971 version that was tooled before without a true 351 Cleveland or 429 CJ or SCJ engine, it basically has the engines from the 69 and 70 kits which are not correct for a 71-73.

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20 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Nice find of this original annual kit.  It was reissued a few years ago in basically the same format with the same box art.  Since the first issue in 71 the kit included road race and drag version parts and it was even issued with Boss 351 markings.  The latest iteration is the 007 version under AMT branding.  Since the kit originated from the 1971 version that was tooled before without a true 351 Cleveland or 429 CJ or SCJ engine, it basically has the engines from the 69 and 70 kits which are not correct for a 71-73.

I've been keeping an eye out for the 007 version since it was released but they still seem to be unavailable here. Thanks for the info. I doubt I'll find the correct engine but I will be adding my usual little improvements to this basic kit:)

19 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

Nice score! Quite looking forward to seeing what you do with this 49 years old kit.

Jim Wangers was in advertising , and is a big proponent of the GTO , and Pontiac in general (but enjoys all makes and models). 

  Jim Wangers Bio (hbconcours.org)

Thank for the link, John. Interesting read, I'll have to look for the book "Pontiac Pizazz" if only for the artwork by Art Fitzpatrick!

19 hours ago, steveracer said:

Nice. I built that as a 1972 annual many moons ago. Painted it silver like my cousins Mach 1 351 automatic.  I thought the body was pretty good….

Yes, looking over the body earlier it looks good. I did some test fitting of some parts and there's nothing that looks like it's going to give trouble later. Although very basic, it seems an ok kit so far.

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Doing some cleaning up and fine tuning before glue and paint. So far I've cut out the hood vents and made the rear window louvers fit nicely. I've also lightly reworked the front panel and grille to give it a rake like the real car. It's almost dead flat on the kit. Left to do is to score a panel separation line on the leading edge of the hood and wing tips.

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I scribed the panel lines in the body today and also opened up the intake on the lower valance. The radiator is comically wide on this kit, so I shortened it and made a new frame. It's not accurate to the real car but is miles better than what it looked like off the sprue.

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16 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

The under hood detail in this kit is non existent so I did a bit of scratch building and added inner wings and suspension strut towers.

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You got that right.  Adding the shock tower supports will make it look more realistic too.

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38 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

The under hood detail in this kit is non existent so I did a bit of scratch building and added inner wings and suspension strut towers.

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WOW you did a awesome with the detail under the hood i have to try that my self very nice it puts new life in a old kit.!!!

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Thanks guys. The chassis and engine are done, I just have the suspension tower braces to do to finish it off under there. I've got the interior painted and detailed, I did paint it black first but then I seen a '73 with a brown interior, vinyl roof and mustard yellow body with black stripes, so I've decided not to do the WFIL radio car.

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Time for paint, and fitting the nearly 50 year old decals! Colour is Vauxhall Mustard Yellow. The hood decals wouldn't slide off the backing paper so I just peeled them off with my bare fingers and hoped for the best! They were very dry but laid down ok, though I did need to use decal solvent to flatten some raised areas that wouldn't settle. Lacquer has been applied so they are now locked in. I'm hoping the side decals for the body will cooperate just as well so fingers crossed!

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