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Dodge Ram "ACR" *interior almost done!*


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Hey guys/gals, I'm building this for a contest...I'm combining the Revell Dodge Ram VTS kit with the Revell Viper SRT-10 ACR to make a road race ready truck. My plans are to replace the tired old Viper GTS V-10 engine (450 hp/490 tq) with the updated SRT-10 version (600 hp/560 tq), seats, steering wheel and gauges from the SRT-10 Viper will be found in the Ram's cabin, the suspension will be dropped, brakes from the SRT-10 Viper will be installed, and wheels/tires will be updated. The spoiler from the Viper may or may not find it's way onto the hard bed cover...we'll see how it looks. I already mocked up the SRT-10 Viper engine to the Ram's frame and with VERY small modification, it will drop right in! This should be quite an easy build and fun as well. I'm excited to see how it turns out! Stay tuned...

Engine/trans mockup (all mounts are pretty much exactly the same...just a little shaving and it will drop right in!)

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Viper ACR hood on top of the Ram hood...yes, I will be molding the scoop (not vents) into the Ram hood!

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Found a set of tires that, with some mods to the wheels, will fit the Viper ACR wheels.

The bottom tire is the Ram tire, and the top tire is the tire I found in my stash.

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Left is the Viper ACR wheel with stock tire, and right is the Viper ACR wheel in the "stash" tire.

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Edited by brodie_83
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Thanks guys! I won't be working on this during this weekend cuz I'm spending some quality time with my gf and her kids, so we'll see what next week brings. My problem is, I like to spray paint a lot of parts and I can't spray paint in the house, and I really don't have anywhere else to do it since it's so cold out. I usually paint in the garage, but it's a tuck-under, so it makes the house stink either way. Meh...darn Minnesota winters anyways!

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  • 1 month later...

Wow...I've totally not touched this kit in forever! I still kinda wanna get this thing done within a month or two. I'm taking it down to my parents this weekend to work on it. Maybe I'll get something done on it and post up progress tomorrow.

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Nope, this truck didn't get touched last weekend...I was too busy with family. Maybe this weekend if it's not too nice and not a lot of garage sales (I go to all sales in hopes to find model kits...lol).

ive tryed that before but only came across 1 sale with models that werent marked above unopened store value. It was a 69 corvette stingray and actually one of my neighbors sales

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Well I got the valve covers, valve cover covers, newer-style intake manifold and exhaust manifolds painted and glued on. The engine mounting areas were also shaped to accept the new engine. The exhaust manifolds had to be modified as well, cutting off the turn-down pieces and glued them so they point towards the rear of the truck instead of to the sides for the Viper so I can route the exhaust. Here's the pics:

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Now that all of the test-fitting is done, I can go ahead and paint the rest of the exhaust manifolds, get to work on the exhaust system, and start wire detailing the engine (hence why the valve cover covers are NOT installed on the valve covers yet). Stay tuned for more!

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I got a lil bit done this morning, and will continue to work on it throughout the day. So far I modified the intake system from the original Ram's intake and shortened the tubing to fit the ACR's throttle bodies, which I had to also cut them off of the Viper's intake box system. I also painted the fuel rails that were attached to the valve cover covers...I didn't know they were fuel rails until I looked at pictures of the engine on Google, so I painted them silver. Then I fit the engine onto the chassis, and put the body on, as well as the firewall just to mock it up and make sure everything clears...and it does!

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I think next I'll start painting/assembling the chassis/suspension and work on the interior. Stay tuned folks!

Edited by brodie_83
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I worked on the interior and frame a little bit today. I made a flat platform over the two bench seat mounting humps so I could use the Viper seats from the donor kit and it looks pretty good, but I think I need to make or find some sort of a center console. Then I mocked up the interior with the Viper steering wheel adapted to the Ram's steering column and looks right at home. In reality, the knees of the driver would be hitting the wheel or dash, but it's a model, so I really don't care...it looks cool. LoL! I also primed and painted the wheel wells for the engine bay, then when the paint fully cures, I'll mask them off and paint the rest of the frame flat/semi-gloss black. Here's the pics of today's progress:

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Today I masked off the wheel wells of the frame (the red parts above) and now it sits in white primer, awaiting a matte black finish. I also was trying to think of a center console idea, and figured I'd just try out the Viper console, so I cut it out of the Viper's interior pan and mocked it up in the Ram's bucket, and BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH...it'll work! I just gotta trim a little here and there.

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And with the Viper seats:

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I have a date tonight, but when I get back I might put on a few coats of matte black on the chassis and maybe work on the interior fitting a little more.

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Today will be a good day for the build...I plan to get a lot done, including hopefully the interior! I started on the intake again by priming and painting it gloss black...then when that cures, I'll spray with Duplicolor "Chrome" for a polished aluminum look. Should look pretty good when done. I'm going garage saling soon, so maybe I'll pick up a few new kits? Doubtful, but maybe...

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Been working on the interior for a few hours now...

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Being that the entire interior will be black, it will hide a lot of the imperfections of the center console and such. Really, the only color in the interior will be the silver door handles, the aluminum shifter rod and knob, the "start" button on the dash, the gauges, and a red stripe on the top of the steering wheel. That's it. Maybe a few little details in the radio area and such, but that's about it. I looked at the real ACR Viper interiors, and that's how they are...very dark. There is really no good way to simulate suede, otherwise I would do the suede inserts in the seats like the ACR Vipers have, but nope. I might paint it flat black to give it a more dull finish than the rest of the seat.

I also botched the intake...I was told that if I use Duplicolor Chrome, I was to prime and paint the part in high-gloss black, then spray it with the chrome...well, the chrome wrinkled on me, so I'm just going to strip it and paint the intake flat black, or maybe flat aluminum like the engine block and intake manifold are. We'll see. Hope to have more updates soon!

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I basically finished the interior minus the steering wheel. I won't bother flocking the interior because everything is so tight, you can't even see the floor. LoL! Anyways, I had the "start" button decal on the dash, and I had a hair on the dash so I blew on it and the decal went flying somewhere, so I just painted the piece red...screw it. I used the Viper's gauges and they look awesome, but I need to dab some clear coat or Future floor polish in there to make it look like there's behind a lens. The seats were really boring, so I mixed a very little amount of flat gray to flat black to make the color for the inserts and it looks MUCH better! I still have to finish up the shifter (going to make a custom one), then the interior will be complete. I was kicking around the idea of harnesses out of the Viper's ACR inserts, but not sure if I wanna go that far.

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  • 4 months later...

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