microwheel

Looks great Kerry outstanding build

Great job Fred, it's kinda like we were working on these cudas together lol. Im just tidying up some last odds and ends on mine too. I really like the clean no frills look you went with. Cant wait to see how your wheels look with the hubcaps

Hi Carl, thanks alot. I have a couple of the 71 cuda kits as well, but havent started either of them yet. Thanks alot Jonathan

Hi Mike, your are correct in how the 1.1 car engine goes in, But you know how the model companies are, they mount engine mounts where ever they can as long as everything fits right to them.

Very true Fred.

Hi Chris, No problem my friend. The fit on this kit is really good and lends itself nicely to alot of detailing.

Hi Guys, And thanks for everyone who has been following along with this build with me. I decided to keep the wing cuz It reminds me of the hemi cudas tooling around my home town as a young man on friday and saturday night cruzes. I did lower and move it foward just a tad and I thiink it looks better. I did a lot of final assembly work the past few days and am almost done with her. I still have a few odds and ends to finish up, such as adding a radio antenna to the passenger front fender, and Im still waiting on the hood paint to finish gassing out so I can wet sand and polish it and then add the aftermarket hood pins for it, as well as adding the radiator core support decal if it ever gets here from revell. I'm posting just a couple of workbench photos and will post more of the competed cuda in the underglass area I hope in a few days when I get the hood finished up.

Hi Chris, and thanks for checking out my build, As someone who worked for chrysler years ago, I am very aware that the tranny linkage is not on the correct Ebody pad. But that was the problem during planning out and test fitting the detailing for the trans. The clearence beside the trans and the trans tunnel near the cross member didnt allow for enough clearence to properly do it that way and still get the engine into the car. Yes, if I would have followed the standard way of assembly by putting the engine on the chassis before mounting the chassis to the body, I could have mounted the linkage to the correct E Body pad near the end of the tranny, but because I needed the engine to go into the car after the chassis was installed (due to the way I was planning out and installing other engine bay detail), and this had to be done by slanting the engine, the tranny wouldnt have cleared the cross frame with the linkage attached that far back while tilting the engine and tranny into place. (I know this because I originally tried setting it up on the Ebody pad) Now why did I need the engine and trans to go into the car that late in the build? Because its how I planned out the rest of the detail especially running the fuel and brake lines along the frame all the way to their proper locations in the engine bay as well as needing the room for some of the other engine bay detailing I was doing such as the firewall wire harness and brake line that ran to the passenger side. If the engine would have been installed before setting the chassis to the body, It wouldnt have allowed me the room to work on the other engine bay detailing I was adding (at my age, with my eye sight, I need all the room I can get lol). And because adding the tranny detail was a last minute decission, I only had 2 options, either dont add clutch and linkage detail, or install the linkage on the B-body pad and still have clearence for the engine install. I opted to be a little off on the accuracy of the linkage location. I think it still turned out ok. Especially with the flaws in the kit I had already corrected that would have been even more noticable.

outstanding

Nice build

Great job on both cudas so far Jason.

Outstanding!

Great start Michael, cant wait for your next update.

Well if this turns out anywhere near like your dodge, its gonna be fantastic. I I've seen the 1.1 cars with the soft 2 tone grey interiors and boy did they look good. My dad had 2 of them when I was a kid.

Hi James, I remember doing this kit many years ago not long after it was first released. I did a skylark conversion with a vinyl top. Got it all finished, and set in on the dining table to take pics of it, and my kid came home from shcool and dropped his schoolbooks on it. Killed it like a bug! I always thought about doing another one, but for some reason just never had the heart for it after that. Cant wait to see how yours turns out. Nice start so far.

Wow I have all I can do to work on one at a time and get it finished, and here ya are doing two. And two great subjects at that. Nice work so far.

Hi Jonathan, your GTX is really coming along. I know I havent posted on it yet, but I have been following your build. I like all kinds of 60s and 70s muscle, but the chrysler brands from that era, take me back to my teen years when all my friends were out cruzing in their mopars. I'll be following along with your build as you go.

Hi Robert, wow what skills you have. This is really starting to take shape. Cant wait just to see the body when its finished. I can only imagine how the completed car is gonna look. I love following this thread as you go.

Nice conversion Dan, Modelhaus makes some great resin bodys dont ya think. I bought one of their 67 impala station wagon bodies a while ago and it was so nicely cast I had a great time building it. I like how your interior turned out and your engine is gonna like great. I also like your choice in body color. The 70 chargers just look good in Hemi orange

Hi Glen, thanks for the imput. I'll see if I can lower it some. Only thing that worries me is if by some chance I lower it too much, I cant undo it, and I dont have another one. But I agree it does look a tad high, so I'm gonna chance it and lower it some.

Howdy guys, Only had time to do a little work on the cuda the past few day. You havent seen the hood yet because I had to add another light coat of color to it.. It was just a shade too lite, so its setting on the bench after another light coat of color and a couple of clear coats, drying, and then it will be wet sanded and polished out. You'll see it in the final assembly. I finished painting the front shocks and got them installed along with the front suspension finally. I also finished up the engine bay with the battery and cables and then decal-ed the radiator and heater hoses and added hose clamps to the upper radiator hose, so the engine bay is now done except for the core support decal. I messed it up and had to order a new one. I also got the rear bumber installed, The front grill is assembled but just sitting into place as I am waiting for the hood latch paint to dry, and didn't want to install the grill till the hood latch was installed. I did drill and trim out the hood latch where it is supposed to have openings for a more realistic look. Still got a bunch of odds and ends to do for final assembly, such as adding working hood pins and such. Here is a few pics of where it is at so far. I took these today outside, since we finally got a sunny day here in northern Michigan. Its a little windy up here and its blowing dust around a bit so excuse the dust on the cuda in the pics, it will get cleaned up good during finally assembly. The rear wing in the pics is one I found in my parts bin and is just tacked on for now until l decide if I want to keep it or not. I'm leaning toward using it. I did re-shape it slightly to make it sit right. Let me know what you guys think about it.. Keep it? Or Loose it?

Good looking model Fred. Very clean look, nice stance, and I really like the color. Sometimes the simple and clean look can give a model that wow factor.

Thanks Byron, One nice thing about building models in todays world versus the years back when I started, is all the aftermarket stuff available. If your local hobby shop doesnt carry any, its easy to find on the internet. And thats the other beauty about the internet, google!!! Googling any classic car brings up tons of refference photos to help the modeler with detailing.

Hi Fred The paint I used on the shaker was testors Gloss Metallic Silver enamel. It dried really quick for a enamel (in less than 24 hours). And no, I will be using testor metalizer non-buffing steel on the grill and that will be coated with testors clear dull coat. the center of the grill will be tamiya matt black with the center bar gloss red (painted with a toothpick of course LOL). I know it sounds strange but it will look right when it's done..

Thank you very much for the kind words Russ.