ChrisPflug

Picked this up for seven bucks on ebay- not exactly built in my style but having a few AMT 71 Chargers and 80s issue Road Runners in the stash should help in putting something together..... A couple pics before it gets a bath

Usually the "exposed" valve for the heater is only found with A/C cars so a lot of the models are correct whether it was overlooked or not Purge valve on the firewall?

Both of those pics seem to be 210's........... Bel Air should have wide bright trim along the top and rear of the side windows

Wheelbase is 164.5 inches, or about 32 inches longer than a regular cab long bed Should be easy to figure out where to add to the frame- it will all be in the same place

Really not much to see- the chassis and dash have been changed back to the same one as the original issue- same basic stuff as any MPC Road Runner going back to 1971 5 small sprues including stock parts, a crude 4 barrel or six pack induction system, custom seats, steering wheel, and a roll bar, a big front and the superbird rear spoiler, a small rear spoiler. Probably about 50 parts total not counting the chrome Chassis is 70s MPC- plastic pins for the front wheels, metal axle for the rear with a separate axle and leaf spring piece to glue on top- front suspension, torsion bars, driveshaft, and exhaust all molded in. Red taillights, wheels include a set of chrome centerlines and a set of '72-up Rallye wheels. 4 small skinny Polyglas tires and two wide "Blue streaks"

Yeah, but who notices the Road Runner in that pic?

Great looking Firebird! Not to hijack- but if you want to go with an Olds engine the AMT '69 442 is nice and has a separate bellhousing. Even though it's meant to represent a big block 455, it seems to make a passable 403 small block. I'm working on a '79 Anniversary T/A, the interior tub was molded for an automatic trans, so the only "proper" powertrain choice was the 403/ THM 350 (the few Pontiac 400s were reserved for 4-speed duty on the '79). I ended up adding part of the '69 Olds bellhousing to an MPC Turbo 350 to get a "BOP" pattern automatic Also, by this time A/C was almost universal on these cars, and an A/C system quick and easy to add. Small block Oldsmobiles since the early 70s have used a lame exhaust with a small crossover pipe connecting the driver side manifold to the passenger then a second flange to the exhaust system- works all right for a nice, quiet '78 98 Regency but the Firebird definitely would benefit from a set of headers

Nope, no idea here why the years were swapped (although wasn't the "Riptide" release of the AMT labelled a '60 even though it contained the same kit that's been sold forever as the '59?) The AMT kit was based on the annual,so it makes sense that it would have the later updates The Revell kit came out in the early 60s and probably just not engineered to be 100% accurate (all the engineering effort going into the multi piece body ) Might actually be by coincidence rather than sinister conspiracy- but you never know Maybe now that we have a modern, detailed kit in the Revell '58 and '59 it's less of an issue anyways

Not sure about resin, but various plastic versions seem readily available in several Z/28 and (70-72) LT-1s Just paint them black instead of bare aluminum for the L82 Offhand it seems the later tool AMT 70 1/2 Z/28 has a really nice LT1 with those covers, believe the common Revell '69 Z/28 and new Nova have the factory style aluminum covers as well. The AMT 70-72 LT1 Vette's aren't quite as nice- a bit squared off

I remember going on a tour of the Rouge plant as a kid and watching them assemble Mustang IIs Hacked the front suspension off a few while working at a speed shop a few years later..... Always felt cramped in the PintoMustang- even worse than a 70s Monza Has anyone built a set of the "Charlie's Angels" cars? sounds like an overlooked TV car subject

As if I didn't have enough to buy and unfinished projects already

Got a little carried away at the end of an ebay auction I'd been watching for days now Really liked it though- two of these in the same week- this one's quite a bit nicer though

Should be a close reissue of the original MPC Mako Shark II Not sure what changes were made other than the wheels

Yep- no way I could really afford that kit (or at least I'm too cheap to buy one)

Ever find youself buying something online just because it looks so pathetic and in need of a home?

Just keep in mind the pics aren't correct as far as color for a 1970 model (in regards to the dark gray on the center cap)

The darker gray center caps are correct for a '71 model (as shown on the '71 Challenger in the pic), the '70 used a textured silver that wasn't much darker than the shade used on the steel wheel itself "Argent" is just another word for "silver"

The oil dipstick on the 301 was moved to the DRIVER'S side rear of the block and can be seen pretty well in the pic with the "High Performance Pontiac" magazine logo (the tube is shiny natural metal) Really not much to see as far as passenger side- an exhaust manifold and the three pipes, oil filter sticking "straight out" as opposed to the regular Pontiac "vertical" adapter

The "glorified promos" are reissues of kits pretty much as the were released 30-40 years ago and most have a tough time thinking of them as new products AMT did come up with some great detailed kits, look at what they were releasing at the end of the 90s The blanket criticism is like basing an opinion on the new detailed Revell kits on reissues of 70s Monogram products

Something close to GA4 Winchester Gray (Lt. Gunmetal on a Dodge)

After years of accumulating and ending up with a dozen or so AMT '71 Chargers, some MPC Road Runners (restorable original '72 and '73, a couple 80's issue '71s and a few RC2 reissued '74's)as well as various aftermarket resin bits and decals I've decided I should start building something Where to begin though- partial list of potential projects......... '71 Charger SE, 440 automatic, red or dark green? '71 Charger 500, 383-2 auto, brown and tan '71 Charger Super Bee, Hemi 4 speed, orange w/elastomeric bumpers '71 Charger R/T 440-6 auto/console, purple '71 GTX 440-6 auto/console, Bahama Yellow '71 Road Runner Hemi, orange with black/orange interior '72 Road Runner 340 4 speed, gray '73/'74 Road Runner, 318 auto, yellow with black stripes, Magnum style road wheels '73/'74 Road Runner, 360 4 speed, blue with white stripes and canopy vinyl top '74 Road Runner, 440 auto, white with red stripe and Wimbleton cloth interior '73/'74 Satellite Sebring, 400 auto, brown with tan halo vinyl top, bench seat

The second picture in the first response shows the temp sensor in the intake next to the water neck, temp sender for the gauge on the LH side between the front two cylinders The dipstick is also in most of the photos and can be seen pretty well in the LH shot of the engine out of the car (look behind the air cleaner and at the LH side of the rear of the block) Doesn't seem to be much to see on the passenger side, just the oil filter and adapter and turbo junk

The '69 Judge version came first- (just after the "Metal Glow" Dodges that came with the little packet of Turtle Wax) Street Machine a couple years later (seems like around the same time as the Street Machine '71 'cuda- molded in black with twin scoop hood and Center Lines)

I like using metal wire, usually 28 gauge, bent to the proper "sag" and brush painted a flat color afterwards small pieces of telephone wire insulation can make decent boots

If you're only looking at building one car with stripes a set of KM decals is probably the way to go I've got a few of these to build (and was also looking at the flat hoods to build a Satellite Sebring or two) The stripes were a 'Runner only item (except for the unique ones used on the "spring special" Sundance Sebrings)