ChrisPflug

Sounds like a bit of confusion - "Body- in- white" is a term that has nothing to do with color- it's a term referring to an assembled car body bare, without mechanical parts or trim (or even a VIN), not a "white car body". Don't know how these would have been shipped, either bare metal or the dip tank primer seem most likely As mentioned most of the race cars were acid dipped and given additional tweaks- Chrysler didn't build the cars, the big racers generally had good sized shops of their own and a stripped unibody was the easiest start for cars. Obviously you had to have a "Direct Connection" to buy a "body in white"- not something the factory was wanting to sell regularly to the general public. A "Factory" team would still have to buy their own parts but have better access to them then the average customer. Being able to buy a stripped body rather than a complete new car still offered a substantial savings to a racer wanting to run a current model "stock appearing" race car Still haven't figured out how the "exact" shade of pink/orange/red could possibly be important enough to generate so much excitement

Never enough bronze Dusters

Sure then you can have a model that matches the look of a 45 year old color photo but probably isn't even close to the original car Seriously- the first photo looks quite a bit more faded than the second and it seems rather far fetched that a well known driver would switch colors on a "signature" paint scheme for part of a season Or that the main color chosen would be one probably not yet released by the factory- although stock appearing these cars were built from the ground up as race cars- they were never assembled street cars- Chrysler supplied the factory racers with bodies-in-white and parts- not a complete vehicle. The Panther Pink color wasn't released until late in the model year (and proved unpopular enough not to be brought back for '71) so seems an unlikely choice for a custom paint job Just using common sense rather than just the eyes If everyone "just looked and trusted their eyes" Vegas magicians would rule the world

I believe the AMT Duster "street machine" had some valve covers that might look convincing if you're building a high performance 273

Didn't mean to sound nit-picky- just tend to be a bit "short" when typing Have this kit and was contemplating a detailed build and was just wondering about the fit when adding these parts Great looking build

Looks like there might have been a little more undercar shifter clearance if it were mounted to the "E body" pad near the end of the tailshaft

1970 Barracuda hardtop originally equipped with a 318, built at the Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck

New content- unless I've been gone awhile- a bit of everything

I was excited to snag a nice MPC '74 Road Runner annual at a decent price because I didn't have one in the stash Of course I already have multiples of the '73 annual, '83 MPC reissue, RC2 in regular and checkerboard box as well as the Round 2 MPC Daisy Duke versions Does anybody else like to have different versions of the same kit? (even if some are better and others the same inside the box)

Some kits are favorites as rebuilders, but usually too pricey as new kits- I like the MPC '71 GTX and '71 &'72 Road Runners, 2nd gen GM F bodies, Mopar A bodies, the MPC Challengers and 'cudas , Volares and even the '75-'78 Road Runner/Monaco kits

These pics are a couple years old, slowed down a bit on acquisitions since but have a few more. Much of what I've gotten recently are older built up annuals stored in plain boxes so not really pictured

Must be a matter of great minds thinking alike as far as the "landau" top/ green combo and even using the same MPC tires with added whitewalls

While not up to "modern engineered" standards the Volare kits aren't as horrible as many think- have one to finish when I get back home in a couple weeks

Although not up to "modern" standards chassis wise the MPC annuals aren't too tough to find, have a bit better body as well as engine and chassis details

Back to the original question of why AMT hasn't released anything new- since being basically gutted by previous owners it seems they really haven't had resources to develop kits- sad because there seemed to be an abrupt end to a great era in their history of nicely engineered new subjects So as of the recent past and present all new kits weren't really an option at all- reissues or nothing (but plenty of interesting stuff to reissue and it seems a lot of necessary cleanup and repairs is getting done to the tooling because of the emphasis on reissues rather than previous owners just cranking out big quantities for Wal Mart to sell for $4.88)

The Chevy 4.3 Turbo V6 used in the Syclone/ Typhoon was actually rated for more horsepower than the Buick V6 from the earlier Grand Nationals/ 20th Anniversary T/A - probably closer in output to the tweaked Buick GNX

I almost forgot about Ponch's poor Trans Am/Formula from CHiPs

In "real life" and from a straight side view the 1:1 'cuda has seemed a bit "stubby" to me- probably not as far off from the original as it seems- most pics shot for magazines and old ads are at very different angles than you'd typically view a model or a person would see a full sized car. The designers of the original vehicle were limited to a fairly awkward package by having to use most of the structure and mechanicals of the 71-74 B body and there is a lot of "trickery" to make them appear a little longer visually than they are. Doesn't always translate directly when scaled down and the most accurate model car body isn't necessarily the one that looks the most "right"

The body shell would have been dipped and primed then sprayed before the suspension and drivetrain components installed- picture a body shell on a jig coming down the line and getting sprayed with paint- anything on the underbody would have a full coat of primer- any body color would be overspray so would mainly show up on the lowest parts and facing outwards. Areas like the wheelwells, bottoms of the rockers and the core support visible through the grille were then blacked out over the body color with flat paint and/or factory undercoating On the AMT Duster you would paint the underside of the chassis with the front "frame rails" piece your primer/overspray/undercoated finish without the suspension installed. The front "K" member would have been installed later so should be detailed as a separate piece in semi- black

Looks good Funny, I just was thinking of getting out my landau top Volare Road Runner project to finish even ordered some decals

Sounds like the original post was looking for a regular hardtop rather than the formal "Supreme" style- JoHan made a '72 as well as their more commonly found '70 442- and the '72 specific parts available in resin -Maybe can be kitbashed with some better detailed stuff from the Revell ? The JoHan body seems to make a nice looking 442

The AMT Charger engine bay and Chassis is popular and great for the MPC '71-'74 B bodies The 340 from the AMT Duster for more mainstream or performance small block models Revell-Monogram '66 Chevelle wagon with wheel covers and plain hood from the El Camino

Interior build looks great but it looks like Revell really screwed up on the shape of the dash Console looks like a decent representation of a '71-'74 B/E piece Looks like they went to the trouble of providing a "fish" emblem as found on the rim-blow steering wheel center but use a standard woodgrain wheel?

Depends on the kit- it's part of the "charm" of some of the older, less detailed straight reissues, these kits require enough work if a more detailed replica is desired it's really not that much more work to drill and add new headlights and buckets

The majority of vehicles getting Auto Zone parts are only a few months from the scrapyard- these retailers see no real need to offer better quality parts even with a "lifetime" warranty- percentage wise the crappy part is still good enough to outlast the car it's installed on in most cases and the number of returns for new defective parts is within a limit they're still making more selling cheap junk than a more expensive higher quality part