Sport Suburban

I think the review was pretty fair on the kit. Thankfully this kit is still available and has been reissued once again. Thankfully with correct box art. Does anyone remember the box art with the 428 Cougar but had only this 302 Eliminator in the box. Thankfully you didn't spend $150 plus for a 67,68 Cougar kit. You would have seen most of the same parts with a more generic engine. The engines, interior tub and wheels were updated in the 80's. I have an earlier 69 issue that has the XR7 interior and Boss 429 engine. I think it is a late 70's issue. I personally like this kit and it does build up well. Here are a few of mine built up.

You could also find some Fred Cady ones on eBay. How about the rear stripes from the Revell 69 Charger. The stripe is the same.

I personally really like the Monogram 340 TA version myself. I have built about three of them over the years. I did buy the new tool 1:25 version and found out it is based on the die cast version that Revell had out for awhile. I built that Vanishing Point die cast but did not like it. The newer kit is mostly a plastic version of that kit. The body looks real boxy to me and does not look right. When it comes to the 70 Challenger kits. I would put the MPC kit up at the top of the list. Monogram 1:24 in second, AMT kit next, (love it with the Flinstone RT/SE body), then the Revell 1:25 TA or RT two in one last.

The Modelhaus kit does have the R/T scoops molded on the doors and in the grill. It is a direct copy of the MPC kit.

I am using the 429CJ in the Torino kit.

Jens, you did not hijack it. I asked for others input on this combo and you did just that. Thank you for your input and warning about the engine height. Beautiful build by the way!

I have a few of these also and built one. I did learn to follow the directions on this kit. Don't install the fan alternates assembly until it says to do so. I found out the hard way that the body does not fit over the engine with the alternator off to the side!

If you really want to see the build from when we took the body off. Look here: http://smcbofphx.proboards.com/thread/1013/teresas-chevelle-update

Here is the 1:1 1971 Chevelle Malibu. This is truly homebuilt by my wife and I. Before about 2002 During 1/23/2011 Just registered 5/3/2014

Thanks guys! Here is the early pic of the 70 Shelby GT500 convertible. Not much different. Just a repaint and foil. I did have to redo some body work. This is the 60 Thunderbird convertible that I turned into a 58. It had 59 bumpers on it but a 60 interior tub. The hood opens up so I knew the body was a 60. This is the 70 Camaro SS 396

70 Firebird Formula 400 72 Camaro SS 396 69 Javelin SST, I have shown this one before. This is what I started with from ebay!

Here are a few of the before photos. 60 Thunderbird convertible 60 Thunderbird Sunroof 64 Corvette coupe 65 Corvette coupe 66 Corvette coupe

Revell/Mini Exotics 70 Shelby GT500 convertible. I built this years ago and wanted to repaint it and foil it. This is not the new kit that came out this last year! AMT 60 Thunderbird sunroof restored, I cut the sunroof opening in this one to replicate the rare option for this car. I just realized that all of my finished builds are restorations. Many of these I have photos of what I started with.

I didn't do this last year but figured that I would show off what I completed this year. I finished 11 this year which I figured I would get more done since I finished the 1:1 71 Chevelle this year back in May. I have many more started and unfinished projects in the pipeline. So I hope to finish many more this year. AMT 58 Thunderbird convertible, Started with a 60 that had all the emblems sanded off. Modelhaus bumpers, wheels and a 59 interior tub. Body emblems were foil cast from a 58 promo. Uptop is from a 65 Thunderbird annual. AMT 64 Corvette annual restored AMT 66 Corvette annual restored JoHan 69 Javelin SST restored from junkers MPC 70 Camaro SS 396 restored AMT 60 Thunderbird convertible restored MPC 72 Camaro SS 396 restored AMT 65 Corvette annual restored MPC 70 Firebird Formula 400 restored

I would love to see them also. MPC did do the annuals and they are nice. Here is a 69 GTO convertible that I have to restore. Plus these are 1:25. MPC also did the 70 GTO but it has not been rereleased since 87. Here is a teaser of my 70 Judge convertible next to my finished hardtop!

Didn't Model King reissue what was left of the 68 Cougar tooling. It was a 68 Cougar funny car.

I don't know much about the original decals from the two kits. I do have a few sets of the Model King issue decals that have both the 70 and 71 stripes on them. Those are nice decals also. Here are the two hoods. Sorry but the burgundy is hard to photograph.

If anyone else has done this conversion please add any suggestions using this chassis. I will be doing this one more time on a 70 Cyclone in my stash also. By the way, The MPC 70 and 71 Cyclone kits have only two differences besides the molded in colors. I have only seen 70's molded in burgundy, and the 71 kits molded in white but don't know if there are any exceptions to this. The obvious is the dated bumpers. Less known is the hoods are different. 70 hoods have cowl vents in the hood, 71 hoods do not. This is actually true to the real cars also.

Thanks guys, I really like doing these type of kit bashes but this is were I get stuck. I get all of the engineering done but stop at picking the colors and final finishes. Don't be afraid of kit bashing. Start with simple engine swaps then go from their. So far I have put the 68 AMT roadrunner chassis in a resin 68 Coronet RT, resin 69 Coronet RT, and a Jo-Han 69 Roadrunner. I have used AMT 71 Duster 340 chassis in a resin 71 Demon 340, 69 Barracuda, and a 68 Barracuda Formula S. AMT 71 Charger chassis in a MPC 72 Roadrunner, AMT 73 Roadrunner GTX, MPC 73 Charger Ralley, and a 72 Charger Ralley. I have put the AMT 70 Challenger chassis under a resin MPC 71 Challenger RT, 72 and 73 Challenger Ralleys. I have also used the AMT 69 olds 442 chassis under a few Jo-Han 70 Olds 442s. Some of those I need to finish also. I have also started putting one of those AMT 69 Olds chassis under a MPC 72 GTO project.

Here is everything fitting together.

Now that the mods to the tub are done and the chassis now fits. I still have a few issues that need to be addressed. One of my pet peeves is their is no support in back for either the stock chassis or the Torino's chassis. So I glued these styrene rods to the chassis. They set up under the trunk and hold it square. Just like the screw chassis does but no screws. I have glued these to the body on other projects instead of the chassis. It just depends on how easy they are to get to for sanding down for the final height adjustment. Also the rear wheel wells still don't quite line up with the bodies wheel wells. First I heated them up with a lighter to move them forward just a tad. I still was not happy with them. So I pulled out the dremmel and thinned them in the blacked out area. This gave me the look I wanted. I also sanded off the Revell cast in lettering that is also marked. The axle still needs to be moved forward about 1/8 inch. I will have to shorten the drive shaft that same amount and make sure the exhaust clears.

Also in the tub picture. You may notice that I cut two larger opening that will be behind the dash. Those are to clear the Torino's hood hinges so the hood will close. I'm glad I also put the dash in place as it also needing to be clearance for the hinges. The resin dash is from Missing Link and is cast with the back filled in. The black marks are were I need to make room. The kit dash is below and had no issues with the hinges. This is after I got the dremmel out. If you look closely at the two tubs pictured above you may have noticed that I removed the cast in pedals the MPC kit has. The MPC kit was also an automatic and the Torino is a 4 speed. So I cut the pedals and glued them to the resin dash. This still clears the console but I have not decided if I will use that or not.

Now let us move on to the interior mods. I decided that I wanted to use as much of the MPC interior as possible. I will call this option A. I also considered using the floor of the Torino kit and the seats and door panels from the MPC kit. I will call this option B. That was only if I could not get away with option A. I have also read of other builds that used most of the Torino's interior. I will call this option C, but since I want to be as factory stock as possible option C will not do for me. Here are two MPC Cyclone interior tubs. One is fresh from an unbuilt kit and the other is my modified tub. My modified tub also has its package tray glued in place. I glued it back in place for mock ups and to see if everything would be covered by the back seat. Also I cut out the rear support area as I thought it was hitting the chassis but it was not. The interference was some place else and on the chassis itself. Here is an upside down shot of the modified chassis. I cut these two squares in the floor to clearance the chassis and allow it to sit down. They clear the spring pockets. Here is the chassis sitting under the tub. It now sits flush and allows the chassis to meet the engine comp. Here is the Torino's chassis. It needs some mods too. I marked these with a black sharpie. The back of the trans tunnel has a lip at the rear axle that was hitting the tub. This is one of two areas that pushed the tub forward. I trimmed it away and then noticed the step just forward on both sides also hit a step in the tub. I trimmed this back a little also and the tub now sat were I wanted it to.

That is just beautiful!!

That is very nice!! I love it!!