6bblbird

Engine and trans fit perfectly: Since I'm going for an early '60s vibe, I think three 2bbls should work. That Mopar 6bbl intake fits pretty good on a Caddy ! Kit front end will be used although I split the wishbones,

The rear suspension is just a about complete. Just needs shocks. The kit supplied transmission might hold up behind a four cylinder flathead but needs to be beefed up for the race motor! I used the trans and bell housing from a Dodge Challenger.

I like the choice of wheels. Why did you put Dodge lettering on what is obviously a Plymouth? I thank that in this case "Bad News" might be "Fake News" ! WF

Picked up a Monogram '29 roadster pick up for 2 bucks. Gonna make an early sixties racer out of it. I'll start by strengthening up the chassis and installing a beefier differential: Going with parallel leaf springs and something that looks like a generic '50s era diff. Made a driveshaft loop and some big, fat traction bars:

James! Are we working out of the same box or are we in a parallel universe ? Here is the start of my roadster pick up:

Best model of 2017! (Might even hold up for 364 days!) WF

I have a couple of those MCW bodies. Let me just say that it will be easier to get the results that I want using the Moebius body than dealing with repairing the resin, unwarping the hood, getting the grille to fit, etc.. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten some great MCW resin but the '65 Plymouth is not one of them. WF

The Hemi engine that I used is from the Melrose Missile kit. The Belvedere II kit has a wedge but also has some hemi parts on the parts trees. (valve covers and air cleaner) The air cleaner is cut right off the chrome tree. The Melrose Missile kit is terrific. Lots of great race parts to build an A 990 car, Super Stocker, or an a.w.b.. WF

You're right, but it's not a bad thing to have extra parts! Here is what I'm doing with the "left over" body: Oh wait! I just realized that I'll need another Belvedere II kit for the interior!

More than likely, that car would be wearing it's original paint, Roman Red.( Ditzler paint code 70961. Model Car World #6309 ) Stocker guys would rarely spend time and money repainting what was essentially a new car. WF

My only completion for 2016 but at least it got me back to the bench. I have some great projects planned for next year. This is a replica of a factory built A990 sedan built by Chrysler specifically for Super Stock competition in "as delivered" condition. For construction photos see the Drag Racing section.

For finished pics see the "Under Glass" section!

Flat black primer base for the gloss top coats. Tamiya TS 14 gloss black. Nice paint but very thin and easy to rub through. No matter how careful I was (including taping off high spots) I rubbed through a few spots when polishing. Notice that I taped off the area where the windshield is to be installed. Keep this are clean so that the windshield will fit easily.

The engine and transmission came from the Melrose Missile kit. The only modification was to add the pre wired distributor and spark plug boots. I considered detailing the carbs, adding fuel lines and filters but they would not be seen with the air cleaner in place. I have touched up the paint on the alternator since the photos were taken.

I knew that a black engine compartment would hide a lot of detail so I tried something new. I chiseled off the molded in wiring harnesses and made my own out of 30 ga. wire. I think that I got some positive results and will try it again. ( I just ordered five spools of 30 ga. wire!) I left the fender mounted harness unpainted so you can see how I did it. Wind the wires together so that when painted black it will look like a taped harness.

The Moebius sedan kit comes with the correct (Belvedere) interior for an A 990 car. Research indicates that gold vinyl interiors were the only choice on both Plymouth and Dodge versions of A 990 models although there may have been at least one car that slipped through with a red interior. Tamiya TS-75 Champagne is about perfect to replicate the factory vinyl. I used a light sand color for the carpeting just to give some contrast. Some of the restored cars that I studied had tan carpeting and headliner but that may not be accurate. The seat mounting assemblies were resin pieces replicating the ones that the factory used. The seats were also resin repros of the Bostrom seats that were standard in Dodge A-100 vans. I mounted the tach in the hole that would be used for the 4 spd. shift lever and fabricated and automatic column shifter using wire.

The headers that I used are from the Moebius Melrose Missile kit. When I started this build I tried to use the Johan headers. They were an absolute no go. The problem was not due to the transmission at all, they just would not reach the cylinder heads. If I removed some material from the engine mounting points and lowered it a bit, I might have had an easier time.

Installing the kit headers was probably more difficult than installing the real ones! They refused to line up with the heads. Took a lot of patience ( which I don't seem to have) but I got them in there. WF

This is my 3rd build of a Moebius '65 Plymouth. I decided that I wanted to do a "Day One" version of a factory built A-990 sedan. The car below was the inspiration: I used the race parts from the Moebius Melrose Missle . The engine, headers, exhaust system, hood and scoop were pirated for this project.

Thanks for posting. Those were a nice treat!

That is like a piece of jewelry! Gorgeous!

Steve, your Belvedere came out exceptionally well! I'm currently building my second one. I may regret trying to paint it black. WF

That looks terrific! Don't think that I ever built a "box art" car. Don't know if I could, but that Ford is awesome! WF

Superb! You should be very proud of your 'cuda! This kit has a a lot of pros and very few cons. I've built two of these so far and they were fun to build. Problem areas were: Fitting the chassis pan to the body: I trimmed the rear section of the chassis pan behind the rear wheel wells by about an 1/8 of an inch on both sides. Rear valence fitment: There was interference between the rear spring hangers and the valence so I trimmed the hangers at the end of the springs (can't see this with the valence installed) Check windshield wipers for hood clearance. Install tail pipe tips before installing rear valence. WF

Here I come out of nowhere to stick my nose in the conversation! The photo below depicts the exhaust system that would have come on a factory assembled Race Hemi car in1964 and 1965. This is documented! Yes, they do look very similar to the "Petty" headers! Were they exactly the same? I can't answer that but they sure are close. I have seen photos of original A990 cars from 1965 and these are definitely what those cars came with. The single exhaust and muffler are also correct for those cars. It would seem to make sense that Chrysler would use parts that they had previously developed (NASCAR headers) in order to save time and development costs. These headers were quickly replaced on drag cars for a couple of reasons, They were heavy, they were complex, difficult to r&r, and it was extremely difficult to service the transmission! The restoration of the Texas Rattler in the link was an extremely thorough and high dollar effort. There is no reason to expect that they would go through all the trouble and expense to install an incorrect (and expensive) exhaust system on the car. As far as the headers being different from those in the dyno pic, headers used on a dyno are often not the headers that will eventually be installed in the car. Regarding "where'd they get "good ones" from!", they can be reproduced and they are quite costly! WF