Re-built after 21 years (71 cuda')

[Mercelo]

Hi guys, I thought I would share with you, the story of my re-build of a 71 hemi cuda.  You all know the nice, but rather simplified kit. Anyway, I originally built it back in 1987 and re-built in 2008. Bare with me as I digress back in time a bit, so I can paint a clearer picture for you.  At the time I was living in a basement suite with my older brother, and had got into modeling cars and jets, and I had completed a dozen or so kits that I was proud of.  Finally, when the time came that we had to move out and go our separate ways, as my older brother was getting married and moving to an acreage.  Anyway, to make a long story, a little less long, my models had gotten damaged over time, and I was going to throw them out, as I had other more important things on my plate.

Twenty years later, I was visiting my Brother one day on his acreage, when he surprised me with a box of 5 model cars that I built back in '87....one of which was the cuda.  He always liked them, and took them when he moved, as he thought they were destined for the garbage, but I didn't know this... He had them stored in an open box,  stashed up on a top shelf in his garage enduring temperature swings from -30 to +35 Celsius for the past twenty years.  I thanked him for saving them, and eagerly brought them home, photographed them, then gave them a bath.                                       

[The Fisherman]

They weathered better then a 1:1 would have! Nice builds.

[Mercelo]

Since this re-build was completed back in late 2008, I am going to post only a few pictures at a time, so you can follow along and it will give every body a chance to ask any questions or comment on any given stage if they would like.

I decided to transform the cuda from a hemi into a 440+6 for something different. So I bought some Keith Marks 440 Bill Board decals, an MCG photo etch set, and swiped the 440 from the 1/24 Super Bird that you saw in the pics. Now the fun begins...

After a swim in the Super Clean...This was a nice re-build, as the body was never painted originally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by Mercelo

[Mercelo]

In these pics you can see I've opened up the grille, and cut away the head light backs, as I made new ones, fabricated out of .75 sheet styrene, which will allow me to fit the head lights closer together, as they seem to be too far apart on the model. Also made the first cut...right between the eyes...Lol

[Mercelo]

Here you can see the reduced width of the light buckets by about 1.5mm.  I then traced the openings onto a piece of tape, and then onto the styrene. Now you can see what I was trying to modify. I will attach a picture of another un-modified grille for comparison in the next series.

[OldNYJim]

What a great start, and beautiful worksmanship so far!  I'll be following! 

[carcrazy19]

These remind of 1:1s that you read about as barn finds. They are really cool. I look forward to seeing more.

[Mercelo]

Thanks guys.....it gets better shortly!

Now you can see the difference of the finished grille and valence.

I temporarily attached the grill-valence to the fenders, so I could mark the proper location of the fender joint, and make the cuts.

Cuts completed...

 

Now I re attach the bottom of the fenders with styrene welder...Fits like a glove.

 

 

 

[louie]

Mercelo, I absolutely love the story on these models. Just thinking back to 1987, Wow that was some time ago and for your brother to still have them, we'll you've got a pretty good brother that's for sure. Really good stuff and I just love reading about stuff like this.   Thank you.    Jeff 

[Mercelo]

Thanks Jeff, I'm glad you like my story, I thought maybe it was too long winded....Ok to continue onwards, remember this model was restored in 2008, that's how I'm able to post so many progress pics....I don't work that fast.

Here's the fender after filing and sanding...A bit of filler, and primer surfacer, and you'll never know.

I want a clean front bumper for this resto (no fog lamps).

 

That's better...

 

The black car is just for comparison purposes, now you can see that the orange fender is more accurate for the cuda. Also, I sanded the lip down around the wheel well, leaving only the top portion with a bit of an extrusion, again according to my reference pics, this is closer in design.

Here's a pic of the chassis, before I got it cleaned up...Note the location of the spindles...

Here it is again cleaned up somewhat, with the spindles re located higher to provide me with a much lower ride height.

 

 

[Custom Mike]

This looks like it going to be a beauty when you finish it, and it seems like your skills have increased just a bit since the last time you tackled this model! Great work on the headlights so far and fenders, it really does make a difference! Lowering the nose a bit is also a good idea, I always thought this kit sat a bit too high, at least for my tastes!

[Mercelo]

Thanks for the nice comments Olaf, you're absolutely right, they sit too high.  Moving the spindles will make it look like a heavy big block in there.

[dragcarz]

I'm loving this, thanks for sharing. This one is hitting close to home as I at one time owned a 70 Barracuda with a 440,and a torqueflite automatic transmission. The car was triple black, and had what was referred to as a bench- bucket front seat,and a column shifter. Also had a Dana 60 rear axle. Very strange car. I sometimes thought it was put together with the left over parts from that year. I love this and I'll be watching!

[espo]

Great that your brother saved these models. They look well built for the first time around. Now with a better skill set you get to do them over again. The picture of them in the box made me think you should of taken at least one of them and sprayed it with flat clear so you could display at least one as a barn find.

[Mercelo]

I started filing down the lips around the exhaust ports, and also creating more of a rectangular shape...

Scratch building some exhaust tips from sheet styrene.  The long portion is for me to hang onto while a shape them properly.

Comparison...

I got the 440 from the Super Bird to sit in place very nicely.  To accomplish this I had to raise the oil filter a tad, as it was rubbing on the K-frame. I know it's kind of a butcher fix, but I did not want to re-invent the wheel...sort of speak!

Mock up...I forgot to mention I had decided to use this resin hood instead of the shaker. I forget the proper name of this style of hood, I'm sure one of you Gents can refresh my memory.

There....I like that aggressive rake...

[James2]

Great story, even better getting them back and best of all a brilliant save! I will enjoy following this one.

[Mercelo]

Thank you James.  Moving right along...

Here you can see I've made an upper rad hose collar as I'm going to use braided rad and heater hoses. The distributor is located where I wanted it, I know you should be able to see some shaft, but I wanted it low enough to make sure no spark plug wires would be sticking out too high. I also am making an alternator bracket and swivel bolt, as I'm going to make individual pulleys out of the fan belt assembly you see here.

I've cut off the belt portion, and machined the pulleys best I can with a dremel tool.

This is the best shade I could find on hand for the 440.....Not too bad.

Here we go with some BMF, Alclad, fuel lines,and some wiring. Also made an ignition coil, and the fan belt is made from a piece of fine line tape, painted flat black... Pretty simple way to improve your model, without purchasing billet aluminum pulleys etc.

 

[chadrob30]

Looking great! The hood is called a "pitchfork" hood.

[72 Charger]

Looks very interesting . Like the story too . Can I just ask what the silver paint is for on the rocker boxes?

[Samiches]

Great looking restoration!

[Mercelo]

Thanks for the info Chad, I thought the Pitch Fork was on the '70 Coronets and Bee's, but perhaps I'm mistaken.  Now that I think of it.... Isn't it called a Power Bulge hood???  Dave the silver is just left over chrome on the valve covers...You see I sanded the chrome off, I never dipped them in chrome stripper...I do now!

[chadrob30]

Derp...yes sir, you are correct, I knew that....I was just testing you. 

[Mercelo]

Hi guys....Making head lights out of little rhinestones available at any crafts outlet. They come with chrome backing which works out well.

I temporarily glue the stones to a length of styrene rod, so I have something to hang onto, and begin sanding them to a nice dome shape, gradually increasing the sanding grits until I'm polishing them...then a coat of future, and their done!  The one on the right is done, but hasn't had the future treatment yet.

This is my starting grit...

Here, I've removed the molded in heater hoses from the rear right side of the engine bay, also the battery wires...That's a lot of fooling around!  You can also see the upper rad hose collar I made, that will be BMF in time....

I'm going to have a vinyl roof, so I made a necessary molding out of this 0.5mm styrene rod. I find that although there are many shapes of rod to choose from, the round is easiest to conform to any given shape...and it usually look really good in the end.

I also like it to make my own wheel opening moldings, just tape them into place here and there, then with a fine tipped brush, gently apply some styrene welder to the inside of the molding....A word of Caution: do not let the liquid welder get near the tape or you will have a giant mess!  Just to little spots at a time between the taped areas until you have enough to hold it in place...its very easy to do, and when done correctly, the moldings are easy to BMF, and you all know how much fun that is...uugh!!!

There...all my additional moldings are complete!

[moparremco]

nice work

[Custom Mike]

Marcelo. and even easier method of making the wheel well trim is the angle styrene strips that Evergreen makes, I've used it many times. You simply lay it in the wheel well, glue it down, and foil it! Here's the angle strip in place and foiled on a '68 Satellite I did a while back, since I still can't get a picture to load, you'll have to click on the link.

BTW, my name is Mike, the Olaf is just to mess with people! 

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,sgqqwgrtkrbtbrgxtbbfqgtgtsbk,vi/kkdbqktbxttsrkfrwk/1/879761/9764454/Jays68Satellite0131-vi.jpg

 

Edited April 13, 2016 by Custom Mike