1971 Cuda Question

[jjsipes]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone seen or have come out with a 71 conversation for the Revell 70 Cuda? I just bought another Revell 71 Cuda and was looking at the differences in scale and shape of the bodies and wow. I know the 71 Cuda is an older tooling.

[sfhess]

The 71 Cuda is an old Monogram tool and 1/24 scale.

[caine440]

I still like the Johan 71 Cuda the best.

Not sure on the conversion, I am betting someone out there has it.

[John Pol]

try Harts Parts

[High octane]

I still like the Johan 71 Cuda the best.

Not sure on the conversion, I am betting someone out there has it.

Me too, as when JoHan released those, we bought a bunch of them for parts like the 426 Hemi, the tunnel ram manifolds & carbs, the Dana rear ends, etc.

[1972coronet]

I'm still waiting for a 1972-1974 conversion for the new-tool Revell 1970 'Cuda! 

 

[caine440]

I have seen a 72 conversion on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/132071716372?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

[Snake45]

Interestingly, I just bought a glue bomb JoHan '71 S&M JUST to use the body on a Revell '70, as I think it's more accurate. I'd send you the '71 grille from it, but it's molded into the body and I'm pretty sure I'll have to destroy it to get it out. But if you want a nice '71, you might want to look for a glue bomb JoHan and use it with the rest of the Revell parts.

[jjsipes]

Interestingly, I just bought a glue bomb JoHan '71 S&M JUST to use the body on a Revell '70, as I think it's more accurate. I'd send you the '71 grille from it, but it's molded into the body and I'm pretty sure I'll have to destroy it to get it out. But if you want a nice '71, you might want to look for a glue bomb JoHan and use it with the rest of the Revell parts.

Thats what I was thinking as I want to build a stock 440 six pack car. I knew the Revell 71 was from the 80's or early 90's and was 1/24 scale but I just couldn't get over the differences in them. I have build a few Revell 71's but after building the new 70 the old 71 looks outta place.

[gtx6970]

I thought about using a Johan 71 body to cut up (ive got several ) , but you would still need the fender gills.

I picked up an original MPC Stardust cuda funnycar , and they body on it is so much more accurate than the revell 70 is, I was planning to just  use this body with all revell 70 innards .

 

But recently picked up an original MPC 71 Builder. They're not that hard to find. And by the time you figure buying a revell 70 and the pieces of a 71 , it makes the original mpc kits are the more reasonable. I think I'm in my mpc builtup for under $50 . The stardust body came in a parts junkyard I bought several years ago

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2017 by gtx6970

[Snake45]

It looks like there are several paths to the top of this particular mountain! And that's a GOOD thing!

[von Zipper]

With a little sanding , the Revell '70 'cuda is a great donor to use with the Johan '71 'cuda kit

I'm thinking along the lines of a Barracuda Gran Coupe for this .

[1972coronet]

I have seen a 72 conversion on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/132071716372?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

Excellent ! Thanks for the direct-link , Caine! 

( that 1980 4 door Volare trans-kit looks like a winner , too . I was just thinking about 4 door F-bodies last night ! )

[gtx6970]

With a little sanding , the Revell '70 'cuda is a great donor to use with the Johan '71 'cuda kit

I'm thinking along the lines of a Barracuda Gran Coupe for this .

a gran coupe is 'grand'  idea, best of all.1971  Gran Coupes didnt have fender gills like a Cuda did .

Edited February 2, 2017 by gtx6970

[br67]

Any tips on how to best replicate the gills?

[jjsipes]

I just pulled my unbuilt Johan Sox 71 Cuda and it doesn't have the fender gills. So that would need to be added for a replica stock somehow. Then the billboards will become an issue as they are sized for the Revell 1/24 Cuda.

[gtx6970]

Any tips on how to best replicate the gills?

Thats not going to be easy ,,,,,About the only way I can think of is cut them out of another body.  They are not only indented into the body, there is a very thin ridge around them that gets chrome,,,and its REALLLLLY thin  .

 

But like I said , finding an original MPC is not that difficult. you just have to be patient .

 

Then the billboards will become an issue as they are sized for the Revell 1/24 Cuda.

The billboards were an option and its theory that  most 71 Cudas didn't get them from the factory installed ,,,at least  not near as many cars that have them today

Edited February 2, 2017 by gtx6970

[CapSat 6]

Ohhhh...Jason. Going down the rabbit hole, aren't we? ?

If if you want a NICE '71 Cuda in 1/25, then I would agree with most of what's been said in the thread. 

Consider that if a resin body were offered, at a minimum, it would be about $25, probably more. If you can find an old built MPC '71, that would probably be the easiest way. 

Peesonally, I think the JoHan '71 body is even a little better shape-wise than the MPC, with some caveats: 

1) The MPC body has the fender gills. You can probably use the photo etch set from Model Car Garage to add them to the JoHan body, but they might be sized for the 1/24 kit, so that might not work well. 

2) The MPC body has side marker indicators, the JoHan body does not. The MPC's aren't all that great, though. Ironically enough, I think either the Revell '70 or Monogram '71 body capture these the best. 

3) The MPC body has the right dual exhaust rear valence, the JoHan body does not. 

4) The MPC body comes with a stock hood, the JoHan body doesn't. 

5) The tail panel on the MPC body is much better than the JoHan body's.

6) The grille insert for the MPC is incorrect- use the JoHan grille insert instead- if you need one, I might have an extra.

I think finding an old MPC body will leave you with less problems to solve, and in the end cost you less time, possibly less money. It will still look pretty good, at least a good deal better than the Monogram 1/24 kit, and definitely better shape-wise than the Revell '70.

You would still have to come up with a stock interior somehow, unless you used the MPC interior. The MPC interior seems to represent the leather interior from that year. I know of no source for a base '71 Cuda interior (the Monogram kit also appears to have the leather interior). 

Re: the billboards, I think Firebird Graphics does them in 1/25, Fred Cady's set turns up on eBay once in awhile. 

If you were to use either body on the Revell chassis and interior, you'll have to do some trimming. I'm trying this out myself (using the JoHan body to convert to a '70). It's a super tight fit. 

If you really want a '71 Cuda in 1/25 scale right now, it's gonna cost you no matter what. 

 

[CapSat 6]

I heard somewhere that JoHan was setting up to do a stock kit of the '71 Cuda, though it never happened. Judging by how they did on the Sox & Martin Pro Stock (very nice body, nearly- state of the art kit for 1971, nice engine & details), I think it would have been a great kit.

I started gathering parts to try to do a "mostly JoHan" stock build, using the tires & wheels from their Superbird, and some other bits, but the parts are simply giving me enough to build a Hemi Gran Coupe (which, although a neat idea, did not exist in 1:1). Oh well- this idea is just not going to work!

[gtx6970]

I heard somewhere that JoHan was setting up to do a stock kit of the '71 Cuda, though it never happened. Judging by how they did on the Sox & Martin Pro Stock (very nice body, nearly- state of the art kit for 1971, nice engine & details), I think it would have been a great kit.

 

To be honest, I kind of doubt Johan was tooling up for a stock 71 Cuda.

 

MPC had the rights for both dealer promos and mass produced kits. Not saying its impossible just very unlikely

 

[gtx6970]

ps, I have both original MPC 1970 and a 71 Cudas , and a few  unbuilt  Johan 71 Sox and Martin kits . Plus I have an extra 70-71 MPC interior tub if anyone wants to see side by side comparisons .  ( sorry ,,none of it is for sale )

[afx]

I for one would appreciate a side by side comparison. I would like to do a T/A race Cuda at some point and I need some schooling.

[Ron Hamilton]

I bought an old built-up a few years back

which is surprisingly complete, mostly unpainted. and unmolested. It is actually pretty clean, and was neatly built.

 One of the Dominators is missing, and that is it. My plan is to disassemble it, clean it up, strip it, and re-paint it with new decals, which I have. I want to do it up as a companion piece to the Revell kit. This is Marco Cruz' '70 Hemi Cuda while it was under construction. I have to get a set of Fireball Resins Holley Dominators.

[Sport Suburban]

I have the Revell kit and have yet to build it but I must say that this strikes me as kind of funny. I don't have an answer for the question but I remember when the only 70 Cuda was the MPC one. A few people offered resin conversions for the Revell 71 to make a 70.

Here is my 70 AAR Cuda I built in 1990. It has an resin kit from MPB Detail products. Using the 71 Cuda and the engine and chassis from the 70 Challenger TA.

Here are a few 70 Hemi Cudas built from the same parts but done much later. I think I built these in the early 2000s. The convertible I built shortly after the Nash Bridges kit came out. I was glad I bought so many of the MPB kits back then. I still have one more AAR kit still.

This last one is a 71 Johan kit with a resin kit from Reliable Resin.

I know have a MPC 70 and 71 to restore that will be done someday. And I will probably buy a resin 71 trans kit for the 70 Cuda if one does come out.

 

[von Zipper]

In Ron's 2nd picture of the Sox and Martin '71 'cuda , ---- can someone tell me what the slot opening under both head lights are for ?

I was planning on filling them .