Cuda Conversion

[RichCostello]

I'm wanting to build a replica of my first New car, a 73 Cuda that I drove in High School.

I'm planning on using the body from the AMT 74 Baracuda snap kit, and chassis and interior from the Revell 70 Hemi cuda. I'll probably use the 340 from the AMT 71 Duster(mine was a 318 w/3 spd. manual). I'm going to remove the molded-in flat hood and use the dual scoop hood from the Revell kit(not quite right, but the closest I can find). It will be red w/black vinyl top, and black side stripes.

If anyone has any tips, hints, suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks,Rich

[afx]

Something like this?

[afx]

I'm working on a '71 conversion for the Revell.  I grafted in the grille/ tailights from the 1/24 scale Monogram onto the 1/25 scale Revell.  You might want to investigate doing something similar before committing to the snap kit body.  Here's a link to my project photos.

Edited August 19, 2018 by afx

[Snake45]

IMHO your biggest problem will be fixing the awful looking headlight "buckets" on the AMT '74 body. I've had one of these stalled for years trying to remedy this problem. I hear rumors from time to time that someone has or is working on a corrected resin grille for this kit, but I haven't so far been able to actually find one. 

At a recent local car show, I took a LOT of pics of this area on a couple different '72-'74 Cudas, so at least I have good reference material to work with. The pic AFX posted above also shows the affected area pretty well. 

Good luck with your project! 

[RichCostello]

9 hours ago, afx said:

Something like this?

Yep, that's my car. Can you believe that you could buy a brand new car, that cool for $3300.

[RichCostello]

8 hours ago, Snake45 said:

IMHO your biggest problem will be fixing the awful looking headlight "buckets" on the AMT '74 body. I've had one of these stalled for years trying to remedy this problem. I hear rumors from time to time that someone has or is working on a corrected resin grille for this kit, but I haven't so far been able to actually find one. 

At a recent local car show, I took a LOT of pics of this area on a couple different '72-'74 Cudas, so at least I have good reference material to work with. The pic AFX posted above also shows the affected area pretty well. 

Good luck with your project! 

I'm going to try to remove the ones from the AMT kit, and replace them with the ones from the grill in the Revell kit. It looks like it will work with a little tweeking.

[RichCostello]

10 hours ago, afx said:

Something like this?

By the way, thanks for the picture. I think that the hood from the Revell kit is closer than I thought.

This car is identical to mine, except mine had steel wheels w/dogdish caps.

[Snake45]

9 minutes ago, RichCostello said:

I'm going to try to remove the ones from the AMT kit, and replace them with the ones from the grill in the Revell kit. It looks like it will work with a little tweeking.

'70 buckets are not the same as '72-'74 buckets, though they are a lot better/closer than what comes in the '74 kit. It might work. 

[RichCostello]

I'm thinking Testors Flame red for the color. Is there anything closer(spray can laquer).

[RichCostello]

8 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

'70 buckets are not the same as '72-'74 buckets, though they are a lot better/closer than what comes in the '74 kit. It might work. 

That's what I thought too, anything is better than those BUG EYES.

[afx]

3 hours ago, RichCostello said:

By the way, thanks for the picture. I think that the hood from the Revell kit is closer than I thought.

This car is identical to mine, except mine had steel wheels w/dogdish caps.

Your welcome and sweet car.  I was still riding the school bus in high school!  If you are looking for a nice set of wheels Fireball Modelworks makes a nice set.  That's what I have on my build.

Edited August 20, 2018 by afx

[RichCostello]

1 hour ago, afx said:

Your welcome and sweet car.  I was still riding the school bus in high school!  If you are looking for a nice set of wheels Fireball Modelworks makes a nice set.  That's what I have on my build.

Thanks, J.C. I've used those, and they are nice, but the stock wheels didn't stay on my Cuda for long. I replaced them w/Cragar SS all around,14x7 front, and 15x10 rear w/Mickey Thompson N50 Indy Profiles. I've got an MRC set of Cragars and MT tires to use.

[Casey]

16 hours ago, RichCostello said:

I've got an MRC set of Cragars and MT tires to use.

Heads up that those are 1/24, and IMHO, look a bit larger than that, even). If you can find a set of the rear tires and wheels from the AMT Baldwin Motion '70.5 Camaro kit, those might work better with the 1/25 scale 'cuda:

[RichCostello]

12 minutes ago, Casey said:

Heads up that those are 1/24, and IMHO, look a bit larger than that, even). If you can find a set of the rear tires and wheels from the AMT Baldwin Motion '70.5 Camaro kit, those might work better with the 1/25 scale 'cuda:

I've got a set of those too, I'll have to check them out, but I really like the rear wheels in the MRC set.