Erik Smith Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 I have a couple mid-seventies MPC kits and was wondering: MPC Monza - I have a 1975 Monza with some body damage - did this MPC kit body change with any of the later years? Or can I swap out bodies from any other kit or promo? MPC Mustang II - same deal, I have a 1974 Mustang II with bad A pillars - can I swap any MPC II body? Thanks!
Mark Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 The front fascia on the Monza changed between '77 and '78. '75-'77 has several small grille openings between the headlamps, '78-'80 has the long thin slot below the headlamps, all the way across the front end. '74 Mustang II is different from all the others: hood opening is different, gas filler is moved higher up on '75-'78 cars. Bodies will interchange but have these differences.
vamach1 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 2 minutes ago, Mark said: The front fascia on the Monza changed between '77 and '78. '75-'77 has several small grille openings between the headlamps, '78-'80 has the long thin slot below the headlamps, all the way across the front end. '74 Mustang II is different from all the others: hood opening is different, gas filler is moved higher up on '75-'78 cars. Bodies will interchange but have these differences. For the Mustang I’m gonna guess nothing was changed by MPC (except for maybe the gas filler) as the trend back then was to not make mold changes for minor differences. I do not have enough to years of those to kits to confirm but that is my hunch the bodied will be interchangeable for a stock Mustang II. For whatever reason Mustang II kits seem to be pretty pricey these days on Ebay.
Mark Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 No, MPC did change the hood on the Mustang II. AMT did so with theirs also. Racing Champions later altered the MPC body's hood opening back to '74 spec for the Fire Fighter pro stock reissue.
Oldcarfan27 Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, vamach1 said: For the Mustang I’m gonna guess nothing was changed by MPC (except for maybe the gas filler) as the trend back then was to not make mold changes for minor differences. I do not have enough to years of those to kits to confirm but that is my hunch the bodied will be interchangeable for a stock Mustang II. For whatever reason Mustang II kits seem to be pretty pricey these days on Ebay. Not true. 74 Mustangs had a smaller, squarer hood and do not interchange with the later M2s because of the hood overbite onto the nose piece. You could possibly transfer the nose and hood from the 74 to a 75-78 or the roof part. Either way it's gonna take some crafty cutting.
vamach1 Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Oldcarfan27 said: Not true. 74 Mustangs had a smaller, squarer hood and do not interchange with the later M2s because of the hood overbite onto the nose piece. You could possibly transfer the nose and hood from the 74 to a 75-78 or the roof part. Either way it's gonna take some crafty cutting. Are you 100% sure those differences are reflected in the Models? After all were are talking companies that still had 260 V8’s with oil tubes last used in 1964 still showing up in a 73 Mustang kit. ?
Oldcarfan27 Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Yes, I have an MPC 74 M2 and a 77 and the hoods and grille areas are different.
Tom Geiger Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 13 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said: Yes, I have an MPC 74 M2 and a 77 and the hoods and grille areas are different. Yes, the 74 Mustang II only came with a V6, the nose was changed for 75 to accommodate the V8. My wife had a 74 when I met her. I have a 74 kit and plan to swap the nose on a resin 75 and later coupe body
Mark Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Both AMT and MPC did the exterior updates on their Mustang II kits. MPC had a promo contract, I am pretty certain they did both '74 and '75 promos so the exterior updates were done on those. I've had all of the MPC annual kits, and yes the hood opening is different. '74 is by itself, '75 through '78 are all alike. Some interior updates were done too. The quarter panels around the rear wheel openings gets lumpy and wavy with each annual kit, as the Mustang II pro stock and street machine versions were issued in between the annuals. The body was changed back and forth between stock and stretched rear wheel openings. The last couple of issues have misshapen, jagged, rough openings. The last issue (Fire Fighter pro stock) has the hood opening revised back to '74 spec, I am not sure if an original '74 hood will fit the revised body.
vamach1 Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 1 minute ago, Mark said: Both AMT and MPC did the exterior updates on their Mustang II kits. MPC had a promo contract, I am pretty certain they did both '74 and '75 promos so the exterior updates were done on those. I've had all of the MPC annual kits, and yes the hood opening is different. '74 is by itself, '75 through '78 are all alike. Some interior updates were done too. The quarter panels around the rear wheel openings gets lumpy and wavy with each annual kit, as the Mustang II pro stock and street machine versions were issued in between the annuals. The body was changed back and forth between stock and stretched rear wheel openings. The last couple of issues have misshapen, jagged, rough openings. The last issue (Fire Fighter pro stock) has the hood opening revised back to '74 spec, I am not sure if an original '74 hood will fit the revised body. Good to know. Thanks.
Erik Smith Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 Great information - thank you. Looking at kits online I could not discern whether the bodies were changed or not. Now I know.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now