70 Sting Posted January 1 Posted January 1 Happy New Year! I finished this one at the end of December, however photography was completed today. This is the MPC Kit released in 1983. I chose to build it like my first 'sports' car: the 1985 version. The '83 to '85 models were quite similar with the 2 most noticeable differences being the wheels and steering wheel. My car had the kinda cheesy 'Turbo' lettering in the black stripes, but I chose not to use the kit decals as they were white and wouldn't match anyway. The kit was purchased from eBay (buyer beware), the box arrived in good shape, however the contents had seen better days. The windshield had a 1/2" crack and a number of medium to large 'stone chips' which I could not entirely sand/polish out. The body had a number of indents or sink marks in a few places - almost looked like it was melted (see first photo). The chassis had a double twist which made getting an even ride hight extra fun. Build Notes Body colour is MCW Finishes Autumn Bronze Metallic (7154) - the closest match I could find to the original, unusual, bronze colour from Dodge. This was my first time using MCW paint. I suck at getting a smooth finish with the airbrush, but this stuff went on nice with a glossy finish. Clear coated with Mr. Color GX100. Interior colour is Zero Paints Ferrari Beige Wheels were painted with AK Xtreme Metallizer Stainless Steel over a gloss black base. I removed the Turbo Scripts from both sides; filled in the sunroof seams (poorly); sanded/filled the numerous body sink marks; modified the steering wheel; offset 3 wheels on the axel spindles to compensate for the warped chassis; the engine/ transmission/exhaust were not the best fit and required a little fudging on my part; added a manual shifter boot; and replaced the 'Swiss cheese' wheels with 'pizza' wheels via generosity of @dust collectors - thanks again, Dood. 👊 Have a great '25 everyone! 22
Chuckyg1 Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Cool little ride. Perfect paint choice, (and it's so smooth and shiny.) The interior is pristine, engine bay too. Beautiful. 1
70 Sting Posted January 2 Author Posted January 2 13 hours ago, Chuckyg1 said: Cool little ride. Perfect paint choice, (and it's so smooth and shiny.) The interior is pristine, engine bay too. Beautiful. Thanks Chucky. The MCW paint was nice to use. I still get a little orange peel but I’m trying to get better. GX100 is great stuff - it’s quite thick from the bottle and I’ve found that it likes to go on a little heavier for the greatest shine without polishing.
70 Sting Posted January 2 Author Posted January 2 11 hours ago, Steve H said: Nice clean build Harry. I like these old Daytona’s. Thanks Steve. It was fun to drive - especially 1st and 2nd gear. :^)
spencer1984 Posted January 2 Posted January 2 We briefly had one of these in red and black, this is way cleaner than that one could ever hope to be. Nicely done! 1
SpikeSchumacher Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Very nice work on this build! Had a 1:1 of these in gold, serviced by the dealership. It went through 6 (yes, SIX...) turbochargers! Although covered under warranty, it turns out that they never changed the oil when replacing the turbos, so all of the metal shavings from said turbos wound up beating the crank, etc. to death... Not a great memory. 1
70 Sting Posted January 2 Author Posted January 2 2 hours ago, spencer1984 said: We briefly had one of these in red and black, this is way cleaner than that one could ever hope to be. Nicely done! Yeah, I think some of those cars were treated like a rented mule. 😂 Mine was used and the previous owner didn’t take the best care of it.
70 Sting Posted January 2 Author Posted January 2 2 hours ago, SpikeSchumacher said: Very nice work on this build! Had a 1:1 of these in gold, serviced by the dealership. It went through 6 (yes, SIX...) turbochargers! Although covered under warranty, it turns out that they never changed the oil when replacing the turbos, so all of the metal shavings from said turbos wound up beating the crank, etc. to death... Not a great memory. That’s just stoopid! You’d think they’d figure it out after the first, or second, or third… Didn’t know the turbos were problematic, but I did know about the head gaskets going.
SpikeSchumacher Posted January 2 Posted January 2 It might have just been my particular car. It was brand new sitting on the lot as a "demo". My first red flag was when it would not even start for the test drive... Turns out the CPU module, or whatever they were called back then, had crapped out...
karbuildr Posted January 2 Posted January 2 Awesome work, really nice looking Daytona. The extra effort to fix what was wrong surely paid off. Beautiful paint. 1
espo Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Great looking paint color and a smooth finish. Like the contrasting interior color and finish. 1
70 Sting Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 7 hours ago, SpikeSchumacher said: It might have just been my particular car. It was brand new sitting on the lot as a "demo". My first red flag was when it would not even start for the test drive... Turns out the CPU module, or whatever they were called back then, had crapped out... Unfortunate. I guess it was the ‘80s when ‘modules’ became a thing. I must say, aside from the broken clutch cable, mine never left me stranded anywhere. I drove it from Ontario to Florida. Ran like a champ.
70 Sting Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 4 hours ago, karbuildr said: Awesome work, really nice looking Daytona. The extra effort to fix what was wrong surely paid off. Beautiful paint. Appreciate it, David. I think I’m due for a higher quality kit next. Leaning towards Tamiya’s Mercedes 300 SL. :^)
70 Sting Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 3 hours ago, espo said: Great looking paint color and a smooth finish. Like the contrasting interior color and finish. I’ll have to give credit to the designers at Dodge/Chrysler. My dad owned one of the maroon and silver Turbo Zs - that was a nice looking car.
AMT68 Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Awesome work as always Harry. I do remember these being quite popular around the time I got out of high school. I've picked my share of vintage kits the last five years on ebay, some factory sealed and unfortunately the kit manufacturers didn't make much of an effort to protect the clear glass parts. Thus they needed to be replaced in some cases. 1
Bainford Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Very nice work on this one. That's the nicest looking stock build I've seen of this kit. Very clean work. Well done. 1
Spottedlaurel Posted January 3 Posted January 3 Great to see one of these built so cleanly, it looks fantastic. You overcame the problems very well. 1
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