Good donor kit for a Mopar 340 six pack

[junkyardjeff]

Going to rebuild a AMT 67 Barracuda and it has a small block so I would like to add a six pack so what kit would have that engine.

[catpack68]

The AMT 71 Duster 340 kit has a really nice 340 six pack engine as an option.

[Tim W. SoCal]

12 minutes ago, catpack68 said:

The AMT 71 Duster 340 kit has a really nice 340 six pack engine as an option.

This kit also comes with a single 4bbl intake manifold, Carter Thermo-Quad carburetor and matching air OEM cleaner

[junkyardjeff]

I will grab that kit.

[StevenGuthmiller]

And make sure you order one of these!

 

 

 

Steve

[Bainford]

The Revell '70 Cuda AAR has a 340 six pack, might be worth a look. Haven't seen it in person myself.

Edited January 9 by Bainford

[deuces wild]

2 hours ago, Bainford said:

The Revell '70 Cuda AAR has a 340 six pack, might be worth a look. Haven't seen it in person myself.

That one is 1/24 scale I believe....

[charger74]

12 minutes ago, deuces wild said:

That one is 1/24 scale I believe....

The first few issues were 1/24, but I think the last issue was 1/25

[Bainford]

The 1/24 scale kits are from old Monogram tools. Much more recently Revell tooled up some 1/25 scale 70 Cudas. It is available in Hemi, AAR, and Sox & Martin versions, and maybe others. It is reportedly a nice kit, though I haven't built one yet. I have the Hemi version, the entire guts of which will one day find its way under an MPC '74.

[CapSat 6]

10 hours ago, deuces wild said:

That one is 1/24 scale I believe....

Revell did two AAR Cudas.

One was based on their 1/24 Challenger T/A, so it has weird body proportions. It was usually found as a green or yellow car on the box. The engine in it is basic, but pretty decent. I actually used these in a few "318" builds (with intake manifold and other parts from the old Monogram 1/24 Dodge Ramcharger).   

The second AAR was a tool based on Revell's relatively recent '70 1/25 Hemi Cuda. It's a purple car on the box. I still don't really like that body. The engine in that one is pretty nice. I'd say it's perhaps a little more basic than the one in the AMT '71 Duster 340. 

The 340 in the AMT Duster has a little more detail, but I don't like the shapes of the valve covers and some other things.

I'd say the win goes to the Revell 1/25 AAR engine, but only barely. The shapes are a little better to my eye. Ideally, you would perhaps use the 1/25 Cuda engine as a base and add some things from the Duster engine, but that would be some expense for very little benefit. 

Any of these engines would benefit from Fireball Modelworks' 6BBL intake and carbs, but the carbs and intakes in either the Duster or 1/25 Cuda are pretty nice to start with.  

I guess I'm a little picky, as I have owned and worked on several Mopar Small Block engines, and also, I did own a '74 Cuda for several years. I spent a lot of time looking at those things.  

   

 

[gtx6970]

I have several of the  AMT 71 Dusters.  

I just ckd and have the intake, carbs and both pieces of the air cleaner ( sorry, I dont have the 340  long block 

I will not use it. so if you need It.

Pm me and its yours 

Edited January 9 by gtx6970

[gtx6970]

On there way

 

[junkyardjeff]

The six pack arrived today but will have to look for the rest of the engine,this 67 had a small block Mopar of some kind but have found out it came with a slant six or hemi.  Will have to see what the 69 kit had for a engine.

[tim boyd]

The latest 1/25th scale Revell AAR kit, along with the AMT/Ertl 1971 Duster 340, are your best sources for the 340 engine you want.  I have read that some feel the AMT/Erl engine is a tad undersized, but I have never noted that.    

This is the Revell AAR based 340, kitbashed (IIRC) with a Fireball carb.   The body on this model was also tweaked in several ways to present a more accurate representation of the 1/1 scale, in this case, a 1970 'cuda B5 Bllue with the 340 4 bbl. engine.  IIRC, those body mods were covered in the "Muscle Cars, Pro Touring, and Resto Mods" one-off magazine from Kalmbach back in 2020...I'm pretty sure they still have copies at their website.    

This is the Revel 1/25th AAR built box stock, with much less extensive mods to the Revell body that are more easily accomplished by less skilled builders....

Finally, this is a representation of the E58 360 Wedge that was in my own factory ordered 1/1 1974 Road Runner.  (The 340 and 360 E58 (Hi-Po) looked the same from the outside except for paint colors, pie pan graphic, and a revised air cleaner snorkel).  This kitbash was also in the aforementioned Kalmbach one-off magazine special.  Note that this engine also includes the factory cruise control (yes, I ordered that on my 1/1).  Note that on this one the bypass from the thermostat to the water pump was left unpainted, while those were painted engine color on the other two models.  I've seen 340/E58 360 restorations both ways.  Alas, I don't recall which my own E58 was done.  Also of note, most E58s in 1974 had orange air cleaners, while a few, including mine, were black.  My car was a very early build (ordered early October 1973 and delivered to me early December 1973), so perhaps the color change took place later in the model year, but I don't believe that has ever been confirmed.  

///

You can see more of all three of these cars at the following links: Mopar A & E Body Portfolio album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.  Mopar B-Body Portfolio album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Hope that helps a bit....TB  

Edited January 18 by tim boyd

[gtx6970]

The AMT Duster 340 , out in the open

Shown alongside the underscale 340 from the new MPC 1971 Demon kit 

[Chris V]

Whether you go with Revell's 1970 AAR 'Cuda or AMT's 1971 Duster as donor car, you should be aware, that there are some visual differences. 

The 1968-1970 340 High Performance exhaust manifold design is notably different from the later models, and very sought after in the real world because of their excellent flow.    

It's also been noted that the valve covers in AMT's 1971 Duster are slightly too slim and oblong compared to the real engine. However it's nowhere near as bad as the scale accuracy issues with the 340 in the old Monogram 1:24 '70 Challenger T/A or the '70 AAR 'Cuda derived from that tooling: That engine was deliberately oversized for added visual impact - and thus roughly the size of a Chevy Big Block...