Fantasy 1971 Mustang Short Track Racer Bobby Allison

[THarrison351]

I had this AMT 1971 Mach 1 that's really sad in comparison to the Revell version. What to do with it? I had leftover parts from an AMT Quaker State Thunderbird, mostly the chassis, cage, and suspension. Maybe. Turns out they have same wheelbase. Track is wider, but I can work around that. The cage and cowl were too tall too. I cut them down. I've had to cut the rear bit off the chassis, and cut down the rear wheel tubs. Body mods so for are only to the hood and radiused the front fenders. This idea came about last December. Then it went on hold for a new member in the house. We got a tiny kitten. She's great! But! She wants to be everywhere I am. She also wants to climb and play with everything. And she's grown huge! So, no model building until she matured or I came up with something. Well, I came up with something and she has sort of matured. Cries just a bit outside my jail. This is after about a weeks work a couple hours at a time.

This Mustang really pales when compared to the Revell kit.

The giant hood scoop has become a giant bulge for the planned Boss 429. Those wheels came from the AMT Malibu NASCAR from the seventies. Might exchange them for something else and need to narrow the track. Tires are PPP

I'm planning a red and gold Coke scheme typical of Bobby's from the early seventies. The fantasy is after he had run the #49 Mustang Pony Car in the short lived Grand American series for car owner Melvin Joseph. He was contacted by Ford and given a newer Mustang body, a Boss 429 and Ford money to run this car from his shop in Alabama.

Bobby's Grand American Mustang that he was finally given credit with a win at Bowman Gray Stadium after 53 years.

I plan to use these Mercurys paint schemes as an example to paint the model and decal it. I always like this look.

A frustrated Junebug. She's been a great kitty, but there's no way my hobby room is safe from her 12 pounds and still growing curiosity. This gate keeps me in jail as my wife calls it and the cat out. Yep, that's a dead spider in the corner. We have a zillion spiders in Kansas. I have traps everywhere and I need to do some good vacuuming in this room.

[meechum68]

This is gonna be a neat build! 

As a cat dad, I feel that real well.

 

[FUSIONBOY]

Should be cool when finished! My Uncle Ran a 71 Mustang in the mid 70's. Last race at Lacrosse he stuffed it back end into the wall. made it look like a gremlin on the hauler.

Thank Goodness NASCAR saw fit to give Bobby back the win he got in that car before he passed.

[THarrison351]

I've finished all the mods I think I'll need and just finished washing all the parts. Next is primer and then I'll see what's needed for the body to get it ready for paint. I ended up cutting off the rest of the stub on the wheels to narrow the track. I'm using the 429 Boss from the Mustang kit with some parts box items like the intake, exhaust, headers, and transmission tail. I added some sheet plastic and filler to the rear parcel shelf. More to come.

Ready for primer. You can see where I cut down the cage to fit in the lower Mustang. I just hacked off the same amount off the firewall and renotched it for the cage tubes. I'm likely going to remove that safety net because it comes from a much later period. The intake manifold is an MPC generic bathtub from the old Stock Car Series kits

I opened up the stock hood scoops. and filled some gaps in the hood bulge. I added the front bumper. the valence, and filled in some gaps. More sanding after primer. I just realized I still need to drill a hole for the fuel filler.

These are pictures of the 1971 Mustang Wayne Andrews drove in the Grand American series. It looks like a stock mustang seat in the pictures.

[THarrison351]

I finished my initial primer and painted the few parts that needed only gold paint. A YouTuber recommended Duplicolor Multi-Purpose Filler Primer and it's a little heavy, but no issues with the plastic. I'm going to try a hot red paint on another part I primed to see if it is a good barrier. Fingers crossed. I did get the fuel filler hole opened and a piece of 1/4" tube and flat stock glued in. I have some areas on the body that need filler and cleanup, then more primer. More paint to come.

Most of the black parts will get a coat of gloss black. The red primer will be red. Silver will get different coats of metallic finishes. I'll have to look at the decals to see what shock manufacturer Bobby used to determine shock color.

Door handle and sail panel need work. The parting line on these rear quarters were terrible

A little more filler here

I didn't even know these holes were here, more filler

More filler

Turned out better than I hoped, but still needs more filler

My filler is a 1/4" tube with a piece of flat stock glued on the back. I'll fab a tube and cap from parts box stuff. Like the rest of the car, this area need more filler

Door handle, window frame, and sail panel work. looks like the front door parting line need work too

[Volzfan59]

Looking great!

[slusher]

Your build is looking great!

[THarrison351]

All major painting finished and I've started doing some detail painting. My usual reliable Tamiya paint let me down. I'm guessing i went a little to heavy on my last coat and it reacted to the Valspar paint I'd used for the red. It's only on a few surfaces, which is kinda confusing. I'm going to give it some time to cure then sand the areas and respray. Anyway, more to come.

[Sledsel]

Looking good! Not sure about the scoop, but we'll see how it finishes. The paint issue is interesting, had that issue in the past and thought it could be the paint under the gold was gassing out still.

[THarrison351]

On 9/7/2025 at 9:50 PM, Sledsel said:

Not sure about the scoop, but we'll see how it finishes. The paint issue is interesting, had that issue in the past and thought it could be the paint under the gold was gassing out still

The scoop was more bulge because when I was originally conceiving this, I thought and it still may, the Boss 429 would be sitting up too high to fit under the hood. It's all just for fun anyway. The final coat of paint I think was too heavy and it started dissolving the paint in those areas. I'd put on two lighter coats and waited around twenty minutes before the next one. Most times when I'm spraying Tamiya, because it's like a lacquer, I only wait about five to ten minutes between coats. What I'll likely do is sand the wrinkles smooth, tape up the red, decant some gold, and spray the areas with my air brush lightly until its blended.

Edited September 9 by THarrison351

[Sledsel]

On 9/9/2025 at 1:07 AM, THarrison351 said:

The scoop was more bulge because when I was originally conceiving this, I thought and it still may, the Boss 429 would be sitting up too high to fit under the hood. It's all just for fun anyway. The final coat of paint I think was too heavy and it started dissolving the paint in those areas. I'd put on two lighter coats and waited around twenty minutes before the next one. Most times when I'm spraying Tamiya, because it's like a lacquer, I only wait about five to ten minutes between coats. What I'll likely do is sand the wrinkles smooth, tape up the red, decant some gold, and spray the areas with my air brush lightly until its blended.

You are 100% correct, it is all for fun. As for a bulge, I get that too. Sanding and misting will work fine, I really do not think decanting is needed but definitely safer to avoid issues. This past week I had a similar issue on a Mustang roof and did exactly what you are doing without the decanting. Luckily for me it worked out!

Happy building

[THarrison351]

Sanded the wrinkled gold finish and repainted those areas. It's not perfect, but better than it was, and I won't be stripping and starting over. Finished the engine, but I might add wires yet. Looks kinda naked. I mocked up the rear suspension and finished the tires. Hopefully I'll get decals on it this weekend and get the chassis together. More to come. Thanks for looking!

[THarrison351]

So, decals are on and they look okay to me. I also did the foiling of the trim, added the hood pins, and painted the grill. I still need to add the clear coat. I had some fine mesh I was going to use in the grill, but I can't find it. Maybe the Hobby Lobby or Michael's has some. Added some roll bar padding using heat shrink tubing. I was hoping to get more finished, but had other things to do. Anyway thanks for looking, more to come.

[stavanzer]

I like !

Your are making a great Model.

[Volzfan59]

Really looking good!