Revell 1979 Turbo Cobra (Kit Bashed)

[Abell82]

I have been working on this one for a long time.

This began life as a Revell Motorworks 1979 Turbo Cobra.

Very little remains of the stock kit.

The "new" interior : I trimmed off the sides of the original bucket, and added the door panels from an MPC Snake Bite kit. I then added a rear seat from the same kit. I am not sure where the front seats came from. I got them in a junk lot, and re-did them to match the rear seat. I then added the console, and dash, from the MPC kit. The dash was then sanded and filed to match the contour of the windshield. I am not sure which kit the shifter came from. Flocking was added to simulate carpet.

The Build: I used a rear spoiler from an MPC Snake Bite kit. The taillight/ rear bumper is from a Revell Capri RS, or Mustang Street Machine kit. I then "borrowed" the sail panels from a Revell McLaren ASC, since the stock Turbo Cobra does NOT include them. The lower front air dam from the Turbo Cobra was trimmed off. The McLaren lower air dam was then installed, and modified to closer resemble the stock Cobra lower air dam. Side mirrors from an 88 MPC Mustang GT were then added. (The kit only includes one left side mirror.) The hood decal is from the kit, all others are from a Revell 99 Cobra, or AMT 97(?) Cobra kit. Wheels and tires are from the Saleen Speedster kit.

The engine: The block and trans are from the Revell Saleen Speedster kit. The intake, is from the parts box (Nascar kit?). The air cleaner, carb, and valve covers are from a 1966 Mustang GT 350. The belt assembly is from the parts box. An air pump idler pulley bracket was custom made to keep the pulley from "floating" in mid air. A power steering pump was made from styrene rod. Details were trimmed from and then added to the kit's firewall. The wiper motor was installed, as were heater core inlet and outlets. The brake master cylinder from the Saleen speedster was installed into a custom made brake booster, after removing the molded in version. An ignition coil was added from the parts box, after adding a coil bracket made from strip styrene. An A/C Condenser, was fashioned from a parts box radiator, and installed into a "new" radiator support, made from sheet styrene. A radiator w/ overflow tank from a 96 Mustang Cobra was added to the new radiator support.

The Chassis: The chassis was modified from a 96 Mustang Cobra Convertible by trimming the sides down, and cutting off the front sub frame. The stock 80 Cobra front sub-frame was then added to the 96 frame. Custom made sub-frame connectors were added to the chassis. The drive shaft was shortened a scale 2 inches. The exhaust for the 96 Cobra was modified by removing the converters, and replacing them with styrene rod. The stock rear suspension from the 96 Cobra Convertible was then utilized. The stock front suspension from the 96 was also used, on the modified front sub frame.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Abell82

[Ben]

Very cool! Looks up to date!

[blue504life]

beautiful car, looks nothing like the 1980 kit i have. theres a lot of things i would have done differently, but hey its not my car, looks great though

[Abell82]

beautiful car, looks nothing like the 1980 kit i have. theres a lot of things i would have done differently, but hey its not my car, looks great though

Like what? Don't be shy we're all friends here!

Maybe, your ideas will be incorporated into the next one.

[blue504life]

Like what? Don't be shy we're all friends here!

Maybe, your ideas will be incorporated into the next one.

haha i was hoping you wouldnt ask that

well im into the later foxbody era mustangs and to me the simpler the paint the better

so the yellow stripe although this car can pull it off just looks funny with the red

most of the black on the front cap should be body color, only the head light bezels should be black

i wouldnt have done the hood decal but it works on this car

the "SVT" on the deck lid, nice addition but in 79 the Special Vehicle Team wasnt even though of so a "SVO" logo would have been a little closer to the time line (although SVO wasnt until 82-83ish)

well im done complaining about this awesome build

heres my 80 turbo cobra

thank you for the opportunity to speak my mind on this car

[RodneyBad]

Great looking Mustang.

Motor looks really good.

Nice wheels on it..

Paint looks great.

I like the yellow strip

I think it works well with the colors..

Great job..

[fordsixty]

jason,

that is a very nice mustang. you did a great job with it. it captures the 80s look really well.

i think the yellow stripe really pulls it together and gives it some snap. that is what the 80s were about. remember neon?

question: i have never bought this kit, did it come with the convertible x-brace?

nice job.

[ChrisPflug]

I like the basic theme of the original style Cobra appearance, the factory style moldings and hood decal (although the yellow stripe on the original molding is thinner and probably almost impossible to duplicate successfully with paint) combined with the newer upgrades, particularly wheels and brakes.

I'll have to admit I'm not a Fox Mustang fan (worked at a speed shop in the early 90s when every other car on the road was a 5.0 Mustang with the exact same tinny Flowmaster sound) but this model seems to work

[LVZ2881]

i'm actually suprised you didn't do a set of scale Flowmasters or some Southside Machine bars

Dave

haha..I thought those were considered "stock" amongst 1:1 mustang guys....along with underdrive pullies and a K&N....

atleast all the fox's i've street raced have been "stock" with those parts added....

[Abell82]

i'm actually suprised you didn't do a set of scale Flowmasters or some Southside Machine bars

Dave

I am not a fan of Flowmaster mufflers. Other mufflers have a MUCH better sound.

Southside lift bars, are only good for drag use. They will tear out your torque boxes on the street.

(And they are a real pain in the rear to install!!)

Global west makes a much better control arm.

Jason,you have pulled off the impossible!! This is the best looking build of this kit I've seen yet! Would you explain the mods you did so maybe some of us could salvage these junk kits we have in our stash?...........please

Sure, how's that? I have edited the first post , to include the mods that were made, as I remember them. I hope that helps?

Edited August 14, 2009 by Abell82

[vizio93]

WOW i used to know a guy that had that exact car. the only thang different is he had his wheels powder-coated black, and i don't know if it was a turbo or not. really nice job thought.

[James Flowers]

Looks like you got a really nice build there. I think your paint work looks great. I think Mustangs have been painted in every color there is out there. Who's to say what color choice is bad ? I would like to see how you made the interior look so good.

[Abell82]

I have edited the original post to include the details of the build,

for those that wanted to know more.

[Nick Winter]

Looks good. were'd you get the air cleaner?