dwc43 Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I have a resin body I got from Southern Motorsports Hobbies. I think it says SMH Resins in the inside of the trunk lid. It's a race car body and I can't find a chassis to fit it. I think it was cast off of a diecast car cause I have never seen a model of this car made and the body is wider than anything I have in my stash. I know since it's a Mopar I would be cutting off and changing the front stub to get the torsion bar front end on what ever I use for a chassis. Thought I might use the front rails from the Supper Bee kit since they are already separate from the chassis pan. My body work is not the best, so my question is how to widen a chassis to make it fit? IF I can find one that is close on the wheel well area I want to use it. I thought maybe just add styrene evergreen flat pieces to the side of the chassis rails and file and sand it down that way, but it would make for a very wide out of scale frame. I think cutting it from the wheel wells and widening it at the trans tunnel will be beyond my skill level for now. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc @ MPC Motorsports Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Can you post some pics? What body style is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 It's a 78 Dodge Magnum. They give absolutely no info on a chassis that can be used on the body on there site. Been meaning to try to e mail them, and I just keep forgetting to. Since I posted it, I will try to remember to e mail them today. Here's a pic before clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Stone Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Looks like a Nascar body. Are you wanting to make a street car out of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 (edited) Judging by the overdone side bulges, I'd say it's the MagnumXE. http://www.magnumxe.com/ Edited August 4, 2010 by sjordan2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 Looks like a Nascar body. Are you wanting to make a street car out of it? No, I want to build a NASCAR race car out of it, but I can't find a chassis to fit it. On another note, I did finally find an e mail address from where I ordered the body from and sent them mail. He said it was not cast from a die cast car and to try an 80's NASCAR chassis under it. I did that already. I just received a Thunderbird and a Lumina from Steve a couple days ago. I tried it the same night I got those kits in the mail. It's too wide at the wheel wells and not shaped right and the frame rails are too narrow and don't come near the rocker panel area and the wheelbase is slightly off, but that last one is not a big deal to fix. I'd need to change the front frame rails to have torsion bars anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 On "Brand X's" forum, somebody did a beautiful conversion of this body into a regular road car. Go look it up, it's well worth studying. Someday, I might actually give it a shot, too. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 5, 2010 Author Share Posted August 5, 2010 On "Brand X's" forum, somebody did a beautiful conversion of this body into a regular road car. Go look it up, it's well worth studying. Someday, I might actually give it a shot, too. Charlie Larkin You'll have to tell me who Brand X is. lol. You can pm me if you don't want to post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 (edited) Here's pics of three I tried. Everyone I get a hold of is to narrow at the frame to meet the rocker panels. I don't mind trimming the wheel wells to fit the quarters, the rails have to meet the body. The front clip will be replaced if need be to get the torsion bar front end. Monogram T bird Monogram Lumina MPC Super Bee Edited August 7, 2010 by dwc43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc @ MPC Motorsports Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 The MPC Super Bee being 1:25 scale is obviously too small. You might try a Monogram 1:24 scale Road Runner/GTX/Coronet Super Bee chassis for a Mopar chassis of a closer scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 The MPC Super Bee being 1:25 scale is obviously too small. You might try a Monogram 1:24 scale Road Runner/GTX/Coronet Super Bee chassis for a Mopar chassis of a closer scale. I have that Road Runner chassis and while the rear wheel wells are super wide and easy to trim down, the width at the rocker is even more narrow than the Super Bee pic shown above. So that one wont work either. I need to send those pics to SMH and prove to him they don't fit. I still think it's cast off of a die cast car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 the Lumina chassis doesn't look too bad. i'd probably try using that one and build the chassis up some more to check for fitment in many areas. i'd assemble the firewall, rollcage, front crossmember and the rear axle to the truck arms as a unit. having all of this assembled will help determine if that chassis will be a good donor for this body. since the wheel openings are already cut for the most part into the resin body adjusting the wheelbase won't be as easy as it they hadnt been. you should be able to get some amount of play though by enlarging the front openings to allow for a realistic amount of tire clearance. Dave It's not the wheelbase that bothers me. Even if I used the lumina chassis I would remove the front snout and put a torsion bar front end on it. My biggest issue is that nothing I have has a frame section that comes close to making contact with the rocker panel area. The bag end looks good on the lumina. All it needs is some trimming of the wheel tubs and some something added to it to close in the rest of the gaps in the bumper area. I just don't think it would look right if I filled the area between the frame and rocker panels even though the gaps are not as bad on this chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 Ok. After reading your post I went and grabbed the body to check. It's very thick, so I did not think it would bend at the rocker, but it does. But, it presents a second problem. If you squeeze it just a little, it makes the rear window and trunk lid bow out. Yes, I am replicating a specific 1:1 car, so I'll need the T bar front clip. I'll also be scratch building my own roll cage for this one too. I don't like doing that, but I have built a couple cages before. I don't have the patience for it. I've only worked with some resin parts and engines before. Is it common for the body to be so thick compared to plastic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 (edited) If it was me, I would test assemble the roll cage and see how it fits the inside...if it looks good there, I would just use styrene strips to extend the T-Bird chassis outwards....actually, even if I had to adjust the cage, thats still what I'd do. And some resin bodies are much thicker than others. Edited August 7, 2010 by roadhawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 The only reason I got the resin body is for this car. I've never seen it in plastic and he has some other race cars that I have never seen in plastic either. I'll post some pics of a K frame for ya. As you can see the K frame is square tube. Not a stock piece for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwc43 Posted August 7, 2010 Author Share Posted August 7, 2010 (edited) Here's another shot of the K frame. You need clearance for the Hemi. This is Petty's 72 Dodge Charger just in case you are wondering. Notice the side mounts on the frame for the K frame to bolt to instead of it bolting up underneath the frame. The torsion bar mount still has a complete frame section that goes over the trans with a mount under the trans, but it has been fabbed too. Edited August 7, 2010 by dwc43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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