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1970 'Cuda Convertible Build


ian ashton

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It's nearly invisible. I only have inside pics of the car, and just about everyone you can barely see the stripe, making it that much cooler, in my opinion.

That's what I figured... I like the idea of the ghost effect striping, it really sets the mood for the ride...

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Nice work with it so far! I like how you did cut the top off. You are into Convertibles? They are nice, I have to say and I like '70 Cuda a lot, it's thousands of times better than the '71. Very nice and interesting project you have there, I'm watching! B)

Edited by W-409
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Nice work with it so far! I like how you did cut the top off. You are into Convertibles? They are nice, I have to say and I like '70 Cuda a lot, it's thousands of times better than the '71. Very nice and interesting project you have there, I'm watching! B)

Yea, I agree about '70 vs. '71

I love Mopar convertibles, and with models I especially like drop tops, because you can see interior details mug better.

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This project is rapidly getting much more involved than I had initially planned; I'm glad I started with this stuff now, and not after I started painting stuff, haha.

The more I steal parts from the Revell Chargers, the more I like 'em! I've decided to use the 440 from the '68 Charger, along with several other parts, because the detail is just so nice.

Because the Revell Charger engine is not a 6 pack, I am using the AMT Challenger intake, to make it work with the windage tray (or whatever that piece is called under the intake) I had to trim quite a bit of material away;

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Engine shaping up:

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On the left, the AMT Challenger fron suspension, and on the right the Revell Charger suspension. Same size, different detail:

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AMT always drops the ball with their Mopar upper control arms, so I decided to use the Revell parts there as well. Here is a comparisson:

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Test fitting the suspension pieces:

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You can also see in this pic how I opened up the K member

Upper control arms installed:

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I needed that piece of the chassis for my Challenger build, so I replaced what I cut out with Evergreen, works perfect, and you can't really see it when the K member is installed.

I also got the AMT Challenger cowel installed:

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The exhaust tips are going to be a bit of a P.I.T.A. so I figured I should get cracking on them. I am using the Challenger pipes and tips for now, but will end up changing out the tips to something AL during final assembly. To start, I dry built everything and marked where the cuts were needed for the tips:

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Very roughly cut, I've got a lot of sanding to do. The tips will sit nearly flush with the top edge of the cut, I just didn't have enough hands to hold them in place for the picture. I still need to sand them so they are straight. Once thats done I'll use Evergreen to fill in the area under the exhaust tips, as the real car has them fully surrounded:

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More work to the tail panel:

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More shaping up in the front end, filled in the fog light buckets:

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Fender wells glued into place:

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Also got a chance to spray some color on the engine and misc. chassis parts:

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And some detail painting started:

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Engine & Trans:

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I'm using a M.A.D. Modeling distributor (which is beautiful, by the way). I added the vacuum advance thing from the Revell '68 Charger dizzy:

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With my Challenger convertible finished up I'm ready to go full swing into the Cuda project. I've given up on converting the grille myself, and as luck would have it my Reliable Resin pieces showed up yesterday. The accuracy with respect to the 1:1 scale is great, there was a lot of flash, sanding, and trimming required - more than I'd expect given the cost, but whatever, they are still very nice pieces. I'm not sure if I'll use their hood and SHAKER, or if I'll continue with making my own - the hood is like .125" too wide, not a big deal - I'll probably work both pieces and use whichever looks best in paint.

The Reliable parts (I started trimming the hood before I took this pic):

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Test fit of the hood, a little narrowing to be done, not too bad though:

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Getting the grille to fit just right is a bit of a process, as it required the removal of a lot of material from the body. Sand, fit, sand, fit, sand, fit, lol;

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Same thing with the tail panel - the joys of doing conversions!

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Giving a test fit with the lower valence and bumper - note, this bumper is warped, I've got another that I'll use for the final build:

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Front lower valence installed, ready for some filling and lots more sanding:

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(The gap looks weird, but its an optical illusion, its pretty symetrical)

Last night I ordered the Model Car Garage photo etched detail kit (actuall 1:24 scale for the RM '71 kits) from Scale Dreams, I figure its worth checking out, I can probably use the hood pins, door handles, PE emblems, and some of the other goodies. If not no big loss.

Ian , looking good ,

I have a couple TIP'S that'll help you w/ the front Grille fit , I don't recall having that gap w/ the rear valance , then again , I was working w/ the 71 Johan ... converting to a 70 S&M P/S

Hope you got those other items we shipped as well ..... B)

The revised 1/25 MPC 70 cuda that we offer , prob. would have saved you a lil' time there big guy

I have the misc components for that 70 cuda i.e. rear valance / bumper & frt grille / bumper, etc...I'll try to hit you up on FB later on

BTW , "Tom" the owner of that car , is a good buddy of mine & has quite the Rare Collection of 'cudas

Build ON

Don

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Ian , looking good ,

I have a couple TIP'S that'll help you w/ the front Grille fit , I don't recall having that gap w/ the rear valance , then again , I was working w/ the 71 Johan ... converting to a 70 S&M P/S

Hope you got those other items we shipped as well ..... :rolleyes:

The revised 1/25 MPC 70 cuda that we offer , prob. would have saved you a lil' time there big guy

I have the misc components for that 70 cuda i.e. rear valance / bumper & frt grille / bumper, etc...I'll try to hit you up on FB later on

BTW , "Tom" the owner of that car , is a good buddy of mine & has quite the Rare Collection of 'cudas

Build ON

Don

Yea, I noticed you made the '70 body after I already started chopping the Johan, no worries.

Tom's collection is NUTS! I can't believe he sold the white '70 Hemi Cuda, that car was amazing, and I still cant believe I was able to drive it! My dads been to his storage area and seen all the toys, I've only seen the cars he broght to our show. Super nice and unassuming guy for sure - people like him give me goals and encouragement to rock out at the career, to fund the hobby.

Edited by ian ashton
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Ian , yea... "Tom L" is 1 of a kind & really fun guy, who w/ all the $'s keeps it real

tossing back a few cold ones like the rest of us $ challenged LOL

One of his most amazing cudas' is that French Export car !

Shot ya a mesg via FB

*note that I simply pulled those items outta the molds >

straight into the pkg & to the post ( that day )

Cause I new you needed them FAST , hence the rough edges & flash

Ya want it fast or pretty .... I figured FAST

Ck your FB & get back w/ me , we'll tighten you up

& looking fwd to seeing what you do w/ those "other" conversion pkgs I sent ya

Build ON !

Don

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Got some work done on the engine:

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I'm kinda disappointed with the 6 Pack carbs from AMT, not a ton of detail. I tried to jazz 'em up a little, good enough I guess:

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I also got the AMT '74 Cuda interior from a member here, which will be worlds better than using the Challenger stuff. Test fitting:

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Removing the trans tunnel, since this car does not have a center console:

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Fitting the colsole-less tunnel into the interior:

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A little rough filling - not super picky on this since it will all be Fuzzy Fur'd:

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Working on it, slowly but surely.

Nearly every aspect is giving me trouble it seems - I found that the black Testors One Coat is metallic I had purchased for this project is metallic, I found this out by spraying it on the chassis. I figured I'd just prime over it and spray the Tamiya TS-Whatever Black over top, but it looked terrible, so I stripped it down to bare plastic to start over. Prime is drying on the chassis right now.

I'm not sure if the interior is going how I'd like or not - right now it is drying, I used a Testors One Coat light blue (don't recall the name) which is also heavy metallic, however I plan to spray everything with Dull Coat, so I think that the metallic will actually add a cool dimension to it, sort of like the factory vinyl actually looked, I'll know for sure when I get the dull coat on.

On the up side, I won the Small Letter Polyglas tire decals on eBay, and they are absolutely amazing! I am considering trying to get the guy to do a single size run for me that I will package and sell in sets, rather than complete sheets (for those working on a budget) - more to come on that at a later date.

So, here are some pics of the tires:

After a good layer of Testors Dull Coat:

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I've found that they look much better if I bury them in dull coat, rather than just "dusting" it on.

I also got a little more done on the engine, basically just have to put the belts and fan on, and do a little more detail painting:

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  • 1 month later...

A bit late now and not meaning to nit-pick but on the Plymouth 440 six barrel had the carbs mounted with the float bowls facing forward- your nicely detailed carburetors are backwards

The AMT '71 Duster has a really nice two piece carb setup with nicely detailed vacuum pots for the secondary carbs- these are usually pretty easy to find and make a nice upgrade for future projects

The 340 out of the Duster kit might also be a good basis for afuture, popular aftermarket resin part/kit

Edited by ChrisPflug
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I've seen those decal sheets on eBay, not sure about a "regular retail" source

the retail place to find all Cady decals is Model Empire, They have 3 or 4 pages of them in there catalog, You can find them on wwww.rocketfin.com , The prices are way lower then e-bay prices. I would look them up there, Get there phone number and call and place an order. Thats how I buy all my Cady decals, The prices are around $7 a sheet. They do have the ones for both the 1970, And the 1971 Cudas, Another person that makes the 70 Decals is Keith Marks, He also can be found on Rocetfin. Leave a comment on his Fotki page with your e-mail, And he will get back with you with all the information to order. I personally would get his decals, As they are much more detailed, Don't buy them off of e-bay, You will spend a fortune on them, That happened to me when I was bidding on the Dirty Mary ,Crazy Larry decals for my MPC 69 Charger Annual, I ended up spending $20 plus shipping for them, Contact him directly, If that is the decals you want to use. Also Duplicolor makes a Metallic Black in the touch up paint line, The metalflake is more to scale also. Hope this helps.
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