Dirkpitt289 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Onward and upward. Time to introduce my next plastic debotchery. Here's what we will be starting with This kit is a piece of kaka. Doo doo, monkey feces, donkey doo.... I think you get my drift. Some of you may ask why I feel this way about the fine looking box of plastic. Well.... When I bought this I was looking forward to building a nice replica of Eleanor from the 1974 movie "Gone in 60 Seconds." There is nothing in this box that resembles the Mustang printed on the box top other then the body shell. I just blew $16 plus the time and gas to drive to the LHS to purchase it. Dejected I tossed the box under my bench where it sat for a few weeks. Admittedly I would kit the box every chance I got. This was childish I know but it made me feel a little better... I'm lying it didn't make me feel better but I did it anyway. Now some of you will argue that this is a fine kit and could easily be made into a race car of some kind and you'd be right but that's not what I had planned. As the kit sat under my bench I had found and purchased a Mad Max interceptor kit. While I was waiting for it to arrive I started scouring the internet for information and what have you to get me ready to build that kit. As most of you may already know the all black interceptor that Max drove was a 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe, a car exclusive to Australia. A car that looks very much like a 73 Mustang. So... Not one to like to waste money I decided that the Mustang could be a nice accompaniment to the Interceptor when done. So the idea was born to turn this 73 turd of a Mustang into a polished Mad Max Interceptor type car. As Will Darnell said in the move Christine, "You can't polish a turd." I'm going to try and prove him wrong. Now when everyone thinks of the Mad Max cars they always think of the Black Falcon. I decided I'm going to try and make this one into something more like its lesser known and more colorful cousins. Here are more shots of the kit parts. Look ma no inner engine compartment walls. AUGH!!!! Here are the dingle berries. The smaller parts of the big turd. :rofl: I crack me up. Not a single Mustang related part in this photo I started out by giving everything a cote of black primer. That was before I decided to not do the all black scheme. If you like the smell of an old age home or like nurseries and the oder that accompanies those places stay tuned for more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Good luck my friend, the mythbusters proved you can polish a turd , so there is hope for this pile ole ###### Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 haters crack me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks Jonathan, it should be a fun build. I got what I think will be some cool improvements. Time will tell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) I will be watching this one, I think its a cool idea to turn it in to a aussy version, I am have been wanting to do a car from down under Are there not any better 73 stang kits out there?, been thinking about doing the 73 eleanor myself as well to go along with the the 67, now I know to avoid this kit Edited February 16, 2012 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 After doing some reading I thing the way to get a good 73 is to get this kit here for the body and the AMT 71 Mustang (I think. The one with the Blue Boss 351 on the boxtop) for everything else. Of course neither have the correct smooth hood that the Eleanor had so that would need to be modified or taken from one of the Drag kits. That's going to be a project for another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I was just doing some quick research and eleanor was a 71 that was made to look like a 73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) Well that makes it easy then. The AMT Blue Boss 351 kit and a modified hood or one stolen from one of the funny car kits. I never knew it was a 71. Edited February 16, 2012 by Dirkpitt289 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I didnt either, here is a link and you can read all the arguing over it http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_4972-Ford-Mustang-1971.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Cool thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I think its safe to say that building the original eleanor is going to be like dong a general lee, that there are more then one way to build it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 While there are no correct 71 - 73 Mustang kits out there, there is a very nice AMT '73 Cougar kit with the correct engine and engine compartment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) So the only way to get a some what decent 71-73 mustang is a lot of kit bashing ? Edited February 16, 2012 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jairus Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 So far.... yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAone Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 i like that your gonna go ahead with this. it sounds like a mission, but as long as you have fun, thats what counts. any chance that you might want to let go of the wheels in the 5th pic(from top)?? if so, hit me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Sorry Luis but I think those wheels are perfect for this build. For me when I first start a kit I tend to get a nice start and plenty of progress. This kit is no different. Last night I started by removing the extra plastic supports on the body and got her all cleaned up and ready for primer. Because this car will primarily be yellow I used white primer as the base. After it dried I found a few more spots that will need some more attention before I apply the first color One of the first issues I needed to address with this lit was its instrument cluster. As you can see it didn't have one. This however was a blessing in disguise. Seeing how I wanted to make this into a Mad max like MFP Police car I had decided that to make it more authentic it would need to be a right hand drive car. This over site by the manufacturer made my job so much easier. In my mind I was planning to cut the dash up into three sections and swap them around like dominos. No need to now.Using my pin-vice and varied drill bits I made the new instrument gauges on the blank canvas. I also took this time to properly mount the steering wheel. If you look at the above picture you can see a guide mounted UNDER the dash for the steering column. made it so it now goes through the dash like its real life big brother. test fit the new steering column location. That's MORE better if you ask me. :rofl: More to follow.... Thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Keep in mind my goal is not to make an exact representation of the car pictured above. It's to take this POS AMT kit and make it in to a believable representation of another model of the car. Much like my local Police department they have many different cruisers in their parking lot. Caprice Classics, Crow Vics, Dodge Chargers and Doge Durangos. So I don't think that it would be unthinkable that the fictitious MFP would have other cruisers other then the Ford XB Falcon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Time for some plastic surgery Here is what AMT feels is a good engine compartment. With my razor saw and drummel in hand I set to work undoing this miscarriage of plastic injustice. Due to the graphic nature of this procedure I will just show you the end results That wasn't soooo bad Now to let our patient recoup for a bit. While that was happening I was looking over some junkyard motors I have lying around. Just deciding if I want to use one of these or the kit supplied motor. To be fair there is nothing wrong with the kit motor I just want to see if I may want to keep it for something else in the future. It was decided to use the kit supplied motor. Well that's it for now. Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm liking the progress so far. I think you are on your way to building a wonderful little model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 FYI the flat base model 1971-73 Mustang hood is found in the JoHan Mustang funny car kit. The hood is molded to the body but is easy to scribe along mold line to free it. It then fits the AMT and MPC bodies well. I used this kit you have to build a Max Falcon....I'll try and get some pics today and post. BTW...the dash instruments are on the chrome tree as a 'pod' that was from the road race version of the Mustang kit from years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 ...the dash instruments are on the chrome tree as a 'pod' that was from the road race version of the Mustang kit from years ago. Yeah I didn't like them at all. That's why I made my own. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction for a hood come Eleanor time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Looking good so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The Parts Box in Australia are about to release the XB Falcon 4 door in resin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Planet X also makes the XB Falcon Coupe in Resin or at least did. They popup on EvilBay every now and again but they can rocket up in price. Maybe someday I'll stumble across an affordable one. Heck I finally got my hands on Max's Interceptor so I guess anything can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkpitt289 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Last night I started work on the 351 Cleveland power-plant for our Interceptor. Removed the factory distributor blob to make room for a Ron and Pat Parks replacement unit. I thought about filling this hole in the block meant for the axel but decided that it wasn't worth the effort. I may regret this later but what the heck... The replacement Distributor pack. I'll install this after the paint on the motor is fully dried. Time to focus some attention to the engine compartment. I have to admit I was so disappointed and disgruntled with the kit that I hacked off the parts without having a solid plan in place. I spent almost all day yesterday going over options and trying to formulate a fix. I'm not willing to buy a $20+ kit and harvest the firewalls for this build. I'm not lucky enough to have found one of those buys where you get a $20+ kit for some pocket change so that you don't feel bad taking the parts and making the kit unusable other then for other parts projects. Then a light went on. Meir inches from my work area was the answer. I had received this convertible shell as a throw in when I purchased a Mustang McLaren. It was cut up when I got it and I used it to teach myself how to make the McLaren fenders for a future build. The car was destined for the trash until now. now I'm not delusional enough to think that this is a perfect replacement for the 73's engine compartment but it is miles ahead what I can scratch and seeing that this is not a factory or show class build I figure what the heck. The downer The harvested parts After some trimming I dry fit the walls in place. I will still need to add some Evergreen to the back of the compartment to reach the firewall. Edited February 17, 2012 by Dirkpitt289 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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