Plymouth Superbird

[seanyb505]

Wat if you just cut out the headlight covers, replace them with clear sheet and let the headlights shine thru them. It would keep the nose clean aerodynamically.

That was originally what I had thought about. I'm huge into endurance racing but the overall feel of this build didn't seem to go along with needing headlights without compromising aero. Blame NASCAR.

I have made decent progress. Thanks to a donation from a member, (Thanks again, tubbs!) I've got a Hemi in the engine bay again. I got lucky and the headers are the exact distance apart at the ends to match up to the Thunderbird side exhaust.

The lower air dam I was working on is coming together, just waiting on a little putty to dry before I finish it. I'm not sure how to finish off this piece, polished aluminum, flat aluminum, or give my home made carbon fiber decals a first try. I like polished aluminum, but I know the metalizers like bare plastic surface and I will need to prime this part due to a little putty. The carbon would be cool, but since I have not attempted any home made decals yet, there could potentially be more trial an error, making this build last longer.

Air Dam:

I'm going to go with a simplified front suspension, even though it will be plainly visible. The Bird needs to get done.

If the weather heats up soon I may try to start getting some paint on the body. The wing and rear bumper/valence are ready to go. These Revell-Monogram Superbirds have terribly brittle rear wings. Between this one and the stock version I am building along side I have broken a rear wing 4 times.

Rear valence:

I will need to widen the rear axle as the Thunderbird unit is about 1/8" too narrow on either side.

With the rear seats sanded down the rear deck of the interior bucket it too thin and is always cracking the putty. I could build some supports to go underneath, but as of now I am unsure how far back n the process I want to go to fix the problem.

Once those steps are done I should be ready for final assembly.

Pics to follow, if I can get photobucket to cooperate. Anyone know why it doesn't seem to work on any Windows XP computer I own?

Edited November 29, 2013 by seanyb505

[Wonderbread Kustomz]

I love these cars! Nice!

[seanyb505]

12 years later, this build is off the shelf again. I've determined the 1:25 Thunderbird wheels and tires are too small. So now I have two ideas:

- Buy some mid-90s 1:24 Nascar model 

- Aftermarket nascar wheels & tires. If I go this route, are there any fictitious options that have the look and feel, but maybe scale out to 16" or 17"? I don't want to go with the modern 18" BBS wheels. Need D-Window for this. 

Once I source wheels I can get back to determining stance, then drivetrain, then interior. After that just build it like a normal model!

Edited January 13 by seanyb505

[TopherMcGinnis]

If you search resin wheels on Ebay, Jaysresinwheels should pop up. If he doesn't have something readily available, he may print some for you. I had him print a set for the Moebius wrecker before the kit landed.

 

Check 3dscaleparts.com too.

[seanyb505]

Yikes. For those prices might as well buy a kit for cheaper. 

Jeff Burton on the way next week. 

[TopherMcGinnis]

Well, it's not 1990 anymore. 

[seanyb505]

Yeah yeah lol. Still for $50, might as well just buy something that's already available for $20. 

[seanyb505]

New wheels are in. Black wheels and tires are from a 1:25 Thunderbird nascar kit, white wheels are from an old 1:24 Taurus nascar. Tires are the same. The Taurus tires are taller and more narrow. I've got a few kits ahead on the schedule, but this looks way better and gives me gumption to not let the superbird sit another few years. 

[johnyrotten]

2 minutes ago, seanyb505 said:

New wheels are in. Black wheels and tires are from a 1:25 Thunderbird nascar kit, white wheels are from an old 1:24 Taurus nascar. Tires are the same. The Taurus tires are taller and more narrow. I've got a few kits ahead on the schedule, but this looks way better and gives me gumption to not let the superbird sit another few years. 

Looks really good with either set, I like the white. Pretty cool build you got going on, came across this earlier today.

[seanyb505]

After about 3 hours with the Taurus, here's where I stand. A bit of 2 steps forward and 145 steps back. 

- Thunderbird wheels scale to about 16" on the Superbird. Taurus (white) are about 17. Perfect. Tbird tires (I think I'm sticking with these) are 26" tall and 12" wide. Taurus tires are 27 and 11. If I can tuck the tires well into the body, the height difference won't show, at least perception-wise. Ground clearance may require some work. 

- Going to use bits of the ford chassis. Most before the firewall and most from the lateral roll bars rearward. This alone is going to take some time given I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I could slap the Superbird body on a less modified Taurus chassis, but I want it to be less stock car and more street car turned recreational track car. 

- Centering wheels in wheel wells is going to be tricky. Might have to measure this before chassis work. 

- sticking with the hemi, but going to use the Taurus oil pan and dry sump. Debating Plymouth or Taurus radiator and fan. Plymouth has additional support for the body. 

- Depending on how the engine compartment comes together, my front air dam may need modifying. 

- Discovered I lost a fender scoop. Going to attempt some sort of vent scratch build to sit flush in the top of the fender. 

If I was getting close to final vision for the car two days ago, I've got some hacking to do now...

Also came across a fun write up on the car from a couple months ago: https://www.dodgegarage.com/news/article/heritage/2024/10/a-look-back-the-iconic-yearone-goldberg-superbird-tribute.html

Edited January 18 by seanyb505