71 Cyclone Spoiler kit bash

[Sport Suburban]

I have not done a work in progress thread in some time now and decided that I would do one. I have many projects going and I have a hard time staying focused on one. This is one I have had planned for some time and with all the talk of the restored kit coming out I figured I would get back to this one.

I have planned a kit bash of the MPC 71 Cyclone and the Revell 70 Torino. I plan to give step by step photos of the mods I make to help anyone who wants to give this a try. I don't have a color combo planned yet, so we will see what happens.

Here are the two kits involved.

Work on this may be slow as I shift to other projects and since I now have a few MPC Cyclones. I will have some comparison shots of kit issued parts and modified parts.

[Custom Mike]

Sounds like a good one to follow, I wish someone would make a new Cyclone kit, those were some really cool cars!

[Sport Suburban]

First, the starting point. I picked up this somewhat glue bomb as my starting point. I prefer to start with a build up over an unbuilt kit but I will start either way. It just depends on what I find at what price.

This was an unpainted glue bomb with some seriously tire melted wheels. Just look at all the glue under that chassis and the wad of glue between the engine and trans. The rear axle was the worst. Multiple layers of glue and a wire ring holding it on.

The good news is that nothing was painted or sanded. Some glue sink marks on the body and a bent A pillar. Most of the glue is epoxy and was pulled apart.

This is what I had after disassembly. It's hard to believe that this is the same build up. Also in this pic is an extra front bumper I picked up and a resin dash with the gauges from Missing Link.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Sport Suburban

[slusher]

Looks like you got it apart real good. Glue bombs are such a risk. I really like these cars and I just picked up the latest stock car version. Looking forward to your build...

[Len Woodruff]

Looking forward to seeing more on this build.

[disabled modeler]

I love the look of these cars...I have an old rough build up needing parts from my dads old stuff....wish someone would/could re-issue it in this version.

[afx]

Are you building replica stock? I kit based an original NASCAR version of the Cyclone with a Polar Lights Torino stock car chassis. Turned out well if I must say so.

[mustang1989]

Came apart nicely. Love it when it all comes together....er....apart like that!

[Ron Hamilton]

First, the starting point. I picked up this somewhat glue bomb as my starting point. I prefer to start with a build up over an unbuilt kit but I will start either way. It just depends on what I find at what price.

This was an unpainted glue bomb with some seriously tire melted wheels. Just look at all the glue under that chassis and the wad of glue between the engine and trans. The rear axle was the worst. Multiple layers of glue and a wire ring holding it on.

The good news is that nothing was painted or sanded. Some glue sink marks on the body and a bent A pillar. Most of the glue is epoxy and was pulled apart.

This is what I had after disassembly. It's hard to believe that this is the same build up. Also in this pic is an extra front bumper I picked up and a resin dash with the gauges from Missing Link.

You are so lucky to start with that. This is what I started with.

It is as rough as it looks. It has been cleaned, disassembled and primed, and I have a Torino kit to combine it with.

[disabled modeler]

Mine will be factory stock if possible...needs...

Chassis,bumpers,seats,wheel covers,trunk spoiler.decals.

[Can-Con]

I'll have to keep an eye on this one. I'll be doing the same mashup sometime with an unbuilt '70.

Won't feel bad about sacrificing the Revell Torino now that it's been reissued with corrected stuff.

[freakshow12]

I need a cyclone

[Sport Suburban]

Thanks everyone. This will be a factory stock build. I'll start with the body mods.

First I had to remove the molded in cowl from the MPC body. This was pretty strait forward but I did flatten out the underside of the fenders to get as level of a gluing surface as possible. This helps when gluing in the new engine compartment.

I also cut out the engine compartment from the 70 Torino body by scribing the top of the inner fender with the exacto knife. I cut it horizontally to keep as much of the gluing surface as possible. Once free I glued the firewall and core support to it before setting it in place.

Here is a nice shot of the unmodified body next to the finished transformation.

This is the original engine compartment next to the kit bashed body.

After lots of mock ups I found that the new engine compartment lines up best with the core support butted right up to the molded in stops on the inner side of the fenders. I did do some sanding to narrow the Torino core support to make sure the grill still fits and the hood gaps are OK. The hood could fit better but I was more concerned with the front bumper and grill fitting. I will adjust the hood gaps more later.

[Sport Suburban]

Speaking of the hood. I had removed the molded in legs that the MPC hood had. I was going to leave this alone but decided to use the Torino's hinges with the engine compartment.

While this part was easier to do that I expected it does have some issues that come with it. These hinges reach back and hit the interior tub. That is why we do some mock ups. Once I clearance the tub and checked again. I found the hinges also hitting the back of my resin dash from Missing Link. The kit dash is hollow and should be fine but my resin dash is solid.

[Sport Suburban]

Now let us move on to the interior mods. I decided that I wanted to use as much of the MPC interior as possible. I will call this option A. I also considered using the floor of the Torino kit and the seats and door panels from the MPC kit. I will call this option B. That was only if I could not get away with option A.

I have also read of other builds that used most of the Torino's interior. I will call this option C, but since I want to be as factory stock as possible option C will not do for me.

Here are two MPC Cyclone interior tubs. One is fresh from an unbuilt kit and the other is my modified tub. My modified tub also has its package tray glued in place. I glued it back in place for mock ups and to see if everything would be covered by the back seat. Also I cut out the rear support area as I thought it was hitting the chassis but it was not. The interference was some place else and on the chassis itself.

Here is an upside down shot of the modified chassis. I cut these two squares in the floor to clearance the chassis and allow it to sit down. They clear the spring pockets.

Here is the chassis sitting under the tub. It now sits flush and allows the chassis to meet the engine comp.

Here is the Torino's chassis. It needs some mods too. I marked these with a black sharpie. The back of the trans tunnel has a lip at the rear axle that was hitting the tub. This is one of two areas that pushed the tub forward. I trimmed it away and then noticed the step just forward on both sides also hit a step in the tub. I trimmed this back a little also and the tub now sat were I wanted it to.

[Sport Suburban]

Also in the tub picture. You may notice that I cut two larger opening that will be behind the dash. Those are to clear the Torino's hood hinges so the hood will close. I'm glad I also put the dash in place as it also needing to be clearance for the hinges. The resin dash is from Missing Link and is cast with the back filled in.

The black marks are were I need to make room. The kit dash is below and had no issues with the hinges.

This is after I got the dremmel out.

If you look closely at the two tubs pictured above you may have noticed that I removed the cast in pedals the MPC kit has. The MPC kit was also an automatic and the Torino is a 4 speed. So I cut the pedals and glued them to the resin dash.

This still clears the console but I have not decided if I will use that or not.

[Sport Suburban]

Now that the mods to the tub are done and the chassis now fits. I still have a few issues that need to be addressed.

One of my pet peeves is their is no support in back for either the stock chassis or the Torino's chassis. So I glued these styrene rods to the chassis. They set up under the trunk and hold it square. Just like the screw chassis does but no screws. I have glued these to the body on other projects instead of the chassis. It just depends on how easy they are to get to for sanding down for the final height adjustment.

Also the rear wheel wells still don't quite line up with the bodies wheel wells. First I heated them up with a lighter to move them forward just a tad. I still was not happy with them. So I pulled out the dremmel and thinned them in the blacked out area. This gave me the look I wanted. I also sanded off the Revell cast in lettering that is also marked. The axle still needs to be moved forward about 1/8 inch. I will have to shorten the drive shaft that same amount and make sure the exhaust clears.

[Sport Suburban]

Here is everything fitting together.

[afx]

Nice work Raoul. I am anxious to see how you straighten the bent A pillar.

[espo]

Excellent job here. Very informative also. Look forward to watching this build.

[kelson]

Nice work so far!i've got unbuilt 70 and 71 cyclone kits and would love to do such a conversion,but I don't think my skill level is quite there,but i'll be taking notes.

[Sport Suburban]

Thanks guys, I really like doing these type of kit bashes but this is were I get stuck. I get all of the engineering done but stop at picking the colors and final finishes.

Don't be afraid of kit bashing. Start with simple engine swaps then go from their. So far I have put the 68 AMT roadrunner chassis in a resin 68 Coronet RT, resin 69 Coronet RT, and a Jo-Han 69 Roadrunner. I have used AMT 71 Duster 340 chassis in a resin 71 Demon 340, 69 Barracuda, and a 68 Barracuda Formula S. AMT 71 Charger chassis in a MPC 72 Roadrunner, AMT 73 Roadrunner GTX, MPC 73 Charger Ralley, and a 72 Charger Ralley. I have put the AMT 70 Challenger chassis under a resin MPC 71 Challenger RT, 72 and 73 Challenger Ralleys. I have also used the AMT 69 olds 442 chassis under a few Jo-Han 70 Olds 442s. Some of those I need to finish also. I have also started putting one of those AMT 69 Olds chassis under a MPC 72 GTO project.

[Sport Suburban]

If anyone else has done this conversion please add any suggestions using this chassis. I will be doing this one more time on a 70 Cyclone in my stash also.

By the way, The MPC 70 and 71 Cyclone kits have only two differences besides the molded in colors. I have only seen 70's molded in burgundy, and the 71 kits molded in white but don't know if there are any exceptions to this. The obvious is the dated bumpers. Less known is the hoods are different. 70 hoods have cowl vents in the hood, 71 hoods do not. This is actually true to the real cars also.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Sport Suburban

[Bob Ellis]

The only two differences I know between a 70 and 71 MPC Cyclone, are the dated bumpers and decals that say Cyclone .

[Bob Ellis]

I am looking forward to seeing how this MPC Revell Cyclone goes