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1976 Dodge Dart Spirit of '76


echoxrayniner

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Attempted to turn a '75 Dart Sport into a '76 bicentennial Dart Lite to... moderate success. This is one of those nearly nightmarish-to-build MPC kits where nothing fits the way I want to no matter what, so despite it all I'm just happy one thing came out somewhat decently which happened to be the interior, though that might be more thanks to Keith Marks' decal set. I actually hadn't even picked up on the gargantuan mold lines on the bottom side of the roof until after I did the fourth friggin' coat of paint so I kind of left it be.

But what the hell, I love the weird subject matter of a celebratory car that is largely now only found in junkyards with merely the faded red of the stripes remaining.

1976spiritof76_dodgedart-5.jpg

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1976spiritof76_dodgedart-14.jpg

1976spiritof76_dodgedart-18.jpg

 

 

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Dang... I like this build alot!  I remember these cars well; one of the cutest girls in my high school drove one and every guy wanted to "visit those wild rainbow stripes" in the back seat!  LOL  I think you're build is excellent, especially for that challenging MPC kit!  Looks great!

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Dang man... You said you trying to conquer it. Looks like you knocked it outta the park to me. Just say the mold lines are part of the white vinyl top.. Dang fine job, bro!

Edited by KWT
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I've had my eyes on those 197Spirio'7decals , but have been hesitant to 'pull the trigger' . Now that I've seen how gorgeous they look , I absolutely must get a set pronto ! 

The parting lines on the C-pillars are really exaggerated on your example . Oddly , their placement is virtually where the trim would be for a vinyl top-equipped model . Perhaps you could , if you so desire , make a couple of small trim pieces , foil 'em up , and simply place them above the offencive parting lines .

The Dart Lite was a 1976-only model , a companion to the Feather Duster ; all of them were powered by the 225 Slant Six ; they underwent extensive modifications to lighten their weight by around 200 lbs.  Believe it or not , a properly-equipped model was good for 30-40 MPG ! That was stellar in 1976 , and is equally impressive some 40 year later ! 

 

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Great looking build. I'm not familiar with the Spirit model but remember a Surf model they offered at about that same time. Similar side stripe but with a Surfer in the stripe.

1974 & 1975 Hang 10 . I remember seeing a brand new 1974 model with the 360 in spring 1974 . I was 4 years old , and I clearly recall that bad boy to this very day !

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I've had my eyes on those 197Spirio'7decals , but have been hesitant to 'pull the trigger' . Now that I've seen how gorgeous they look , I absolutely must get a set pronto ! 

The parting lines on the C-pillars are really exaggerated on your example . Oddly , their placement is virtually where the trim would be for a vinyl top-equipped model . Perhaps you could , if you so desire , make a couple of small trim pieces , foil 'em up , and simply place them above the offencive parting lines .

The Dart Lite was a 1976-only model , a companion to the Feather Duster ; all of them were powered by the 225 Slant Six ; they underwent extensive modifications to lighten their weight by around 200 lbs.  Believe it or not , a properly-equipped model was good for 30-40 MPG ! That was stellar in 1976 , and is equally impressive some 40 year later ! 

 

Yeah looking back, I could've easily turned it into a vinyl top with hardly any difficulty with how thick that mold line is. Judging by the '75 and '76 Dart MPC kits from those years, the mold lines werent present so I'm still thinking mistakes instead of planned vinyl roof lines. But yeah, the Slant-6 in that car was freakin' amazing and underutilized in the 1970s and 1980s, a V6 pulling 36MPG/16km/L average... in 1976? That's a rare one even today, heck some I4s barely make that.

It's a shame the kit only comes with this weird not-V8, somekind of 340 with six cylinder manifolds.

But seriously, Marks' decals made this kit go from meh to epic, the stripes are beautiful plus his seat decals make such a wonderful difference, I love it!

76dartdecals.jpg

Dang man... You said you trying to conquer it. Looks like you knocked it outta the park to me. Just say the mold lines are part of the white vinyl top.. Dang fine job, bro!

Thanks! And hah, I just might go back and tape it over and make it a proper vinyl roof, who knows!

Edited by echoxrayniner
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I've never been a fan of the Chrysler V8's in MPC's kits : just horrible 'representations' of the 273-318-340-360 ( like the Dart Sport , Volare , and van kits ) nor of the big block 383-400-440 ( Monaco Police , Dodge Pickups , Road Runner , Charger ) . Well , the big blocks are "workable" , whereas the small displacement V8's are just 100% BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH ! Wildly undersized ; generic alternator ; positively HUGE four barrel carburetor ; and that ridiculous manual transmission (exception being the Volare series ; those all had a nice air cleaner , and a TorqueFlite automatic ... their only redeeming value !).

Even worse ? That abhorrant Hemi ! Nothing fits-together on that pile of dog dung ! 

In spite of all of its design faults , it's a great kit ! Who else is making a 1973 & up A-body ? No one !

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I've never been a fan of the Chrysler V8's in MPC's kits : just horrible 'representations' of the 273-318-340-360 ( like the Dart Sport , Volare , and van kits ) nor of the big block 383-400-440 ( Monaco Police , Dodge Pickups , Road Runner , Charger ) . Well , the big blocks are "workable" , whereas the small displacement V8's are just 100% BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH ! Wildly undersized ; generic alternator ; positively HUGE four barrel carburetor ; and that ridiculous manual transmission (exception being the Volare series ; those all had a nice air cleaner , and a TorqueFlite automatic ... their only redeeming value !).

Even worse ? That abhorrant Hemi ! Nothing fits-together on that pile of dog dung ! 

In spite of all of its design faults , it's a great kit ! Who else is making a 1973 & up A-body ? No one !

Holy **** that's exactly my thoughts, the MPC kits of the 1970s weren't great, especially with their engines. The HEMI in the Dart kit for instance, Jesus Christ, what a pile of trash. But, yeah, you're spot on, who else made these kinds of kits? Pontiac Ventura, mid seventies Camaro & Firebird, '73-'80 Chevrolet Nova, Dodge Dart, Plymouth Volare, etc, just MPC D:

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