mrmike Posted June 2, 2011 Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) When it was first introduced, I fell in love with Plymouth's 1970 Barracuda series. Especially the 'Cuda with it's 340 4-bbl. and all the way up to the awesome 426 Hemi! 1971 came and the 'Cuda became gaudy with the billboard graphics, fender vents and ugly grille. About a month ago, I saw a model of a '70 'Cuda and the builder says it was made by Monogram. What?!! Monogram?!! How can that be? The builder described his build as a '71 Hemi 'Cuda with the front and rear pieces from the '70 AAR 'Cuda. The more I looked, the more i wanted to build one for myself. Why didn't I think of this before??? I happen to have both of these models sitting on the bookcase, coated with dust, and in need of repair. I will deconstruct both models and turn the '71 into a '70 using the AAR pieces and fill in the fender side vents. I'll wire and plumb the engine and lower the suspension. I will turn the AAR 'Cuda into a phantom '71 AAR 'Cuda later. This is gonna be GREAT! More to come... BTW...I am well aware of the issues with both of these kits and I refuse to discuss them. If you want to discuss them, do it elsewhere...not here! Edited June 2, 2011 by mrmike
diymirage Posted June 2, 2011 Posted June 2, 2011 you know what i think would be cool ? the overall cleanness of the 70 grill but with the quad lamps of the 71 (just my 2 cents, im sure no matter what you do this will be cool)
stewart Posted June 2, 2011 Posted June 2, 2011 diymirage Icon Posted Today, 06:38 PM you know what i think would be cool ? the overall cleanness of the 70 grill but with the quad lamps of the 71 For what its worth, I very much agree. I can't wait to see this. STewart
mrmike Posted June 3, 2011 Author Posted June 3, 2011 Thanks for the support guys! This should prove to be an interesting project and challenge. Keep watching!
mrmike Posted June 4, 2011 Author Posted June 4, 2011 I have started deconstruction. The billboard decals will be replace with a set of hockey stick stripes. The chrome piece is the tail panel from the AAR. The '71 has a molded in tail panel. I'll score the tail panel and remove it and fit the AAR panel in. The '71 tail panel will eventually go into the AAR. The rest of the '71 Hemi 'Cuda in pieces and awaiting cleaning and repainting. More to come...
scale trucker Posted June 4, 2011 Posted June 4, 2011 mike the 71 convert looks real good as a70 im still building mine you might see it at classic plastic show in september..
Cesar Bossolani Posted June 5, 2011 Posted June 5, 2011 Nice Mike!! I can send to you '70 Cuda decals if you no have them. Just send me your address in PM and I'll pop out a letter to you. Keep us posted!! Cesar
mrmike Posted June 6, 2011 Author Posted June 6, 2011 Thanks Cesar, but I do have a set of decals from Keith Marks. Here's the can of Hemi Orange paint from Model Master that I'll use on the '70 Hemi Cuda. My decals from Keith Marks for the 'Cuda. I washed the body and hood. I'll remove the billboard decals and clean up any flaws. The spoiler mounting holes will be filled since I do not want the wing spoiler on the back. If I can find a ducktail spoiler in my parts box, I'll add that instead. More to come...
diymirage Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 almost certain i have that spoiler, shoot me a PM if you need it
mrmike Posted June 7, 2011 Author Posted June 7, 2011 Well, somewhere along the way in life, I used the exhaust manifolds for another project. I rummaged around in my parts box and found a set of headers that should fit the 'Cuda. Thanks Eelco, but I found the ducktail spoiler that would fit the decklid of this 'Cuda in my parts box. More to come...
charlie8575 Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 Mix n' match to get what you need. Coming along nice, Mike. Charlie Larkin
Dragracer Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 When it was first introduced, I fell in love with Plymouth's 1970 Barracuda series. Especially the 'Cuda with it's 340 4-bbl. and all the way up to the awesome 426 Hemi! 1971 came and the 'Cuda became gaudy with the billboard graphics, fender vents and ugly grille. About a month ago, I saw a model of a '70 'Cuda and the builder says it was made by Monogram. What?!! Monogram?!! How can that be? The builder described his build as a '71 Hemi 'Cuda with the front and rear pieces from the '70 AAR 'Cuda. The more I looked, the more i wanted to build one for myself. Why didn't I think of this before??? I happen to have both of these models sitting on the bookcase, coated with dust, and in need of repair. I will deconstruct both models and turn the '71 into a '70 using the AAR pieces and fill in the fender side vents. I'll wire and plumb the engine and lower the suspension. I will turn the AAR 'Cuda into a phantom '71 AAR 'Cuda later. This is gonna be GREAT! More to come... BTW...I am well aware of the issues with both of these kits and I refuse to discuss them. If you want to discuss them, do it elsewhere...not here! mrmike, I 100% agree, the 1970 'Cuda was the best looking, always wondered why Plymouth went to duel headlights, the 'Cuda just doesn't look right, I was glad when for '72 & on they went back to the '70 look, it took a little while for me to get use to the round tail-lights (reminded me of a Camaro), but the '72's on were still better then the '71. I also have both models (unbuilt in their boxes) & I plan on doing the same thing.
Guest Posted June 8, 2011 Posted June 8, 2011 The chrome piece is the tail panel from the AAR. The '71 has a molded in tail panel. I'll score the tail panel and remove it and fit the AAR panel in. The '71 tail panel will eventually go into the AAR. Is the photo fooling my eyes or is the '70 quite a bit narrower than the '71? If it is narrower,are you planning on filling it in around the tail panel or narrow the quarters to make it meet the tail panel? Also, it looks like the '70 has a bit of a crown on the top it. Should that be flat or is that how it is on the real car? I've always thought the '70 looked so much better than the '71. Someday I wanna do this conversion myself.
Mr. Moparman Posted June 8, 2011 Posted June 8, 2011 If we keep on wating conversion were just going to have somebody master and cast a conversion kit!
mrmike Posted June 9, 2011 Author Posted June 9, 2011 Thanks for the support guys! I have decided to cut out the taillights from the AAR rear panel and glue them into the rear panel of the Hemi 'Cuda which is molded to the body. The AAR rear panel would require too much work to fit into the Hemi 'Cuda body.
mr cheap Posted June 10, 2011 Posted June 10, 2011 i saw 1 one day ..a young girl a (10) on the side of 495 w hood up w 6 guys talking to her not the car /// ( it quit running) ololololol went str to dip stick //no oil/// hit oil pan w hammer // lots of pices // see them boys run olololololol
mrmike Posted June 11, 2011 Author Posted June 11, 2011 It's amazing what can happen when a pretty girl breaks down on the side of the road and a bunch of guys who haven't a clue about fixing cars will do. Tonight, I started removing one of the taillights from the AAR's rear panel by scribing around it with the backside of a chisel-point hobby knife. I removed the taillight in about 10-15 minutes of scribing. I have to open up the opening for the taillight. Just is just a mockup and I still have more material to remove from the Hemi 'Cuda's rear panel. More to come...
mrmike Posted June 11, 2011 Author Posted June 11, 2011 I got both taillights out of the '70 rear panel and fitted into the '71 rear panel. The AAR front end is in the process of being fitted into the '71 body. Bye-bye billboards! More to come...
mrmike Posted June 20, 2011 Author Posted June 20, 2011 After looking over the AAR grille and the '71 Cuda body, there is the problem of space. Too much space between the fenders and the headlights. I decided to score the header line on the right (passenger) side of the body until it broke free. I glued the AAR nose in on the left (drivers) side and when that had set, I glued the right fender to the AAR nose and secured it with a couple of rubber bands. I removed the excess header length and will glue this down onto the AAR nose. I will putty the valance sides to the front fenders. More to come...
LAone Posted June 20, 2011 Posted June 20, 2011 im no mopar man, but these are looking good to me and i can appreciate hard work of others. lots of work going on in here. looking forward to some more and the out come of all this hard work.
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