Charger 500 Pro Tourer "Polished Turd"

Well... I bought an MPC Dodge Daytona thinkin' it'd be kinda neat.

How wrong I was.
So much flash, casting blobs, marks, dents, pits, taken 2 days of work to get the body where it is, and still not even close.
Only good part about this kit: The Blown 6.1 Hemi.
And this thing isn't getting the Hemi, that's for another hot rod down the track methinks..

Anyway - pictures of my now called "Polished Turd" - and thanks to Mopar68, I have to finish the build, because he made me start it on 24 hours of non-sleepyness.


See, it's the MPC kit, all the rest of the parts don't even fit - and there's more flash than parts.


Wheels I took off a perfectly good RC Hemi Cuda model - they are HUGE, but suit the idea I reckon.


Dat stance. :-3


Plans for it:
1: Pro Touring, so low, and straight to the point visually, going for a street fighter look with some pizazz.
2: Shaved body bar the door handles (Done, wipers and all smoothed out.)
3: Fuel filler located on a stem in the back window, and the cap fits at the bottom center of the window.
4: Full custom "sheet metal" interior.
6: Full roll cage, contemplating roll cage through dash, or around dash...
7: Stoppers - also taken from the R/C Cuda are a set of 4 scale Brembo brakes.
8: Fully fabricated frame, this time it's gonna work, trust me. Truck bar rear diff setup on shocks, front IFS system.
9: "Sheetmetal" engine bay, with a tube frame inside to make the radiator support.
10: A few subtle vents, and a schmick rear exhaust through the tucked bumper setup.


yep - balls to the wall.
Do it right this time?
After all - ya can't polish a turd....

Sounding good mate, can't wait to see how this unfolds

IronMunkie wrote:After all - ya can't polish a turd....

Maybe not, but you can take to it with blades and sandpaper

So far a Thunderbird has donated a Transmission, a reverse cowl scoop is being fab'd to fix those ugly, very unrealistic hood dimples, tedious frame idea's have made it to paper, wheels have been sanded and will be painted Matte black with Gunmetal lips.

Brakes may yet be painted bright yellow.

Body is free of blemishes - time to cut her up. >:-)

Thinking Purple Body with White R/T stripes like this:


Got a racing seat for the interior.
Begun bending the roll cage.

Coming along already and it's only 8:30 am.

Gotta pick things up in penrith after 10 am.

Then should be able to work on her solidly for a while.


UPDATE:
Roll cage, wheels, hood.
Just need a cross support and side intrusion bars for the cage, then I have to fab the main frame rails, make a floor pan, and glue the cage to it, mount the body to the floor, sort out a tunnel, then make the extremely lowered frame, which is gonna require a very low slung Engine. Not gonna have much room to make a steering setup - But I'll do what i can - hoping for as much realism here as possible.

Another update: 8:50 am.
Probably have to fab a rear bumper, or at the very least rear valance.

Didn't wanna.
Probably gotta.

looking intresting

Um.

Why is my 1/24th Tamiya Racing Seat.
Incredibly small compared to a normal seat on the 'Charger?
Seems really skinny - am I missing something here?

'Cause if anyone used this seat - they'd be female, and even then with skinny shoulders.

>.>
Anyone noticed a massive scaling issue with MPC - ever?

Another morning update:

Rear Subframe is done, did it first to get clearance on the rims, also gave me the base level height of the frame within the charger so I could mount my seat with some "floorpan".

So here they are:



The diff is gonna be sitting smack bang in the middle horizontally and vertically. Not what I wanted - but I was aiming for a Ladder bar setup.. so yeah, it'll suffice.

Shell is just resting on the tyres.
Scale 2.5-3" off the ground there.
So there's plenty of room with the new frame.
Next up - Fuel tank. Diff and Diff mounts. lol.

Actual ride height...

This is where the real fun begins.

Nice work on that chassis mate, needs to look lower IMO, maybe a side skirt/ deeper sill panel, just to bring the body closer to earth? Just a thought out loud, i've had a few of these kits and the mold lines etc are a disaster, need alot of work like you said, but always look tuff when done. keep going, i'm watching.

Well with the way the seats are looking at the moment, I might be able to lower the Charger another 2mm.

As I am thinking about doing a flat underside.
But keeping the interior "tubbed" so the whole thing can come apart and show the frame from the top, showing all the ducting etc I have in my head.
As I like smooth undersides - and would allow some realistic vent ducting. ;-)

Hoping to get it as low as the test picture and not diminish interior space. :-S


ANYWAY I scored this today too:

Resin '66 coupe from AMT, has some flash, nothing major.

Oh god.. not again.
Chassis time.. again.

Did come with a pretty good load of goodies, a third headlight, brake-light holder, different carby setups, different carbie hats, chrome rocker covers or just plain janes. Old school drag race seats (HOT ROD PARTS WOOO!), an ALMOST Shelby lower front valance, shelby side mirrors, shelby scoop.




More updates on the Charger when I have the bumpers flushed up and the body ready for paint (Trying to keep it stock, even though I do wanna drop the skirts a tad... too much effort for a car that's meant to display as little as possible... the irony..)

Update - so I was looking through my bits box.. wonderin' where all my damn diffs went.. when all of a sudden - I found my shortened diff that I cannot remember WTF it is from...

But - It's a PERFECT fit..

No joke.
The fit is SO GOOD.
That I don't have to alter the diff, wheels, body or chassis.

+1 to parts that you thought you didn't need, nor realised you still had.

Pic:


Can't beat that.
Didn't even try and it all goes together perfectly.

Know were you coming from about flashing on the body the mustang II that I am building had a lot on it too.

Also DeeCee, I had a look at your builds, I love the GTX and that Willies.

Got some amazing stuff you have. :-)

Yeah All, it's a pain in the ars*.
You remove a heap, think it's all gone then BAM "HERE I AM!"

:-\
Annoying mold lines.

Update:

New shoes. :-D


semi-gloss black centers, Metal Black outer lip.

appreciated in better light.

Wait for final pics I guess. :-)

Update:

The Diff is on. :-)

Sprung and all floaty-like.

Just gotta work out the rest of my Chassis and I can make the forward bars for it.

Valve springs - best thing. EVER.
Screw on clamp anyone?


It's attached... just needs some wheels.
With the weight in the fuel tank she'll sit lower.. so I guess this is her measure of unsprung weight? lol



Just a REALLY basic connection here. Nothing fancy, does the job. lol


So there you go - just have to attach the back wheels, make the fuel tank, and fuel lines, etc, make an interior tub and she'll be ready to make a frame for herself, then we make her all purdy like. :-)

Wanna hurry up, im about over popcorn, need a beer moticon.

Looking good mate.!

Gee wiz ya don't muck around do ya? That rear clip is looking great, as are the wheels. +1 for the smooth underside, awesome idea



Watching and waiting...

UPDATE:


All purdy and painted. :-D
Gotta make a weighted fuel cell for it and the filler neck.


Just needed a wetsand.
No extra filling required. ^_^


Old stocko styled exhaust exists.


No lips. :-D


How's that for stance?
Who needs extended sills? Pfft, perfect ride height.


Damn.. they fit so well..

Doesn't sit to bad at all, but, whats with the red/black thing?? don't think i missed a page??

No, haha, the Red Black thing is a Dodge Super Bee that went shit fast because of the tape residue... so I have to strip it all off with sand paper or stripper, use good masking tape like 3M and repaint the bottom half gloss black.

EDIT: Got paint on it.
Humidity ****** it.

Sanding tommorrow I see...
All the things in this shade of green have gone "sour" as it were.. lol

Endure...
roof and boot are good...

Sides are history..

I should start using my Airbrush again, 'cause I can't F*** those jobs up, even when I am trying to.


Pics:

LOVE the green... but not what's next...




This was the third coat, 45 minutes after the second, which had fully dried, all of a sudden it was runny and went to sh**. :-(

Roof and boot are the only things that came off good.


New hood:

Starting to think I should give up on painting and sub-contract. LOL

Looking good there mate 👍 Those runs are the reason why i never use spray cans... I alway's decant the paint & use my a/b. I find paint straight out of the can much too thin.
As for stripping the 'Bee... Don't strip it just yet, I might have a solution or 2 for ya! Tape residue can be cleaned off with either tea-tree oil or Meguiars mirror-glaze Clear Plastic Cleaner. A bit of elbow grease with either of these & the tape residue should come right off. I use the Meguiars stuff regularly on all my glass/windows, because inevitably they always get masked & painted for the trim. It work's a treat. It may take off a little paint but it'll also smooth it out & can save you stripping the entire body & only having to re-coat the bottom half 😉
Cheers Cliffo

green is bright,I always get running using rattle can too.

Love the green aswell mate, i agree with Cliffo, clean the residue off with polish instead of stripping the whole car, alot easier, i also decant from can into a jar and put it through air brush, much better job i think, cans suck.

I tried tea-tree, I even tried sticky-stuff remover.

And I don't have the money at the moment for my big cars to use Meguires.. so I don't think I'll be grabbing it for little cars any time soon.. lol

But thanks for the suggestions.


Sanded it back and resprayed it on the bottom half - it ain't perfect, but at least ONE side of the car is good. lol

Currently making the rear suspension, just have to paint the trailing arms and glue/pin them in place.

i guess now you're wishing you just built it as a turd...

anyway, custom stuff looks great.

Nope.. she's rolling along slowly.

Gonna put together the Hemi-Turd because I figure why have a 440 in there? lol

I have more pics of the frame, etc, just CBF'd uploading them at the moment.

Trying to sort out this deal for the VG Valiant I might have just bought (A full size toy.. YAY!)