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Carrera Superbird rebuild

2205 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Autoavia, 
driver#8
6
I've wanted a Richard Petty car for ages but the price of RTR stuff - the Carrera Torino and Superbird or the Revogram Plymouth - has been beyond silly since the moment that it was released.

I picked up a Carrera Superbird a few years ago and got some decals from Patto but never got the gumption or time to take a run at the conversion. Covid-19 has at least presented me with time and opportunity so I thought that I'd take a run at it.

First of all - it's really not a good model. The real Superbird was lower and sleeker by a long, long way. Second - it's a road car. It's got windscreen wipers and quarter lights. Its bottom is up in the air. It's anything but the graceful coupé that competed in period - but that's sort of relaxing. You can't make it any worse so why not try to make it better?

I took 2mm off the rear ride height. I opened up the rear arches by 2mm. Took out the front quarter lights. Sanded down the moulded-in windscreen wipers and sanded the roof down to look like a single piece of sheet metal rather than a production assembly. Finally paint the whole thing Petty Blue and let Patto do the hard work. Happy with the results...

Tire Car Vehicle Wheel Hood


Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Hood


Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Land vehicle


Tire Wheel Land vehicle Vehicle Car


Car Wheel Tire Vehicle Hood


Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Hood

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W
I'll be darned. I never noticed the cars had wipers on them. Just checked out three Superbirds (all still in boxes) and all have wipers. They're even picked out in other than body colors.
To rub salt in it, I paid a hefty price for the Gurney car only to find out the right side number was put on at a weird angle.
What I'd really like is a 3D printed chassis for these cars. Oops...RL Slots has one that fits the MOPARs. What it doesn't fit are the Torinos (body posts in different location according to the designer).
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A
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The RL Slots chassis will fit the 69 Charger but it although it is only a couple of mm out it can't be persuaded to fit the Torino. I bought one and although I haven't run it yet I am not happy with the sit of the car. Although the Charger does seem to sit slightly high at the back mine sits too high just like it does on the original Carrera chassis. Maybe with the body posts trimmed it will look ok but the real proof will be track testing which isn't possible during lockdown as I don't have a home track.

I have only got as far as mocking up the car with some wheels at the moment but the photos should show the sit of the car and I have included a photo of the chassis for anyone else who is thinking of buying one.

I also need to get rid of those quarter lights but will have to live with the wipers for now.

Tire Wheel Vehicle Car Hood


Cutting mat Motor vehicle Toy Vehicle Wheel


Apologies for the quality of the first photo. I am not very good with a phone camera and that was the best of several attempts.

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Just found a photo of the no 58 Charger and it still had the quarter lights so Carrera got it right :-

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/february-1969-andy-hampton-drove-this-1969-dodge-charger-news-photo/144035434
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Kit Spackman
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Ooooooh Chargers! Love 'em!
wub.png


Your #43 car looks the BUSINESS Driver#8.
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Wobble
The end result of your Petty conversion looks brilliant although personally I would have found it difficult to attack the Gurney car with sandpaper. The thing that irks me most about the Carrera Nascars is the oversized wheels so I turned down the hubs of my most recent Torino so that the visible part of the wheel is only 13.5mm rather than almost 15mm and added smaller tyres.
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W
I corresponded with the RL Slots designer regarding the chassis fitting the Torino. He told me he lost the files so could not modify them to fit the Torino. Pity. I like those Fords.
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driver#8
I really like that chassis. Personally I can't stand the way Carreras run in stock form - it's ridiculous to talk about 'feel' for a car that you never have any direct contact with but it really is a world of difference even from a Scalextric. Sluggish, stilted, top-heavy and cumbersome... and that's across the board. DTMs and F1s alike. But they're the only game in town, so...

Wobble said:
The end result of your Petty conversion looks brilliant although personally I would have found it difficult to attack the Gurney car with sandpaper. The thing that irks me most about the Carrera Nascars is the oversized wheels so I turned down the hubs of my most recent Torino so that the visible part of the wheel is only 13.5mm rather than almost 15mm and added smaller tyres.
Click to expand...
Yes the wheels - I had sort of blanked that out of my mind but you're right, that would improve the look of the things by a long way. But equally going shopping in the USA where there are presumably a range of better resin/alloy solutions is a step or two too far for the wallet right now!
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A
I don't think there is anything much better on offer in the USA than we have here. My Charger that I showed in an earlier post was mocked up with RS Slots front wheels and Slotit rear wheels. They rears aren't 100% accurate but they are good enough and I will use probably PCS steel wheel inserts with a bit of plasticard around the circumference to make them a better fit in the wheel centres.

RS Slot Racing have suitable rear wheels with tyres that have about the right tyre wall profile but they are only 8mm wide. Our club rules allow 10mm on NASCAR which is why I intend to use Slotit wheels and will try to find 10mm tyres with a deeper tyre wall. If the car is tippy I can always get some 8mm wheels and tyres instead.
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