Daisy Duke's Plymouth (DOH)

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Okay, on to my next project: Daisy's Plymouth!  I much prefer the look of the SECOND car used, the one that went over the cliff (actually I prefer how it looked BEFORE, but nevermind).  It just looks sleeker to me, plus it was used in more episodes (14 vs 9).

 

First, let's dispel some rumors and falsehoods:

 

     -Rumor # 1: Daisy's second car was a Plymouth Roadrunner, either '71 or '72 depending on where you read.

     -The Truth #1: Apparently it was probably a '71 Plymouth Satellite Sebring with some '71 GTX features including a non-Sebring hood.  Therefore, it shall henceforth be referred to simply as "Daisy's Plymouth".

 

     -Rumor #2:  Daisy's first car ('74 Plymouth Satellite) was only used in the first five episodes, the ones filmed in Georgia.

     -The Truth #2:  Actually, the '74 Satellite was retained for the first four California Episodes (Swamp Molly, Luke's Love Story, The Big Heist & Limo One is Missing).  The Sebring/GTX's first appearance was in Episode 11, "Money to Burn."  It made a nice first entrance on this episode.  It finished the first season, and was used in 14 episodes of Season 2.

 

     -Rumor #3:  Except for the dive off the cliff, Daisy's car was never really used much for stunts.

     -The Truth #3:  Actually, besides spinning wheels and fishtailing to Daisy's fantastic driving, it was used for a jump in Season 2 Episode 2, "Gold Fever".  Additionally, before its tragic dive off the cliff to destruction, it did a 2-wheel bank between the Hazzard Sheriff cars.  

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Under expert automotive guidance from the good folks at Modelcarsmag.com forums, I procured a Revell '71 Plymouth GTX as the base kit, and ordered the correct hood from Harts Parts resins.  I decided to make this a fully detailed build rather than the "curbside" closed-hood builds I've done for much of my Dukes of Hazzard fleet.  It will feature a fully super-detailed engine bay, similar to what I did with The General.  

 

[Coors54]

And I was expecting at least one picture with Daisy in.....

 

Dave

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

LOL sorry Coors! 😎

 

Hollywood almost always uses more than one copy of any featured vehicle due to tight filming schedules plus mechanical issues.  Some features on these cars are often fictional.  This said, in my Dukes builds I try to balance or combine the sometimes fictional features with reality. 

 

I went through all the episodes in question searching for even one photo of the hood up on Daisy's car, maybe parked in front of the farm with the boys doing some minor maintenance.  Couldn't even find one; this actually made things easier; it means whatever I do can't be proven wrong.  I did find one scene with the hood up on the earlier-used '74, from the episode "Limo One is Missing," but of course it was the wrong car, and we couldn't see much anyway.

 

It was suggested that Daisy's character might have driven the Plymouth variant with the smaller engine, with a blue engine block.  I'm not sure if any muscle car kits actually offer smaller, "tamed" small-block engines, so I went with what I had.  Had to strip the paint and redo it in a more correct color.

 

I added a few details for the wiring, plus an aftermarket set of belts and pulleys.  Alternator came from Revell's '68/69 Charger. There will be more hoses and wiring added after it's installed.

 

 

 

I also removed the molded-on battery and water reservoir from the engine bay.  See, the trouble with molded-on details is that they LOOK molded on, and therefore more toylike.  So once removed their respective areas were rebuilt.  Those specific items will have separate items installed to replace them.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

One more for today.  For the filming, all identification logos/scripts on the vehicles were removed (i.e. all the "Charger" logos, the "FORD" from above the grill and tailgate on Jesse's truck, "PLYMOUTH" and "DODGE" from the Sheriff cars, etc).  Most of this is easy for Daisy's Plymouth, except for the grill and in front of the hood.  We'll deal with the grill later.  

 

For the removed emblem in front of the hood, there is a recessed area that was left untouched once the emblems were removed, and then painted over.  

 

 

 

I tried removing the bit inside the recessed circle with a roto-drill, but I couldn't make it into a flat disc surface.  So I cut a tiny circle of sandpaper, smaller than the target area, and glued it to the end of a toothpick.  This, with a tiny dab of putty, exactly did the trick.

 

 

 

There was CONSIDERABLE bodywork to be done with the Front Body Pan; this appears seamless with the rest of the body, so I wanted to install it before painting.  The rear one will be blended in after assembly and carefully retouched.  Additionally, the Front bit didn't completely fit, and the trim around the wheel well had to be rebuilt onto it and everything blended together.  

 

[Pete in Lincs]

So still no good shots of Daisy, but I'll  award a loud YEEHAAH! for your diligent research and attention to detail.

[galaxyg]

I'll be watching this build with interest

[JeroenS]

Daisy does seem the most relaxed of the family, in the "in car" shot 🙂 

[Jochen Barett]

[Beavis and Butt-Head mode on]: C'mon! This car deserves some proper Daisy Dukes! Hehe hehehehe! [Beavis and Butt-Head mode off]

 

Three double barrel carbs on top a V8?

[johnlambert]

9 minutes ago, Jochen Barett said:

Three double barrel carbs on top a V8?

Quite a common performance option in its time.  It feels illogical but seems to have worked.  On the Plymouth I believe the engine mostly ran as a two-choke carburettor with the other four barrels opening at full throttle, activated by inlet manifold vacuum.

[Stickframe]

Adding a bit more to the carb story.  The 3/2's were started by Oldsmobile, but made famous by Pontiac some time in the late 50's and were called "tri-power", apparently a branded name, tho others used the configurations, including Ford big blocks and some Corvettes!  It wasn't until the late 60's that MOPAR (Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge) came up with their own branding and called it the "Six-Pack", set on the 440 ci big block of their own.  I don't know how they were tuned, to John's point above, tho I recall that they were not easy to tune, but when they were tuned correctly, they drank gas and made lots of horsepower!  A bit of a debate about which was stronger - the 440 six pack, or the 426 hemi - they're both pretty impressive.

 

I knew a guy with a '69 or '70 Charger with the Six Pack that was very fast - no - really fast.  He had the heads bored over, added headers, valve train work, mild cam, and so on - did I say it was fast?

 

Cheers 

Nick 

[johnlambert]

22 hours ago, Stickframe said:

Adding a bit more to the carb story.  The 3/2's were started by Oldsmobile, but made famous by Pontiac some time in the late 50's and were called "tri-power", apparently a branded name, tho others used the configurations, including Ford big blocks and some Corvettes!  It wasn't until the late 60's that MOPAR (Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge) came up with their own branding and called it the "Six-Pack", set on the 440 ci big block of their own.  I don't know how they were tuned, to John's point above, tho I recall that they were not easy to tune, but when they were tuned correctly, they drank gas and made lots of horsepower!  A bit of a debate about which was stronger - the 440 six pack, or the 426 hemi - they're both pretty impressive.

 

I knew a guy with a '69 or '70 Charger with the Six Pack that was very fast - no - really fast.  He had the heads bored over, added headers, valve train work, mild cam, and so on - did I say it was fast?

 

Cheers 

Nick 

If I remember correctly it was only Dodge that used the "Six-Pack" name for its six-barrel carburettor setup, Plymouth I think marketed it as 440+6.

 

I read a contemporary American road test that compared a 440 with six-barrel and a factory 426 Hemi, the performance figures were near identical.  I've also read accounts by someone whose job was to road test cars for the magazines back in the muscle car era; he reported that Hemi-equipped cars were seldom set-up correctly.  That's worrying as you'd think that you'd at least get the cars you loan to the press to work as well as possible and it speaks volumes about either the attitude within the company or the difficulty of setting up what was basically a racing engine.

 

I don't have a six-pack v Hemi road test to hand but I found a 426 Hemi v 440 Magnum (4-barrel) Dodge Coronet twin-test from 1967 by Motor Trend.  Both cars were the same 3-speed automatic with 3.25:1 back axle.  The Hemi car weighed 4,020lb while the Magnum was only (only!) 3,860.  As for the figures:

 

0-60mph; Hemi 6.8 seconds, Magnum 7.2 on street tyres (racing tyres dropped those figures to 6.6 and 6.5 seconds respectively.

Standing quarter mile; Hemi 15.0 seconds at 96mph, Magnum 15.4 at 94 (14.8 and 14.7 on racing tyres)

40-60mph; Hemi 3.6 seconds, Magnum 3.0

50-70mph; Hemi 4.0seconds, Magnum 3.6

[vppelt68]

I believe the Plymouth 440+6 was simply called "Six Barrel". Not to forget one of the muscle car (though it was only available in pony cars) era greatest small blocks, 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and Plymouth AAR 'Cuda also ran a high-revvin 340 CID six pack/barrel.

[Paws4thot]

On 01/05/2021 at 21:42, Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy said:

Daisy's car was never really used much for stunts.

Which suggest that the engine bay and interior would be basically stock since it was a "hero car" and not a stunt car.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Well, unfortunately I'm totally ditching the engine....finally the evidence was overwhelming that I needed to go with the smaller-block engine, finished in blue.  So I purchased the engine parts from the AMT Duster.  Starting over. 

 

In the meantime, here's what happened with the interior.  

 

Two modifications to be made: the steering wheel and the air vents.  In one episode (Gold Fever S2E2) the instrument panel is visible, showing the dashboard to be the style with two air conditioning vents.  I discovered this after I'd started painting, so, strip the paint, add the parts and start over.

 

 

 

Steering wheel should be a more standard type instead of the stock racing item in the kit.  I started with the steering wheel from a Chevy pickup, carved down the central spokes, added a third spoke plus some other detailing.  The wood paneling color is done by painting it Military Brown, then going back over it with Tamiya Smoke.  This is basically a transparent black, and when applied unevenly over brown actually looks like wood paneling.

 

 

 

An all-black interior is a problem since if you just paint it black, then almost zero details will show.  Here's how I bring it to life:

     -Flooring/carpet flat black

     -All the rest in semi-flat black

     -With a wide brush, drybrush dark gray all over the semi-gloss black areas to highlight and bring out the details

     -Mask carpet and the spray semi-gloss areas in a satin/flat clear mix

     -Drybrush dirt onto some of the carpet, especially driver's area.

Again, wood paneling done by painting first in Military Brown and then going back over that with Tamiya Smoke transparent black.

 

 

 

Scratchbuild a CD radio for under the instrument panel, and voila!

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Very nice interior work. The wood effect looks great.

[Six97s]

Cool.  The original Satellite issue of this kit had that steering wheel, but you'd still have had to find a flat hood.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

Thanks!

 

The new engine arrived Friday; smaller-block engine from AMT's 71 Duster, will be heavily detailed and wired.  Still needed modifications to the front area with making an attached alternator and other mounts for the pulleys.  Also drilled out holes for the spark plugs and wires (very time consuming on a tiny distributor).

 

 

 

Also modified the engine mounts so it could accomodate the smaller engine block.  Not a perfect fit, but it's better.

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

A much larger problem arose; actually two related problems.  

 

     1) The suspension and exhaust system is all molded as one piece, looking toylike

 

     2) The rear suspension needs to be boosted to accomodate larger rear tires.  This will necessitate the total rebuilding of the aft ends of the leaf springs.

 

First, separating the exhausts:

 

 

 

Then, adding to the chassis frame to accomodate the extended rear suspension.  The rear ends of the leaf springs were cut off, and the springs scratchbuilt to a longer length.

 

 

Also found the new engine was too short for the driveshaft; so the driveshaft had to be lengthened by 3mm.  Amazingly, the left exhaust also had to be shortened by the exact same length to fit the new engine.

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Now that's what you call attention to detail! We (and you) know you've done it.

But how many people in the future will pick up the model and say, "Oh, I see you extended the springs etc, nice"

Impressive stuff.

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

7 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Now that's what you call attention to detail! We (and you) know you've done it.

But how many people in the future will pick up the model and say, "Oh, I see you extended the springs etc, nice"

Impressive stuff.

 

That's so often the problem in our beloved hobby, innit? 

Thanks for the kind words!

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

K folks, it's been a tough end of the school year unlike any other, so I'm finally able to return to the project.  

 

Rear tires are slightly larger than the front ones, and going into my spare tires resulted in only mismatching tires of differing sizes.  Fortunately I was able to source tires of the same type/appearance and apparently correct sizes from Fireball Modelworks.  Fortunately they also fit the wheel rims that a fellow modeler was kind enough to send me.

 

 

 

 

Then the inner wheel hubs had to be reduced in size to fit the tires; had to do this now so as to know exactly how far to raise the rear suspnsion.

 

 

 

 

To make the extensions, I needed something thin yet strong....so just making them out of plastic strip wouldn't do it.  They might look the part but they wouldn't support the car past one sneeze.  Fortunately I keep unused Photoetched fret, and the slightly thicker part of the metal sprue just might be strong enough, especially if doubled up.  

 

 

The main load will be supported by an inverted, angled "U" shape.  The height was kept accurate with plastic plugs.  Then the more visible parts of the brackets will be attached to the outside with more metal fret.

 

 

[Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy]

The toylike one-piece rear suspension/exhaust system was separated, and both sides of the exhaust cleaned up until presentable on their own.  The exhaust tips were clipped off, as per reference views, and re-shaped and drilled.  Everything was painted and finally installed.  Eventually all of this will be thickly coated in Hazzard County dust.

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

 

Nice springs and exhausts.

One of the channels on our satellite TV system is Forces TV. They show a lot of (mostly) old programmes.

One of them is The Dukes of Hazard. It's odd, but it doesn't seem quite so exciting now, as it did way back when.

Plus, I can't help but notice how every time the "General' lands from a jump, the front fenders crumple.

Must be the magic of HD TV....

 

[JeroenS]

Nice work on those springs indeed. I keep my PE frets too, "just in case", but now I know what sort of stuff I might do with it, thanks for the ideas.