1970 McClaren conversion kit.

[kuzlynn]

The editor of Racer Magazine, Paul Pfanner, approached me about doing a conversion kit for the old 1/24th scale Heller McClaren Formula 1 kit. He has done a very good job of listing the modifications needed for the kit. The original Heller kit will be used for the base of the project. I will be adding a new taller roll bar and supports, new windshield, new rear wing, new tires and rims, new shocks, and Michael at Indycals will be doing the decals. I will be sending out some photos of the conversion parts soon. Again this conversion kit is designed to update the 1/24th scale Heller 1970 McClaren F1 kit into Dan Gurneys last formula one ride. Will keep you posted. Thanks Kevin.

[hurtubise56]

Wow, this is awesome! We've needed this for a long time. I'm glad I held on to my kits!

[hurtubise56]

Kevin - FYI, Motor Racing Replica News magazine, Nov./Dec. 1993 (Issue #18) has a VERY in depth article about the differences between the M7A and M7B, and where the kit falls short of either. Let me know if you would like a copy of the article.

[indy]

Very cool project. Looking forward to the parts and the WIP.

Jordan

[kuzlynn]

Feb 16, 2023 10:05:50 GMT -5 hurtubise56 said:

Kevin - FYI, Motor Racing Replica News magazine, Nov./Dec. 1993 (Issue #18) has a VERY in depth article about the differences between the M7A and M7B, and where the kit falls short of either. Let me know if you would like a copy of the article.

That would be great. I do not have this article. Always good to have as much information as possible. Thanks again. Kevin, Silver City Models

[hurtubise56]

PM me your address and I'll get copies right out, my scanner is on the fritz!

[1961redlegs]

I’ll definitely be getting one, this looks like a great project!

[teegeefla]

I would love to do this model as well, but I have a question (and I am not intending to dampen any enthusiasm). Dan's F1 car in 1970 was the M14, not the M7. Here is an article that explains the changes...so I am curious if the conversion kit has accommodated all the major differences.

www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/series.aspx?modelID=3581

[indycals]

Feb 28, 2023 22:27:36 GMT -5 teegeefla said:

I would love to do this model as well, but I have a question (and I am not intending to dampen any enthusiasm). Dan's F1 car in 1970 was the M14, not the M7. Here is an article that explains the changes...so I am curious if the conversion kit has accommodated all the major differences.

www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/series.aspx?modelID=3581

I haven't studied this in detail, but this project was the brainchild of RACER publisher Paul Pfanner. Paul was very close to Dan and really wanted to build Dan's last point paying car. (If you don't know Paul is a big modeler and slot car racer - he has his own track called Pfannerapolis). And of course our own Kevin has his ties to the Gurneys and AAR, so when Paul approached me about this project it was a no brainer to introduce Paul to Kevin. Paul supplied Kevin with information on what needed to be done.

So while I cannot address your question in detail - I can assure you that Paul is very happy with this end result, given the limitations of the original source kit.

I will also be offering two other decal options that won't necessarily work with this specific conversion kit, but might be of some interest to those up for some scratch-building challenges, one of them being Bruce McLaren's last race (Monaco 1970).