Survivor Resto--Original AMT '67 Corvette Coupe

[Snake45]

Bought this built original AMT ’67 Vette Coupe at the local toy show in December for the princely sum of $8. Thought that was the deal of the century until I got it home and took a GOOD look at it. Sadly, the body emblems had been sanded off, the rotating headlight doors filled, and the rally wheels weren’t the kit’s own correct ‘67s, but appeared to be ’68-ups from some MPC kit. So it couldn’t be restored as stock (at least not stock out-of-the-box).

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 Of course, the paint is a nonstock color, too. It’s a very deep purple/plum (which looks black until you set it next to something that's really black), but was so clean and shiny that I decided to just Snake-slap the thing through my resto shop as a cool modified “Day Two” cruiser. Near as I can tell, the paint is a candy red, or maybe a candy grape, over black primer. Here’s what the overspray looks like on the inside of the body. 

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 The interior had been hand-brushed in red and flat black. I stripped it with Easy-Off, which took off about 95% of it, but not all. If I could have gotten the seats out, I'd have done the interior in white, but they're molded as part of the bucket in all AMT '63-'67 Coupe kits (and the '63-'64 Roadsters, and as far as I know, in all reissues of the '63 Roadster; they were separate parts in original '65-'67 Roadsters). Original Builder had glued in those goofy X-shaped plastic seat belts, which I can't stand (have you EVER seen seat belts arranged like that in Real Life? Me neither). The left one popped out okay but the right one left notable glue damage. So I just rattlecanned the whole gut with semigloss black and did minimal detailing on the dash and steering wheel and called it done. Pardon the "dandruff"--I didn't realize there was so much sanding dust on it when I took these pics (of course I blew/brushed all that out before final assembly).

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Edited March 4, 2017 by Snake45

[Snake45]

I polished the glass (and trimmed it back in the vent window areas—it's too long there and will stick out) and, after removing some of the errant original sillver trim, re-did the window frames with my beloved Silver Sharpie. The body paint was clean and shiny enough I didn't even polish it out, but did touch up a couple bare spots with a black Sharpie (whose purplish tint came in handy here—you can hardly see it unless you know exactly where to look). Painted the grille with a black wash, the “stinger” scoop opening black, the backup light white with Testor White Lightning over that, and the turn signals with orange and TS Amber. I put AMT Parts Pack tires on black-painted Americans from an AMT '63 Vette reissue for a Day Two look. If I didn't have another good '67 AMT body with all emblems intact in the Snakepit, I might have stripped this thing and done a full-tilt resto on it. But for $8 and eight or ten hours of fun time invested, it looks pretty good on my shelf.

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[Snake45]

Here it is with an MPC '67 “Night Stalker” I Snake-slapped together six or eight years ago, just for a handy comparison of the two.

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[MrObsessive]

Wow! Excellent transformation! 

Somehow those old MPC Stingray 'Vette's seem to look just a bit better than the latest Revell one. Revell's is nice, but the MPC body just has that certain "ooomph" to its tooling to set it apart. Just something I've noticed over the years.

[Can-Con]

Nice save Snake.

[Hmann68]

What a difference! Looks good on those tires

[vintagercr]

Great save!

[doggie427]

Well done Snake

[D. Battista]

Looks way better... I like your wheel choice also.... 

[DumpyDan]

Nicely done, great color choice

[PARTSMARTY]

You go snake-nice !!!

[TooOld]

Beautiful job on the old Vette !  Bill's right , there's something about the MPC bodies that just makes them look better than the rest .  Great color , and the wheels and tires are the perfect upgrade it !  Sure is nice to see restorations of these old builds , it ensures they'll be around for a while longer .

[Snake45]

Looks way better... I like your wheel choice also.... 

I forgot to mention, those Americans found in most if not all reissues of the '63 made their debut in the '67 annual, so except for the tires, the model is actually Box Stock. (I just couldn't see using old-school Firestone Supremes on it, though.)

[DeeCee]

Nice save man, looks way better..  

[Reeves Racing]

Looks great Snake. You should order a Molotow Liquid Chrome pen. It will blow the silver Sharpie away.

[Snake45]

Looks great Snake. You should order a Molotow Liquid Chrome pen. It will blow the silver Sharpie away.

I'll be happy to try one as soon as Walmart starts selling them two for $4. Or at least Hobby Lobby sells them with a 40% off coupon. But seriously, most '60s window trim wasn't chrome, it was aluminum or stainless steel, and the Silver Sharpie does a surprisingly good job of simulating this--at minimum cost and maximum ease of use.

[ChrisR]

Very nice save!

[Sixties Sam]

Great save of a classic! I like the wheels you used. The 63 to 67 'Vettes are my favorites!

Sam

[slusher]

Super nice Corvette Snake!!!!

[RestoModGuy]

Fantastic builds. I enjoyed looking them over

[Ron Hamilton]

 You did a fine job on that one Snake. I love the way it came out. The '67 Corvette is one of my favorite cars in one to one and in model form. I have un-built kits in my stash of the MPC, AMT, and the Revell kits, and I have built them over the years, so I have my preferences. As a matter of fact, next to the '69 Camaro, I probably have built, or collected more '63 through '67 Corvettes than any other car. Like Snake, I have a gaggle of rebuilders waiting to be done, including one forlorn glue-bomb original '63 Roadster with the rotating headlights. I am considering converting it to a '64, since the original builder used more glue than he should have, and attached many custom parts from the original kit on it. It's about 80% cleaned up, but I have to replace the windshield frame, and clean up the rocker panels. I have a set of '64 Wheel covers, and a '64 Hood for the project. The '64 is rare, so I think it will be a worthwhile project. I also have a '64 Coupe to go with it, if I can get the balance of the paint off of it, and fix the cracks in the body. Depending on how the cleanup goes, It may end up as a mild custom, road racer, or a gasser if I cannot get the body back into "Replica Stock building shape.

[Snake45]

 You did a fine job on that one Snake. I love the way it came out. The '67 Corvette is one of my favorite cars in one to one and in model form. I have un-built kits in my stash of the MPC, AMT, and the Revell kits, and I have built them over the years, so I have my preferences. As a matter of fact, next to the '69 Camaro, I probably have built, or collected more '63 through '67 Corvettes than any other car. Like Snake, I have a gaggle of rebuilders waiting to be done, including one forlorn glue-bomb original '63 Roadster with the rotating headlights. I am considering converting it to a '64, since the original builder used more glue than he should have, and attached many custom parts from the original kit on it. It's about 80% cleaned up, but I have to replace the windshield frame, and clean up the rocker panels. I have a set of '64 Wheel covers, and a '64 Hood for the project. The '64 is rare, so I think it will be a worthwhile project. I also have a '64 Coupe to go with it, if I can get the balance of the paint off of it, and fix the cracks in the body. Depending on how the cleanup goes, It may end up as a mild custom, road racer, or a gasser if I cannot get the body back into "Replica Stock building shape.

You are definitely speaking my language, Brother Ron! I know exactly what you mean about doing a custom, road racer, or gasser if you can't quite get it back into Replica Stock shape. I've got three or four such projects in the works even as we speak.

I also know what you mean about cleaning up that rocker trim. I've done three or four of those so far. Here's one I have several hours in, a '66 that had massive glue-boogers from side exhausts. I THINK I've got it good enough, but I won't know for sure until I get the foil on.

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[Ron Hamilton]

You are definitely speaking my language, Brother Ron! I know exactly what you mean about doing a custom, road racer, or gasser if you can't quite get it back into Replica Stock shape. I've got three or four such projects in the works even as we speak.

I also know what you mean about cleaning up that rocker trim. I've done three or four of those so far. Here's one I have several hours in, a '66 that had massive glue-boogers from side exhausts. I THINK I've got it good enough, but I won't know for sure until I get the foil on.

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Snake45/media/Model%20Cars/Corvette%20Restos/AMT66VetteHTA06_zps97s2hfvb.jpg.html][/URL]

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That '66 is a rare bird!

[Snake45]

That '66 is a rare bird!

Don't I know it! '66 Coupe was the hardest body to score for some reason. I chased them for months. Bought what was purported to be one in a box and everything, but when it came it was a mashup of '65 and '66 parts and the body was a '65. Somewhere along the line I also got this '66, which cleaned up pretty well except for no rocker panels and slight enlargement of the rear wheel openings. I'll probably use the side exhaust from an MPC '66 for this one.

[Ron Hamilton]

Don't I know it! '66 Coupe was the hardest body to score for some reason. I chased them for months. Bought what was purported to be one in a box and everything, but when it came it was a mashup of '65 and '66 parts and the body was a '65. Somewhere along the line I also got this '66, which cleaned up pretty well except for no rocker panels and slight enlargement of the rear wheel openings. I'll probably use the side exhaust from an MPC '66 for this one.

I have a '66 Coupe somewhere in my basement that I started to fix. The rear fenders were hogged out, but otherwise it was fine. I made an attempt to fix it, but I put it back in the box, and it is in the inner depth of never-never land. I'll find it one day. I am going to do a complete inventory of my kits in the next few weeks, as I sold a lot off on Ebay over the past couple of years, and frankly, there are some kits and resin that I forgot that I have. I have been buying only new releases or resin kits in the past year. My plan is to clean out and reorganize the basement, as I normally put like kits in the same place. Once that is done, I'll know exactly what I have, and I can then decide what to keep, what is needed, and what to trade or sell.

When I get back into my '60's Corvettes, I plan to build them as the kit intended:

AMT: Wire Axles

Revell: Better Details

MPC: Working Features

I plan on nice paint jobs, bare-metal foiling, and paint detailing only, unless I have a Photoetch set for it, then I'll use it. Most wll be replica Stock, but a road racer and a gasser may make it into the mix. I have a '63 AMT Coupe that has the wheel wells hogged out, and I am not going to fix it, as the job was done pretty good.