Misha Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 (edited) I recently acquired a JoHan 62 Plymouth Fury in mint condition that I wish to modify into a Max Wedge Savoy 2 door sedan. Going thru the box there were very few parts that I would use. Certainly the body is the jewel of the kit. It will require a fair amount of work to turn it into the base two door sedan and to have the Lindberg 64 Dodge chassis fit. The interior tub is very shallow with most of the detail molded into the tub, it will be replaced with the Lindberg interior, complete with a bench seat. Additional parts from the JoHan kit will be the grill, bumper and headlight assembly and the rear taillights and bumper, plus the alternator. The body needed a certain amount of massaging to remove the mold seams and specially around the front and rear lights. I also thinned out the wheel well lips to have them more to scale. The photo shows the modified wheel well on the right. Removing the rad wall proved to be the toughest part to accomplish in order for the Dodge chassis to fit. Also shaved off the Fury nameplates, still need to deal with the chrome trim for the Savoy. The modification to a sedan will be accomplished with Evergreen plastic shapes, that's still ahead. The Dodge chassis has required some surgery to have it fit. The sides needed to be trimmed down to fit the JoHan body. The rear was a simple fix, cut and replace the rear cross piece and modifying the gas tank shape. The front required more fiddling to have the engine compartment sides to fit the somewhat narrower 62 body. Using Aleene's Tacky Glue I mocked up the pieces to ensure a proper fit once all was done. Started on the basic engine assembly and will have a look at how the interior will fit. That's about it for now. Cheers Misha Edited October 23, 2019 by Misha Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuces Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Very cool!.... ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Looks like a great project Misha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plowboy Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Nice work Misha! I'm doing the same thing with a '63 Fairlane. I have a '62 Dart that I wanted to build. But, after looking it over, I decided against it. The interior is terribly shallow and would require too much work. Maybe watching your build will change my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino246gt Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 I love it, as I "plan" (dream) to do this too, actually the '63 Plymouth, which as far as a kit goes is pretty much the same. I already used the Lindberg Dodge to do a resin '64 Belvedere, and an original JoHan, '63 Dodge. If you can find Jason Heibert's article on the '62 Dodge he did, I'm sure that would be helpful, his work is amazing! Cheers, have fun, and keep us posted with progress pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrenchr Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Looking good Misha, I will be following along. I have the same project in the pipeline but was a little intimidated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Thorne Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 413. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 (edited) Thanks for all the interest and encouragement! On 10/21/2019 at 6:20 AM, Plowboy said: Nice work Misha! I'm doing the same thing with a '63 Fairlane. I have a '62 Dart that I wanted to build. But, after looking it over, I decided against it. The interior is terribly shallow and would require too much work. Maybe watching your build will change my mind. Been following your work on the Fairlane, great trunk detail. I'm planning on using the Dodge interior and modifying the top sill portion to match the kick up at the rear side window. Plus installing the post hardware for the sedan. On 10/21/2019 at 12:36 PM, wrenchr said: Looking good Misha, I will be following along. I have the same project in the pipeline but was a little intimidated. It's not that difficult, having the proper tools helps a lot! One thing I could use is a hobby belt/disc sander. Approaching the vintage JoHan kit with the idea of cutting it up was daunting at first, yet once the first saw cut occurs... Thanks Ron for catching my mix up with the 413, changed the title right away. After mocking up the chassis to the body for a good fit, I'm onto more chassis and driveline details. Don't remember gluing most of an engine together into one unit to paint for quite awhile, yet in this case all of the long block will get the same orange colour. Also spent time on the headers, certain amount of flash and seam lines. The rear end is a bit of a puzzle as the Lindberg Dana seems undersized, especially when compared to the rear end from the 68 Dart. I believe there are various sizes of Danas, so is the Lindberg accurate? I scraped and sanded the firewall and side fenders free of the molded in wires and assorted items, to be replaced with better detail later in the build. Cleaned up the K member and replaced the kit torsion bars with Evergreen rod of a smaller diameter as Mopar drag machines used the smallest diameter bars on the strip. The steering kingpins were flipped to raise the front end a bit higher by carving the square peg to fit the round whole opposite on the K member. Further research on the web turned up some useful shots of the chassis stiffners employed on B Body Mopars. Planning to incorporate these features into the build. Cheers Misha Edited October 24, 2019 by Misha Spelling error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Great picture showing the chassis reinforcements, thanks for sharing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Looking forward to this. Looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brutalform Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 (edited) Looking great so far Misha! This is a very interesting subject for me, as I have several of these types of builds going on right now. I’ve completed a 63 Fury, but still have a 62 Fury, and a resin 62 Savoy, a 62 Dart, and a 63 resin Dodge. I’ve acquired a few sets of fender well headers for my cars. There is a lot less work making the Lindberg chassis fit the 62 Fury, as compared to the other cars I mentioned. Missing Link has a really nice casting of the Max Wedge cross intake, that could replace the odd looking supplied intake from the Lindberg kit. Using this with some Fireball carbs, you can’t beat this set up. I can’t wait to see more updates of your build. Edited October 24, 2019 by Brutalform Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparfarmer Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 9:47 AM, dino246gt said: I love it, as I "plan" (dream) to do this too, actually the '63 Plymouth, which as far as a kit goes is pretty much the same. I already used the Lindberg Dodge to do a resin '64 Belvedere, and an original JoHan, '63 Dodge. If you can find Jason Heibert's article on the '62 Dodge he did, I'm sure that would be helpful, his work is amazing! Cheers, have fun, and keep us posted with progress pics! I've seen both of Dino's and they look like everything was made for the kit..Both are excellent builds.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 A small update on my progress on Saturday nite. Worked on the chassis reinforcements adding the sub-frame connectors, core support brace and the front and rear torque boxes. Also installed four inch blocks to raise the rear suspension up a bit. Hope to get more bench time tomorrow! Cheers Misha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 Managed to get some more time in at the workbench! Still busy with body modifications and detailing, scraping plastic for the most part. Been concentrating on the engine compartment, the interior, rear suspension and body mods to get it down to the basic Savoy trim level. Spent time on constructing the side window and door trim to replicate the Savoy post two door sedan. Using plastic structural pieces I cobbled together the look I was looking for. I had removed the heavy Fury chrome trim previously and now using very thin half round from Plastastruct, I added the basic window trim level. Missing from the original JoHan body were the cowl/fender seams and the fender/rocker panel ones, which I also scribed in. At the same time the chrome wheel lip trim was removed. Still debating on keeping the dual rear lights or really going spartan with the single taillight. Also been fitting the 64 Dodge hood scoop to the Plymouth. Getting closer to the primer stage! The engine compartment is slowly getting detailed after removing the molded bits and pieces. Using web photos has been a great help with this project, especially with details such as these and for the chassis detail. The firewall now has a ballast resistor and a regulator. Searched for a Mopar single chamber brake master cylinder in my collection to no avail, so will perhaps update to duals. The rad lacked any detail on the forward facing side. While it may not be all that visible, it did require some added detail, especially where it hangs below the core support. Also added the side mounts to the rad on the inside portion of the engine compartment. The interior from the Dodge thankfully has required little alteration to have it fit the JoHan body. Lindberg has provided a canvas for a new interior by having separate door panels that, when reversed, provide a clean surface. The main change is the kick up along the rear window, which is still being worked on. The rear package shelf has been replaced by the JoHan piece to provide the V shaped window in back. Wanting to use the bench seat, I found that it sat a bit too low in the tub. Raised it with a bottom structure to it, even including an adjustment lever on the driver's side. For the rear end I decided to go with the Dana out of the Hemi Dart kit. Once the extra bits were ground off, it fit quite well with the existing Dodge underpinnings. The rear shock mounting was missing on one of the leaf springs, they looked rather anemic to begin with, so new mounts were built. That's about it for now. Thanks for all the comments and for checking out the following snapshots, cheers Misha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drag racer 15 Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 I like it a lot keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtx6970 Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 so far so good. keep in mind but the Dana rear axle was never avail in a 1962 Dodge. depending on how accurate your trying to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 That's quite a project you've got going there, however I'm sure the rewards will be worth it. I just love dem Mopars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brutalform Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Beautiful work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 After seeing your project last evening it was interesting to review your build details to learn what I missed seeing in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LL3 Model Worx Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 2:27 AM, Misha said: I recently acquired a JoHan 62 Plymouth Fury in mint condition that I wish to modify into a Max Wedge Savoy 2 door sedan. Going thru the box there were very few parts that I would use. Certainly the body is the jewel of the kit. It will require a fair amount of work to turn it into the base two door sedan and to have the Lindberg 64 Dodge chassis fit. The interior tub is very shallow with most of the detail molded into the tub, it will be replaced with the Lindberg interior, complete with a bench seat. Additional parts from the JoHan kit will be the grill, bumper and headlight assembly and the rear taillights and bumper, plus the alternator. The body needed a certain amount of massaging to remove the mold seams and specially around the front and rear lights. I also thinned out the wheel well lips to have them more to scale. The photo shows the modified wheel well on the right. Removing the rad wall proved to be the toughest part to accomplish in order for the Dodge chassis to fit. Also shaved off the Fury nameplates, still need to deal with the chrome trim for the Savoy. The modification to a sedan will be accomplished with Evergreen plastic shapes, that's still ahead. The Dodge chassis has required some surgery to have it fit. The sides needed to be trimmed down to fit the JoHan body. The rear was a simple fix, cut and replace the rear cross piece and modifying the gas tank shape. The front required more fiddling to have the engine compartment sides to fit the somewhat narrower 62 body. Using Aleene's Tacky Glue I mocked up the pieces to ensure a proper fit once all was done. Started on the basic engine assembly and will have a look at how the interior will fit. That's about it for now. Cheers Misha Looks like it's taking shape. If you need any parts I've got several of the lindberg 64 330 kits... Watch out for that ignition coil, the carpet monster LOVES those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted December 1, 2019 Author Share Posted December 1, 2019 Thanks for all the comments and interest. Also thanks Leroy for the offer of spare parts, might take you up on it. Plus as Phil mentioned I had brought out the Savoy to our club meeting earlier this week to show the progress, always great to hear members' comments and suggestions. Haven't been able to spend much time at the work bench although I have begun to get parts into primer. Below are shots of the body and chassis in primer, along with the completed interior door panels. They required a certain amount of fiddling and modifications to match the side window outlines. Hope to spend more time on the build now that the yard is prepared for winter and temperatures have been reaching the freezing mark. More later! Cheers Misha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubbaBrown Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 Great lookin build, I don't know what time frame this car is meant to be but chassis stiffeners are available now they were not in 1962. No Dana's until 1966 with the street hemi. All had 8 3/4. But your build is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted December 1, 2019 Author Share Posted December 1, 2019 Been thinking about the time period the Savoy will represent. Leaning towards a more current time while still having the look fro the mid 60s. The rear end certainly would put it twards the end of the decade, yet curious how recent are the chassis stiffners? I'm after a "Plain Jane" look, with no sponsorship and just a couple of window decals. Have 't followed NHRA very closely since the late 70s, so a bit in the dark as to what class this rig would fall under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LL3 Model Worx Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 5 minutes ago, Misha said: Been thinking about the time period the Savoy will represent. Leaning towards a more current time while still having the look fro the mid 60s. The rear end certainly would put it twards the end of the decade, yet curious how recent are the chassis stiffners? I'm after a "Plain Jane" look, with no sponsorship and just a couple of window decals. Have 't followed NHRA very closely since the late 70s, so a bit in the dark as to what class this rig would fall under. I built up one of the 64 330s a while back with the "plain Jane" look or so I thought... This was actually my first attempt at BMF... turned out ok for my shelf anyway. The only thing I did to signify it was a "racer" is add the white stripe on the slicks. Can't wait to see the Savoy "under glass" You got a color picked out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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