cobraman Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 I bought these two kits in a lot of kits I bought awhile ago . I’m going to start working on the white one . I will not build the blue one most likely . They are both new in the open box . If anyone has any interest in the blue one I may trade for the Cobra kit shown . Open ok but not started and complete . May consider a different AMT 289 Cobra . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Woodruff Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Look forward to those builds. I need to get mine out too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Can’t seem to find any good photos of this car . Wanting some of interior if anyone knows where I can find some . I don’t know the color of the interior . Thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamach1 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) Someone museum roadsters. I’m sure the Corvette guys will know for sure. Edited October 12, 2020 by vamach1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Thank you ! One of the members here has offered to send me a CD with pics of these cars. Thanks Gary ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamach1 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 5 minutes ago, cobraman said: Thank you ! One of the members here has offered to send me a CD with pics of these cars. Thanks Gary ! Glad to hear that. I was going to suggest Gary to you. Brad @ HRM has some “upgrade” parts for the AM kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Kind of stalled on this project as I am waiting for a member who was kind enough to offer me photos arrive . They should help me get this as accurate as my meager talents will allow . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 There used to be a site of the build of the car in the Simeone museum. It will not load for me anymore. Seems like interiors were blue on the early cars. Hopefully the CD of photos will help. The Friedman book is also a nice reference piece. And a great story on the GSes. Good luck with your build. I have 3 of them built. Wish I had patience and budget to do more with proper parts and decals. These are a handful out of the box. Misshapen tires, poorly fitting parts (hoods over the carbs, distributor, headers). But they do come out nice with a little effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 I ordered a pre wired distributor for it so I can't finish the engine. I did one of the three photo etched vents in this kit yesterday. It took a long time. Not looking forward to doing the other two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 (edited) The vents aren't bad. Yes a bit fiddly, but workable. Woulda been nice to have some other hood options as well. Ther was at lease one photo I saw with the hood vents taped over - you could go that version and not have to build the vents. I'm trying to remember if the distributor will even fit in the engine bay. Or if it just bugged me how it hung off the back of the intake in space. I do remember I couldn't get the lines and linkage on top and still fit the hood. Edited October 15, 2020 by randyc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 (edited) Found this photo in my files - I did have reference material for the colors although the seat inserts are probably a little light. If it helps for your interior coloring. Chassis shot also - this was paint detailed using that racingicons site I referenced earlier from the resto of the Wintersteen car (now at Simeone). And I apparently did get everything to fit under hood, no matter what I said about it all? I still have this car somewhere, but not sure where - it's in a case in a box in my outbuilding. If I recall correctly, most of these were pretty identical on the interiors - especially the three that were Mecom cars, which would make sense. Found another photo of hte real Wintersteen roadster interior. Edited October 15, 2020 by randyc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Thanks Randy. I did see a pic of one with either vents covered or different hood. Also a pic with clear headlight covers and one with covers painted blue. I guess different for some races ? Anyone know how many were built ? Hopefully the cd that Gary is sending will help me zero in on what version I will or can do with the parts I have. Wiring the engine could be tough as I drilled holes for the wires but the headers kind of overlap the holes for the plugs. I may just have to go with the stock distributor and no wires ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 There were a total of FIVE GS Vettes. SO everything you see is ONE of those. There was a homologation plan By Duntov, but the GM racing ban happened after only 5 cars were built. Cars were sent to Mecom as a "privateer" effort out the back door. So all the parts and "help" came from secret meetings, guys with briefcases containing parts. There were at least 3 different hoods. The kit version, the Mecom version, which I think was earlier - the vents were cut for ventilation after Mecom had it? Then the later hood llike on the Wintersteen and Penske roadsters. Just about everything ever done was either for improved cooling or more front downforce. THe GS actually started out with stock appearing wheel openings in 63. It only got the fancy racy openings later (64) with the bigger tire and engine package. I really need to get my Friedman book and re read so I'm spreading misinformation. Clear headlight covers for night racing, painted for day races. Another picture - you won't see much of the plug wires when complete - this is mine WITH plug wires. There are a few good engine photos here of the Delmo Johnson car and another interior shot with the blue interior. As far as I know, the blue was only color interior. https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1963-chevrolet-corvette-grand-sport/ Interesting that they later cut the roof OFF the GS and added a roof to the Cobra. All for aerodynamics. The GS had awful front end lift at speeds according to drivers of the day. Such a fascinating car - this and the Cobra Daytona have to be my favorite race cars of all time because of their limited productions and colorful histories. And the impact that 2 handfuls of cars made on racing forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Thanks again . If you look at the box for the white car you really can’t see the vents . You mentioned that at some point they were taped off . I went through my instructions and parts and found these things that I did not know what they were for . Not shown in the instructions but after I looked more closely at the text I discovered that sometimes these cars ran in the rain and that the vents caused a problem . Sure enough these white pieces are to seal up the vents if you want . I will use them as a last resort if I screw up the other two vents I need to build . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 20 hours ago, cobraman said: Thanks Randy. I did see a pic of one with either vents covered or different hood. Also a pic with clear headlight covers and one with covers painted blue. I guess different for some races ? Anyone know how many were built ? Hopefully the cd that Gary is sending will help me zero in on what version I will or can do with the parts I have. Wiring the engine could be tough as I drilled holes for the wires but the headers kind of overlap the holes for the plugs. I may just have to go with the stock distributor and no wires ?? I've seen the blue light covers. But the 3 that raced most were blue at some point. So somehow the headlight covers got left off when painting? One thing that shows in pictures also is the access ports on front fender. They came and went, depending on which car and who was driving. I want to say it was a Penske idea, but can't be sure without reading my book again. VRM https://www.v-r-m.com/decals.html makes 2 sheets of decals as well for these that gives you a LOT of options and more details if you find a particular car that can be built with parts you have. Historic Racing Miniatures has the "Nassau hood" if you want to go that direction. They also offer headers if you can find them that will actually fit up to the side pipes better. And if no one speaks up for the other GS kit with a trade, let me know what yu want for it - I might go in for one more. I can't believe I just said that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Hey Randy. Thanks for the info. I did trade the other kit for a Cobra, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RancheroSteve Posted October 16, 2020 Share Posted October 16, 2020 3 hours ago, randyc said: One thing that shows in pictures also is the access ports on front fender. They came and went, depending on which car and who was driving. I want to say it was a Penske idea, but can't be sure without reading my book again. I believe those ports are for the air jacks - the Grand Sport was at least one of the first cars to use them in competition, but not all cars used them at all races. Article here about the restored #005 with some good reference shots: http://www.superchevy.com/features/1811-penske-hall-1963-grand-sport-corvette-005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 Thanks ! Interesting story and some very good photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTony8 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) Another part in the white version kit ( and maybe that blue version, too)and isn't mentioned in the instructions is a fuel line that the later kits don't have. It is shown on the box art model on the bottom of the box. But be careful when assembling the front suspension. There have been reports of alignment difficulties which were apparently remedied in the later versions by more precise parts location. Edited October 18, 2020 by ZTony8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 This kit is giving me a few problems with fit. The instructions suck IMO but will get it together at some point. I have been working on the engine and chassis figuring that I would save the body and interior till I got a CD which was sent to me by a member here. Thanks Gary ! I now have that and I am sure that will help guide me through the rest of this project. I don't think I will be able to use the pre wired dist. I bought as it looks like it may be too large and possibly not fit under the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 13 hours ago, cobraman said: This kit is giving me a few problems with fit. The instructions suck IMO but will get it together at some point. I have been working on the engine and chassis figuring that I would save the body and interior till I got a CD which was sent to me by a member here. Thanks Gary ! I now have that and I am sure that will help guide me through the rest of this project. I don't think I will be able to use the pre wired dist. I bought as it looks like it may be too large and possibly not fit under the hood. That first sentence is definitely the truth. Good luck. Use your best modeling skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 I have been working on the engine and chassis while waiting for a cd a member was sending me . I figured that this was probably the same for all versions of this car . I have held off on the body but will be starting that as soon as I view the cd which will show me the direction I want to go . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 I dug my book out this weekend and was looking through the history again. Would love to do a first gen version with the mostly stock body, small tires, and 327 fuelie engine. That would be kinda cool. But the later beasts are definitely the ones that look the best. One thing I noticed in the book photos is that the side pipes weren't always parallel to the body work. So the kit headers might actually be more correct than they seem. Depends on what race you are modeling. Keep up the good work. Looking great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Thanks Randy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamach1 Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 (edited) Are you using the kit decals? If not here’s an alternative but these may be for the Roadster version. What do I know I’m a Ford guy. ? Edited October 19, 2020 by vamach1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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