AMT '70 Mustang restoration

[Can-Con]

Got this in a trade a couple months ago in a trade with another member here [Thanks again Mike] Not exactly pristine but for me, the rareity of the kit warrants the work I'll be putting into it.

The rear wheel openings were gouged out, quite crudely at that. So I cut some repair panels from an MPC '69.

I beveled the edges of the patch and the cut opening to increase the glueing surface and make a stronger joint.
 

, , , and here it is with the repairs in place, the front pan cut from the chassis and glued in place to stiffen the body and the MPC hood sitting in the opening. The MPC '69 hood is almost a perfect fit on the AMT '70 body. I just need to sand the sides a hair for paint buildup. Right now it's a very snug fit.
 

 

[kelson]

Looking forward to how this turns out.

[NOBLNG]

Excellent repair work.?I think these are the best looking Mustangs.?

[slusher]

Nicely done Steve, looking forward to another save and  beautiful build.

[vamach1]

NIce.  I saved an MPC Mach1 gluebomb and ended up doing a Twister version in the grabber orange of course with Fred Cady decals as seen in this picture with a 1/32 build in the front.

[Maindrian Pace]

Very nice work. I've got a trashed Mach Won that I'll eventually get to for a stock build.

[Mr. Metallic]

Nice repair work. Love using old bodies because the scripts and such are usually so crisp.

Cool to see that set of rear Venture Flag wheels on the original builtup. Such a cool wheel, I'd love to have some. Only kit I know of that had them was an obscure issue of the Deora

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Nice repair work. Love using old bodies because the scripts and such are usually so crisp.

Cool to see that set of rear Venture Flag wheels on the original builtup. Such a cool wheel, I'd love to have some. Only kit I know of that had them was an obscure issue of the Deora

Thanks Craig. 

The original annual AMT '69 Camaros had them too. 

I think this pair will eventually find their way to the back axle of a '40 Willys.

[Oldcarfan27]

With all that trim, please tell me this one is going to be a stock Mach1!

It'd be a shame to grind off all that beautiful engraving. 

I've thought about doing a similar restoration job on an original Palmer Boss 302, if I can ever get ahold of one. I know the nose is bad, but oh that body! Wait, that didn't come out right?!

[Vintage AMT]

This body line looks odd, or is it just the angle of the pic? See blue arrow.

[vamach1]

2 hours ago, Vintage AMT said:

This body line looks odd, or is it just the angle of the pic? See blue arrow.

Perhaps remnants of where the mold was modified to fill in the fake scoops on the 69 body.

[Can-Con]

13 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

With all that trim, please tell me this one is going to be a stock Mach1!

It'd be a shame to grind off all that beautiful engraving. 

I've thought about doing a similar restoration job on an original Palmer Boss 302, if I can ever get ahold of one. I know the nose is bad, but oh that body! Wait, that didn't come out right?!

I wouldn't do that to you Patrick. ?

It's going to be close to stock. Just mag wheels of some sort and probably a bit of hop-up parts on the engine. Grabber blue paint.

It would kinda defeat the purpose of hunting down one of these unicorns to customize it. That could just as easily be done with a common as dirt '69.

[Can-Con]

9 hours ago, Vintage AMT said:

This body line looks odd, or is it just the angle of the pic? See blue arrow.

 

6 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Perhaps remnants of where the mold was modified to fill in the fake scoops on the 69 body.

It's there. It won't be for long though. I think it was remnants of a design choice Ford changed their mind on between the time the plans were sent to AMT and the body cut and the time the actual car was released. used to happen all the time with promos.

[Oldcarfan27]

6 hours ago, Can-Con said:

I wouldn't do that to you Patrick. ?

It's going to be close to stock. Just mag wheels of some sort and probably a bit of hop-up parts on the engine. Grabber blue paint.

It would kinda defeat the purpose of hunting down one of these unicorns to customize it. That could just as easily be done with a common as dirt '69.

Thanks, now I can breathe. This Mach1 in Grabber blue will be an excellent choice!

[mk11]

Sow's ear to a silk purse before our very eyes !

[vamach1]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:07 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

With all that trim, please tell me this one is going to be a stock Mach1!

It'd be a shame to grind off all that beautiful engraving. 

I've thought about doing a similar restoration job on an original Palmer Boss 302, if I can ever get ahold of one. I know the nose is bad, but oh that body! Wait, that didn't come out right?!

Yeah we all know how great that Palmer kit is.  She’s a beauty.

[Oldcarfan27]

3 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Yeah we all know how great that Palmer kit is.  She’s a beauty.

That'll buff right out!

Actually Vamach, your build is the one that gave me the impetus to find one. Other than the crazy nose, the rest of the body looks good. To me, it mimics the graceful curves better than the Revell. 

[vamach1]

9 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

That'll buff right out!

Actually Vamach, your build is the one that gave me the impetus to find one. Other than the crazy nose, the rest of the body looks good. To me, it mimics the graceful curves better than the Revell. 

Yes the body looks right but I’m pretending the front end had several mishaps and poor repairs over the years. ?

[Can-Con]

 I now have a front grille. It looks like the grille opening on this body was widened slightly for some reason and I'll fix that. I did fill the gaps but it doesn't look right. The slots on the sides of the grille are too narrow. I'll have to redo the repair work and make them wider before it goes any farther.

I may cut the bumper free and use the MPC bumper as I only had to do a bit of sanding to the inside of the ends for it to fit like it was made for this AMT kit.

I have the wheel and tires picked out. Going with some AMT Gatorbacks with 55s for the front and 40s for the rear. The wheels are modified Magnum 500s form a Monogram Superbird kit with the rims swapped from the wheels shown.

[Can-Con]

Looks a bit better now. Still needs a bit of fine tuning but it's almost there.

[Oldcarfan27]

[vamach1]

Here’s another 70 glue bomb special.  It’s not a Mach1 so I think it’s an MPC Boss 302.I hope to find the rest of the parts that were with it.  I may have swapped hoods with another kit as this one looks more like an AMT one.  I guess the good news is I can use most of the parts from the more common 69 MPC fastback.

Edited May 31, 2022 by vamach1
MPC kit

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Here’s another 70 glue bomb special.  It’s not a Mach1 so I think it’s an MPC Boss 302.I hope to find the rest of the parts that were with it.  I may have swapped hoods with another kit as this one looks more like an AMT one.  I guess the good news is I can use most of the parts from the more common 69 MPC fastback.

I'd definitely say that's an MPC Rex. Nice one.  Most of the '69 parts should fit right on there, including the bumpers. The hard parts are the front grille and rear tail light panel.

I suspect it's short like the current '69s are but if you get ambitious you could lengthen it with pieces sliced from the doors and roof of the '69 donor's body.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Can-Con

[JFK]

HI,

Looking Great Sir!  I am wondering how you managed remove the old painted so well? 

Would you be able to share this with the followers as it looks Awesome what you have been able to accomplish here!

Thank You in Advance and I am looking for your future updates!

Take Best of Care and Thank You in Advance!  Joe

[Can-Con]

19 hours ago, JFK said:

HI,

Looking Great Sir!  I am wondering how you managed remove the old painted so well? 

Would you be able to share this with the followers as it looks Awesome what you have been able to accomplish here!

Thank You in Advance and I am looking for your future updates!

Take Best of Care and Thank You in Advance!  Joe

Thanks Joe. No secret on the paint stripping. I just put it in a large zip-loc bag and hosed it down with Easy-Off in the pump spray bottle. It's thicker than in the spray can, more like a jell so it stays on the parts better.