Kitbashing a 1972 El Camino

[Bob Ellis]

I cut about 1 inch off the front of an AMT 1972 Chevelle kit and attached it to an ERTL AMT 1968 El Camino. All the '68 side trim was removed and Model Car Garage '70 Chevelle etchings will replace it.

The 1972 needs wheel moldings and back up lights in the lift gate. Also, I swapped the 1972 dash.

Still have some fit issues.

[Bob Ellis]

I finally glued it together with a lot of evergreen patches inside. I had to CA glue with wire two pieces in the front that were weak. The primer paint really showed defects to be fixed.

More fit issues, but I will tackle that next.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Bob Ellis

[Custom Mike]

Looks like a good start Bob!

[Roadracer]

Nice project Bob! I like it!

[JustAnotherBuilder]

Looks great, I always thought about doing this my self, but I might have taken a little of top while the knife was out

[mikemodeler]

I have wanted to do this with a '70 Chevelle to create a '70 El Camino. I had the opportunity to buy a 1:1 back in '82 real cheap and passed, wish I could go back in time!

[Bob Ellis]

I am sure you can use the AMT 70 Chevelle and do the same conversion.

Yes, I remember seeing 1:1 64 Impala SSs for $2000 back in '82. No room, no money then.

[TooOld]

My kind of project , you're off to a good start !

[slusher]

Great project and start..

[Ron Hamilton]

Very nice work Bob!!!!!

[Bob Ellis]

I had to add some Evergreen Styrene to fill hood gap and still needs more. It is really 3 AMT kits combined, so a little engineering is required. Sanded backs of 72 SS wheels fit okay too.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Bob Ellis

[DynoMight]

Really cool! Any plans for color?

[Bob Ellis]

Dynomight, I am thinking about light yellow with black vinyl roof.

I have the Model Car Garage '70 Chevelle which has the SS and el Camino emblems. It will be an SS

[Bob Ellis]

While I think I did a pretty good job having cobbled together 3 kits, it has to look good as if AMT did it. Evergreen Styrene is my Bondo.

I like to fill voids with Evergreen Styrene and rarely use putty. I have tried by pushing the grille in place, but it resists fitting like it did on the original AMT '72 Chevelle kit. My goal is to have the grille in place with no gaps.

Varying pieces of 0.010 and thicker plastic shims are great because they become part of the plastic body.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Bob Ellis

[1 bad55 stan]

Thats coming along nicely,good work.

[Dragfreak]

Nice work, it looks great!

[Platerpants]

good work so far

[Bob Ellis]

'72 Interior is separated and trimmed fro use in the '68 interior.

[Bob Ellis]

Gaps in the front were filled to make the grille flush with the hood and fenders

[Bob Ellis]

I feel kind of dumb to just realize that Jimmy Flintstone already did a '72 El Camino. However, I decided after seeing it, that my avenue of approach actually wasn't bad after all.

In this photo you will see a comparison of the original AMT '69 El Camino versus the AMT '68 El Camino body I used for my '72 conversion. It appears AMT used a hardtop vent window and no frame around the door window. Also there is a rear marker light in the rear quarter panel. The '68 ElCamino kit is a very nice kit.

The Jimmy Flintstone '72 El Camino used the old kit. probably because the '72 kit and it match in width.

[mikelo]

I am actually doing the same thing. Keep up the good work.

Mike

[DynoMight]

Very nice conversion!

[Bob Ellis]

Thanks Mikelo and Dynomight.

Mikelo, feel free to post your pics and advice.

[Bob Ellis]

Got some color on the 72 Elky. Will have a black vinyl roof and interior.

[slusher]

The yellow will look great with a black interior and vinyl top...