unclescott58

So. You just stretch the chassis a bit. It would be very cool.

Okay, to keep on beating a dead horse, I pulled out my Plymouth 1969 Car & Equipment Prices (revised) book. For 1969 Chrysler went to a different numbering system for their options. And the '69 book it tells us what's included with those options. So below is what came with what they now called the "Road Runner Decor Package." This should give us a pretty good idea of what was included in the '68 "Road Runner Decor Group." A87 - Road Runner Decor Package (2-door Coupe only) ............. $81.50 Custom-Quality Vinyl Bench Seat * Rear Armrests w/Ash Receivers Bright B-Pillar Moldings Deluxe Steering Wheel with Partial Horn Ring * Chrome Tailpipe Extensions * (exc. Calif.) Bright Door Trim Panel Moldings * Bright Armrest Bases * The * after each item that has it, indicates "Available in Package only." Again the package was only available on the 2-Coupe. Because all the pieces of the package, except the "Bright B-Pillar Moldings, are standard on the 2-door Hardtop and the Convertible. Also note there is no rear deck lid accent panel in the '69 Decor Package. Which from everything I've read, did come with the '68 Decor Group. And we know for sure it was standard on the '68 Hardtop. Okay, that's enough beating the dead horse for now. It's almost bed time. Now to hop into bed and read more stuff on Road Runners. 1968, and on up.

Just a little clarification. Dyersville is in Iowa. Not Illinois. And Round 2 has been reissuing a lot of kits Ertl did not do in their time. (See the 1/32 scale kits we talked about above, for an example). So there is always hope.

There are still a couple of other 1/32 scale kits I'm waiting for them to reissue too. The other kits in that's series I know of are: A 1960 Thunderbird; a 1963 Corvette coupe; and a 1932 Ford three-window Coupe. I think they may have also offered a '65 Mustang fastback in that scale/series? Come on Round 2 keep pumping these babies out!

It looks like I need to eat a little crow. Ace your questioning about whether carpet was standard or not, got me doing a little more research. My 1968 Car and Equipment Prices book does not show me exactly what is standard equipment on every car. Nor does it give a breakdown, like in later years/versions of the same book, what exactly comes in every package or with every option. It only tells you what options are available, their prices, and what options can be on what car with what other options. So off I went to the Hamtrack Registry website to look at the 1968 Dealer Data book. Which does tell you what comes as standard equipment on each model. And guess what? Road Runners, according to that book, did come with carpeting as standard equipment. So you and the Martini report are correct. Carpet was color-keyed when you ordered the TorqeFlite transmission. Black on 4-speed cars. The Hamtrack Registry is a great website for info on Mopar muscle cars. And for Mopar none muscle cars too. I also looked at the '68 Color and Trim book. In there is no mention in there of the Hardtop Road Runners, or the Road Runner Decor Group interior. So it must be from early in the model run. They also have my exact same Car and Equipment Prices book there. Plus many other interesting official Chrysler documents, for several years, that you can look at for free. I haven't seen Shake-n-Bake for a long time now. Do they still make it? And can I use it with crow? ?

On '68 Road Runners with 4-speeds. The carpeting was always black. No matter what color interior you ordered. I forgot to mention two other items that came with the Road Runner Decor Group. With that option, you also got a nicer steering wheel and on the Coupe, trim for the "B" pillar.

There is the catch to these "official" options and price guides. Things did get changed. I've not found any evidence of buckets and a console being offer from the factory for the '68 Road Runner. But, it is possible. Again I like to tell the story of my buddies '71 Buick Riviera. It's painted black and has front lamp monitors. Both of which were not available on '71 Rivs. Yet he has paperwork proving the car came from the factory that way. It was built near the end of the '71 model run. Lamp monitors became an option for sure in 1972. Did Buick decide to release them earlier on the last of '71s? It sure looks like it. And the paint? Pull the right strings, and the factories would paint a car, with reason, any factory color you wanted back then. We also know that 15" wheels were made, like those seen on AMT's '68 Road Runner kit. So why wouldn't Plymouth offer them at some point later in the year? And the buckets and console did become an option on '69 Road Runners. There must have been complaints that they were not offered in '68. So would I be surprised if a '68 Road Runner popped up with factory installed bucket and console. No. But, I would like to see some paperwork proving it. One last thing. To eliminate confusion it should be noted in the info I posted above, about option 360 - Road Runner Decor Group. You'll note it was only available on the 2-door Coupe and not the Hardtop. In case your wondering why? The '68 Road Runner Hardtops came with the Decor Group already as standard equipment. This included nicer seats, carpeting, bright armrest bases, rear seat armrests, and the appliqué on the trunk lid extending between the taillights. Also it should be noted the Decor Group did not become available until the Hardtop was added to the line in January of '68. Even though Road Runner was be the "bare bones" muscle car. It becomes obvious with the introduction of the Hardtop and the Decor Group that not everybody was enchanted with a basic 2-door Coupe, with plain seats and rubber floor mats. Or the lack of bright trim. And for '69... They were even willing to pay to have bucket seats in their Road Runners! By '72, you could order a Road Runner with all the goodies, making the GTX redundant and discountinued.

On Bob's list above, if Round 2 has the dies for any of those kits, they need bring them all back. I'd buy at least one of each. I can guarantee that.

Very nice. Great looking Charger.

As noted I love facts. And one thing I learned in college always go to the most original source if can. So to clear up some info on 1968 Road Runners, I went found my Chrysler Plymouth Division 1968 Car and Equipment Prices book, revised edition. January 1, 1968. And below is some information some may find valuable about how the '68 Road Runners were equipped. Road Runner - V-8 RL21 - 2-door Coupe ................................ $2838.00 RL23 - 2-door Hardtop ................................ 3034.00 Extra Cost Options (as seen on AMT's model kit): 360 - Road Runner Decor Group .....................79.20 (2-door Coupe Only) 408 - Differential - Sure-Grip - With H.D. Performance Axle ... 138.90 (Req'd. With 4-speed Manual Trans. With 426 Hemi or GTX) 73 - Engine - 426 Hemi 2-4 bbl .................... 714.30 (NA W/Air Cond.) (NA W/Trailer-towing) (NA W/Auto. Speed Control) 533 - Head Restraints - Front - Left and Right ... 43.90 577 - Tachometer ............................................ 48.70 (NA With Clock) Options That Were Standard Equipment on Road Runners: 624 - Heavy Duty Suspension 478 - Heavy-Duty Brakes 62 - Engine - 383 8-cyl. 4-bbl 535 - Moldings - Roof Drip Rail 638 - Shock Absorbers - Firm Ride - Front & Rear 393 - Transmission - 4-speed Manual (Sure Grip - H.D. Performance Axle Req'd With 426 Hemi or GTX) Options Standard with 426 Hemi: 626 - Electrical - Battery - 70 amp hr. 589 - Windshield Wipers - 3-speed Interesting to note. Only one Wheel Option is listed for the 426 Hemi: 581 - Deluxe Wheel Covers 15". That's it. The wheels seen with the AMT's model are listed as option "580 - Styled Road Wheels 14" (NA With Wheel Covers) (NA 426 Hemi Engine)" No tires are listed as an option with the 426 Hemi. Regular 383 Road Runners came with F70 X 14 Red Streak tires as standard equipment. Option 46 - F70 X 14 White Streak (NA W/426 Hemi Eng.) is list as a No Charge option. Also note. Options 486 - Console, and 485 - Center Seat Cushion and Folding Armrest (NA With Console) were not offered on '68 Road Runners. Because '68 Road Runners were only available with bench seats. Most other options available on '68 Plymouth Mid-Size cars were available on Road Runners. I don't know if the above will help answer any questions for anyone else or not. But, I find them helpful.

I've driven Buicks for years. Other than problems with the tranny in my '73 years ago, I've had no major problems with the rest of them. The transmission problems were interesting on the '73. In cost saving measures, Buick thought they could put THM 350s with their 350 V8 in the the '72 and '73 LeSabres. In '71, and again in '74 they coupled this engine to the THM 400 in the LeSabres. The '71 through '76 LeSabres were big heavy cars. I rebuilt the Turbo 350 once. The second time I installed a THM 400. And guess what? I never had a transmission problem with that car ever again. By the way, my 2000 LeSabre with just over 125,000 mile on it, shifts rough only when the weather is hot. All summer long I'm feeling nervous about it. Fall and cooler weather comes along, it shifts fine and I forget about it. This has been going on for a couple of years now. One of the guys I work with at O'Reillys says that's normal with these transmission when they get old, and suggested throwing some Lucus transmission fixer in it. So for I've put in about half the bottle. It seems to have helped a little. But, not completely. When the transmission fluid gets lower, I'll try putting the rest of the bottle in.

Snake and Bill, I'm not as picky about the flaws with this kit as you guys are. Looking at Tim Boyd's pictures and review it looks fine to me. To the adverage person, I beleive they would not notice the flaws in the model. I feel the same way about Revell's '70 Cuda and '57 Ford. If the flaws were never pointed out I would not have noticed them. Heck, I didn't even notice the roof on Revel's '90 Mustang LX until it was pointed out. If they are not as off as old Palmer kits were, I'm pretty happy. Now I'm okay with people finding and pointing out the flaws in a kit. And I'm okay with people fixing them if they want. What I don't like is when people go nuts and claim the kit is nothing but junk because of them. And that manufacture should not have put out such trash. Now I'm not accusing either of you guys, Snake or Bill, of doing that. Both of you seem fair minded and more interested in fixing the problem. Which is great. It's just that I'm one who says if it looks close enough, throw a little paint on it, assemble it, and I'm happy. There is a thread here dealing with AMT's 1940/'39 Sedan kit. Again, I understand how it can not build into a correct '39. But guess what? I like the looks of the '39 Ford's front end. So, that's the reason I will be building mine as a '39. I like the looks of '40 too. But, I already have several of those. Will the adverage non car guy (or a regular car guy even) notice the problems with my '39 just by looking at it casually? I doubt it. And I'm sure they will not notice the flaws in AMT's '68 Road Runner. Where the old Palmer kits they would notice. Keep pointing out the flaws and fixing them if you want. I find it interesting. Just don't expect me to do the same with my kits.

Had a great day yesterday. Worker with two second graders who gave me no troubles what so ever. In fact their whole class was very well behaved. To the point that I was joking with the teacher at lunchtime that she had "Stepford" kids for a class. So far this school year has started off very good. Haven't had really any troubles with any of the kids so far this year. Let's hope it stays this way.

Bill, CapSat 6, a very good explanation of what happened to cars and trucks back in the 70's. I missed the Muscle Car era by a few years. I was old enough to be building models and lusting over the Muscle Cars. But, by the time I was old enough for my drivers license it was over. Still too, I did/do like the Personal Luxury cars of the time. Didn't care for the vinyl roofs. But, I like the Cordobas, Monte Carlos, Thunderbirds of the era if they were purchased clean (not too much junk, like vinyl roofs or opera lights, on the outside). By the way, in 1976 the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme knocked the long time best seller, the Chevy Impala, out of first place in sales. A sign of the times.

Decided I needed to add this kit to my collection. I really appreciate Tim Boyd's review on this kit. The kit looks good to me. My only problem is that with that interior, it needs the full rear trunk lid trim panel. By the way, that trim optional on the coupe became available when the hardtop version came out in January of '68. I beleive the exterior part of the package was standard on the hardtop for '68. So I guess I'm going to have to look at Keith Marks decals for this kit.

AMT's kit may not be able to be built into a true '39, but what other choices are there? I have a kit that I will be building as the "'39". It will not be right, but I like that front end. My dad use to have a '50 Olds fastback Club Coupe with a '51 Olds front end on it. It was even titled as a'51. The last year for the Olds fastback was 1950. A bodyman had put the '51 front on a wrecked '50 before my dad bought it. So if anybody questions about in correctness of my '39, I'll just claim it was a '40 that was in a wreck. And the person who owned it like the looks of '39 better. So that's how it was rebuilt. The best of both worlds. The convenience and modern new features of a '40. With the basic looks of a '39. By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned. But, with everything wrong with the '39 Ford kit. I've not seen anybody here mention that the taillights are way too high on the rear fenders when building the '39 also. Still I'm going to build mine as the '39.

Roll over standards never came into effect. They were threatened in the early 70's, but never truly came about. Slow sales and the threatened roll over standards contribute to the convertible's short lived demise. To satisfy open air fans both sunroofs and t-tops were tried as replacements. The trouble is, especially with the t-tops is that they leaked. Convertibles came back, and soon t-tops were gone.

Is this thread about AMT's '57 Ford or their '50 Ford? I'm getting confused.

I thought the one I bought in the early 70's still came with the custom pieces. In I think every AMT '57 Ford I've ever purchased still had the custom parts in the kit.

Okay. I think you Engilsh people are having way too much fun over there. The shed is cool, but are the other things in the article.

I too think I need one. What a great idea.

Cute girl. And a fun project. I'm glad Hot Rod featured her in their magazine. It looks like she did a great building the car. And I love the color and her personalized license plate to go with it. Too bad I'm too old for her. I think I'm in love.

If Moebius does have them, I wish they would start doing something with them. Like the old kits Round 2 keeps reissuing, I'd like to see someone do the same with Jo-Han. Many of the old AMT, MPC, and others, Round 2 has reissued, I could not afford at the time. The same with many of the old Jo-Hans. I have a few. But, there are a lot more I'm interested in. And now I have more disposable income, so I could afford them. I hope the rumor that Moebuis has several of the old Jo-Han tools is more than just a rumor. I'll spend the money Moebuis if you bring back the kits.

I talk to Round 2 yesterday about preordering the Streetle Beetle. Two things, they will not take preorders on any kit until a month before it's ready to be released. Credit card issues. Second the Steetle Beetle may not be ready until December, rather than November as originally announced in their catalog.

Bill, can we see photos when you open this kit up? I keep hearing horror stories about this kit. Yet I don't remember it be all that bad.