ChrisBcritter

Speed limit 65 But I was doin' 94 Police tracked me down And that made me kinda sore It took a little while But I got right back on the go (Hint: A rare one - it's a girl singer on a Chicago R&B label)

Wow! Original non warped fender extensions! So how does he maintain it? Hopefully he runs it up often enough to keep all the seals tight, never keeps more than a gallon of gas in it, and drains the cooling system every winter. And tell him for heaven's sake, don't wash it without taping off the vinyl roof trim and window moldings - I know of a pristine 14K mile '74 CDV that's spent most of its life in the hands of two very careful collectors in California, and it still has a tiny rust spot peeking out below the rear window. So why was this one put away? Most of the speculators in 1976 bought Eldorado convertibles.

Cute as a bug's ear! I like the '58 even better, especially gasser style:

Because it somehow never occurs to the folks who run AMT that spending a few bucks to tool up a roadster body/deck, top and seat for the '27 T touring car they've been selling for the last fifty years might get some more life out of that tool?

From a fellow carrier of the Lincoln sickness who can't stay away from gluebombs - great job!

My mother used to talk about getting a Checker as a family car back in the mid-1960s; it seemed logical to me since it would be replacing our thoroughly rusted '56 Chevy 210 and offered more or less the same size, height and interior/trunk layout. Instead we got a '63 Dodge 440 eight-passenger wagon.

Modelhaus goodies for the '61 Bonneville (taillights and fender spears), '65 Impala promo (taillights), and '65 Monaco (rear trim piece). Happy day!

Note what happens here: When the tow truck pulls this Impala back over, a big puff of dust comes out from under the front and the car lies flat on the ground: I bet the car they were testing had air suspension that failed in the crash, probably one reason GM gave up on the idea. Also note they somehow managed to air it up a bit before they shot the closeup :

Maybe separate 8-lug wheels and drums? That's never been done. Meanwhile I'm continuing to beat my Bonneville into submission... purely by coincidence I was looking at brochures and photos online today, and most likely going with Bamboo Cream with a black roof and gold/brown/tan interior. Got the C-pillars faired in and puttied, along with the sink marks in the trunk lid, cut the convertible extensions out of the interior, and patched a damaged rear wheel opening. Before that I added the missing material to the leading edge of the hood (AMT's error - they're all like that), shimmed the front bumper/grille to fit straight, and now I'm trying to build up the nerve to cut the molded-in trim from the grille to attach it to the hood where it belongs. Yee-ha.

Check the sold listings on eBay for a seller named blzzzfn - he's been selling off a lot of unboxed older kits over the last several months. He says he got hold a collection of several thousand models, and many of them had had their boxes thrown away and were put in bags to save space. You might find some matches in his sold lots.

On the way home this evening I passed a red '70 Impala convertible, top down, lowered in front, with big 'n' little drilled aluminum wheels. Paint was a little dull but otherwise a nice big cruiser.

I bare-metaled a Jo-Han reissue '58 Olds 98. I've recovered to the point where I see shadows, and can name three countries: Belgium, Belgium, and Kansas City.

My personal favorite :lol: : The whole phrase: "PLEASE COVER UP... BEFORE STRIKING LIGHT" I copied both sides onto a t-shirt once.

Somehow I keep thinking of a school bus when I look at it.

Brand new license plates, fresh out of the envelope!

At this point, I'm sticking with estate sales rather than garage sales - they seem to have more older stuff; plus the sale companies post photos online. And if I do spot some models ahead of time I don't need, I'll post about them here for my fellow Chicago-area model nuts.

Every little bit helps. That said, I've found out that Jo-Han messed up on a few things, probably due to working from early drawings? What this really turns out to be is an odd mix of Windsor (shorter wheelbase, flush grille, no front fender spears) and New Yorker (trim and emblems, grille bars). Luckily MCG has photoetch grille material that is a very close match for the Windsor, so that and the wheelbase make it an easy choice - it will be a mild custom Windsor.

Mel's Drive-in for $22.49??? Must... resist...

Don't forget to check their clearance area for paints. I was at the one in Mount Prospect today and noticed they had the AMT double T coupe and roadster on sale for 40% off. I thought about it but just got the razor saw blade I came for, with the 40% off coupon. Don't need to be buying a box of two new projects when I'm already working on seven or eight at once.

New vintage grille/bumper/headlights for the '60 Chrysler. With that, a new chassis and glass, and Satco tires with deep chrome reverse wheels from the Jo-Han Petty Plymouth, all mocked up it looks a lot better than when you last saw it: A set of Modelhaus taillights, some mods to the grille to inset the bars, and it will be time to do the final bodywork.

Good to know, Tom and Scott! Hmm. Maybe I should do the front clip in primer to make it look like a homebrewed crash repair? I just want to do it basically stock with a jacked up rear and a load of surfboards. I picked this unit instead of the new one since it was cheap, plus the grille has been said to have a more correct concave shape.

Got a real decent '60 Falcon bumper/grille for my sedan delivery. Maybe I'll indulge my masochistic streak and separate the two, and put the factory roll pan behind the bumper... or maybe I'll just drill out and replace the headlights.

Not that much; it mostly needs to moved forward to be flush with the bottom edge of the front bumper (I also trimmed off the backs of the bumper guards a bit). Yes, all three years.

Good luck with it, Erik! One thing I forgot, and so did AMT, on both kits: the top corners of the trunk lid should be rounded, not squared. Just in case you want to be Mr. Know-it-All at your next show.

Before Tim chimes in with his great work, here's my amateur-hour effort: Needs some finish sanding to even it up, but you get the idea. I cut down the top of the window opening to align straight across the door and carved out the little kickup. I also flattened the top of the quarter panel to keep it aligned with the window. Similar deal on this '61 Pontiac, a convertible body with a '61 Bel Air roof transplant: Again, this isn't finished, need to patch the rear molding; but the modification was the same. And finally here's the original '61 hardtop body; AMT didn't really get it right then either.