ChrisBcritter

Decals on the Galaxie are terrific! The instrument cluster decals are greatly appreciated, along with those hard-to-paint grille and trunk emblems. The Ranchero decals, well... no instrument cluster (really??) and the license plates are dated 1941, I presume left over from the '41 Coca-Cola Plymouth. The cooler's a nice idea; I imagine some savvy aftermarket seller will come up with a resin insert so it can be displayed with the lid up - and I bet more than one of us will turn it into a little trailer!

Bill, the top boot (cover for the folded top) from the AMT '58 Ford should be a good fit for the '57. I have one - let me know if you decide to go that route.

Just for that extra nudge, here's the real thing: Had the privilege of working on it for the owner; ended up gathering four or five of those plastic fake fender vents from junkyards to get a good set. The white plastic yellowed, so I found a close match for the white and painted them. Picked up an NOS stripe kit on eBay along with taillight badges and wheel centers. Nice low-mile original car with an unfaded interior.

Filet o'' Whale

Sorry to hear this - he was so funny on Fernwood 2 Night; perfect foil to Martin Mull. Loved it when Fred would say something particularly dumb, and Martin would answer "Jerry, look over there..." Hope this gets played at his funeral:

The CA DMV has issued new black ones, listed as "1960 LEGACY". They were going to offer yellow plates but didn't get enough pre-orders for them.

From Deerfield to Downers Grove, all ten around here still closed.

Evil Weevil? Evil Eye? Evil Eye-ful? Evil Ways? Put it on the other end , and there's Lucretia MacEvil...

I didn't think I was even a demitasse! Thanks!

I posted some info here:

The new '60 grille/bumper unit is no great shakes, compared to the more accurately-shaped and better-fitting original '60 unit - and in both cases the grille is molded to the bumper anyway. I did a bit of work using two '60 grilles to make a separate unit, then cut down the bumper from behind to make it look right. I imagine Round2 figures if anyone wants an improved front bumper and grille, and correct two-piece red and chrome taillights, and a six-banger, they'll hit the aftermarket.

^^^ Holy mackerel! Paging Steve Guthmiller... Wonder if this was supposed to be a dealer display piece for Pontiac, and it was rejected, or they produced too many?

Brings new meaning to "40% off".

Hmm... (taking notes and still searching for a junk Pontiac promo to mold the pan from ). How long is the finished part, Steve?

The '62 Newport body got here Saturday; no glue on it at all. Now to spread out the 2 1/3 Revell Chryslers and figure out what to do. Casting up some revised wheelcovers will be Job 1, most likely. I noticed Revell made a running change on this kit - some of them have "C H R Y S L E R" in embossed letters in the grille surround; some don't.

in the diner

So it looks like the last of the biggest '50s rock 'n' roll performers left are Jerry Lee Lewis (who'd a' thunk it?), Don Everly and (really more of a crooner) Pat Boone.

Let's compare the parts layout on the '65 Fairlane box to some original trees: Looks like the stock wheelcovers may be back, along with both sets of valve covers. One of the two shifters was removed, along with the 13" chrome reverses and baby moons, taillights and hood ornament. Looks like the custom grille, custom front bumper and one (!) of the custom front bumperettes will return. The box art shows that the stock small-block 289 is all there... ...as well as the (I'm assuming) 427, although this time with a single 4-barrel manifold and one carburetor instead of the dual quad setup. Good idea to have both since some stocker classes wouldn't allow a big-block anyway. Finally, we're getting back the custom front and rear roll pans, the ductwork for the original dual quad setup, one (!) of the two hood scoops, custom license plaques, tow bar setup and chassis crossmember with driveshaft loop, but not the torque control arms. One more thing: The glass unit has been restored to include a rear window. All in all, Round2 gave us more value for this than they had to, so thanks guys!

tie and tails

pink chiffon dress

The first time I looked at the hinge idea, it made me a bit wary of how the slotted pins would work - must be tough to give them just the right clearance so they can slide on and off without being wobbly or too tight, and then compensate for when they get painted. White-knuckle time! I was wondering if you had thought about putting little hinges on the hinges (!) so they could stay on the hood but fold inward flat underneath it when it was closed - then no chance of losing them when you take it to shows. Only problem I could see is maybe they'd interfere with the firewall?

or be unmasked

got your nose

Big improvement on something that always bugged me about that kit!

I had the 1953 set; picked it up at the Hobbymodels shop in Evanston, IL for $15.00 back in 1973. Sold it to Ron Merkel several years later. I found some shots of the set (old eBay listing saved by Worthpoint) that are pretty much like mine except my Pontiac was dark green: The Ford convertible came with a very thin, delicate vacuform interior.