StevenGuthmiller

I'm with Richard. It's so much easier just to spend a few dollars & have a perfectly wired distributor come in the mail. Steve

Unlike Chrome Tech, Bob & Rick @ Kustom Khrome don't offer a price for mounted parts, so they're a bit more expensive. Although, they are in line with Chrome Tech's "loose parts" price. They prefer to mount the pieces for plating themselves, & believe me, they did a better job than I could ever do in that department. So, they charge by the piece. Prices vary depending on size. A bumper costs $4.00, a set of wheels $2.00, Small misc. parts $1.75 each & misc. medium parts $3.50 each. They also do chassis for $15.00 & whole kit trees for $20.00. The individual who does all of their plating for them is the same guy who used to do all of the plating for companies like Johan & MPC, so they know what they're doing when it comes to plating kit parts. If I recall correctly, the parts in the photo cost me around $125.00? Steve

Fred Cady has '69 Charger 500, R/T & Super Bee decals. I'm debating as to whether I should use these, paint my own, (minus the "R/T" logo) or just leave them off altogether. Steve

Ok Mike, I see what you mean. I looked at the '69 & there might be a little of that going on with the passenger side, but it's difficult to really tell. I think the culprit may be that the passenger side of the vehicle is where the body was attached to a sprue at the bottom during the molding process. You can see this by the big plastic blobs on the inside of the body along the rocker panel. Chances are that this caused the body to flatten slightly on that side. Mine has a sink mark in that area at the lower rear fender. And, as we know, these anomalies usually only get accentuated over time as the mold gets older. I'm sure that the '68 mold was modified to become the '69 & then the '70, so I'm sure this mold has been around a very long time. Anyway, I'm not letting that bother me. It's nearly imperceptible to me. Steve

Pretty funny Spike! What's even funnier is how in that scene, every car in it is a brand new 1961 Chrysler product! Steve

I checked those door lines on the '69 & I'm not seeing any difference between the two sides. Just to be sure I took a few quick measurements & everything seems to check out. I see what you're talking about with the body line on the door though. Thanks Mike, you just made more work for me! Steve

Thanks Tommy! You can always try to make your clear plastic sections first before cutting the steering wheel. That way, if it doesn't work out, or if you don't like the look, you'll still have a good steering wheel. Steve

Better yet, give "Kustom Khrome" a try. Believe me, their finish is miles above Chrome Tech! Steve

If you're thinking of doing a wagon, why mess with cutting this one up. You can start with a Flintstone resin & save yourself a whole bunch of hassle. Steve

"Crystal Turquoise". MCW carries it under the Chevrolet name of "Azure Turquoise". Same code, same color. Steve

The '57- '59 Chryslers were widely considered to be one of the most beautiful body styles of the 50s. Can't imagine why anyone would want to mess that up. Every example I've seen so far on this thread, except for the box art on the AMT kit, is just ugly as sin! Just my opinion. Steve

I built the newer AMT kit with the opening trunk a few years ago, (same as the Proshop kit I believe, minus a few goodies) As far as I can tell, it looks pretty accurate, but I'm no expert on '57 Chevies. I did have a few assembly issues, but it turned out pretty nice. Steve

Try some Super Clean. I've had paint that oven cleaner wouldn't touch come off pretty well with Super Clean. I've stripped bodies sprayed with 6 or 8 coats of automotive lacquer with it. I have had issues with some flat paints & primers not coming off, but given some time, the paint comes off in sheets. It works by dissolving the primer & loosening up the paint to the point where it just peels off. I've had bodies where an entire side comes off in one sheet. I do agree though, that if the body is easily & inexpensively replaced, I wouldn't even mess with stripping it. Steve

This kit has been around for many years. Reissued several times. I have no idea when it was last produced, but I've had a couple of them over the years. I still have one that I never started. Steve

I've looked around and have noticed a few cars with the dual snorkel on line. So it quite possibly could have been an option. Being as the kit pieces snorkel is proportioned all wrong anyway, it might be a good excuse to replace it & add an extra one. The kit air cleaner has a straight round snorkel. The actual 1:1 is tapered & oval shaped. Steve

Ran across this video on "you tube". If nothing else, it will give you pretty much every available color option. It warms my heart to see this many of these cars still around. Steve http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhzcTt86_aY

That it is, but I think it might be difficult to replicate in 1/25th. But at least this way you know not to add an external antenna. All I can tell you is that the "Model J" had the 400 cubic inch engine which had a single snorkel. The MPC kit depicts a "Model SJ" which was equipped with the 428 cube engine. There is the possibility that it had a dual snorkel, but I doubt it. I believe all of these cars were equipped with air conditioning & there would have been little room for another snorkel. If you need any more info on the '69 Grand Prix Tommy, just ask. I have a 1:1 Model J sitting in my garage. Steve

Incorrect. The '69 Grand Prix was the first car to ever have the antenna in the glass. My 1:1 '69 has it. Steve

The '70 Monte Carlo would probably be your best bet. Steve

The trouble I've had recently with hoods was just basically dumb luck with the paint. Nothing like this. Normally I don't have a lot of trouble with these type of cut outs because of the multiple primer coats that I use. The plastic is usually sealed up very well by the time I start shooting color. But this one is so thin that I'll want to make sure to take any precautions I can. Steve

Now I'm trying to tackle what is probably the worst aspect of these MPC Coronet kits. That horrible "cut out" in the hood! The cut out area is so thin that there were actually places where there were pinholes all the way to the surface. A really stupid design! What I did was fill the recesses on the back side with super glue and plastic stock. hopefully that will fill it in well enough to prevent any "ghosting" problems when it comes time to paint. You can see how thin the plastic is by how the black plastic filler shows through in the second photo. Steve

Just a small update. I started doing a little prep this morning, & I took Bill Geary's suggestion to heart. I leveled off the rear quarter window sill & it made a very big difference. Thank you Bill. There's a good possibility I may not have noticed this before paint. Steve Before After

I guess tastes are different. I like this the best of all of them. I absolutely do not like the "Spring Green", & the F5 looks a little too much like an army truck. Never really liked dark greens either. Now I think I remember why I ordered the one I did. Steve

Very nice Raoul! Much "greener" than the color I have. The color I'm using is a much "mistier" green. I'm planning on the 440 "Six Pack" right out of the Super Bee kit for mine. Steve

Love to see them Raoul! Steve