StevenGuthmiller

My trade with "larry ray" went very well! Thank you Larry! Steve

I just got back my re-plating order from the guys at Kustom Khrome & all I can say is.....WOW!! This stuff is better than the best kit chrome you've ever seen, no kidding! With all of the parts you see, I found maybe 2 indiscreet, tiny specks of dust under the chrome. Otherwise, it's as smooth and shiny as you will ever see!! The biggest complaint I've had about "Chrome Tech" as of late is their under coating. Most of the chrome I had them do years ago was absolutely beautiful, but in the past few years, they've been spraying their undercoat way too heavy, leading to a few problems with adhesion & detail hide. Price wise, it's a little more expensive than Chrome Tech, but then again, I always used to mount my own parts which is not an option with Kustom Khrome. Chrome Tech offers a mounting service as well, so when you factor in that price, it's pretty much a wash. One of the best parts is turn around. I shipped my parts on May 31st. I received my parts today, June 24th. Right around 4 weeks. I can't remember ever receiving my parts in less than 6 weeks with Chrome Tech. So, in a nut shell, if you're looking to have some parts re-plated, these are the guys to do it! Believe me, you will not be disappointed! Steve

It's been a little like Christmas around my house today! Came home to 3 packages on my front step! First was a trade that I did with "larry ray". a sealed Moebius '56 Chrysler. Next was an Ebay find. A pretty nice AMT 1960 Lincoln Continental. I needed another one of those like a hole in the head! Last, & the most exciting was my re-plated parts from "Kustom Khrome". I'm going to do a review of this in another topic. Absolutely amazing!! Steve

I surely can save it if I choose. I do these the easy way. Just clip the column at the base as close to the dash as possible, & then drill out the remaining column left in the dash. Generally, there's plenty of column left just to reinsert. If not, steering columns are easy to make. Steve

That's an Idea! If a guy could find one about the right size, that might work. Steve

I don't think so Curt. The color you see is the color of the plastic. Neither the body or top are painted & they're exactly the same color. A lot of these Johan up tops from this era were rather "ill fitting". I have a few of them & most will require mods to get them to look right. Steve

No dome Mike. I'm not sure how a guy would go about duplicating one either. I guess there's the possibility that a cut down airplane canopy could work. Not sure I'll go quite that far though! Steve

You do them the same way you did the trim Jon. Just lay a piece of foil on the top of the crank & slowly work it down around the edges with something pointed but not sharp enough to break the foil. The small pointed Tamiya swabs work fantastic for this sort of thing. Once you get it close to totally conforming, then just get into the sharp corners with a tooth pick. but don't force it. Take your time. The foil will stretch a little if you work with it. Steve

I've decided that since my '65 Plymouth Fury is temporarily stalled, it was time to get right back on the horse & go to work on another project. This '62 Chrysler that "thatz4u" (Al), was so kind to leave in my possession, seemed like the perfect subject. I've been meaning to build a '62 hardtop but was never thrilled about the incorrect interior, so it always seemed to wind up on the back burner. When this original convertible presented itself to me, it got me fired back up to build one. Especially being as it has my beloved up top included! I've just started "deconstruction" & I'm always amazed at the things you find with these old "built ups". Some of it literally falls apart, while other areas require a crowbar & dynamite to disassemble. Examples: The glass was not glued at all, yet the dashboard was so cemented to the interior tub that I had to grind it out with a Dremel! The wheel backs were not glued, but the top boot would have remained fastened to the body in a nuclear blast! The steering wheel is a lost cause! It could be cut off & reused, but luckily I have 2 hardtop kits that will be more than happy to donate a few parts. I've already noticed a few issues with the fitment of the up top. It seems to be too long which would put the boot snap trim right into the trunk lid. It looks like I'll have to cut some of the material from the front & move the whole top forward. This in turn will make the rear quarter windows too small, so some more material will have to be removed from the sides of the top. Luckily, the heavily glue damaged tulip panel will be mostly removed & modified to accept the up top, & the damaged rear package shelf will be replaced. So in the end, the body is nice, the windshield frame is solid, & the interior tub is the correct one. All is good with the world! I'm leaning towards bright red with a tan interior & either a tan or black top. Steve This photo shows the problem with the up top being too long.

Yeah, looking at Christian's photos, I fail to see where that 15 inch difference comes in. Steve

How does it work Mike? Steve

Just received my end of a trade with Al (thatz4u). Couldn't have gone smoother & I'm extremely happy with the whole process! Thanks Al! Steve

Just arrived today & I'm very excited about getting started on it! In fact, I believe I'll get going on it right away being as my '65 Fury build is stalled at the moment. This was the result of a great trade with Al, (thatz4u). I'm very grateful to him for providing me with this great old kit! Thanks Al!! Steve

If a guy wanted to spend the time & money, you could probably pretty easily combine the '62 300 with the old Johan '61 New Yorker kit. Not much difference between the 300 & New Yorker except the grille, & side trim. The only badging was in the side trim, grille, trunk ornament & a small "300" on the deck lid. You could use the original '62 interior. Steve

Just from the appearance in your photos Christian, I'm assuming that all of the manifolds included in the Johan kits were the "Long Ram" variety. I'm pretty sure that they all looked like the ones I used on my '64. Steve

I've been using mostly either the AMT parts pack tires, or one of several Modelhaus tires. I can't really give you specifics on fitment. Each build is a little different & I always seem to manage to figure out a way to get them to work. I will tell you though, if you have the type of wheels that were common on many of the early 60s kits that have a flange on the outside, the AMT tires just pop right on. These wheels are from an AMT '60 Merc. Steve

Thanks guys. I since found this on a site called "Allpar.com" that seems to corroborate what Christian said. "The 300 H, with it's non-ram twin 4 barrel carbs, got a 380 horsepower label, but could also be ordered with a 15 inch set of ram tubes, (405 horsepower). If the right box was checked, you could have gotten it with the 30 inch long of ram tubes. That engine was not rated. The same applied to the 426 cubic inch version. To my knowledge, no one ever did order such cars. If there are any, of either engine size, with the 30 inch tubes, they would be a truly priceless piece." I guess at least it seems that the option was available. That gives me the "green light" to go ahead with the 413 Ram! Steve

I've been trying to find some documentation as to whether or not the Cross Ram (Long Ram) intake set up was available in the '62 Chryslers but I've come up empty. Does anyone have any knowledge if this was an option in 1962? I know that it was available in '60-'61 & again for '63-'64. Seems a little strange that I can find nothing about this intake configuration in '62. Did Chrysler discontinue it for one year in the middle of it's production? I recently traded for a Johan 1962 Chrysler 300 convertible kit that has the Long Ram set up, but this is meaningless as a lot of the '60s Johan Chrysler kits offered these parts as part of the custom options. I'd like to use it if it's correct for '62, but I need some expertise. Anybody have the answer? Steve

Probably one of the reasons why I use a lot of aftermarket tires. I hate those 50s tires! Steve

The 2 chassis look pretty much exactly the same except for the front A-arms, so I don't think it had anything to do with a beefed up frame on the convertible. Besides, I doubt that AMT would go that far with a chassis difference in '62 when they didn't seem to be worried about the interior differences. The frame painted black is from the '62 Bonneville convertible kit & the white one with the separate A-arms is from the '62 Bonneville hard top kit. Steve

I usually start with a coat of Testors gray primer because it covers body work, etc. better than the Duplicolor sandable primers that I like to use. Then I usually use several light coats of Duplicolor. In the past, I've had good luck removing lacquer paints with Super Clean, but the primer can be a bear to remove fully. Seems like the Duplicolor primer comes off pretty well in Super Clean, but the Testors stuff is very patchy. Sometimes it comes off pretty well, other times not so much. So, I thought if anyone had good luck stripping primer with anything else, I would strip what I could in Super Clean & finish off the primer with whatever works better for that. Maybe I'll just have to pick up some IPA & give it a try. I have several bodies laying around with primer left on them after stripping paint. Steve

Just seemed a little odd to me. Usually these annuals from the early 60s shared all of the same parts except the top boot & body between the hard tops & convertibles. Especially the full sized cars. As we all know, they even shared the same interior tub generally. Why they would have switched out the chassis & not the interior tub is a mystery to me. I guess my question is, could it have been a "mid year" thing? Getting the tooling ready for the '63 models. Seems unlikely, but I thought that there must be some sort of explanation. Steve

I was recently doing a paint stripping & parts inventory on an AMT 1963 Pontiac Bonneville hard top for an upcoming project. Upon inspection I found that the chassis was supposed to have separate lower A-arms for the front suspension that were missing. I remembered a recently acquired 1962 Bonneville hardtop kit having these same parts & assumed that a pair of '62 Bonneville convertible built ups that I had should also have them to swipe for the '63. To my surprise, neither of the convertible kits had the same chassis arrangement as the '62 & '63 hard top kits that I have. I would assume that the '62 Bonneville hard top & convertible kits would be exactly the same kit except for the obvious parts. Why did the convertible use a different chassis than the hard top? There is a happy ending to this story however. The '62 Bonneville hard top kit has 2 sets of A-arms included in the kit. One set white plastic & the other chrome. So, at least I'll have a set for my '63. But I was very curious as to why the convertible & hard top kits would have used different chassis in '62.......& possibly '63. I don't have a '63 convertible, so I'm not sure on that one. Any body else notice this? Steve

I have never used alcohol for stripping paint & I had a few questions for those of you that have. I've used Super Clean, oven cleaner & brake fluid for stripping paint & have settled on Super Clean as the stripper that works the best for me. However, I've always had problems removing primer cleanly with Super Clean & was wondering if anyone has had luck with isopropyl for that purpose. Also wondering how safe it is for styrene. Is it safe to let parts soak in isopropyl alcohol without damaging the parts? & for how long? & finally, I'm pretty sure I've heard guys say to use 91%. Is that what I need? I have not used brake fluid in many years because I don't like dealing with the mess & disposal, but has anyone had luck with brake fluid for removing primer? DOT 4? Steve

Shaping up very nicely Hans! Steve