Mark

One of my older brothers (now deceased) used to love those parts-cannon guys. He used to look for those cars where the owner threw a bunch of new parts at it and then gave up...he'd buy it for cheap to get it out of the driveway, figure out what was actually wrong, then fix that and end up with a car with a bunch of new parts on it. One of the last ones was a mid-Nineties front-wheel-drive Dodge he found on eBay in Pennsylvania. Shade tree mechanic up the street put a new long block in it, it was overheating after that. Took several hours to get it home (buddy with a ramp truck backed out at the last minute). Takes it apart to look at the water pump, compares the new car to the one being replaced, everything looks the same. Takes the water pumps off, they are different. Turns out the long block was sold for multiple applications, but included a minivan water pump that turned in the opposite direction and used a different drive belt routing. Gets the correct water pump, puts it on, ran fine that day and a few years after that, until the next parts-cannon car came along.

People forget (younger ones never knew) that years ago, the model manufacturers kept a lot of items in the catalog for years on end, just changing box art every couple of years. Not just AMT. Revell kept their Gasser and Fifties Chevy kits out for years with the occasional box change. Monogram did so too, not even changing the box for items like the Badman and Early Iron Ford roadster pickup. And how many times did they rebox their funny cars (Barracuda, Duster, El Camino, and '57 Chevy) in the Seventies? None of the manufacturers are going to do only new items, they're going to throw in a bunch of reissues too. 90% of the people buying these things aren't going to the toy shows like a lot of us, and aren't aware that they might be able to find an older issue of the same kit for cheap. To an occasional builder, it's an impulse buy; they see it, think it's cool, and buy it.

Lots to figure out...is the body stock (GM Fisher bodies were framed in wood through 1935-36) or has the wood been supplemented or totally replaced by steel. Is the frame going to be stock or heavily modified. Is any mounting system in place now, if so will it be good enough or will it need to be replaced. You'll need to get the body and chassis both squared up before thinking about joining them. Sounds like a bunch of work and planning ahead.

The cheapest way to get the trailer is the Modified Stocker Hauler set, which is still available. You also get a '53 Ford pickup, and who doesn't like that kit? The retail price isn't a whole lot more than the pickup alone. Hobby Lobby stores carry it, you can snag one at 40% off every other week. The trailer is based on the one that came with the SMP '60 Chevy pickup annual kit. The Ford pickup had a different, single axle trailer (like that in the new '60 Ford pickup kit). The Chevy's trailer was meant for full size, late model cars, while the Ford's trailer was smaller and meant for earlier/smaller cars like Deuces, Ts, and dragsters. The Chevy's trailer was available separately in the early Sixties, by mail from AMT or Auto World. It could also be built as a display base.

I have dropped about twenty pounds since March (233 to about 210) mainly by switching out one meal a day for either a diet drink or protein bar, six days a week. For a while, I was slow on exercise as I'd messed up one shoulder trying to break up a couple of cast iron boiler pieces that were too bulky/heavy to get out of the basement. Another guy at work did pretty much the same thing, he was diagnosed with a torn ligament. I probably had the same issue, but it's okay now. I had to rent a vehicle last week, as my car was in the collision shop getting a ding taken out of it. I took the opportunity to get a pickup, finally got rid of that cast iron (920 pounds of it, the biggest piece must have been around 400 to start with). Next day, a tree that had been sitting in the yard (already cut up) went away. With the shoulder no longer being a thing, the bicycle came out a few weeks ago. Did 20 miles yesterday at an average of 11 miles per hour, if I can manage that a couple of times a week then the weight loss should really kick into gear.

Only the first issue sedan (molded in orange, with satin chrome plating) has the stock (cross spring, dropped axle) front end setup. The chopped cabriolet was issued after using the sedan as a base, at that time the wheels/tires and front suspension were changed. Any issue of the sedan after that has the same wheels and independent front suspension as the cabriolet had. Great parts kit, I keep an eye open for started/parts missing kits that still have the suspension parts.

First, it's a '65 even though they always call it a '66. The other cars in the series are all '66 though. That said, it's a curbside kit. It originated as a slot car body along with all the others (yes, I have seen a '66 Cadillac slot car). Chassis and interior are shared with one or more of the other cars in the series, with the instrument panel detail coming via a decal. Wheels are generic and shared with other cars as well. But the body details are pretty good. I believe all of them were copied from AMT, MPC, and Jo-Han annual kit bodies back when they were new.

I've got two annuals, they have vinyl roof detail as did the '68.

The original Chevelle combo used the '63 Impala, during the time it was a Craftsman kit. But the Chevelle wagon (or El Camino) would make sense.

All of the reissues have the vinyl roof detail removed.

The fender pieces are all separate. MPC got a lot of different versions out of the basic truck, but tooled two cabs (stock, and flip front), two interior buckets, two pickup beds, and two engines. Great kit, especially for its time, but the box art on the '75 annual (first one issued) really doesn't let on how detailed it is. I bought one about a year after it came out, and was blown away by it.

The original set had the Craftsman version of the wagon. Only a handful of the racing team sets included two kits with engines.

LGB trains are generally thought to be 1/22 or 1/22.5 scale.

Easiest to build: new Revell, AMT, old Revell, in that order. Most working features: old Revell, AMT, new Revell. Closest to stock body/trim: new Revell, other two are a tossup as neither has a stock grille or headlights. Old Revell does have a stock rear bumper that none of the others has, but I believe AMT has stock taillights that the two Revell kits lack. We're talking about the Sixties gassers here. The Revell pro street kit uses the gasser body, it has a modern chassis setup but for reasons unknown has no roll cage, not even a roll bar.

If the car's base color is black, red, or some other dark color or earth tone, better make sure the white paint is one that covers well (like One-Shot pinstriping enamel)...