Mark

That body is from an MPC stock car kit. In the early Eighties, they brought out a few "new" stock cars that used the two-piece chassis from their earlier series. They offered a Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevy Monte Carlo, and a Buick Regal. All three used the same basic body (looks mostly like a Buick) with different hoods, front fascia, and rear trim panel for each version. The first group of cars didn't represent any actual cars (generic markings) but the second group had decals representing actual cars. Most, if not all, had tobacco brands as the main sponsor. Unfortunately for MPC, the far better Monogram NASCAR kits started hitting store shelves not long afterward. The big flares aren't entirely inaccurate; some of the early "downsized" cars that raced starting with the 1981 season used earlier chassis, shortened and with different roll cages to fit the smaller bodies. Only the top teams had entirely new cars built for the first season. Using a cut-down earlier chassis would require that type of fender flare, to allow for wider track width. Once the teams figured out whose chassis worked best with the smaller cars, more of them had new cars built, putting the older chassis to the sidelines.

HL hasn't carried any NASCAR kits that I know of.

Strange that XR-6 kit still had the '27 touring in it. I haven't seen one in the last few years, the last one I picked up must have had the touring built stock. The XR-6 was intact, as were the leftover rod parts from the touring (only the Frontenac engine setup was carried into later issues). Just grab a more recent issue of the tub, and I've got the stuff to build that first issue rod version. I already had a complete double kit (got that one in the early Seventies) but the box lid was split at one corner. The second one had a mint box, like someone built the tub and buried the rest of the kit in a closet or attic.

The stores around here have/had two airliner kits: one Lindberg, one Hawk. The Lindberg airliner has an optional clear fuselage half to show the interior detail, the Hawk kit has a hinged side panel. I thought about grabbing one of the Lindberg kits, but I know there's no way I'll ever sit down and build the thing. They also had one of the Lindberg figure kits, I believe Round 2 announced it as never having been released back when it was tooled. No cars left on the shelves from the most recent dump, other than a lone AMT 2004 Chrysler 300.

I picked up a built one of those Revell Camaro funny cars awhile back, with the intention of piecing the front fascia (and maybe the hood area) into an MPC body. As I recall, the pieces do fit together way better than anyone would expect, but the Revell front fascia slants inward a bit towards the bottom. I'll probably attack that one again over the coming winter.

The Ford OHC engine goes with the chassis. The chassis originated with Revell's Maverick funny car, also the Boss Mustang (the one with the body from the '70 coupe annual kit). That engine looks to be equal in (lack of) detail with the OHC engine in the Revell gasser kits. Revell was cheaping out in that period, copying parts from earlier kits for use in new ones. Funny cars were built with different make engines and bodies almost from day one. JJ had switched to the Hemi around 1970, his number two '69 Nova (driven by Clare Sanders) ran a 426 Hemi while JJ was running a Chevy in his. He linked up with Sanders to get up to speed in regards to building and tuning the Hemi. 1971 was a shakeout/transition year of sorts with funny cars. Prior to that, funnies with different engine/body were sometimes called Wacky Racers (after the cartoon series). '71 brought in all-out use of the narrow dragster style chassis (first used by Mickey Thompson under his '69 Mustangs), and wider use of Hemis, mainly the 426. The Ramchargers started selling "over the counter" ready to run nitro 426s in '69, others like Keith Black and Ed Pink stepped up to compete. By the end of the '71 season, guys with the old style chassis and non-426 engines were pretty much relegated to also-ran status.

You're preaching to the choir regarding straight six engines. I like 'em...put over 200,000 miles on an AMC 258, and have a '62 Ford Fairlane with a '74 250 under the hood. The AMC rolled across the scale at the boneyard in 1993, still ran great and used maybe a quart of oil in a thousand miles. But the body fell apart around it (was structurally unsafe) and I couldn't find another body to put the engine in. If the right one came along, I'd buy it without a thought. The Ford runs great too, smooth and quiet, power right where you want it for stop light to stop light driving. I like hearing the "experts" tell me it should have a 302 instead.

Ex-Revell kit, 1/25. I can't think of any car kit they ever did back then in 1/24. Even the foreign cars they did in the late Sixties and early Seventies (VW Beetle, Porsche 911, Datsun 240Z) were 1/25.

The chassis is a bit on the clumsy side compared to Jo-Han or MPC funny car chassis from the same time frame, but it looks workable. It does have a steerable front end though.

Some kits have nostalgia value for people who built them first time around...the early Revell funny cars definitely fall into that category. Not for everyone, but enough people will buy them to make the effort worthwhile for Atlantis. They make money on them, some of that money goes into something you or I will want. Works for me.

The straight sixes were price leaders, not intended as performance engines (except the Pontiac OHC, which was unsuccessful back then). The more cheaply they could be produced, the better. I'm surprised that GM waited as long as they did to cast the intake and head as a unit. When there is a cheaper way to do something, GM usually led the way in doing it.

The small Ford inline six (144/170/200/250) all had the intake manifold cast as a unit with the cylinder head, as did some Nash (pre-AMC) straight sixes. No problems from a durability standpoint, the only gripe came from people wanting to hop them up. The Nash six intake was open on top, a flat plate was then bolted to it and the carburetor bolted to that. Those guys just made a new plate to fit multiple carbs. Ford and Offenhauser offered a kit for the Ford six, where you had a couple of flat spots milled on the integral intake, and a couple of holes bored. Bolt-on flanges (separate pieces from Ford, Offenhauser's was a single piece) allowed for two more carbs to be added. Ford of Australia did manufacture those engines with a separate, bolt-on intake manifold. But the North American engines always had the integral intake.

The Chevy II/Nova was available with the four through 1970. Few people ordered them though, and dealers generally wouldn't stock them. They were also used by Kaiser Jeep in the CJ-5A postal Jeeps. AMC bought Jeep in 1970 but used stockpiled parts until they ran out. Those postal Jeeps with the Nova four also had a Powerglide transmission with a really small torque converter, and a narrow Dana 44 rear axle...a few people dropped small-blocks into them...

The car pictured is a '69...grille, and rectangular side markers give it away.

OLD Duplicolor caps were made of metal, and were painted with the actual paint that was inside the can. It could be done with the cheapo plastic cap...just mold it in primer gray ABS plastic and shoot it with the color. Truth in advertising.

If the chrome paint looks so much like chrome, why do they have to plate the cap instead of just painting it with the paint itself?

If you are going to change chassis, why not start with the same piece Petty started with...stock '71 Charger? Between the stock kit, and the Salvino (or Polar Lights if you prefer) roll cage, engine parts, and everything else, you ought to be able to piece together a much better chassis than the cribbed/two-piece/generic stuff...

Most pre-1964 Jo-Han interiors are on the shallow side. If you are bother trying to remove the convertible top well detail for use in a hardtop, may as well start fresh and get the depth and transmission tunnel right too. For most Mopars, the Lindberg '64 Dodge bench seat interior would be a good starting point. The seats can be sanded smooth and rescribed with correct detail, same with the side panels. The side panels can be installed straight up and down, eliminating the mold draft that is extremely pronounced in the Jo-Han interiors.

The Ollie's stores around here haven't had Duplicolor in the last year or so, other than the oddball stuff like peel-off "temporary paint" and the like. They did have two-part body filler (not the two-part glazing putty, but the filler). I bought a 19 ounce can for $1.99. The stuff hasn't settled, nor has the catalyst tube, so it must be pretty recent manufacture. They haven't had it recently, but sometimes they have wet/dry sandpaper. 3M, made in Canada or USA, the good stuff, not no-name junk that falls apart when dipped in water.

In addition to the bench seat interior, the 427 Fairlane has the rocker panel trim. Get the hood from the GT/A, and the stock wheel covers are in the '65 Modified Stocker kit. So is most of a 289 engine.

Opels were sold by Buick dealers, Vauxhalls by Pontiac dealers. As soon as the '61 Special and Tempest were available, the dealers dumped the captive imports like a hot rock. Resale on those tanked right away. My older brother had one of those Opel wagons, this would have been in '65 or '66. He only had it a short time, I only saw it once at the gas station where he was working. He wasn't driving yet, probably paid next to nothing for it...no idea what he did with it...probably junked it.

I spotted that too, might give it a try once I get back up to speed with an airbrush. Then again, I've got a decent supply of Alclad, and haven't tried applying Molotow with an airbrush yet...

Duplicolor is an acrylic lacquer, it should be applied over a lacquer primer. Applying over enamel will cause trouble. Even applying a "hot" lacquer over another lacquer could cause problems. With all of that, and two different brands in the mix as well...test, test, and test again before trying the combination on anything of value.

My past experience has been... Cemented seam, let dry, sand, primer over...visible seam. Cemented seam, brush cement over, sand, primer over...no visible seam. Your results may vary...

I now use a method suggested by one of the regulars here, Bill Geary if I remember right. Cement the parts together with solvent cement (not CA or epoxy). Let dry, then sand the seam smooth. Then brush liquid cement over the seam, let dry, sand smooth. I've done four of the MPC 1/25 scale three-wheel chopper bodies that are split right down the center, three of them are primed and painted...no problems. Did a few engine blocks with molded-in oil pans too...again, no problems.