Mark

Nope, all Chrysler Corporation cars except the Imperial switched to Unibody construction in the 1960 model year. (Imperial switched for 1967.) So, any Mopars prior to 1960 should have a frame. '57-'59 should have torsion bar front suspension detail.

Not many annual kits had them: Jeepster/Commando (some, but not all), Pontiac Grand Prix ('69-'70), AMC Pacers. Beyond that, some Jeep kits. I don't recall any Chevy pickup kit with them.

AMT '58 Plymouth might be a bit closer, as the Plymouth and Dodge were basically the same car under the skin, while the Chrysler was a bit bigger. But if you already have a Chrysler kit on the shelf, go ahead and try it.

If you have a couple of "favorite" drill sizes, think about getting a pack of each size, and also getting extra pin vises or mandrels to hold each "favorite" size bit. Getting a pack of ten of a particular size bit really isn't that expensive. If you use the pin vise for one, and only one, size bit won't make it sloppy for smaller size bits later on. Look on eBay (or elsewhere) for industrial bits, the hobby oriented bits sold in sets or at Snap-On East (Harbor Freight) won't be as well made, and will wear out faster. You'll probably break an industrial quality bit by accident before it wears out.

You'd have to wonder if anyone actually looked at those cards, unless they got piles of them asking for one specific item. That may actually have happened back then, probably not often though. It's probably more like that little button you push at a street corner pedestrian crossing. You push the button and wait, and the light changes on schedule anyway...

Check the home improvement stores and hardware stores...many sell empty quart paint cans. Leaving leftover paint in the gallon can will result in either the paint drying in the can, or moisture getting into the can causing the rust. I will dab a bit of paint on both the lid and side of the can to show the color of the contents.

This whole mess is going to be used in some quarters to lower overall expectations, and get you used to the idea of even poorer service than what there was before...

They probably designed the kit before II was built, and just stuck the II graphics on the existing kit. Revell did the same with the old tool Stone, Woods, & Cook Willys kit. The kit is modeled on the car when it had the steel front clip and Everflex exhaust tubing grille, but the lettering matches the revised car with the fiberglass front end and '58 Ford grille mesh. The photo of the car on the box is doctored to match the contents of the box. The same, or a very similar, photo of that car appeared in Rod & Custom coverage of a drag meet, with no change. The canopy was probably a "car show only" deal.

Slixx has sheets with lettering in two sizes. (One size per sheet.) The boat's registration numbers on the sides might be done with the smaller size, the name on the stern with the larger size.

Depends on the detail level of the kit involved. I'm coming to the conclusion that it really doesn't make sense to even do plug wires on an engine that has a gaping hole with a wire axle passing through it...

There is a very slight, uniform gap (about .020"-.030") in that area. Are you sure the interior is fitted all the way up, and the chassis is located properly? There are two pins on the top side of the chassis that go into two bosses on the bottom of the interior. You do have to test fit everything (windows, interior bucket with instrument panel, and chassis) and everything has to be fitted correctly.

Those parts stayed in through '75, possibly '76. The '77 AMT annual kits had no optional parts other than the CB radio and a couple of antennae that were the scale thickness of a broom handle.

USPS managed to "lose" a package that came thousands of miles, after it got put on the truck for delivery. I got the "label must have fallen off" excuse. Even if a label falls off of a package or two, at the end of the day you've got one, or two, or three packages without labels, and an equal number of labels...shouldn't be rocket science to figure out which goes with which. I wonder if it didn't just get "lost" into the trunk of someone's car...

Around here, there are pretty much two hobby shops left. One is 100% R/C; they went that way when their distributor opened a retail store a stone's throw from them. Completely understandable given the circumstances, and they are thriving as R/C only. The former distributor, turned retailer, closed up shop about three and a half years ago. They never got into R/C, as a courtesy to the other shop. They even referred walk-ins asking about R/C to the other store. The other shop is gaming, model kits, and railroading. No R/C as the owner is a friend of the family operating the R/C only store. Since the latter decided not to carry model kits again after the guy up the street closed, both store operators have apparently decided not to step on each other's toes. Both are doing fine, hopefully things will stay that way for them.

A hobby shop that doesn't sell paint? Not much of a hobby shop IMO. Once upon a time, I was driving around in one of the suburbs on the side streets, and spotted a hobby shop. I stopped in, the whole place was full of D&D stuff, not a model kit to be seen. On my way out, the guy asked me if he could assist with anything. I politely said no, I'm not into gaming, I walked in because it was a hobby shop. He said "it is a hobby shop, if your hobby is gaming". Not that I drove through there a lot, but the place wasn't around long. He might have done better to call it a "gaming store" or something else...

MPC: one tool '68-'77, another '78-'82. The '75 convertible keeps getting reissued because at some point MPC decided that the '68-'77 tool should be the convertible and not the coupe. So they pieced it together as the convertible, and possibly threw away everything else thinking they wouldn't bother with the coupe again. The '78-'82 was never a convertible, so no choice there. The prevailing thought was probably that they had one coupe and one convertible, never mind that they only had the later coupe. If you look at MPC catalogs from back then, they usually had a good selection of Corvette kits but there were obvious gaps. Apparently they didn't think that not having a C3 with the early roof style was a handicap for them.

The AMT '77 was not new, it was a revision of the '69-'76 kit. Still had the big block. All they did was take out all of the optional parts, as they did with all of their other annual kits. '77 was the end of the line for annuals at AMT until '89 when Ertl eliminated the MPC brand and put the AMT label on everything. MPC retooled for '78, the Anniversary kit was the first one with the small-block engine. Their '77 was the last update of their '68-up kit, again still with the big block engine.

All AMT Corvette kits '69-'77 have a big block/four speed powertrain.

No, that's a '70. AMT marketed that kit, and the convertible version, through '71. They did likewise with their Camaro kit, no '71 offering. AMT didn't have the promo contract for '68 (MPC did) so they didn't get solid advance info on the '68 (which was originally to be the '67 but was delayed). They hacked out a '68 kit (convertible with separate roof) which used the chassis and engine from their '67 convertible kit. Once they were able to get access to a 1:1 car, they tooled up a much more accurate kit for '69, and offered it as separate coupe and convertible kits.

Updated through '77, still with the big block engine, in the same imaginary world where MPC had Hemi Challengers and Barracudas in '74. The bodies in the MPC kits were better IMO, the margin got bigger as AMT updated their kit further away from their promo year ('70). I'm pretty sure the chassis, engine, and interior wound up in the Eckler Hatchback kit. The body in that kit looks like it is different and not an alteration of the '77, but who knows for sure.

The one with the bucket seats molded in will be for a T-Bird, '61-63 (most likely '63). The other one is '64 or '65 Falcon, not sure which right now.

Whatever got the roof to that point, I'd go back to that. Two days isn't a lot, especially with three different solutions. Personally, I wouldn't use brake fluid, in my experience it makes the plastic brittle. Too, if you go from one solution to another, I'd make absolutely certain that there is no trace left of Solution #1 on that body before it goes anywhere near Solution #2.

When those kits were first produced (late 1965) they were probably both in production at the same time. So each would have its own engine. Back then it was probably cheaper and easier to do things that way.

It's commercial art, highly collectible. People even collect the end product (the box): this being the first step in the process leading up to that box, is unique and even better. Not everyone bothers with parts of the hobby outside of the building of the models themselves. For those who are into the historical end of it, and are willing to step up and spend what it takes to own something like this, it's an opportunity, and those don't happen very often.

The Modified Stocker bumpers are the least of the problems; they are pretty close to stock. The grille only needs the headlight areas cut out and replaced, rear bumper is fine as-is. The wheel openings could be filled; I've done it on an Olds 88 body (even restored the flares) and intend to do the same on a Skylark and possibly a Fairlane. I attempted it on a '64 Galaxie but was dissatisfied with the front fenders; later, I found a convertible body and stubbed in the MS roof and cowl. I'm after a NASCAR body with that one. For a stock Fairlane, I'd look for a builtup or promo as it will have parts like taillights. A busted roof can be replaced more easily than restoring the MS body.