Mark

Most of the pro street kits (except those that are variations of all-out drag cars already issued) have front suspension that is shared with the stock version of the kit. Another reason that many drag cars use rack and pinion steering is space utilization. In most applications it frees up space in the right places for header design.

I do it after painting the body and after foiling the window trim, drip rails, etc.

Jo-Han, like AMT and MPC, did the bulk of their business in promotional models, then made many of them available as kits. While AMT and MPC fought over the big money promo contracts like Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac, Jo-Han ended up with the minor players like AMC, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile. They did have Plymouth (but not exclusively) through 1970 and Dodge through 1964. The items they did weren't always appreciated when they were new, but Jo-Han was the only game in town for a lot of items that will never be done by anyone else. Their interiors, chassis, and engines weren't always the greatest, but body shapes and engraved details were always among the best. Their classic cars and Chrysler Turbine Car kits would be considered among the best car kits even if they were brought out today.

Jim Lytle built a model of it, before building the 1:1 car. A Rod & Custom article on the car includes a photo of Lytle holding the model.

Lincoln automatic transmission, from a Revell Ford Thunderbolt kit. Not a C-6, those came a couple of years later.

Based on the test shots I saw at the final "Toledo" show last year, the kits will include two hoods. The one from the original kit, and a new one with a snorkel scoop. There will be an add-on piece for the back of the original hood's molded-in scoop also, if I remember right. With the 1:1 cars, the early body style could work with either style scoop. The slanted nose '74-up cars had to have the snorkel style, as the slanted nose would push air over the top of the opening on the earlier scoop.

It was a great selling kit in its day, so there are a lot of them around. As popular as the Kart was, based on the parts boxes I have sifted through over the years, the '29 roadster was the more popular of the two cars in the kit.

These two, plus the original (not the Round 2 copy) gold, fenderless Mod Rod pictured early in the thread, all have the Ala Kart version intact. There is also a Collectors' Series issue '29 roadster that was issued in '67 or '68, but I don't think that one had the Ala Kart included at all. It's not like you're going to trip over that one at a show or on eBay anyway. If one of your originals isn't in absolutely mint condition, I'd go ahead and build it. If I ever get to one, I'd start with the original kit but maybe use some parts from the newer tool kit. The original kit's main faults IMO are the wheels and tires, and the "flow" (or lack thereof) between the hood side panels and headlamp pods.

Unless you plan on running it, the engine being locked probably doesn't matter. A lot of slot car collectors don't even have a working track, and most of the guys collecting gas powered cars, boats, and planes don't ever run any of them.

The engines didn't do that well, so the motorcycles that were to follow weren't released. The engines are great, but being early Sixties items limits what can be done with them. A lot of the original parts packs like the bumpers and interior parts didn't do that well back in the day. Those could be found new and unused at swap meets or even at old hobby shops well into the Eighties. If the old Revell double kits could be pieced back together, now those might find buyers. That might be problematic because some of the parts from those were later used in the Miss Deal Studebaker kit. Atlantis may or may not have the tires, as other newer kits use them also.

Try eBay for the wrench. Cox probably included a wrench with every car or plane sold with that engine.

All of the Sixties issues of the '29 double kit had the complete Ala Kart included. There was the original issue, a second issue with different box art, from around 1965 (when the 1:1 car was restored following a fire), and two Mod Rod issues including one that Round 2 copied the box art from for their reissue. All Sixties issues (but not the Round 2 issue) have all of the Ala Kart parts and decals, though the last couple of Sixties issues had a smaller decal sheet. The smaller sheet lacks the scallops for the underside of the fenders. The later issues de-emphasized the Kart on the box art in favor of other versions that used the optional parts. Optional parts included a Deuce grille and shell, a fuel tank, and a dual quad intake setup. Between using those parts and possibly leaving the fenders off, you could make it look quite different from the Kart. The black Street Rods series version from 1973 is the one where the wheels and headlights got changed and many of the Kart parts were left out. AMT no longer owned the 1:1 Kart (they sold it around 1970) so they probably felt free to change the kit. The Street Rods issue was the last one with enough parts for two complete cars until the Round 2 issue. Interim issues used some of the Kart parts as optional parts for the stock '29 roadster.

Someone could make a few bucks offering alternate bodies for these kits, particularly closed bodies like a sedan or coupe. Back when these were tooled, it was all about open body styles, with the sedans and coupes looked upon as no more than parts cars. Attitudes have since changed. The Chrysler is one of the better looking early Thirties cars.

Uh...USPS issued a series of automotive stamps a while back, with beautiful artwork by Art Fitzpatrick, who collaborated with Van Kaufman to create the memorable, and collectible, illustrations for Pontiac brochures from the mid-Fifties through about 1972. One stamp featured the '53 Studebaker. Using that artwork would make the USPS connection credible.

We'll know if the stock parts are included when the new box art turns up...deleting the pickup bed will necessitate changing the wording on the new box. I'm betting that, other than the truck itself being the revised one, parts content will be pretty much the same as the original kit.

With diecast in particular, the scale printed on the box isn't necessarily the scale of the item in said box...

How many of the offending pieces are manufactured items? That would indicate that someone thought there should be more of these, which is a disturbing thought...

Who pays retail for anything, except maybe to toss a bone to the LHS every so often?

I have seen exactly one SN Impala kit between the two HL locations in my area, and it left the store in my hands. The shelf space was labeled "TV and movie assortment", so that space may have an Impala until it sells, then maybe a 007 issue Ford Galaxie cop car or something else.

The chassis in the Moebius Ford pickups is heavily cribbed from the AMT '75-'78 unit. The only improvement would be the cab floor that Moebius added to their kits.

Sears is still "around", though they have way fewer stores now. As of January of this year, there are none in my area. I couldn't tell you where the nearest one to me is. As for the warranty, since Sears has sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley, you'd have to check with them to see if they are still honoring any of the old warranties. Even before the sale, I've heard about Sears cheaping out and giving out cheap "rebuild kits" for things like ratchet wrenches instead of exchanging the item as they used to do.

This built one is a combination of the MPC wedge hauler parts and an AMT pickup kit. The MPC pickup had single exhaust molded to the chassis.

That custom front end dips at the front. I've got a set of those parts, they are a decent fit on the newer Bel Air body and would look good with that roofline.

The second rear axle is there mainly to stabilize the assembled truck with a car on the back. Someone on eBay was selling cast side panels with only the forward wheel opening...probably didn't realize the truck was going to do a permanent wheelstand once he put a car on it. MPC probably got the idea for the hauler from an article in a car magazine. A guy named Artie Wheeler (now deceased I believe, he used to display models at NNL East) built curbside ramp trucks out of pickup kits. He just cut the chassis and stretched it with a couple of swizzle sticks, and made the ramp bodies out of cigarette cartons. He worked in a restaurant at the time, he'd get cartons from the guy who loaded the vending machines. The article appeared in one of the East Coast car magazines in the late Sixties.

The loading ramps do NOT fit side by side in that center section, as illustrated.