Mark

I'd say yes, but not right away. Different decals will freshen the kit when a reissue is needed.

My car is a Fairlane (unit body) so it's VIN is stamped into the drivers' side inner fender. Presumably, if that car were wrecked badly enough to damage the number where it is, it would have been a total. The full size (body on frame) cars probably have the VIN somewhere on the firewall. But that would only be that number, with no other info.

Where was that plate located? I don’t think it's a VIN tag, but rather a patent plate. It looks different from the examples shown in a Ford parts book that I have, that covers 1960 through 1964 passenger cars. You might need to get a look at a shop manual for Canadian Ford products to decode that one. US market Fords have a date code on the patent plate. This Canadian one does not have one.

If those two are noticeably smaller than the AMT body, then they are indeed from the Revell '34 kit. If they are a bit bigger, they could be Monogram ZZ Top Eliminator kit bodies. Those also have a separate roof and trunk lid.

There's one well-known mail order/internet vendor who sets up at NNL East, selling rebranded kits that are disclosed to be rewrapped. A few years ago, I asked to open one (an MPC kit with a clear body), saying I'd buy it for his price provided the body and related parts were as described. No problem. I cracked it open, it was exactly as described, and money changed hands on the spot. Some guys are honest about it, they probably do it so parts aren't lost and the box doesn't get shop worn any more before it's sold.

One store here (now closed) used to reseal returned kits, supposedly checking them (but not always). A guy I know bought a Jo-Han hearse kit (years ago), found a couple of defects, and returned it. A couple of weeks later, he bought "another" sealed one there, only to open it and discover it was the one he'd returned.

I have paid more than $135 for a kit, but only a couple of times. None were Jo-Han. As for the SC/Rambler, in the early days of eBay I scored a carton of twelve of the Pro Street issue, sealed, delivered to my door, for right around $40. For the carton, not per kit. Sold three of them right off the bat to make the other nine free, later sold a couple more to pay for a couple of very early (wire axles) SC kits I turned up. The SC was one of the last items produced by SeVille/Jo-Han. If those are getting up there in price, then people are finally coming to the conclusion that the original stuff ain't coming back...

The rear-end collision exploding fuel tanks on Pintos were a thing. The people responsible did figure it out, and had the fix figured out too. But some genius weighed the cost of the fix against the cost of the wrongful death and injury claims, and thought it would be cheaper to pay the latter than the former. Once a jury saw that information, that's where Ford got penalized for thinking that way. The Vega was actually a decent car. Nice ride, etc. The rust problems on top of the engine problems did it in. GM should have just stuck the Nova four in there, then they'd only have had to deal with the rust problem. Shipping by rail did weigh into some product decisions. I read somewhere that Lee Iacocca shortened the overhang on a car by a couple of inches, to fit four more of them onto each rail car. In the Thirties, Chevrolet fenders were designed to stack tightly together, like ice cream cones in a box. (Look at the 1937 for example.) Some other companies' fenders didn't stack that way, meaning far fewer of them fit in a boxcar.

The Gremlin, which was later restyled into the Spirit, outlasted both the Vega and Pinto. So much for AMC not being as good as the Big Three.

The kit (as well as the 1:1 car) were '63s. Arnie's car was converted from one of the factory FX cars. None of those were orange. It was probably just repainted with a "fleet" (truck) color. Just match it as best you can with whatever paint you normally work with.

If I didn't have money for a tip, I'd eat at home.

I'm pretty sure those are from an MPC '66 Dodge Monaco.

Never seen one. I'm pretty sure the four-door is on a longer wheelbase, which means a conversion would require many more parts.

The description of the slot car kit includes "vacuformed"...probably the body. AMT did do three or four similar slot car kits in 1/25 scale, with injection molded styrene bodies. And there were shelf versions of them too, with plastic tires and curbside chassis. But the McKee wasn't one of them, unfortunately.

Single action is probably better as a starter outfit. A lot of guys get everything done with that and never see the need to switch to dual action. Ages ago, I did a number of repaint jobs on Lionel trains for my older brother. Instead of using the available train restoration paints (which were poor quality) he'd take a piece of the train to an automotive paint supplier and have them custom-mix a small amount of enamel. I used the cheapo Badger single-action starter set, everything came out great.

In general, there are a lot of new wheel choices with 3D print parts makers. It seems as though some of these guys specialize in one or two areas once they get up and running. For many, it's wheels/tires and engines. My 3D print purchases have been limited to these categories for the most part. No bodies yet; most of what I have seen still don't look quite right to my eyes. Besides, I've got too much stuff already. There are one or two subjects that I will step up for however, should I see ones that "look right". That said, anyone looking to do aftermarket wheels should look at early custom and rod items like the Lyon caps shown further up the thread. I'd like to see a set of 14" or 15" balloon tire rims from the Thirties. I don't think you could go wrong offering the "Divco" wheels (high clearance wheels, Divco never really used them but that's what they are commonly called anyway). There are still some stock items that haven't been done too. I'd be looking at dog dish caps, also at the '60-'64 Ford 15" wheel covers which were actually '56 Mercury covers with a different center piece.

Use your shop compressor. Just get a regulator and a moisture trap if you haven't got them already. Harbor Freight has stuff like that, inexpensive but will work for what we’re doing. Some guys like the tank- less hobby compressors, but I never liked having the thing running continuously. I got rid of one not long after getting it.

The bumpers in the pro street kit can be reworked, just be ready to spend some time on making pieces to fill the gaps where the guards are. You'll be painting the bumpers anyway, why not try doing them yourself before searching for other parts. The tubbed chassis wasn't in the original Missile kit. It had a stock chassis. The tubbed one is a good start, but it can be improved a bit. I've got that kit but haven't looked at it in a while. As I recall, it didn't have a driveshaft tunnel, and the rear suspension detail was kind of "flat". Another alternative might be to start with the Revell '70 kit. I never tried the '72 bits on one though (mine are already on the Jo-Han body) but if you already have the MPC pro street kit, I'd run with it.

'72. The '70 and '71 versions (same car, updated) was a Dodge Challenger. The Mopar Missile Duster briefly ran as a '72 also, but was quickly changed to a '73. The MPC kit of the 'Cuda was issued in '73 (after the annual kit) but the '72 and '73 looked pretty much the same. MPC's drag car kits were often a year behind the 1:1 versions. The photos on the box were often touched up to make them more closely match what was in the box. When they used artwork instead of a photo, the kit was WAY off!

I've got a started Missile. I used a Jo-Han Sox & Martin 'Cuda as a starting point. I got the grille and taillight panel from a MPC '72 annual kit body that someone had butchered (radiused the wheel openings and sanded off the door handles). The Jo-Han kit sits a bit higher, I'll have to get a different set of headers in order to drop it down in front. The Jo-Han Maverick and Comet pro stock kits have the slotted wheels needed for the Missile.

More info in your other post regarding these kits...

Some of the parts are the same, others are not. The Missile kit was released in '73. It's a replica of the '72 car (MPC was usually a year behind with drag cars). But that car was campaigned in '73 by Mike Fons, who bought it and kept the Motown Missile name (and used it on his next car also). The "factory" car became the Mopar Missile for '73, it being a Duster from then on. Both kits have gutted interiors. Both have the same interior parts and same hood. I don't think the Missile has side glass (the red car does not). The red one may have extremely dark tint glass also. The Missile has a stock chassis with the stock exhaust system molded in. The pro street version has a tubbed chassis. The red pro street car has huge bumper guards that can't be cut off without separating each bumper into three pieces. You can build a Missile using the pro street kit, with a fair amount of work. The pro street car has the "later" body. After the annual kits were done, MPC butchered that body for a dirt track car. They later restored it, but the restored body has larger door handles and the headlights are further forward than they were originally. One other thing: the Missile decals are wrong. The Motown Missile lettering slants the same way for both sides, making one side wrong. Some ex-Ramchargers guys were involved with the Missiles. As with the Ramchargers cars, the lettering leans forward at the top, on both sides.

The tall ones will probably work. Other, shorter/wider ones might fit the wheels but will probably clash with the body. Slicks not as tall as the originals will bring the chassis down too low in back.

My mom bought a new Dodge Neon in 1995. Other than automatic transmission, she wanted absolutely no options. Not even a radio. The dealer found one with a rear window defroster (required in NY), side moldings, automatic, and AM radio. She was OK with the moldings. The dealer threw in the radio, as it was more trouble than it was worth to take it out, and he probably didn't have the filler piece for the instrument panel anyway. That car didn't even have a passenger side exterior mirror. My brother took the car when my mom quit driving. He picked up another Neon with A/C for next to nothing...swapped the A/C into that car. It wasn't an add-on unit. It was relatively easy to swap it in, as the wiring harness in the car was the same with or without it. I remember seeing a plug hanging off of the engine. We asked about that...it was indeed for the A/C. He also swiped the passenger side mirror off of the A/C car.

Grille detail is different too.