Mark

All you need now is a shark tank...

That's why I'm not going to get crazy building a new garage...it'll be a two-car structure with maybe a few feet of extra length so I can walk all the way around the inside with the car in there. If I get the car together, then all the parts that are now stored separately will be ON (or in) the car instead of needing additional space. Some tools, the compressor, and a work bench or two can go from the basement to the garage also. The "not worth enough to sell, but worth too much to give away" kits can go in the garage too.

Beats paying for rental space, which is something that is done by more than one person I have talked to. I'll never do that. As far as I'm concerned, my home is paid for, both vehicles are paid for, bills get paid on time, I'm setting funds aside for both savings and retirement, and there's enough left to cover other expenses, charity, and anything else that comes up. I'll do as I please as long as the basics are covered, and as far as I'm concerned anyone else who wants to can do the same. If someone has a big collection, or half a dozen collector cars, season tickets for some sports team, or a new set of golf clubs every other year, but "can't afford" the necessities, that's where other people could (should) have issues...

After noticing that I already had most of them in mint unbuilt condition, I decided to track down the AMT Ford Falcon (including Ranchero) and Fairlane kits that I didn't have. The Falcon annual kits run from 1960-69, the Fairlanes 1962-71 ('68-'71 are Torinos, but still Fairlanes as far as I'm concerned). There are a few variations like the funny cars and Modified Stocker versions that were converted from obsolete annuals. I've now got every issue of them, at least from the original (Troy, MI) AMT company. I had some of the later Ertl and RC2 issues but decided to cut it off at a point, and have done that. I think I do have every version of the '65 Falcon funny car that Model King issued, though. I liked the fact that Dave worked to get that kit back out when the people who ran AMT at that time didn't know or care. The last Fairlane kit I found (original issue Modified Stocker Torino) came off of eBay, the one before that ('68 Torino annual) was found at the AACA meet at Hershey a few years ago. Both of those were/are sealed-box kits (though most of the other ones I have aren't sealed). In the mid-Eighties I bought five '62 annual kits because I owned (and still own) a 1:1 '62, the same body style as the kit. Those weren't terribly popular back then so they were cheap compared to some other annual kits. The last Falcon (1/32 scale Ranchero) came from a local seller of collector kits. The second last Falcon was (as I remember) the '63 convertible snapper, another eBay find. Those are tough to find in the box because some promo model sellers were sticking them together and trying to pass them off as promotional models. I'll probably keep all of those as-is because I've got rebuilder versions of all the annuals, and any of the other variations I'm interested in. For a while I was trying to round up every Indy 500 pace car available in 1/25 scale, both builders and mint unbuilt. I have since thinned out the unbuilt ones...can't keep everything. I'm trying to make it look like a "manageable sickness". Sometimes someone will ask if I "need that many model car kits"...my answer is "I only need a few of them, but I don't know which ones...and sometimes I change my mind as to which ones I need...it's better to have it and not need it, than to decide I need it and then go out looking for it". They don't eat, and I don't rent space to store them. I've started thinning out some stuff, but on my own terms.

Because there was no '78 Pacer promotional model, MPC probably tooled the hood and grille out of pocket, to try and wring another year or two out of the kit. It turned out to be one year; MPC quit on the Pacer kit after '78 though AMC sold them for '79 and (briefly) '80. After '78, only the bigger AMC dealers kept a Pacer in stock, and then usually a wagon. I was shopping for a new car in early '79 (bought a Spirit GT) so I was at several AMC dealers in that time frame. I believe a few Pacers with the X package were built as '78 models. Early in the model year, it was renamed the Pacer Sport. The Sport vanished at the end of the '78 model year along with the Levi interior package (in AMC cars, at least). Had MPC produced a '79 Pacer kit, it probably would have had an incorrect interior as they wouldn't have changed it from '78. MPC gave all of their '79 annual kits names ("Bear Bait" Chevette, "Street Savage" Camaro)...what might they have done with a Pacer?

The last '70 Impala with these wheels was the Barris Cruisin' USA. AMT/Ertl and subsequent issues have different wheels. The best version of this wheel is the Jo-Han Schartman Maverick (not Comet) unit. All four of those are the same (no narrow/wide) but they are designed to fit Jo-Han tires which usually have smaller center holes than AMT or MPC. The wheel will usually slip through the center hole of anything but a Jo-Han tire. Next best are the AMT Impala units, followed by the MPC wheel (which were in a number of kits, mostly Pontiac Firebirds, over the years).

Needs a surfboard that's as long as the roof!

The two ribbed parts are grille inserts for the Stylized version. You are probably correct regarding the missing part (I checked my '62 annual kit but the extra "half tree" containing those parts isn't there). In the other '62 kits I have, or have looked at, the accessory motorcycle (or go-kart) parts were usually grouped together. Some parts were included in more than one kit, so it's not like you had to buy specific kits to get all of the parts. The parts in one kit might be plated (go-kart wheels) while in the other kit they would be white plastic. These parts were only in the '62 kits. For the '63 annuals, a complete Triumph motorcycle was included in the Chevy pickup kit, and a complete go-kart went into the Ford pickup. The '63 cycle had an optional Bonneville-style streamlining canopy, and the go-kart had a Bonneville-style outer body. I don't know if those parts were in the '62 kits, but I don't think so. I never checked the parts from the pickups vs. the scattered '62 annual kits, but I'd guess that many of them were the same. The tooling for those items may have been done all at once and then scattered over the '62 kits, then joined together for '63. AMT never did that sort of thing again (scattering accessory item parts), so I'd guess that the idea didn't go over well.

The Grumpy's (Jenkins) Vega (issued in '73) had the stock chassis with molded-in exhaust detail. MPC tooled "gutted" interior buckets for the '73 kits, but didn't do anything with the chassis in the Vega until the '74 car (USA-1). The rear wheel tubs in the Grump's Vega interior are also smaller than those in the other Pro Stock Vega kits. That's desirable if you want to build an earlier Vega with smaller slicks.

Best bet might be to rework a three-twos intake. The easiest to find one would be in the AMT '49 Ford; next easiest might be the Monogram '59 Cad. The AMT unit should be pretty easy to modify; just file off the carb mounting pads and add one for a single four-barrel. I can't think of a kit with a single four-barrel intake for the early Cad engine. Revell's engines always had custom setups, as did the couple of AMT kits with Cadillac mills (besides the '49 Ford, there's the '59 El Camino...but that one has a supercharger). Jo-Han monopolized the stock Cadillac kits, but they never did a decent engine for any of them. The de Ville kits had a simplified engine (intake and heads molded as one piece) while the FWD Eldorado kits all had Oldsmobile engines of a later generation.

If you mean the Pro Modeler Torino GT kit, then you can get a shaker setup in the Revell Torino Cobra kit. That kit is based on the GT kit, the two share many parts, and the parts will interchange without any fitting or alterations.

I haven't got an original grille in front of me, but as I recall the grille bars lacked detail and looked a bit thick. The vertical and horizontal bars may have been the same thickness also (look at the 1:1 grille; the vertical bars are way thinner). I had intended to cast a corrected piece, but just after starting on the master the Nicholson issue appeared with the corrected grille.

Those four-hole wheels were probably from some AMT kit. I've never seen them in anything from MPC. The MPC Streaker 'Vette has nice five slot wheels, I believe the Night Stalker issues have Centerlines (there were two Night Stalkers; they may have different wheels from one another). A ton of AMT kits had the four-slots: '65 Chevelle Modified Stocker, '72 GMC stepside, '34 Ford three-window coupe, '23 Ford roadster, and a bunch of others I can't remember offhand.

6: AMT '64 Galaxie, rear 7: AMT '62 Nova, rear 8: AMT '62 Tempest, rear (could be for the Buick Special wagon, but I believe the guards in that one are slimmer) 9: AMT '62 Corvair, rear 10: Jo-Han '62 Rambler American, rear

The body with the stock trim, and the stock interior, are from the C-112 kit. It's one of two Comet "annual" kits sold by Jo-Han that year; the other can be built only as a funny car. That one has the side trim removed, and the hood molded shut. The C-112 kit could be built showroom stock, or Pro Stock (with the bench seat interior and molded-in single exhaust). The stock version uses a six cylinder engine. The Jo-Han '71 Comet promotional model has the correct wheel covers, but the kit includes Ford Maverick wheel covers.

The MPC '64 Corvette had a steerable front end, but not the working suspension. That was added to the 1965 kit. The coil springs were molded plastic for '65 and '66, and changed to metal for '67. The reissue '67 kits (Streaker 'Vette, Night Stalker) use the '64 chassis with the molded-in exhaust detail removed. MPC '64 and '65 kits are not 100% stock; no stock wheels are included. The '68 kit was all new; its chassis was used in MPC Corvette annual kits through 1977 but the metal springs were eliminated after the '75 annual kits. '78-'82 annual kit chassis are very similar to the '76-'77 but the parts are different; MPC tooled an all-new kit for '78, the chassis has the correct small-block engine and catalytic converter exhaust. The later chassis is a good swap to correct '75-'77 kits, rather than searching out an engine and scratching the exhaust system.

1: Aurora "Fireball" '59 Pontiac (rear). The rest of the kit is as accurate as that bumper 2: AMT '62 Buick Electra 225 hardtop (rear). It will fit the convertible of course, but the bumpers in the convertible kit had "1962" on the license plate areas 3: AMT '63 Ford Fairlane, front 4: custom part that I can't identify right now 5: AMT '62 Chevrolet Impala (rear). Hardtop and convertible both had the "1962" plate area

Revell '55 Chevy (the old, opening-everything kit).

All of the "Demon" funny cars (1/1, 1/16, or 1/25 scale) used Duster bodies with Dodge grille and taillight details painted on! I don't think any of the companies doing funny car bodies in the early Seventies offered a true Demon body; all have the single bulge down the center of the hood, and the flatter Duster grille area.

Only the Fire Chief issue of the Impala had the "bow tie" caps. And they weren't correct for the Impala; the dog dish cap for it was a different style. The "bow tie" caps were correct for early Seventies Novas and Camaros, possibly Chevelles as well.

Wasn't this one for sale a couple of years ago? As I recall, it had extra medallions stuck in various places, like on the air cleaner and glove box door. Maybe the current owner took those things off.

In all probability, it is. Aurora offered their XK-E in both coupe and convertible versions, while Revell only offered the convertible. I couldn't see Revell altering the existing convertible to duplicate something they already have...

The AMT coupe kits I checked ('66 and '67 annuals) have the seats molded as a unit with the interior, as does the '64 convertible. The convertible annuals may have gone to a "separate seats" interior at some point, and that interior would probably swap straight into the coupe. I've got a couple of built '67 convertibles, but didn't look at those. The '67 coupe was reissued several times, and was probably in continuous production through '72 ("Color Me Vette", "Funny Car" issue, "Candidate", not necessarily in that order). For '73 (AMT's 25th anniversary) it was backdated to the '63. The body, interior, and trim parts were backdated but the engine and custom parts were straight from the '67. The body details are pretty decent even when stacked up against a '63 annual kit. The knockoff wheels aren't perfect, but if you don't like them you can get wheel covers from Modelhaus, or from the Prestige issue '63 convertible kit. Early production coupe kits have the '67 backup lamp over the rear license plate recess. The Street Rods/25th Anniversary issue included only the big-block engine. The artwork on the Street Rods box was kept in production into the mid-Eighties. For a couple of years, the same plastic parts were dropped into another box (Barris Cruisin' USA) with different decals and possibly tires. It and the Street Rods issue were available at the same time. The next AMT/Ertl issue added the small-block engine back in. The engine appears to be the original one from the '63 annuals (used through '65 in the coupe annuals, through '67 in the convertibles, and also in that nasty '68 annual kit). A couple of parts are newer tooling, mainly the air filter for the stock FI setup. True, the interior and chassis have a lot of detail molded in. But this is a decent kit nevertheless.

The Sixties Revell tires (the solid one-piece ones) seem to be the worst offenders when it comes to softening adjacent plastic parts. Apparently it comes down to the compounds used in making the tires. The thin Revell plating that seemingly wore away quickly (and the clear plastic under many of the plated parts) probably didn't help matters any. AMT tires of the same period aren't quite as soft, and don't cause damage on the scale of the Revell tires (though every once in a while you do see built kits with softening damage to the wheel halves). At the other end of the scale, you have the least flexible tires in Monogram and Jo-Han kits. I can't recall finding softening damage on wheels in a Monogram or Jo-Han kit, ever. As for the MPC BFG radials, those seem to be a freak occurrence. Other MPC tires from the same era don't seem to cause the same damage as the BFGs. Maybe the mix of materials used in molding those tires had to be different to allow for removal from the tire tooling...that's all I could think of.