Mark

AMT '59 El Camino. Impalas use a different wheel. El Camino exterior trim corresponds to the Bel Air, interior trim corresponds to the same-year Biscayne.

Only the Monogram '53 hardtop, in 1/24 scale. The Revell 1/25 scale '53/'54 is not stock, and has some customizing on both bodies (sedan delivery and two-door sedan).

Firestone (right) are AMT, 1963 or so through about 1966. There were narrow and wide (wide ones came mostly in Trophy Series kits), there is also a softer version of the wide one that came in early '58 Impala kits. Left ones are early MPC, day one through about '67.

I'd imagine these "inspectors" can provide you with a list of hunting buddies/campaign donors/"qualified contractors" to do work that would invariably "pass inspection"...

Get the rest of them! I bought an issue here and there, had maybe six or seven total. Later I bought a complete set at an IPMS show, threw my "extras" on eBay. Got more total for those than I paid for the set. That was some time ago, but I'd imagine individual issues are still in demand.

The Firefighter kit's main attraction for building the Sudden Death street racer is its pre-tubbed interior bucket and chassis plate with (some) front suspension detail. The AMT stock version kit's body is decent and has a separate hatch, but the interior is extremely shallow (reminds us old guys of the early Sixties Jo-Han kits). The chassis plate is shallow also. There used to be MPC kits with stock versions, but the last one appeared in 1978.

Those Hunt Brothers signs started popping up at gas stations around here recently. I was wondering what special acumen they possessed regarding pizza. Which also reminded me, what did the Red Baron ever have to do with pizza?

Is it just me, or does that air filter look awfully small for that engine? I guess I would trust Jack Roush's judgment on that call, but it doesn't look like a lot of air can get to it in that engine compartment...

The headlamps were put there for the kits, which used clear lenses for the custom grille. In the case of the Falcon, I'm not sure the '62 kit used them. But the '60 and '61 did.

Those might have been part of some "save X number of stamps to redeem for another kit" similar to the MPC "Golden Wheels' printed on box side panels in the Eighties. The Airfix brand would point to that kit having been sold in Britain, possibly Canada.

The cars in the upper classes had to have weight trimmed wherever possible, so those would have fiberglass front ends, doors, even trunk lids. Removing as much weight as possible, if some had to be put back in the builder could then add ballast and put the weight where it worked to their advantage (behind the rear wheels). Lower class cars were often built by teams or owners with less funding, so sometimes those would be all steel. Even then, a lot of them were lightened with weight being added back via ballast.

The AMT pro stock Nova was the first issue of that kit. There was no '75 annual. AMT may have kept that version in production with some having the '76 bumpers, but I can't say for sure.

Sixties and early Seventies street rods will almost invariably have bias-ply tires. Few new cars used radials until the mid-Seventies. As for the drag cars, check period photos and not pictures of restored cars or modern "tribute" cars, or worse yet, modern build "street freak gassers" which generally mix parts and themes from multiple eras.

Looks like a '68 or '69 Mustang non-shaker scoop, or maybe a Torino Cobra piece. Strange, but I don't see a hole in the hood in the shot where it is open. And the top of the carb is awfully close to the hood when closed. Maybe that's why Steve Lisk's Challenger beat the Mustang in both of their head-to-head matchups.

One-part putty (especially the red Bondo product) is nothing more than extremely UNthinned lacquer primer. It shouldn't be applied in thick layers, and even when applied properly (thin layer) a visit to the dehydrator is in order before moving to the next phase of bodywork.

Doesn't that car have a small scoop on the hood? Just fill the existing hole, and cut a smaller one where the scoop goes. If your Firefighter kit body is anything like the ones I have, you've got other bodywork to do, particularly around the rear wheel openings...

The GP grilles were installed by individual racers. NHRA class rules allowed for "mild" customizing in the stock/stock-based classes. No lightweight Grand Prix were built, but I believe one was built with the dual quad 421 engine and four-speed transmission.

Did it go in the dehydrator after the putty was applied? If it went in after any two steps were performed together, there might lay the problem.

I'd measure the kit and then go after the dimensions of the actual car. Monogram was generally spot-on with their stuff, so I'd assume it to be correct unless I could prove otherwise.

Fenders might be from the AMT '25 Ford T kits. I don't think the '32 fenders have the ridge down the center (in 1:1, those could have been made from cut-down Continental tire covers). Also, the '32 roadster and coupe rear fenders attach to the body and don't have those inner brace pieces.

How do they get the non-stick stuff to stick to the pan?

The MPC panel truck piece is the only styrene option. I don't know of any in resin, not even copies of the MPC piece.

The Firefighter reissue body is pretty much all by itself when it comes to hood fit. Long story... The original Firefighter kit was a '74. The kit body was revised for '75; though the 1:1 cars all look the same, Ford made numerous changes for '75. The hood is different, grille is taller (all of this was done to fit the V8 which wasn't offered here in '74). The fuel filler was moved also. The MPC pro stock kits all used stock bodies (why else would they have windshield wipers?) so the body was changed each year to use in the annual kits. So it ended up as a '78. RC2 modified the hood opening back to '74 spec, but unless you have any '74 kit hoods there's no way of telling whether or not they will fit the reissue Firefighter body. Best to keep the hood that came in the kit, and change the scoop to whatever you need.

Because of all the junk they foisted off on family members and people I knew in the Seventies and Eighties. Substituted parts (not just engines and transmissions) that made it difficult to ID needed parts (even down to getting a key made), endless corner-cutting and penny-pinching, dealers that didn't take care of their customers (but were quick to boost prices when something new hit the showrooms), outright lying to me about availability of power train combinations in a vehicle...the list goes on. Never owned one, never will. Haven't had one on the shopping list since 2004, and that one was the first to get scratched off...

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool GM hater, but that Nova looks great. GM handled the Seventies regulations better than most other manufacturers when it came to styling. Take the Monza versus the Mustang II for example. Endura bumpers versus somewhat clumsy looking hang-on bumpers, rear view of the Mustang gives you a muffler and gas tank half hanging out. Mind you, I do like the looks of the Mustang II hatch, but those elements (plus the multicolor tail lights) do detract somewhat.