Mark

Were Modelhaus still in the game, their complete kits would likely be in the $150 range, and they'd be worth that. But they'd have plated parts.

The mail-order Corvairs were SMP, not Hubley. Though they were kits, they weren't the customizing kit but rather the promo in unassembled form. There were a few differences: wheels, headlights, and taillights were simplified compared to the 3-in-1 version.

Can't wait until he decides on a new paint scheme.

The earliest AMT Deuce (roadster with raised top, rear mount spare, and trunk lid molded closed) was probably designed with little or no access to an actual car, only pictures. That could have been the root of the lower body issues. The dimensional error was probably continued in the other body styles as a conscious thing, to maintain continuity and make more parts interchangeable between all of them. I did once see an "in progress" photo in one of the rod magazines (Hot Rod Mechanix?) where a guy was building a fiberglass Deuce roadster of his own design. He scaled up the AMT roadster kit body, sectioning and all. I never saw anything about it again; hope he finished it...

Earlier this week I ordered the Baja Patrol '53 Ford pickup via eBay. I wanted the new one because the original decal sheet has lettering in black, which doesn't match the white lettering in the box art (and won't work with the red as illustrated on the box). The vendor I bought from had the Mod Stocker combo for a buck LESS (and the BP price was the lowest I had seen for it). Still, the Hobby Lobby at 40 percent off is the best price for that combo kit.

Same here, only National Fuel. I got the phone prompt to call in a meter reading for gas. Called it in yesterday, it was rejected. Turns out they misread the meter last month, and I nearly caught up to that number this month. They always bug me to submit a meter reading...I do just that, then they estimate the bill anyway. I offered to send them a picture of the meter so they can see the reading; at that point they backed down. Someone either ain't doing their job, or ain't paying attention...

There were a number of exotic conversions back in the Sixties: the Moser small-block Chevy heads, the Leo Lyons Hemi heads for the small-block Chevy (only one or two sets made), and the Mickey Thompson Hemi heads for Pontiac and Ford engines. Not to mention the Arias big-block Chevy Hemi heads in the Seventies. Just an opinion, but none of them sold in any numbers because the conversion would have put you in the hands of one, and only one, vendor for replacement or additional parts. And if that vendor fell by the wayside, you were stuck with an orphan engine for which you'd have to make replacement parts. The M/T Hemi Ford heads supposedly used an articulated three-piece pushrod to make it work, which didn't help. Back then it would have been a lot cheaper to just start with a Chrysler engine, for which you could get speed equipment from any of a bunch of vendors who had to compete with one another on quality and price.

Same kit, with a few added parts for the other versions included.

And, right after RC2 ran those kits for DTR, they ran another bunch of the coupes for Walmart, in the under $7 "checkerboard box". Only difference was the decals. There was a later run of those for DTR in an original style Trophy Series box. The parts illustration on the side panel showed the brackets for the cycle fenders, but not the fenders themselves (because those weren't in the box).

People get rid of things for a reason. The challenge is to determine what that reason is, and if it's something you are better equipped to handle than the seller.

The later issue kits were sometimes called "1939". The original issue is a 1940, "with optional 1939 parts".

Some of the "street" versions don't have the headers or injector scoop (and the wheelie bar either).

All of the Jo-Han intermediate AMC car kits use the Marlin chassis plate. Some of the promos had a better one, but Jo-Han never saw fit to use it in the kits. Same goes for the engine, the Marlin was the only kit for which it was correct. Jo-Han had a better chassis plate for the '69-'70 GTX promos too, but never tried to put it into any of the kits.

I have heard that the lowest production Jo-Han annual kit was the '69 Rebel, as its body was converted from the '69 Ambassador right after that kit was run, then the conversion to the '70 Rebel Machine was started not long after. The Rebels are among the small group of Jo-Han annual kits that were not also produced as promos. The funny car version in the '69 kit isn't 100% accurate, as the Grant/AMC project ended towards the end of the '68 season. There was no 1969 version of that car.

The engine pictured was never made available, and never actually ran. One was turned at high RPM using an electric motor, to test the valve train, but that's as far as it got. Chrysler only publicized it in order to get NASCAR to step in and stop the escalation taking place with experimental engines at the time. The Moser conversion was an aftermarket thing that apparently didn't get off the ground.

The annual had AMT's pretty decent Keystone mags, all reissues (Countdown series was the first) have the American Racing Vector wheels.

I have never seen one of those short handles (never knew about it until now, otherwise I probably would have dreamt up a reason to get one). It's rare that an X-Acto blade is a good fit in another company's handle. The other companies usually make theirs different enough to force you to buy their blades too. Sometimes the X-Acto blade is a loose fit, you're tempted to go with it anyway but that isn't a good idea.

One of my older brothers (now deceased) used to love those parts-cannon guys. He used to look for those cars where the owner threw a bunch of new parts at it and then gave up...he'd buy it for cheap to get it out of the driveway, figure out what was actually wrong, then fix that and end up with a car with a bunch of new parts on it. One of the last ones was a mid-Nineties front-wheel-drive Dodge he found on eBay in Pennsylvania. Shade tree mechanic up the street put a new long block in it, it was overheating after that. Took several hours to get it home (buddy with a ramp truck backed out at the last minute). Takes it apart to look at the water pump, compares the new car to the one being replaced, everything looks the same. Takes the water pumps off, they are different. Turns out the long block was sold for multiple applications, but included a minivan water pump that turned in the opposite direction and used a different drive belt routing. Gets the correct water pump, puts it on, ran fine that day and a few years after that, until the next parts-cannon car came along.

People forget (younger ones never knew) that years ago, the model manufacturers kept a lot of items in the catalog for years on end, just changing box art every couple of years. Not just AMT. Revell kept their Gasser and Fifties Chevy kits out for years with the occasional box change. Monogram did so too, not even changing the box for items like the Badman and Early Iron Ford roadster pickup. And how many times did they rebox their funny cars (Barracuda, Duster, El Camino, and '57 Chevy) in the Seventies? None of the manufacturers are going to do only new items, they're going to throw in a bunch of reissues too. 90% of the people buying these things aren't going to the toy shows like a lot of us, and aren't aware that they might be able to find an older issue of the same kit for cheap. To an occasional builder, it's an impulse buy; they see it, think it's cool, and buy it.

Lots to figure out...is the body stock (GM Fisher bodies were framed in wood through 1935-36) or has the wood been supplemented or totally replaced by steel. Is the frame going to be stock or heavily modified. Is any mounting system in place now, if so will it be good enough or will it need to be replaced. You'll need to get the body and chassis both squared up before thinking about joining them. Sounds like a bunch of work and planning ahead.

The cheapest way to get the trailer is the Modified Stocker Hauler set, which is still available. You also get a '53 Ford pickup, and who doesn't like that kit? The retail price isn't a whole lot more than the pickup alone. Hobby Lobby stores carry it, you can snag one at 40% off every other week. The trailer is based on the one that came with the SMP '60 Chevy pickup annual kit. The Ford pickup had a different, single axle trailer (like that in the new '60 Ford pickup kit). The Chevy's trailer was meant for full size, late model cars, while the Ford's trailer was smaller and meant for earlier/smaller cars like Deuces, Ts, and dragsters. The Chevy's trailer was available separately in the early Sixties, by mail from AMT or Auto World. It could also be built as a display base.

I have dropped about twenty pounds since March (233 to about 210) mainly by switching out one meal a day for either a diet drink or protein bar, six days a week. For a while, I was slow on exercise as I'd messed up one shoulder trying to break up a couple of cast iron boiler pieces that were too bulky/heavy to get out of the basement. Another guy at work did pretty much the same thing, he was diagnosed with a torn ligament. I probably had the same issue, but it's okay now. I had to rent a vehicle last week, as my car was in the collision shop getting a ding taken out of it. I took the opportunity to get a pickup, finally got rid of that cast iron (920 pounds of it, the biggest piece must have been around 400 to start with). Next day, a tree that had been sitting in the yard (already cut up) went away. With the shoulder no longer being a thing, the bicycle came out a few weeks ago. Did 20 miles yesterday at an average of 11 miles per hour, if I can manage that a couple of times a week then the weight loss should really kick into gear.

Only the first issue sedan (molded in orange, with satin chrome plating) has the stock (cross spring, dropped axle) front end setup. The chopped cabriolet was issued after using the sedan as a base, at that time the wheels/tires and front suspension were changed. Any issue of the sedan after that has the same wheels and independent front suspension as the cabriolet had. Great parts kit, I keep an eye open for started/parts missing kits that still have the suspension parts.

First, it's a '65 even though they always call it a '66. The other cars in the series are all '66 though. That said, it's a curbside kit. It originated as a slot car body along with all the others (yes, I have seen a '66 Cadillac slot car). Chassis and interior are shared with one or more of the other cars in the series, with the instrument panel detail coming via a decal. Wheels are generic and shared with other cars as well. But the body details are pretty good. I believe all of them were copied from AMT, MPC, and Jo-Han annual kit bodies back when they were new.

I've got two annuals, they have vinyl roof detail as did the '68.