Mark

And, while you are at it, check the kit body against all reference material you can dig up. MPC probably cheated the body in one or more ways, in order to make it fit the Ford GT underpinnings. I'd make sure the body is as correct as can be, then do what needs to be done to get the Beetle pan underneath it.

Get a stock Beetle pan anyway. If you have to shorten it, you can do so to match up with what you need, and the alteration will be that much more authentic.

For kit parts, take a look at the AMT pro street '70 Coronet, and '69 GTX. The two kits have different floor pans (Coronet kick up is higher) and each kit has different suspension setups, so you want to examine both before making your choice. Both kits have better 426 Hemi engines than what is in the Little Red Wagon also.

I didn't say there was a 1:1 '69, only that MPC made a '69 version of their kit. The '68 version was likely a good seller, so they probably wanted to sell more after the body had been updated to '69 spec.

'69 had different box art, similar to that copied by RC2 for their infamous Nostalgia Series reissue of the AMT '66.

MPC offered that kit in both '68 and '69 versions. I have one complete '69 and parts of another including the body (which, for this kit, has the hood molded closed).

The MPC '60 Corvette does not have the radiused rear wheel openings like their '57 always did. The flip-front '60 does have them though. The AMT '60 kit pictured is indeed a '60. It has the '60 seat upholstery pattern and an engine, which the (SMP) '59 kits did not have. The confusion stems from the first couple of reissues which were boxed as '59. The Revell kit with the multiple piece body really quite a good kit) is always called a '60 but is actually a '59. Again, correct for '59 upholstery details. The original issue, with stock wheel covers and plastic tires, is labeled a '59 if I remember right. Annual kits were branded SMP through '61. There was no Corvette annual kit in '58. The shape of the side coves on the newer tool AMT '57 body are a bit off.

The MPC annual wasn't very good, but the AMT annual kit body was nearly as good (if not just as good) as the Revell which was tooled 25 years later. It was a shame AMT hacked that kit up to use the body in a funny car rather than hang on to it for a reissue down the road. But maybe the annuals hadn't sold well enough to make anyone think about that.

No way to tell...they weren't in the '71 annual, and when that one was restored by Ertl in the late Eighties, they chose to put the '71 optional parts back in. The '72 parts weren't exactly like the show car. Someone who really wants that version can probably work it up on their own.

Jo-Han included a similar grille in their '70 Road Runner kit, and MPC included a version in their '72 kit that resembled the red car. Nobody is going to tool new parts for existing kits, to build fifty year old auto show cars that are pretty much forgotten to anyone other than hardcore Mopar fans.

Pretty sure the Fonzie version had part of the raised top removed (didn't go all the way forward to the windshield). Change for the sake of change.

He should list it on websites catering to '56 Ford owners. Someone who owns a few 1:1 '56 Fords is going to really, really want that.

Mustang was issued four times: Mach I concept (molded in red) 1967 Autolite Hi-Per Special (molded in metallic blue) 1968 Superstang Gasser (molded in yellow) 1969 Iron Horse (molded in white) 1974 Chassis and engine will be reissued in the coming stock '66 fastback.

I never did figure out "soft rock"...

Looks warped to me.

A guy I used to know was big into Oldsmobiles, and probably did a couple dozen of these conversions. There might be some interference from the underside of the interior bucket, where the shifter fits in from below. Other than that and making sure the tailpipes line up with the molded-in extensions, you should be set. Engines changed little between '69 and '70, use the one that goes with the chassis. I'm pretty sure the 350 engines were gold, the 400 and 455 were metallic blue. Someone else will know better and can clear that part of it up.

If you can't weld good... ...weld a lot...

Most Jo-Han taillights had mounting pins on the back, or mounting tabs, because all but a handful of their kits had their origins in promotional models. AMT Seventies kits usually had no red lenses, the instructions directed builders to paint the taillights. They eliminated separate red lenses from some reissues of earlier kits. Hard to figure this one out...

Still can't help, but that "flat" sprue would seem to point to a kit that was tooled in the Seventies or later.

No idea right now, but something to indicate their size would help.

AMT '62 Catalina?

Look at the pictures of the mockup...it's an R/T badged convertible, same as the original kit. Those who want a 500 or other variation can turn to the aftermarket for whatever they need in conversion parts.

The Cad engine would work. George Montgomery used one in his '33 Willys up until '63 or so. The instructions suggest using the four-speed transmission from the Ford engine pack; however, there is an in/out box on the Cad engine parts tree. Back to the Man-A-Fre discussion: they apparently didn't make an intake for the Cadillac engine. Even if they had, the one in the engine pack doesn't resemble one. The Man-A-Fre design appears to position one carburetor over each of four pairs of intake ports, similar to a fuel injection setup.

It's amazing Subaru survived the Malcolm Bricklin era. They imported cars but nowhere near enough parts. Cars under warranty sat on dealers' lots, sometimes for months, waiting for parts. One of my brothers managed a muffler shop near a Subaru dealer, he got a fair amount of business bending exhaust pipes for them because there weren't enough manufactured ones to go around. That was before those fancy computerized pipe benders, too...he did them manually.

The '28 sedan has both upper hinge tabs intact! I've got an unbuilt one with one broken off. The "brass" car is a small plastic toy painted gold. It's marked "Peugeot" underneath. The other small one is metal, but it's generic. It does have a pencil sharpener built in, though.