Mark

The '66 Thunderbird hardtop annual kit was just the convertible with a separate, glue-on roof. AMT did tool a promo body with the roof attached, but never issued it as anything except a Craftsman kit. Likewise, yes they did all three Mustangs, but if I were running the show back then, there would have been a coupe kit with the roof molded in, as opposed to the convertible with separate coupe roof. The Mustang was popular enough back then to support kits of all three.

The reissue '66 Thunderbird kits are all the hardtop. I'd guess that the tooling insert for the roof fit in the same space as that tonneau piece. Gotta wonder why, in '66, AMT did two Thunderbird kits. I'd have done all three Mustangs instead.

Chevy in Ford started (of course) in the mid-Fifties, with the Chevy replacing a flathead V8. -Chevy has the distributor at the back, fits nicely in the notch in the firewall that was needed for the flathead's fuel pump. -Chevy has the oil pan sump at the rear, same as the flathead. -Chevy has the starter on the passenger side. No worries about it being in the way of the steering box. '55 and '56 blocks didn't have an oil filter pad on the block, which was on the driver's side. Even when it was added for '57, it wasn't in the way. Other early V8 engines like the Buick (the previously favored overhead valve V8) had to have the starter moved over. The transmission adapter took care of that, but the Chevy was simpler yet. For a lot of builders, it just made sense.

And each of those engines had multiple water pumps and sets of pulleys, and radiators with outlets and inlets to match up with the water pump. Meanwhile, a small-block Chevy had, for many years, a choice between two water pumps, "short" and "long".

I would scratch the step bumper. A lot of those were fabricated locally, with each fabricator making them a bit different from one another. The cap wouldn't be too tough to scratch up either...break it down into shapes, and start looking for materials. The glass in those was all flat, making that part easy. Adapting an existing piece (not that I'd know where to find one) wouldn't look as correct as one made specifically for this project.

AMT and MPC both sold '69 Chevy pickup kits in 1969. AMT actually created both, as their '67 somehow went to MPC to become their '68-'72. AMT tooled another one for '69. Theirs had a big-block engine while the MPC pickup had a small-block. Both were long wheelbase Fleetsides. The current '72 kit has some parts of both of the old annuals, plus some new parts.

Not my father's Oldsmobile, but my mom's...without the T-roofs, but with a set of Appliance Wire Mag wheels. On the pokey side (had a 260; Mom thought the 350 would burn a lot more gas) but it had a nice ride.

Those parts are from a pro stock version MPC marketed in '72. Some of those parts stayed in the '73 annual kit, and in the subsequent reissues. MPC mocked up the Boss 429 on the 428 block that was already in the kit.

Should have waited for the non-007 version, which is molded in white. Same parts except lettered tires in place of the whitewalls in the 007 kit. I found the "new" version at Hobby Lobby (first place I saw it), bought one mainly because of the new stock wheels. It looks better than I thought it would. I'll drop in a 351 Cleveland (mix of parts from an AMT NASCAR kit, this kit, and an AMT Mustang), conjure up a few other parts, and live with the kit's exhaust system.

The Jo-Han '63 annual kits included a rubber band, not sure about the reissue Plymouth hardtop though.

Jo-Han used that "rubber band on the hood" deal in 1963. The reissue '63 Fury had the pin on the underside of the hood. I believe the instructions mentioned it, but don't recall whether or not one was included. I'm not sure about their '62 kits (only a few had opening hoods) but the USA Oldies reissues didn't have that feature.

All those metal clips did was scratch paint, potentially break the cowl, and hold the hood so tightly that it would wear the edge of the cowl if opened too many times. I never used them then, and don't miss them now. The upholstery stickers were used, I have seen plenty of builtups with them as wel as the remnants of cut sheets in parts boxes. The whitewall stickers went away after about 1964, they may have hung around a bit longer until the Trophy Series kits were all reboxed in the mid-Sixties. Those actually worked pretty well.

So, unless the tool was shipped back here for storage or maintenance, Atlantis won't have that one.

It all depends on where the most recent issue of each kit was made. USA: there is a possibility Atlantis now has it. China: Revell still has it, whether they intend to run it again or not. Simple as that.

Then the parts not shown are probably from earlier versions of the kit, and not usable anymore.

I've heard it more than once: "it's tragedy when it happens to you, it's comedy when it happens to someone else..."

Once electrics are more prevalent, there won't be many gasoline cars there in a few years. Japan is very technology conscious, people there tend to want the newest and latest thing. Cars themselves aren't kept very long, as I understand inspections are stringent and registration fees rise as a car gets older. The concept of used cars, or buying a second-hand car, is pretty much nonexistent there. A lot of the JDM high performance engines and other parts sold to enthusiasts here are from cars scrapped and parted out there when only a few years old, with not a lot of miles or running time racked up during the car's ownership there.

Closest thing I can think of would be in the AMT '29 Ford double kit, the part used on the rod chassis. And that is cut down quite a bit, to fit into a Model A frame. That was done a lot when early Ford V8 running gear was fitted to an A chassis. If you get some measurements, you can probably scratch an acceptable piece. I'd use about .020" sheet styrene for all parts of it. Some fiberglass body manufacturers have diagrams, with measurements, of Ford chassis. You ought to be able to find one online, print it, and scale it up/down to 1/25 scale.

Are both shown in the instructions?

Locally, I haven't got access to the BSI products anymore. The LHS that sold them closed in 2017, and the other one doesn't sell them (though they do carry a good selection otherwise). There is one shop here that caters 100% to radio control, they might just have them though. For super glue, I use the Loctite product. Available everywhere, cap design seals well and stretches the life of the unused glue. And it works.

It wouldn't be Budd Anderson...he left AMT in mid-1964. He was with IMC right after that, maybe for a year or so, then on to MPC.

You can't use regular styrene cement, or other solvent cenents because they won't dissolve the surface of the resin like they do with styrene. The solvent cement essentially softens the edges of the parts being joined together, and, once it evaporates, the two parts become one. That won't happen with resin. So you are left with super glues, or epoxies. Between those, I'd opt for super glue. Cleaning mold release materials off of the resin before doing ANY work on resin parts is a must! This includes gluing, trimming, grinding, filing, and sanding. Once you start sanding or grinding "dirty" resin, you're just embedding those contaminants into the resin.

I would always assume the tires will keep on doing what they have done up until now, and take the appropriate preventative measures when installing new wheels.

Or maybe scanned your money into someone else's account?

MPC issued their Datsun pickup kit with this bed, and California Step Side decals. Several companies made similar beds. Budd Anderson was involved with one of them, he sold out just before the fad died out.