Mark

Might the '73 Mustang have another, different engine too? I'm not too sure about the 429, but the Boss 351 was definitely gone by then. The two '71 versions are as good as they get, and I'd bet the '73 will be as good.

The Jeep pickup was done shortly after Revell was sold by one of its original owners. They started taking a lot of short cuts, like not including plated parts, around the same time.

The kit wheel covers look rough in the visible areas. The promo would have been done to GM's specifications (except the incorrect windshield trim on the coupe) so maybe the promos wheels represent what was originally intended.

Just found the convertible I'm piecing together. I have an incomplete chrome tree with one wheel cover; the back side of it is smoother than those used in the coupe kit. The optional wheels in the convertible are knockoff wheels, better executed than those in the '63 kits.

Those are from the AMT '65 coupe kit. I've got one, the wheel covers are still on the plated tree. My convertible is pieced together from multiple sources, so I can't verify what it should have. I've probably got a set of wheel covers for it, but those might be from another coupe. I haven't looked at it recently. As I said before, I don't think the MPC '65 has any stock wheel option. Their '66 has the knockoff wheels, as does their '67 (though the 1:1 '67 had a revised bolt-on wheel without the knockoff). Then again, their '66 and '67 still have the fuel injection stock engine.

AMT coupes and convertibles '63-'67 were separate but similar tooling. There were differences: coupes had the seats molded as part of the interior, convertibles had separate seats towards the end. The current '63 coupe kit is the original, updated through '67 and later revised back to '63. The current '63 convertible kit is based on the coupe, with a newer body that was tooled by Ertl. What remains of the old convertible kits is now the custom-only '68 kit.

Pretty sure they are AMT. I don't think the MPC '64 and '65 Corvette kits had stock wheels.

I would keep the Coronet piece, and just add front suspension detail and improve the rear suspension where you can. The Coronet part fits more tightly to the inside of the body than anything else that you can adapt.

That engine (or any part of the XR-6) never resurfaced in any other kit. AMT tooled slant sixes for the Deora and their (1965-67) Barracuda annual kits. The Barracuda engines had big axle holes. The Deora is more easily found, so I'd look at that first. Next up would be the Lindberg (now AMT) '64 Dodge and Plymouth slant six.

I'm one of the lucky ones. When I place an order with Spotlight Hobbies, the package gets from there to here in two days, without fail. With most of my eBay buys, the longest delay is up front, with the seller sticking a label on the package (starting the clock) two to three days before the package leaves their possession.

AMT '65 GTO. Notice the uneven spacing of the lug nuts. Those survived the Modified Stocker butchery and were restored to the GTO when Ertl rebuilt it back to stock. They remained in all issues of the original kit after that.

The Round 2 General Lee kits have the recessed rear window. All issues by MPC, Ertl, and RC2 have the flush rear glass.

You can usually find something positive in whatever you look at. Often, at shows or contests, there are entries that aren't necessarily up to the standard of the others, but the builder had a great idea for customizing or conversion that you maybe hadn't thought of.

Back when those kits were first issued, the original AMT company never referred to the Jimmy or Blazer kits by year. Only the annual pickups were given a year designation. For GMC those were only '71 and '72.

You're discussing Chevy Blazers, but showing GMC grilles.

I never really had anyone play games with me on eBay, but in the past couple of weeks I had two instances. 1: Buy it Now on a pack of respirator filters. Got refunded, seller claimed "there was a problem with my mailing address". Yeah, right. Lived in the same house 35 years, only shipping address I ever used with eBay. Next seller didn't have a problem, price was about the same. First guy maybe thought he was going to relist at a higher price? 2: made an offer on a book, seller never responded. I decided to buy at the original price, again get refunded a couple of days later. The seller supposedly figured out he hasn't got the item. Another one thinking he's going to get more? Don't think so; I bought a new copy for a few bucks more...

With any service oriented company, you've got to stick to the basics. Those that do will prosper while the others fade quickly. My mom bought a home in 1999. Right away she called in a heating company to check the furnace. When she asked if it should be replaced, the tech told her it was in good shape and still had about half it's useful life left. Ten years later, when a new one was needed, guess who got the job of replacing it? Same goes with any service related deal, even restaurants. They're hotly competitive around here (we've probably got more pizza/wing places per capita than anywhere else in the country) but a lot of long-timers are still around. The ones that don't cover the basics don't hang in for long.

There are good trades people out there, just not enough in some areas. Some of the boomers are retiring now after making money hand over fist delaying retirement during the Covid period. My employer (a construction company) has brought a number of people into the trades unions in the time I have been there. The union halls have been empty during the work season (we've got a football stadium under construction that has been using a lot of guys; this should taper off soon) but, if you are a good hand, you will not go wanting for work even after that is finished. As for other stuff, I had the furnace in my house replaced just before Christmas. The old gravity setup took a dump...no retrofit available, no replacement parts made in a long time. My chosen company did the job in two eight-hour days, including fabricating a decent chunk of the ductwork nearest to the furnace. Got here when promised, took as long as estimated, job done. The furnace replacement was an emergency job because we were in single digit temperatures, but it required an electrical upgrade to bring the janky fuse panel up to code and move the meter outside as the utility wanted. That couldn't be done alongside the furnace job, but it took place this week. Once again, got here when promised, did everything in under five hours. New panel, new meter installed outside, new wiring from the attachment point outside to the panel. And they even took all the old stuff away.

The small V8 with the distributor at the front was based on the V6. Getting one of the MPC Jeepster V6 engines, and some mold making and casting material, will get you enough parts to piece together a couple of V8 engines.

Those parts were in both the '71 Roadrunner annual kit, and the mid-year GTX kit.

I'd go back in time, to postwar trucks through the early Sixties. That's the romanticized era of trucking: illustrated magazine ads depicting friendly, helpful, dedicated, hard-working truckers, as well as the "truck driving song" sub-genre of country music. Some of the existing truck and trailer kits could probably be backdated to get a toe in the water, with new kits being done later if sales bear out the popularity of the initial offerings.

The annual kit included two engines: a slant six, and a 426 Hemi.

Go with the 3D print stuff. The good ones are light years ahead of even the best injection molded styrene VW engines.

The other day at work, one of the office ladies was leaving and couldn't back up her vehicle. One of the guys figured out that one or more of the backup sensors was blocked by snow/ice, cleaned them off, and she was on her way. That's disturbing, as someone could trigger that condition by blocking the sensors (stalker, disgruntled ex, or other nutcase in general). The victim wouldn't be aware of the problem until they were in the vehicle, and by the time they figured it out they wouldn't want to get out and wouldn't be able to back out of a parking space, driveway, or garage. These things are being implemented without looking at all of the consequences...

I have picked up items at clearance stores that weren't available in my area otherwise. Like I said, if I had a couple of bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I'd buy one to experiment with. I have a couple of cans of off-brand "Bondo" type filler bought at one of those stores, that I intend to use in making vacuform molds.