Can-Con

Wow, that red really makes it pop ! BTW, the hounds tooth upholstery decals are in the convertible issues of this kit.

They were in the "countdown" issue of the '66 Mustang but I do believe they were the leftovers from the last incarnation of the Autolight Special, not necessarily the exact wheels but look exactly the same on the outside. There were a similar set in the reworked '70 'Z-28, yes. They were also in the AHC-100 T-top Camaro that was the last issue of the AMT 2ng gen Camaro before the '70 rework. They were missing the lug nuts though. They were supposed to be Ansen Cross Wire, Appliance Wiremag or one of the other 1/2 dozen copies of that wheel made by different companies.

yea, what he said. ☝️ Never really bothered me though.

The 5-spokes are Ansen Apollos.

Pretty cool. Was the builder able to get the landing gear workable on the Gulfhawk? I had the Navy version of the kit when I was 9 or10. Now THAT was a gluebomb. ?

Finally got some paint on this body. It's Tamiya French Blue. I compared it to a bottle of Testors Grabber Blue I have and it's just a touch lighter. Seems to be the correct shade to me but I don't have a real car to compare it to. A couple coats airbrushed on last night and wet sanded tonight and another 2 coats airbrushed. Then one good wet coat strait from the spray can after it started to set up. It seems to be a very hard color to get to look correct in photographs but I'm happy with it.

Irv is a great builder ,, and a super nice guy too.

Well, not exactly everyone ,, I got mine already. I'd take one. That's exactly the kind of butchered messes I like to build Robert. But, I also doubt that's the kit being reissued. I'd certainly like to have a set of the parts for the custom front and rear end to adapt to one of the newer '67s though.

Thanks. I know it's a longshot but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Pretty sweet Rex. Looks like it's very restorable. You wouldn't happen to have a grille insert would you? If so, maybe I could borrow it to cast a couple resin copies from? I'm planning to cut up a Monogram 1/24 grille and make the insert from that but It would be easier to just make a couple copies.

I checked his e-bay listings a couple days ago, no feedback for about two years so I assume no e-bay sales in that time either.

I'm not exactly clear on what you mean David but if you mean that the Pace Car was the only convertible issue, that's not quite correct. There was also a regular convertible issue with a red car on the box [I have that one] and two "Motor City Muscle" issues. One with a white car on the box and one in yellow. Both with the big twisted wheels. Pretty sure that besides the wheels and tires in the MCM issue and decals, there all the same kit inside

How about some large diameter Buick rally wheels like these? This is the seamless "Wildcat" design front only used with the full size car bolt pattern, not the Skylark/GS type. Could be done in 19" and 21" diameter to use the Pegasus tires. This would be cool to have available for those Riviera and other full size Buick kits AMT makes. Possibly even have a mounting boss on the back with a hole the right size to accept regular metal axles.

Give that man a Harrumph!

Is this the same one discussed a few years ago? On that one, it was discovered that the $53 engine was only a simpler one cylinder engine and the 8 cylinder engine shown in the ad was considerably more expensive. The old "bait and switch" ploy.

I wouldn't have noticed them myself but I remember them being in there from the Mach 1 kit. There's a few parts still in there from that issue.

I agree about the front end of that kit. looks like an old hound dog. ? I did love the kit when I was a kid though, all those working parts !! ?

I like the color too. "stripe delete" car. BTW, any reason for the 428 valve covers on the engine instead of the 302 covers?

I used to live in Courtney when I was a kid and remember there were always cool cars on the Island. Was back for a visit twice in the '80s and couldn't believe how many old Thunderbirds there were there.

It's not that hard. Just cut 12MM from between the front of the bed and wheel wells and 6MM from between the rear of the wheel wells and back of the bed. If you just cut the length off the front, it makes it harder to mount the front wall of the bed. Here's where I cut mine, I cut the lip from the back of the bed floor and added it back to the end of the floor. IF you want to use the chassis plate that comes in the kit, it's easy to shorten up too. Just cut along in front of the axle, down the inside of the trailing arms and across right at the front of the mufflers. Cut a 12mm section from the V formed by the front of trailing arms as shown and from the back of the arms and glue the rear part of the chassis to the top of the front. Pretty easy really. Here's a link to the album for the truck I did a few years ago. https://public.fotki.com/SteveMilberry/projects/68-chevy-shortbed-pickup/

I also just completed a trade with Kevin. great guy. Gave me a real good deal. ???

John, Those "SS" wheels were indeed Magnum 500 wheels, same as used by Ford Mopar and AMC at the time. All were made by Motor Wheel in Lansing to the customers specs. They even sold them as an aftermarket wheel. All the same wheel made by the same company just with the details [diameter, width, bolt pattern, plating or paint, trim ring or no ring, center cap] changed around by whoever ordered them.

Yes and no. It's the Metalcast stuff , which is more of a die then paint, I think. I know it wrinkles up bad like enamel when you use it strait from the can and shoot lacquer clearcoat over it but I've had good luck mixing it into clear lacquer wit lacquer clear over it several times. Never has a reaction like this before. It did the same thing but to a lesser amount with my blue '64 Pontiac.

That looks great. It's one kit I don't have yet that I want to pick up some day after seeing how well you did yours.

BTW, that's really odd that yours had 5 lug. The kit definitely has 4 lug wheels. At least all the ones I've seen including the reissues had them. Maybe someone swapped out the original wheels in your kit?