Ron Hamilton

Fantastic!!!!!!

A light metallic Turquoise with a white vinyl roof would look fantastic on that car, especially with the white interior trimmed in a medium turquoise.

I agree. I wish that the Model Manufacturers would use the company's logos again. The Cragar S/S logo would look very good on the wheel That is a nice wheel casting, that I will use on another build..

Isn't that a sharp Red one with the Black Vinyl Roof and Interior Ed? I have the actual brochure that I bought to do an AMT '65 Mercury Park Lane I have in my collection. I plan to whack off the roof, and make a convertible out of it. It started out as a beat up promo, so I am not hurting a valuable, un-built, annual kit. By the way, I have one of those too, which will end up as a Triple Black Park Lane Hardtop with a vinyl roof. I grew up around '60's Mercurys, as a matter of fact, I took my driver's test in a 1966 Mercury hardtop, 44 years ago.

That looks so right.

I welcome any comparison, comment, or suggestion from anyone, as long as it is relevant to the subject matter. I consider you an expert on the subject matter Steve, and I appreciate your comments. I like Comets.

Works for me. I need all of the information I can get and I appreciate your input.

Thanks Bill for the link. I used quite a few of the pictures in working over my Mobieus '65 Cyclone.

Mike, as someone who is going through similar aches and pains, I feel for you. Regarding your '65 Belvedere build, I think it is fantastic. I love the choice of color, and the way you are approaching the subject matter. I have one of the kits myself, but when I got it out of the box, this is what I had to deal with. Fortunately, I was able to fix it. I cannot tell you how I did it, but I used 55 years of model building skill to successfully straighten it. I have been using Plastistruct liquid cement or superglue on my Mobieus models with good luck. I look forward to your builds. I love them.

Your workmanship makes that less than desirable kit look great.

I like where you are going with this one Floyd! If I were doing this one with a cone kit, I would shorten the depth of the Conne Kit to about 1/16" past the tire, leaning it forward ever so slightly. Great minds think alike. Here is mine from over 20 years ago.

I worked on the build last night. I fashioned a set of lowering blocks to get the rear end down, and it worked out pretty good. I have to get some batteries for my camera so that I can take the pictures of the new stance. I centered the rear wheel hub with the top of the rocker panels, which brought the car down a bit. I heard references to the roof contour being wrong on the car, so I looked at some of my reference photos, and reworked the area on the rear part of the roof over the rear side windows and the rear backlight, re-contouring the roof in this area and sharpened the creases on the roof while I was fixing the area on the upper rear fenders where the few and far between mould lines are. Everything is moving right along, but I still am not going to get out to paint anything as we got some snow today, and it is bitterly cold outside. I hope to root through my parts boxes for some goodies to enhance this build, and I may re-visit the '66 Cyclone, as there is not much to do to that one to finish it other than some trim painting and final assembly.

You know how I feel about that build. I love it!!!!

Lookin'good!!!

The valve cover swap I am doing is going to work out good for me. The Mobieus '72 Ford Sport Custom has a small block Ford engine with chromed Valve covers, which are wrong for the application. However they fit the '65 Cyclone perfectly, so I did the swap since I have both kits , otherwise, I would have either chroming the kit valve covers, or using the optional finned covers in the kit, which also looks pretty nice. As far as the air cleaner goes, I have several AMT '65-'66 Mustang kits, which has the part I am looking for, so that too should work out fine. I found some nice pictures of a 289/271 equipped '65 Cyclone in one of Hemmings' Muscle Magazine's website. Thanks Steve Andrews for the picture of the 289/271 exhaust manifolds. The 289/271 engine on the car in the article had tubular headers, which I may do. They look pretty good. The shock tower detail that was mentioned by Mitch Reeves is also shown in the photo, as well as other under hood items not included in the kit. I bought a can of Testors' Phoenician Yellow paint for this build, but I may go to another color, as I had done a yellow car earlier this year, and the '66 Cyclone I have to finish is Testors' Phoenician Yellow, so I may go with another color. It's too cold to paint anyway, since I paint outside, and as I write this, the temperature outside my house is 28 degrees. I have other paint colors that will look good, and have yet to decide if I am going to go with the vinyl roof, which will be Black. Well, back to the bench. I want to lower the rear of this car tonight. More pics will be forthcoming.

I just bought the Mobieus 72 Ford F100, which has the same engine block, and a set of smooth Chrome Valve covers, which I swapped for this build. I have a much better detailed distributor cap and carb n resin from Replicas an Miniature of MD, and I will find a Ford Open Element Air Cleaner in my parts box. I can probably fab up a better set of Manifolds out of plastic tubing, as well as a beefier exhaust system.

I did a little work on it tonight to see what it looks like up on the wheels. I flipped the front spindles and made the holes larger in the lower A arms to get the nose down some. The rear suspension was left alone, so it has a bit of a Cowboy Rake" I want to get it down about another 1/4" or so to get it more level. I also did a little work to the roof to sharpen up the edges, but I am going to leave the side windows alone. The glass fits pretty good as you can see. The bumpers sits nice, but I want to make up a more positive attachment points to the body for them, as they are quit fiddly to attach to t car. I have always liked this car since I was a kid with the whitewalls and wheel covers. It seems to be going together pretty easy so far

Go get 'em George. I was rooting through the basement today, and I came across a '66 roadster body with no windshield frame, and some remnants of glue where a previous builder tried to weld the up top to the deck. Also I have an original '63 Roadster, with the revolving headlamps that is a little more of a glue-bomb, and a '64Fastback that has had all of the emblems shaved, and needs the paint to be stripped. I have a couple of un-built '63s where I can relieve it of the frame. I looked at the bodies,and they can be saved. Years ago, I bought a bunch of mid '60's AMT corvette junk,that will give me enough to possibly make three decent projects. If I do them, I am going to do them as AMT intended. Replica Stock Builds with the AMT parts. I like the Revell/Monogram kits better, but I can work with these without using a rare un-built annual kit, which can be very expensive.

Mitch, I am so happy for you that you are finally going to build a replica of your '65. I knew I was not going crazy when I mocked up my '65 build, and it had the stance of a race car. You hit it right on the head, It is an AFX chassis, and not a Factory Stock '65 Comet Chassis. I am not as familiar with the car as you are, so I have to cheat the ride height by adjusting the spindles in the front end, and making up lowering blocks for the rear. Can I make one small suggestion? I am looking at the side window profile you are doing. From the pictures, you did a pie cut on the "c" pillars to represent the side windows for the post sedan. To me, the roof still looks too upright. The Comet roof had quite a bit more slant than the Fairlane roof. If I were doing it, I would have worked it from the side window, then the pillars. At this point, you do not have to do any more major work, just make it about 1/8" shorter, and lean the back window forward some more. That would get it closer to what the real one looks like. The other work you are doing is fantastic. I love the intake manifold and the chassis mods you are doing. I love this one!!!!!

I recently picked up the Mobieus '65 Mercury Cyclone kit, and started work on it. Sorry, I have not photographed I yet, as I wanted to get it up on its wheels to see how it sits out of the box. In going over the kit, I noticed the few foibles mentioned by Bill and Steve concerning the side windows, but I decided to leave that area alone on my build. I wanted to see how it compares with the AMT annual '64, which I have under a restoration construction. The new kit is a shade wider and longer than the old kit, but it is not a deal breaker to me. While I am not an expert on the car, I am approaching this build as if I were buying a new '65 Cyclone. I plan to make a few modifications to some of the kit parts for a better looking car in my opinion. Back in the early 1970's one of my best friend's Mom had a '65 Caliente convertible, which I thought was a very nice looking car. I have several Comets in my collection being restored, including a '62 Sedan, a '63 S22 Convertible , two '64 Caliente Hardtops, one an original annual, a '66 Cyclone Hardtop which is under construction with the chassis and engine from the latest tool '66 Ford Fairlane, and 2 '67 Cyclone Hardtops, both annual kits to be restored. I have to decide on the interior color on the yellow '66, which will probably be black so that I can finish it to go along with the '65. At this time, I cleaned up the body, and interior, and assembled some of the assemblies to see how it looks up on is wheels. I have noticed a few things about the kit so far. In following the instructions, the ride height is a little higher than what I wanted, so I flipped the front spindles, which at least got it to a ride height that looks like a factory car from that era. I have heard some comments about the engine, that it is not as well detailed as the engine in the '67 Mustang kit. While that may be true, once the kit engine is assembled, painted, detailed, and installed in the chassis, it will be fine, and besides it fits perfectly. I an going to dress my engine up as a 289/271 with a chrome open element air cleaner, and chrome valve covers, along with a better 4 barrel Holley Carb and distributor in resin. In the interior assembly, the door opening lines have to be scribed in, and there is no Tachometer for the top of the dash, which is standard equipment for the '65 Cyclone, according to the '65 Mercury Sales brochure. Curiously, there is a flashed over hole on the top of the dash to fit a dashboard mounted Tachometer. Also in the '65 Mercury Sales brochure, the only interior colors offered in the '65 Cyclone are Red, Black, White and Saddle to coordinate with the exterior colors, as well as a black or white vinyl roof, which I may apply on my build. I am considering Yellow on the '65 too, as I have some more yellow paint. A Black vinyl roof and interior would look pretty good, and can tie into the '66. A trade up if you will. I hope to photograph the build as I go in the next day or so.

Outstanding!!!!!

I'm glad to see that everything is working out better for you. The work on the model so far is outstanding. I wish nothing but the best for you.

Very nice work Steve.

Those are nice.