pack rat

I picked up this restoration candidate pretty cheap a few years ago. The original chrome pieces were missing, but inside the box was a complete chrome tree from a USA Oldies Suburban wagon. The windshield was also MIA. I substituted a windshield from a junk-box '60 DeSoto and had to modify the Suburban rear bumper to the correct non-wagon configuration. I figured the rear bumper mods would be the toughest part of this resto...no such luck. The body had been coated/waxed with something (why??) that was tough to wash off before I could prime it properly. The rear window glass that was included isn't the original kit piece, and doesn't fit 100%, but its better than the one I tried to fabricate with clear sheet plastic. Paint is Testors Mythical Maroon, the closest thing to Plum Red Poly that I had on hand. Yes, the flake is heavy, but I can live with it.

Thanks for posting a pic of this one, Tom. I remember seeing it years ago on the Spotlight board. It's good to see someone preserving these old builds. I can envision some kid having a lot of fun putting this thing together on a kitchen table many years ago.

Beautiful job. Love the upholstery.

Here's a pic of the '23 T parts (minus the stock oil pan). Sorry that it's a little fuzzy. NOTE-This is the vintage '70's-era kit, the pic is not from Round2

The '70 AMT Camaro annual came with the vinyl top, the MPC kit didn't.

Two finished....so far. The Imperial is an original SMP annual, the Dodge is an enhanced X-cel promo. I have an X-cel Chrysler and Desoto, and an original Johan Fury kit waiting on the to-do pile.

I think the gluebomb/survivor definition differs depending on who you're asking. From my own stash....a red/white gluebomb and a black survivor.

Glue marks (?) on the rear of the box, a crack or hole on the rear of the cab, a piece of white sprue jammed between the cab and bed, and the interior/glass don't appear to be sitting quite right; in addition to the crack/missing emblems. Yup....$110 is WAY out of whack!

I'm 90% certain the bike is only in the first issue you posted. I picked one up a couple of years ago just for the bike. I was assured by the seller that the bike was complete, but a few pieces were missing. I can scratch the missing bits though. I always assumed the bike was an Ace, not a Henderson. Guess I'll have to do some research.

Back in the day when these cars were commonly seen on the road a lot of them "dog-tracked", like a car that had been seriously hit and poorly repaired.. For some reason it was very common on the X-bodies.

Yup....you could spot those sidewinders coming at you from a mile away. I never knew why.

It's a long-bed 2-wheel drive

The mini-bike is the c1969 Rupp that was included in the '77 Monaco annual kit.

Of the many rods featured in your magazine articles this one has always been one of my favorites. It's nice to see it again.

Well done!

I hear you re the blackwalls. The only way to lower this thing is without re-engineering the interior and chassis is swapping the wheels, and I had to grind away some of the wheel-opening plastic to fit the small tires I used. I wanted to avoid the lowrider look by using whitewalls (or applying them to these tires) ......I don't think Virgil Exner Sr or Jr envisioned it in that form.

Definitely has a late-60's personal-luxury vibe. With a 440 (or a hemi??) under the hood it would make a cool '69 Cordoba phantom.

"Fender lights", according to the instructions. (?)

I picked this one up as a built-up a few years ago. In my opinion, none of the Renwall Revivals look as appealing as the box art illustration when built out of the box, and some are an acquired taste. This one doesn't look too bad though. I figured if I ditched the spindly-looking 1930's wheels and disguised the bland-looking front end with BMF and flat black paint it had possibilities.

It's nice to see a "regular" Bee for a change. They weren't all powered by hemis or 6-packs and painted hi-impact colors.

In addition to the recently re-issued Yamaha Enduro MPC issued a Suzuki TM400 in the 70s. Both of the bikes were included in the '76 Dodge pickup annual, The Suzuki probably appeared in other kits as well. NOTE-The Yamaha pictured has head/taillights added; what came in the box was basically identical to the parts pack reissue.

The adhesive was OK, and the sheet was wrinkle-free. The foil seemed really fragile and easy to rip or chip when burnishing (with a toothpick-same way I've been doing it for years). I prefer the look of the "unzipped" rear window; I remember 'verts cruising around like this when I was a kid. The paint scheme on this kit was inspired by one I used to see in my neighbourhood back in '62.

I finally finished another one of my own projects. I picked this junk-box refugee up real cheap a few years ago. The thick flat black/red/green color scheme combined with all of the junk glued onto the interior bucket didn't look too appealing, but I thought it had possibilities. Finding most of the missing stock pieces in the same junk pile sealed the deal. Unfortunately I had to re-use the messed-up fender ornaments that were installed upside-down by the original builder....I might fabricate better ones if I can't find replacements. This one didn't go as smoothly as I expected; especially when it came time to apply the BMF...sometimes the planets just have to be in perfect alignment when you attempt that chore.

Not the same; it's plastic but similar to the diecast Cameo version.

#1-MPC '73 Duster (maybe others too) #3-AMT 67/68 Impala annual #5-AMT 64 or 65 Imperial (all guesses based on memory)