Carmak

My 1968 FF1 Dodge Coronet convertible. I know this does not answer your question, just posting for inspiration.

This is my 68 Coronet convertible with the original top (yes green was available). The top has pulled a little as it shrunk but you can see the side profile pretty clearly. The side window opening is mostly straight lines. Nothing like the 68-70 2drHT side window opening design. The 68-70 B-body convertibles use the same side glass, windshield frame, and top mechanism from the 66-67 B-body convertibles. The wagons also carried over the 66-67 greenhouse design for 68-70 but the couples and sedans got new shorter roof designs for 68-70.

Steve's "What if" Cougar II really does have a legit period look.

I sent you a private message. Thank you so much!! It is interesting how they widened the running boards, I had not noticed that. Very cool work you have done on this resto! Carmak

40+ years I started and lost interest in this project when I was in Jr. High School (about 1981). It was re-discovered after a recent move. My parents briefly looked into buying a Toyota Chinook which was my inspiration. They ended up getting an 82 Ford conversion van. JoHan 64 Cadillac + El Camino camper + Dodge van interior + Ford Bronco suspension and wheels. Carmak

These are a couple survivor Phone Booth models I took pictures of a few months ago as a comparison (I found the box pictures on the internet). The white booth is the original issue Hot Roders Tall T (with Stroker McGurk fiqure) and the red/silver booth is Carl Caspers Phone Booth. The white booth is built stock except for pieces of the display base glued to the chassis and random pieces missing. The red/silver booth has replacement front wheels and is also missing pieces. I have had the red/silver booth for 30+ years and I did not realive there were two versions until I got the white booth last year. There are quite a few differences between the kits. The suspension, chassis and fenders for this kit may still survive as it was available a few years ago under the Mummy Machine kit. Carmak

Did anyone else notice the AMT kits on the floor next to their display cases? You can see them starting at the 6:30min mark.

As I remember these kits were mostly stock with the following unique parts added: * Pro-stock engine additions * Wheels and tires * Hood scoop * Interior mods (some kits) * Decals Existing Round2 tooling that is possibly suitable for a Pro-Stock version with abobe noted modifications: Grumpy’s Toy – Yes Grumpy’s Vega – Yes Minuteman – Yes Mowtown Missile – No (73/74 Cuda promo tooling may exist and could be modified) Sox and Martin – No (76 Dart Sport could be modified) Screamin Eagle – Yes Dick Landy – No (70 Challenger could be modified) California Flash - Yes

I really like your creative thinking! It looks like one of your challenges was the lower roofline of the 68-70 VS the 66-67. As part of the 68 redesign all B-bodies got a lower roofline except the convertible and station wagon. I have attached a couple pictures of an original issue 69 Charger built in 69 using the custom parts in the kit. The custom taillights and side panels have a similar vibe to your car. Carmak

Any chance this is the JoHan kit or part of it? At one time Moebius displayed a JoHan 59 Dodge so there was some connection with former JoHan tooling.

This is my opinion: Pontiac really was into it's color matched interiors in the 60's. I do agree that a Parchment interior looks with Reef Turquoise (years ago I had a 1:1 65 2+2 that was Reef Turquoise with a Parchment interior). I used to paint all my 60's interiors black or white (it always looks good), but I had shelves of noting but black and white interiors. Now I always try to do a color other than black or white. Carmak

The 71/72 Road Runner and 71/72 Charger share the same body structure and have the same wheelbase of 115". Combining new 71/72 Road Runner body, bumpers, interior sides, and seats with the existing 71 Charger tooling would result in a nice modern kit for a relatively low lift tooling wise. As others have mentioned I would also be in favor of a 73/74 Charger that could leverage the 71 Charger tooling. Carmak

All of us had hair, lots of hair

Generally speaking highly desirable/valuable 1:1 cars are not as valuable as models wile somewhat obscure/less valuable 1:1 cars are more valuable as models. This is logical as desirable/valuable 1:1 cars are kitted more often than obscure/less valuable 1:1 cars. Last year I got a nice MPC 66 Bonniville and my 1:1 car friends didn't get my excitement about finding it. All 68-70 Coronet convertibles are fairly valuable as the total convertible production was less than 2k per year. They are much less common than the 68-70 Plymouth B-body convertibles. This is mostly because from 68-70 Dodge B-body convertibles were only available as the top trim level models (Coronet 500 & R/T) while the Plymouth B-body convertibles were available on top trim level models (Sport Satellite & GTX) as well as mid trim level (Satellite & 69-70Road Runner). Below are pictures of my 68 Coronet convertible (taking it to prom in the mid 80's and today mid restoration).

I really look forward to your progress! In the 90's I used to have multiple 65, 66 & 67 full size Pontiacs. The blue 65 2+2 was a 421 tri-power 3spd manual (on the floor with no console) with 8 lugs. The gold 66 and 67 were both Catalinas. About 15 years ago I bought a rough 65 Star Chief 4dr as a daily, it was used in a low budget movie. Fun times. Carmak

If you can get the fairly common AMT 65 Bonneville / GP / 2+2 dash it is fairly close to the 66. The most significant difference is the change from round bezels to square bezels for the three center bezels you are working on. Also, It's not very clear in your picture but the three center bezels and angled slightly towards the driver. The automatic console in the AMT 65 Bonneville / GP / 2+2 is exactly the same as 66. If you are doing a 4spd. console it is actually completely different from the front of the seats forward.

How did you do the side molding (bright trim with the black in the center)? This really takes your build to the next level!

My go-to would be the AMT/MPC 69 442.

This is what the pipes look like in the original issue. One pipe is off the runner and the other is still attached. The front part of the pipe is still on the runner on the fer-left side of the picture. They really do not look like the 1:1 or the box art.

There is an old joke: Do you know who the highest paid person at Palmer is? The guy that does the box art. The point is that the box art was better than the kit in the box. Often Palmer kits are caricatures that are of no particular scale and can be hard to recognize. The "PSM" kits are actually fair kits. I think they started in 1970 and many of the tools from that era were still around a few years ago and sold as Lindberg kits.

I win

Anybody else notice the red and clear lenses for police lights? Those were part of the 68 Hard Top kit. Hmmmmmmm

My spin on Cab Driver's method. I put the models in a Ziplock and hold the bag upside down over a small pot of boiling water with an oven mitt (BE CAREFUL). I let the bag fill with the hot water vapor. Seal the bag and into the deep freeze for a week. The water vapor gets into the small cracks between parts and freezes. A little thermal shock helps also. Sometimes it takes a few cycles. I have done this for 40+ years and it doesn't always work but sometimes it really surprises me.

It is my understanding that Salvinos JR has Nascar versions of both the Daytona and the Superbird in process. Might be worth the wait.

All Pontiac 326/389/400/421/455 intakes are the same size. There was a slight change from 59-64 to 65-78 where the bolts and ports changed enough that they do not interchange in the 1:1 world, but that is a non-issue in 1/25 scale. The 68 Firebird intake is designed for a spread-bore carburetor (the primary ports are smaller than the secondary ports) and your image shows this. All 64 Pontiac 4bl intakes were square bore (all port the same size). Once again, I am not sure this could be seen in 1/25 scale. I assume you are thinking about using the intake from the Revell 68 Firebird. I think it would be a good choice. As for a carburetor any Carter AFB would work. They were commonly used on mid to late 60's Mopars. Craig