Carmak

I think this is a great mid winter slump buster kit. If you are a "box stock" builder it does have some pitfalls as noted already. If you are more of a "parts box" builder and swap out pieces here and there this a is a nice kit. I swapped the wheels and used a modern R-M 440 in one build and just wheels on another. A couple issues I remember not already noted is I had a little issue with the hood fit (easily fixed) and the position of the front wheels being a bit far back in the wheel well (also easily fixed and a good time to lower the nose just a bit). Since yours is a red one paint the interior dark metallic red.

3D printing will change parts of the hobby just like resin parts did. How---I don't know but it will. I am working on a design for a 3D printed canned ham camper. My66S55 is right, all the work is in the cad design. 3D printers like large flat things (with some ribbing or they can warp) - like the sides of a camper. Thick or tall things take more time and cost more. On a tech note the new SLA style "printers" have some really good results. My company had one of the old SLA printers that cost 250K in the late 90's. We now have a high end FDM style printer but we are thinking of supplementing it with one of the new SLA's due to the quality and lower cost. What cad program did you use? Carmak

My plan is to use a junk box Pontiac 400 and a 72 GTO interior in the 69 "The judge" funny car body with the 69 442 chassis and then put the funny car chassis under the 69 442. All fun builds.

This is a great build! I like the way you are making the clear sections. Back in the late 80's/early 90's I parted out scores of 64-68 full size Pontiacs. Since you are going to this much work I wanted to share that the clear sections of the wheel should be tinted slightly in a shade similar to the color of the metallic plastic the rest of the wheel is molded in. The tint gets a little darker on the 67-68 wheels. Although many of the re-cast wheels on restored cars are clear I was able to find one good picture showing an original blue tinted wheel (a 65). Carmak

I am an engineer at a medical company that has used multiple methods to make short run (less than 1000 and sometimes less than 50) parts. My company does not do it as a service but I know two former co-workers that are now on their own that may. Nice looking masters. Are those printed or SLA? Carmak

I have been working with low volume injection tooling for 15+ years in the medical device field. Is you plan: * print the master and pour the injection mold components. * print the mold * print the master to confirm the geometry and CNC machine the tool. I will share with you that our low volume presses would not be able to fill and pack a body tool or any origin. The clamping pressure required by the surface area is way to high. You could easily be into the 50 ton+ range. You may need to shoot multi-piece bodies. I would rather have an ABS multi-piece body than a resin body. I am glad to hear someone talking about low volume tooling to aftermarket parts. My vote is for the 71 Polara 2drHT or 4drHT! Carmak

Reminds me a bit of my wife's car. We have had it for 18 years. I can see how you would miss that 58. We had a 58 Coupe before we got the 57. There is a 58 Coupe with a similar color combo in a junk yard in Burlington, IA. Craig

My spin on this would be the most of the same kit I ever bought at once. Back in the 90's I bought a 12 kit case of the MPC 69 442 kit. I was at the old Ertl outlet store and a worker came out with the case which was ripped open at one end. I asked if they would sell the whole case. Yep, $6 for the case as is. As I wanted them for the chassis I was not concerned about the case being ripped open (turned out none of the plastic was damaged). I sure do miss the Ertl outlet store.

This car is also missing the filler piece between the hood and the grille. The 68 and 69 hoods are the same except for the bolt on filler. As the filler is bolt on there is a panel line also.

Useless trivia: I had a 58 Fleetwood parts car years ago. There is no sheet metal behind those massive qtr panels. They are screwed on along the top and have a couple angled supports.at the bottom. Also the skirts are nearly as heavy as a cylinder head.

I would rather have a curbside with a spot on body (like an AMT craftsman) than a detailed kit with a proportion issue (Revell 69 Mustang) and other people would rather have the opposite. None of us are right or wrong. As an engineer that designs injection molded plastic parts that are tooled by some of the same tool builders that made AMT tooling in the 90's I can tell you that a new multi piece chassis tool is a way more costly than you think. A "simple" change like removing the exhaust from a chassis could easily cost tens of thousands. My vote would be to use that limited cash to restore "long lost" tools with missing parts of subjects we have not had in decades (like the 68 Coronet ).

Very patiently waiting for some parts from Modelhaus before I start in the 68 GTO.

Nice job on your Rustolem paint! Nice clean build. I built one of the pre-painted body versions about 10 years ago. I really like they way they look. I lowered the rear suspension and changed the wheels but built it stock otherwise.

I discovered a very nice Normatt Winnebago promo today at a local shop today. The body detail, color and decals are really nice. I think the only thing missing is the spare tire. It is 1/20 scale but it will look good pulling a 1/25 trailer and car. I have wanted one since I first saw on in the mid 80's at the Hillside Super Model Sunday show. Carmak

Love this build. Here is a picture of my 1:1 68 Coronet 500 convertible restoration in process. I took this exact car to prom 30 years ago. If is FF1 green with the original green top and a white/green bucket seat interior. I added a power bulge hood and wheels (not the ones shown in the picture) but the car will be otherwise stock with a 318/904 and all of the 500 trim. I have a small stash of MPC 68 & 69 R/T built kits that I got back in the early 80's that need to be restored. I wish someone would resin cast a better 1/25 grille assembly for the MPC 69. The original kit piece has always bothered me. Carmak

I am not 100% sure you could get a Grand Prix with a floor shift manual and without a console but I think it would be a safe bet. I know that both the Bonneville and the Catalina were built as floor shift manual without console configurations. The shifter boot is positioned so that the right edge of the boot frame is about 3" left of center of the transmission tunnel. You would want to bulid up a rectangular flat spot on the side ot the transmission tunnel that is the same height as the tunnel to repersent the transmission tunnel stamping that provides clearance for the shifter. Craig

A few tidbits of info and a confirmation. I owned a Tahiti Turquoise 65 GP that was a 389 4bl 4spd with console about 20 years ago. Also had a 2+2 with buckets, no console and the "Dearborn" 3spd on the floor and a 65 Bonneville 4spd bench seat car. Pontiac built some very harry full size cars back in the day. The 4spd console looks quite different than the automatic console. In full size cars the 389 and base 421 tri-powers came standard with the large single element air cleaner in 65, only the 376HP 421 came with the three open element air cleaners. In 66 all tri-powers had the three open element air cleaners. The open element air cleaners consisted of a lid and base (I have never seen other than chrome) a perforated steel inner support and a foam element fit over the inner support. Lastly the swirls in the metalic are the flow lines of the plastic as it is filling the mold. The plastic in this mold is injected in the middle of the passenger side rocker. They are nearly imposible to eliminate. The mold must be designed to minimize them. If you look carefully you will also be able to fine a "knit line" on every hole in the body (such as a window opening) on the side opposite of injection. Hope this helps. Carmak

I just took a look at the Desoto front bumper that comes in the AMT bumpers and grilles parts pack and not only is it chrome already it looks to be correct for a non-bumper guard car.

I have my car for life. A 1968 Coronet 500 convertible. FF1 green with the original green top and a white bucket seat interior. Super reliable 318 under the hood. It's the same car I drove to prom in 1987. Carmak

There was an AMT/Ertl 69 Blazer kit that was red. It was a 1/25 scale diecast. It was also sold assembled in stock and promotional form (I remember a "Wix" version. Carmak

I have a 68 HT and vert that I got at the Old Town Escorts swap meet in 85. They cost me $12 each. I have a 1:1 68 Coronet 500 vert but I can't get it's picture to upload. I would love to see a 68 Coronet reissued!

I will also be in line to a Transit and a Miura!

The tool was labeled as a 63 Thunderbird. I will try to find it. I moved a couple years ago and I have not unpacked my kits. I can't remember if there was glass or not.

Does it have the cheater slicks?

The 66 Thunderbird HT promo tool existed up to the 90's when the tooling was in Iowa. It was sampled in white ABS and I have a copy (un-plated chrome and all). Since the 66 Thunderbird convertible / glue on Landau is very common this is not that exciting, but hopefully a little interesting.