SSNJim

I'll be following this, too. I'm glad you decided to restore it. The taillight issue brings up a question - are you going to restore the model or build an accurate replica of the car? Or both? I would definitely stick with authentic colors.

AMT did a snap Dodge regular cab dually, and some of the wrecker kits out there have them. There's a Revell snap 73-87 wrecker that I'm thinking of that has duallies. I don't know what's on the aftermarket.

One more place: http://tocmp.com/ . It's The Old Car Manual Project, and they have sales brochures for nearly every car ever made. If you need information on the 1923 Rickenbacker Six, this is the place to come. There are also period pictures and some owner's manuals. It's a great place to start research on a particular automobile.

Ticketing loud pipes (car or bike) IS serving the public. I hate loud pipes; trying to sleep or hold a conversation while a bike is passing by is nearly impossible. Many areas are now closed to motorcycles because of the noise issue. Harleys do not come stock with loud pipes; they are quiet bikes from the factory. Most people have the dealer install pipes prior to delivery. There is a thought process among inexperienced bikers that loud pipes save lives. Experienced motorcyclists know that loud pipes lose rights. Interestingly enough, loud pipes usually cut the power the Harleys produce because the pipes tend to be tuned for high RPMs. You're right about the LEO's - I know of police agency bikes in the DC area that have loud pipes. How can laws be enforced when the police ignore them? I am a motorcyclist; I own a (very quiet) 2007 Honda Goldwing. I have put 15-20,000 miles a year on my motorcycles for years. I quit going to most motorcycle events because of loud pipes. I don't know about the reducing visibility thing, but I do like foglights, or as I refer to them, a-hole lights. If I see a car with the a-hole lights on when they're not needed, I know the driver is a jerk. They'll weave in and out of traffic, speed excessively, tailgate, run redlights and the like. Rarely are the lights wrong.

I voted restore. It's almost totally complete, and just needs a little cleaning up. Polish the windshield, foil the chrome, and give it a fresh coat of paint. It'd be killer. It would be difficult to improve the car by customizing it, and when you were done, it would look like a custom C3, not a cool Astrovette.

Nice find! That chassis definitely screams MPC. They used the same one under all their C3 Corvettes. It has separate chrome A-arms with a spring (working front suspension), poseable front wheels, and rotating half shafts for the rear wheel. Any MPC-based 1968-1982 Corvette kit should yield the replacement chassis/engine parts you need, and perhaps some of the interior parts. These kits were basically annuals, and the body was the main thing updated.

The bigger problem from my point of view is that they don't have anything to sell except licensing. Why would GM provide and rebadge cars for what they consider to be a failed nameplate already spun off from itself? There may well be plenty of unused manufacturing capability around the country, but New Pontiac needs something to manufacture. Everything they made was owned by GM. All Pontiac designers did was slap Pontiac-looking trim pieces on cars designed by the head corporate office. I've always liked Pontiac; in fact, I'd rather have seen Chevrolet offed. There's not a lot of difference, and Pontiac was always a direct internal competitor to Chevrolet.

I'm looking forward to the Pantera. I'm a big fan of early 70s Italian supercars. I think I have a Pantera bought built stashed away. One day I need to get it rebuilt. I remember seeing a Pantera or two in Louisville when I was young - definitely the first "exotics" I'd ever seen. The rumor was the owner paid about $10,000 for the car. At the time, you could get a nicely equipped Corvette for around $5500, and a house for not much more than $10,000. Enough geezin'.

The Merak was introduced in 1972, well before any fuel economy concerns, gas guzzler taxes or CAFE standards. It was a 2+2 as opposed to the Bora's 2 seat configuration, and had a small backseat. It was a GT car for the family guy or "economy-minded buyer", in much the same way Mustangs were available with 6 cylinders or 8. The Bora and Merak shared the same body shell, and the Merak's lighter weight was due to the Merak's V6 vs the Bora's V8. There were no significant dimensional differences between the two. I do agree that this particular specimen was probably dogged out, and that Chris did a very nice job.

That's my third favorite Italian car, after its big brother the Bora and the Countach LP400. I've built a couple of those kits - nice kits. One I tried to convert into a Bora without much success. I have since obtained two Bora models. The 83HP car is very odd. The Merak had a 200HP V6 installed.

That's about the way the real ones fit together. Neat kit - at least it would be if the parts fit. Is that a new release? I hadn't heard about that one. I've always been a fan of British sports cars, and have driven or ridden in many of that car's contemporaries, though never a Spitfire/GT6.

They're 911's built between 1993 and 1998. The Porschephiles tend to refer to the 911 by its internal Porsche project number. Each more modern revision of the 911 gets a new number. The original 1964 911 was the 901, followed by the 930, 964, 993, 996, and the current 997, but they were all sold as the Porsche 911. The 993 was the last air-cooled 911; all subsequent are water cooled.

That may be the one I'm thinking of. Also someone (maybe Revell?) did some snap kits of at least two Japanese trucks with fender flares, I think they were Baywatch/beach patrol trucks. I'm digging way back in the dusty corners of my mind for those. AMT did a kit of the Chevy Extreme in their series of S-10 kits.

Aoshima has a line of custom curbside minitrucks, including a mid 90's Toyota, Datsun 720, and an older Hi-Lux. They're right-hand drive, have no engines but good bodies, custom wheels, a simple interior, poseable wheels, and varying degrees of details on the undercarriage. The 720 I have has a decent chassis, but it's 4WD and lowered with wire wheels. The Toyota has an adjustable, not realistic at all chassis with a tilting bed and is ride-height adjustable. I have also seen 4 door Japanese market trucks from Aoshima, mostly raised 4WD. Aoshima models can be difficult to find, but I have seen them every so often in a hobby shop or model flea market. Here's a shot of the Toyota: I think Revell did a Chevy Luv hot rod years ago. The MPC/AMT Ford Couriers came with either a stock bed or stepside. I have seen a diecast Chevrolet Colorado (wish I had bought that). Revell/Monogram did the old square S-10 (standard and Cameo), and AMT did the newer aero ones in both Chevy and GMC versions. AMT did the 93-96 2WD Ranger in standard and Splash configurations, and a SnapFast Plus 4WD. Hasegawa did a VW van based pickup. These are the ones I can think of right off the top of my head that weren't mentioned by Mustang3.8; there may be more. There are lots of minitrucks out there, but may require some searching.

Wow. Awesome find!

The inside of a 1st gen Camaro without a headliner or upholstery: http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/Cars/Alo...amaro-08-07.jpg . Do you have any idea of what you are interested in building, or are you just scoping out the project? I noticed you mentioned a Fairlady Z. It might be more difficult to find pictures of bare shell tuners and imports than American/muscle cars.

Check out http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/construction.html . Not model related, but lots of pictures of frame off restorations on many different types of cars, many of which are replicated in scale. It's a great reference site. I found it because of a car they built. On the Construction page, it is referred to as the Golden Calf, but it is now known as the M-80. The picture on the page is a concept drawing - it ended up looking nothing like it. It is probably the most beautiful custom I have ever seen. I got a MCW 1951 Chevrolet coupe, and am now working on a custom inspired by the M-80. Most of the major bodywork is done with the exception of the lights. I am trying to get the body smooth now, and trying to decide whether to use the M-80's headlights or the stock ones. I think it is doable, and in some ways easier than building a model with opening doors, a flip-front, and opening trunk. Most of the work has been done before in-scale; the hard part would be getting exposed sheetmetal edges thin enough to be believable. Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

I was a Submarine Sonar Technician (STS1/SS, paygrade E-6) in the US Navy from 1976-1992. I took a break from building during a couple of the early years, but otherwise I've been building since around 1970. I hope my skills improve soon.... We couldn't build models on the boats due to a lack of space and the fact that most of the paints/adhesives were atmosphere contaminants, but I did when ashore at home or in the barracks.

For comparison's sake, a Tenth Anniversary Trans-Am... Note the wheels and rear side marker lights.

The kit looks much better than the box art, that's for sure. The box art has always scared me away, too. It's the first one I've seen built. It does look like a Firebird with Camaro bumpers. I think those wheels are Firebird wheels, too.

I've got a Stylus also, and it is my favorite of the three that I own. I have a constant-speed corded, a variable speed cordless and the Stylus. I think it is the most comfortable to hold, plus you can hold it "upside down" with the handle pointing away from your hand to give it the feel of a very small traditional Dremel.

I like Testors Model Master Liquid Cement for Plastic Models (SKU 8872). It is carded in a squarish container with a small tube applicator attached. It has worked well for me for years. The "Precision Applicator" works like a charm - you can get just the right amount where you need it without any muss or fuss. It comes in a nontoxic version too, but I have never used that. There is also a Clear Parts Cement in the same package style, that is basically white glue.

I'd leave them be if they are molded ABS on the prototype, which is what they seem to be replicating. I would guess that few manufacturers/fabricators would take the time to smooth out the seams of a molded part to the quality we expect on a model. Sometimes seams are OK... Otherwise, I usually use a one part putty if it is a small part. Careful fitting, gluing and filing/sanding can hide a seam also.