MrObsessive

Back in the mid '80's when I went back to school, I remember an older woman (mid 40's at the time) who worked in the office faculty staff area and she had a '67 Impala two door hardtop with a 427. Turns out she was a real car gal as she said she purposely bought it like that brand new, but after a time had to have it 'detuned' as it could (to her) be a handful. That's the only 427 Impala I can ever remember seeing on the streets like hers and to look at it you'd never know it unless you looked at the emblems. It wasn't a loud car at all as she was probably past the point where she wanted to hear a lot of noise.

I thought that kit would go for that much! (I had said $160+) If it were stone original (nothing started) it might have gone even higher!

Oh you guys are talking about the sedan! I had the four door hardtop on my mind as to me that looks miles better. A TWO door sedan would be nice though as they make perfect sleepers!

Yeah, we were just talking about this very thing not long ago at a get-together. It reinforces what I've always thought about things you want in the aftermarket. If you see it, want it and can afford it, BUY IT! No telling when all of a sudden it'll disappear and then be truly unobtainium. Perfect example..........Plamoz's resin 1967 Shelby 10 spoke wheels. All of a sudden they were 'not available' and are next to impossible to get now as no one wants to part with 'em.

Either the Revell '65 or '66 I'd imagine. You could use the roof section from the Monogram '64 GTO.......they're a very close match.

Peter, that's a good question. I don't have his latest catalog, but last I knew he wasn't making them. IIRC, I got the last engine from him a few years ago as Norm made it for my by "special request" since I see him fairly regularly at the club meetings. If you'd like one, perhaps you can drop him a line? His email address is: ReplMinCoMd@aol.com

Wow, that's the first I've heard that! Sad news indeed as he was one of, if not the best in the biz. Any idea how old he was? I've only known of Gerald since the '80's.

I just noticed this thread. I can vouch for Norm's EXCELLENT V-12 engines as I've built a couple.............. My first attempt---- I built this in '96(?) in a 250 GTO. My second one built a couple years later......this one in a 250 GT SWB. I have another one of Norm's V-12's-----someday it's to go into a 250 GT SWB California Spyder. I also have MFH's Ferrari 330 LMB, that was a holy grail of mine among other Ferrari's. Now just the time to build it among other projects.

Nice and clean Greg! OH!..............you sharpened those quarter window corners! Excellent! A little suggestion for the clear----if you're worried about rubbing through the decals and BMF, you can always cover over them with some Parafilm if you want to rub it out. There's no adhesive on the Parafilm so you don't have to worry about them peeling up if you were to use tape for instance.

Pleasant eBay story here: About a year ago I was looking for the Danbury Mint 1956 Buick Roadmaster Four Door. I came across a seller that had a very nice one with only one issue----one of the fender ornaments was missing. He was asking I believe $80.00 which I saw as a very good price as those can be mighty pricey since they're no longer available. Well, much to my surprise when I got the package, I opened it up and the model wasn't a '56 Buick, it was a Danbury Mint '55 Olds 88 Convertible! I contacted the seller and he apologized profusely. He said that in the rush to get things out the door, he got the items mixed up as that was another one of his diecasts he had on auction. I offered to send the Olds back in exchange for the Buick, but he told me that instead of that, why don't I just keep the Olds and pay another $25 if I wanted, since it up to that point it had no takers. I said "DEAL"!! I got a pristine condition Danbury Mint '55 Olds ragtop WITH its original box and papers and in the next couple days he had sent the Buick with no charge for the shipping. Now THAT's what I call an excellent eBayer!

True...... ?

While I'm not a big fan of Hollywood these days, this looks very interesting! I sure hate to see those old racing cars get cracked up for a movie. The last scene in that trailer literally had me bursting out laughing!

I had my paint guy mix this in a two stage paint so it dried a bit flat..........once it's cleared the hue should darken up just a bit. Not to mention, I have a fluorescent lamp just above the body and incandescent ones just in front of it. I might take pics outside once it's all done on top of the car, but with a Mulberry tree in full bloom at the back of the house and my car parked right under it..........you guessed it----the car is being bombed with Mulberries, not to mention bird poo-poo.

OK.........I'm off till next Sunday night, so I figured I needed to spend some time and get this resto painted and then hopefully done before it's back to work. As per my usual practice these days, I first put on a light dust coat of Plastikote T-35 Gray. This was then followed by a couple coats of BIN Zinsser sealer. Here's the body before the BIN........ And the following pics are with the BIN Zinsser on............... After a bit, I put on another couple coats of primer, then came the color coats. This is 1968 Corvette Bronze as mixed by my local paint shop in a touch up amount. I initially sanded off a couple dusties and then put on a couple final coats which were thinned down a bit. I'll let this sit for a couple days and then this will be clear coated. After that fully cures, I'll then rub out and polish the clear. The soft top will eventually be painted a beige color......that was one of the top colors for '68 along with black or white. So, I'm at the point after painting that I'm on the downside of this resto. Then it's putting on the little bits and pieces, BMF and then getting it all together and getting it to sit right. I hope to get this done during the week, but with being off and having other things to do, that might be more optimistic than realistic. Thanks for tuning in!

A neighbor had one of these (Fiat version) when I was a kid. I always thought they sat funny with their rear wheels toed inwards. I see this one does the same thing!

I have this kit (MPC) and indeed those parts look very familiar. One quibble I do have with the kit is the body shape itself. While not bad at all, there's something about the DLO that seems off to me. It appears a bit low and perhaps could stand to be raised a scale inch or so. When I'll build it is anyone's guess, but I also have the MPC James Bond Aston builder which I'd probably restore first.

Actually, Chrysler switched to a unibody construction for '67 for the Imperial which had completely new styling. I remember this as there was a '67 Imperial sitting on the property (garage apartment I had) in dire need of a resto. That car was there for years and I remember my landlord saying he wished it was a '66 as they were easier to restore with their separate frames.

I didn't know he had died! I read his obituary just a bit ago. He had a VERY convincing diorama! I wonder what's become of it? I hope someone took it in or at least donated it somewhere.

Taking a quick glance at the sedan and hardtop pics, as Mark said there are two different windshield heights for those. One tell-tale for me is that they each have different vent window shapes although that's also due to the sedan's framed doors as opposed to the lack of those in the hardtop. Sooooooo...........if you want to be "Obsessive" about it, you might want to raise the roof about a scale ½ -1" or so.

WOW! LOVE the color Dominick! Honda must be doing well with those as I see them ALL the time in my area. Especially the four door Civics. I'd love to have another small car again for around town, but today's smaller cars don't suit me well in the leg room department. Congrats!

Chris, I had difficulty with that URL...........you can try to see the whole album here.

Yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up, but it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised.

At least to my eyes, there's a big difference between the four door hardtop and sedan rooflines. Above is a '68, but it's the same difference. As Rob said, the sedan roofline is more upright and dare I say 'boxier' than the hardtop. So there's some definite surgery that would be needed. The C pillar itself is not as broad as the hardtop's either.

One can't have too many four door hardtops! I too have a set of those hubcaps (Thanks Dominick!) and I'd love to build one like this but perhaps a different color. I don't think I have the PE set, but I've gotten so many accessories over the years, I'd have to double check. Is it a sure fact that the S/N car will be a four door and not a rehashed two door hardtop??

Mark, I can feel your pain when it comes to having a flooded basement. Imagine coming home to this after being told to leave for several days due to an impending flood............................ That's the trap door to my basement after Tropical Storm Lee came through here in 2011. I was told by FEMA after they did some measuring that there was 5½ feet of water that came in. After it was all drained, this was what I was left with.......... Models (many diecast) I couldn't get out of the basement in time were trashed, not to mention books and most of my plaques and awards I won over the years. The cost of getting this mess cleaned up, along with sanitizing everything was about $2000. Needless to say, NOTHING gets stored in my basement any longer! All my models are stored mostly on the third floor safe from any flood waters (I hope!)