Sport Suburban

Here is another one that has been kicking around and I just need to finish it. I bought this one about 10 years ago when I was building other Johan 442's. It's a resin 72 Olds 442 convertible from Modelhaus. I even bought the W30 conversion kit at that time. I had to cast a few Johan parts to complete this build. I needed another radiator support and shroud to complete this. So this build has no real Johan donor parts. I am using the AMT 69 Olds chassis for the engine and chassis. I need to get this one done before I start any of the Revell 72 442's that I have. Here is a simpler conversion. 69 Camaro RS SS from Revell kit. It has a SS hood from an AMT kit and the exhaust from the Revell 69 Nova kit. It is in primer and the hood is fitted and fits well. Another Johan sourced kit is this 69 AMX. I wanted to build this one stock but needed many stock parts to complete it. Starting with the common race kit was a mistake. Hood is from Missing Link. Correct 69 interior was an eBay find. Chassis is stock style with molded in exhaust also eBay. Stock intake and exhaust is resin cast by me. Bumpers were stripped and front bumper molding added along with rear bumper guards. This is going to be a Big Bad AMX. Front spoiler added and I see them on many real cars but not factory correct.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to finishing the 70. It's coming along nicely.

Since we are welcoming the new year I figured I would show off some of my workbench projects that I hope to finish in 2016. Like many of you this is only some of them. First up is a Monogram 59 Corvette. I'm building it with the dual quad 283 instead of the Fuel Injection engine. I also swapped the hard top for the soft top in the Revell 58 Corvette along with the white walls but they are off center. Next is a resurging project that started as a what if. It will be a 71 GTO Judge convertible. What started out as a 72 GTO glue bomb. I cut the roof off and started the convertible conversion. That was going well so then I decided to see about a 71 conversion. The body was going to be easy and I had a MPC 71 Annual built up that I was missing front seats. I had already borrowed the correct seats and cast up resin copies. So then I cast up the rear seat so I could add that to the 72 tub. This was back in 2008. I had cast up everything to convert the 72 into a 71. I also started kit bashing it with the AMT 69 Olds chassis. Then this fell on the back burner. Due to the renewed excitement with my 70 Judge project this one has seen new light. It donated much of the kit bashing to the 70. So I bought another 72 for parts to build this one up. It won't be as detailed as the 70 but the body is much nicer than starting over with the orange kit. Next up is a MPC 70 GTO. This is a long project that has been on and off my bench a few times. It is being built as a 70 GTO Judge convertible. I had a kit with a damaged "A" pillar. I got it for parts and allready had 2 other kits. I was also toying around about turning one into a convertible. So I bought Modelhaus 69 Chevelle convertible windshield frame and MPC 68/69 GTO conv boot. This was before the 69 Chevelle conv rerelease we saw last year. The interior required no mods and the body was coming out better than the 71 project so this one took over. It got the kit bashed 69 Olds 442 chassis and Revell 68 Firebirds 400 engine. I also wanted to add as much detail as possible. It is at the final stages and this is the one I want to add brake lights and fuel lines to the chassis. Let me know what you think and I will also add more projects to this thread soon.

I'm having trouble working with the welding wire. It does not bend well in tight areas. I'll have to get some bead wire and try that next. Thanks again.

I just have to add that Daewoo went out of business before GM acquired what was left of there operations. The Korean government was auctioning off the assets to both Ford and GM with some stipulations. GM purchased the plant and all the tooling and put the manufacturing back in business and sold the cars in China. The average Korean could not afford the car. GM did eventually update the plant and modernize the products and bring them into other countries as well as the US.

I figured I would join in and show what I have finished for 2015. I did get 8 done this year and I have not shown these on here before. I have not been real good about showing off my projects lately. Many are restorations that were started a few years ago. Revell 56 Nomad built right from the box. Very nice kit. Revell Model King 57 Ford Custom police car. Mostly box stock, my kit had some bad chrome so I stripped the bumpers, sanded off the mold lines and rechromed them. 59 Edsel Corsair convertible. Restored annual kit. This was an unpainted built kit that was easy to restore. No custom parts were glued on it. Just rechromed the chrome and Modelhaus wheels and tires and mirror. It had custom ones on it. 66 Corvette 427 Roadster. This was a custom restoration of a AMT 66 Roadster. Modelhaus hood, side pipes from Revell 427 Corvette, This one took a few years but glad it's done. 68 GT40 Le Mans winner. This was a started Fujimi kit that I got and redid it. Mostly box stock. Just added photo etch hood pins on the rear canopy. Orange stripe is painted and the white round alls are decals meant for planes. 70 Grand Prix Hurst SSJ. This was a mint sealed MPC 70 Grand Prix kit I got. I usually look for rebuilders but this one landed in my lap. I sanded off most of the vinyl top to make the correct sunroof and 1/4 vinyl top for this car. Wheels are Modelhaus Hurst wheels (had to have these)! 72 Firebird Formula 400. MPC rebuilder that was in great shape but had the small Camaro spoiler glued on along with a few other custom parts. Added a correct TA rear spoiler. Optional in 72 and many dealer installed. 73 Challenger Rallye 340. MPC 1973 Challenger Rallye annual kit bashed with the AMT 70 Challenger chassis and AMT 71 Duster 340 with A/C parts. This one was an on and off again project. Thanks for checking them out and any comments welcome!

I know this has been reissued a few times but most recently back in 2010. I seeked out this version because it had the factory hub caps instead of the custom ones the Skips Fiesta version had. I don't think they adjusted the tire and wheel size. They look more like 16's to me. Plus it is molded in white instead of read. I had a Skips and sold it recently. I also built one up in the 90's and thought it was cool.

Never thought of that and I have a MIG. Have both .023 and .030 wire!

I was wondering if anyone here adds extra detail to a chassis like brake lines and fuel lines. If so what do you use and how do you attach it? Any photo references would be helpful. More specifically, my project is a 70 GTO. I swapped in the chassis from the AMT 69 Olds 442 and a 400 engine from the Revell 68 Firebird. I'm wiring and plumbing the motor and plan battery cables. I have never added the hard brake lines before and am thinking of doing that too. Any tips would be helpful.

I also have a few of these started in different stages. These kits will really test you skill and patients. The interesting part is the rear bumpers. I have an original 1971 GTO kit and that bumper is too wide also but it has 1971 on the plate. All the 72 rereleases also have the really wide bumper but the 1970 GTO kit has a narrower rear bumper that also fits these kits and looks right. I have three of the 1988 issues of the 70 GTO. As much as the two kits share it is interesting that the bumpers are different widths.

I agree that it is not that accurate especially the bumpers. Perry's kit is much nicer than the R&R kit. I had that one also and sold it. My best friend had a 69 Skylark Custom with a 69 GS hood. I would love to build a 69 GS 400 convertible someday. That is why I bought them.

It is an interesting car to research. Here are a few facts. They are all 1999 models even though they were built from 1998-2005. Officially 249 were built as new cars and they were all silver at first. These 249 have 17 digit Vin numbers. Shelby Sold the rights to build this car to Venture Corporation and they took over production. When the 5 year license expired they kept making them as incomplete component cars just like the Cobras. Still as 1999 models but now with CSX5000 vin numbers. These later cars can be any color. Venture eventually went bankrupt and Shelby bought what was left back for cheap. These are also mostly GM components and electronics.

I was in high school when the Revell 69 Camaro kits came out. I don't remember which one came out first but I think it was the Yenko. I enjoyed building that so much that I bought all three versions ( Baldwin and Z/28) when they came out. I still have the Baldwin and Yenko from back then. It is such a good kit that I have bought more of them. I have 3 of the converts, 3 Z/28s, 1 Yenko, 2 Baldwin, and 1 ZL1. So that is the result of a great time building the first ones. Another one for me is the 66 Shelby GT350. I built a GT350H back then and a 66 GT350 back in 88 I think. I wanted the 65 GT350 so bad but could not find one untill I got back in the hobby in 2000. I finally got one through eBay back then when they were just getting going. I probably have 10 kits of that tooling and built all variants of it!

I finished one and have a second one that I messed up the paint job. I recently started redoing it. Test fit every step as I had some parts that were finicky. I remember the hoses interfering with the hood closing.

Casey, The 70 Cuda is an E body. I hope you were thinking Aspen / Volare when you posted F body and not the GM Camaro / Firebird. We might have to take your Mopar card away!

The first version first batch sold out fast. I got one of that batch that had the 7 cylinder distributor. The Sox and Martin batch had a corrected 8 cyl distributor. I got one of those from that batch and a friend of mine was so excited for the kits but could not get them anywhere! Everyone was sold out at that time. I traded him both kits for a vintage kit I really wanted! (MPC 68 GTO) Then when the second batch of 70 Hemi Cudas became available, I got one of them and it had the corrected distributor! I would love to see a 70 Hemi Cuda conv also but I already built one years ago from the 71 kit.

I understood that hole was their in the event that if the nozzle blew off the can that the cap would contain the nozzle and the hole would help vent the gasses and keep the cap on. But if that is true then that does not explain why some do and some don't. The bigger question is: Why is it CARgo if sent by ship and a SHIPment if it is sent by truck?

Not every listing is free. I get 50 free listings a month but I don't have a store. You have to pay monthly for that. After I used up my 50 free listings. A model part is $1 to list and if it sells you pay a fee. It is 10% of the final value. Final value is total invoice price with shipping. So it does not matter to eBay if you start it at $1 and $14 to ship or offer free shipping and start it at $15. As for the prices of parts if they sell then that is what they are worth. I have sold many vintage parts and helped out many modelers who needed a part that was missing. I have been accused of parting out a perfect kit but that is not true. It would not make sense to buy a kit for $200 then part it out unless the parts sold for $300 or more. I got what I needed from the kit and sold the rest. Some parts are worth more than others. Most body parts and stock parts get the most. The custom parts don't usually sell as well. I build factory stock and have sold off the unused custom parts. Helps put money back in my hobby fund. I watch a lot of stuff on eBay and if you keep watching for deals and they do turn up! Others are shocking. I just watched this sell!! http://www.ebay.com/itm/321940684568?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I have two of these and if they are selling for this I may be listing one.

Those two kits are basically the same kit. The tooling is the same but has some revisions or restoration work on the tool itself. This was due to wear and tear on the tooling. The kit still builds up well but the earlier kits had better front bumpers and headlights.

That is a 65. If it is the annual it should say 1965 on the bumpers.

Modelhaus does not offer the door scoops separate from the body. They are molded to the original MPC body.

Here is a comparison shot of the decal sheets. Left is Fred Cady, middle is 2009 Hurst issue, and right is 2015 Pace Car issue. I can't tell you which one would be correct because of lighting in reference pictures. I personally like the more gold ones from the 2009 issue. What I find more interesting is that the 2009 kit has 127 parts and is skill level 3, the 2015 reissue has 143 parts and is skill level 5 !! Besides the uptop, hood and grill, I don't see anything else. What is also funny for me is that I am building the resin 72 Olds 442 convertible that I bought from Modelhaus 8 years ago, Plus the W30 upgrade parts. I originally bought it to make the pace car with the Cady decals but it had the wrong grill! Then came the 2009 issue that had everything but the lettering. So I decided to build the Modelhaus kit as a 72 Olds 442 W30 convert. Now this kit has all the parts I need for that car!! I had to buy it!

Didn't Hudson have an open scoop on the hood before Ford?

These proposals are very insightful and some solutions I had not thought of before. I would love photo etch emblems. Also on the 70 Javelin I would like to see the Mark Donahue package. Add some group 19 parts like the cross ram intake, headers and side pipes! I'm actually building a Mark Donahue street car from a resin copy of the Johan kit right now!

Yes you are correct on the bodies but on the model kit. Would you mold the doors and fenders separate from the body. Or build the body mold in such a way as to have a mold line right down the side of the quarter. Then what about the emblems? I prefer molded on emblems as opposed to decals. The 68 Javelins have emblems on the fenders and 68 AMX does not.