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I think the thing to remember when these cars were coming down the assembly line they didn't have the time to paint every nuck and crany the way a car being restored would be. A majority of manufactures used different primer paints depending on the era and location on the body. GM tended to use a fairly flat black color. The OEM hoods would usually have a nice paint job on the top and sides and it had little if any overspray on the underside. The trunk lids on the other hand were usually painted very nicely and most often shared a finish on a par with the top side. There were exceptions as there always is. You may find that a higher line model would have had the hood painted and some form of sound deadening applied. I have owned two different '57 Fords years ago when they were just late model used cars. Neither had been painted before I bought them. They were both white and one was a Fairlane 500 Convertible and the other was a basic Mainline two door. Bothe hoods had a finish on the firewall and the underside of the hood that matched the body as to color and quality of finish. So as you can see the possibilities are all over the map.

Obviously something major has happened here. Besides manufacturing problems that should be corrected and the body replaced, What condition was the kit box in ? Between the production and boxing of this kit you have to wonder if something in transit from here to there had happened. If this kit was exposed to an extended time of high heat and pressure on the body could be a cause ? Are any other parts in the kit effected in the same manor ?

You might try holding just the top of the windshield frame in some very hot water, then put some rolled up cardboard paper between the cowl and the frame in hopes that it will correct some or all of the bow in the frame. The glass will go a long way to help but I think if you can get most of the bow out before assembly it should negate any gaps at the corners of the windshield.

Amazing details everywhere on this build. Your attention to every little part is remarkable.

I have done minor clean up with a damp Q tip and it can be done right after decaling.

There have been many articles on this in the past. The main problem is the fan motor that you use. This is one area you really need to be carful with as any spark has a potential of a fire. The box /booth it's self can be put together with what ever you have at hand. Very inexpensive vent tubing from Home Depot that is used for venting a hot water heater will give you enough hose for a life time. No mater how good of a filter you use some paint particles that will pass thru and reach the fan motor.

The front ends on the '64 and '65 Chevelle while looking close at first glance are actually very different. The '64 has a much more blunt or flat leading edge to the hood, bumpers and front fenders. The '65 styling changes give the front end a slightly pointed leading edge and the hood has more pronounced character lines. Hard to say what all has been done to the kit without a photo or two. Converting a '65 model to a '64 model Chevelle can be done but it might be easier and neater to just find a basic '64 Chevelle kit and then use the remains of the '65 to detail the chassis and engine. The original AMT '64 Chevelle was a basic Craftsman series and didn't have an opening hood. That could easily be opened and then use the '65 chassis from there.

Very nice looking build. Sierra Gold is the perfect color for a '57 Chevrolet.

I followed your build on this and it's a shame so much of your hard work on the chassis goes unseen. Turned out perfect and I like the knock-off wheels.

Perfect stance and I like the wide whites with the cheater slicks. Nice interior. Might think about a radiator support but not always needed.

Great looking paint work and engine detailing.

Big improvement on the front end. For myself I would even go a little further even to the point that the bumper sides would be shortened. The main thing is that you're happy with the way it looks. I like the hood design, this gives it an additional appearance and follows the basic Ford design so it looks the way you would think Ford would have done it. The roof looks perfect as is and a little work on the dash/cowl area should bring it all together.

Great looking build. Looks like it just came from the pages of Street Rodder.

I like the final look with the body color and the HO Stripes and the Red Lines. I remember the local Pontiac dealer who stocked a lot of Firebirds and they all had the new wide tread tires and most of them were the Red Lines.

Great looking Drag Car and the paint is really smooth looking. You mentioned you like to do the wiring on the engine and it shows. Cleanly detailed inside and out. To bad about the shifter thing but that should be changeable.

For the first time back in over 40 years it would seem you haven't lost your touch with this build.

Great looking paint work and I like the flat black cowl induction hood. Just enough chrome trim to accent the body lines. Those wheel lip moldings must have been fun. The wheels and tires are just right along with the stance. Very cleanly finished.

I would remove the minimum amount and see how it looks. This may take several trials but in the end it is usually best to take baby steps when you're making such changes. You can easily remove to much and then you're adding material back on and getting frustrated and can botch up the whole thing. In the picture it looks as if everything is finally glued in place and the deconstruction part can destroy other design features such as the lower spoiler that looks just right now. If you could remove the valance at the attachment point to the body might be the most ideal. The lower spoiler may have to be cut away or just rebuilt again later. Then you could move the valance further into or under the Mustang front end. At this point it's eye ball engineering and you're just moving it around to were it looks right to you. I think you will have the best luck removing material from the back side of the valance and again just baby steps. I would tape it in place and study how it looks from every angle. Only when you're 100 % then you should be safe with gluing everything back together. This front end is a very strong design element and I would try and stay as close as possible to the original design.

Great looking paint work. I had a co-worker years ago who pick up one of these when they were just 12 or 13 year old used cars. It took him over a month to blow up the engine. Turns out he wasn't the street racer he thought he was. He patched it up and sold it. So if someone in Sacrament remembers a Calypso Coral Boss 302 that never seemed to run right you might have had an unbalanced cast crank.

Very nice shade of blue for this.

This is the type of build you need to take your time looking at all the details here to fully appreciate what all has been done. While any shade of green is not what I would first think of as you look at the finish it really works for this. Not a fan of the Mopar tail stripes, but again this is done in a fashion you can't think of it being done any other way. The engine room looks a little busy at first, but everything is there and in its place. Correct mounting brackets and wire leads. The interior is done in the same manor. and the Chassis is all business also.

Another one of your outstanding Ford builds. These were popular color combinations at that time. This makes one wonder how buyers today would react to such colors on todays automobiles ?

I like the very clean way in which this was assembled. It's hard not to have a small flaw somewhere on a build of this overall size. I don't see any.

Just when you think this build could not possibly get and more detailed you get a wild hair and make a fuel pump.

I can see why you would want to build a model of the Kit Bashed Mustang. I also like the overall appearance. One thing that stands out to my eye has to do with the front valance area that starts out as a Shelby type valance. In the original application this would set much closer under the grill and no bumper. The set up you have now has it sitting further way from the body and that would still look good, but when you add in the bumper it starts to really get out there. Think of it as the problem with the '56 Chevrolet kits where the front splash pan and bumper stick out like a cow catcher on an old train. In the drawing it looks like the lower valance has been drawn in much tighter to the body and in doing so the addition of the bumper doesn't standout so much. On the hood I would stay with what ever Ford styling Q's fit. The Mustang had an R model a few years ago that may be something to consider. Either way I look forward to watching your build.