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I picked up this kit for $40 dollars Australian. It had been "started" but not much had been done. I decided that I wanted a kit to practice my scratch building skills on, because I had been attempting to scratch bulid an Australian TD Gemini, and reached the limit of my skills and so figured I'd try to fix a kit up, and also in a larger scale so I could get used to making things in a bigger scale before aiming again at completing the 1/25 scale project. So the bandai kit is very basic. I refuse to say bad, because I think you get what you pay for most of the time, and I was prepared in advance. And it was what I was looking for anyway. The kit is simple, with a number of engine parts, a couple of body parts, and a lot of intenal mechanics for a battery powered motor, and moveable steering. Here is the engine gearbox etc. broken down from the attempted assembly. So of course after fiddling with the parts etc, I started to research. I won't bore you with the details, except to say that it took a few weeks to gather enough material together to start. I found an excalibur on a flickr account and was able to get a very good selection of reference photos. I learned that the excalibur series 1 was based around the Chevy 327/350 engine, a homemade frame strengthened from the original Dart frame to accommodate the 327/350 Chevy small block, and some had super chargers etc. And I found heaps of material on the Chevy small block engine First thing was to cut the engine/gearbox/oil pan up completely to get it in a position that I could start to re engineer it to look something like a chevy small block. Then starting with the oil pan I glued it back together reinforcing the inner seam I added end pieces to fill in the gaps created by cutting the one piece moldings up And then using a scratch builders best friend, copious amounts of filling and sanding to create something that vaguely looks like a late 60s oil pan. This is a good example of the challenge I face, as I'd like the model represent a story, but I obviously can't make it like it came out of the factory as a lot of cars in the production line were custom made, some with super chargers, some with bigger engines and oil pans, fuel pumps etc, so I have to balance out all the possible variations as much as possible. And I don't have the super references of just one car to do that. So for example with the oil pan, I am working on the approach that the model will represent some one doing the best they can to restore an excalibur back to as close as factory spec as possible, hence the aim of changing the oil pan back to a "traditional" late 60's shape. I will aim as I develop parts to replicate them as best I can. In a future post you will see that for the fuel pump, instead of using the useless blob in the kit, i scratch built one. But based on the fact the water pumps don;t often last 50 years, I have found an Edelbrock water pump suitable for the 350 Chevy small block that is in a more traditional style with the strengthening vanes around the pulley housing as opposed to the excalibur in my reference photo's that has a modern flat, sleek looking water pump, which seems a little out of place for me. Anyway I hope it makes sense as I go along, and I'd appreciate all and any comments at any time.