om617 Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Started this basket case some days ago. I wanted a bubble top to go with the convertible,but thought the ones for sale was either too good do try this on,or too bad and not worth the dollar. Had this spare convertible parts car and plenty of 62 Bel Air parts cars to use as a donor. First thing was to stretch the wheelbase,Buick has 123" vs Chevrolet 119",i found it`s enough to extend the frame rails from the firewall and forward,the chassisplate it self fit like a glove (well,not really but in lenght. I cut the transmission tunnel off the Bel Air chassis so i can use the original Buick interior tub. I have to fix the wiperpanel,one rear wheelarch,the lettering on hood and trunk are sanded off,make new moldings to run from A to B pillars and lower surround for the rear glass. Will be using the engine compartment and firewall from the Bel Air too,needs a little file and sand,or adjustments before i will go ahead and glue it to the body,this is just a rough mock up so far. As far as the engine goes i thought of use the engine from a 65-66 Wildcat or the 67 Riviera,but with the older style valve covers and air cleaner + the transmission. Well,here is where i`m at now. I have not primed anything for first impression,also the ugly tape is on,honest mess if you want lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedotwo Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Great start! Following... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dan Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 Did you have to pinch the Bel Air C-pillars together to make them fit the Invicta?I tried the same roof swap onto a 1961 Bonneville convt. that had a wasted windshield frame. After pinching the C-pillars together the trailing end of the roof sat up so high that i ended up throwing the whole mess back into the dead-end box.The AMT 1962 Electra reissue will have the closest engine to what the AMT 1961 Buick originally had Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) Did you have to pinch the Bel Air C-pillars together to make them fit the Invicta?I tried the same roof swap onto a 1961 Bonneville convt. that had a wasted windshield frame. After pinching the C-pillars together the trailing end of the roof sat up so high that i ended up throwing the whole mess back into the dead-end box.The AMT 1962 Electra reissue will have the closest engine to what the AMT 1961 Buick originally had Sounds really strange but i`ll take your word for it. There was some minor adjustments with the C-pillars,but when i did the test fit i taped the glass onto the roof,as a jig if you want. It fit really well,the A-pillars only needed a millimeter or so adjustment,pushed inwards to fit the line of the original molding. Another thing i do is mount a pillar one at a time,this gives room for those small adjustments needed for the final fit. Edit. Yes you are right about the engine. But i will be using it for a 62 4 door conversion. Edited March 29, 2016 by om617 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Force Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) 1961 Buick Invicta with a bubble top is one of my favourite cars and I have managed to find a decent restorable Annual kit...and I have a Modelhaus kit.I thought about using the 62 Chevy Bel Air chassis for my build when I start with it so I will follow this with great interest.Mine will not be factory stock so I was thinking about using the 401/425 Nailhead engine and drive train from the AMT 1966 Buick Riviera kit. Edited March 29, 2016 by Force Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) I snagged a nice clean one of these too on eBay recently for a very decent price! And yes, I was fortunate in that the roof was intact with no breaks in the pillars (especially the rear ones!) at all. Those C pillars though are oooh sooo thin! This is just me, but I might have used part of the beltline and the tulip panel off of the '62 Chevy to eliminate any bending of those pillars. 1961-62 GM B-body bubbletops are almost identical from the tops of the doors upwards, although using the cowl would have been tricky as the Chevy has parallel wipers while the Buicks are the "clap hands" type. A slight difference in the cowl pattern too as well. Looks good to me from this view though and I'll definitely be watching! You don't see many of these turn up as WIP's these days. Edited March 29, 2016 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 I'm watching too Tommy!'61 is one of my favorite years for almost every make.The '61 Buick was probably my favorite Buick body style after 1957.The bubble top was beautiful!I found a nice one of these a couple of years ago & finally built it last year.Not as detailed as yours will be, but it is one of my favorite builds. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Great start! It will be nice to see a '61 with all the current detail available under the skin.Interesting to note the width issues with both the Buick and Pontiac bodies using the Chevy roof. My solution was keeping the top edge of the body between the A and C pillars attached to the Chevy roof and cutting away the same area of the Pontiac body until I had a close fit; that way I still had enough material to sculpt the kick-up at the rear. Fitting the glass has been a royal pain, however - took a lot of reshaping to make it line up and if I had to do it again, I'd get vacuformed glass - you may want to look into that when Modelhaus reopens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Nice work! Looks very promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 I snagged a nice clean one of these too on eBay recently for a very decent price! And yes, I was fortunate in that the roof was intact with no breaks in the pillars (especially the rear ones!) at all. Those C pillars though are oooh sooo thin! This is just me, but I might have used part of the beltline and the tulip panel off of the '62 Chevy to eliminate any bending of those pillars. 1961-62 GM B-body bubbletops are almost identical from the tops of the doors upwards, although using the cowl would have been tricky as the Chevy has parallel wipers while the Buicks are the "clap hands" type. A slight difference in the cowl pattern too as well. Looks good to me from this view though and I'll definitely be watching! You don't see many of these turn up as WIP's these days. That sure is a good buy if you got it at a decent price. This particular kit is made of some sort of styrene that is very durable and flexible,so you dont have to sit with your shoulders upon your ears afraid somthing will snap like older and more brittle kits. The reason i did not cut more then right under the the chrome trim that run from A to C-pillar is i did not want any complications using the orignal Buick interior tub. Yes also the Buick has this highten profile in the middle on the wiper panel that follow the hood. Thanks. Hopefully Modelhaus open so i can get some vacum glass,looks much more realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 I'm watching too Tommy!'61 is one of my favorite years for almost every make.The '61 Buick was probably my favorite Buick body style after 1957.The bubble top was beautiful!I found a nice one of these a couple of years ago & finally built it last year.Not as detailed as yours will be, but it is one of my favorite builds. Steve61 was a great year,agree. Might be crazy but thinking of go this route with the 61 Oldsmobile also,except the chassis detail.Not sure i was around when you posted yours,but i seen it on Fotki and it`s stunning. It looks a lot like the one presented in the original brochure of 61 full size Buick. What yours might lack in chassis detail it makes up for everywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Great start! It will be nice to see a '61 with all the current detail available under the skin.Interesting to note the width issues with both the Buick and Pontiac bodies using the Chevy roof. My solution was keeping the top edge of the body between the A and C pillars attached to the Chevy roof and cutting away the same area of the Pontiac body until I had a close fit; that way I still had enough material to sculpt the kick-up at the rear. Fitting the glass has been a royal pain, however - took a lot of reshaping to make it line up and if I had to do it again, I'd get vacuformed glass - you may want to look into that when Modelhaus reopens.That is exaxtly how i did it,took along the top door/fender trim from the Bel Air. Also as mentioned i used the glass as a jig when adapting the pillars to the body. Sure as i go along this might change a mm here and there,so if the glass will fit when its time to install is another story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
om617 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Nice work! Looks very promising.Thanks John. Have to point out it`s just a rough mock up so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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