AMT '65 Nova, or the sum of its parts

[ChrisBcritter]

(Got a big fat 404 error so I have to retype the whole thing.)

I'm dipping my toe in the water here; never really did an official in-progress report before, so here we go.

I started out with an AMT Rat Packer '65 Nova back around 2000 or so; then picked up an incomplete gluebomb '62 Nova convertible from Wheat's Nostalgia from which I salvaged the rear quarter panels, chassis and engine compartment to drag it back from... drag. Got a hood from the Modelhaus, added the lower rear quarters to fix the wheelbase, then let the project sit for over a decade due to lack of a good interior (the '62 had a mint dash but the instrument cluster and upholstery were wrong for '65, and it was a mess from the PO's having glued fabric on it anyway) until this one turned up on eBay:

Had an absolutely delightful time getting this paint off - Testor's ELO and a lot of scrubbing got the last of it, finally.

Like so many of those '60s interiors, the bucket seats were molded in and it had convertible side bolsters, so out came the photo etch saws and Evergreen sheet. Here's where I am today:

I cut out the back seat and bolsters and filled in the sides, leaving the small tabs as the armrests. Next I cast copies of the upholstery pattern from the door panels and added them to the inner rear quarters. I widened the rear bench - twice - using the center of the '62 rear seat and some .08 Evergreen stock, and added fillers to close the side gaps. The front buckets were sawed off and the bottom front parts were cut out, switched side to side and turned upside down, making them tuck under as they should. The tough part was that the darn things overlapped the console, and it was a real bear separating them!

I did recently get an NOS '65 dash, and I'll be going with a rarely-seen Fawn/Tan color scheme with brown carpet.

The chassis has had some mods; so far I've opened up the leaf springs and added a second exhaust. The front and rear crossmembers had been hacked up by the PO, so I made a mold from my '63 Nova wagon's chassis and cast replacements in resin. The engine will be a 327 from the '64 Nova kit, with a Powerglide trans I copied from the '63 wagon's 6-cylinder. I like using vintage parts when I can.

Here's the body, with an Artesian Turquoise paint job laid down by master modeler Tom Piagari. He also cast the tail and backup lenses in clear red and clear resin. Naturally, I greatly appreciate his help .

Here's where I spliced in the lower quarters and the engine compartment. Chassis fit at the rear is not easy without the screw posts, so I added the ones from the '62 body to the chassis with spacers to take up the slack (the Rat Packer bumper doesn't have the tab). Oddly, the stock chassis fits way up inside the rockers/quarters - just another of its quirks.

And yes, I'll clean up those mold marks in the headliner.

Thanks for looking, and happy holidays!

 

 

 

[ChrisBcritter]

And another delightful 404 while adding to it 

This will be a 1969-or-so era mild street machine. For rolling stock, I'm using the deep 13" chrome reverses from the original issue Deora kit, most likely with AMT compact tires with the overlays from the '69 Corvair.

If anyone has better ideas for late-'60s period smaller performance tires, I'm open to suggestions... only other ones I have are BF Goodrich Advantage radials from the Opel GT kit which would be too new, I think?

Edited December 24, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[Snake45]

Fabulous build, I absolutely love it!   I'm trying to get some 1G Novas together myself and will be watching this. Please keep us posted as to your progress! Drive on! 

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks kindly! I pulled these chassis images off the net from a sold car ad; hope they can be of some help:

[Snake45]

One of my projects will be based on a Trumpeter '63 ragtop, the only version of this kit I ever had the chance to buy. I don't care for ragtops so I just got a resin sedan body for it. 

I'm planning to move the wheelbase on a Rat Packer back and put it on a '66 Nova pro street chassis. I'll use the '66 interior on that one, too, if it can be made to fit/work. Not super-concerned about accuracy, just going for a cool modern street bomber. 

I'm pretty sure I have a stock '65 resin body too. Don't remember if it has an interior or not. If it does, I'll probably do that one as a late '60s high school hot rod somewhat in the same vein as yours. I'll put it on a '66 Nova stock chassis. 

You don't see many streetable 1G Nova models built, so I'm cheering you on, here. 

[W-409]

I agree, we don't see these built too often! Nice work with converting the Rat Packer kit back into a stock-bodied Street Car. Also your interior work looks very nice so far. The color looks very good, and very close to the stock Artesian Turquoise. This will be a very nice build when it's done, so keep us posted.

[ChrisBcritter]

On 12/23/2018 at 3:23 PM, ChrisBcritter said:

For rolling stock, I'm using the deep 13" chrome reverses from the original issue Deora kit, most likely with AMT compact tires with the overlays from the '69 Corvair.

Minor update: I just poured the second part of a mold to make the tires. I found an AMT compact promo tire and added an overlay on each side to make it extra meaty. I cut an extra tread in each overlay to blend them in better; the sidewalls read "Firestone Super Sports GP 6.00/10.50 x 13". (Wonder if Modelhaus Tires would be interested? 13" performance skins are tough to find in scale.) 

I also made molds of the dash to copy the instrument cluster (so I can countersink it into the bezel), the gas and brake pedals so I can make them separate, door panels from the '66 El Camino to copy the door hardware and kick panel vents, and since I had room in the mold, a rare '63 Nova taillight bezel and '59 Olds headlight/turn signal unit.

And, finally, drilled and ground out a new rear axle hole to raise its tail a bit.

Edited January 3, 2019 by ChrisBcritter

[Superbird McMonte]

 I have always considered altering the wheelbase of the Rat Packer Nova back to stock configuration. It’s nice to see it done!

Great work can’t wait to see the rest!

[ChrisBcritter]

A little update: I managed to get a couple serviceable tires from the mold... 

Two down, two to go. A few pinholes, but they can be fixed; a little finessing on the tread and I should be good to go.

Anyone have experience molding tires in flexible black resin?

 

[ChrisBcritter]

And an update on this one since I had the camera out. Here's where I am on the interior; I used embossing powder for the carpet and it worked well; sealed it with Dullcote. The heel pad was messed up by a pin mark so I cut it out and inserted a trimmed-down unit from a '66 El Camino. The same kit's door panels were copied to get window cranks,  door handles and front armrests. Painted the seats and panels Fawn and added chrome trim to the  sides of the buckets, cast the gas and brake pedals and made a parking brake handle. The instrument cluster was cast from the dash, then the bezel was opened up and the gauges painted and recessed into the panel. Just need to add BMF and Molotow and start assembling.

The rolling stock and the '64 AMT Nova 327 engine and resin Powerglide (a long way to go yet on that). The front tires were some sort of 13" front drag units from an unknown MPC kit; had to remove the molded-in wheel backs and shave the tread down flatter after carving new grooves in. A bit of work but it beats using those same AMT compact tires again. Thanks for looking! 

Edited May 29, 2019 by ChrisBcritter

[Tom Geiger]

Lookin good!   

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work on converting the interior back to stock. The body looks great also. Sure wish we'd get a stock body of this car. Keep up the nice work. 

[GMCMAN52]

On 5/29/2019 at 9:58 AM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nice work on converting the interior back to stock. The body looks great also. Sure wish we'd get a stock body of this car. Keep up the nice work. 

 

[ChrisBcritter]

Did the BMF and Molotow on the interior and dash last night, then the passenger side panel broke off where it joins the package shelf.  I'm guessing the Testors ELO may have made it a bit brittle; I'll just have to pin the joint and be doubly careful assembling the whole interior.

[ChrisBcritter]

So as I was saying... The Little Engine That Could (drive me up the wall) is now nearly done:

Chassis is now ready for detail paint/weathering; I dressed up the front end with some Trumpeter suspension bits and added traction masters from an AMT shoebox Ford:

Red and clear resin tail/backup lights are in:

Interior is all together:

I'm pretty happy with how the dash and instrument cluster turned out: 

(Four Five times I've tried to post and the last photo keeps appearing twice! ) The Krylon Champagne metallic came out a bit flakier than I wanted; oh well, press on regardless. Thanks for looking! 

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by ChrisBcritter

[Snake45]

That's gonna be a beauty, Chris! Drive on! 

[LouO]

Lots of work, and it has obviously paid off. It looks fantastic! Wow!

[6883michaelw]

WOW!!! That has to be the nicest AMT Nova I've ever seen. Love the engine. Fantastic work....

[Scott8950]

Some really great work going on. I have 2 trumpeter novas and also a rat packer waiting to be built. I love chevy lls ? here is my weekend hotrod

Edited March 21, 2020 by Scott8950