Anybody tried this chassis swap on AMT's '63 'Vette?

[Monty]

I despise promo-type chassis such as the one in AMT's '63 Corvette, and I wondered if one of MPC's C3 ('68 - '82) chassis might be an easy drop-in fix for most '63 builds, with the exception of Bloomington gold-type restorations.

Yes, technically the 'Vette didn't get front and rear disc brakes till '65, but the chassis didn't change drastically through '82, and MPC's offers some nicely done engraving, separate rotating half-shafts and posable front wheels.   

Just curious if anyone has tried it and can tell me whether the wheelbase is close and if a lot of work needs to be done to fit with AMT's interior bucket.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The C2-C3 chassis was basically the same design from 1963 through 1982. There are numerous detail changes that hard-core Corvette aficionados might pick up on, but to anyone else, there shouldn't be anything really obvious.

Wheelbases of both C2 and C3 are 98", so if both kits are in the same scale, and if the kit designers could measure and divide reasonably accurately, the kit wheelbases should be identical too.

It should be a straightforward swap.

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Force]

Could work.
I would go with the MPC 64-67 chassis or the Revell 90's tooling 67 chassis, they are a lot better and detailed than the old AMT chassis.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Force

[Snake45]

I put an MPC '66 Vette body on an AMT '63 chassis with no issues at all, so I don't see any reason why any of the MPC '64-'82 chassis wouldn't work under an AMT body.  

The MPC chassis are quite fiddly, though, and the tooling has been VERY worn for YEARS. Whole lotta flash and mold alignment cleanup to take care of. But if you enjoy this kind of work, knock yourself out! 

If you want to build an accurate, nice '63, though, you'd be better off starting with the body of Revell's snapper.