Fixing Revell's Porsche Speedster

[Steamboat]

I recently picked up this little Porsche from a friend who is selling off his collection.  I've always loved the Porsche 356 and was anxious to build one. Unfortunately, this kit has changed little since it was originally issued in the '60's. I'm going to try to correct some of the major issues. 

First off, the rear wheel openings are far too high.  I added a piece of. 040" sheet styrene to each side, which will eventually be sanded to approximate the correct shape. 

Front and rear pans have been smoothed and blended.  The kit does not come with bumpers. I have some parts box bumpers that are fairly close. 

The hood fit was appalling.  I added a strip of .010" to the right side as seen in the photo. It will be sanded to shape. 

Stay posted.

[styromaniac]

I have a couple of the original issue kits from the 60s....I will be watching your progress.

[Steamboat]

Update 1.8.2021

One of the glaring problems with the kit is the ungodly tire width, to the extent that Revell had to radius the rear wheel arches to make clearance.  I went through my parts box and could not find any narrower tires that would fit the stock rims.  So I decided to try to narrow the kit tires.  It turns out to be much simpler than I thought it would be.  

I started by shaving all of the extra material out of the center of the tread with an Exacto knife, leaving only about 2-1/2 treads on each side.  I then sanded the surface smooth.

 

The outer wheel fits well into the narrowed tire, with very little protruding beyond the inside.  I 3-d printed bushings to use inside the outer wheel as an axle bearing.  I'll probably cut down the wheel backs and just use the wheel lips from the wheel backs.  Here's a comparison of the kit wheel and tire with my cut down version, and the bushing.

 

Here's how they look on the car, in comparison.

[Gramps46]

Very interesting project Bill.  Please keep us posted.

[Bullybeef]

Interested in this build as well, my friend has a sealed kit in his collection, might have to wrangle it away from him! 

[Steamboat]

5 hours ago, Bullybeef said:

Interested in this build as well, my friend has a sealed kit in his collection, might have to wrangle it away from him! 

If it's an original issue, just keep it sealed! You'll be much happier in the long run if you don't build it and get a Tamiya kit instead. Mine was in a reissued 3-car Road Legends set, so I don't feel bad about it. 

[Steamboat]

I've been working on the wee tiny engine a bit.  In scale, it measures about 30" from valve cover to valve cover, which seems small to me for a 1600 cc engine.

Here it is, shown with a Porsche 959 drivetrain for comparison.  Granted the 959 is 1:24 scale vs. 1:25 for the Revell.  I thought about using the 959 engine in the Speedster.  It would have been very cool, but thankfully the KISS Principle kicked in before I did any cutting.

 

I went ahead and finished the Speedster engine with a distributor and coil from my parts box, and some covers for the air filters made from soda can aluminum.  Here's the little guy ready for install.

[afx]

I applaud you for taking on this challenge.  I sold this kit rather than try and make something of it. I have a couple of the Fujimi 356 kits in the stash.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I also admire your effort in getting this model to resemble the real car more than it does as it comes in the box.

I bought a couple of these shortly after getting back in the hobby, solely out of ignorance...and the very pretty box-art.

After looking at them, in disgusted exasperation I put them on the shelf, where they've been for well over a decade.

I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

 

[Oldmopars]

Looking good. I am not surprised that the engine looks small. It is the Super 90 and was based around the VW 36HP engine, but with a lot of Porsche reworking. These were not a very big engine in 1:1, in 1:25 it will be very small and be dwarfed by the 959 engine. 

[Steamboat]

On 1/16/2021 at 7:09 AM, afx said:

I applaud you for taking on this challenge.  I sold this kit rather than try and make something of it. I have a couple of the Fujimi 356 kits in the stash.

 

On 1/16/2021 at 9:22 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

I also admire your effort in getting this model to resemble the real car more than it does as it comes in the box.

I bought a couple of these shortly after getting back in the hobby, solely out of ignorance...and the very pretty box-art.

After looking at them, in disgusted exasperation I put them on the shelf, where they've been for well over a decade.

I'm looking forward to seeing your results.

 

Thanks guys!

One of the biggest challenges is going to be making a windshield and frame. Does anyone have any experience with doing it?

I have an old 57 Corvette windshield that I was going to try to modify, but it's quite different. 

[wilronertson]

You have given this kit respectful justice.

I got this as a birthday present in the Mid-70's (I didn't even know what a Porsche was then) and made it as best I could as a young teenager.  I found it when we cleaned out the family home, and kept it in the original box.  The glue had separate the parts in places, and I have now repaired the body, and will re-paint as an homage to the James Dean 356 he had briefly before the 550 Spyder. Even though it is an old kit with ill-fitting parts, fat tyres etc it sparked my interest in the earlier Porsches, and 'in the process' of  putting together a 550 Spyder (Ukraine model), a 904 (monogram-vintage), a 917 (Heller - Vintage), and another 356 speedster from eBay (different boxing), and the Tamiya 356 Coupe.

I am much slower and a little more careful with how I now tackle my learning curve back into the hobby. Here is my progress with the 547 Carrera engine for the old 550 Spyder kind regards Wil

[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[Steamboat]

Finally finished this one.  Unfortunately I don't have photos of the struggles to get it done.  I'll post some more pictures in the Under Glass section.

[Paul Payne]

Really nice job= I built one years ago and added flares. Headlights are from AMT Avanti.

[drodg]

55 minutes ago, Steamboat said:

Finally finished this one.  Unfortunately I don't have photos of the struggles to get it done.  I'll post some more pictures in the Under Glass section.

That is a great job!  Oh my I am so impressed.

[Deathgoblin]

I've been kinda interested in one of these.  Nice work!