1968 DODGE Coronet R/T Convertible

[Bucky]

I had searched for years to find one of these at a decent price. Last week, this one popped up on eBay. I put in a couple bids. Close to the end of the auction, I got a notice saying I had been outbid. A little later, I logged in to eBay and found out that I had won the thing! After digging into the facts, I found out that two other bidders had retracted their bids, leaving me as high bidder. I got this one much cheaper than my high bid.

Anyway......here is what I got:

Other than the obviously missing windshield and frame, the only other missing piece is the hood.

I am going to attempt to rebuild this one. It doesn't quite look good enough to polish and toss into the

display cabinet!! HAHAHA

 

[Curt]

That looks restorable.  Nice catch!

[rickcaps55]

Nice that looks like it will be easy to restore. look at the online model stores and get a AMT 69 GTX converitable kit for the windshield frame and glass it's the same.! I see those kits all the time.

[Bucky]

4 hours ago, rickcaps55 said:

Nice that looks like it will be easy to restore. look at the online model stores and get a AMT 69 GTX converitable kit for the windshield frame and glass it's the same.! I see those kits all the time.

I have a GTX kit on its way. If the chassis fits the Coronet body, I might use it, too.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

I have a GTX kit on its way. If the chassis fits the Coronet body, I might use it, too.

It will.

I used the chassis from the '70 Super Bee kit, which is the same as the AMT '68/'69 Plymouth kits, under my MPC '69 Dodge Coronet.

Fits very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bucky]

That's great! Thanks, Steve. And thanks for the undercarriage pic. That's a good reference shot.

[gtx6970]

Missing the hood I assume ?

[Bucky]

Yeah, it didn't have the hood with it.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

Yeah, it didn't have the hood with it.

There's a pirate on ebay right now that will sell you and NOS hood for only $39.99 + $4.99 shipping!

$45.00 isn't too much to pay for a hood, is it?

 

I've seen this guy's offerings on ebay for some time now.

I wouldn't buy a glass of water from him if I was on fire!

Perfect example of a total profiteer!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bucky]

I do believe I'll pass on that hood, brother Steve! I actually didn't pay much more than that for what I got! LoL

[1972coronet]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

There's a pirate on ebay right now that will sell you and NOS hood for only $39.99 + $4.99 shipping!

 

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I've seen this guy's offerings on ebay for some time now.

I wouldn't buy a glass of water from him if I was on fire!

Perfect example of a total profiteer!

I believe I know of which pirate you're speaking of ---- he's been selling a parted-out MPC 1973 Duster annual (one of my top 'Holy Grail' kits !!) , and that infuriates me .

I wonder if Harts Parts sells a replacement bonnet for the '68 (and '69 non-Ramcharger ?) Coronet... ?

[Bucky]

As shown by the red arrow, I suspect there was a hefty glob of glue strategically placed under the boot cover, right about where that dimple is:

I tried to slowly work the area with a #11 blade, and I ALMOST got if off without further damge:

I got it all apart, but not without a wee bit of damage: Hopefully, when I get it back together, none of it will show. I'll most likely be fixing some places during this journey:

I started rummaging thru the parts bin and found this:

I got this resin hood from Wendell Sowers back in late 1995. I didn't have a Coronet other than the Monogram '69 that I had already built. I was thinking that maybe someday, one would come my way. That day happened last week!

This pinkish purple paint came off fairly well:

Under the top color was a base coat of silver. No primer. All that paint crazed the plastic on this Coronet. I'll be doing some sanding before I can primer it. I'll also do that before repairing the windshield frame.

The hood fits very well, and after 25 years, it has no warp to it. I'll need to do a little work on the underside for it to sit square in the opening:

 

[1972coronet]

Are you planning to remove the moulded-on door handles , emblems , etc. , and replacing them with photoetch and / or resin copies ( e.g. , Fireball lovely door handles) ? 

Any close-up pics of the crazing ? Hopefully the crazing isn't etched-deeply-enough , and can be covered with light coats of primer , with wet sanding between coats .

[Bucky]

I could use a link to Fireball's site. I hadn't thought about that, but it's a good idea. I'll see if the crazing will show up in a pic....later, today.

[1972coronet]

4 hours ago, Bucky said:

I could use a link to Fireball's site. I hadn't thought about that, but it's a good idea. I'll see if the crazing will show up in a pic....later, today.

http://www.fireballmodels.info/fmr-047.htm

[rickcaps55]

20 hours ago, Bucky said:

I have a GTX kit on its way. If the chassis fits the Coronet body, I might use it, too.

Hi yes it does you do have to do a little sanding on the firewall ends and the very back of the frame sides but it works very well I have used that frame on the Johan 69 roadrunner and GTX.

[Bucky]

Thanks for the info, guys. Mighty helpful. GTX should be here in a couple days.

[Bucky]

On 4/26/2020 at 2:35 AM, 1972coronet said:

Are you planning to remove the moulded-on door handles , emblems , etc. , and replacing them with photoetch and / or resin copies ( e.g. , Fireball lovely door handles) ? 

Any close-up pics of the crazing ? Hopefully the crazing isn't etched-deeply-enough , and can be covered with light coats of primer , with wet sanding between coats .

Here is what the body looks like:

[1972coronet]

36 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Here is what the body looks like:

Came out clean ! That crazing doesn't look too bad (from the photos you've provided) , thin primer coats should hopefully level the surface (Tamiya's primers are great) .

[Bucky]

I took a chance and sanded a small spot on the rear quarter with an old Micro Mesh 1800 grit cloth. I used a very light touch. It almost acted as if I was sanding a primer coat to get it smooth. After that, the body felt and looked like regular, unpainted styrene. I think it will be okay.

[Bucky]

I now have an AMT '69 Plymouth GTX convertible kit to use as a donor.

I've noticed some differences between the Coronet and the GTX bodies.

The windshield frame shouldn't present a problem, as it measures out 

very close to what is needed.

In the back is where the differences show up.

I made this template for the deck lid:

Here it is, on the Coronet body.

Following, I have it on the GTX body:

I'd call this a match.

These are the boot covers from each kit. Top is the Coronet cover, bottom is the GTX cover:

The following is boot cover available from Legendary Interiors, for the '68-'69 B-body MOPARS:

It appears to me that the cover from the old MPC kits of the '68 and '69 Coronets wasn't right.

Here's where the difference comes in:

There is a difference in the contours on the two kit bodies.

I may be able to do a transplant of this area from the GTX to the Coronet, so I can use the GTX boot cover.

Stay tuned!

[StevenGuthmiller]

8 hours ago, Bucky said:

I now have an AMT '69 Plymouth GTX convertible kit to use as a donor.

I've noticed some differences between the Coronet and the GTX bodies.

The windshield frame shouldn't present a problem, as it measures out 

very close to what is needed.

In the back is where the differences show up.

I made this template for the deck lid:

 

Here it is, on the Coronet body.

Following, I have it on the GTX body:

 

I'd call this a match.

These are the boot covers from each kit. Top is the Coronet cover, bottom is the GTX cover:

 

The following is boot cover available from Legendary Interiors, for the '68-'69 B-body MOPARS:

 

It appears to me that the cover from the old MPC kits of the '68 and '69 Coronets wasn't right.

Here's where the difference comes in:

 

There is a difference in the contours on the two kit bodies.

I may be able to do a transplant of this area from the GTX to the Coronet, so I can use the GTX boot cover.

Stay tuned!

I'm not too certain that I would make any modifications to the Coronet body in favor of the GTX body proportions without first doing a great deal of research.

The AMT Roadrunner/GTX bodies are notorious for having numerous problems with proportions.

Be careful.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[gtx6970]

Ive used the windshield frame and the top boot from the 69 GTX kit on an mpc coronet  with zero mods to lower rear glass area of body. Came out good.

[Bucky]

Thanks for the advice and tips, guys. I haven't started whacking anything, yet. Just about killed the battery in my digital calipers, doing all this measuring back and forth! LoL

gtx6970, did you use the GTX rear seat side panels on your Coronet?

[moparfarmer]

On 4/25/2020 at 12:45 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

It will.

I used the chassis from the '70 Super Bee kit, which is the same as the AMT '68/'69 Plymouth kits, under my MPC '69 Dodge Coronet.

Fits very well.

 

Just tooo like the real car..Do you ever make anything that doesn't look like the real deal?

 

 

 

 

 

Steve