AMT 1978 Ford Courier Stepside

[Spottedlaurel]

Having completed a few kits in the last month I can start some new ones. I picked up this Courier in 2015 and I haven't built an AMT kit for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go.....

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The idea is it'll be fitted with the Thunderbird's supercharged 3.8-litre V6. The stepside bodystyle might be a bit dated for a minitruck built in the early '90s, but let's say the owner was giving a refresh to something they'd first built in the 1980s.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

A shame there aren't many optional parts in this issue. I don't intend to use either of the wheel sets, so they'll be added to the parts box.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

My current planned colour.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Briefly toyed with these wheels, but they have more of the early '80s look that I'm moving away from (and I have plans for them on another build).

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Spent a lot of time this afternoon mocking it up. A lot of separate pieces! These wheels and tyres are from the Monogram '87 Thunderbird.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The V6 had already been assembled, it seems to fit well enough. Looks like less trimming required than with the LT5 into C2 Corvette I've just finished.

Issues to resolve:

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The stepside body seems to sit a bit high, this image and photos I've seen in old Truckin' magazines show that it should line through with the side window.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Bonnet seems to project too far, maybe shorten the back edge a little

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Loadbay cover seems to be too long.

1:25 AMT Ford Courier kit by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

It's a bit better when the step is installed, but this area still looks a bit untidy and a bit of infill/tidying on the back of the cab would improve things.

I'm not planning to rush this one, I've just finished some kits which have been on the go for up to 25-30 years so I have room for a longer-term project or two.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Spottedlaurel

[Psychobilly]

Looks like this will be fun. Looking forward to following along.

[Spottedlaurel]

22 hours ago, Psychobilly said:

Looks like this will be fun. Looking forward to following along.

Thanks. I don't think I will be rushing this one, looks like it needs a bit of work with all those separate pieces and lots of flash to clean up, as well as the mod's I want to make.

[Tom Geiger]

Once you have the chassis up on wheels, hover it over some old Fords.. these mini pickups fit well under things like 1940 Fords.. just some evil thoughts for ya!

[slusher]

Nice color choice! I will be following...

[Spottedlaurel]

20 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Once you have the chassis up on wheels, hover it over some old Fords.. these mini pickups fit well under things like 1940 Fords.. just some evil thoughts for ya!

I read you saying that somewhere else on here, an interesting thought. I don't have any of those Fords, but I do have this Mercedes Lieferwagon which needs building in some sort of rodded way one day:

I was actually going to use the chassis and rear wings from my Monogram '37 Ford under it until I ended up rebuilding that one, so they're of similar size.

16 hours ago, slusher said:

Nice color choice! I will be following...

Thanks Carl ?

Not having built an AMT kit for some time, I was surprised at the softness of the plastic. I need to get on and move it forwards, but I haven't fully 'engaged' with it yet and there's no one easy thing to make a start on.

[Plowboy]

This is a cool little project! I was literally thinking about doing the same engine swap using a Ranger just the other day! I agree with you on the bed. I think the reveal on the fenders should line up with the reveal on the cab. Also, it looks like the bed fenders should swap sides judging the shape of them and the wheel openings. 

[Spottedlaurel]

7 hours ago, Plowboy said:

This is a cool little project! I was literally thinking about doing the same engine swap using a Ranger just the other day! I agree with you on the bed. I think the reveal on the fenders should line up with the reveal on the cab. Also, it looks like the bed fenders should swap sides judging the shape of them and the wheel openings. 

Another case of great minds thinking alike ?

Looking at the photo of the 1:1 I think you're right about that line running through. To do that I can drop the fender flares on the sides, but to drop the whole bed which I think it also needs I'm going to have to either shave a bit off the top of the chassis, notch the bottom of the body deck or trim down its height (basically section it).

I'm hoping for a combination of the first two, I'd like to avoid the latter.

Looking at the photo of the 1:1 and the box art, it appears I have the fenders on the right way around with the filler on the left, but I don't disagree about the look.

[Plowboy]

You could also mount the bed floor higher to the bed sides since they're separate pieces. You would have to get rid of the mounting tabs on the bed floor and maybe notch it at the rear for the frame rails. But, that would allow you to put the sides and fenders right where you want them.

You have the fenders on right according to the gas cap. You could switch that easily and make it look better by getting rid of the raised ring.

[Spottedlaurel]

6 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

You could also mount the bed floor higher to the bed sides since they're separate pieces. You would have to get rid of the mounting tabs on the bed floor and maybe notch it at the rear for the frame rails. But, that would allow you to put the sides and fenders right where you want them.

You have the fenders on right according to the gas cap. You could switch that easily and make it look better by getting rid of the raised ring.

Good ideas there Roger, that's probably the easiest solution on the loadbay.

The filler cap ring isn't pretty, wouldn't be a bad thing at all to see that gone.

Mock-up round 2 to follow, at some point.....

[Tom Geiger]

You could eliminate that fuel filler and put a simple one on the bed floor right above the tank