amt 1202 1/25 AMT 1963 Chevy II Nova Station Wagon - Craftsman Plus

[moparfarmer]

With new ones people would like how about the 67 Skylark 2 dr ht..Would be a huge seller..

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

After mine arrived, I looked at it with  the '66 chassis. It looks to me, like merely trimming the back of the chassis pan, where it inserts in the body, so that it's narrow enough to fit, makes it virtually a dead drop-on. It  looks to me like  the WB even aligns. Granted, my look was very rudimentary, but...

 

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

Haven't had a chance to do with mine, but plan to check it out..wheelbase was the same from '62-67, so the 2nd gen chassis should be fine. 

In the Under Glass section, Ranma put one on a '66 chassis and I asked him how he did it. He told me with nice instructions, and I used his tips to trim the '66 pro stock chassis to fit under a junk '65 body I'm trying to rehabilitate. Mine still needs a little length off the back. Go thou and do likewise! 

[Rob Hall]

3 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

 

In the Under Glass section, Ranma put one on a '66 chassis and I asked him how he did it. He told me with nice instructions, and I used his tips to trim the '66 pro stock chassis to fit under a junk '65 body I'm trying to rehabilitate. Mine still needs a little length off the back. Go thou and do likewise! 

I have one of those ‘65 awb coupes I want to do something similar with but to get it to fairly stock..

Edited January 29, 2021 by Rob Hall

[Snake45]

2 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

I have one of those ‘65 awb coupes I want to do something similar with but to get it to fairly stock..

Except for the altered rear wheel openings, the body is still pretty much stock including all emblems, door handles, etc. I got this one with an eBay "Nova junkyard" that had a couple other things I wanted. Guy started converting it back and gave up. I think I can "gitter done." Won't be stock, though, 'cause I don't have a spare '65 stock interior. 

[Rob Hall]

19 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Except for the altered rear wheel openings, the body is still pretty much stock including all emblems, door handles, etc. I got this one with an eBay "Nova junkyard" that had a couple other things I wanted. Guy started converting it back and gave up. I think I can "gitter done." Won't be stock, though, 'cause I don't have a spare '65 stock interior. 

Yeah, the interior is a question.  I thought about cutting down a wagon interior and modifying it, or combining the wagon dash with parts of a stock ‘66 interior.  

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, the interior is a question.  I thought about cutting down a wagon interior and modifying it, or combining the wagon dash with parts of a stock ‘66 interior.  

The '66 interior fits it near perfect after slimming the sides just a hair. I assume you could fit the wagon dash to the '66 interior but I'm not gonna bother. 

[Snake45]

On 1/28/2021 at 8:18 PM, Snake45 said:

 

In the Under Glass section, Ranma put one on a '66 chassis and I asked him how he did it. He told me with nice instructions, and I used his tips to trim the '66 pro stock chassis to fit under a junk '65 body I'm trying to rehabilitate. Mine still needs a little length off the back. Go thou and do likewise! 

Okay, here's the new '63 Wagon body with the '66 Nova pro street chassis I've been altering to use with a "Switcher" '65 body. As you can see the major problem is that the Wagon has the underhood sheetmetal molded as part of the body, whereas the inner fenders and firewall are built up separately on the '66 chassis (both stock and PS). You'll have to either cut the underhood metal out of the Wagon body, OR build the '66 chassis without these areas and figure out how to engineer the '66 front suspension to work without the upper mounting points. 

Otherwise it looks like everything will fit fine. 

 

[hedotwo]

On 10/1/2020 at 11:35 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

Personally, I would be more likely to buy this kit rather than installment 35 of another Mustang, Camaro or 20s/30s Ford kit.

At least it's something different.

 

A good modeler will have this thing looking like a show winner in no time.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

x2 😉

[Erik Smith]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Otherwise it looks like everything will fit fine.

I contemplated this...but after giving in and buying one of the new wagons and seeing how nicely the new inner fenders/firewall look, I think I will go the easy route and use the kit stuff. 

It's a great looking body and casting, really. Crisp lines and not a lot of cleanup.

[ChrisBcritter]

I sat down last night with the new AND old Nova wagons - and after comparing them both, here's my take. 

First, the body:

• Overall dimensions are pretty well spot on, and the engine compartment is improved
• Emblems are more delicately molded on the new one
• Door/tailgate openings are much less deeply engraved on the new one
• No sink marks on the new one - my old one has at least six
• Old glass will fit the new body, but new glass won't fit the old one - its roof is thicker underneath around the edges
• Grille bars are not as sharply molded on the new one; no turn signal lens pattern and the horizontal lines are missing from the wraparound trim. It will fit the old body; old one fits new with a little filing on the sides of the tab
• Rear bumpers will swap; only difference is the new one doesn't have "1963" on it
• Taillights are little jewels on the new one - red lenses are back, and for the first time, AMT added the middle reflectors on the bezels (just hit them with a drop of clear red). They should interchange on the old body for fit
• The new hood will swap with the old one just fine and vice versa except for the clip tab on the old one

Next, the chassis:

• Really good clone of the original; every bolt, floor plug, cable and line is accounted for down to the 24 bolts on the spare tire well
• Width at the rear tapers a bit on the new one; it fits the old body but the old chassis would have to be trimmed 1/16" on either side at the end, tapering forward to the wheelwells to fit the new one
• Motor mounts match; the six/PG from the old kit and the 327/stick from the '63 hardtop drop right in
• The underside of the new chassis is more relief engraved; if you remove the molded-in exhaust or rear springs you'll have to do more filling
• Wheelcovers/tires are an excellent match to the original; treads on the new ones are better defined
• The new chassis, oddly, is missing a small (1/8") chunk out of the rear stub frame next to the front spring hanger on the driver's side - easy fix 

Finally, the interior - this has some concerns for me: 

• New and old interiors interchange for fit very well
• Engraving on seats and especially door panels on the new one isn't as good as the original - door and window handles are barely suggested, the crosshatch texture in the rectangular panels on the seats and doors is missing, and somehow nearly all the detail on the top half of the driver's door panel appears to have been filed or polished off
• Dash has no molded-in gauge detail like the original, but the instrument cluster decal is a beaut, right down to the microscopic turn signal indicator arrows
• Radio looks like an aftermarket (cassette?) unit, with no pushbuttons and what appears to be an AM/FM switch on top - old one was AM pushbutton 
• Glove box door and ash tray are recessed into the dash, rather than with engraved openings like the old one 
• Steering wheel is excellent - nubs on the back are more in-scale than the old one
• Engraving on the cargo floor is more even and consistent than the old one - but of course both have large push marks near the tailgate with the pattern ever-so-slightly misaligned (some things never change!)

So, in the end, I'm very happy to see this kit return, or be reincarnated - I think when I build it I'll scrounge up an original interior and maybe grille/bumper for the best of both worlds. Thank you Round 2!

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by ChrisBcritter

[Gramps2u]

After noticing many are using the 66 Nova Pro street for a chassis, I opened an "old" Millennium edition of the AMT 66 Nova 2n1 kit. . Simply for the intent of a far more detailed chassis and other factory stock components. For a factory stock build option. Just as the pro street chassis fitting with a trim here & there The "stock" version which was re-popped recently will also fit with some work. Fire wall would need trimming if a different firewall was wanted. I didn't test fit any other stock 66 . A difference in the "hump is evident, the 66 has a more profound tunnel hump (for better choice of words) Personally fitting a 235 and a power glide in the existing kit would make a fun build with a little extra pizazz.  After close inspection of 2 of the same wagon kits one can see the repaired areas in the tool or the body plug used to make the tool on the body itself.   Some minor injection pin marks that need attention also but what the hey, This is what modeling is all about!  is the greatest re-pop? No... However the material to work with provides an excellent base material for the advanced modeler or the novice for a quick weekend build. One thing I did test is the 283 from the Older AMT 57 Chevy kit. It fits easily in the existing 63 nova wagon engine compartment.  A use for those multiples of AMT 57 Chevy kits collecting dust? Just a thought.  Any way its good to be back on the forum and happy modeling  !

Edited March 18, 2021 by Gramps2u

[Straightliner59]

I think I will probably go L/S (maybe L/SA) curbside, like this:

 

[Mark]

L/Stock would be way up there for a six-cylinder car, wouldn't it?  No factory installed V8 for '63, you could get installation parts over the parts counter from day one but those conversions weren't legal for stock classes...

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I think I will probably go L/S (maybe L/SA) curbside, like this:

 

Cool idea! Or just add a hood scoop or lump and you can call it a Modified Production, which is even cooler! At least one of mine will end up on the strip with you. 

[Classicgas]

7 hours ago, Gramps2u said:

After noticing many are using the 66 Nova Pro street for a chassis, I opened an "old" Millennium edition of the AMT 66 Nova 2n1 kit. . Simply for the intent of a far more detailed chassis and other factory stock components. For a factory stock build option. Just as the pro street chassis fitting with a trim here & there The "stock" version which was re-popped recently will also fit with some work. Fire wall would need trimming if a different firewall was wanted. I didn't test fit any other stock 66 . A difference in the "hump is evident, the 66 has a more profound tunnel hump (for better choice of words) Personally fitting a 235 and a power glide in the existing kit would make a fun build with a little extra pizazz.  After close inspection of 2 of the same wagon kits one can see the repaired areas in the tool or the body plug used to make the tool on the body itself.   Some minor injection pin marks that need attention also but what the hey, This is what modeling is all about!  is the greatest re-pop? No... However the material to work with provides an excellent base material for the advanced modeler or the novice for a quick weekend build. One thing I did test is the 283 from the Older AMT 57 Chevy kit. It fits easily in the existing 63 nova wagon engine compartment.  A use for those multiples of AMT 57 Chevy kits collecting dust? Just a thought.  Any way its good to be back on the forum and happy modeling  !

All of it is completely new tooling. Its basically reverse engineered. See Tim Boyd's review elsewhere on the forum. 

[Straightliner59]

17 hours ago, Mark said:

L/Stock would be way up there for a six-cylinder car, wouldn't it?  No factory installed V8 for '63, you could get installation parts over the parts counter from day one but those conversions weren't legal for stock classes...

Based on advertised shipping weight divided by 194, that's what it works out to (1975 rules).

[Straightliner59]

17 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Cool idea! Or just add a hood scoop or lump and you can call it a Modified Production, which is even cooler! At least one of mine will end up on the strip with you. 

If I didn't already have a MP '70 Chevelle in the works,  I probably would!  MP was a very cool class!

[Mark]

For Stock class, it's shipping weight / advertised HP, not cubic inches.

[Straightliner59]

38 minutes ago, Mark said:

For Stock class, it's shipping weight / advertised HP, not cubic inches.

Oh! I will recalculate, then. Thanks! Even though most people don't even seem to bother to get the class right, that stuff matters, to me!😃

[GMP440]

 

  Wanted to see everyone's opinion on the success of this kit.  Maybe it's a little early, but looks like this kit was well received.  Don't know if it's been sold out but there were many buyers on this one, with some buying more than one.  Probably will take some time for Round 2 to determine if it generated the revenue they wanted.    

Edited March 20, 2021 by GMP440

[Snake45]

I bought two and will probably buy at least one or two more. LOTTA buzz about that kit here and I think we've already seen four of them built. That's pretty hot by my reckoning. 

[cobraman]

I built one and I am planning to buy another.

[GarryR]

Well, eBay vendor n2flying27 shows 385 sold. It certainly hit his clientele.

[Danno]

In a word:   HUGE.

🌵😎

[Casey]