junkyardjeff Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 Picked up this 60 Elco body today and wondering who made it and what can I use for a donor to rebuild it,sorry for the crappy pics but I think my camera is starting to wear out.
Bucky Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 AMT or SMP made it. The AMT '59 ElCamino should work for a donor.
Mark Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 It's SMP. SMP made the Chevrolet, Imperial, and Valiant kits, AMT handled everything else that Jo-Han wasn't doing in 1960. Though all of the AMT and SMP kits were marketed together, they were separate companies until July 1961. A handful of '62 kits appeared in SMP logo boxes, mostly Styline Valiants but the occasional Imperial convertible turns up.
ChrisBcritter Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 (edited) I have a couple of these - one near perfect unbuilt, and an old builtup needing some parts and TLC. The '59 will work as a donor, although the glass is a bit narrow at the top. Might be better to swap the whole '59 roof and glass since its pillars are better detailed. The '60's tailgate needs its driver's side opening line recut 1/16" to the left to correct the width. Looks like you're also missing the taillights and lower front pan; I have a mold to copy the lights but that front pan launches a feeding frenzy on eBay every time one comes up. Someone with more skill than I should copy that piece... I don't know whether the Revell part will fit. Good luck with it and let me know if you need taillights! Edited October 3, 2020 by ChrisBcritter
ZTony8 Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 (edited) Maybe you can cut the front pan from a Revell '60 hardtop? Edited October 3, 2020 by ZTony8
espo Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 The original '60 El Camino was an SMP/AMT product. As ZTony8 suggested, any body parts and maybe even interior also could come from Revell's '60 Impala kit. The chassis under the AMT '59 El Camino would be very basic compared to the Revell Impala's chassis. I have thought about redoing the one I have so I would be interested in seeing what all you can do with yours.
Greg Myers Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 (edited) The chassis under the AMT '59 is quite accurate and nicely detailed. The chassis in the '60 El Camino is certainly a flat promo style. Edited October 3, 2020 by Greg Myers
Mark Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 The '59 El Camino chassis also has the correct fuel tank configuration while the Revell kits are correct for a passenger car.
Greg Myers Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 Yes, Mark, the indention for the spare tire, although only for the station wagon as the El Camino had theirs mounted behind the passenger seat.
High octane Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 Jeff, you can also check with Spotlight Hobbies, or Model Roundup for the '59 El Camino kit.
High octane Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 Jeff, Spotlight Hobbies DOES have this kit available as I just checked with them. Their prices are reasonable and have excellent service as well. Tell 'em that High octane sent you.
junkyardjeff Posted October 4, 2020 Author Posted October 4, 2020 I have a small local hobby shop that deals with rebuilders and will see if I can find one of those before buying a new kit,he also sells parts too so I will check with him next saturday. If he has none then I will get a new kit.
junkyardjeff Posted October 4, 2020 Author Posted October 4, 2020 Found a new chassis and interior on ebay and its on the way.
Mike999 Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) Hobby Lobby has the '59 El Camino in the big "Art Box." Or at least they did recently. I got one there. Minor point, since there's some discussion of using the Revell '60 Impala for interior parts: El Caminos didn't have the fancy Impala interior, though many have been upgraded with Impala interiors in real life and you see them all over the internet. If you're building a stock El Camino, the interiors in the '59 and '60 AMT kits are correct. The El Camino had the same interior trim level as the Biscayne. Only 3 interior colors were available: gray, green, or blue. 1959 and '60 El Caminos didn't have carpet, either, so that saves us some trouble with the old embossing powder. But feel free to add rust! From an Elky website: "Floor coverings were black vinyl, with colored specks molded in to match the upholstery color. (Unfortunately, moisture could become trapped beneath these mats, causing floor pans to rust as the years went by.)" Edited October 5, 2020 by Mike999 omit
junkyardjeff Posted October 4, 2020 Author Posted October 4, 2020 I will start posting on a build thread when the parts arrive,not sure what I will do about a engine since it does not have a opening hood. Thinking about using a six since the top will not be seen and will not need the correct valve cover and air cleaner and I have a few of them.
espo Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 If you get the '59 chassis you could open the hood and put a spare engine in there. These could be had with everything up to and including the 348 engines and even the 3x2 setup. and a 4-speed.
Greg Myers Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 The hood on the "60 could easily be cut out with the trusty #11 Exacto blade pulled backward untill it cuts through.
Carmak Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Did PMC ever make a 60 ElCamino? I know they made a 60 Chevy 4dr sedan.
espo Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Another thought would be to find one of Revell's reissues of the '60 Impala. Other than the gas tank this would give you a much better chassis, engine, hood, and trim not to mention the interior parts as well.
Mike999 Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, espo said: Another thought would be to find one of Revell's reissues of the '60 Impala. Other than the gas tank this would give you a much better chassis, engine, hood, and trim not to mention the interior parts as well. Wrong interior, unless you're building an over-restored '60 El Camino upgraded with an Impala interior. Scroll up a little bit to my earlier post where I bloviated about that.? Pictures of bone-stock '59 and '60 El Camino interiors are hard to find because so many have been upgraded or modified. Here's an original, unrestored '59 El Camino interior. Same trim level as the low-buck Biscayne. Edited October 5, 2020 by Mike999 goof
espo Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, Mike999 said: Wrong interior, unless you're building an over-restored '60 El Camino upgraded with an Impala interior. Scroll up a little bit to my earlier post where I bloviated about that.? Pictures of bone-stock '59 and '60 El Camino interiors are hard to find because so many have been upgraded or modified. Here's an original, unrestored '59 El Camino interior. Same trim level as the low-buck Biscayne. I know what you're saying about the interior and I agree about the trim level. I was just thinking of an easier way to update everything if opening the hood and updating the chassis was a consideration. Even before many of the after market companies started offering reproduction interiors the easiest interior to find was the Impala so besides looking better it was the most available interior at the time.
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