1/25 AMT '68 Chevy Corvette Custom

[Casey]

26 minutes ago, kjohan said:

But there are infos (complaints) saying that the wheels are of a 5-spoke design (Kelsey hayes perhaps?), which is incorrect

= confused

Yes, someone mentioned the Kelsey-Hayes Mag Star wheels were included the original release of this Corvette kit, but they are no longer in the kit, and they are not included in this forthcoming re-issue.

This kit has gone through many changes over the years, but what is shown in Steve G's images on page 2 is what the soon-to-be-released kit will include.

[pack rat]

2 hours ago, kjohan said:

Looked at the Greenwood instructions

Therein it is said the wheels are Minilites (which is correct acc to what I understand)
But there are infos (complaints) saying that the wheels are of a 5-spoke design (Kelsey hayes perhaps?), which is incorrect

= confused 

Are there several versions of the 1971 Greenwood Sebring car , with different wheels ?

I think the source of your confusion is the fact that although this kit is a re-issue of the Greenwood car, it will also contain the 5-spoke mags from the Accelerator issue as well as seen in Steve's pic of the parts layout.

Here is a pic of the mags on a built-up Accelerator.....no, it's not real pretty; I was just a kid when I built it.

[ChrisBcritter]

Checking the new trees against the original issue, looks like we've lost the original's two-piece open steel wheels - too bad; to me, they're the best ones AMT ever made.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 2/10/2022 at 1:39 PM, pack rat said:

Here is a pic of the mags on a built-up Accelerator.....no, it's not real pretty; I was just a kid when I built it.

Looks pretty good for a kid! I still have trouble getting paint to look that good. 

[Bob Ellis]

I was not crazy about the "FOR 68" AMT kits when I was a kid. Now I kind of like them. This Vette kit compares to the Impala kit. Not accurate, but it doesn't matter anymore. It's a piece of history

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Bob Ellis said:

This Vette kit compares to the Impala kit. 

Not really. The "for '68" Impala and Camaro were based on the '67 kits, when AMT had the promo contract and the kits were accurate. Not so the Vette, which seems to have been based on spy photos and artists' sketches of the all-new-for-'68 shape. The overall shape is "kinda-sorta-ish" there, but it's off in nearly every dimension and detail. 

But it does look like a fun build, and I hope to get two of them. 

[Dave Darby]

11 hours ago, Snake45 said:

But it does look like a fun build, and I hope to get two of them. 

Great source of period parts, if nothing else. I'm in. 

[stavanzer]

Since this kit re-uses the chassis from the '64-67 Corvette kits, after looking at the photos Steve posted on page 2, you can see that a few small parts from various years of the kit have survived on the sprues. I see what might be the Rally Instrument cluster from the '64 Vette and the Jackstand from the '63-4-5 kits. Not chromed any more but it is there. It looks like most of the Fuel Injection intake may be present as well.  Without being able to zoom in on the sprues in the new kit, it is very hard to see what else may have survived, 

Anyway, there will be a few very old parts, that haven't been seen in ages, hiding in this kit. As Dave Darby says, a huge period parts mine.

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/chevrolet/1961-1970/amt-63-corvette-sti/file4.html

 

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/chevrolet/1961-1970/amt_64_corvette/1964_corvette_conve-2.html

[Oldcarfan27]

On 2/9/2022 at 11:37 AM, blizzy63 said:

Mag Star I ad, Road & Track, January 1966.

The AMT '67 and '68 Ford Galaxie annual kits featured these 'mags'.

I think they're in the AMT 67 Shelby GT350 too.

[SteveG]

1 hour ago, alexis said:

Since this kit re-uses the chassis from the '64-67 Corvette kits, after looking at the photos Steve posted on page 2, you can see that a few small parts from various years of the kit have survived on the sprues. I see what might be the Rally Instrument cluster from the '64 Vette and the Jackstand from the '63-4-5 kits. Not chromed any more but it is there. It looks like most of the Fuel Injection intake may be present as well.  Without being able to zoom in on the sprues in the new kit, it is very hard to see what else may have survived, 

Anyway, there will be a few very old parts, that haven't been seen in ages, hiding in this kit. As Dave Darby says, a huge period parts mine.

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/chevrolet/1961-1970/amt-63-corvette-sti/file4.html

 

https://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/automotive-cars--pi/chevrolet/1961-1970/amt_64_corvette/1964_corvette_conve-2.html

The complete Fuel Injection parts are in there, it's shown on the instruction sheet as an engine building option for this release.  

-Steve 

[stavanzer]

Oh, That is great news, Steve!

I really can't wait to see what other little surprises are in there.

[Jack L]

On 3/1/2022 at 1:01 PM, alexis said:

Oh, That is great news, Steve!

I really can't wait to see what other little surprises are in there.

I see they are on the bay now are they here or preorders

[stavanzer]

And, HPI Guy has one!

Note that there is no rear window for the top. He would have really been able to do a better review if he had looked at the instructions that were posted earlier in this thread. It would have allowed him to I.D. many of the parts he is puzzled by.

The finished build sure looks great, though!

[stavanzer]

Well, I finally got my hands on this kit. Some Great parts in the box. The '63-'67 Style arched "optional Rallye Gauge Package" parts is indeed there. Mine had much heavier and stronger plastic bags holding the parts. Strangely, while you get Drag Slicks, and a Drag Version on the instructions, the Drag Chute, Blower Manifold and Blower Belt did not make it into the kit. Those parts must have gotten moved to other parts trees that did not make it into the kit. The "Greenwood" 3 piece Headers, and Exhaust Pipes did make it into the box, but not on to the instruction sheet, as Chris noted in his review. There are 3 Spinoff Wheel hubs on the kit Chrome tree. They are cool. I just wish the 4th one had not been displaced. 

All in All, a neat collection of parts, that will assemble into a great Custom Vette. I have to really applaud Round2 for showing the Decal locations on the last page of the instructions. It really helps!

Chris did an Outstanding Job on building his.

[Karl LaFong]

I picked this kit a couple days ago - definitely a mixed bag.

The bad: Considering the parts count, this one is on the expensive side.  Even on Ebay, it seems to hover around the >$36.00 mark.  The kit I bought had both cleanly molded parts trees and heavy flash.  There is only one engine block, it serves for both a small block (with sparkplugs in the wrong location) and big block (with heads that look like they came out of a Palmer kit). The chrome was uneven in places and there were some nasty sink marks:

I have plenty of replacement parts, so for me, this isn't a major issue.

The good:  This is a treasure trove of 1963-1967 Corvette parts!  For example - there are 3 of the 4 Kustom knock-offs from the '63 Vette, a slew of '64 Vette interior parts (rally gauges, clip board, etc.) The chrome grill is a bad fit for the 68 Corvette but looks great in the '63 body.

For a 54 year old kit, it does go together well - the caveat being that it is a 54 year old kit, which is a big plus for me.

The odd: If you want to build this as a supercharged dragster, you're out of luck - while there are blower parts, there's no manifold or drive belt, plus the interior looks more like a Trans Am racer.  If you want to build it as a Trans Am racer, the engine flanges for the external exhaust pipes are missing, and the tires, which would be great for a street stock dirt track race car, are all wrong.  But with some help from a parts stash, it should be possible to build either a '68 drag car or Trans Am car, but if you just use the parts in the box, it's a custom (truth in advertising!). 

 

I've been looking forward to this kit and I wasn't overly disappointed - I raided my parts box and will be building it as a late 60's modified sports drag car.

[stavanzer]

We have reached the Same Conclusions, Keith. Those are mostly my thoughts too.

I wish the the Rear Spoiler, Blower parts, and that pesky 4th Kustom Knock off Had been included. I'll wind up buying another kit, just to get a couple parts.

I wholeheartedly concur about the 4 Matching tires. So Close, and yet so far......!

I had not noticed the missing Header Flanges. I'll have to check check my kit, as those are the Headers I had plannned to use. I'm tying for a Faux Road Race/ Trans Am "Street Cruiser" look.

[stavanzer]

Keith, I found the Header Flanges. They are hidden in with the Roll Cage parts! Right Next to each other. Hard to see though.

[Karl LaFong]

3 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Keith, I found the Header Flanges. They are hidden in with the Roll Cage parts! Right Next to each other. Hard to see though.

Hmm, I was expecting flanges that looked like this:

    (from Home | Scale Auto Model Kit Reviews & Reference (proboards.com) )

rather than what was included in the kit: 

Thanks for the heads-up.

[stavanzer]

No worries. My Build has been stalled by 100 Deg heat. 

How is yours going?

[Chris in Berwyn]

I finally got this kit. The very first model kit I ever had was the original AMT 68 Vette that’s been discussed in this thread. I’d like to get one, but they cost a fortune so I thought this would be a good way to at least get some of the parts, and be able to relive a little bit the assembly of my first ever kit as a boy. As mentioned, there are a lot of odd features. The oddest is probably the fact there is no exhaust system unless you use the Greenwood exhaust. There are exhaust manifolds and headers but no pipes, no mufflers, no nothing else. There also are no headlights, but since it’s a custom that is OK. I’ve been building a series of track day cars and this is going to be another in that series. It’ll be just a shelf model but I’m really looking forward to building it and putting it on the shelf. It’ll look great.

[Snake45]

16 hours ago, Chris in Berwyn said:

I finally got this kit. The very first model kit I ever had was the original AMT 68 Vette that’s been discussed in this thread. I’d like to get one, but they cost a fortune so I thought this would be a good way to at least get some of the parts, and be able to relive a little bit the assembly of my first ever kit as a boy. As mentioned, there are a lot of odd features. The oddest is probably the fact there is no exhaust system unless you use the Greenwood exhaust. There are exhaust manifolds and headers but no pipes, no mufflers, no nothing else. There also are no headlights, but since it’s a custom that is OK. I’ve been building a series of track day cars and this is going to be another in that series. It’ll be just a shelf model but I’m really looking forward to building it and putting it on the shelf. It’ll look great.

Yah, I've decided that it's a complete waste of time to even THINK about trying to build an accurate model of ANYTHING from this kit. So I'm just gonna channel my inner 14-YO kid, build it the way I would have back in 1968 (with much more SKILL, of course), and just generally have FUN with the little monster.  This is a HOBBY, right? If you're not having FUN, you're not doing it right. 

[slusher]

I like this kit but hasn’t been at Hobby Lobby..

[Dave Darby]

23 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Yah, I've decided that it's a complete waste of time to even THINK about trying to build an accurate model of ANYTHING from this kit. So I'm just gonna channel my inner 14-YO kid, build it the way I would have back in 1968 (with much more SKILL, of course), and just generally have FUN with the little monster.  This is a HOBBY, right? If you're not having FUN, you're not doing it right. 

A stepping point, and a great vintage speed parts resource.