AMT 63 Nova Wagon/65 Nova gasser kitbash updated 4/11/2022

[Mr. Metallic]

I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen anyone else do this yet since the kit has been widely available for about a month now. I purchased the curbside version of the wagon kit as soon as it came out, but couldn't decide how to build it. Then when Tim Boyds build preview of the Moebius 65 gasser came out I knew I had to try combining the two. I've been busy the last few weeks since i got the Moebius kit, so I didn't get a chance to sit down and determine my course of action, and figured for sure someone would beat me to it so I could follow their lead. Well, it appears I'm first (at least I haven't seen anyone else do it yet, but I could be wrong), so now you all get the benefit of learning from my trial and error. These kits actually kitbash very well together in certain aspects. It all depends on how much effort you want to put into it to get to the level you're comfortable with. You also may see something I did that you feel you could improve upon, if you do please make sure you share it with the rest of us when you do your own conversion.

To begin with, I want to thank my good friend Randy Meyer (Randfink) for inspiring me to not cut the corners with regards to finishing the cargo area, but we'll get into that in a bit. Since we are having an impromptu build off, I knew I needed to elevate my level to even come within sniffing distance of his attention to detail. Now, let's get started.

Here are the main components you need to gather to get the fitting process started. The AMT wagon body and interior bucket, the Moebius floor pan, front subframe, radiator, firewall and interior panels (not pictured). 

I did a side by side comparison of the two engine compartments and determined they were close enough that this should work without even putting a caliper on them. As I would find out, my assessment was right on the money, almost as if Moebius engineered their kit to mesh together with the AMT kit (I know they didn't, but it's fun to pretend, right?) I think overall the Moebius compartment may be 1 scale inch longer than the AMT as later you will see the moebius firewall ends up slightly farther back than where the AMT one was molded in, but the difference is hardly noticeable unless pointed out. You can see in this picture where I highlighted the upper edge of the compartment sheetmetal so i knew to remove everything on the underside up to that point. 

I set about with removing all the compartment stuff with my Dremel cut off wheel, sanding drum and then my razor saw and sanding sticks. Before I could test the fit I had to slightly narrow the rear area of the floor pan to fit into the wagon body. I cut out the areas highlighted in black with a straight cut where it transitions to the fender well and then finessed the area with a sanding stick to tightly fit the wagon body. Eventually the rear of this area will need to be extended a bit. I also assume the gas tank configuration is incorrect for a wagon, but haven't researched that yet, or even decided if I will tackle that feature at all. 

Now it's time to do the first test fit. Use the radiator as your reference point for the positioning of the floor inside the body. It lands perfectly under the cross brace, and the firewall ends up perfectly nestled under the cowl. You may notice the sheetmetal that ran down the sides of the compartment are gone, that is due to me being over aggressive with my Dremel. If you're careful you can retain them. I haven't decided if I will replace them or not.

Here you can see what I was talking about when I fantasized that they were engineered to work together. Note how the notches in the top of the Moebius firewall mesh perfectly with the underside of the AMT fenders/cowl. It's a snap fit. The black highlights are a reference line for future mockups to show where the firewall belongs so I don't have to use the radiator every time. No sanding has been done to the Moebius firewall or radiator to fit this tight.

Now to begin the fitment of the interior. You need to shorten this tab on the front of the AMT bucket about 2mm. Don't go too far because you want that tab to hold the tub at the correct height in relation to the body.

Now the tricky part, where you can decide how far you want to go. I was going to just use the Moebius side panels and throw a tonneau cover over the cargo area and call it done. perfectly acceptable for a drag car or custom. However, knowing that Randy would not cut corners on his 65 wagon conversion, I decided to push through this hard part. At first I was going to do what I could to retain the Moebius fenderwells by simply removing material from the inside of the Moebius part and the outside of the AMT fenderwells. However, there didn't end up being enough thickness to the plastic to accomplish this, so I completely cut away the inner "half" of the Moebius fenderwells. Note here on the left the evidence of a partial removal, which still wasn't enough. So I set the AMT bucket on top of the Moebius floor and marked where I needed to cut. On the underside you can cut right up to the frame rail if you like.

I cut the AMT cargo area away directly in front of the fenderwells and preserved the downward sloping sheetmetal to meet the Moebius floor. After removing the locating tab on the Moebius side panel where it meets the fenderwell I then used the panels as a pattern to show where I needed to cut away the side of the AMT bucket. Fortunately this is exactly where the inner door panel line on the four door wagon would be, so a gap here is prototypical to 1:1. Remove the shaded area and do some finesse sanding to get a good fit. Then repeat the process for the drivers side.

You will also need to remove this small sliver of plastic from the AMT bucket to allow the Moebius panel to fit properly and still allow everything to fit inside the body. It is the width of the vertical plastic that used to occupy this space.

The drivers side rear fender well is a slightly more rectangular shape at its leading edge than the passenger side, so it requires a little more material be removed from the Moebius side to fit. Use the AMT fenderwell as your template, and remove material slowly.

Now you can see where all your hard work is getting you. You will need to slightly enlarge the arch where the cargo area fits over the driveshaft tunnel. Now everything is ready to test fit in the body.

After you fit the interior into the body you will probably note that the cargo area now sits a little high compared to the window opening. There is a molded in parting line on the upper surface that serves as a great reference point for the removal of material. Run a fine line marker or pencil down that line and then gently sand the top surface until that line disappears. Now everything should line up.

Now we're talking!!!

And, the glamour shots...

Now, I'll be stepping away from this build as I'm done painting the parts for my Simple 30 Ford coupe. Once that is done I will come back to this, as Randy and I have a deadline of June 1st to get out wagons done. Thanks for following along, and I hope someone out there finds this helpful.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Mr. Metallic

[Zippi]

Nice Craig.  I've just modified my 66 Nova chassis to fit under the 63 Chevy II wagon.  Getting ready to get under way with my Pro Street build. I'll be following this thread.

[espo]

Great explanation for adapting the Gasser frame to the Wagon. 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great project. Nice start.

[Dennis Lacy]

This is awesome! It’s remarkable how close the two kits are to each other. I believe there was discussion around this very Kit-bash in one of the ‘65 kit threads but you’re the first person here to make it happen. I’m all wagon’d-out but I do have another so maybe at some point…

Nice work, man!

[Mr. Metallic]

2 hours ago, Dennis Lacy said:

This is awesome! It’s remarkable how close the two kits are to each other. I believe there was discussion around this very Kit-bash in one of the ‘65 kit threads but you’re the first person here to make it happen. I’m all wagon’d-out but I do have another so maybe at some point…

Nice work, man!

Thanks Dennis. I was sure I wasn't the first person to think up the kitbash, but couldn't remember anyone actually starting one. 

[dino246gt]

I love this kind of project, so keep us posted as you progress, it looks great already!

 

[Snake45]

25 minutes ago, dino246gt said:

I love this kind of project, so keep us posted as you progress, it looks great already!

 

What he said! Drive on! 

[1972coronet]

I had this idea (certainly, I'm not alone in that), and had suggested it in one of the threads. 

My skill level isn't the highest; my tools, minimal. 

It'll be a while before I get to any bashing of the two as you've done here --- needa work on me chops. 

How well --if at all-- does the AMT interior tun fit-upon the Moebius chassis?

Thanks.

[Mr. Metallic]

35 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

I had this idea (certainly, I'm not alone in that), and had suggested it in one of the threads. 

My skill level isn't the highest; my tools, minimal. 

It'll be a while before I get to any bashing of the two as you've done here --- needa work on me chops. 

How well --if at all-- does the AMT interior tun fit-upon the Moebius chassis?

Thanks.

The AMT interior and Moebius floor pan do not play well at all. That's why I tried to explain that I went through a lot of trial and error trying to get them to mesh well with the minimum amount of work possible. But I had to keep going further and further, so I presented the best solution that I could come up with. the trans tunnels and wheels wells just provide too much interference with each other. Plus the Moebius side panels give much better rendered detail. 

[1972coronet]

3 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

The AMT interior and Moebius floor pan do not play well at all. That's why I tried to explain that I went through a lot of trial and error trying to get them to mesh well with the minimum amount of work possible. But I had to keep going further and further, so I presented the best solution that I could come up with. the trans tunnels and wheels wells just provide too much interference with each other. Plus the Moebius side panels give much better rendered detail. 

Thanks much for clarifying that for me -- I obviously overlooked that part.

[chris chabre]

great...now I want to build an axled wagon too haha

[PHolden74]

Really good.

[carrucha]

Nice work so far.  I am looking forward to seeing this build completed.

[slusher]

Very nice work so far!

[Mr. Metallic]

Now that the Simple 30 ford is done I can get back to this one. Randfink and I are having a build-off, and the deadline is June 1st. So I better get rolling.

Decided to sort out the wheel and tire selection first. I really like the wheels in the Moebius kit, but something about the slicks leaves me cold. I don't think there's anything "wrong" with them, I just don't care for them. So, I set about to modify the kit rear wheels to fit a pair of the AMT Parts Pack slicks. Since I like the front tires from the kit this is a perfect opportunity to use up one of the cool red and white striped slick sets (really wish Round 2 would see fit to give us some matching red and white fronts, but oh well)

Moebius wheels feature ribs around the outside of their wheels, which must be removed to be used with just about any other manufacturers tires. However I decided not to completely remove all the ribs. The AMT slicks have a groove in the middle of the tire, so I decided to see if could still use the ribs to my advantage. I completely removed about 1/2 the ribs, and the other half I trimmed away the outer half (highlighted here in red). This allowed the wheel to fir very securely in the AMT tire.

No other mods were necessary, so here's the complete assembly

Now it's time for a proper mock up.

Note to others building the Moebius gasser kit, the instructions don't say which set of holes to drill our for the rear springs. Well, it's the outer set of holes. Don't ask me how I know. Now, where's my filler, lol

[Dennis Lacy]

Looking good! I love those white/red stripe slicks! So glad they included them in the parts pack. 
 

PS: I feel just the opposite. I like the kit pie crust slicks but don’t care for the rear wheel design. 🤷‍♂️
 

The front wheels and tires, however, are fabulous!