GM F-(glue)bombs

[Radretireddad]

Occasionally I take some time to inventory the box contents of the old kits I’ve been hanging on to since they were new to see if I have enough parts to build a complete car. I was rummaging through my F-body box and decided to mock up these two rare, original MPC annuals treasures. I managed to hang on to a pre t-top 1977 Trans-am body and an old 1974 Camaro kit complete with the correct one year only emblemed grille. I was originally going to bash the two using the current Round2 Camaro Z-28 kit but considering the cost of new kits, I think carefully built original's will look just fine. I will need to scalp the superb decal sheet from a current Round2 Trans-am however, and no it’s not going to be a Smokey and the Bandit T/A.?

Edited October 25, 2024 by Radretireddad

[johnyrotten]

I like the '74. My father had one when I was in my early teens, had a high strung 283 with a 100 shot of nitrous. Fun car while it lasted. 

[LennyB]

I’ve got a number of these in the same boat. Looks like you got enough parts to make a good go at it.  

[Radretireddad]

16 hours ago, johnyrotten said:

I like the '74. My father had one when I was in my early teens, had a high strung 283 with a 100 shot of nitrous. Fun car while it lasted. 

A 283 on the bottle is guaranteed to have the life of a firefly. Short and bright.

[johnyrotten]

1 minute ago, Radretireddad said:

A 283 on the bottle is guaranteed to have the life of a firefly. Short and bright.

It did! Dad was big into prostock back in the day, and threw the book at this thing. I remember him calling it a "hand grenade". But it would sing up past 7 grand. 

[MeatMan]

Nice!
Did you seal the roof panels on the TA? If so, what did you use?
I have the new kit and want to build it w/o T-tops.

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, MeatMan said:

Nice!
Did you seal the roof panels on the TA? If so, what did you use?
I have the new kit and want to build it w/o T-tops.

That would be an annual, Dennis. None of the 2nd gen annuals had cut T-tops. Only the "Blackbird", which is a different tooling from the annual kits had them already cut. 

The '77/'78 that's out now is the Blackbird tooling. If you really want a '77 with the solid roof, it's easier to swap the body with the '80 kit, which has the solid roof. Both have separate front ends and should swap easily.

[Radretireddad]

6 hours ago, MeatMan said:

Nice!
Did you seal the roof panels on the TA? If so, what did you use?
I have the new kit and want to build it w/o T-tops.

This is the body from the annual kit that didn’t have t-tops.

[oldcarfan]

I like that 74 Camaro and have written to Round 2 asking if they might consider either cloning the tool or backdating the old tool to make a 74 to 76 version again. An uncle was a Chevy mechanic for decades and he bought a 76 through GMs employee discount program. It was a metallic brown with a tan vinyl half top. Shortly after he bought it, he used department store pinstriping tape and 'customized' it. Think Trans Am style pinstripes all over it then triple that. My dad took one look at it and walked away. I don't know what happened to that car, but I'd love to have it nowadays, less the pinstripes.