'64 Elky kitbash

[Can-Con]

I had this '65 Elky body forever. Bought the kit new back in the very late '70s Probably '77 or '78. Rebuilt once a couple years later with the "never ending line" graphics obviously painted by a 14 year old hand. LOL

all that was left sitting in a box for decades was the parts in the pic. I had been thinking about rebuilding it using the excellent Revell '65 hardtop kit as a donor but didn't seem necessary with the kit being reissued a couple times since then. I also have a re-builder '64 wagon I had toyed with the idea of cutting up for the project but not fond of that idea.

So when the AMT '64 kit was announced, I knew what I was going to do. I think it's time has come.
 

[NOBLNG]

Cool! That looks like something I might have done back in the early 70’s.😎 I wish I had kept the models I built as a youth.

[John M.]

Go for it. 

[keviiin86]

just built the 65 el camino, but I combined the revell 65 chevelle chassis and swapped the whole front clip of the revell body to the amt el camino (looks better to me)

[Can-Con]

Got the old '65 Elky body stripped as well as I could and wet sanded some more off. 

Then I cut it apart down the back line of the door and strait across the roof at the vent windows. Added some strips to the front of the roof and back of the door openings for gluing surfaces.

Did the same cuts with the '64 hardtop body. They fit together pretty well. All the character lines and widths lined up. Only problem was the hardtop doors were a touch thicker but nothing a couple minutes of filing didn't fix.

Got everything lined up and clamped. 

Let it sit for a few hours and now I have a workable body. Needs some cleanup and a bit of un-needed trim removed but I think it looks pretty good.
 

Also modified the chassis plate to use with the Elky body. I could have used the old one but life's a bit simpler starting with fresh plastic, right?

Just needed to trim off the top of the rear wheel wells and some of the large locating posts at the back and it fir right in.

[Leica007]

I like your ideas (I kit bash also), thanks for sharing. I'll keep tabs on your progress. By the way I liked the original artwork you did.

[maxwell48098]

When I worked in a 1:1 body shop decades ago, when we'd splice two totaled Chevelles together to make one good one, we'd always did it at the base of the A-pillars where they'd meet the cowl/firewall.

 

A.J.