the improved AMT 57 chevy

[62rebel]

this kit became one of my new favorites due to platform body pan and sep frame etc; easily sectioned and great detail. my stumbling block with it has been trying to lower front suspension; i did the 1:1 scale thing and trimmed one coil from each front spring but this did nothing to get front down, even when glue points slightly enlarged to let them move. silly me; i wanted it to look prototypical. lowering rear was easy just pieces of styrene sheet as blocks. so..... what to do to lower that front end? two finished customs with nosebleed front ends waiting for an answer....

[Steven Zimmerman]

I lowered mine by adding 1/8"blocks of plastruct about 1/2"long between the frame rails and the upper 'A'arms;attaching the lower 'A'arms to the frame then CAREFULLY bending them upwards then adding shortened coil springs(or airbags made from 'O'rings around a cylinderical piece of plastruct).. I also reworked the spindles and moved the mounting points for the wheels/brakes higher. You may also have to modify the spindle swivel points on the lower 'A'arms,depending on how much you bend them. Be careful,you can actually lay the frame on the ground if you take this too far..........Steve Zimmerman aka the'Z'man

[62rebel]

i was looking at those thursday night and realized i could have gotten 2" scale drop by simply turning the spindles upside down. also realized how badly green stuff putty shrinks.... time to strip and repaint those customs anyway!