Ron Hamilton Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 With all the hoopla concerning the "Cash for Clunkers" program, I thought I would make my contribution to it. I bought two old clunkers at our model club meeting last month, and I decided to work on them. The first one was an original AMT 1960 Buick Invicta Convertible. As you can see, it has a fabulous, thick brush paint job in blue enamel. Even the bumpers, grille and headlamps got some. The windshield was dirty, scratched, and was painted with blue paint. There was even a little red peeking out around the edges. The lump you see on the hood is where a set of louvers was glued on the hood, and there was a big lump of glue residue under it. The previous owner punched out the accessory holes in each of the fenders. The interior was double painted. Red at first, then blue. The steering wheel looks to be out of a '59 Chrysler. I have a new one on order from The Modelhaus, as well as a set of tail lamps, wheels and lowering blocks. Everything else is from the Ron Hamilton Parts Department. It took a couple of attempts, but I stripped the body clean, and got the windshield out in one piece. I cleaned and polished the windshield, and fixed the bumpers. I stripped, filled and polished the bumpers and bare-metaled areas of them, as well as the emblems on the car prior to painting. I primed it with Plasticote" sandable primer after I straightened and leveled the body. I removed all of the mould lines, and added the fender separation lines. There are a couple os sink marks to address here and there, and I want to work on the interior to give it some better detail. I have not decided on the color yet, but it will blend in well with my '60 Ford, Pontiac and Chevy Convertibles.
Jantrix Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 Hmm.................I'm looking forward to this.
Greg Cullinan Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 Somehow I'm just not buying it,that has to be a new kit Looks really good so far,looking forward to seeing it completed.That is a sweet car and will go well with the other verts for sure.
Foxer Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 That body came back well ..all that paint must have protected it all these years! Haven't seen one of those Buicks in many years ... gonna be a cool one.
James Flowers Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 I love the way models were painted back in those days. I could never figure out why they put them all together and then painted them. It was so easy to just take the screws out and take them apart. I never glued the windshield or interior in them as there was no need to. They had them nice post to hold everything in place. I would love to get one of those in the hardtop, as my sister and husband had one in white. I liked that car, it was so big and the fins were cool. You are off to another great start on this one.
MrObsessive Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 Great resto so far Ron! If you've got one of the '59 Chevy (or Caddy) uptops, that would go real nice with that when done. It might need a little tweaking, but those uptops were pretty much the same for all GM divisions for 1959-60.
mr moto Posted September 18, 2009 Posted September 18, 2009 (edited) Great job so far! Fixing up old glue bombs is a fun thing to do. A couple of years ago I did a '59 Lincoln that I got cheap off of Ebay. The paint and some of the parts fit never came out as good as I wanted but it displays well and was a lot of fun. I'll have to post some pictures when I can locate them. BTW, if you like Mr. Obsessive's up top idea, I have one that I think I can spare. Beware: It's pink! Edited September 18, 2009 by mr moto
Ron Hamilton Posted September 18, 2009 Author Posted September 18, 2009 Great resto so far Ron! If you've got one of the '59 Chevy (or Caddy) uptops, that would go real nice with that when done. It might need a little tweaking, but those uptops were pretty much the same for all GM divisions for 1959-60. I have some of the Monogram up tops from the '59 Chevy and Cadillac kits. When I display this one, it going to be top down all the way Baby!!! I have to look through my paint and see what color would compliment this one.
mr moto Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 Here's that 59 Lincoln I rehabbed a while ago. It's amazing what a little elbow grease, some Alclad and a few parts from Modelhaus can do!
Sixties Sam Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 That Buick is lookin' good! I always liked them. The side sculpturing was so cool! The 59 Lincoln is gorgeous! It really pops with the red paint! It's fun restoring old models like that!
Ron Hamilton Posted September 19, 2009 Author Posted September 19, 2009 Here's that 59 Lincoln I rehabbed a while ago. It's amazing what a little elbow grease, some Alclad and a few parts from Modelhaus can do!
charlie8575 Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 Nice work, Ron. How did you polish out the windsheild? I have an SMP 1960 Valiant with a nasty scratch in it, and need to polish it out before I can build it. Charlie
roadhawg Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 After all the rusted junkers and rat rods that seem to have became so trendy, this is like a breath of fresh air! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this one!
58 Impala Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 Great job so far, looking foward to seeing the finished product.
Ron Hamilton Posted September 19, 2009 Author Posted September 19, 2009 Nice work, Ron. How did you polish out the windsheild? I have an SMP 1960 Valiant with a nasty scratch in it, and need to polish it out before I can build it. Charlie Charlie, Rubbing out a windshield takes a lot of patience, and the right materials. I normally will see how deep the scratch is. if it is more than half as deep as the glass, I will leave it alone. If the scatch is not as bad. I will use polishing pads, starting with a 2400 grit, working up through each to a 12000 grit. After the polishing pads, I will rub the glass out with #3 Novus Polish, followed up with #2 Novus polish with a clean soft cloth.
Eshaver Posted September 19, 2009 Posted September 19, 2009 Alright kids , can I have an "OH YEAH ........... " FOR REAL CARS ? Ed Shaver
Ron Hamilton Posted October 18, 2009 Author Posted October 18, 2009 The old Buick is now up on its wheels. I used the Buick Skylark wire wheels from the Modelhaus on this one, with a set of original 1961 vintage AMT Tires. I plan to change the tires to a set with a wider white wall, and once I detail wash the wheels, they will really pop!!! I love this view of the car!!! I plan to paint it before the cold weather sets in.
John Goschke Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Your resto looks great so far, Ron and that Lincoln is awesome! Your Buick was the same color as the one I started to restore awhile back and set aside. To Bill's point about the Revel-o-gram '59 Impala up-top, here's a shot of mine with that roof fitted. The tulip panel has to be opened out so the top can fit inside and the well from the Impala was used but lengthened about an eighth of an inch to fit behind the rear seat (after the "package shelf" behind the seat was cut off). The width across the windshield header is perfect and the length is just right as well. One wacky thing about AMT's '60 Buick is the inaccurate wheelbase. Here's a drawing I did when discussing this with another guy who was planning on building the kit. After doing the adjustment both ways described, I think sectioning the chassis is easier and gives you more options when adjusting the ride height...
cruz Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Nice save Ron, the body lines on this car were gorgeous, hope to see this one completed!!
Ron Hamilton Posted October 19, 2009 Author Posted October 19, 2009 Your resto looks great so far, Ron and that Lincoln is awesome! Your Buick was the same color as the one I started to restore awhile back and set aside. To Bill's point about the Revel-o-gram '59 Impala up-top, here's a shot of mine with that roof fitted. The tulip panel has to be opened out so the top can fit inside and the well from the Impala was used but lengthened about an eighth of an inch to fit behind the rear seat (after the "package shelf" behind the seat was cut off). The width across the windshield header is perfect and the length is just right as well. One wacky thing about AMT's '60 Buick is the inaccurate wheelbase. Here's a drawing I did when discussing this with another guy who was planning on building the kit. After doing the adjustment both ways described, I think sectioning the chassis is easier and gives you more options when adjusting the ride height... John, Thanks for the comments. I agree with you concerning the wheelbase on this kit, as the wheels, as well as the ride height needs to be adjusted. I have a couple of the Revell 1959 Chevy up-tops in my stash, and after looking at yours, I may have to fashion an up-top for mne, after all, it is not sunny and warm all of the time. I seem to be going crazy with these 1960 Convertibles. Last Saturday, my "Big Car Connection", aka Howard Weinstein, sold me a 1960 Edsel Convertible, which was in need of restoration. It was complete as far as my needs go, except that it needs a set of fender ornaments, and some serious bodywork, to remove the remnants of those AMT '60 customizing pieces, and the attending glue marks. I'll post the pics under it's own header.
mr moto Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 That's lookin' FABULOUS! Keep up the awesome work. It's a true land yacht if I ever saw one. Is anybody else ready for tailfins to come back?
JayC Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 I was wondering how the 'ol blue glue bomb was coming along. Just seeing it in primer is a thousand times better than what it was. I'm keeping an eye on this thread. I'm eager to see how the Buick looks in its new color! The '59 Lincoln is beautiful! The before and after shot is shocking!
MrObsessive Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Is anybody else ready for tailfins to come back? Only if they lengthen the wheelbase up front and get rid of the "wheels too close to the front of the door" look.
Modellpularn Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 Nice save on that Buick! What color are you going to paint it?
E St. Kruiser50 Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 (edited) Hi Ron Nice "BRING BACK" on a beautiful car Been watchin' your thread. Coming along very nicely . A few years ago a friend gave me a baskit case kit of a '60 Buick. The scripts were gone, as was the roof, hood, bumpers, grill, etc. You get the picture. Anyway, Modelhaus supplied all that I needed, and I finished it up fairly quickly as the friend who gave it to me was moving to Arizona, and I wanted it done so he could see it before he left. Never happy with not really finishing it the way I wanted it, I have taken it apart after collecting the parts I felt I needed to redo it. Don't want to "HI-JACK YOUR THREAD", just wanted to share my project with you, as I won't be doing this on a thread of it's own. Here's how it looked done the first time. And here she is in progress and pieces. Here's all the pieces I collected. I even have the right engine now, and other chrome pieces like the door handles, windshiels wipers, etc. Thanks for letting me share it with you - dave Edited October 21, 2009 by Treehugger Dave
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