1963 mercury Meteor

[impcon]

I am building this kit as a gift for a friend and I thought I'd post what is happening and I will welcome any suggestions or cricism. The car will be built stock but I have decided to update the wee girl using the Revell '64 Fairlane kit that I just bought as a donor. The Fairlane and meteor were built on the same platform right from '62 though '64 so the Revell kit seems like a natural way to give the old annual some sparkle.

To start off with, the Metoer that I bought is no gem and I am usually not one to go away from originality on old kits - this one has glue issues on each quarter from cruiser skirts that were on it at one time and then removed, and the S-33 scripts on each quarter panel have been sanded off. I have not built anything in years although I do have another kit on the go right now as well and I hope to have it in primer today.

The little Meteor has some good points and it has some bad ones. The good points include the fact thatthe glass is good and there is no breakage on the body. It came apart well using the old deep freeze method and as for the missing grille, fender emblems, etc, - no big deal. They would have been either replaced or replated anyhow. The bad was that it was really gooped up with paint.. and for what ever reason, my Easy off oven cleaner won't take all of the paint off. The can was an old one and I suspect that it may have a shelf life so I will pick a new can up later today. Here's the car when I got it.. It had some sort of custom grile in it so there was no front bumper or grille. The body emblems are somewhat faint.. and as said, the S-33 emblems are gone. The other bad thing is the glue damage on the quarters and around the rear wheel openings. I think I can do something with it though after I get some primer on it. The rear bumper was on it but all new chrome has been oprdered from The Modelhause, so the car should look decent if I can hide the flaws. It's been awhile since I have built or paineted a model so this should be interesting. I have painted lots of real 1;1 cars in the meantime but that is different than painting a model. I figured if I posted pictures and started a thread, that it will keep me focussed on the project and accountable. I lead a pretty busy life so fitting this in will be tricky.

Here's the interior as it is at the moment - not exactly stock or perfect. I'll use the Fairlane bucket seats as they are shaped like the Meteor's stock bucket seats.

Now here's the car as it sits today - most of the paint came off but I'll give it another shot from a fresh can of Easy off this evening and see what I have. All of the emblems except for the S-33 rear quarter ones are intact but they are not too pronounced so I'll have to go real easy with the paint. The car will be primed with automotive laquer primer and painted with automotive urethane in Wimbledon White with a red stripe inside the side trim and a red interior, just like my friend's new one was when he bought it. He always talked of the car and said he wished that he still had it - sound familiar to any of you guys? It was his first and only new car so it was pretty special.

I have done a rough test fit of the Fairlane chassis and it is really close! It'll need some minor trimming but as you can see below, it looks like it will fit right into place under and in the body.. It will allow for so much more realism and make the car more unique. Kindly excuse my dirty hands, I have been out in the shop working and just came back to the house to do this..

Here's the two chassis laid side by side..

So we are off and running. I'll post pictures as i go along and hopefully this is going to go well. It looks almost like a match made in heaven at this point.. I just want it to turn out well for Herb. Those little meteors usually do not go for affordable prices but if this works out, I may do another one for myself IF I can get a good buy on a built up.

[Chuck Most]

I've got a '62 Fairlane annual kit, and I've often thought of stuffing the T-bolt chassis underneath it.

This model ought to turn out really cool, even if it's a bit on the rough side right now. That glass table is kind of weird, though!

[MoparWoman Jamie]

Yea, with that table, it makes it look like the car is on water. LOL

[Foxer]

This is starting to LOOK like something with all that blue gunk removed!

[charlie8575]

What a cool project. I wish someone would re-pop the Meteor in resin. I like a little different.

To replace those S-33 scripts, you might want to search online to see if you can find pictures of them and either try to create decals as was explained in a recent issue of Model Cars, or if you want to go all-out, perhaps see if someone would be willing to photoetch them for you.

I'll enjoy watching this come along. One note, though. Although the paint chips at autocolorlibrary.com are badly yellowed, from what I remember seeing, Sultana/Corinthian White is a little less creamy than Wimbledon White. I think some of the more recent whites in Dupli-Color/Plasti-Kote touch up come pretty close. You might want to start with something closer to Ermine White.

Charlie Larkin

[Space Cowboy]

Great start on a great project. Keep us posted on your progress..

[Guest Johnny]

A noble cause! I Hope you are able to find all you need to complete this build!

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I have one of those in my "to do someday" pile and sadly, mine's about the same condition as yours with the addition of a cracked roof and A pillar. I'll use the original chassis on mine but that's how I roll.

[impcon]

I have one of those in my "to do someday" pile and sadly, mine's about the same condition as yours with the addition of a cracked roof and A pillar. I'll use the original chassis on mine but that's how I roll.

Hey Marc, You sound like I do when it comes to that old stuff but I am that way with the real thing and plastic both - for the most part. Please understand that i would NEVER do this if ths was a mint kit but it's sort of ragged around the edges and I want this to be a special effort from my heart to an old friend. To give deeply of the best of one's self and abilities to a dear friend is to my way of thinking, the least that he ( herb ) is deserving of. Besides, one can almost always sense instinctively when a gify has a very personal touch to it. Yeah, if the car was mint, I'd stay with originality but it isn't and I just want to do my best for a friend.

[John Goschke]

That cleaned up better than I'd have expected from the first photos! Looking forward to more progress on the resto.

[impcon]

That cleaned up better than I'd have expected from the first photos! Looking forward to more progress on the resto.

As I type these words, the wee girl is taking her second Easy Off bath for today. I sprayed it this morning and got called away - just got home and we'll see what happens in a few minutes. I'll post the results.

[impcon]

I hear ya Marc (and John). I plan on keeping the screws showing and all on the 64 Merc that I am working on now.

I sense disapproval here.. Like I said earlier guys, normally I would keep the car box stock but for reasons stated above, I'm going to try my hand at improving on an already nice model. let's just see what happens....

[impcon]

Just so you know (and you might already know) the buckets that came in the Thunderbolt and the T-bolt kit are not Fairlane buckets, I believe they are from a Dodge A100. I'm not telling you not to use them, just clarifying that they aren't really Fairlane Bucket seats.

I don't know for sure what my options are for proper bucket seats to be honest. The upholstery pattern on the '64's seats is close to the seats in the '63 and I think with a bit of work, I can make the difference even less. At least I aim to try unless I can find a stock pair of bucket seats. Here's the difference..

After four more rounds with the Easy Off today, the body looks a bit cleaner but for what ever reason, some of that blue just is not coming off. I can live with this - the primer will make the car look SO much cleaner.There are some prettyugly sand scratches on the trunk lid, roof and hood but I think that I can bury what ever I can not sand off. As you may or may not notice, the custom tail lights are gone - I used the old deep freeze trick and that took care of that. When I took the car out of the freezer, it took nothing to pop them off, leaving a pretty clean tail light bezel opening. So here it is as it now sits..

I was reading somewhere where someone built a fairly stock version of the Revell Fairlane and he used a '66 Fairlane for the chassis and some other parts. I may do the same here although if possible, I'll use the '64 Fairlane floor pan and chassis as it is identical to the Meteor - or at least it is a lot closer to the Meteor stamping than the '66. So we'll see what happens. This is starting to get complicated. *sighs* But that is probably because there are a lot of decisions to make here. Maybe I should just go with box stock.. *sighs* I'm tired. It's been a long day...*sulks off into the corner, curls up and sucking my thumb to comfort myself* I feel like the little boy who asked his mother - ?Mommy, Mommy - why do I keep going in circles?" To which the all wise and all knowing mother replied sternly, "Shut up or I'll nail your other foot to the floor!". That about sums up my day today.. News at 11.

Edited June 24, 2010 by impcon

[David G.]

It looks like you're having a lot of fun with this rescue project. I have to say that I've used Easy Off to remove paint and I've used Purple Power, and Purple Power seems to give far better results than oven cleaner. It's between five and ten dollars per gallon, but absolutely worth it.

Several months ago, I poured some in an old upturned display box and I'm still using it after more than half-a-dozen bodies have been stripped in it. For the smaller bits, I have an old whipped topping bowl with a plastic strainer that fits inside.

That stuff has pretty much completely stripped or removed anything I've thrown at it. It's so good at what it does, I've been waiting for the government to ban it!

Regards,

David G.

[elan]

Good job on worthy resto project. It's very enjoyable saving an old built-up. Right now I'm trying to save an old Testor's GT-40 MK2 kit. Keep the photos coming.

[impcon]

I was away all day yesterday and didn't get anything accomplished but here is pretty much exacty what I want the finished product to look like.. even the colours are right!

[impcon]

Work has been slow on the Meteor too.. That's becaise there is too much to do around home here but still. I have made a bit of headway. I am putting my third application of glaze putty on today or this evening and it once it has sat overnight, I'll sand and prime tomorrow. I learned the hard way with lacquer based products that you really have to give them a lot of curing time - there can never be too much time between applications.

The car was tougher then I had hoped for - it looked like the roof, trunk and hood were sanded with a garden rake and I am still trying to get rid of sand scratches and sink marks but this next coat of putty should take care of them for good. The other issue is the rear wheel opening flares - they are gone - obliterated by the original builder and his tube of glue and cruiser skirts. Been thinking that I will try to find some strip styrene and rebuid the flares by gluing it onto the body and then trying to form them with sandpaper and putty. Man, I need a BIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGG magnification thing - you know - those magnifying lightt things that us old timers need to do delicate work?

The picture of what this car will hopefully resemble seems to have vanished - so here it is again.. This is the twin to what my friends brand new Meteor looked like when he bought it atthe Ford dealership at Lloydminister, Saskatchewan back in late '62.

Edited July 9, 2010 by impcon

[Jim Gibbons]

Great progress...glad you're saving this kit. Just please, no on the chrome fender skirts! Way too J.C. Whitney!