steve7119 Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 I saw this car at the 1977 Chicago Auto Show. Fell in love with it then. Pontiac did get good feedback but could never get the price to a point where they figured they could sell it. 1980 or so I found SAE and in the March 1983 Issue, there was an article about how to make this model. Rounded up the kits I needed and got started. Then in 1995, Life got in the way, built a house,and moved, kids in school and so on. Finnaly a few years ago I got a chance to build a workshop and dug this project back out. Finished it on Saturday morning at 10 and took it to the NNL in Milwaukee over the weekend. Here are the two kits that were needed. and the finished product!
highway Posted April 10, 2011 Posted April 10, 2011 Nice job Steve. That Type K is at the top of my "Holy Grail" kit list!
steve7119 Posted April 11, 2011 Author Posted April 11, 2011 Thanks, I needed a bit of positive feedback. Took this model to the Milwaukee NNL this weekend and kinda got ignored. buried within all the other replica stock stuff. I also have a Lindberg Camaro "Camback" which appears to be the same kit with a Camaro nose. Might be easier to find that than the US Airfix kit. the Lindberg kit looks to be a little bit newer so maybe easier to find. It even has the screaming chicken decal for the hood.
Foxer Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 It looks worth the wait! Very nice job on that ... very coool looking. It needs to go in the longroof thread..))
randx0 Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 it looks great .way to stick with it and get it done after such a long time. i have always liked this kit and the camaro,i am sure it wasn't ignored and I bet some younger guys have never seen this before .
redknight Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Very well done! I belong to a Camaro/Firebird club, and they'd drool over it.
bsoder Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 Looks like a great job on the build man!..I think over the last decade I've seen one of these posted online, kudos for building a "rare" kit
novadose71 Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 (edited) I checked that out in Milwaukee...nice work Steve. Never mind feeling like your build is ignored, we're looking at them when you have your back turned I had 10 models on the tables this year and I think only one person talked to me about a couple I had sitting together....no biggie. BTW I like the backdated nose. Edited April 11, 2011 by novadose71
steve7119 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 Thanks to you all for your comments. I followed the article from SAE and since I had seen the real car, I had to use the T/A nose since I was trying to capture the car I saw in '77. The snap kit nose is from 1980 as are the wheels, I think. According to the article, GM had this on the show circuit until 1980 or '81. They got such a good response they made a serious effort to produce it for sale but couldn't get the price down to where anyone could buy it. If i remember right they would have sold for about $18,000 in 1979....no way they could have sold enough to make it worth it at that price. I was a little bummed after the show for a bit. I had forgotten for a while that I build to make myself happy. I am pleased with the model and can share it online so others can see the car. I fear that some of the youngsters (Geez, does that sound like my grandfather or what) will miss a lot. Newer cars don't have the character anymore. Steve
Custom Hearse Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) Cool! I've got 2 of those kits I'm working on. 1 is box stock, the other is like yours. I did a little work on mine today, and had to modify the '77 nose to close the gap between the hood and nose. Did yours have the same issue? The first one is gonna be straight out of the box, and painted gold, and the second is going to be black and have the screaming chicken decals and German style name decals (kinda like a "Bandit Mobile" for the family). I never saw the original Type K's, but I did see an after market one on the street. I had read somewhere that a California company would turn anyone's Firebird/Trans Am into a Type K if you had the money. Nice work on the build. I hope mine turns out as well! Edited April 12, 2011 by Custom Hearse
steve7119 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 yes there will be some issues wtih the nose and hood fitment. I can't say exactly what the issue with the nose was since I got that far before 1995, but I remember there was some filing, fitting and putty involved. The T/A hood will have the wrong contour on the sides at the fenders and at the front. Type K hood will end up a bit short at the nose. I added strip styrene to the hood and filed it to shape. Got it close, but could have been better I think. On mine, the carb didn't line up with the hood opening either, so I had a bit of fussing with that to get the scoop to look right.. I missed the T/A scoop in the box and used the snap kit scoop. T/A scoop has better detail and I wish I had found it before I spent all the time getting the snap kit scoop in place. Looking forward to seeing yours posted, Good luck with it. Time consuming process, but the results are well worth the effort. You will end up with a piece that not everyone will have....and a little piece of auto history to boot.
Custom Hearse Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks for the info Steve! I gotta figure out how to mount the engine, but I figure I'll cut the trans mount from the Monogram kit and add it to the snap kit. I've cut out all the fake engine molding from the frame and body. I mounted the front suspension from the Mono kit in such a way that it lowered the front and looks pretty good. I've painted the body black, and I plan to order the '76-'77 Gold special edition decal set(if they will work for 1/24th scale) from Keith Marks. Thanks again for the info, I'll now know to watch for the shaker scoop.
steve7119 Posted April 15, 2011 Author Posted April 15, 2011 the article fro the '83 SAE uses the TA chassis so you have the advantage of all the mounts and better detail. If you can find a copy of that issue you can follow it. Otherwise ask SAE and they can send it to you. Thats what I did before I found the back issue on ebay.
Custom Hearse Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 (edited) Here's a couple of pics of each one so far... I've already cut the engine out of the black one, and modified the engine to fit in it. The front suspension from the Monogram kit glued straight in gave it a lower stance which actually looks good to me. I'll post pics of it when I finish them. Thanks for the info and issue number. I'll have to see if I can find a copy. Edited April 16, 2011 by Custom Hearse
steve7119 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 Sorry, I gave the wrong SAE Issue. Correct on is #12 March/April 1981, not '83
steve7119 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 I can try to scan the article from the copy I got from SAE and email it or copy it on paper and mail it out to anyone that needs it. Some interesting history on the car in one article and the conversion in another. Not sure if the scans would work here, but I could try that too. Steve
Custom Hearse Posted April 17, 2011 Posted April 17, 2011 I can try to scan the article from the copy I got from SAE and email it or copy it on paper and mail it out to anyone that needs it. Some interesting history on the car in one article and the conversion in another. Not sure if the scans would work here, but I could try that too. Steve I'd like an e-mail copy please! That would be awesome!
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