1962 Lincoln Continental

[Chuck Most]

Well, picked up another old AMT annual, this time a '62 Lincoln Continental sedan. Got it for a pretty good price, so I can look past the brush-paint over spray can job on the body, the big holes drilled out for mirrors and spotlights, and the missing b-pillars! Funny, this is the second AMT '62 annual kit I've bought that had been given a crude hardtop conversion! And the custom front and rear roll pans will need to come off- hope the old glue has dried out enough for them to put up too much of a fight!

I'm going with a mild custom on this one, using a '65 reissue for the few needed missing pieces. About all I need are some engine/underhood parts (from the '65), a taillamp (I'll carve a new one out of clear plastic sprue), and just more or less cobble things up as I go along, as is my practice. And before you ask, yes, the bonus Go-Kart parts are long gone.

Blows my mind, this kit was new 20 years before I was born, and it's sat around in a semi-started state for nearly half a century. Mind bending stuff, huh? Hopefully this kit will FINALLY get its chance to shine pretty soon.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Chuck Most

[RodneyBad]

Blows my mind, this kit was new 20 years before I was born, and it's sat around in a semi-started state for nearly half a century. Mind bending stuff, huh? Hopefully this kit will FINALLY get its chance to shine pretty soon.

Really? I know I fudge my age just a tad now and then

It was being preserved just for you

Outside of the PaintBrush painted body, looks perty restorable..

[DRG]

I actually remember building that kit when it was a new release

[Dr. Cranky]

Can't wait to see what you do with it, Mr. Chuck!

[Foxer]

Plastic lives and breathes!

[imatt88]

Chuck,

Nice find! Love those rebuilds

After you strip the paint, and the glue gives you trouble, stick it in the freezer for a while to see if that helps loosen the glue

Cheers, Ian

[Ron Hamilton]

Chuck,

I like where you are going with this build. I love those suicide door Lincolns, as I have one of every AMT kit done. I have a '61 and '67 built, and I want to do my Dad's '66 (White with a Burgundy interior). I am not going to hijack your thread with pics of mine, as I have posted them before.

[Chuck Most]

Got the old roll pans off (didn't even need the 'freezer burn' technique this time, just slid a sharp #11 blade in there and off they popped, for the most part). Also got about 99% of the paint stripped, so I decided to test fit the stock front and rear bumpers to the body, since I needed to sand the mating surfaces for the roll pans after removing them. The bumpers still fit against the body pretty well, so less work for me in the end.

[sak]

Cant wait !!! This is gonna be badass !!! Leaving it a hardtop?

Jeff

[Chuck Most]

I'm thinking of leaving it 'hardtopped', if for no other reason than to save a little work!

I did manage to fill the holes for the mirrors and spotlights, they appear to have been opened using the good old 'jab the Exacto blade and twist' method-

And blackwashing the grille on this one REALLY helps the look!

[jeffinvt]

Looks as though you got that body cleaned up pretty well. Are you going completely stock?

[Chuck Most]

Nope, mild custom. I'm toying with the idea of stuffing a Mod motor into it.

[Chuck Most]

Chuck,

I like where you are going with this build. I love those suicide door Lincolns, as I have one of every AMT kit done. I have a '61 and '67 built, and I want to do my Dad's '66 (White with a Burgundy interior). I am not going to hijack your thread with pics of mine, as I have posted them before.

Feel free- I'd love to see them!

I'll highjack my own thread here, because there's actually another guy working on this same kit right now! That's got to be the first time since 1962 two guys have been building an AMT '62 Connie at the same time! He's using a few of the kit custom parts-

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44357

[Chuck Most]

Sprayed some paint at the body yesterday (HVT Burnt Copper), but some of it peeled off just above the drip rails as I was removing the foil. Grrrrrrrrr. I guess a touch up is in order. It appears the paint wasn't as well cured as I thought. I'm 50/50 on the color, I think I'll need to let it soak in a few days to see if I actually like how the car looks in Copper.

[jeffinvt]

Chuck, I think if you put a nice clear coat on there it could be a great color for this car. Your moving a whole lot faster than I am,lol.

[Dr. Cranky]

Looking good, Chuck, keep it going, please, I am anxious to see how this one is going to turn out.

[Ron a.k.a. Grouchy Pants]

I agree throw a clear on it and she'll be nice. Thats pretty close to the color I got to paint my Chevelle when I get around to it, love it.

Ron

[Chuck Most]

Yep, stuck with the VHT 'Burnt Copper'. Funny, all the burnt copper I've ever seen looks kinda greenish...

I peeled off my botced BMF, shot another coat or two of body color on th car, and cleared it. The wheels are 20" Intros which I think are from a Revell '58 Impala. The chrome was iffy, so I stripped them and painted them to match the body. I'll foil he outer rims later. The rotor/calipers are from a Revell '65 Chevy pickup kit. Next I'll re-foil the trim, shoot a couple more coats of clear, and rub it out.

Interior should be fun- I'm thinking of cutting out the molded in bench seats and going with quad buckets and a full console. We'll just see. I'm also perusing my spare kits for a quad cam Ford Mod V8 to power it. I'm going full modern custom on this one, I think it'll bookend the traditonal late '60's style custom '69 Connie I built a year or so back.

[hOLMS]

This is really sweeeet so far, diggin it...and the background in last pic, just coool!

[62rebel]

i'm curious as to why you think someone hacked out the "B" pillars... the '61-on suicide door Connies are ALL 4dr hardtops, the actual "B" pillar ends below the belt line. i've owned both a '62 and a '64. no visible "B" pillar. when the windows are up, the chrome window trim and rubber gasket fits neatly against each other.

[jeffinvt]

Regardless, if you go to the other build thread of the same kit you will see that chuck's is indeed missing a pillar. How accurate the existence of that post is I can not speak to.

[Chuck Most]

i'm curious as to why you think someone hacked out the "B" pillars... the '61-on suicide door Connies are ALL 4dr hardtops, the actual "B" pillar ends below the belt line. i've owned both a '62 and a '64. no visible "B" pillar. when the windows are up, the chrome window trim and rubber gasket fits neatly against each other.

You are completely correct, but the kit did come with the window frames molded in place, and they were cut outlater.Perhaps I should have said "Given the 'windows down' treatment"...

[62rebel]

ahh. well, never had one of the original kits. kinda makes sense that they put window frames on a kit of a car that would almost never have it's windows down, since it had factory A/C. actually , one of my worst peeves about kits is not having side glass in them.

[MrObsessive]

Curt, those '61-'68 Continentals did indeed have a B pillar albeit a very slender one. Now of course, the convertibles have no B pillar but the sedans certainly did................

Ford may have felt the car was a bit better structurally with a pillar.........which is puzzling 'cuz the convertible was also a four door, yet obviously pillarless.

Edited May 22, 2011 by MrObsessive

[Chuck Most]

Well I'll be...

Never remembered my father's '67 having a full B pillar. When I was a kid, I always wondered what would happen if the thing was in a side collision! That one was a 'stripper' model, as strange as it sounds- cloth seats, no AC, not even a radio! Like he used to say "This was the cheap-o one, made just for the guy who wants to say "I drive a Lincoln" but doesn't want the frivolous stuff."

Mine's staying a hardtop, though.