AMT '65 lowrider Grand Prix

[Pete in Lincs]

I'm taking a break from the Sci Fi forums for a while as my fancy has swung back to muscle cars & customs.

I used to build quite a few about 25 years ago! Before I was even on BM in fact.  So I have 'form' as they say. 

Let's see if I can use some of the modelling tricks I've learnt since I was away from here.

Here are some of the survivors..

I've got this one.

From around 1980. The box is already on the manshed wall.  Yes, that is a Jo Han Ambulance under it. 

And this one..

Both are from the bay and were described as 'may be missing parts'. They are. I'll see what's in the bits boxes then.

We will probably end up with hybrid running gear, but isn't that what customising is all about anyway?.

Back soon. Pete

 

[Spiny]

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one as I have the newer 'Grand Slam' version in my stash which I doubt is significantly different to this, even if you do only sound as if you have half a kit. It'll be good to see what you do with it.

[JeroenS]

I'll be following this one Pete, I'm curious to see what you'll be up to. 

[Vesa Jussila]

This will be interesting. I was watching Impala in Berlin last weekend. Sad that I didn't get photo.

[Pete in Lincs]

A quick Sunday evening update. No building yet though so don't get too excited!

I found time in a busy day to set out the parts. This one isn't quite as bad as I feared.

 

Lovely brown plastic. A tad brittle perhaps, but it is forty years old.

 

There don't seem to be any brown bits missing. The interior and floorpan are under the body in this shot. The screens (Nurse!) are inside it.

 

Shiny bits. There should be a set of five spoke wheels. I have one five spoke and two sets of 'multispoke' wheels. Ah well, they'll suit it better anyway.

On the left here is a '63 Impala? grille. It was going to be fitted, but I've since found a '60's Cadillac grille that fits even better.

I don't like the supplied Barris front end I'm afraid.

Also here is a Thunderbird rear light panel. I think that's going into this one too, the fit looks fairly close.

So, there you have it, The Plan. We'll see what happens then, eh?

[Bengalensis]

If the Barris front end is that weird thing on that box art it's a good choice to not use it, it's just, well, weird 😎

Will be interesting to see what you come up with.

[Neddy]

Like the rest I'll be very interested in how this one turns out.  I agree the front end is best consigned to the parts bin and like the idea of the T-bird rear panel.  This sort of thing is right up my street and it'll be great to see the end result.

[TonyW]

Right up my street! I love a sixties Pontiac in any shape or form.

 

I had a '63 Grand Prix a while ago. 389, Turbo 400, eight lug wheels, silver with a black interior. A bit on the rough side, but I loved it. I sold it with a knocking bottom end that was beyond my skillset at the time. About five years later I saw the car again. It still had the knocking bottom end but didn't seem any the worse for it! MLO131L was the reg. The logbook said Buick station wagon or something, but those things didn't matter too much at the time.

[Pete in Lincs]

16 minutes ago, TonyW said:

Right up my street! I love a sixties Pontiac in any shape or form.

When I were a lad, our local chippy was run by a Greek Cypriot family who had been kicked out of Cyprus by the Turkish invasion.

The boss, Phil, had a HUGE Pontiac Parisienne which, compared to the other cars around there, looked like a spaceship. (See link I found on line)

I think I was hooked on yank tanks from then on. Then, Bullit was on at the cinema. OMG!

I saw plenty of them in Saudi too. Never owned one though.

 

https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/39768/34314252_1.jpg?v=8D734892C324370

[TonyW]

These things can take over your life Pete. They did mine, and I never looked back.

My video copy of Bullit had a bit of a wobble at the start of the chase and another at the end. I can still watch the chase back to back today, all those flying hubcaps and VW's and all.

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

You just gotta love the soundtrack as well, not to mention all those cars lining the streets and driving around! Classic.

[Stickframe]

Pete, this aught to be right up your alley!  You seem to have the unique ability to pull together apparently disparate parts to make something that looks spot on!  Maybe a bit of a land based spacecraft! lol - The "normal" Chevrolet grill looks good (in real life too).  The rear will be interesting to see Pontiac rear quarter panels have the protruding vertical lines, while the Chevy is more streamlined  - and the Tbird tail lights - you'll have plenty of interesting challenges to tackle - 

 

cheers

Nick 

[Pete in Lincs]

A Sunday morning update this week. We have to GO OUT. Tsk

The grille mocked up and held in place with aluminium tape. This made the front of the hood (bonnet in the Kings English) too high.

So I had to trim off a few mm from the front lip. Also, because the grille sticks out more, I had to add about 4mm of plastic card to the rear.

 

It fits with this in place. The joint has since been covered with filler.

 

And here's a quick mock up of the back end. I cut down the height of the rear valance. Again, it's all held in with tape.

 

Then I made a backing piece from black card. Freshly glued into place here.

 

And, from the other direction. I'll need to do something with the rear of the fenders seen here. Probably just filler.

And that's all the modelling time I have this week unfortunately. The glue has to set properly anyway.

Many thanks for dropping by. Your comments are always welcome.

 I'll be taking a wagon full of beer to York and Scarborough early tomorrow. Chips by the sea maybe! Have a good week, Pete

[Pete in Lincs]

Crikey! has it been that long? (f'nar). I didn't get chips by the sea due to Scarborough being gridlocked, but we're having them tonight. Hurrah!

Last weekend was very busy so I only got a little time on this. Today I've had about four hours. Is it finished? Er, No. Read on...

 

The hood got more filler last weekend and has now been rubbed smooth. Hopefully the extra bit won't be seen under the paint.

 

Today I are been mostly eating Bourbon biscuits and messing about with the engine and wheels. And other stuff.

The engine is just going to be built as a bog standard jobbie. This will be a cruiser not a racer.

The wide tyres in the background came with the kit, but I may go for slimmer ones. I do like the wheels though.

I also stripped the chrome off of the front seats. They'll probably be body colour instead.

 

I spent most of this morning messing about with the front and rear valances. I'd glued tabs onto the inside of the body as a butt fit wasn't going to work.

Humbrol filler has been applied as seen here. Did I mention that I'd previously sanded off the badges and door handles?

 

At the rear thin card was glued inside the fenders and filler applied to smooth it all out. Most of this won't be seen but you know how it is...

With the valances in place it's going to be difficult to fit the chassis plate, but I wanted the body as smooth as I can get it.

So, nothing too exciting but it's progress (Not as we know it, Jim). 

Tomorrow is the Lincoln/Southwell combined model show so I'll be there as soon as it opens. Thanks for looking, Pete

[Pete in Lincs]

And here's a Monday update for a change. Well, I had the day off. Aside from fixing a leak on the basin in the downstairs loo, what else is there to do?

(Maybe sheltering in a nice warm house from all that rain this morning was a good idea though.

I had a search through the tyre stash, and did a mockup photo session down at the tyre shop.. (Or should that be Tire shop?)

 

This kit has the old metal axles. The front one goes through the engine block. I quite like the height and stance.

The scratchbuilt Portakabin and figures are from when I used to build cars over twenty years ago!

 

The wheels came with the (second hand) kit. Plus another similar set, so I'm not sure which are the right ones. Though I prefer these.

 

Front and rear valences needed filler at the joints. Plus some sink marks on the body. Here on the rockers (sills) & the trunk lid.

 

Matey here is supposed to be holding the grille in place, but it drooped on the RH side. It's supposed to be up by that piece of white card.

 

The back has taken lots of TLC. You can see inside where I'm trying to smooth things out. The light bar will mostly hide this anyway!

 

The chassis plate has moulded in exhausts and Tie bars/axle. I'll leave the exhaust as is, but I'm going to cut out that triangular bit.

No doubt it will then need filling etc and I'll build dummy shocks. You can see the hole where the metal rod goes here. Can't get much lower eh?

Of course, with the wheel in place you can barely see this area. But hey, It's what we do. 

BTW, I went to the Lincoln model show, met a couple of other BM members too. Lots of great/amazing models. Very shiny car models there.

Thanks for looking. Your ideas and comments are always welcome. Cheers, Pete

 

 

[Farmer matt]

That is looking really good that low. Wonder if anyone has ever rigged up a 1:25 hydraulics kit?

 

Matt

[Neddy]

I love the low-rider stance, just right, and those wheels!  Perfect for it, wherever they came from.  This one's going to look so good when it's finished.

[Pete in Lincs]

Thanks Guys. Good to know it's not just me who likes it. 1/25th hydraulics? do they make pipes that thin? A dummy set would look good though.

I forgot to mention that on the chassis plate there are two pegs at the back that locate into vertical columns. 

All well and good, unless you fit the valences first. I cut the pegs very short, and it's now just possible to wriggle the chassis into place.

Cheers, Pete

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooo like this Pete, live the custom mods you are doing, the wheels and stance look a treat, luv it.  Are you doing the hydraulic control switch boxleft on top of the dash.  I may have a picture of one that I took earlier this year on a Plymouth Fury III lowrider at a local retros meet.  They left it on tip of the dash and it looked sweet.

I also like the Mercury next to the Charger in your display.  Always loved the look of a sled.

 

Great work so far. 

Chris

[Stickframe]

Hi Pete, this is coming right along!  I like the stance too!  It looks like you're getting the T-bird rear lights to fit in cleanly too I was interested in seeing what you might do back there.  

 

Cheers

Nick 

[Pete in Lincs]

25 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Are you doing the hydraulic control switch box

Sorry, I'm sticking with basic running gear on this one. Once built the underneath will probably never be seen again anyway.

The Mercury was built in Riyadh around 2000. I chopped the top (first time) after a few deep breaths! The paint is rattlecan from the carboot.

[Bengalensis]

Looks like those guys in the workshop are making progress, Looking promising 👍

[TheBaron]

Spent ages thinking 'why's he stopped building scifi stuff?' without realizing you were on a motoring adventure Pete. Good luck with this.

 

Am I right in thinking there are no transparencies for the windows in the kit?

[Pete in Lincs]

'Tis only mocked up at the moment. I wanted to get the running gear and bodywork sorted. 

[corsaircorp]

Hello Pete,

Sorry to hear about your aunt...

All my thoughts are with you, Man 

Always a sad time to get through...

Sincerely.

CC