AMT '70 Chevy Impala

[Pete in Lincs]

Well, I had the day off work and I still need to get paint for my '65 Grand Prix build. What to do?

 

I got this one off the bay as spares or repairs. It's mostly just missing the engine and a set of wide tyres.

All the important stuff is there. So let's see what we have then....

 

A shelf worn box for one. This was also boxed as 'Heavy Chevy'. There's one on the bay as I write this. Love the shape!

 

The shell. A few very small scratches but otherwise very nice.

 

Lots of other bits including the custom parts. So it'll be another lowrider. Two sets of very similar wheels. 

No metal axles on this kit, but the wheels must be glued to plastic stubs, so no vroom vroom on the shelf

 

A little later and I had it mocked up to check the ride height and stance. Cool.

The front suspension setup is rather vague and requires patience and three hands.

How a ten year would get on I shudder to think.

 

Did I mention no engine? Luckily I have a few spares. I chose the one seen here bottom left. Already wired from years ago.

The engine simply sits on the crossmember. No attempt at proper mounts then. I found a propshaft that fitted too.

And that is where this one stands so far. Looks like I'm going to need more paint fairly soon. 

Whether the weather will be good enough to paint is another matter. We shall see. 

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

 

 

 

 

[Neddy]

Now this is my kind of modelling!  '60s/70s US iron, incomplete kit so no urge to replicate the original, be as creative as you please.  I'm going to enjoy this...

[Stickframe]

Another big GM beast!  Nice, and your engine yard, yes! absolutely worth keeping - you never know....lol - as I try and convince myself to toss old sprues..."I'll never need this...." 😄

[Spiny]

5 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

The front suspension setup is rather vague and requires patience and three hands.

How a ten year would get on I shudder to think.

 

 

If my experience from when I was a 10-year old is anything to go by, the process would be to slather the thing in glue and put bits in approximately the right place

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

18 hours ago, Spiny said:

the process would be to slather the thing in glue and put bits in approximately the right place

Not far off what I ended up doing. I tried using Elmers for the mockup so I could dismantle it again for painting.

But no. Mr Positive & Mrs Location were not on speaking terms. Revell glue won in the end.

Makes painting trickier but hey, isn't that part of the fun?

[Six97s]

Hemi power, good call.  😬  I built one of these 30-odd years ago, one of the few I still have.

[Marco F.]

Hey  Pete,  the second lowrider? Seems like you're listening  a lot  hiphop 😇🤭

I will keep on having a look at bith builds. 

Again very interesting and looking forward for the result 

Marco F 

[Pete in Lincs]

On 11/15/2022 at 6:02 PM, Marco F. said:

Seems like you're listening  a lot  hiphop

Dreadful stuff. I think in the last 25 years or so I've heard five or so pieces of new music that I like.

I quite like the new Bruce Springsteen album though. And I usually listen to Classic FM when I model.

[bigbadbadge]

I don't love an Impala, great mock up Pete,  crikey got a few spares there too. You could have a savage yard.

Chris

[Marco F.]

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Dreadful stuff. I think in the last 25 years or so I've heard five or so pieces of new music that I like.

I quite like the new Bruce Springsteen album though. And I usually listen to Classic FM when I model.

So do I Pete.  In the moment I rediscovered my old Dr. Feelgood records. 

For modelling I got old Rock and Blues on a stick

Marco  F

 

[Pete in Lincs]

What would you say to a small update? 'Hello small update' perhaps?

Another couple of hours in the manshed have produced some progress. Read on and behold the beauty of the pale blue plastic...

The firewall and the radiator support structure have had all the usually annoying moulded in wires scraped & sanded off. 

Most retro customs that I've seen have the engine bay wiring hidden away.

 

The bodyshell has has the badges and door handles scraped and sanded off. Another restomod favourite.

The filler is for a couple of dimples on the trunklid. Over the keyhole and to smooth out where a badge was situated.

And, instead of the kit's front benchseat, I'm going to use these two bucket seats in the front. They fell out of the car interior bits spares box.

 

I've put the front valance here to show that I've opened out these slots just above the spoiler. 

Further back, I've filled small trenches caused by the moulding process for the chassis rails.

Those two 'pimples' on top of the wheel arches are to keep the shell a little higher. They might go. We'll see.

There may be more tomorrow, but I can't promise anything though. Thanks for looking, Cheers, Pete

 

[keefr22]

Nice small update Pete, and lovely pale blue plastic!

 

Keith

[Pete in Lincs]

Aaaand we're back with an overdue update. Sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoyed the complimentary Coffee & biscuits?

All I had time for last weekend was to shoot some Hycote Acrylic white primer at this one. 

Earlier this week I got time to pop into The Range (A home products shop) and found that they sell small cans of Acrylic car paint.

Again the brand is Hycote. Price 4.99 per can and the erm, range, is limited to fairly popular car colours. But I found one I liked.

 

 

This is a Ford colour. It's really a bit chilly to paint in the garage today but I warmed up the can in hot water and it went on nicely.

I may need to hit it with Micromesh for the odd dust spec, but it's covered very well. This is after two coats about thirty minutes apart.

Next weekend I'll see if it will simply polish up, or if It'll need a clear coat.

Thanks for looking. Have a good week, Pete

[keefr22]

On 04/12/2022 at 15:14, Pete in Lincs said:

limited to fairly popular car colours.

 

Many of which were popular in the 1970's...!! Currently 'working' on a replica of my 1975 Escort 1600 Sport (owned in 1978!!) which has been sprayed the correct Vista Orange from a can from the Range! I'm surprised (and pleased) Hycote keep so many old car colours in their range and on my last visit to the Range I got a tin of the metallic green that an Escort 1300GT I owned back then was painted in too!! Halfords is the same as well, having many 70's (even some 60's!) paints stilll going! I wonder how many they sell to non-modellers....?! 🤣

 

Nice colour choice Pete, going to look good (as is the other one!)

 

Keith

[Plumbum]

Nice work, gotta love that wired up Mopar 426 Hemi engine! Lots more power than GM stuff! Mopar guy here. Keep up the good work!

[Stickframe]

So Pete, another low and slow?  I was looking through pics on my phone and found these:

 

 

 

Some nice Chevies!  This was mid 2018 -  on Alameda Island, with the Port of Oakland in the background (across the bay from San Francisco).    Aw, how hard would it be to convert the Impala to a convertible?? 😁  All three have hydraulics, but only one guy has rear slammed, and front raised - enjoy!

 

Cheers

Nick 

[stevehnz]

On 11/20/2022 at 4:25 AM, Pete in Lincs said:

What would you say to a small update? 'Hello small update'.  Boom Boom!

There, fixed it for ya.

Had friends when I was at school with a 1966 Impala, though a 4 door, have had a soft spot for the big Chevs ever since. Way cooler than our EK Holden.

It is an interesting looking build you've got going on here Pete, very much a scrap yard challenge.  

Steve.

[Pete in Lincs]

At last, an update! It's been a very busy couple of weeks, when Family stuff and work took precedence over the manshed. Sorry.

Anyhoo, despite the cold I managed to get another coat or two of paint on the Impala (and my other build, the Grand Prix).

I left them for a coupe of weeks and found an hour or so from somewhere to give them a rub down with a cloth last weekend.

I'm impressed with the results. A decent scale shine to my eye anyway. I like this paint!

Recent restomod programmes from the states have shown that trim pieces can have the chrome stripped off and be painted in body colour.

This (usually) still enhances the cars lines and saves filling in all the fastening holes. So I've followed the fashion in some places here.

 

To go with the pale blue I used some Humbrol gloss orange to add a bit of contrast ala Gulf racing colours. 

 

Again on both models I found a couple of round bits of plastic, attacked them with silver paint and then added some Elmers white glue.

I think they've come out looking okay. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone add a dome light to a car.

I need to sort sun visors and a rear view mirror to them both.

The Crimbo decs are coming down tomorrow, so I don't know whether I'll get any more done. It'll also depend on how cold it gets!

Thanks for looking. Happy new year, Pete

 

[Spiny]

I'd agree that that paint works well on the car, and also I must confess that I wasn't sure at first but I was definitely wrong there.

 

As for interior lights, Revell's Cuda has one. Unfortunately, the recess for it looks very much like a large ejector pin mark - I ended up filling the recess then the next week having to dig all the filler out again.

[Pete in Lincs]

I've finished the '65 Grand Prix today, and that is now up in RFI. This one will be back on the bench soon. Work/life and cold weather permitting that is. Pete

[bigbadbadge]

That's a lovely colour Pete, looks great on the shell. I didn't know the Range did the old car paints, wow. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Chris

[Pete in Lincs]

The sun came out today (briefly) and warmed up the manshed sufficiently for some progress to be made.

I decided to do a bit more wet sanding on the trunk. Oops. I hit plastic. So the shell had to get partly repainted. Ah well.

Try the Chassis then. Engine fit got sorted and exhaust side pipes I found in the spares box were fettled a bit. More to do there though.

The interior got the seat cushions and other bits painted in pale grey. Goes nicely with the pale blue.

So, not much, but any progress in a storm eh? Thanks for looking in. Pete

[Toftdale]

On 29/01/2023 at 19:46, Pete in Lincs said:

but any progress in a storm eh

I know that feeling all to well - Andy 

[Pete in Lincs]

Due to an outbreak of 'not quite so cold in the manshed'. It's Sunday pictures time. Are you sitting comfortably?

 

Running gear installed. I'd lost the 'OMG the propshaft has sheared off' catcher so made a new one from a bit of exhaust pipe.

Other than that it's all as it should be under there. Bearing in mind that it's a replacement engine & gearbox. Obviously.

 

Wheels (Durr). For once I remembered to fit tyre valves. Just about discernible here. Skinny tyres all round on this one.

 

A sea of blue & grey. I've added an indicator stalk on the column, and tape seat belts with metal tape buckles.

 

The exhaust set up seen here in a bulldog clip. (paint drying) That middle bit (Muffler) is metal tape wrapped around the plastic. 

And that's it for another week or so. Off work tomorrow, so I might get a bit more done, depending on the weather of course.

Thanks, as always, for looking. Sorry it wasn't more exciting! Have a good week, Pete 

[Neddy]

"I'd lost the 'OMG the propshaft has sheared off' catcher" - otherwise known as the "pole-vault preventer"  😆

 

Good solid work gone on here, nice wheels and interior!