Opinions/Thoughts?
I picked up an AMT/ERTL Pontiac GTO Super Stocker re-issued kit from Tom Birky earlier this year minus the body...not knowing the entire history of the original MPC and AMT/ERTL kits, I am assuming that the re-issue is the same as the original.
My opinion of this kit is that it indeed represents the 70's quite well as far as the level of car ...either a pavement or dirt Late Model as Lefturns 75 pointed out.
As for a generic chassis?
I'm pretty picky when it comes to the authentic appearance of stock cars...with that being said the frame is non descript....I doesn't represent anything G.M or any other manufacture. In this case , I find that to be quite acceptable.
I do recall seeing a few manufactured stock car frames from that era that were the full perimeter frame style with the Late Model style rear frame section that we are more familiar with. This particular frame has 2 different wheel bases that it can be set at. The shorter one , according to the digital caliper, comes in at 108 mm. or the same wheel base as the Camaros from the 70's and G.M metric frame cars from the late 70's thru '88 (Monte, Regal, Cutlass, etc.) you could lump any of the Mustangs '73 and older into that as well....Same with the Mopars (Barracuda, Duster, Dart etc. etc.)
The longer wheelbase according to the caliper comes in at 112mm to accommodate the longer wheelbase cars....too many to mention...but the Monogram NASCAR bodies fit perfect.
Ideas?
Me personally there are a few pieces that I would like to make molds of and cast for future builds as they are not available anywhere after market. I'd like to do a build from around '73 - '75 using this kit...either using an early 60's Falcon body (hint,hint Gator) or possibly a Mustang or Maverick .
For a 40+ year old designed model chassis/frame, etc. what are any thoughts on these old kit chassis as used straight out of the box?
Just keep it in the era it represents....use the body it comes with and you will be fine. Stay away from any body styles of the last 35-40 years.
Outside of building shocks for the front suspension, would there be anything else that any of you would do to that chassis?
I took a look at the front shocks...they look good to me...course they are still on the sprew tree so I don't know what they may look like attached to anything...HOWEVER...the front lower control arms leave some to be desired. To some builders its not an issue as they are not visible unless you pick the car up and look at the bottom side, while others would want to swap them out for something else. The front lower control arms look almost like a Ford strut style without the strut. I have a few examples using the most popular various kit front lower control arms and this frame to demonstrate how a swap could be done.
I don't have a picture available, but the Ford strut type lower control arm from any NASCAR fits, but the strut comes up short so a cross member would have to be made to attach the struts to.
This is from an 80's Revell/ Monogram G.M NASCAR kit. All you would have to do is fab up some brackets to mount the rear part of the lower control arm to and attach them to the frame.
This is from an 90's Revell/ Monogram NASCAR kit. (Lumina and Monte Carlo)....no brackets needed, just get everything aligned the way you want it and call it good.
This is from an 80's - 90's AMT NASCAR G.M kit ......no brackets needed, just get everything aligned the way you want it....same as above...for what ever reason these two(this one and above) sit closer to this frame than the 80's Revell/ Monogram.
70's era Camaro stock stub frame......to make these work a builder is going to have to split the Camaro cross member in two as the Camaro piece is narrower than the Super Stocker cross member. Add some brackets to the rear part of the lower control arms and you are good to go.
Here's how those same lower control arms look attached to a stock stub Camaro frame.
How "easy" would it be to drop an engine in from another kit?
Pretty easy...even the transmission mount is located such as to be pretty much universal unless you sit the engine wwaayy back. The kit engine is a big block and the way the firewall is designed and located , I cant think of anything that wouldn't fit.
Heres a small block Ford Cleveland....I have it sat back about 2" to 3" in 1:1 scale from the center part of the ball joints in the upper control arms.
Here's a full dress fat block 427 Ford. My 180's didn't match up to the hole in the fire wall and I didn't want to bend them so I didn't include the fire wall in this picture....no engine set back, mounted in stock location.
For that kit era, how would any of you rate this chassis?
Just curious........
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it an 8 ....personally I would have rated it higher if it weren't for the front upper and lower control arms looking the way they do.......I don't know, maybe tubular upper control arms like you would find in a NASCAR kit.
