1969 Firebird 'mild' custom--bringing new life to an absolutely lousy kit

[924_CarreraGTS]

A few Christmases ago, I received AMT's 1969 Firebird (1/25). Upon opening it, I was beyond unimpressed; rather, I was downright disgusted. The kit looks like it was designed in a day, and was most likely made as a quick revenue source. "Detail" is limited to the body, with is fairly realistic. Everything else falls pathetically short of acceptable. To boot, I'm not that enthralled with the actual car. However, because I got it as a gift, and just because it's a good challenge, I'm going to "make it work for me." This, however, will require a ton of scratchbuilding. So, I dusted off the styrene sheets and got ready for a long haul (which will hopefully be not as long as some of my other projects )

Here is the kit. Yeah, I know, a blurry pic right off the bat. But fortunately this will not carry throughout, and we won't be looking at the box much anyway!


Here are the glorious parts. I have already removed some from the trees in my fiddling. Also note that the kit's stock and optional wheels and tires, neither of which I was impressed with, have been replaced by the wheels/tires from AMT's 1968 El Camino custom. They look right for this car. The Ram-Air hood has been primered when I was testing primer; I don't think I'll be doing the Ram-Air. At the right are the directions (which completely lack painting instructions) and my stack of reference material, mostly diagrams from online repair manuals. The only decals are two license plates, which I don't care for.


I decided to start off by cleaning up the body. I plan to paint it bright orange, which was a good-looking factory color. One of the most notable body problems was the kit's molded-on wipers, which look quite fake. I plan to scratch some new ones, so the molded-on crud had to go. My file took care of one of them...


And then the other. A few minor scratches, but those will be filled in with primer.


AMT added two pins in the inside of the rear trunk. Though I don't plan to open the trunk, these are visible through the clear taillight panel. I don't know why they're there; my only explanation is that they are an attempt to recreate the back-up light section of the taillight panel. Obviously, when viewed through clear red plastic, they don't do a very good job. I plan to cut the taillights and add clear back-up lights, so I removed the pegs.


Here is the body with mold seams off and all modifications done.


Since it is the dead of winter and cold/wet right now, I'm not going to primer right away. I'll probably do it in my garage anyway, but haven't had a chance. In the meantime, I set about modifying other body parts.
Here is the inside of the Ram-Air hood. The other hood differs slightly, but the details are about the same. AMT actually did a decent job here; realistic texture/clips. However, the hinges are lame. I'll fix them later.


Here are the parts AMT provides for the front end. As you can see, they are bulky, and the connecting "bar" on the lights is clearly visible in the engine bay.


I cut the bar out and also removed the huge pegs from the grille that were supposed to go into those two holes. The grille fits pretty poorly, but with a little fitting, and maybe some putty, I can make it work. Affixing it will be a little more challenging, but if needs be, I can add some lips for it to glue to.


Another heinous feature: the rear bumper. The license plate literally had the scale thickness of a large dictionary, and the "FIREBIRD" lettering was tacky. I wonder how AMT expected you to install their cheap license plate decals? Additionally, the area around the plate was inaccurate. Sigh.


I used my saw and files to remove the plate, then re-shape the surrounding area. I also had to add a piece of plastic to the driver's side top front corner, as it sloped down too much. This picture shows that--the camera couldn't focus on the part, so it is blurry.


Obviously, all that work wreaked havoc on the chrome. So, I had to do a little Bare-Metal foiling. Not perfect, but decent. (It's hard to cover such a component).


I then moved to engine bay panels. Here is the radiator. AMT molded on some inaccurate boxes which are probably trying to replicate the voltage regulator and the horn relay. Also, the fan shroud is incomplete.


I removed the boxes and thinned the battery mount. I'll fix the shroud later.


Here is the kit firewall. AMT actually has decent wiring detail, but since I'll be fully wiring this, that would be redundant. Besides, the master cylinder is a joke and the wiper motor is inaccurate, so once again I got out the file and saw.


The heater is OK, so I kept it.


While I waited for an opportunity to paint, I messed with the interior tub. Here is the stock part. It is decent, except for the door panel detail (or lack of) and some carpet that looks like gravel.


Oh, and the molded-on pedals. I removed them with my Dremel, which was a little rough. Fortunately, you can't see down there when the model's done anyway. I am going to replace the pedals, though. I'm getting a photoetch kit for the 1968 Firebird (because I can't find one for the '69, but I need the "400" emblems); if it doesn't have pedals, I'm going to build some custom drilled ones.


By far the worst detail on this kit is its suspension. Simply put, it doesn't have any. Well, there is one piece with exhaust, mufflers, axle, leaf springs, and driveshaft on it for the rear (but the axle is dumptruck-sized), and the front has two shoddy molded-on lower A-arms clogging the crossmember. Otherwise, there's zip. Here is the stock frame. Bleah.


Before I got into the suspension, I decided to removed the two completely useless pins that AMT had strangely molded at the rear.


With the touch of a Dremel, they're gone.


Now, for the suspension. First, I vehemently removed those stupid A-arms. This resulted in a gappy, incomplete crossmember. But I'm not done yet.


I found the front suspension from AMT's 1970 Monte Carlo and the upper A-arms from AMT's 1966 Olds 4-4-2 in my spare parts box (no, I really don't like AMT's; I just keep getting them as gifts!) These parts will work to give this Firebird front suspension.


Here are the lower A-arms, removed and ready for fitting.


I cut these slots in the solid wheel wells to accomodate the upper A-arms. I'll add a lip to the engine bay side of these slots later.


Here I have built up the rails of the subframe. These were puny and inadequate on the kit. Now this car won't twist like a pretzel .


The little wayward piece of plastic at the bottom the the picture won't be visible once the interior tub is on. Next, I added the structure to the rear part of the crossmember.


Here I have added the coil spring mounts to the frame rail and am puttying them in.


As I fitted the A-arms, I noticed that they would need a notch to sit properly. So, I used the Dremel again to thin the flat part on the underside of the arms.


While I waited for glue and putty to dry, I moved on to the rear. This is that lame conglomerate part I was talking about.


Here is the axle from the 1966 Olds, scrounged from the parts bin. It'll do the job much better.


The leaf springs on the kit are decent, so I sawed them from the axle assembly.


I then removed the two pillar-like mounts (which were for the rear metal axle) from the rear frame. The wheels will mount directly to the new plastic axle, just like on a real car. I really despise metal axles.


I'm planning to lower the ride height of this car somewhat, and in test-fitting, I discovered that the driveshaft tunnel was too shallow. So, I cut and filed it out, then cut a strip of .010" styrene. I wrapped it around a paintbrush handle to curve it, then glued it in place. When it was dry, I filed the edges.


Studying my reference photos revealed that the rear shocks are supposed to attach to the trunk floor, not the subframe. But they attach outside the subframe...and there was nothing there...so I had to add the mounts, which narrowed the wheel wells. This, however, is not a problem. My wide rear tires still fit. Here is the first part of the shock mounts.


Meanwhile, back up front, I bored out the coil spring mounts with my Dremel to accept the springs I will be winding from copper wire.


Back at the rear, I added these panels to finish the shock mounts/wheel wells.


They are gappy, but putty will fix that.
Back up front, I added the smaller structures to the forward part of the crossmember. In these shots, everything is puttied and sanded. I used Tamiya regular putty.



The most difficult part of my chassis work is done. A coat of primer will reveal any flaws; then I can "undercoat" it. Next time, on to the engine!
Thanks for looking.
Alex

[rsxse240]

I absolutely HATE that line of GM cars from AMT! you are doing a fabulous job, man! I can't wait to see more progress.

-Ken

[tigeraid]

whew... I didn't quite find it as aggravating as you, but to each his own--you're certainly fixing the problems! I built this kit as a clone of my real life '69 with a chevy smallblock, so I didn't have to put up with the crappy engine from the kit. I'd love to build one of these with the SOHC I6 that comes in the kit sometime tho... What colour are you planning?

[rsxse240]

John, I don't think it's a SOHC, I think it's a pushrod I-6. I may be mistaken, it may have a toyota, or nissan OHC motor, who knows. I personally haven't seen the latest release. back in the day, it only came with the axle trough oilpan uhh, pontiac 400 in resemblance, lump of plastic poop.

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by rsxse240

John, I don't think it's a SOHC, I think it's a pushrod I-6. I may be mistaken, it may have a toyota, or nissan OHC motor, who knows. I personally haven't seen the latest release. back in the day, it only came with the axle trough oilpan uhh, pontiac 400 in resemblance, lump of plastic poop.

Nope, it even says Overhead Cam on the valve cover:



Now BEFORE I put my foot in my mouth, I'll admit I don't remember if this engine came in the '69 Firebird kit, or the '69 Trans Am kit. But they're both AMT.

[tajoe]

I have both the trans am and 69 firebird kits and was not at all impressed with either one. As a matter of fact I glued the hood closed on the firbird. Seeing as how these are my favorite cars I was highly disapointed with the detail, especially in the engine compartment. I concentrated on the outsid since they sit in a display cabinet. You seem to be doing one hell of a job on this build, I will be watching closely to see how you improve this kit.

[tonioseven]

The real car had an OHC I-6 engine. Waaaay back in the day, I had a kit with that engine: the "White Lightning" version first put out by MPC. Your detailing is terrific! I wonder how many parts from the Revell '68 Firebird could be used on this project...

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by tonioseven

The real car had an OHC I-6 engine.

I know, I owned a '69 that originally had one. Just saying, one of those two kits comes with it.

[924_CarreraGTS]

Thanks for all your comments. I already dove into the engine. Ugh. But I haven't posted that yet because there are a lot of pictures. I'll make a new post sometime this week. Yes, I also have the AMT '65 GTO, which is just as bad, if not worse. Sometimes AMT really angers me.

Originally Posted by tigeraid

What colour are you planning?

Bright orange, with black/woodgrain interior.

[924_CarreraGTS]

Alright, a brief update showing the start of the engine, which will be quite a project in itself.

When I build a kit, I usually work on a part, then, while glue and paint dry, I move to another, whichever happens to be on my mind at the moment. So if the order here seems a little illogical, that's why.

Starting with the oil pan. The pan itself is fairly good, but the starter is crud. It has no solenoid, and looks more like a sideways oil filter.


Though starters are easy to make and I probably have a few in the parts bin, the OHV-6 engine that came with this kit had a decent starter. (That engine was fairly good. Too bad the same isn't true for the 400).


With the chrome stripped, that will do nicely. So off with the old.


This removal makes some bolt-head detail necessary, but not yet.

Strangely, AMT molded the tranny separate from the block. That seems good--and really is considering the modifications I will be making. Here is the bell housing, with the kit parts fitment. That is how bad the parts assemble on this model.


Some serious, heavy-duty filing seemed to cure the terrible fit.


I'm beginning to wonder if AMT ever even saw a Firebird with a 400 ci V8. Here is their "front cover."


This part has no real resemblance to anything GM has ever made. In other words, I don't even plan to salvage it. All new parts were in order. But that will have to wait until next time, which is also when you should get to see what I consider the scratchbuilding masterpiece of my lifetime

Thanks for looking. It seems many of you are familiar with this kit and know my "pain" as I attempt to create a model that would make Pontiac owners proud, not angry.

Updates soon!

Alex

[tajoe]

Looks like the kit I just opened from Revell. I thought it was a new release but they reproduced an old kit, redesigned the box and put in custom wheels. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=660930 I'm in the same boat you are but don't have the scratch building skills. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[rod_k2]

i'm speechless with the skill you have... you use just Styrene and Putty and make outstanding things!

[Dave5.0]

Damn......you are really going to work on this kit. I look forward to seeing your finished product!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Great work so far

As for ripping on the basic kit, it's unfortunate that the model companies don't tell you what's inside the box if you haven't been involved in the hobby and building them constantly since the '60's. Many older builders know exactly the limitations of this particular model; it's 100% typical of a late '60's kit (fairly accurate body, very crude interior/engine/chassis), with perhaps the mold having more wear and updates like those chassis pins which originally were holes and the chassis held in place with metal screws. Older builders shrug it off with comfortable familiarity, younger builders are incredulous...expecting it to be somewhat more like Revell's '68 Firebird or '69 Camaro, which it never will be...but for it's day, it's really not a bad kit for something first squeezed out of a mold nearly 40 years ago. In fact for anything other than a bone-stock '69 Firebird T/A, using this kit for the body and using Revell's '68 Firebird for a donor for all the dirty parts would be a good idea. Yeah, that means two kits, but it's the only way to avoid all the scratchbuilding if that bothers you. The chances that a '69 Firebird would be retooled to current standards are probably slim to none

Imagine what the Firebird would look like if it was tooled in Japan in the late '60's...flat chassis, huge battery box, Mabuchi motor, rear axle with a humongous gear drive, half of an interior (at best), a shape that's maybe 70% accurate...

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

Imagine what the Firebird would look like if it was tooled in Japan in the late '60's...flat chassis, huge battery box, Mabuchi motor, rear axle with a humongous gear drive, half of an interior (at best), a shape that's maybe 70% accurate...