AMT AC Cobra 289 Restoration

[Viccario]

I was not sure whether I should put this into the Muscle Car or street section. I think it is probably both!

I am having a go at restoring this old AMT kit that I dug out of my loft after reading a magazine article on one that jogged my memory, I thought it would be a good project as it is quite unusual to see an AC Cobra that hasn't got the 427's more muscular wider wheel arches.

The kit is from the early Eighties I think, I originally handpainted it with Humbrol paint! The wire wheels that came with the kit are horrible, I didn't know what to replace them with because the kit is 1:25 scale and all other Cobras kits seem to be 1:24. In the end I stole some from a Revell 1:24 scale one. I know they are a bit too big but I think they don't look too bad. I am using the Revell kit's tyres on the front and the original tyres on the wider rears.

As you can see in the original photographs the ride height and the position of the wheels relative to the arches was all wrong so I had to do a lot of work to get the suspension lowered and the wheels moved until I was happy.

I also spent a long time on the windscreen and made my own glass from acetate which fits without the need for glue which is very handy!



Above pic shows original Humbrol paint finish and obvious mould lines!



Above pic shows original ride height too high.



Above pic showing original interior



Below pic's show where I have got to so far.

[bigbertha]

The old Humbrol brush paint job looked pretty good! The suspension mods and wheels make it look much morte like the real 289. How about some pics of the suspemsion mods as I'm sure this was tricky? Good job on the screen. Are you going to finish it like the dark green one with green wheels in the photo?

Surprised that there aren't more comments as I thinks it's a really interesting project. Maybe it should be in the Muscle Car section?

[ScottForster]

The difference in 25 years of skill is evident, the rebuild looks 100% better already

[Viccario]

Originally Posted by ScottForster

The difference in 25 years of skill is evident, the rebuild looks 100% better already

Thanks for the comment, yes I think I was about 12 years old when I first built this one and patience was definitely lacking then!