Corvette Factory

[Elmer Fudd]

We're gonna attempt a batch build of MPC 1973 & 1974 Corvette Coupes. These are the ones with a clutch pedal and a 4-speed stick working a poorly done 400 Turbohydramatic. That won't do so the transmissions have been carved off. Now where is the cup of those excellent MPC midyear Corvette transmissions?

Nearly all of this is used except for the green and yellow pieces which came from one of those spectacular eBay lots which yielded about half a cubic foot of just vintage engine pieces. So the incorrect left side oil cap has been shaved off and the other side modded to mimic the rubber oil fill cap. Maybe the dimple in the center of the cap will get filled. Who knows? The underhood detail is charming but woefully lacking. There's just too much needed to make it look right so we'll stick pretty close to the way they were designed. The oil filters separated from the oil pans for ease of painting.

1974 was the last year for the mighty 454 in a Corvette and it was also the last year for the working control arms with steel coil springs in the MPC Corvette kit. You gotta be pretty choosy when buying prebuilts because some of the kids poured the glue onto those delicate front suspension pieces.

[bisc63]

This will be fun to watch; I like how you're approaching the details!

 

[Len Woodruff]

Love these Vettes. Thanks for posting.

[Monty]

Me spotting a C3 Corvette thread

I still consider these old MPCs some of the most enjoyable kits to build despite some of the quirks you mentioned (big blocks after '74, horribly misaligned auto trans halves, and despite sharing 90+% of the tooling with the coupes, this one was inexplicably tooled up without a master cylinder or brake booster.

That said, doing your due diligence on the details can result in a very nice build.  

Can't wait to see what all you do with yours.  

  

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by Monty

[Slotto]

My favorite flavor of Corvettes! I'm tuned in

[Bills72sj]

I am following along too. Batch building 3 Corvettes is high in the queue for me too  ('69, '70, and '75.)

Edited August 15, 2020 by Bills72sj

[doorsovdoon]

Cool, triple bill!

[misterNNL]

So this will a "C3-peat"build?

[Elmer Fudd]

Baby steps: today's mission was to find some transmissions. That took probably a couple hours of sorting through boxes of glued and painted parts to find 3 engines to butcher. For whatever reason, the engines are always gluey but the transmissions not so much. The one with the black paint gets another 24 hours in the soup.

Am scraping the bottom of the barrel now for these gearboxs. Next step is to scrounge the MPC 1966 Corvette boxes for one more. Picking thru the silver-gray 1966 Corvette stuff is almost like going to church. ? Trying to keep them all MPC, maybe as some kinda tribute.

Gonna be a sad day when i have to start buying midyear MPC Corvettes again because they got kinda pricey in the past few years.

[randyc]

On 8/14/2020 at 11:58 AM, Elmer Fudd said:

1974 was the last year for the mighty 454 in a Corvette and it was also the last year for the working control arms with steel coil springs in the MPC Corvette kit. You gotta be pretty choosy when buying prebuilts because some of the kids poured the glue onto those delicate front suspension pieces.

That's an excellent paragraph.  My FIRST kit was the Corvette annual and it had the metal springs.   I couldn't remember if it was a 74 or 75.  THat answers that.  And the last sentence.  Where my kit is in a landfill, the plastic is probably still soft from the glue.   I want to say I bought two tubes of cement for that one.  

[Elmer Fudd]

On 8/17/2020 at 10:03 AM, randyc said:

   My FIRST kit was the Corvette annual and it had the metal springs.   I couldn't remember if it was a 74 or 75.  That answers that.  

Hey! Hope you enjoyed your trip down Memory Lane! Saw your critique of the Revell 1969 Chevelle SS396 wheels in another forum. Yes, the trim ring area is wrong. Those wheels came with polished stainless steel trim rings. The ones in the oft-reissued AMT 1969 Chevelle might work.

The other thing: the piping on the bucket seat backs. The seat backs are plastic and a rougher texture than the vinyl. The piping is injection-molded silver plastic overlaid with clear plastic. It would be a mistake to make this piping look like chrome. That is all. Good luck!

[Elmer Fudd]

Okay, more baby steps. Found another transmission to catch up 454-4 with the other three. This one came from Belgium and whatever they're using for model paint, it ain't Testors. After looking at it with the magnifier, the red paint is smooth enough to paint over without removing it with the EXPENSIVE paint stripper.

So the mating flanges on the rear of the blocks and the bellhousing faces were dressed on a 12" double cut file and seemed to be square according to the trained eye. But after they were stuck on, it was apparent that the transmission tailhousings were off center a mil or less in one or both directions. That's .040" or less and the boss said "That's close enough!"

The small engine parts except the starters have all been debugged of flash and mold parting lines and are ready for a bath and paint. Not worthy of a pic.

After this pic was taken the 4th set of valve covers went on and the hole in the water pump was drilled (1/16th drill) through the blocks to accept a toothpick for painting.

Since Chevrolet painted the engines and bellhousings together without the dust cover in place, the oil pans have to be painted separately to facilitate the hand painting of the black dust covers. We'll see some paint next round. The oil pan flanges on the blocks dressed to about 80% flat around the perimeter. Again: 'Close enough!"

Time now to go back outside with the Superglue and Microballoons to fill the dimple in the OIL fill caps and touch up a few other questionable spots. Those Microballoons - tiny glass spheres - when you inhale some of them you know right away to not do it again.  Bye for now!

Edited August 18, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[dragcarz]

14 hours ago, Elmer Fudd said:

Okay, more baby steps. Found another transmission to catch up 454-4 with the other three. This one came from Belgium and whatever they're using for model paint, it ain't Testors. After looking at it with the magnifier, the red paint is smooth enough to paint over without removing it with the EXPENSIVE paint stripper.

So the mating flanges on the rear of the blocks and the bellhousing faces were dressed on a 12" double cut file and seemed to be square according to the trained eye. But after they were stuck on, it was apparent that the transmission tailhousings were off center a mil or less in one or both directions. That's .040" or less and the boss said "That's close enough!"

The small engine parts except the starters have all been debugged of flash and mold parting lines and are ready for a bath and paint. Not worthy of a pic.

After this pic was taken the 4th set of valve covers went on and the hole in the water pump was drilled (1/16th drill) through the blocks to accept a toothpick for painting.

Since Chevrolet painted the engines and bellhousings together without the dust cover in place, the oil pans have to be painted separately to facilitate the hand painting of the black dust covers. We'll see some paint next round. The oil pan flanges on the blocks dressed to about 80% flat around the perimeter. Again: 'Close enough!"

Time now to go back outside with the Superglue and Microballoons to fill the dimple in the OIL fill caps and touch up a few other questionable spots. Those Microballoons - tiny glass spheres - when you inhale some of them you know right away to not do it again.  Bye for now!

EXPENSIVE PAINT STRIPPER 

I can be a little frugal, I buy a lot of built ups of models I want to build but I don’t want to pay a lot of money for a collector kit only to build it. Most of the kits I buy are painted, or just filthy and need attention.

I have used this stuff for years and I highly recommend it. You can get a gallon from Walmart for under $10.00, use it over and over. I keep a plastic container with a lid for bodies and creep a jewelry cleaning container with the little basket for small parts. It well strip chrome and the clear undercoat in anywhere from an hour to overnight. The only paint it seems to not like is flat black, it will take a little longer and some scrubbing, but most will come off. I’ve only experienced a plastic problem with the Lindberg 53 Ford, as it softened the plastic, but I was still able to repaint and finish it.

[Elmer Fudd]

As promised, there is new paint this update. A hot sewing pin made the pilot hole for the spark plug wires and the famous water pump bypass hose to the intake manifold. The engines look glossy but it's about 80% gloss,

Am now committed to fabbing the bypass hose, hopefully from solid-core insulated wire.

The transmission tops were left scabby because they do not show.

The customized oil fill caps were filled with the superglue and microballoons then the surplus shaved off with the single-edge razor blade and finessed with a file and 400-grit wet paper.

It's too much to make the engine compartment look completely right but the goal is to make the details noticeable enough that you can overlook the things that are lacking.

Am thinking about trying the Revell distributor shielding and  if it works, the Revell brake booster and master cylinder. Ya, $25 is a lot to pay for 2 small parts but it might be worth it.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[Elmer Fudd]

Got paint on the manifolds today. After the primer was on it was apparent that one manifold was no good so with a burst of ambition i located a replacement and got it caught up with the others.

The worst part was smoothing out the parting lines all the way around the pieces.

Then i couldn't find the go-to for the cast iron look. But there was a can of Duplicolor Cast Iron engine paint on the shelf. It didn't look right after it was sprayed so back to the hunt for the go-to.

It was hard to find because the cap was gone but i ultimately captured it. Looks like the camera wasn't paying attention to what i was focusing on.

 

 

[ismaelg]

Nice!  Looking really good!   I've always admired those who can do multiple models in parallel.  Never been able to pull that off.

[Elmer Fudd]

More engine pieces today. First had to make sure it was all gonna fit together. These are nearly all used parts so some of mating surfaces had too much prior glue on them.

First order was to get the right sheen on the belts. Real belts are not 100% flat black. The pulleys can now be painted by hand.

Then there was an attempt to paint the Delcotrons without the usual go-to silver spray. Duplicolor Aluminum High Heat was too shiny. Matte Clear knocked off too much of the shine. So it was back to the hunt for the T191 Duplicolor Ultra Silver which seems to be just right for transmission cases, aluminized exhausts and alternators. After the only existing can of that was found we were able to finish up and move on to other tasks. That is all for today!

[Elmer Fudd]

Today's little project was grilles and starters.

Everyone holds on to small parts like this, don't they?

And the (almost) finished products:  The grilles need the turn signal lenses painted semi-transparent white. That will take some experimentation. And the starters need a bit of detail.

The grilles might look shiny in the sun but they're a nice semi-gloss like dullish injection-molded black plastic. The starters are significantly glossier.

MPC plated the grilles in these kits. Guess they thought they needed a little more bling. Or maybe there was room on the tree for more chromed pieces.

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[Elmer Fudd]

Pretty muggy today but the paint flew anyhow.

Four sets of wheelbacks done.

Four sets of halfshafts.

Four plus three pairs of brake rotors. Gonna have to dig a little deeper and find some workable ungrooved fronts to match those  ungrooved rears. That or break up some more unbuilts.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Here we go again: Spare Tire Covers, Radiators and Shrouds.

The Spare Covers painted 2 wet coats of flat black then immediately dusted from a distance with Semi-Flat black to impart a little more interesting surface. The Covers all have this weird depression to the upper right of the Vee that must've been in the wooden master when they traced it. Could see it when the parts were being cleaned up for paint. No point in trying to fix it.

The radiators are glossiest here and the shrouds are a velvety Semi-Flat black made by 2 wet coats of flat black soon followed by one wet coat of Semi-Flat black.

Was looking for rear suspension pieces yesterday and may have to sacrifice another unbuilt to the cause. Also looking at an unsanctioned revision of the assembly sequence in the rear suspension in order to make everything more secure. There's just too many loose parts to glue, mount and hold all at the same time the way MPC suggested it. Too much potential for a gluey mess that would create a major setback. The trailing arms also need to be pinned to be safe, it seems. Carry on, ya'lls!

One last mini-update for today....

Found some spray paint among the hoard that nicely mimics cold-rolled steel so the driveshafts got cleaned up, 2 had a 1/16 holed drilled in one end for a replacement locating pin, and then painted.

Debugged a couple differential housings and stuck them together. Still need to piece together 2 more.

Then replaced the left control arm on this early front spring chassis. About 1/2 of the prebuilt spring chassis are just too gluey to save. This one was pretty barren of glue so the remnants of the broken control arm buzzed off level to the top of the frame rail then a replacement cut off a gluebombed chassis below the horseshoe. After the mating surfaces were squared up they were stuck together and it took a good 15 minutes to work the arm into final position. It's position within 1/64 of an inch of the other side and level with the other side. Hope it was all worth it !

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[Elmer Fudd]

It was time to gather up some seats. 1970-74 seats are kinda hard to come by because so many had the racing seat belts welded to the upholstery patterns. One pair is gonna be 2 seats made from four. Two others need to have divots on the bottom edges fixed where part of the seat stayed on the interior floor when the seats were pried out. Got to fix 'em if they're fixable.

The divot fix comes from heating up a piece of sprue with the micro butane torch then pressing the softened sprue onto the divot. After it cools it is removed then glued into place.

All of the seats are having posts stuck onto the underside for gluing to the interior floor. It's just too messy to try to glue seat bottom edges to floors. So again, the 1/4" round piece of sprue had one end heated with the torch and pressed into the domed surface under the seat while using a thumb on the other side of the seat bottom as a heat sink to keep from distorting the seat. It sticks just enough to cut off most of the surplus with the hot knife. Then the stubby is picked off the seat and glued into place using a pencil mark on the stub that points to the front edge of the seat.

Later the stub will be worked down to level with the bottom edges of the seat and a .020" thick piece of styrene glued to the stub to slightly elevate the seat for a good bond when it is glued to the floor.

Similarly, styrene posts were added to the chassis to allow the spare tire carrier to be glued to a post rather than the poorly designed attaching points provided by MPC. The square posts were made from MPC Corvette chassis frame rails, filed flat on one side and glued together. The spare carrier that was windowed with the hot knife will serve as a gage when working down the posts to fit the spare tire covers. But the wrong side of the cover got windowed so another carrier will be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. That about does it!

Edited September 13, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[krassandbernie]

I molded these seats from the '72 coupe (MPC) a couple years back for my own personal use; but can easily cast more up. Send me a pm if you are interested. I won't bang you over the head. As you can see, I dig these old MPC annual Vettes too!

Edited September 13, 2020 by krassandbernie

[Elmer Fudd]

10 hours ago, krassandbernie said:

I molded these seats from the '72 coupe (MPC) a couple years back for my own personal use; but can easily cast more up. Send me a pm if you are interested. I won't bang you over the head. As you can see, I dig these old MPC annual Vettes too!

 

Yep, You 're a fan of MPC Gen 3 Corvettes. Great pictures, Boss! The MPC kits from 50 years ago had their faults but IMHO, still better than the AMT or Revell productions.

As for me,  i prefer to build from junk, because i can. No offense to anyone who sees this.

That said, i am humbled by  your generous offer to make more seats for me. I needed 8 seats and found 8 usable. Then, after investing a little time in making the 8 right, i found 2 more which will be a cushion of sorts if 8 pieces do not make the finish line. i want to believe that i planned okay but if i run short i will be sure to write you! Thanks again for being so helpful and gracious!

Edited September 14, 2020 by Elmer Fudd

[krassandbernie]

No problem!