'64 Cutlass Hardtop Project

[Snake45]

When I was a teenager I got a builtup '64 Cutlass from a neighbor kid for a buck or something. The body had been brush-painted maroon, with the interior in brushed (Pactra?) metallic blue. The body and hood were downstairs being stripped at the time of our late 1968 basement fire, but apparently I had the rest of the parts upstairs, because I still have them all these years later—at least most of them. I'd been planning to hook the chassis and interior up with a trashed AWB '65 Chevelle body, but about 10 years ago I bought a resin '64 Cutlass transkit from eBay. Don't know who made it or remember what I paid (it must not have been much or I wouldn't have bought it). Also bought a resin copy of the original kit humped hood on eBay about the same time.

The original plan was to build it up “Switchers” style—use the resin body and original parts to build a stock “kit” Cutlass, and then piece together a '70s-style street freak on a second chassis with BB Chevy, mags, slicks, etc and use them with the lumpy hood. Now that the HT kit is going to be reissued (and as a 4-4-2, no less!), no need to go Switcher on it. I'll build the new kit when it comes out as a stock 4-4-2, and build up this hot mess of random junk as the street freak. And NOW seems like the right time, before the new kit comes out and I lose interest in messing with the orphaned junk.

The pics show what I have to work with. I've just dropped the entire original interior into Lake Purple. Not gonna bother stripping the brushed gray paint off the chassis, just gonna squirt it flat black and drive on. I was sure I had the original glass and might find it yet, but if not, I can steal some from a '65 Chevelle, or scratchbuild it. The original grille/front bumper is in pretty good shape except for a missing chip on the left corner; I can patch that and re-chrome it. Thought I had the back bumper, too, but if I don't find it, I still have the resin part to chrome and use. I'm still missing one exhaust manifold from the original engine but that might turn up, but I'm planning to straight to the BB Chevy from a '72 Nova anyway. I'll dig up some Torq-Thrusts and monster slicks from the parts box.

The resin body is VERY nice except for being a little short-shot or something at the bottom end of the left quarter. Pretty sure I can patch that out with Fauxberglass and superglue gel. Color will be Testor Arctic Blue Metallic with a black interior, and the idea is to get it finished before the new kit comes out. Thanks for looking and as always, comments welcome.

[FLHCAHZ]

Looking forward to this!   I had a 1:1 1965 f-85 cutlass and really loved that car. 

[Tom Geiger]

Cool! even with a new kit coming, there is some historic justice to restoring the original car. Even if you waited and restored it with parts from the new issue I’d do it. 

[NOBLNG]

Nice, and a very worthwhile project! I like that body style.?

[espo]

This should be an interesting build. I'm sure your vision for this has changed some in the past decades. I'm glad to see I'm not the only pack rat when it comes to models and left over parts. 

[Snake45]

31 minutes ago, espo said:

This should be an interesting build. I'm sure your vision for this has changed some in the past decades. 

Actually, not very much. My inspiration was one of Car Craft's first Street Freaks, a '65 4-4-2. Wish I could find my issue. It might have been in B&W but it was dark and I always think of it as dark blue. I'm pretty sure it had a BB Chevy and I'm virtually certain it had two big 4-barrels sticking through the hood. Wish I could find that! 

[Jack L]

the conv. kit has retooled f&r bumpers plus the funny car f&r bumpers

[Snake45]

4 hours ago, Jack L said:

the conv. kit has retooled f&r bumpers plus the funny car f&r bumpers

Thanks! If my local Hobby Lobby ever has them at 40% off, I'll pick one up, but I'm not paying full metal retail plus shipping for the convertible. I will if need be for the new hardtop, though. 

[Snake45]

The original painted interior responded well to its Purple Spa treatment--24 hours took it ALL off, which is surprisingly good results for the old metallic enamel. I thought sure there would be "corners" of it that would be stubborn, but no. It's almost a shame to paint it now, it looks so nice. But I can't find documentation that off-white or "ivory" or "buff" was a factory available color, just pure white. 

Speaking of which, I was really surprised at the styrene color--I was expecting typical white. But this is definitely not white. Which made me take another look at the "resin" lumped hood I bought off eBay. It's maybe a shade darker but definitely in the same "buff" family. Examining it closely, I can find none of the typical resin-copy evidence--pinholes, edge flash, etc. I'm now 95%+ sure it's an original kit piece. Which raises the question, anyone ever seen an original AMT '64 Cutlass--or any other AMT '64--molded in this buff/ivory/beige color? 

[Bob Ellis]

I have 3 original 1964 Cutlasses. I need to rethink what I need to do with them.

[Snake45]

27 minutes ago, Bob Ellis said:

I have 3 original 1964 Cutlasses. I need to rethink what I need to do with them.

You could try actually building one. And start a thread about it. 

[Bob Ellis]

14 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

You could try actually building one. And start a thread about it. 

I just built new Round2 Cutlass convertible.  The old builders are POSs.

[Bob Ellis]

[Snake45]

Please stop hijacking my thread. I thought maybe you could take a hint, but apparently you wanted to be told straight up. Thank you. 

[Bob Ellis]

23 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Please stop hijacking my thread. I thought maybe you could take a hint, but apparently you wanted to be told straight up. Thank you. 

Snake, You asked me to start re-building the rebuilders . I figured a foto would explain why I won't  bother. I don't think I have enough time left to fix a lot of my builders. Spending some time in the hospital recently reduced model time

[Snake45]

34 minutes ago, Bob Ellis said:

Snake, You asked me to start re-building the rebuilders . I figured a foto would explain why I won't  bother. I don't think I have enough time left to fix a lot of my builders. Spending some time in the hospital recently reduced model time

 I asked you to start your own thread about your project(s). Stop trying to make this thread about YOU. It's rude. Good day to you, sir. 

[Bob Ellis]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:53 AM, Snake45 said:

The original painted interior responded well to its Purple Spa treatment--24 hours took it ALL off, which is surprisingly good results for the old metallic enamel. I thought sure there would be "corners" of it that would be stubborn, but no. It's almost a shame to paint it now, it looks so nice. But I can't find documentation that off-white or "ivory" or "buff" was a factory available color, just pure white. 

Speaking of which, I was really surprised at the styrene color--I was expecting typical white. But this is definitely not white. Which made me take another look at the "resin" lumped hood I bought off eBay. It's maybe a shade darker but definitely in the same "buff" family. Examining it closely, I can find none of the typical resin-copy evidence--pinholes, edge flash, etc. I'm now 95%+ sure it's an original kit piece. Which raises the question, anyone ever seen an original AMT '64 Cutlass--or any other AMT '64--molded in this buff/ivory/beige color? 

That was white plastic but UV or something else has discolored the plastic.

[Steve H]

Hi Snake,  looking forward to seeing this progress. Not familiar with the arctic blue, but you can’t go wrong with any metallic blue in my opinion.  Love the old Cutlass’s

 

[Snake45]

13 minutes ago, Bob Ellis said:

That was white plastic but UV or something else has discolored the plastic.

At last, something on-topic! 

I have a minty unbuilt NIB '64 Cutlass kit that's perfectly white. 

My beige parts have been in a box and not exposed to UV or any other kind of light for over 50 years. I just took a file to the underside of the interior tub and it's beige under the surface, too. Sure looks like it was molded in that color. 

[Snake45]

1 minute ago, Steve H said:

Hi Snake,  looking forward to seeing this progress. Not familiar with the arctic blue, but you can’t go wrong with any metallic blue in my opinion.  Love the old Cutlass’s

 

Thanks! Testor "Arctic Blue" is a very dark metallic blue that's similar to many factory dark blues of the '60s, and which in previous paint jobs I've found to be very easy to work with. 

[Steve H]

7 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Thanks! Testor "Arctic Blue" is a very dark metallic blue that's similar to many factory dark blues of the '60s, and which in previous paint jobs I've found to be very easy to work with. 

Sounds perfect!

[Snake45]

I've now fixed the "short shot" on the left rear quarter with "fauxberglass." 

I cut two strips of newspaper. I coated one strip on one side with superglue and pressed it onto the backside of the lower quarter, pressing it on firmly with a fingertip. Then I coated the second strip the same way and immediately applied it to the back of the first. In the pics below, the dark area of the newsprint is the area saturated with superglue. I let this dry several hours. Notice the tape on the underside of the interior tub--we'll come back to that in a minute. 

I then applied a thick coating of LocTite Super Glue Gel to the face of the "fauxberglass" in the area of the missing panel, overlapping about 1/4" over onto the body's resin. When this was dry, I FILED (the stuff is hard, you'll need a file) the SG gel down to within about .002-003" of flush, at which point several pinholes and small fissures had opened up. (This is not unusual and was expected.) I filled these small voids with more SG gel and let it cure overnight. (No pics of this step because the SG gel doesn't really show up all that well.) Next day I filed all the gel down to almost flush, then switching to #400 and #600 grit fingernail sanding boards to true up the surface. Then and only then did I trim off the excess "fauxberglass" and newsprint with a razor saw. Looks like I might need to adjust the forward angle just a hair, but the missing material is now replaced and the fix should be undetectable under primer and paint. 

And that masking tape? That's the strip that the resin body maker applied originally to hold the interior securely in the body for shipping. I've never removed it--didn't even have to take the interior out to accomplish this repair!