AMT 1960 3-in-1 Ford F-100 Pickup Truck

[RichCostello]

1 hour ago, stavanzer said:

I see that this kit keeps getting pushed back farther and farther for availability for the next Run. One Noted Online Retailer has pushed the kit from "MId-April" to just "May" and three Days ago to simply "June"......

If you waited to get one, the re-order time keeps shifting. They must be completely sold out now. The '63's are getting thin on the ground, too.

These seem to be enormously popular kits.

Hobby Lobby has a spot with a label for this kit, so maybe they bought a ton of them to distribute across the country. It's about time they got something new on their shelves that's actually worth buying.

[Chuck Most]

On 4/21/2024 at 12:06 AM, stavanzer said:

I see that this kit keeps getting pushed back farther and farther for availability for the next Run. One Noted Online Retailer has pushed the kit from "MId-April" to just "May" and three Days ago to simply "June"......

If you waited to get one, the re-order time keeps shifting. They must be completely sold out now. The '63's are getting thin on the ground, too.

These seem to be enormously popular kits.

I asked my local shop a couple months ago and they said their supplier was saying late March. Well, I think they blew that deadline. ?

Edited April 22, 2024 by Chuck Most

[niteowl7710]

4 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

I asked my local shop a couple months ago and they said their supplier was saying late May. Well, I think they blew that deadline. ?

Did I miss the month of May? Last time I looked it was still April...?

[Chuck Most]

9 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Did I miss the month of May? Last time I looked it was still April...?

I don't think so. I got my M months mixed up.

[thatz4u]

just a side bar, if your looking to make a 4wd for this kit, here's what I dicovered...the Mobius short bed frame looks pretty close to the right wheel base, the long bed frame is too long, who knew??

[maxwell48098]

I used the frame fro the AMT '53 Ford F100 and had to add  about 3/4 to the frame wheelbase to make it come out right.  I've also dropped the 1960 Cab onto the '53 F100 frame and pickup box for a proper '60 F100 Flareside

A.J.

[Chuck Most]

I only have minor gripes about the kit. I'll get those out of the way first. 

Really wish the grille was molded open. Especially since a decent attempt at radiator/core support detail was attempted.

Do appreciate the separate headlight lenses, even if they need a little sanding around the perimeter to settle into the bezels.

Stock intake and exhaust setup would have been a nice addition.

Both of mine had a hogged chassis plate. Looked like a frowny face from the side. First one was dealt with after I cut it in half, second one I just trimmed mounting posts and played loose with the assembly sequence.

On the other hand, the interior is nicely executed if a little on the simplified side.

Mold lines are faint and easily dealt with, so faint I actually missed a couple until after the first coat of primer.

Hopefully Round 2 can be persuaded into some variants. This is probably my least favorite Ford F Series body style but I'd definitely good for a '57 short Styleside small window or five. If not, I'm certain the aftermarket will step up sooner or later. 

And that long Styleside bed is handy for any number of other projects, a '65 F250 4x4 for instance.

My biggest gripe is that the actual hobby shop near me is taking forever to get them in so I had to set foot in a Hobby Lobby for this pair ? ? 

 

 

[Dave Darby]

On 6/20/2024 at 12:18 PM, Chuck Most said:

I only have minor gripes about the kit. I'll get those out of the way first. 

Really wish the grille was molded open. Especially since a decent attempt at radiator/core support detail was attempted.

Do appreciate the separate headlight lenses, even if they need a little sanding around the perimeter to settle into the bezels.

Stock intake and exhaust setup would have been a nice addition.

Both of mine had a hogged chassis plate. Looked like a frowny face from the side. First one was dealt with after I cut it in half, second one I just trimmed mounting posts and played loose with the assembly sequence.

On the other hand, the interior is nicely executed if a little on the simplified side.

Mold lines are faint and easily dealt with, so faint I actually missed a couple until after the first coat of primer.

Hopefully Round 2 can be persuaded into some variants. This is probably my least favorite Ford F Series body style but I'd definitely good for a '57 short Styleside small window or five. If not, I'm certain the aftermarket will step up sooner or later. 

And that long Styleside bed is handy for any number of other projects, a '65 F250 4x4 for instance.

My biggest gripe is that the actual hobby shop near me is taking forever to get them in so I had to set foot in a Hobby Lobby for this pair ? ? 

 

 

The engine in these kits is closer to an FE engine, so the closest bet is the Y block from the one issue only Revell stock 56 F100. Following that, there's any number of Y blocks, from the Revell 57 Fords,  and the AMT 56 and Fords. But they will need the exhaust manifolds with the front crossover pipe added or made. When dual exhausts were added, they'd either run a pipe off the front left manifold, use headers, or the rare 57-64 C Series cabover Rams horn manifolds. Regular LH passenger car manifolds dumped into the steering box.

 

[Chuck Most]

I wouldn't say the kit engine is closer to an FE. It's in a kind of early '60's annual kit "fish nor fowl" liminal space. The engine is only "close" to the FE in bottom end appearance, size wise it's about perfect for a Y Block in 1:25. Any 25 scale Y block heads and intake should fit to the kit block pretty well. I don't have the stock Revell '56 but some dry fits with the '56 and '57 Ford hardtop kits fit the '60 kit block about as close to perfectly as you could realistically hope. So those are absolutely good sources to start. 

Suitable rams horn manifolds could be nabbed from any number of late 50's- early '60s small block Chevy engines. Wouldn't be an exact match but it would work short of scratch building.

The FE was technically available in the F100 but it was much more common in 3/4 ton and 1 tons, and even then it seems like the Y Block was the more popular choice at time. The kit engine block is a bit small to stand in as an FE despite the passing resemblance.

That being said, if I wanted to go that route,I would grab the extra 352 from the most recent 1960 Starliner kit, or one from the '65 or '66 Moebius F100s.

I might need my memory refreshed but I want to say the old AMT '32 Ford phaeton has a decent FE with a four barrel and stock manifolds that might work. If nothing else it's from a similar time period as the original '60 kit and wouldn't look too out of place.

 

[Jim B]

Sounds like doing a stock intake & exhaust on this kit shouldn't be terribly difficult if one can source the parts.

[tim boyd]

3 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

I wouldn't say the kit engine is closer to an FE. It's in a kind of early '60's annual kit "fish nor fowl" liminal space. The engine is only "close" to the FE in bottom end appearance, size wise it's about perfect for a Y Block in 1:25. Any 25 scale Y block heads and intake should fit to the kit block pretty well. I don't have the stock Revell '56 but some dry fits with the '56 and '57 Ford hardtop kits fit the '60 kit block about as close to perfectly as you could realistically hope. So those are absolutely good sources to start. 

Suitable rams horn manifolds could be nabbed from any number of late 50's- early '60s small block Chevy engines. Wouldn't be an exact match but it would work short of scratch building.

The FE was technically available in the F100 but it was much more common in 3/4 ton and 1 tons, and even then it seems like the Y Block was the more popular choice at time. The kit engine block is a bit small to stand in as an FE despite the passing resemblance.

That being said, if I wanted to go that route,I would grab the extra 352 from the most recent 1960 Starliner kit, or one from the '65 or '66 Moebius F100s.

I might need my memory refreshed but I want to say the old AMT '32 Ford phaeton has a decent FE with a four barrel and stock manifolds that might work. If nothing else it's from a similar time period as the original '60 kit and wouldn't look too out of place.

 

Working from memory, I don't believe the FE was available on the F100 in 1963.  Will check my references and report (probably tomorrow, sir!)  TB

[tim boyd]

7 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Working from memory, I don't believe the FE was available on the F100 in 1963.  Will check my references and report (probably tomorrow, sir!)  TB

According to the 1963 Ford Full Line Truck Catalog, the only V8 available on F100, 250 and 350 4x2 and F100 and F250 4x4s was the 160 hp 292 cubic in Y-Block 2-barrle V8....no FEs at all...TB 

[David]

VCG Resins by Reese has a stock Ford F100 Y-Block engine with the exhaust cross over in their catalog.

https://www.vcgresins.com/shop/p/fordy-blockstockenginekit

 

Edited July 9, 2024 by David

[Chuck Most]

1 hour ago, tim boyd said:

According to the 1963 Ford Full Line Truck Catalog, the only V8 available on F100, 250 and 350 4x2 and F100 and F250 4x4s was the 160 hp 292 cubic in Y-Block 2-barrle V8....no FEs at all...TB 

Yes. I should have been more clear about the FE. That was first offered in the F Series for 1964, along with the newly designed Styleside beds. (If you want to get way out in the technical weeds it was designated FT for truck applications.) That certainly explains their relative rarity in the early 60s F Series. ?

Though given how loose Ford could be with the order sheet, before we even get into third party and owner fabrications, I wouldn't be surprised if at least a handful of FE '61-3 F Series trucks existed at one point.

[Rodent]

6 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

That being said, if I wanted to go that route,I would grab the extra 352 from the most recent 1960 Starliner kit

I mocked one of these up with the '60 F100 chassis. If one was to use the Starliner transmission, the  trans crossmember would have to be moved back a BUNCH. An easier solution would be to graft the 352 to the blobular transmission from the F100 kit.

[Chuck Most]

13 minutes ago, Rodent said:

I mocked one of these up with the '60 F100 chassis. If one was to use the Starliner transmission, the  trans crossmember would have to be moved back a BUNCH. An easier solution would be to graft the 352 to the blobular transmission from the F100 kit.

I didn't say a thing about the *transmission*... ?

But yes, that would be the way to do it. That's more or less how I got a 351 Windsor in the '63.

[slusher]

Be bold guys put the 56 Edsel Pacer inn it..

[1972coronet]

8 hours ago, slusher said:

Be bold guys put the 56 Edsel Pacer inn it..

I think that an M-E-L powerplant would look at home in the boiler room.

[Jim B]

Almost seems like it's hardly worth the effort to make this a stock truck.

[Chuck Most]

6 minutes ago, Jim B said:

Almost seems like it's hardly worth the effort to make this a stock truck.

Well, with the kit you're about 99% there. The triple carb intake is the only glaring thing that's noticably not stock.

That being said, Ford would have gladly given you a three carb Y Block in an F100 if the parts were on hand, or provided it as a dealer install. Would have required a sales rep who knew how to order it that way. So while I can't vouch for how likely it would have been, a three carb F100 isn't too farfetched. 

[Chuck Most]

11 hours ago, slusher said:

Be bold guys put the 56 Edsel Pacer inn it..

 

3 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I think that an M-E-L powerplant would look at home in the boiler room.

Only trouble with the Edsel kit engine is the size. It looks nice but it's too small, closer to a Y Block in scale.

The best MEL out there is the one from the '66-'69 AMT Lincoln Continental annual kits. Missing Link did a resin version years ago. Trouble is they're both not exactly the most commonly found items by now.

[mk11]

23 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

Yes. I should have been more clear about the FE. That was first offered in the F Series for 1964, along with the newly designed Styleside beds. (If you want to get way out in the technical weeds it was designated FT for truck applications.) That certainly explains their relative rarity in the early 60s F Series. ?

Though given how loose Ford could be with the order sheet, before we even get into third party and owner fabrications, I wouldn't be surprised if at least a handful of FE '61-3 F Series trucks existed at one point.

True, there must have been test mules for the FE in the earlier sixties trucks, but it didn't replace the Y block officially til '65. Alternators, twin I beams and the 240/300 six made their first appearance that year too.

[RJL]

Has anyone been able to find the 1960 F100 kit in a store yet?

Edited July 10, 2024 by RJL

[Can-Con]

3 hours ago, RJL said:

Has anyone been able to find the 1960 F100 kit in a store yet?

Got mine at my local hobby shop months ago. 

[leafsprings]

The FE large block was first introduced in 1958 in the car line. Why Ford waited until 1965 to install the FE in pickups as a regular option ( lower compression version) will always be an automotive mystery. We can only speculate that the market wasn't there in the late 50's-early 60's for a high performance pickup, but, maybe Ford might have installed a few 352's by special order.

Edited July 11, 2024 by leafsprings