Farmboy
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2011
- Messages
- 50
I had recently been to a car show and saw a badly maintained Oldsmobile (a '63 Rocket I think) converted to a limo. I liked the idea and just happened to have a couple of AMT 62 Pontiac Catalinas and 1 Catalina Custom in my stash. So here`s my attempt.
This is the kit
Here's where I started. Rear doors on 4-door cars are not as wide as the fronts. Doors on 2-doors are wider still. The Catalina kits are 2-doors, and I merged parts from 3 of them, mostly body/chassis/frame/seats. For the front doors, I freed the door from the body at the jamb, then cut a strip as wide as the door handle. I then removed another small witdh from the same door and replaced it with the previous door handle piece. Here is the door waiting for the handle section.
In the next pic, I have sawn the roof to separate the body in preparation for the added length
The thing that struck me about the limo was the doors. There were all on one side! The left side has a driver's door and rear door while the passenger side has 4 doors. In the pic below, I'll have to build the gap between the front and rear doors, but I think I can do this with sheet, body fill and a bit of creative cursing. At any rate, I'm hoping my skills are up to it.
Here's the 4-door side. First, note that the front door has the added piece that I had cut earlier. The next three doors (going rearward) are all the same width, but not as wide as the front door. I was suprised when I did the assembly of the 4 doors. The bottom/tops did not exactly line up. They were off by just the smallest amount while the side spear lined up perfectly. I think this is due to the slight angle of the spear, and that the doors are reverse and from the other side of another model. The side spear has the smallest of angle from front to back and this is the part I wanted to be sure was straight as possible as it will be the center of attention on the finished build. Or maybe due to sloppy cutting. At any rate, the lines will be re-established when bodywork begins.
The pic below has the piece I'll be using for the roof before trimming. I've already rolled the edges on it. Chrome trim will be done with sheet and plastic rod.
this is to show the chassis merging. I'll nneed a center piece from the 3rd chassis to make it look half decent. The frame will be modified too.
Hope this thread will be of interest. Comments and observations always welcome.
This is the kit
Here's where I started. Rear doors on 4-door cars are not as wide as the fronts. Doors on 2-doors are wider still. The Catalina kits are 2-doors, and I merged parts from 3 of them, mostly body/chassis/frame/seats. For the front doors, I freed the door from the body at the jamb, then cut a strip as wide as the door handle. I then removed another small witdh from the same door and replaced it with the previous door handle piece. Here is the door waiting for the handle section.
In the next pic, I have sawn the roof to separate the body in preparation for the added length
The thing that struck me about the limo was the doors. There were all on one side! The left side has a driver's door and rear door while the passenger side has 4 doors. In the pic below, I'll have to build the gap between the front and rear doors, but I think I can do this with sheet, body fill and a bit of creative cursing. At any rate, I'm hoping my skills are up to it.
Here's the 4-door side. First, note that the front door has the added piece that I had cut earlier. The next three doors (going rearward) are all the same width, but not as wide as the front door. I was suprised when I did the assembly of the 4 doors. The bottom/tops did not exactly line up. They were off by just the smallest amount while the side spear lined up perfectly. I think this is due to the slight angle of the spear, and that the doors are reverse and from the other side of another model. The side spear has the smallest of angle from front to back and this is the part I wanted to be sure was straight as possible as it will be the center of attention on the finished build. Or maybe due to sloppy cutting. At any rate, the lines will be re-established when bodywork begins.
The pic below has the piece I'll be using for the roof before trimming. I've already rolled the edges on it. Chrome trim will be done with sheet and plastic rod.
this is to show the chassis merging. I'll nneed a center piece from the 3rd chassis to make it look half decent. The frame will be modified too.
Hope this thread will be of interest. Comments and observations always welcome.
;D
