Improve an

Impala

Adding hinges, springs, and more to AMT/Ertls 1970 Custom Coupe kit
by ILKKA KLEMETTI

have sold it long ago. However, as a modeler, you might be able to get it back as a scale model if you can find a kit. Picture this: The summer of 1977 is a couple of weeks old. Im standing with my buddy, Paul, at a big car-dealers lot, and were looking at a used Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe. The car is seven years old, and its engine purrs like a cat. I need a car. And I want this car. I have come to the US for a summer job, and I have found it impractical to commute without a car of my own. Lets get out of here, Paul says to me, with a wink. I protest quietly. I think the $350 the salesman is asking for the car is a moderate price. But Paul is persistent, and so we begin to walk toward the main entrance. Two-ninety-five, the salesman shouts after us. Smiling, we turn around. I have just bought my first car. As the summer ends, so does my summer job. Its time to prepare for leaving. A buddy, who has become convinced that my Impala doesnt have any hidden faults, offers $350 for it more than I paid for it three months ago. The extra bucks are enough to finance the water pump I had to buy. We close the deal, and so the Impalas taillights disappear around the corner when the new owner accelerates away. Looking at the cloud of dust as it settles, I dont have the faintest idea that after 28 years, that car will return to my bookshelf as a scale model.
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snt there something special about your first car? You may

From 1977: The author (left) has just bought his first car: a 1970 Impala Sport Coupe. Note the steel wheels and the cars weary appearance.

AMT/Ertl has reissued the 1970 Chevrolet Impala several times in various configurations. The body style is a Custom Coupe hardtop. The model comes with a 454 big-block engine. Well change the body to a less-expensive Sport Coupe. Most of the conversion work goes into making working hinges for the doors and the hood. Most models have the door hinge pivot point in the body; on 1:1 cars, the pivot point actually is on the door, near the outer panel. Thats how well build the door hinges for this project. Some kit manufacturers offer working hood hinges in their kits. Replicating the 1:1 hood hinge mechanism in a small model inevitably makes it weak. Well make sturdy hood hinges that look real but are based on a simpler mechanism. Follow along as we show you some tips and techniques I used to build a better Impala.

Sport Coupe outlines are sketched on the body, and the first filler pieces have been added. The C-pillar on the Sport Coupe is at a shallow angle, and the rear window is convex (its concave on the Custom Coupe). The recess on the trunk lid had to be filled too.

I used 1mm styrene sheet to fabricate a new rear window area. The sheet is thin enough to be easily bent into place, but is thick enough to allow some sanding later.

When the glue dried, I sanded and puttied the sheet to conform to the rest of the body. I cut the window opening a bit undersize at first, and filed it to the final size.

To keep the body rigid, I epoxied steel wires to the inside of the rocker panels before cutting the doors open. The doors were cut by scraping with the back side of a No. 11 blade. They came off easily.

I fabricated the door hinges from .8mm wire and brass tube. The hinge tubes have to be as close to the outer surface of the door as possible, and they have to be upright. I had to grind recesses on the door panels for the tubes. The tubes were epoxied to the doors, taking care to leave the wires moving freely.

The doors and hinges were test-fitted on the body. The crooked ends of the hinge wires will be glued to the body panel after painting. I temporarily attached the hinges with Elmers glue, to be sure they would work well; it was easy to take the assembly apart to continue with detailing and painting. The forward edge of the door opening is beveled inside to enable the door edge to rotate inward.
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The hood hinge pivot point has to be as far back as possible. The mechanism was made from brass sheet and tube and steel wire. Brass is very easy to form and solder. Before making the dummy hinges, I tested the proper form with soft wire as seen on the left end of the tube. The final parts were made by drilling, filing, and grinding.

I decorated the dummy hinges with fake springs and bolts. They look real, although their function is different than the 1:1 cars hinges. A small spring from a ballpoint pen is under the horizontal brass sheet, to keep the hood open. In the closed position, the angle of the spring changes, and itll keep the hood closed instead.

In the down position, the hinges are completely hidden. The pivot tube is only on the right side; the dashboard has no room on the left side, because of the instrument panel. The hood will be glued to the hinges during final assembly. The radiator wall is made from sheet styrene.

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I replaced the headlights with reflectors and lenses from another kit. I made the missing grille upper beam from styrene and covered it with Bare-Metal foil. The lights on the rear bumper were cast solid; I drilled them open. The kit included an optional rear bumper with lenses, so I used it to make new lenses.

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I made tools from knife blades and scrap wood to carve recesses for the new sheet-styrene windows. Here you can see the hood hinge spring.
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I added .8mm steel wire door-lock pins to the door sills. After installation of the doors, corresponding snap locks will be glued to the doors.

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The door hinge wires are epoxied to the body, and the doors are taped to the body to ensure proper alignment. The sticks hold the surfaces of the doors and body even. Be sure that there is a small gap between the forward edges, to enable the door edge to rotate inward when the door opens.

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The door locks are 1.5mm styrene sheet. Drill a hole in the middle, then cut a V-shaped slot between the hole and the edge, forming a lock that will snap around the wire. Trim the slot for a light snap force, so the door isnt difficult to open. Put a small amount of epoxy on the lock, put the lock on the lock pin at the door sill, tape the door closed, and press carefully to the door.

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The kits big-block was converted to a small-block by making new exhaust manifolds. This car had air-conditioning, so modifications to the belt setup were also necessary. The air cleaner was modified to a frying-pan model. I didnt have a replacement automatic transmission, so I converted the manual gearbox to an automatic one with Milliputty.

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After painting and assembling the engine, I gave it a black wash with thinned enamel.

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Because the doors open, the interior tub method cannot be used. The interior floor is built directly on the chassis, so it had to be puttied smooth. A new transmission-tunnel forward part, and a new crossbeam, were built from styrene.

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The kits front suspension was too simplified, so I made new springs from soft wire, and new A-arms from styrene. I got the wheels from an old Monogram Ford F-1 pickup. The tie rod in the picture is borrowed from another project and is of the wrong type for the Impala. The suspension assembly was temporarily glued with Elmers to test the fit; it was glued permanently after the body and chassis were glued together.
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The rear suspension got new springs, too; making the springs took less time than cleaning the kits plastic ones. I also added some brake tubing on the rear axle.

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The front seat was widened by adding styrene on the ends. The back seat was widened by adding the missing plain segment in the middle. The interior tub sides were used for the door panels, and I made new rear panels from styrene.

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After painting the seats and side panels, I added some BareMetal foil to the panels. The seat belts are made from painted masking tape, and the hardware comes from a Detail Master photoetched set.

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The kit dashboard had all of the knobs and levers in the right places. I cut the gauge part open and glued a piece of overhead film and a laser print of the gauge in the opening. Gear and blinker levers were also added to the steering column.

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I used Kens Kustom Fuzzi-Fur to flock the floor. The recesses on the fenders are for the hood hinges when they are in the closed position.

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The engine was installed after joining the body and chassis (I tested this earlier). The kit is sparse in engine bay details, so I kitbashed and scratchbuilt most of the accessories. The wipers are from a Detail Master photoetched set.

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I glued the front and rear suspensions on the model, ensuring the right stance. I made the tie rod from wire and its ends from brass tubing. The exhaust tube is made from solder. Brake and fuel lines enhance the underside, and are easy to make from wire strands.

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After painting the details, I sprayed a light coat of dirt color on the chassis. This gave it a realistic, used look. The front wheels are posable.

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I covered the seam between the body and the chassis with strips of aluminium from a drink can. Making doors that open is not just a cut-and-hinge-em affair; it involves some extra detailing thats not needed with solid, closed doors.

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As a final step, the car got proper Minnesota license plates. The plates are color laser prints of the images I made with computer software.

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