 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
1968 AMC Ambassador
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I bought a JoHan 1968 Ambassador kit in the early 1970's when North York Hobbies on Avenue Rd in Toronto closed up. It was damaged and on sale, so I
bought it for parts.
A couple of years ago, I decided to build the kit as a period daily driver that had been lowered, and had received some performance and appearance
improvements parts. Since the model had been a parts kit, it had been cannibalized over the years, most notably, the dash board was missing. On a trip to
Warren, MI with Larry, I found a 1966 AMC Marlin dash in a box of salvaged parts. I cleaned it up and adapted it to fit the wider Ambassador interior tub.
Eventually, I located the original dash while searching for parts for another project. I decided to keep the Marlin dash.
The damaged brittle passenger side windshield & vent wing pillars were repaired and the badly scratched windshield was sanded smooth and polished. The
plastic hood hinge on the passenger side had been broken off. It was replaced to allow the hood to be opened without support. Despite the kit instructions,
with the brittle plastic, it had to be installed prior to fitting the body and finishing the engine compartment.
The kit had molded in head & parking lights, but a few coats of white glue made them more presentable. The back up lights received the same treatment.
I had thought the wheels had been put in the box from another kit since they didn't match the box art or instructions, but I have seen another completed 1968
Ambassador kit with the same wheels, so they must have been from the kit. The parts box supplied better tires. The front suspension was lowered and
made poseable. The steering column was modified to allow the steering wheel to turn to add to the illusion. I didn't like the molded in exhaust and rear
suspension in the kit, so I removed them and made replacements. (As an aside, the other built kit had similar windshield pillar damage, perhaps the problem
was in packaging & shipping.)
Several items were added to the engine & engine compartment to enhance its appearance. The kit had the wrong engine, a 327, not the proper 343, but it
was well molded, so I kept it.
Since the interior is on full display, it received a lot of attention. The colour scheme was inspired by several SST edition Ambassadors I discovered during my
research. The exterior colour is similar to a 1967 Ambassador convertible I discovered online. In 1968 the colour was called Hialeah Yellow. The paint I
used was Molotow Jasmin Yellow before it was discontinued.
The project seemed to fight back as it progressed, resulting in it being set aside several times. Most recently, I had taken it to the last club meeting. Another
problem was discovered when I got home, and I almost set it aside again. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet, but I decided to complete it and decide later if
or how it can be repaired. Fortunately, it is not readily apparent in these pictures.
bought it for parts.
A couple of years ago, I decided to build the kit as a period daily driver that had been lowered, and had received some performance and appearance
improvements parts. Since the model had been a parts kit, it had been cannibalized over the years, most notably, the dash board was missing. On a trip to
Warren, MI with Larry, I found a 1966 AMC Marlin dash in a box of salvaged parts. I cleaned it up and adapted it to fit the wider Ambassador interior tub.
Eventually, I located the original dash while searching for parts for another project. I decided to keep the Marlin dash.
The damaged brittle passenger side windshield & vent wing pillars were repaired and the badly scratched windshield was sanded smooth and polished. The
plastic hood hinge on the passenger side had been broken off. It was replaced to allow the hood to be opened without support. Despite the kit instructions,
with the brittle plastic, it had to be installed prior to fitting the body and finishing the engine compartment.
The kit had molded in head & parking lights, but a few coats of white glue made them more presentable. The back up lights received the same treatment.
I had thought the wheels had been put in the box from another kit since they didn't match the box art or instructions, but I have seen another completed 1968
Ambassador kit with the same wheels, so they must have been from the kit. The parts box supplied better tires. The front suspension was lowered and
made poseable. The steering column was modified to allow the steering wheel to turn to add to the illusion. I didn't like the molded in exhaust and rear
suspension in the kit, so I removed them and made replacements. (As an aside, the other built kit had similar windshield pillar damage, perhaps the problem
was in packaging & shipping.)
Several items were added to the engine & engine compartment to enhance its appearance. The kit had the wrong engine, a 327, not the proper 343, but it
was well molded, so I kept it.
Since the interior is on full display, it received a lot of attention. The colour scheme was inspired by several SST edition Ambassadors I discovered during my
research. The exterior colour is similar to a 1967 Ambassador convertible I discovered online. In 1968 the colour was called Hialeah Yellow. The paint I
used was Molotow Jasmin Yellow before it was discontinued.
The project seemed to fight back as it progressed, resulting in it being set aside several times. Most recently, I had taken it to the last club meeting. Another
problem was discovered when I got home, and I almost set it aside again. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet, but I decided to complete it and decide later if
or how it can be repaired. Fortunately, it is not readily apparent in these pictures.