by JULES » Sat Sep 29, 2012 5:47 am
Modlerbob,
Just to be clear on this hood and trunk issue:-
The original plan was conceived by me for two reasons - 1/ We would have a generic body shell for the 67/68 Camaro and 2/ It will give kit builders and bashers a heap of options prior to laying down paint. When the Kits are available you will have a lucky dip bag of different hoods, ancillary pieces and customizing options to enable you to choose what model you wish to make. This is not a 'new' idea. I can remember 3 in 1, 'make it this way or make it that way' static kits from Snap-Tite and the like. I figured when the builder had finished the slot kit he would securely fix in place any parts to prevent unwanted looseness. The parts can be glued or heat melted as desired.
The options you will have, will include in both 67 and 68 model years:-
Z-28
RS
SS
Yenko
Baldwin Motion
Nicky
Resto Mod Custom style
The additional weight of having extra plastic under the hood and the trunk was certainly considered. It adds 1.5 grams (0.052 ounce) to the front and 1 gram (0.035 ounce) to the rear. We tested a Mustang adding this weight under the hood and trunk. It made no difference to performance at all. All in all, we considered that the benefits of having such a useful set of options far outweighed the perceived negative aspect of additional weight.
In reality, a factory produced RTR model in, say, Z-28 SUNOCO guise will have the hood and truck fixed in place. Equally, a street car version in Yenko trim will be factory made as such. If you wanted to change these factory models around to suit yourself, you can buy a separate bag of 'Option' bits rather than the complete Plain White Kit.
Actually, most folks will not even know the trunk and hoods are removable. It would not even occur to them. I only found out a few months back that the Carrera '69 Camaro had a liftable hood. It had never occurred to me to have a look.
I hope that those of you who go ahead and pick one of these Camaros up will really like the model.
Thanks for your valued input.
Jules