In the mid 90's I decided that I wanted to build another AMT '40 Ford Coupe. I hadn't built one since they were first released in the early 60's. I then remembered an article I had read in an issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast (July/August 1984) magazine and in that article the author had used a frame from another kit to update the '40 front suspension to independent, an obvious upgrade at the time. I decided to give it a try and it turned out to be a very easy swap. The author (Eric Hartlep) used the frame and front suspension from an AMT Ford Courier Pick up truck to update an AMT '40 Ford Sedan. I just followed his article and it worked out very well. I used the Courier front suspension and a kitbashed rear/suspension from my parts box. You notch the front splash aprons on the '40 and the deeper the notch, the lower you can get the front end. After locating the front suspension you simply adjust whatever rear end/suspension you chose and with a little trimming of cross-members, that's all their is to it.
The pictures shown here are of the car that resulted from this procedure. I used an engine from an MPC '70 Mercury Cougar kit and put '82 Mustang seats in the modified interior. The tires are from the parts box and the wheels were "borrowed" from a '66 Nova Pro Street kit. I opened and hinged the drivers door and painted the car with Testors enamel from the spray can (no sanding or polishing was performed). Some days you're lucky and some days you're not. Hope you enjoy one of my favorite builds from 17 years ago.
Barry Fadden
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