Aside from a few small details, I really think Ertl hit the ball out of the park with this one. The body lines are nice and the details on the LEs have made my detailing efforts much easier. I didn't care for the modern style white letter tires so I swapped them for some period-correct red lines. They look great. I have also detailed the grill properly with flat black paint. I also blacked out the lower portion of the bumper which should simply be large openings. I've no idea why Ertl painted the turn signal lenses amber, the Super Sports used clear lenses with amber bulbs. With the lights off the lenses look white. Ertl paints the trim silver but the Bare Metal Foil really improves the chrome trim look greatly.
Ertl has greatly improved their Chevy SS rims since the '70 models. Man! The '69 Chevelle is a studly looking little beast! The chrome trim is almost out of sight but I've added it to the window trims, lock bezels, drip rails and wheel opening trim.
While the LE version already had a nicely detailed interior, I did find ways to improve things. I swapped the instrument faces so they are in the proper locations (even though they are actually WRONG! faces for the instruments they represent). I added trim to the dash cluster, the radio and heater control areas. It doesn't show in the pictures but I have painted the screw nubs black to help them blend into the carpet better.
I didn't do much here but I did add trunk opening weatherstripping. It's kind of hard to see next to the black trunk. I should have added spatter paint while I had it apart. Ertl added nice jacking instruction and posi warning stickers. You can also see that I've corrected Ertl's turn signal error. They made the lower half of the tail lights amber for some reason. No '69 Chevelle EVER had orange lenses! I recolored the lower half of the lenses red for the proper look.
I added plug wires and detailed other things such as the master cylinder, hose clamps, underside of hood, hood latch and cowl area. The heater hoses were an Ertl addition which really add some nice details.
Down here I detailed the steering components, anti-sway bars and the driveshaft. Ertl already detailed the gas tank, exhaust, starter and oil filter. It all adds up to a nice looking chassis!
