# CorvairJim's Workroom



## CorvairJim

Well, you other guys all seem to like to use the word "Garage", so I thought I'd take a different track and call this page my "Workroom". Ironic, isn't it, that the first thing I'm showing off here is a 1:1 car? This is the '66 Corvair Monza coupe that I've been talking about for the last few days and gave you a teaser picture of. Here's a bunch more of 'em:

In front of some replica log cabins at Valley Forge National Park










This photo was featured in the Wikipedia Corvair entry for a while:










At the covered bridge at Valley Forge. This same location, and the same angle of a lineup of three Corvairs, was used for the cover shot of the Fall 1976 issue of the CORSA Quarterly, as the now monthly magazine of CORSA (the Corvair Society of America) was called at the time. The 1976 National Convention was held in valley Forge that summer, hosted by the Philadelphia Chapter.










Getting all patriotic!










Just one of my favorites:










Over 220 rompin', stompin' horses in one neat little package. When was the last time you saw FOUR carbs from the factory on an American car? The license plate is for those guys who have no idea what that car was that just blew their doors off...










At the National Carillon at Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge:










The "Office". I didn't take the time to clean the car before I took these photos. I had just gotten the camera for Christmas of 2006 a month or so before and I was teaching myself how to use it by shooting my favorite subject. 










I'll be posting my models here in my "Workshop" in the future instead of giving each one it's own individual thread... Stay tuned!


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## Schwinnster

*Looking great Jim!* I've lived in Western Pa all my 59 years and wouldn't want to live anywhere else! Not sure where Norristown is, but sure looks like the PENNSYLVANIA that I know. 

Never cared much for that 'yellow' on your 'Vair, but it sure looks good with the tinted windows.  

About the 4 primary carbs you got on there-- I do remember hearing that a 2 barrel carb could be a better performer than a 4 barrel with tiny little primaries and huge secondaries. Guess it was about whether you wanted to run it-- _or_ save money on gas..... LOL!

Looking forward to seeing your builds here in your workshop :thumbsup:


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## 71 Charger 500

Very cool pictures of a very cool car in a VERY cool place! Look forward to seeing more from you, Jim!


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the comments so far, guys. Schwinnster: Norristown is about 10 miles west of Philadelphia, three miles or so from Valley Forge as the crow flies.

The base 95 h.p. engine and the step-up 110 h.p. version both had two one-barrel carbs, one on each cylinder bank. The 140 edition like mine had a primary and a secondary on each side. The secondaries are basically simplified primaries without an idle circuit. by running four primaries you greatly inprove the flexibility of the engine, especially if the linkage is reworked to have them work in tandem instead of in series. Mine was set up for the "Secondaries" to kick in around 1,500 rpm. 

Think of the carburetion on this engine as simply being a 4-barrel carb exploded into it's idividual barrels. Mounting a 2- or a 4-barrel on a cental manifold has been done for years, and while there is some ram tube effect from the long runners, it kills throttle response. With the carbs mounted to the heads directly, it responds RIGHT NOW! The best carb setup I've ever driven had a 3-barrel Weber mounted on each side - talk about a kick in the seat of the pants... and it looked cool as hell too! (If anyone has a pair of 3-barrel Webers left over from a model project, I'm sure I can find a good home for them!)


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## Schwinnster

> Norristown is about 10 miles west of Philadelphia...


Thanks Jim........ too lazy to look at a map  I'm on the other end-- about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, where the Steelers & yinz live.....

Very cool explanation of the carburetion-- each of the four barrels going to one cylinder. I seem to remember hearing about one of the early Corvettes having the Blue Flame straight 6 with a 3 barrel, that it was supposed to be a good performer. Having had a _stock_ 235 straight 6 in my 57 Chevy, and knowing what I could get out of *it*, I would've liked to tried one of those Blue Flame 'Vettes. 

Looking forward to seeing that model-- *with the two 3's*  _hint, hint_...


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> Very cool explanation of the carburetion-- each of the four barrels going to one cylinder. I seem to remember hearing about one of the early Corvettes having the Blue Flame straight 6 with a 3 barrel, that it was supposed to be a good performer._hint, hint_...


Actually the Corvair engine is a flat-6, so it isn't exactly one carb per cylinder. That's what the dual 3-barrel Weber setup acomplishes. As for the "Blue Flame 6"-powered 1953-54 'Vettes, they were adequate performers, easily outrunning most American competition like the Ford V-8, but they still fell behind Cadillac and Olds V-8's andf the Hudson "Twin H-Power" inline-6. The Corvette's mandatory Powerglide automatic transmission didn't help matters any.


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## Rns1016

Very nice Corvair you have there. A women up the street from my parents house loves Corvairs. I believe they were her late husbands cars ( I can't remember ) I remember when I first saw the car, my father use to work not far from our home, he was a mechanic. I stopped by at his job to see him and I asked what the hell is that? He said a customers Corvair, I said why the hell is the trunk open, he said that's where the engine is. 

Now my father is a big ball buster and will just bust your balls. So I said yeah right I'm not falling for that. He kept saying it is, I was like yeah sure, he was like you don't believe me, I said no. He opened up the hood and I was like WTF??? It was kinda funny because all his buddies were there laughing at me. I was still in middle school, hell that was way back in 1996. Anyways like I said very nice car.


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the compliment on my car. She was my baby, and I miss her terribly. I'll be doing a model of her once I can find the right shade of yellow in a rattle can (I don't have an airbrush). 

Here's a story related to yours about your dad's shop: I was working at a small used car lot in the mid-1980's doing their bodywork and detailing, and one of the owner's sons was there one Saturday helping out around the place, going around checking battery levels, tire pressures, coolant level and quality, etc. I asked him to check the coolant in my car, a '66 Corvair 500 Sport Sedan at the time. I even tossed the kid the keys to the car to make it easier for him to get the front "Hood" open! We all watched from the garage as he tried to figure out how to get the thing open for nearly 5 minutes. He groped around under the front bumper and checked inside under the dash for a hood release. He finally came back to the garage and asked, so I told him that it needed the round-headed key, and the keyhole was hidden in the front trim bar. Well, he got it open and found that there wasn't an engine in there! He came back to the garage again and I told him "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, the engine is in back". He opened up the engine lid and just stood there looking for the radiator. He got a little ticked at all of us laughing at him when he finally realized we were playing with him. 

(He got the last laugh, though. When I went to leave, I found that I had 4 flat tires! I guess I deserved that... :tongue


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## CorvairJim

Here's another restoration from a few years ago. This one came to me partially assembled and painted (both badly) in with a collection of roughly 150 kits and built-ups that I bought from a guy who was getting out of the hobby and needed money. Included with the models was a shoebox full of paint and a model box full of model tires including over a dozen sets of vintage whitewalls. There were several kit boxes full of spare parts too. As I recall, I paid the outrageous sum of about $350 for everything in the late 1990's. 

This particular model is one that I'd heard of and even seen photos of the box, but I'd never seen the actual model. It's the AMT annual of the 1970 Camaro SS396, the only time I'm aware of an early 2nd-generation Camaro being kitted with the non-Rally Sport (straight bumper) front end and a molded-in vinyl top. I never thought I'd get my hands on this kit, let alone one in such a condition that I wouldn't feel like I was ruining a piece of history by actually BUILDING the sucker!

Triple balck: Slick and Sleek!










These wheel covers seemed to be a lot more common on Caprices and Corvettes, but they were also optional on Camaros. The 1:1 caps are heavy suckers too - I'd guess in the range of 15-20 lbs each! That can't do anything nice for the car's handling. I'm not sure, but this might be the only time this body style was kitted with this type of rear spoiler too.










The heart of the beast: 402 cubic inches pumping out 375 ponies, hooked up to a close-ratio "Rock Crusher" 4-speed tranny. I added the wiring and heater hoses.


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## Schwinnster

*Nice* Camaro Jim! I've pretty much always liked all years of the Camaro, but _loved_ the '70. 

You're _so_ right about those wheel covers-- *HEAVY* man! ..... LOL! But that 60-80 pounds of weight helped lower the center of gravity-- right? 

Do you have that tied down to the base? Or is that a curb finder that you put on there?


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> *Actually the Corvair engine is a flat-6, so it isn't exactly one carb per cylinder.* That's what the dual 3-barrel Weber setup acomplishes. As for the "Blue Flame 6"-powered 1953-54 'Vettes, they were adequate performers, easily outrunning most American competition like the Ford V-8, but they still fell behind Cadillac and Olds V-8's andf the Hudson "Twin H-Power" inline-6. The Corvette's mandatory Powerglide automatic transmission didn't help matters any.


I'm losing it as I get older Jim-- too many cars, too few brain cells. Guess I just kept thinking _all_ the Corvair engines were 4 cylinders....... 

Still wouldn't mind having one of those Blue Flame 'Vettes


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## 71 Charger 500

Very cool looking Camaro. You are right Jim, those hubcaps weigh a ton, I've changed a boat load of tires in my day and popped many of those caps off. Love the triple black, looks great. I think this is my favorite of all of the Camaro bodies.


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## Rns1016

CorvairJim said:


> Thanks for the compliment on my car. She was my baby, and I miss her terribly. I'll be doing a model of her once I can find the right shade of yellow in a rattle can (I don't have an airbrush).
> 
> Here's a story related to yours about your dad's shop: I was working at a small used car lot in the mid-1980's doing their bodywork and detailing, and one of the owner's sons was there one Saturday helping out around the place, going around checking battery levels, tire pressures, coolant level and quality, etc. I asked him to check the coolant in my car, a '66 Corvair 500 Sport Sedan at the time. I even tossed the kid the keys to the car to make it easier for him to get the front "Hood" open! We all watched from the garage as he tried to figure out how to get the thing open for nearly 5 minutes. He groped around under the front bumper and checked inside under the dash for a hood release. He finally came back to the garage and asked, so I told him that it needed the round-headed key, and the keyhole was hidden in the front trim bar. Well, he got it open and found that there wasn't an engine in there! He came back to the garage again and I told him "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, the engine is in back". He opened up the engine lid and just stood there looking for the radiator. He got a little ticked at all of us laughing at him when he finally realized we were playing with him.
> 
> (He got the last laugh, though. When I went to leave, I found that I had 4 flat tires! I guess I deserved that... :tongue


Haha nice, that was funny.


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## rickbartonjr

Nice looking car Jim


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for all the responses, guys! To answer them:

Rns1016 - I love telling stories like that from my past, especially when they're related to my Corvair experiences, even if they're at my own expense like the end of that one was. Anything for a laugh.

71 Charger 500 - Mine too. To me, the 1970-73 is the best looking car ever to carry the Camaro nameplate, and it doesn't matter to me which front end it has. I like the straight-bumper look as much as the seemingly more popular Rally Sport.

Schwinnster - 1) NO Corvairs had 4-cylinder engines! All were horizontally-opposed sixes: 140 c.i. in 1969, 145 c.i. in 1961-63, and 164 c.i. from 1964 through the end in 1969.
2) Low center of gravity=GOOD, Unsprung weight=BAD!
3) Yes, it's wired to the base. I was too lazy to untie it when I was shooting pics of most of my models for another website a couple of years ago.


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## Schwinnster

> Schwinnster - 1) NO Corvairs had 4-cylinder engines! All were horizontally-opposed sixes


*Ok Jim!* Thanks. Learned something new here :thumbsup: Now to see if all those years of my thinking they were 4s will go away....... LOL!


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## CorvairJim

Revellogram put out their model of the Thom Taylor-designed "Alternomad" about a decade ago, but I didn't like certain aspects of his design, and I thought I could improve on them with some cutting, filling, and other subtle modifications.

1) The forward-leaning B-pillar, while true to the original 1955-57 Nomads, made for a funny looking trapezoidal door window. I thought if the pillar leaned BACK at the angle Taylor had it leaning FORWARD, it would make for a much more cohesive look, not to mention making the car a lot easier to get into and out of!

2) The 1957-style tailfins looked WAY too over-the-top to me. I'm more into subtlety, so I modified the back of the car back to the way the factory built it (if the factory had ever actually produced a 2-door Caprice wagon in the 1990's). By the same token, Taylor had molded in a pair of '57 Chevy-style hood bulges complete with chrome "Gunsight" trims. These had to go... so they did.

3) With the cut-down fins, the 1957-style side trim looked out of place, so I converted it to 1956-style trim. I used the lower part of the '57 trim as molded into the body, but I carefully sanded away the top part on the quarter panel trim, including the anodized aluminum inserts. I then shortened the spear on the front fender a tad and carved a front "C" piece from Evergreen sheet stock. From there back to just past the door I ran a strip of Evergreen the same size as the moulding cast into the body. The door handle is in the middle of this moulding so I chromed it too, to blend in with the moulding. I capped it off with a wider piece of plastic stock to replicate the angled trim of a '56 Bel Air coupe or convertible. That piece on a Nomad leaned forward to match the angle of the B-pillar, so mine matched the new angle of the B-pillar on my car's body. From there I ran a strip of moulding around the back of the car at the base of the quarter windows and rear window. The "rub strip" on the bumper is chromed too to tie the whole effect together, completely seperating the two colors on the car.

4) Taylor seems to have forgotten about a few of the original Chevy Nomad's trademark details, like the ribbed roof over the cargo section and the chrome strips on the tailgate. Not to worry, because I DIDN'T forget about them! I even added a 1950's-style Chevy emblem overtop a chromed "V" emblem on the tailgate, the distinguishing mark of V-8 powered Chevrolets from 1956-61.

5) Taylor showed his car with the Impala SS-style grille painted body color as it would be on the SS, but I thought having it in chrome was more in keeping with the spirit of a modern-day Nomad. In that same spirit, I also BMF'ed some of the trim that Taylor decided to paint body color (wheel lip and rocker panel mouldings), and even the windshield surround and wipers which he left in black.

OK, now to the happy snaps:




























This shot shows my model with the box art showing Taylor's design:


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## Schwinnster

:thumbsup: Nice subtle changes Jim! The B pillar-- yeah, _much_ better that way, or even just straight up maybe? Love the chrome on the wheel openings and rocker panel as well as the redesigned side trim 

*Got any 'CorMads'?*


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> *Got any 'CorMads'?*


Actually, I DO have a 2-door Corvair wagon in the works, based on the AMT '69 Monza coupe reissue. The body is to the point of final sanding and filling before it goes to primer, but I still have to finish reworking the interior and, to an extent, the chassis (for rear wheel well clearance issues with the interior).The roofline is patterned after the Chevelle wagon from the mid 60's to keep the family resemblance. There is no tailgate as such, with the large, frameless rear window being hinged at the top a la the Volvo P1800ES. My plan is to build it as a "Phantom", something Chevy could have produced instead of an all-out show car like the Alternomad was. It will have factory style trim and even factory Monza badging with no other model line designations. Juat a "What If". I also have an "El Cormino" in the works, based on the same kit. That body is finished and in color, but the project got sidetracked a while back. I have both of these builds entered in the "Back On The Bench CBP" on the Model Cars magazine website. I'll see if I can take a couple of pictures of these works in progress and get them posted soon.


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## scottnkat

Wow! I love the changes you made to that "alternomad" - that looks great! You certainly put the original design to shame! Thanks for sharing that!


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## CorvairJim

scottnkat said:


> Wow! I love the changes you made to that "alternomad" - that looks great! You certainly put the original design to shame! Thanks for sharing that!


WOW! High praise indeed! Maybe I have a future in custom cars! MAYBE I'LL BE THE NEXT CHIP FOOSE!!! (or maybe not...  ) Thanks for the compliment.


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## Disco58

Man, where's the drool icon when you need one?! There was one exactly like that in a garage my brother rented space from (in about '84 I think) in Davenport, IA. I was home on leave from the Navy and almost bought it. To hell with Ralph Nader, I thought they were great cars!


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## CorvairJim

Disco58 said:


> Man, where's the drool icon when you need one?! There was one exactly like that in a garage my brother rented space from (in about '84 I think) in Davenport, IA. I was home on leave from the Navy and almost bought it. To hell with Ralph Nader, I thought they were great cars!


They're still out there, and they're still pretty affordable. I just wish MY finances were in a condition where I could afford one! My daily driver will be paid off in a few months, and then I can start saving for one, I guess. That yellow '66 will be a hard car to replace, though.


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## CorvairJim

*My latest project, started today*

This Revell '78 Trans Am will be a '77 Firebird Esprit by the time I'm done with it. I'm building it for a friend to give as a gift to her father. It's a replica of the car he had when he and her mother were first married. First off, here's the photo she sent me. This is all I have to work from. I have feelers out for 1:24 Pontiac Rally II wheels, since this kit didn't come with them. I'll be making a Firebird badge for the sail panel and replicating the aftermarket bodyside moulding, as well as the factory wheel lip and rocker panel mouldings. If anyone knows where I can get a photoetch set for this model with proper badging for an Esprit, please let me know!:










The way Revell molded the body is making it difficult to make a basic Firebird out of it. The wheelwell "spats" and rear spoiler are all molded in. I wish I could have found the AMT '77 Trans Am kit instead since these parts are all seperate pieces in that one.










Some work with my trusty Dremel tool and that pesky rear spoiler is (mostly) history. I was hoping I could get away with grinding it all the way down, but it's hollow and I was way too close to breaking through to risk going all the way down to where the decklid would be (if it were there). Instead, I glued a strip of plastic stock into the hollow area under the spoiler, let it set up for a few minutes, and finished removing the spoiler with a sanding stick. I also glued in the "Glass" T-tops to help make the body stiffer while I'm doing the rest of the bodywork on it. Thise things fit a lot better than the ones in the AMT kit!










And here's the decklid ready forit's first shot of primer:










It took me a while to come up with a way to restore the fenders/quarters to a 'regular' Firebird configuration, and this is what I came up with: I cut several triangles of plastic stock to roughly the size and shape of the spats and laminated them to the body. Once the glue was set up, I took my Dremel to them and ground away anything that didn't look like a Firebird quarter panel extension!










This is how it came out prior to the final sanding before filler. The pencil line shows me where I still need to round out the plastic for the right wheelwell contour.










Gotta plug that nasty old hole in the hood too, since there won't be a shaker scoop to stick through it anymore. I decided to rework the hood for the "Drag" version of the kit because the hole looked like it would be an easier shape to make a plug for. I cut a piece of scrap plastic roughly to size and taped it in place behind the hole. Then I just traced the hole onto the plastic and ground it down outside the line. It fit well enough to glue in place on the first try!










This W.I.P. will continue in my garage as work progresses.


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## Schwinnster

> I decided to rework the hood for the "Drag" version of the kit because the hole looked like it would be an easier shape to make a plug for. I cut a piece of scrap plastic roughly to size and taped it in place behind the hole. Then I just traced the hole onto the plastic and ground it down outside the line. It fit well enough to glue in place on the first try!


:thumbsup: Love it when _that_ happens!  Outstanding work Jim, and _superb_ WIP pics. _Spoiler?_  _*What spoiler?*_  
Good idea-- glueing the T-tops in-- lot easier, and less nerve-wracking, working with a stiffer body. 

Great work Chip.......... I mean,* JIM!*


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## 71 Charger 500

Excellent work. Thanks for the WIP pics, I always enjoy seeing those. The trunk looks awesome.


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## CJTORINO

great work on the modifications. this will be a nice looking firebird when your finished, I'm sure.


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## Rns1016

I can't believe the before and after on the Firebird spoiler.


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## scottnkat

Hey, that's great! Thanks for showing everyone how you resolved the spoiler and wheel well issues. I love these kinds of photos showing how something is done. Thank you


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## CorvairJim

I haven't been able to do anything on the 'Bird today due to too many other things needing to be done, but I wanted to comment that the front fenders are giving me a little trouble. The repairs want to break off when I sand them. I may have to go to "Plan B": Laminate a thin sheet of plastic behind the fender and use that to back up a couple of thicknesses to the level of the outside of the fender. Then grind that all down so the area's a little "Low" and laminate a final thin sheet on top to blend the contour. I'll probably finish the quarter panel doglegs with that overlay anyway. I don't know how clear that is, but I'll post some pictures after I get that phase done.

I have someone sending me the wheels I need for the car, and all I have to do is pay shipping! :hat: It's great to find guys who are willing to help out. Feel free to identuify yourself if you like, but if you don't want the publicity, my lips are sealed.


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## Rns1016

CorvairJim said:


> I haven't been able to do anything on the 'Bird today due to too many other things needing to be done, but I wanted to comment that the front fenders are giving me a little trouble. The repairs want to break off when I sand them. I may have to go to "Plan B": Laminate a thin sheet of plastic behind the fender and use that to back up a couple of thicknesses to the level of the outside of the fender. Then grind that all down so the area's a little "Low" and laminate a final thin sheet on top to blend the contour. I'll probably finish the quarter panel doglegs with that overlay anyway. I don't know how clear that is, but I'll post some pictures after I get that phase done.
> 
> I have someone sending me the wheels I need for the car, and all I have to do is pay shipping! :hat: It's great to find guys who are willing to help out. Feel free to identuify yourself if you like, but if you don't want the publicity, my lips are sealed.


It was me  j/k but that's great someone helping you out with the wheels. That's why I'm keeping all the spare parts I have, just in case someone in the future might need something. 

BTW I can't wait to see the finished body work on the bird.


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## CorvairJim

Rns1016 said:


> That's why I'm keeping all the spare parts I have, just in case someone in the future might need something.


Hey, you'll learn that you have to keep all your leftover parts! Mixing and matching parts (we call it "Kitbashing" when you scavenge parts from an unopened kit!) is FUN! For instance, I have a Viper "Glue Bomb" (someone else's old built-up) coming my way soon, and I plan to use it's drivetrain and suspension under either a hot rod or either an old style or a modern Challenger... or maybe a Duster... or a Dart Swinger...


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## CJTORINO

great idea. I often buy "lots". a bunch of kits that people have given up on.
lotsa times they are dirt cheap. and I always find great parts.
kitbashing rules!


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## Rns1016

CorvairJim said:


> Hey, you'll learn that you have to keep all your leftover parts! Mixing and matching parts (we call it "Kitbashing" when you scavenge parts from an unopened kit!) is FUN! For instance, I have a Viper "Glue Bomb" (someone else's old built-up) coming my way soon, and I plan to use it's drivetrain and suspension under either a hot rod or either an old style or a modern Challenger... or maybe a Duster... or a Dart Swinger...



I never thought of it that way. I would love to do this in a few years, just make something crazy looking.



CJTORINO said:


> great idea. I often buy "lots". a bunch of kits that people have given up on.
> lotsa times they are dirt cheap. and I always find great parts.
> kitbashing rules!


Where do you buy the "lots" at? Swap meets, online, etc?


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> Hey, you'll learn that you have to keep all your leftover parts! Mixing and matching parts (we call it "Kitbashing" when you scavenge parts from an unopened kit!) is FUN! For instance, *I have a Viper "Glue Bomb" (someone else's old built-up) coming my way soon, and I plan to use it's drivetrain and suspension under either a hot rod or either an old style or a modern Challenger... or maybe a Duster... or a Dart Swinger...[/*QUOTE]
> 
> _What?_ *No Monza?*
> 
> Sounds like a plan on your fender fix Jim-- good luck with it :thumbsup:


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## scottnkat

There are alot of people here that love to kitbash. I have tried it myself (when I was younger), but I guess I am just too anal to do that now. Now I wanna have the model look like it was intended (most of the time). I may be missing out, though, as you can do some amazing things by using the parts from other kits.


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## harristotle

I haven't done any full on kitbashing, but I've done a little of it with my engines... well I guess I'm starting though. My Deuce roadster I'm building has a resin Boss 429 engine and the suspension, rear end, and brakes from an 08 Mustang lol.


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## s.moe

Jim the build's looking great so far....Really starting to look like a Firebird instead of a T/A......Good thing I read through all the post first......Was going to ask which set of rim's you were going to put on it,,,The Factory Rally's or the style that's on the rear in the photo.....:lol:

MOE.


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> _What?_ *No Monza?*


Well, I DO have an LS1 from a 'Vette model that may wind up where the back seat usually belongs in a future Corvair build. I've wanted to do what's called in the Corvair hobby a "Corv-8" for a long time now. They usually use a run-of-the-mill 327 or a 350, but I like thinking outside the box! I might even use that idea as my entry in the "Gumball Rally" Community Build Project that's currently going on on the Model Cars magazine website. Something like that would certainly make a cross-country trip pretty quickly, and being pretty light it should be fairly good on gas at that kind of super-legal speed too! 

There's a similar CBP running concurrently with the "Gumball", and that's based on the actual "Cannonball", if it had been run back in 1962! I'll soon have a Jo-Han 1960 Plymouth wagon have gotten the Viper V-10 if the CBP rules didn't expressly say that everything in the build had to have been available in '62. I want to do a wagon because, let's face it, they were pretty common back then and what cop would look twice at one if he didn't catch it in the act of doing two to three times the posted limit? I'll either be doing the Plymouth with a parts box early Hemi or a resin '59 Chevy wagon with a fuelie 327. I don't want to use a 348/409 due to mileage and weight concerns.

I find I'm having a lot of fun building for these CBP's onthat site, and I'm even running one myself with the theme of "The Cars of Rock 'n' Roll and Country Music" (I'm doing the Dodge from "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" for that one, based on the Lindberg '64 Dodge 330).Drop on over to www.scalemodelmag.com and check it out!

Nothing more to report on the Firebird today - I had a couple of shows I'd taped that I needed to watch. It's rough working until 11:30 every night, since NCIS, NCIS-LA, Unforgettable, and Person Of Interest are all over by the time I get home. I need my weekly "Cop Show" fix!


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## CorvairJim

CJTORINO said:


> great idea. I often buy "lots". a bunch of kits that people have given up on.
> lotsa times they are dirt cheap. and I always find great parts.
> kitbashing rules!


Gotta love those "Glue Bombs"! I usually like restoration projects even better than building new ones right out of the box. Hey, you all saw my green '65 Corvair Monza and my blue '67 Yenko Stinger convertible, right? Making something you'd be proud to show off from a pile of junk has a satisfaction all it's own.


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## CJTORINO

CorvairJim said:


> Gotta love those "Glue Bombs"! I usually like restoration projects even better than building new ones right out of the box. Hey, you all saw my green '65 Corvair Monza and my blue '67 Yenko Stinger convertible, right? Making something you'd be proud to show off from a pile of junk has a satisfaction all it's own.


Yep. And sometimes the parts you scrounge up look better with the kit your building than the parts in the original kit did.




Rns1016 said:


> Where do you buy the "lots" at? Swap meets, online, etc?


 
usually its online. I live, Um.....quite literally in the middle of nowhere.
no 'swap meets' around here. however a rare kit or ten lol has surfaced in my area, and I grab them when I can.
the internet has been a terrific source for most of my "lot" purchases.


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## CorvairJim

*Update on the '77 Firebird*

I managed to get a couple of hours in my workroom this evening, and I'm planning on a marathon session tomorrow. Tonight I made some more progress on the body and got a start on the interior.

The fender vents are filled and ready for putty. As for the leading edges of the wheels, not so much. I've had some trouble with them, so I resorted to Plan B: Backing the area with a thin sheet of plastic scrap and building it up with thicker scrap at "surface level". I'll cap it off with another thin sheet on the surface to smooth it over before sanding it smooth before putty. The plug for the shaker scoop hole is in place and smoothed in:










Another angle of the hood plug:










Out back, the "spats" on the quarter panels have cooperated with me nicely, these are nearly ready for a shot of primer before moving on to putty:










Meanwhile, the interior wouldn't look too hot with the underside of the sealed-up T-tops exposed, so I had to make up a headliner for the car. The notch at the leading edge of the headliner is for small nubs on the windshield that are there to locate the rear view mirror:










And here's what it looks like installed:










The car I'm replicating had an automatic tranny, so of course the model had to have a 4-speed! Out comes the Dremel and the brake and clutch pedals magically disappear. All I really wanted to do was get the floor even enough to put in a small piece of plastic to cover it up - flocking will make it all look good. I managed to gouge the gas pedal a little bit, so I made up a cover for it. That has the added benefit of adding a little three-dimensional look to it. I'll be suspending a scratchbuilt brake pedal from underneath the dashboard, so I added another piece of scrap to hang it from. One thing I had to scratch my head about - Even though the car has a 4-speed tranny, it has a console set up for an automatic. HOORAY! Less work for me!:










Hopefully I'll get a bunch done on this thing tomorrow and be able to show off the body with the repairs finished and the putty work done. Then all I'll have to do is add some details to it: Wheel lip mouldings, rocker panel mouldings, and the dealer-installed body side mouldings.


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## scottnkat

Well, this is coming along nicely. Nice job on the headliner. Thanks for the update.


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## Schwinnster

Looking really good Jim. :thumbsup: I love seeing stuff like this-- like where you filled in the shaker scoop hole. I actually have a hard time covering work like that up with paint......... LOL! 

That block of wood looks like it's been a part of your work room for a _long _time. A very good tool, eh? Got a couple myself 

Here's hoping you have a good marathon


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## Rns1016

It's looking sweet, it really is.


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## 71 Charger 500

Fantastic work, Jim! I'm picking up little tips here that I can use on my builds too. That's what's so great about these forums!


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## thundercat

Hay Jim. I know you saw my YAMAHA boat. Well I like YAMAHA A/V equiptment and my girl likes SONY. Do you know where I can get some SONY decals for a car, truck, trailer or boat?


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## Rns1016

thundercat said:


> Hay Jim. I know you saw my YAMAHA boat. Well I like YAMAHA A/V equiptment and my girl likes SONY. Do you know where I can get some SONY decals for a car, truck, trailer or boat?


Can't you make your own? I saw a decal kit somewhere you just put it in your printer and it prints it out. You load it just like a normal piece of paper. I'll look to see if I can remember where I saw it.


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## CorvairJim

thundercat said:


> Hay Jim. I know you saw my YAMAHA boat. Well I like YAMAHA A/V equiptment and my girl likes SONY. Do you know where I can get some SONY decals for a car, truck, trailer or boat?


Not offhand, John. You might have to make them yourself or have one of the guys on here run them off for you. I'm sure that there are some who are capable of printing their own decals and I'm currently bidding on a program on eBay (Microsoft "Picture it ! as recommended by one of our friends on this board) that makes it possible

Anyhow, on to today's progress. I finished roughing in the bodywork and shot the first coat of primer to help highlight any areas that need more attention - and there were plenty of them, just as I expected. I don't like to use putty on bare plastic anyway, so the primer was a necessary step. The trunklid and quarter panels where the spoiler was removed turned out to be nearly ready, and the driver's side quarter extension where the "spat" was removed wasn't to shabby either. Other than that, well, I still had some work to do. Here's tonight's Happy Snaps, showing where it stands at the moment:

She looks pretty good after the first shot of primer... Looks can be decieving!:










See what I mean? Here it is after a skim coat of putty and sanding:










The other side was roughy the same. This shot also shows that I've added an insulation pad under the hood to cover up the shaker scoop plug. I figured that since the car is now going to be the luxury "Esprit" model, it would most likely have had this sound deadener there:










I got a start on the engine the other day, gluing the basics together and painting the engine Pontiac Blue. I was pondering whether or not to change the transmission over from a 4-speed to an automatic, since this detail might go unnoticed by the casual observer, but I would know, so I lopped off the 4-speed and grabbed the TH350 from the AMT '70 Nova kit. Funny how a 1:25 transmission looks to be a slightly LARGER scale than the 1:24 4-speed that came off the engine (That's it standing off to the side). This shot also shows the air cleaner base that will need some major modification - the shaker base HAS TO GO AWAY! I want to use the basic part because the snorkel and intake hose are correct. I'll just have to fab up a lid or cut up a parts box air cleaner to make the standard style lid:


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> That block of wood looks like it's been a part of your work room for a _long _time. A very good tool, eh? Got a couple myself


Yeah, I've been using that hunk o' wood for a couple of decades now. It's one of the handiest tools on my table: Cutting board (X-Acto knife OR razor saw), workpiece support, a place to tape a part while paint's drying, something to prop up a model I'm photographing (as you can see! :tongue, something to back up a workpiece that I'm drilling, etc, etc. It's just something that I picked up when I needed something for a particular job way back when and it just never left my work table. Sometimes I think about replacing it with a new one that's not so lumpy, but then I figure, nah, this thing's been through a lot with me and I'm comfortable with it. If it still works, why replace it just because it's ugly?


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## thundercat

Yea. your right. My hobby shop has that. I thought it printed on a crack and peel though. I'll have to give them a call.

After I get done with the YAMAHA boat kit I'm gonna need your boat for the SONY build.

Your build is turning out awsome buy the way.


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the 'attaboy' on the Firebird. It's been a bunch of fun so far, and everything has been going more smoothly than I anticipated before I got started.

I just got a bunch of models in the mail today - a couple of started and abondoned kits and a couple of "Glue Bombs". I wish I'd gotten one of them just a couple of days ago: The Revell 1970 Trans Am, which has the correct drivetrain for the Esprit build (yep, the one with the TH350!) That guy is gonna get rebuilt the right way in the near future... Observe:

Bomb...










... And roughly five minutes later: BOOM!!!










I'm going to have to find a usable stock air cleaner for the Esprit now, since I'll be needing the one from that kit to rebuild the 1970 model. I had planned to remove the shaker scoop base from the 77's air cleaner and make a standard-style lid for it, but it now looks like I'll be fabbing the whole thing if I can't find a suitable piece in my parts box. Oh well... The things I do for my art. 

The body and interior of this one will be spending the might in the "dip tank". By this time tomorrow, they should be sparkling white. Since it's a "Firebird Glue Bomb", it's working title is abbreviated as "The F-Bomb"! (I hope I don't drop that one too many times while I'm rebuilding this sucker... )

Stay tuned...


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## Schwinnster

Nice clean BOOM Jim! LOL! I _love_ getting things like this in the mail :woohoo: Got a bunch not long ago, and can't wait to check 'em out more closely. Interesting to see how someone else 'built' them, and to bring them back. Maybe the best part is that you don't have to mess with any of that pesky sprue............. LOL!


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## CorvairJim

The body of "The F-Bomb" came out of the Dip Tank before I left for work this afternoon. It didn't take a minute with a brush to have it white again. The interior took a second bath, but after work it too came clean enough for the purpose. The only trouble so far was that the rear window broke when I was taking the model apart. At that point, I decided not to risk the windshield. I'm going to see if I can work around that problem - just mask it off while I'm doing any sanding and of course paint work. 

Something I noticed that I got a laugh out of. Look closely at the rear spoiler in the first photo and the tail panel section in the second one: I don't know how he did it, but the kid who slapped the thing together in the first place managed to glue the rear spoiler on it UPSIDE DOWN!  I wasn't able to persuade it to come off of the tail panel last night, but I'll get it off of there somehow.


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## Schwinnster

I thought the rear end looked funky-- yeah, spoiler's upside down! That's what I meant about seeing how these old builds were built....... 

About trying to get those parts/windshield loose Jim-- ever try 'soaking' it in the freezer? I remember reading that years ago, and tried it a few months ago. I had gotten a fairly good, well built, 49 Ford that I'm rebuilding into a LSR over in my garage (SALTBOX, Shoebox build). Not sure, as I was able to pull most of it apart, but then a few parts just wouldn't come without breaking, so I parked it on the ice cube tray in the freezer for a few days, and that did seem to help get all but the smallest pieces apart. The one exhaust pipe had a big glue booger holding it to the frame rail, and it didn't wanna let go no matter what..... LOL! The freezer 'soak' did seem to help tho.....

I've thought about repainting one of my builds, a '51 Fleetliner, and masking it off like a real car........ just have to find some 1/25 masking tape....... LOL!


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## s.moe

Jim that ol' glue bomb look's like some of my early year's of painting model car's....Back before I learned to use the Rattle can's and proper spray application,, That is....
Heck....I'm still in awe at Young Robert's Paint job's on his Viper's......Wish when I painted them with a brush, They'd of turned out that nice.......

Build's looking great so far......Nice bodywork.....

MOE.


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## CorvairJim

s.moe said:


> Jim that ol' glue bomb look's like some of my early year's of painting model car's....Back before I learned to use the Rattle can's and proper spray application,, That is....
> Heck....I'm still in awe at Young Robert's Paint job's on his Viper's......Wish when I painted them with a brush, They'd of turned out that nice.......
> 
> Build's looking great so far......Nice bodywork.....
> 
> MOE.


I remember the "Paint 'em with a brush" days. I had exactly ONE that came out well, an AMT '37 Chevy coupe that I painted black when I was about 12. I had thinned the heck out of the paint and it just flowed out well as it dried. None of the others would be anything I'd want to show in public! Robert is doing a great job on his. Thanks for the compliment on my bodywork. I hit it with a second skim coat of putty this evening, only to find that one of the T-tops was cracking loose. I went around the seam with a thin bead of C.A., so that ought to do the trick... I hope. Other than that setback, it's getting there. I have the interior in primer and hope to blow some color on it before the weekend. I'll be using the same paint on both the interior and exterior of the model, but with gray primer under it inside and red oxide outside to darken it a little for contrast. Between that and the polished clearcoat, the two should look like subtly different shades. Look at the photo of the actual car to see the effect that I'm going to be trying for.

Schwinnster: I'd heard about the freezeer technique but I'd forgotten about it when I broke the rear window loose. I'm going to stick the body in the freezer tonight and see if it helps persuade it to come loose for me. Thanks for the reminder.


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## harristotle

Looking good so far :thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

It's Saturday, so I had the time to get some major progress done on the Firebird. The body is basically ready for paint. I finalized the bodywork and added all the trim that an Esprit has that a Trans Am doesn't, with the exception of badges (Does anyone know if there's a photoetch fret available for this kit? I tried to carve out some Firebird badges - the birds that go on the sail panels and trunk lid - but they look so-so at best. I'll also need the "Firebird" and "Esprit" scripts). The body now has it's rocker panel mouldings, wheel opening mouldings, and drip rails, as well as the dealer-installed bodyside moulding that the 1:1 car had. I then shot it in red oxide primer to help darken the color coats a little. I'm using the same paint for the interior, so this little trick should help differentiate the two a little. The interior is in color now, but I still need to detail paint it and give it a spritz of semi-gloss clear before the carpet gets flocked - The Rust Oleum brand touch-up spray I used has a great shine right out of the can. If it goes down on the body as nicely as it did on the interior, I might not even have to clearcoat and polish it!

Anyhow, here are a couple of shots showing where I stand at the moment. This forst one shows the body with all the added mouldings ready for primer:










And here it is in red primer, as well as the interior bucket and dashboard:










Look at that shine on the back seat and console! This is the way it came out when I was trying to dull it out by blowing it on dry... Imagine what a full-wet coat would look like!


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## scottnkat

That car looks great - nobody could tell that the kit used to be a T/A! Really great job


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## Schwinnster

Looks great with all the mold.......... I mean, _moulding_, on it Jim!  Very nice-- very nice presentation, showing the white mouldings you added, and then that body in the red primer. Looks like it was made that way........ which, I guess....... _it was_-- *by you!* 

Hope that subtle difference in the body and interior color happens as you're hoping. That's gonna be a _real_ red bird!


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## thundercat

I have to say I'm amazed at the way you filled in the T top. Great job. That thing is going to look awsome when it's done.:thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the props, guys! I made some more progress this evening but haven't taken any more pictures. The dashboard is detailed and I added the parking brake pedal that I forgot about when I was adding the suspended automatic trans-style brake pedal. I discovered that I had forgotten to remove the molded-in lettering from the chassis (you know, "Copyright 20XX Monogram Models, Inc under license from General Motors Corp", that sort of thing), so I had to go back, sand that stuff off and re-prime the back of the chassis. I also discovered some sanding scratches in the roof, so I smoothed them out and re-primed that too. Hopefully the body is now COMPLETELY ready for paint! Lastly, I made a regular Pontiac style steering wheel for it, but I'm not too happy with it. Hopefully the guy I've been in contact with on the Model Cars Magazine website who thinks he has the right wheel for my 'Bird actually has it and I can use that instead.


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## CorvairJim

Another couple of days, and another couple days more progress on the Esprit conversion... COLOR! It'll need some color sanding before clearcoat because of some crap in the paint (check that booger on the upper right corner of the hood - I might have to repaint that... ), but that can't be avoided since I don't have a spray booth and it's w-a-y too cold to paint outside. The paint itself is a lot better than it looks in the photo - it's just the metallic in the paint that makes it look like there's a lot of orange peel in it. It's really pretty smooth. I got my Rally II wheels for it (Actually, friends from this great website sent me THREE sets of 'em! One set got torn up in shipping in a plain envelope, but two sets came through just fine, properly boxed up on the glue bombs they were mounted on! :thumbsup from the Revell '69 GTO, and I'll be using the Goodyear tires from that one as well. This guy sent me an entire glue bomb just so I'd have the wheels, and the wheel backs and axle mounts if I needed them. I'll be adapting the Firebird's wheel backs to the slightly larger diameter GTO tires, but I want to use those tires since they have the lettering and are slightly narrower than the ones from the Trans Am kit, more in keeping with a lower-line Firebird. Here's where the project stands at the moment. In the lower right of the photo is the standard style steering wheel I made for the model. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I don't have the right part so I might have to make do with it. (It really does look better up close than it does in this photo):










I'm happy with the results of the bodywork. the T-tops have gone away entirely, not even any 'ghoosting'. Same with the hole in the hood for the shaker scoop and the one where the rear spoiler area broke through the trunk lid a little. I did a pretty bad job setting up this shot, since the bumper caps are almost complertely hidden behind other stuff. Next up: Chassis and drivetrain, then back to the interior to finish that up - A shot of clear semi-gloss then carpet flocking. I still need to make the car's sun visors and dome light.


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## 71 Charger 500

WOW, Jim, that thing looks super nice! You have done a great job on this conversion. Too bad it has to be sent away so soon or you could have maybe sent it to a resin caster who might be interested in it to pop off a few bodies!

You mention that you don't have a spray booth. I don't have one either. What I do is paint the body then take it to the spare bedroom of my house which now houses my model and record collection and I leave it set in there in an old computer cabinet that has doors that close. That keeps it out of the dust etc. (Never dust the furniture or anything like that in a room where you are going to sit your newly painted model just before you place said model in said area.)

If you don't have something like that, here is a trick that I used years ago. I took a box that was pretty large compared to the model so that there was no chance of it touching my model that was just painted. (I had dusted the inside of the cardboard box with a light coat of paint.) Each time I was going to use that box to cover my painted model, before putting the model under it, I would take a wet wash rag, wring that out good, then DAB the wash rag all over the inside of the box. This would "wet" the inside of the box, keeping any possible dust particles in place. Never "wipe" the inside of the box as this might break loose any cardboard particles that may be hanging loosely and they could fall on your model, ruining a good paint job.

I don't know exactly what your painting and then storage situation is but that is how I used to do it. Hopefully that will help someone who can't or doesn't, have a paint booth.


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## s.moe

Jim....I really hate those Booger's....OH,, And Maple Leaves....They seam to really screw-up a prefectly good paint job, Don't they ??? And they seam to come out of thin air.....

Paint is looking Great on my end...Except for the Booger on the hood......You really need to blow your nose before doing any paint work, you know.......:lol:

Really,,, Paint look's Great and you'r doing a nice job on making it into a plain ol' Firebird....

MOE.


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## CorvairJim

Thanks guys! The body isn't quite resin master quality (I'm not THAT good!), but I appreciate the comment anyway. You have to remember, too, that I've already added a non-stock type of bodyside moulding. 

I think I could probably come up with a cabinet like C500 mentioned without too much trouble. I could just knock something together from some old scrap shelving I have around and just get some hinges and a little Velcro to hold the doors closed. I'd probably screw a cup hook inside the top to hang my coat hanger painting fixture from. I could even possibly put in a light bulb to add heat to help with the drying!

As for the 'booger' in the hood's paint, well, when I first saw it, I thought: "That's snot funny"!


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## Rns1016

That model had t-tops? Awesome job....Love the color....


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## scottnkat

CorvairJim said:


> As for the 'booger' in the hood's paint, well, when I first saw it, I thought: "That's snot funny"!


He he he - Not only did I get a kick out of that comment, but my wife laughed, my son Stephen laughed, my daughter Gennie laughed - basically, you made our night!!


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> As for the 'booger' in the hood's paint, well, when I first saw it, I thought: "That's snot funny"!


Jim really "nose" what he is doing when it comes to funny comments!


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Jim really "nose" what he is doing when it comes to funny comments!


Oh please... Is this going to become one of those "running" gags?

In other news, remember, you saw it here first! I'm not done the Esprit yet and already I've gotten sucked into ANOTHER major conversion build! This one is my own doing, since I just wasn't satisfied with the ancient model I had to start with, that being the old Jo-Han 1960 Plymouth "Emergency Wagon". I entered it in the "Cannonball Run, 1962": Community Build on the Model Cars magazine website. The idea is that you can "Run what'cha brung" as long as it 1) looks like it would be street legal and, 2) Is built with parts readily available in 1962. I just got the Plymouth in a trade last week and considered tearig into it and doing it for the build. When I mentioned it in that forum, the response was overwhelming, that I should go for it... so I am. Only one rub: Like I said earlier, it is ANCIENT! There is very little usable detail except the body and dashboard. It has straight plastic axles - not too much of a problem in back, but the one in front goes straight through the engine, taking away one more level of realism. 

My solution: I was wondering if I could close off the opening in the engine where the axle would go through it, but then I decided to try to adapt the early Hemi from the AMT 1957 Chrysler 300C instead. But wait, what's this? The VERY basic chassis from the wagon model (with the suspension, exhaust system, etc molded in) looks just like the very detailed chassis from the 300! I dummied it up, and the floorboard from the Chrysler fits like a glove!  Once they're cut out of the 300's body, the front inner fenders look like they should fit with little or no modification, and the firewall will only need some work on the upper corners to fit the diferent contours of the Plymouth's cowl.

The interior bucket of the wagon is very shallow - it doesn't even have a driveshaft hump! I can cut the door panels from that and extend them down to meet the Chrysler floor. Same with the wagon's front seat (I'll be building a flat floor with the 2nd and 3rd seats folded down). This thing will be a challenge, combining 1960's and 2000's model technology in one build, but I think I'm up for it. Anyhow, here are a couple of shots of the build. The first shows the basic Jo-Han kit and the second shows the wagon body with the Chrysler floorpan in place (Notice how well the rear inner fenders mate up with the quarter panels - NO TAPE, and no spreading of the body!), with the Chrysler frame and Plymouth chassis plate in the foreground:


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## thundercat

CorvairJim said:


> Another couple of days, and another couple days more progress on the Esprit conversion... COLOR! It'll need some color sanding before clearcoat because of some crap in the paint (check that booger on the upper right corner of the hood - I might have to repaint that... ), but that can't be avoided since I don't have a spray booth and it's w-a-y too cold to paint outside. The paint itself is a lot better than it looks in the photo - it's just the metallic in the paint that makes it look like there's a lot of orange peel in it. It's really pretty smooth. I got my Rally II wheels for it (Actually, friends from this great website sent me THREE sets of 'em! One set got torn up in shipping in a plain envelope, but two sets came through just fine, properly boxed up on the glue bombs they were mounted on! :thumbsup from the Revell '69 GTO, and I'll be using the Goodyear tires from that one as well. This guy sent me an entire glue bomb just so I'd have the wheels, and the wheel backs and axle mounts if I needed them. I'll be adapting the Firebird's wheel backs to the slightly larger diameter GTO tires, but I want to use those tires since they have the lettering and are slightly narrower than the ones from the Trans Am kit, more in keeping with a lower-line Firebird. Here's where the project stands at the moment. In the lower right of the photo is the standard style steering wheel I made for the model. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I don't have the right part so I might have to make do with it. (It really does look better up close than it does in this photo):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm happy with the results of the bodywork. the T-tops have gone away entirely, not even any 'ghoosting'. Same with the hole in the hood for the shaker scoop and the one where the rear spoiler area broke through the trunk lid a little. I did a pretty bad job setting up this shot, since the bumper caps are almost complertely hidden behind other stuff. Next up: Chassis and drivetrain, then back to the interior to finish that up - A shot of clear semi-gloss then carpet flocking. I still need to make the car's sun visors and dome light.


That baby looks sweet. Love the matallic red paint job.


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## scottnkat

well, now this is something to get excited about! this should be quite fun! you're right - everything looks like it should fit with minimal difficulty.


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## Schwinnster

Very cool project Jim! Boy does that wagon bring back memories for me! Dad had a '59 Dodge wagon, very similar to this. My brother Dan & I got to sit in that back seat facing out the rear power window-- which we _hoped_ would go down so we could get out! It didn't always work  Mom & Dad loaded all 5 of us kids in it, as well as all our camping stuff, and Dad drove straight thru from SW Pa to somewhere in Michigan. Dan & I were basically 'out of contact' from the rest of the car, with all the stuff packed in, between us, and them. Still remember standing up in the open rear window peeing at 60mph somewhere in Michigan 

After the wagon died, I took the top of the air cleaner for my bedroom, and we used the hood for sled riding:woohoo:. 

Thanks for the memories , and looking forward to seeing it come together.


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## 71 Charger 500

I love those Plymouth Wagon's, Jim. I have two of them built, one as a drag car, the other as a tow vehicle. I have a third one in the pipeline for another drag car. 

I wonder if the seats from the Revell Dodge Magnum Wagon would work for your interior? 

I built mine back in the middle 90's after AMT brought out the '68 Roadrunner, '69 GTX and the '70 Super Bee kits. I used the chassis platforms and drivetrains from those kits but I really like your idea of the '57 300 chassis under it, looks like a much better fit in pretty much every dimension. I know I have at least one of the 300's but I used the engine for a '36 Plymouth Modified build.

I'm gonna have to look into your ideas, they sound great! I for one am looking forward to seeing your progression on this build. I hope you keep us posted here!

Mo


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## CorvairJim

I have to keep it as "Stock" as possible to fit in with the CBP's guidelines. It has to be built with parts that were readily available in 1962. That would rule out the Magnum seats. If the 300's chassis weren't identical to the one Plymouth used under it's cars in 1960 (or so nearly so that it looks like it is), I couldn't get away with using it. I CAN use the Chrysler's early-type Hemi since it was around in 1962, but a later "Street Hemi" or a late model "HEMI" wouldn't be kosher. 

I like the idea of a station wagon running in the Cannonball for several reasons: 1) being a family car, it would tend to be less conspicuous than, say, a sports car or a hot rod, 2) there's plenty of room under the hood for a thumpin' BIG engine, and 3) there's plenty of room for cargo - spares and groceries - and still have room for the 3rd team member to catch some shut-eye. 

There are some models entered in the CBP that I wouldn't want to do a high speed, coast to coast run in, such as a hot rod 1950 Ford pickup, an AC Ace, and '56 Bel Air and '55 Nomad gassers. There is a '57 300C, but that has less room inside and stands out more than my wagon will. There's a Porsche 356 cabriolet that should do the run just fine but it's way cramped for a 3,000 mile run and would stick out like a sore thumb. Pretty much the same goes for the '62 Corvette that's entered. The '48 and '49 Ford coupes should do OK, as should the 1962 Impala coupe and Dart Convertible and the '57 Fairlane.

Would any of you guys be interested in joining me in the CBP? I think it's gonna be a fun one, thinking of how I would go about crossing the country as fast as possible while staying on the ground 50 years ago (the year I was born, no less!)

(Yeah, I think the guy in back might wind up "Peeing out the back window" occasionally, but it would probably be at considerably over 60 mph! No sense stopping if you don't have to! )


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Would any of you guys be interested in joining me in the CBP? I think it's gonna be a fun one, thinking of how I would go about crossing the country as fast as possible while staying on the ground 50 years ago (the year I was born, no less!)


I might be interested in doing this, Jim.

Mo


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## scottnkat

I may be interested in that, but I seriously don't have time right now. But I will definitely be watching your build.


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## CorvairJim

Opened it two days ago. Looked at things yesterday and decided to kitbash it with an AMT '57 Chrysler 300C yesterday. I cut and glued some styrene today.

I figured that the first thing I needed to do was to make sure everthing would fit the way I intended, so out came the ruler and I started measuring. Then I roughtd the 300's floor pan, interior sides, dashboard, firewall, back seat, and chassis together to test fit to see if everything would fit in the wagon body. So far, so good, so I got out my trusty X-Acto with the scribing blade in it (the tip snapped off a #11 blade) and scribed the engine bay sheet metal out of the 300. Then I cut what passed for the radiator wall out of the wagon and did my first test fit of the 300's engine bay in the wagon body. I found I had to cut it right in front of the radiator wall, so that's what I did. Two minutes with a razor saw and we're almost there. A little finessing with some of the plastic bits molded inside the wagon body in the hood hinge area and where the radiator wall used to be and we're nearly there. I got out the Dremel and took down the top of the radiator wall ablut a scale inch so the hood would fit and Voila! It was like it was intended to go there all along, like AMT was channeling the engineer that made the Jo-Han molds all those years ago when he did the 300 molds! Gee, ya think that maybe that Mother Mopar might have used the same basic car for these two?










Now to get started cutting up that 40+ year old interior bucket! :hat:


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## 71 Charger 500

That looks pretty dadgum good, Jim! Like you said, just like it was made for that wagon! Gonna be interesting to see how you handle the interior tub now.


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## scottnkat

well, that looks darn good!!


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the kudos guys! It just looked like it would work, so I decided to take a crack at it, and it came together without too much trouble. Just "Measure twice and cut once". 

I got a couple more hours in on the wagon last night after I signed off. I made a lot of progress on the interior. I decided to leave the 2nd seat in place, the way it would be at the beginning of the Cannonball. The floors are gone from the front and middle foot wells, and the 3rd seat was cut down to allow me to put in a flat piece of plastic for the folded down 3rd seat. I scribed lines into it to represent the three panels, and cut in the handle to lift the rearmost one. I also ground down the insides of the interior's rear side panels and the Chrysler's rear wheelhouses to allow them to fit together and still have the chassis fit up under the interior with everything in place where it has to be. After several test fittings, I made extensions to go on the bottom of the door panels to extend them down to meet the Chrysler floor. Would you believe the interior bucket was 3/8" too short??? I knew it looked too shallow, but that's almost half an inch, folks! 3/8" in 1:25 comes to 9" in 1:1! How would YOU like to have 9" less depth to the foot wells in YOUR car? Anyhow, I scribed lines in the bottom of my new side panels to represent the sills on the floor at the bottom of the doors. I still need to make kick panel extensions to go up in front of the doors, and extend the seats down to the right depth (the back one down to the floor and the front riding about 3" scale above it). In typical early 1960's Jo-Han fashion, the seats had sharp cutoffs at their leading edges instead of curving over. I took a few minutes to sand them to a more comfortable radius. I'll be cutting the pedals from beneath the Chrysler's dashboard and attaching them to the underside of the Plymouth's dash. I'll add my own dimmer switch. The Plymouth kit comes with a clunky piece that's supposed to combine the shift lever and turn signal stalk on one ring that goes around the steering column. Ain't gonna happen in this model! I'll make my own, thank you very much. Mine will actually look realistic, as opposed to the hugely out of scale things Jo-Han wants me to use! That ring even has a tachometer mounted to it's top! (How many 1960 Plymouth wagons do you suppose ever had a column-mounted tach?)


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## Schwinnster

> That ring even has a tachometer mounted to it's top! (How many 1960 Plymouth wagons do you suppose ever had a column-mounted tach?)


My Dad had _his_ tach mounted _on the hood _of his '59, so there....... :lol:

Cool how you notice things like those huge discrepencies Jim! Just think if our 1:1s were built as _thick skinned_ as some of our models  Come to think of it-- the old boats came kinda close, didn't they?  

Make sure you take pics of that dimmer switch! :thumbsup:


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> (How many 1960 Plymouth wagons do you suppose ever had a column-mounted tach?)


Here's one! Not factory of course,


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Here's one! Not factory of course,


That is so COOL!!! I downloaded that picture into my file of '60 Plymouth wagon photos. My build won't be anything like that, of course, but I have to keep it just to look at. I like these drag cars that are based on cars you wouldn't think of as being drag cars! 

(I'm beginning to think about finding a set of rough-cast Torq-Thrusts for it, though, mounted on the wide whitewalls from the Chrysler kit... They WERE around as early as 1962, weren't they?  )


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## 71 Charger 500

Jim, that Hi Ho Silver Savoy wagon is still owned by its original owner! He no longer drag races it though, having retired it back about ten years ago for a 59 Savoy. Wasn't a wagon, I can't remember if it was a two or four door though. It is called "Hi Ho Too". The Hi Ho Silver would run mid to low sevens in the 1/8 mile.


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## s.moe

Jim....From all your Pic's it look's like everything is going to work-out pretty good with your Plymouth Wagon.....I'll keep checking in on it's Progress, as well as looking for the Finished Pic's on the Firebird.......

MOE.


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## CorvairJim

THe wagon is going to get back-burnered for a little bit while I get the 'Bird wrapped up. The "booger" is gone from the hood. I ended up having to completely re-do the hood because I rushed the paint too much the first time. Seems I forgot to take it to the basement to paint with the body and bumper caps, so I did the hood afterwards and didn't allow enough time between coats. The solvent ate into the putty and I had to re-do the area around the scoop hole plug. Well, that's behind me now and I'm even happier witht he results of the plug job than I was the first time. Next step: My first attempt at a "Future" clearcoat job, then shooting the engine bay in black semi gloss.


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## CorvairJim

I haven't been able to do anything on my models for the past few days. My elderly folks were in a bad car accident on Friday. My dad fell asleep at the wheel, and the car went off the road, hitting a tree at about 35-40 mph. My mom's been in the hospital since then due to complications concerning a bad gash in her leg. My dad is OK - he was just admitted for testing and was out the same night. (He joked that "the cat scan of his head showed nothing"!)Anyhow, I've basically spent the weekend since Friday night at the hospital. I spent that night with my dad at their place, just to make sure he was OK overnight. Thank God for seat belts and airbags. Without these safety devices, they would have most likely been killed. I've never been a big fan of airbags before this, but having seen how well they do their job, I'm fast becoming a believer.

Their 2002 Saturn LW300 station wagon is a complete write-off because they had to use the Jaws Of Life to get my mom out of it. My dad and I went by the towing yard Saturday morning to get their things out of it and retrieve the license plate and E-Z Pass transponder. In a way it's funny that the remaining three doors and the hatch all open and shut just fine!


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## Schwinnster

So sorry to hear about your Mom & Dad's accident, and thankful it wasn't worse. My parents are in their 80's, and Mom won't let Dad drive anymore, and she only drives if she absolutely has to. My younger sister and I take them places. I'll be keeping your parents, and you, in my prayers. Take care.


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## scottnkat

so sorry to hear about your parents. you'll all be in our prayers


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## 71 Charger 500

Your parents and your family are in our prayers, Jim. 

Mo


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> Thanks for the 'attaboy' on the Firebird. It's been a bunch of fun so far, and everything has been going more smoothly than I anticipated before I got started.
> 
> I just got a bunch of models in the mail today - a couple of started and abondoned kits and a couple of "Glue Bombs". I wish I'd gotten one of them just a couple of days ago: The Revell 1970 Trans Am, which has the correct drivetrain for the Esprit build (yep, the one with the TH350!) That guy is gonna get rebuilt the right way in the near future... Observe:
> 
> Bomb...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... And roughly five minutes later: BOOM!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm going to have to find a usable stock air cleaner for the Esprit now, since I'll be needing the one from that kit to rebuild the 1970 model. I had planned to remove the shaker scoop base from the 77's air cleaner and make a standard-style lid for it, but it now looks like I'll be fabbing the whole thing if I can't find a suitable piece in my parts box. Oh well... The things I do for my art.
> 
> The body and interior of this one will be spending the might in the "dip tank". By this time tomorrow, they should be sparkling white. Since it's a "Firebird Glue Bomb", it's working title is abbreviated as "The F-Bomb"! (I hope I don't drop that one too many times while I'm rebuilding this sucker... )
> 
> Stay tuned...


 UGH!! THAT is a BOMB for sure! I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I've had a couple fender benders in my time, but never something that would cost me my life! My mother did back in '89, and a couple other people have had total losses, but not the JAWS OF LIFE! That's a serious accident. I take it that your parents travel out of state a lot? I was just asking since you said something about an easy pass transponder. 

~ Chris​


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## thundercat

Sorry to hear about that Jim. I'm so glad their OK.


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## CorvairJim

Thanks, guys, for all the prayers and thoughts. Mom was released from the hospital this afternoon and went straight home, not to their retirement community's care facility as we had thought she'd have to. They'll be sending a visiting nurse in every day for the next few days to check up on her. GOD IS SO GOOD! He was watching over them. 

I'm glad they didn't take the advice I gave them a couple of years ago when my mom stopped driving - to sell her car. They wanted to keep it around in case the other one was in the shop and to keep the miles down on it. Her car will be their only one now, since they aren't sure about replacing my dad's wagon. Car payments just aren't on the agenda since they're on a fixed income. They's probably have to trade my mom's car (a 2000 Chevy Prizm)PLUS use the payout on the wagon just for a down payment on a recent used car.


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## s.moe

Hey,,, Jim....Real sorry to here about you Parent's accident,, But Glad to here that their, OK.....This is the first chance that I've had to check-in on your post,,, So I just found out....It's a good thing they still have transportation,, with the car, as well.......Nothing worse than not having a ride, when you need to go somewhere.......Really hope your Mom is up and about soon.....

MOE.


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## 71 Charger 500

Praise the Lord they are both home now! Glad to hear that.

Mo


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## DOM-19

Life is not easy when you get older, glad they are ok -dom


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## CorvairJim

My friends, I really appreciate the outporing of good will and prayers I'm receiving from all of you. It's humbling to think that I only came to this website less than 2 months ago and already I've built up a network of friends who really CARE. God Bless you all. 

My wife and I will be spending Sunday with my folks as we usually do. I haven't been in touch with them due to scheduling conflicts - I can't call when they're available and vice versa. My dad would definitely call if anything came up, so in this case no news really IS good news. 

I'm trying to do a little research into a replacement for their Saturn SW300 wagon, something as useful but easier for them to get in and out of. My dad's mindset is a CAR or nothing - no TRUCKS need apply - and an SUV or even a crossover or minivan is a truck in his eyes. I'm trying to convince him to look into a small crossover or even an HHR, PT Cruiser, or Subaru Forester. Something with the seats somewhat higher off the ground than they were in the Saturn to make getting in and out easier for them. Guys, I'm open to suggestions. He's partial to GM and dislikes Ford products. Newer is better, but "New" isn't a necessity.


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> My friends, I really appreciate the outporing of good will and prayers I'm receiving from all of you. It's humbling to think that I only came to this website less than 2 months ago and already I've built up a network of friends who really CARE. God Bless you all.
> 
> My wife and I will be spending Sunday with my folks as we usually do. I haven't been in touch with them due to scheduling conflicts - I can't call when they're available and vice versa. My dad would definitely call if anything came up, so in this case no news really IS good news.
> 
> I'm trying to do a little research into a replacement for their Saturn SW300 wagon, something as useful but easier for them to get in and out of. My dad's mindset is a CAR or nothing - no TRUCKS need apply - and an SUV or even a crossover or minivan is a truck in his eyes. I'm trying to convince him to look into a small crossover or even an HHR, PT Cruiser, or Subaru Forester. Something with the seats somewhat higher off the ground than they were in the Saturn to make getting in and out easier for them. Guys, I'm open to suggestions. He's partial to GM and dislikes Ford products. Newer is better, but "New" isn't a necessity.


Jim, I own a PT Cruiser. If your dad has any size to him, it's a bit of a pain to slide into. I'm 6'1", 240+ and it's a pain, not alot of room to get comfortable in. I have to sit down in it facing the outside, duck my head and then turn to face the steering wheel as I slide all the way in. I should have kept my Concorde.


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> My friends, I really appreciate the outporing of good will and prayers I'm receiving from all of you. It's humbling to think that I only came to this website less than 2 months ago and already I've built up a network of friends who really CARE. God Bless you all.
> 
> My wife and I will be spending Sunday with my folks as we usually do. I haven't been in touch with them due to scheduling conflicts - I can't call when they're available and vice versa. My dad would definitely call if anything came up, so in this case no news really IS good news.


God bless you too Jim. Can't have friends if you aint a friend to begin with-- took me years to learn that. So glad you're here, as well as all our other great friends. We're all sharing life here, whether it's in scale or 1:1. Glad your folks are doing well, and hope Sunday is a good day for you all. 

I got a phone call from my Mom yesterday, she was crying because her dog Jennie, who was her & Dad's companion of 10 years, died after a brief illness. Nice to be able to come here and share whatever.


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## scottnkat

I'm so glad your parents are doing better. I lost both of my parents a month apart seven years ago. There is so much I wish I had told them and done with them. Cherish your time with your parents - unfortunately our time here is all too fleeting.


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Jim, I own a PT Cruiser. If your dad has any size to him, it's a bit of a pain to slide into. I'm 6'1", 240+ and it's a pain, not alot of room to get comfortable in. I have to sit down in it facing the outside, duck my head and then turn to face the steering wheel as I slide all the way in. I should have kept my Concorde.


Well, that rules out the PT Cruiser. He's about 6' and 225 lbs, that is to say he's your size. He's also 81 years young with bad sciatica. 

We lost our two cherished pets about a year apart. First it was CoCo, our Chocolate Labrador. At 13 years old, she just succombed to old age degeneration. Her mind was still sharp as ever, but her body just gave up over the course of about half a year or so. Her normally bright eyes just got so sad, but her tail always wagged, at least to an extent, whenever she knew my wife Rose or I was in the room. Then last year, our beloved little cat Agatha went the same way. First she went blind over the course of only a month or so. Then her hearing seemed to be getting worse. But she still loved her loving - both giving and getting it in equal amounts. Finally she all but stopped eating, to the point where she couldn't keep anything down. She was always a small cat, never topping about 7 lbs her whole life, but when she died she was barely 4 lbs.

My wife and I spend every Sunday afternoon and evening with my folks. We fully realize that they won't be around forever. They are much more "parental" to Rose than her parents ever were - she was raised by her gradparents. She told them a few years ago that she's so glad to finally know what parents really are. She calls them Mom and Dad because that's the way she sees them, NOT as in-laws. We also get together with them on Saturday evenings in the summer when our local-ish (45 miles away) minor league baseball team, the Reading (PA) Phillies is at home. They've had the Saturday season ticket plan for nearly 3 decades now, and we joined in with them about 8 years ago. When they lived 3 or 4 miles away from us, we'd go to their house and we'd drive up together. Now that they live 40 miles away, well, they're on their own! But if they asked, we'd still be willing to pick them up and drop them off afterwards.

Basically, they were there for us so many times that now that they need us there's no way I'd even consider saying no to them. Guys, your parents are two of the most precious people you'll ever have in your lives. Like Scott said, cherish your time with them. Take advantage of every opportunity to be with them and tell them that you love them.


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Guys, your parents are two of the most precious people you'll ever have in your lives. Like Scott said, cherish your time with them. Take advantage of every opportunity to be with them and tell them that you love them.


Those of you that have this are lucky, mine are total whack jobs!


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Those of you that have this are lucky, mine are total whack jobs!


That's a very sad thing. My wife's parents had their troubles, making them unfit parents. She never really got to know her mother, who passed on before Rose and I started dating, and what little she did know about her father wasn't too good. I only met the man 3 times and I wasn't too impressed either. He was very self-centered and cared not a whit about other people's feelings, even those of his own children. Rose had her brother give her away at our wedding, even though her father and step-mother were there.

In other news, the Firebird's body is in paint! I blew on the clear coat this evening and should be able to polish it out after work some time this week. The interior is mostly assembled - I flocked the carpeting and installed the seats and dimmer switch this evenig too. Pictures to follow. I still need to make up the sun visors and dome light for it (If anyone has a base-model steering wheel for this car or knows where I can get one, now's the time to let me know! I'd much rather use one from a kit than the sorta iffy one I made myself). I won't be able to get anything accomplished on it next weekend, since we're taking a 4-day Valentine's Day weekend trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I've also gotten a set of decals for a project that's been sitting around for some time - a tribute to the P-40 Warhawk "Flying Tigers" fighter from WW II, based on a Corvair roadster (Shortened body and no provision for a top) My friend Disco58 generously sent me not only the decals but the entire kit they came in! :thumbsup: He requested that I build the model with one or more of my grandchildren, using the remaining decals to build a different version of the plane. This is something I derfinitely look forward to! (My oldest grandkid is named Ameilia after Amelia Earhart. We have a long family history in aviation. My great-great uncle, Eugene Ely, was the first man to successfully fly an airplane onto and then back off of the deck of a ship. He's called "The Father Of Naval Aviation". There's a display about him at the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum. My middle name is Eugene in his honor.) I plan on posting the completion of that build both on this thread and in the Military Aircraft thread as well.


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## CorvairJim

In Scottnkat's garage thread, I mentioned a couple of stock cars that I built back around 2000 for Scale Auto Magazine's 20th Anniversary contest. Scott replied that he's like to see some pictures of them, so here goes. As a little background, the magazine bound a set of custom Slixx decals into their 20th anniversary issue, and your entry had to use at least some of them. They were laid out in such a way that your imagination was the limit. They had their magazine logo in a couple of different sizes (including half a dozen license plates!) and the number 20 in a few sizes too, representing their 20th. I built these two models for the contest, representing two ages in one race team's existance. 

The first one was a 1979 Monte Carlo, the first car campaigned by the start-up team. I used the magazine's original logo, clipped from older issues of the magazine and decoupaged onto the model with thinned clear, water based paint, as the primary sponsor's advertising on the quarters, hood, and deck lid. The car is mostly white to represent the new magazine as a "Clean sheet of paper" approach to the car model publishing industry. As with the second model, this main color is used with Guards Red and black, the colors of the numbers on the decal sheet. That way I could run the decals right over the red and black for effect.

The second one is a Chrysler Concorde. This contest was held in 2000, right after Chrysler Corp. announced that they were getting back into NASCAR in 2001. They hadn't yet announced which body they would be using, or even which division. My hands were pretty much tied anyhow if I wanted to go my own way with a Mopar body: The only largish Mopar model body on the market back then was the AMT SnapFast "Street Heat" Concorde. Hey, Chrysler 300's were nearly unbeatable in NASCAR back in the mid-50's, so why not? I painted this model mostly Platinum because of the editorial in the 20th anniversary issue. The editor said that many modelers thought of the 1970's as the "Golden Age Of Car Models", and things had been going downhill ever since. He saw it differently. He saw that manufacturers were coming out with more new tools than they had in recent memory and were reissuing many of the old favorites too. He summed it up by saying that, if the 70's were the "Golden Age", then the 21st century could well become the "Platinum Age". As with many of my photos, I lost track of the original photos in my old computer, so they aren't in my newer one. I had to upload them from my page on the Motortopia website. I apologize for the Motortopia logo in the lower left of the photos, but it's just too much of a hassle to go into the graphics program to eliminate it. So here we go, my two entries in the 2000 Scale Auto 20th Anniversary "Common Deacls" photo contest:

That's an MPC annual 1979 Monte Carlo's body on an 80's vintage AMT NASCAR chassis. The hood pins go through the hood, but they aren't functional like on Scott's fantastic Richard Petty Plymouth.









The contingency decals are Pinewood Derby dry transfers. The tire rubs are decals from an old Dale Earnhardt kit that I picked up as an incomplete parts box. I sure wish more teams would go back to the chrome-look wheels like I have on the Monte, now that they can do it legally with chrome powdercoating like many of the Toyota teams have been doing for several years.









I should probably have elevated the roll cage some. I apologize for the poor photography. I took these shots with an early digital camera without a close-up setting.









This shows my hand-painted headlight 'stickers' and the CONCORDE lettering that my wife made for me on a machine at work. The Chrysler badge sticker was cut from a magazine and decoupaged to the car the same way I did the Scale Auto logos on the Monte Carlo. Another Scale Auto decal graces the underside of the hood in the event the hood needs to go up during the race. Gotta get the sponsor some face time with the viewers, right? I made the underhood bracing from Evergreen rod stock.









I used the "Slixx Decals" decal from the decal sheet as an associate sponsor on the opening decklid. More associate sopnsorship came from Nestle, and their "Quik" and "Crunch" lines. Hey, M&M Mars had been involved in NASCAR for some time by 2000 and besides, what products could possibly be more appropriate as NASCAR sponsors than things called "Quik" and "Crunch"?  These logos are more magazine clip arft, as are the Mopar stickers up near the numbers. The spoiler on the opening decklid is scratchbuilt, as are it's struts. Of course I had to hand paint the taillight "stickers". The dry break fuel fitting is also scratchbuilt, using the one on the body of the chassis donor as a pattern. 









"Cab Forward" design doesn't translate too well to a NASCAR roll cage. There's too much room between the front of the cage and the windshield posts. If you look closely at the model's roof, you'll see that I did my best to make it as "State of the art" as I could, including such features as aerodynamic rails that continue on down the rear window, the aforementioned camera (with one of the Scale Auto license plate decals in front of it - once again, you gotta get the product out there in front of the TV audience!), a radio antenna and the roof flaps. It also has the mandatory cowl flaps flanking the air inlet.


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## scottnkat

Hey, those look great, Jim. I'm glad ya posted 'em. I hope the two I'm building now come out as nice looking as those. Nice use of the transfers.


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## 71 Charger 500

WOW, Jim, that Concorde turned out great! Pretty cool paint scheme on that! The Monte Carlo that you used, if I remember right, wasn't a popular body style for some reason. On the superspeedways I can understand, that grill and front end design was surely a hugh air dam but on the short tracks I think it would have made for some cool looking cars.


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## DOM-19

Jim,great job on that scale auto it looks good--dom


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## CorvairJim

Thanks guys. These two were a lot of fun because I could go my own way with them. The only constraint was to use the decals. Building a replica of an actual race car, especially one as was run in a specific race, seems to me like it would, to a degree, stifle my creativity. 

There's a reason that you don't remember the '79 Monte Carlo in Winston Cup - The downsized GM A- and G-Bodies weren't approved by NASCAR for Winston Cup competition until 1980, although a few of them ran in the old Busch Grand National Series earlier than that. I guess I should have remembered to mention that this model, being a part of a first-year race team, was supposedly run on the local short track circuit. The team had gone big-time by 2000. 

The earliest success that I can remember with the downsized bodies was Buddy Baker winning the 1980 Daytona 500 in a Pontiac LeMans, a backup car to the older style Cutlass he was supposed to drive but wrecked in practice. He lost the rear bumper early in the race, which really cut down on aero drag due to air being trapped under the car.


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## s.moe

Hey Jim those are some great build's,, Even if they were built a decade ago.....I too, Like the Concorde body....I remember when I heard Chrysler was getting back into Nascar and I was Also racking my Brain as to which bodystyle they were going to run............As for the Decal and sponser lay-out's,, They look like their Lay-out's would be Period Correct, Both in placement and size......Thank's for showing them......:thumbsup:

MOE.


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## Schwinnster

Very cool concept cars Jim.:thumbsup::thumbsup: Like you say-- _don't stifle my creativity!_ 

Really like your use of decoupaged 'decals'-- the Scale Auto's and Chrysler badge on the 'Corde. If I remember correctly, I did somewhat the same years ago using acrylic medium painted onto a picture in a glossy magazine page. I applied a couple coats of the clear medium to the picture, let it dry completely and then carefully 'washed' the paper off, leaving the image on the back side of the acrylic medium. I'll have to try that on some future build- thanks for the reminder, and inspiration.


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## CorvairJim

I've FINALLY been able to get back to the workbench on the Firebird! I've had way too much on my plate recently (Taking care of my elderly parents for a few days - they were just in a bad car accident - didn't help matters any), and then my wife and I took a leisurely 4-day weekend Saturday through Tuesday in Colonial Williamsburg for Valentine's Day - we always take Valentine's Day off to be together, and with it being a Tuesday this year we just stretched it out a bit. However, that isn't good when I have a model that must absolutely, positively be delivered to the customer within about 3 weeks from today! She gave me an extension on the original date of, um, tomorrow! Anyhow, the interior is basically done with the exception of finding the correct steering wheel (HELP!!! If I don't find one, I'll have to go with a homemade replica), the sun visors and the dome light. The Rally II wheels are all set to go with the exception of valve stems. I've found a conventional air filter housing and have made a correct-looking snorkel for it. Thebody still needs to be polished out and chromed, but I consider the project to finally, officially be coming into the home stretch. Here's a shot of the basic components as it stood as of about an hour ago:










I realized after I put this shot into my Photobucket that I'd forgotten to include the finished dashboard, with it's homemade, suspended brake and parking brake pedals in the photo. Oh well...


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## Vegar

Looks great


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## Schwinnster

:thumbsup::thumbsup:Great rebuild of that glue bomb Jim. I'm sure your customer will be very pleased with it-- even if you _don't_ get the dome light in it. (you didn't promise her a working dome light....... did you? ) Maybe put some of your WIP pics on a disc for her? Or just let her be amazed.....


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> :thumbsup::thumbsup:Great rebuild of that glue bomb Jim. I'm sure your customer will be very pleased with it-- even if you _don't_ get the dome light in it. (you didn't promise her a working dome light....... did you? ) Maybe put some of your WIP pics on a disc for her? Or just let her be amazed.....


Thanks for the props, buddy! Actually this one was a new-in-the-box kit, and the glue bomb I posted was going to be a parts car for it. That was supposed to be the wheel donor for the Esprit, but then I got a Monogram '69 GTO Judge bomb and decided to use those rims instead - they're narrower, more in keeping with a mid-line Firebird. No, the dome light won't work - NOTHING will "work" per se. The wheels will roll and that's it.


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## scottnkat

Well, this is so red, all the Ferraris are jealous!! He he - just kidding. Seriously though, nice job on this. Looking forward to seeing it all together.


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## CorvairJim

You won't have to wait too long, Scott. I got the body polished out and the trim painted last night after my internet went down (some doofus mush have hit a pole and knocked down a cable). I'd BMF the thing but I don't have any that I'd trust for a model that'll probably be handled some by it's recipient. I just can't get the stuff to stick recently. Most of the underhood details are painted too. I just need to assemble the chassis now, and I STILL haven't made up the sun visors or the dome light. Easy stuff. I think I have an old 1970 Grand Prix among the models I built as a kid (the old AMT "Pimpmobile" sort of thing - I think they called that release "Super Fly") thet might be a suitable steering wheel donor... If I can find it, that is.

I hit a couple of snags on my "Flying Tiger" tribute Corvair roadster last night The first is reatively minor: After decaling the body, I touched up a small area on one fender with a flat black paint marker where the decal didn't quite line up right, and it bled when I sprayed the Dullcote. Now I'll have to touch up the O/D with some spray deanted into a spray can lid. Now for the killer: It had been nearly a year since I had done anything on this model and in that time much of the rest of it has disappeared! I didn't realize this until just last night. I have the body and most of the interior at hand, but the shortened chassis, low-performance engine, much-modified instrument panel (modified to look like a fighter plane dashboard), steering wheel (modified to look like a bomber's control yoke), and shifter (a scratchbuilt P-40 control stick), and wheels and tires (O/D steelies and narrow blackwalls from a 1969 Corvair annual kit) have all gone missing! Then there's the front bumper with it's six (simulated) machine guns... I can re-do all of this work, snce I have all the parts I need from other Corvair kits, but it is just going to be a major hassle. Besides, when the shortened chassis, modified interior components, and deadly front bumper DO eventually turn up, what will I do with them?


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> You won't have to wait too long, Scott. I got the body polished out and the trim painted last night after my internet went down (some doofus mush have hit a pole and knocked down a cable).


 This happened to me last week! Thursday to be exact. I'm sitting in my chair dozing off to John Wayne when he was a kid - some very old 1940s' movie when I stopped hearing voices coming from the T.V. set. I open my eyes and the house is completely quiet, and DARK! I get up to turn on the light, but the switch is already in the on position.  I open the door, and ALL THE LIGHTS ON MY STREET, and the others ARE OUT! 

This was very late thursday night about a quarter to midnight. I thought about waking my old lady, since she had to get up before dawn (4:00 A.M.), but I thought "Nah, she'll be alright when the power comes on again - the clock's got a battery backup". Boy was I WRONG! It doesn't make the alarm reset back to the original set time - it blinks and comes on with the present time, but it shuts the alarm off! I debated whether, or not this was the case since I used to have an alarm clock with the battery backup, but I never had the power go out on it. I'm very glad that she got up in the middle of the night, and saw the night light in the bathroom out. She has another battery powered clock with an alarm she used to wake up with. It turns out that some idiot was drunk, or just plain stupid, and knocked down one of the transformers on a pole that just happened to be on our grid! 




CorvairJim said:


> Now I'll have to touch up the O/D with some spray deanted into a spray can lid.


 O/D? I'm not sure what this means....


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## scottnkat

I believe "O/D" refers to Olive Drab - a color prominently used in military paint jobs. 

Sorry to hear about the missing pieces - and you're right - it's going to stink when those parts finally do show up. I hope you find them soon.


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## CorvairJim

scottnkat said:


> I believe "O/D" refers to Olive Drab - a color prominently used in military paint jobs.


Sorry 'bout the abbreviation. Yeah, I meant Olive Drab. That was what the "Flying Tigers" P-40 Warhawks were primarily painted (over a gray lower section to make the planes less visible from the ground). I'm going to continue with the bits and pieces I have, but if I don't find the rest of the pieces of the model by this weekend, I'm going to launch a full-scale (pun intended) search for them! Anyhow, here's a sneak preview of the body of my "Flying Tigers" tribute Corvair as she sits at the moment:


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## s.moe

Jim... The firebird's looking good.....Like the paint color......But I really like the look of your P40 Corvair....I too, Hope you find the miss-laid part's so you can get it finished.....I really want to see the finished Pic's of this one......

MOE.


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## Dyonisis

Thanks, Scott. I wasn't sure whether it meant outer diameter? - or Olive Drab, old diaper? Uh, wait a minute.... :jest:


Sorry - I couldn't help it. On another sour note: Our electricity went out again - TODAY! And while I was watching the SAME John Wayne movie that I was watching last THURSDAY! :freak: It was the same damn transformer that blew the last time. I'm begining to wonder if it was ever meant to be.....? 

~ Chris​


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## scottnkat

Chris, maybe you should give up on that John Wayne movie.... 

Jim, I've seen cars with fighter plane paint jobs before - yours looks like it'll be a winner!


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## Schwinnster

I too have seen some, mostly rat rod types, with the 'nose art' from fighter/bombers on them, usually the shark's teeth. Looks really cool on your Corvair :thumbsup: So weird how things can just dissapear like that-- look forward to seeing this tribute to the 'Flying Tigers' with it's gear down


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## CorvairJim

No landing gear yet, but at least the rest of the airframe (the shortened chassis plate) turned up last night. I'm just going to "soldier on" from there, and redo the engine, instrument panel, steering yoke, and the "control stick" shift lever, paint up another set of annual kit steelies, and dig up another set of annual kit blackwalls. I doubt that I'll ever be able to use the original instrument panel or steering yoke if they turn up, but the stick wasn't too hard to throw together so it's not a big deal, and the low-performance two-carb engine, if it turns up, will be usable in another build down the road (runway?). At least I never lost track of the modified seats. I have several hours tied up in them, and again, what else can I use replica warbird seats for?


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## CorvairJim

I decided to get going on replacing the instrument panel of the Flying Tiger Corvair this evening, so here's what went into it so far:

First, here's the kit dashboard and steering wheel before I really did anything with them except mark out the portion of the wheel to remove.









Then I roughed out the new instrument panel overlay. this photo also shows the newly cut B-17 style control yoke. The arrangement of the 1969 Corvair steering wheel's spokes made this conversion pretty straightforward. You can see that I also removed the radio and smoothed the area. I'll probably make up a factory-style blanking plate for the area. I also added a filler panel to go back up the new instrument panel, between the existing panel and where the radio used to be.









And finally a quickie rough mockup in the model's body. I've measured out and drilled the holes for the instruments as well as the turn signal and high beam indicators (at the top), the headlight and wiper switches and driver's side kick panel vent knob (down the left side), and the heater controls (down the right side. I also added a bracket for the passenger's side vent knob under the dash under the glove box. These knobs, as well as the lighter will be straight pin heads.









The dashboard top and center panel, along with the top panels of the doors will be Olive Drab to match the "fuselage", the instrument panel and glovebox area will be flat black, as will the floor and the seat cushions, and the door side panels and seat backrests will be semi-gloss gray. The "steering yoke" and shift "stick" will be semi-gloss black.

While I'm here, here's where the Firebird is at. I got the trim painted. I mentioned a little while ago that I don't trust the current batch of BMF that I have, especially when this model's recipient will most likely be handling it. The engine is nearly ready to go as is the basic chassis. I still need to paint the turn signals and detail the Pontiac "Arrowhead", but that'll be it for the front fascia.


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## Schwinnster

Too cool instrument panel Jim! With a lighter even! :thumbsup: Can't wait to see those warbird replica seats. Did you consider painting the "cockpit" with that 'green' zinc chromate?  I suppose if you did, then you'd have to put a 'canopy' over it all......  Loving seeing it come together


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## scottnkat

Looks really nice, Jom - great interpretation and I love the instrument panel


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## CorvairJim

Well, Schwinnster, the lighter will be where it's always been, to the right of the ashtray beneath where the radio used to be. I had to shave off the molded-in lighter and drill out a hole for the new knob so that all of the knobs would be alike. Besides, this IS the 21st century, and we need power outlets for all our modern gadgetry, right? This guy will be flyin' low, so he'll need a radar detector at the very least!


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> Well, Schwinnster, the lighter will be where it's always been, to the right of the ashtray beneath where the radio used to be. I had to shave off the molded-in lighter and drill out a hole for the new knob so that all of the knobs would be alike. Besides, this IS the 21st century, and we need power outlets for all our modern gadgetry, right? This guy will be flyin' low, so he'll need a radar detector at the very least!


 Can't wait to see _that_ Jim! How about a 21st century Heads Up Display decal on the windscreen too?


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## CorvairJim

I got a lot more done on the Firebird today. The interior is very nearly done - I got the steering wheel detail painted and installed along with the turn signal stalk, and then got the dashboard into the interior bucket. In today's pictures, you might be able to see the little details I put into the driver's footwell: The molded-in pedals are gone, replaced by a parking brake and service brake pedal suspended from under the dash and a gas pedal that's closer to scale and the right shape that now stands out a bit from the floor. All three pedals have the correct chrome surrounds. The dimmer switch is all but hidden behind the parking brake pedal.  Inside the body, the 'glass' is in place, as are the homemade sun visors and dome light (made from one of the kit's drag engine's velocity stacks!). The tires and wheels are also ready to go on. They were a bit of a hassle because I had to mix 'n' match the tires and wheel faces from the Monogram '69 GTO Judge kit with the wheel backs and retainers from the Firebird kit. I had to make spacers to go between the wheel halves and hold the wheel keepers inside the wheel backs. The finishing detail for the tires was a set of Shabo dry transfer Goodyear lettering. I figure that I should be done with this bad boy within a couple of days now... finally! (All this for a measly hundred bucks plus shipping, including my expenses! That's why I'm not really going overboard on the details...)



















(In looking at the first picture just now I realized that it doesn't look all that shiny in the photo. Take my word for it, in person it shines like a dime!)


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## scottnkat

well, that looks good - they should be happy with that, for sure!


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## 71 Charger 500

Superb job, Jim !!!


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## Schwinnster

:thumbsup::thumbsup: I second the superbness Jim! Nice job on converting the velocity stack into a dome light  I think I can just make out that dimmer switch-- but *that carpeting is most excellent!!! *

You really oughta consider making her _another_ interior tub, so she can really appreciate it.... 

The Shabo dry transfers...... pretty much straight forward? I'm probably going to get some of their 'Hoosiers' transfers. Your Goodyears look great


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## ilan benita

Very cool pictures of a very cool car
Thanks for sharing:thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

This is cool! I can't wait to see the warbird, and firebird both done. That ought to be the icing on the cake. 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> The Shabo dry transfers...... pretty much straight forward? I'm probably going to get some of their 'Hoosiers' transfers. Your Goodyears look great


The transfers are VERY easy to work with, but you better get them while you can - Shabo recently went out of business!


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> The transfers are VERY easy to work with, but you better get them while you can - Shabo recently went out of business!


Thanks Jim. Hopefully I'll remember to remind myself to do just that..... ASAP


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## DOM-19

Jim, great build interior looks great ,floor looks great ,paint great also ,when done it will look great --dom


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## CorvairJim

DOM-19 said:


> Jim, great build interior looks great ,floor looks great ,paint great also ,when done it will look great --dom


I sure hope so. Hopefully we'll all be able to see the end result by Sunday evening. I've been in regular contact with the buyer and she's very happy with the way it's coming along so far. Believe it or not, she's worried that I'm not charging her enough for it! I gave her a lowball price because she's an under-employed student who wants the model as a gift for her father. The price more than covers my expenses, but doesn't pay me anything like minimum wage for my time. That doesn't really matter all that much to me since I'm having a lot of fun with the build, figuring out ways to make one kind of car out of another, scratchbuilding fiddly little components that HAVE to look right (the steering wheel, for instance) since they're right out there in plain view, etc.

(My advice for anyone wanting to do the same sort of thing: Start with the AMT Trans Am instead of the Revell model. The AMT kit has a seperate rear spoiler and wheel well spats. There's several hours less work right there. The only drawback to that is that 1:25 Rally II wheels are a lot harder to find.)


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## s.moe

Yeap....Have to agree with you, Jim.....Sometime the enjoyment of the build, Outways the money cost of doing it.....Guess that's why some Fellow's Sink Thousand's of dollar's into fixing up REAL auto's....Which in the long run, They'll probablly never get back out of it....
At least our hobby is a little more Less Expensive.....:lol:...

Looking forward to seeing the finished Build's........

MOE


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## CorvairJim

Here we go! The Firebird Esprit conversion is FINALLY finished, except for a little fine tuning and a couple of minor paint touch-ups. Today's final thrash wasn't without it's problems... The tail pips I had made up for it didn't fit, and then when I did the first test-fit of the body on the chassis I discovered that my reworked front fenders didn't allow enough room for the tires! I taped out where I needed to cut them back to and c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y ground them back with my Dremel. I had to replace the wheel lip mouldings, but I didn't have to do any other paint work on the fenders. Phew!










The next couple of photos show the finished model with the similar conversion I did a few years ago. It was a contest entry for Scale Auto Magazine with the theme of cars from TV and the movies. Mine was Jim Rockford's '77 Firebird from "The Rockford Files". It was a mail-in photo contest and I never heard anything about it, nor was my model in the magazine, so I guess it didn't win... 



















I'll wrap this up with a few beauty shots, plus one of the engine bay. The engine was just supposed to be simple, clean, straightforward build (with the exception of the scratchbuilt air cleaner housing), straight out of the box. I'm not getting paid enough for this thing to really get into all the minutae I'd really like to do, like the power steering pump and scratchbuilt A/C compressor/air drier/lines, full wiring, heater hoses, etc. that the Rockford car has. I found that somewhere along the way I'd misplaced the kit's rear shock absorbers, so I spent a little while early on today scratchbuilding a couple of them using the one I have from the glue bomb '70 Trans Am I showed you a while back as a pattern.


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## scottnkat

great job, Jim! Looks good - I imagine she should be happy with that. Can you post some pics of the Rockford car? My son James is named after the actor, so I have an affinity... thanks


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## CorvairJim

scottnkat said:


> great job, Jim! Looks good - I imagine she should be happy with that. Can you post some pics of the Rockford car? My son James is named after the actor, so I have an affinity... thanks


Well, since you asked... The model was still upstairs in my workroom after it's photo op with it's new sister, so I went to take some for you. Turns out it wasn't exactly ready... First, both front seats were sitting lose inside it. Then I noticed that it had shed the passenger door mirror sometime in the past that I wasn't aware of. Then when I was undoing the wires that held it into it's display case, the left front suspension broke. Oh brother... Anyhow, I managed to seperate the body from the chassis and interior without disturbing the A/C hard lines that run from the compressor I made for it to the firewall (attached to the interior bucket in the AMT version of the model). I got the seats glued back into it and got the lower control arm reattached. I'll finish fixing it tomorrow. The upshot is that you get a few pix of the interior and engine without that pesky body getting in the way.



























(Sorry this one is so blurry. I don't feel like going up to re-shoot it - It's late and I have to get up for church in the morning... )
(Edit - For a better photo, check out reply #149 above. I tried again and got a much better shot.)



















Looking at it now, I see that there are a lot of things I did wrong on it that some more research would have prevented. The instrument panel in an Esprit is woodgrained, not engine-turned aluminum like in a Trans Am. I kept the T/A steering wheel too. I didn't paint the Rally II wheels correctly - they're still mostly chromed. Also after about 10 years, the bodywork is starting to pop - especially around the T-tops.

Heere's a little trivia for all you Rockford Files fans out there in HobbyTalkLand: The license plate on Rockford's Firebird, "853 OKG" (as seen on this model), has a hidden meaning, dreamed up by James Garner's publicist: Garner's first credited movie role came out in August of 1953, hence "853", and "OKG" are for where Garner came from, Oklahoma, and his last initial.


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## s.moe

The Rockford File's....Man that's a blast from the past....And, Jim the firebird look's just like his from the show....Great work on it....

Great work on the one you've just finished,Too....She should be very happy with it.....

MOE


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## scottnkat

I'm sorry the firebird started coming apart, but it is nice to get some good shots of the interior and engine bay that way. It looks really good - you did a fine job on that.


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## Dyonisis

The interior on that first car looks great! I love the carpeting. What did you use for it - fleece flocking? 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> The interior on that first car looks great! I love the carpeting. What did you use for it - fleece flocking?
> 
> ~ Chris​


Yep, I flocked it with red flocking with a dash of black mixed in for texture.



scottnkat said:


> I'm sorry the firebird started coming apart, but it is nice to get some good shots of the interior and engine bay that way. It looks really good - you did a fine job on that.


Not to worry, Scott. It gave me an excuse to repair what had already gone wrong with it after a decade on the shelf. These things happen. I don't know if I have a single model that's that old that hasn't needed something reattached at one time or another. I tried to get a better shot of the engine this evening, and it did come out better than the one from last night. In this one it's a lot easier to see the A/C compressor, air drier and associated hard lines that I scratched together for it.









And finally, Moe: Thanks for the comments. I hope she likes it, and her dad too! I had a lot of fun building that one. It's a challenge making a nearly factory stock model from one that's similar but not the exact model you're trying to replicate. The way I see it, this Trans-Am-to-Esprit conversion would be akin to transforming an Impala to a Caprice or a GTO to a Tempest or a LeMans.


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## Schwinnster

Nice fix on the Espirit front fenders Jim. Must've been just a little scary tho..

Love Rockford's 'Bird too-- just as it is. That engine compartment work is superb! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## DOM-19

Jim, looks great ,interior came out good ,carpet great --dom


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## CorvairJim

Thanks, guys! :wave:


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## Dyonisis

I see that you used blue paint for the water bottle/windscreen jug. I paint mine inside, but they're clear. I know that not all of them were like this on the real car - it makes it hard to tell which is which right away at first glance. I don't think you'll want to put antifreeze in your windscreen solvent! :drunk: :freak:  

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

I did the lower part of the windshield washer jug, which is translucent white plastic on the 1:1 car, in thinned blue peint for the illusion of the washer fluid in a half-full jug. I left the coolant overflow resevoir in white, showing that the car had been sitting parked so the engine was cool and all the coolant had been taken back into the radiator. Both of these were molded into the engine bay 'sheetmetal', so I had to work with what I had. If I have a clear plastic windshield washer bottle, I'll scuff the outside with a 2000 polishing cloth just to fog the plastic some, then I'll paint the blue inside.


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## Schwinnster

Dyonisis said:


> I see that you used blue paint for the water bottle/windscreen jug. I paint mine inside, but they're clear. I know that not all of them were like this on the real car - it makes it hard to tell which is which right away at first glance. I don't think you'll want to put antifreeze in your windscreen solvent! :drunk: :freak:
> 
> ~ Chris​


That is a nice little detail Jim-- really helps the engine compartment look like an engine compartment. :thumbsup: 

BTW Chris, I was talking to a friend of mine years ago while she was putting windshield washer fluid in her '94 Grand Prix. Apparently I distracted her, because all of a sudden she said a bad word and then _"I just put washer fluid in my radiator overflow tank_-- _do you think it will hurt anything?" _ Methinks like you say, better washer fluid in the radiator, than antifreeze in the windshield washer


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> That is a nice little detail Jim-- really helps the engine compartment look like an engine compartment. :thumbsup:
> 
> BTW Chris, I was talking to a friend of mine years ago while she was putting windshield washer fluid in her '94 Grand Prix. Apparently I distracted her, because all of a sudden she said a bad word and then _"I just put washer fluid in my radiator overflow tank_-- _do you think it will hurt anything?" _ Methinks like you say, better washer fluid in the radiator, than antifreeze in the windshield washer


... Unless the ammonia in the washer solvent reacts with the aluminum in the engine or radiator? I don't know enough about the chemistry, but I don't think that would do the engine any good at all!


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## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> ... Unless the ammonia in the washer solvent reacts with the aluminum in the engine or radiator? I don't know enough about the chemistry, but I don't think that would do the engine any good at all!


As I recollect Jim, Karen didn't put that much in. She took good care of her Grand Prix, so I assume her overflow reservoir was at it's normal level-- she had just driven about 15 miles to work-- and it's level most likely kept her from putting too much in. 

Pretty sure it was before this incident that one day while she was out running errands before work, the throttle cable on her Gran Prix broke. Karen was a little more mechanically minded than most women I know (we worked together as repair-persons in a steel mill), but she didn't have any tools with her. She called her son-in-law, explained the situation, and together they came up with a solution to get herself back home. She found some kind of string, tied it to the throttle linkage, threaded it thru the gap between the hood and fender, thru her window and drove the 20 miles home by pulling the string! In traffic no less!


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## scottnkat

That's a great story, John. Kathi and I loved that!


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## Dyonisis

Schwinnster said:


> That is a nice little detail Jim-- really helps the engine compartment look like an engine compartment. :thumbsup:
> 
> BTW Chris, I was talking to a friend of mine years ago while she was putting windshield washer fluid in her '94 Grand Prix. Apparently I distracted her, because all of a sudden she said a bad word and then _"I just put washer fluid in my radiator overflow tank_-- _do you think it will hurt anything?" _ Methinks like you say, better washer fluid in the radiator, than antifreeze in the windshield washer


 That's the point I was making - why would manufacturers put the same type of bottle (colour and all) with two compelety different solvents in the same compartment? The close proximity of the two bottles makes for some interesting confusion! :freak:



CorvairJim said:


> ... Unless the ammonia in the washer solvent reacts with the aluminum in the engine or radiator? I don't know enough about the chemistry, but I don't think that would do the engine any good at all!


 It'll react with the silicone, and stabilisers in the antifreeze making it worthless if a concentrated amount. This would cause the engine to overheat, and could split the block! Highly NOT recommended to confuse the two. It'd be easier if one of these didn't have a colour to the bottle to avoid confusion - you'd think that the auto makers would think of this? 



Schwinnster said:


> As I recollect Jim, Karen didn't put that much in. She took good care of her Grand Prix, so I assume her overflow reservoir was at it's normal level-- she had just driven about 15 miles to work-- and it's level most likely kept her from putting too much in.
> 
> Pretty sure it was before this incident that one day while she was out running errands before work, the throttle cable on her Gran Prix broke. Karen was a little more mechanically minded than most women I know (we worked together as repair-persons in a steel mill), but she didn't have any tools with her. She called her son-in-law, explained the situation, and together they came up with a solution to get herself back home. She found some kind of string, tied it to the throttle linkage, threaded it thru the gap between the hood and fender, thru her window and drove the 20 miles home by pulling the string! In traffic no less!


 Stupid me! I would've suggested something idiotic like a wire coat hanger. At least that's what my cousin used to fix the gap between the clutch, and the pedal when his clutch cable broke.


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## CorvairJim

I bought a '61 Corvair 700 Lakewood wagon back in the mid-80's with a broken throttle return spring. It was about 30 miles from home and I needed to get it off the guy's property that evening, so I had to drive it home right away. When I pressed down on the gas, it STAYED pressed down unless I hooked the side of my shoe under it to pull it back up. After doing this for a couple of miles, I pulled off into a shopping center with a thrift shop in it, went inside, and asked if they could give me a wire hanger. I opened the hanger and wrapped one end around the pedal so that I could manually pull it back up instead of trying to do it with my foot while braking at the same time. Worked like a charm. The next day after work I repaired it the right way.


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## Dyonisis

Don't get me started on coat hangers - I've used them to make a LOT of things in my day!  In fact, I was the one to suggest using a wire coat hanger to my cousin. It wasn't the first time I had to make something like this for a family member. My brothers' truck did the same thing. I don't know how many times I had to use one to get inside someones' car either! That was so many times that I stopped counting after twenty! It's almost the universal "get out of trouble" tool for emergencies where duct tape won't help. :thumbsup:

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

There are as many alternative uses for a wire coathanger as there are people to think them up! I have a couple of favorites when it comes to our model hobby. I have a couple that I've bent up to hold bodies when I paint them. They allow me to turn the body easily in whatever direction I need to insure complete coverage, then the hook on the end makes it a snap to hang it up out of the way while it dries. I have a nail in a rafter in the basement near where I do my paintwork right over a 60 watt bulb; I just hang it there with the light on and the paint gasses out to the point where I can polish it out within a day. Then, there's this other use of a hanger, ijn scale...










Gotta have your tunes! :tongue:


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> There are as many alternative uses for a wire coathanger as there are people to think them up! I have a couple of favorites when it comes to our model hobby. I have a couple that I've bent up to hold bodies when I paint them. They allow me to turn the body easily in whatever direction I need to insure complete coverage, then the hook on the end makes it a snap to hang it up out of the way while it dries. I have a nail in a rafter in the basement near where I do my paintwork right over a 60 watt bulb; I just hang it there with the light on and the paint gasses out to the point where I can polish it out within a day. Then, there's this other use of a hanger, ijn scale...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gotta have your tunes! :tongue:


 I do this too with guitar bodies, and necks, as well as models. These are great for many things!


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## CorvairJim

My latest build is for a Community Build that I started on the Model Cars magazine website called "The Cars of Rock 'n' Roll & Country Music". My entry is "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and her "Brand New, Shiny, Red, Super Stock Dodge". In this case, a '64 330 Hemi, based on the Lindberg kit (athough I'm thinking about changing bodies in mid-stream and using the old Jo-Han Polara, since I have actual photos of one of the five Super Stock Polaras Dodge built in 1964... ) Here's where I stand at the moment. The interior is pretty much completed, the body is painted and polished, the basic engine is together, and the chassis is in primer. 

I got this kit over 10 years ago in a lot of well over 100 kits I bought from a guy who was geting out of the hobby. It had the Model Car Garage photoetch set with it, so I decided to try my hand at using photoetch parts for the first time. The dashboard was a CHORE, but the end result was well worth it. The grille went right into the kit's grille surround/bumper piece with no trouble at all... except that I busted a couple of the fiddly little grille bars while polishing it before gluing it into the surround.


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## Schwinnster

Nice rollbar that _'little old lady'_ put in the interior of her shiny red Polara Jim I've always loved those hood scoops Looking forward to seeing this one come together.


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## scottnkat

Good job on that so far. I now have that song going through my head...


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## CorvairJim

Well, Schwinnster, just because she has a few years under her safety harness doesn't mean she's senile! Of course she'd want to keep her wrinkled gray head safe in case of as rollover! And Scott, the CBP over on www.modelcarsmag.com is open-ended, so if you ever get a different song running through your head, come on over and build the car you think they're singing about! (I see you all the time on the site... ) The only basic ground rules is that once a song is claimed by a builder, it's his - nobody else builds that car. If the song mentions specifics about the car, your model has to represent them. For instance: My "Brand New, Shiny, Red, Super Stock Dodge" had to be the current model year for when the song was produced - 1964 - bright red, and a model that Dodge built for Super Stock-class drag racing. One of the best examnples so far was the "Flatbed Ford" from the Eagles "Take It Easy". I always imagined that truck as a dirty white mid-to-late-60's 1-ton dually, while the guy who built it built a chopped '34 hot rod. That was the way HE saw the truck in the song, and that was EXACTLY the sort of thing I wanted to see in the CBP. The car or truck SHOULD be no newer than the song itself, but I'm willing to grant some latitude in that one. There are plenty of songs out there - choose your favorite! I'm thinking of several possibilities for more after I get my current CBP backlog a little more caught up. I have a resin figure of a barefoot girl to go on the hood of a '70 Dodge Super Bee for Springsteen's "Jungleland", for instance! Come on over, guys - let's get some of you HobbyTalk forum guys involved in this thing. As I recall, we don't have any "Little" cars like GTO's, Cobras, or Red Corvettes yet! Nobody's signed on with a '34 wagon called a woodie. Imagine the black sedan from Ides Of March's "Vehicle" - The sky's the limit on that one! One guy always imagined The Beach Boys were talking about going to a Chevy parts department and buying a "Brand New 409" to stick in their hot rod. I went through the song's lyrics and, sure enough, they don't say a word specifically about what kind of car the engine's in, only that it has 2 4-barrel carbs and is hooked up to a 4-speed transmission. He's putting a 409 into a hot rod build - That's IMAGINATION, and I love it! The only exception to the one song-one builder rule is the "Cottonmouth Cadillac" from Johnny Cash's "One Piece At A Time". That's the one that was built up in the Cadillac assembly line worker's garage over the course of a couple of decades from mis-matched parts he stole off the line. I want to see as many of those bad boys as I can! So far, only one guy has accepted that challenge...


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## scottnkat

That group build sounds fun. Unfortunately, I have too much going on right now to take on another build - I have three of my own going on now, so putting another build in there would definitely slow everything down. But I will check it out. Thanks


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## Schwinnster

You sayin' I have to listen to _*country music*_ to build a model for your CBP? _Ewwwww..._:lol::jest: Just kidding Jim. Cool idea for a CBP. Never knew that about that awesome Beach Boys *'409'*  I just assumed, like a lot of other people, that it was in a Chevy. I always _'see'_ it in a big old '58 whenever I hear the song. 

Would my Weird-ohs qualify for the 'Hot Rod Lincoln'? But, (again assuming ) I'm sure _someone_ has already got one of those going!


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> You sayin' I have to listen to _*country music*_ to build a model for your CBP? _Ewwwww..._:lol::jest: Just kidding Jim. Cool idea for a CBP. Never knew that about that awesome Beach Boys *'409'*  I just assumed, like a lot of other people, that it was in a Chevy. I always _'see'_ it in a big old '58 whenever I hear the song.
> 
> Would my Weird-ohs qualify for the 'Hot Rod Lincoln'? But, (again assuming ) I'm sure _someone_ has already got one of those going!


I've always thought of the Beach Boys "409" as being a black '62 Biscayne 2-door sedan with a red interior. My folks had a car identical to that when I was born... except for the drivetrain. Theirs was a straight-6 wth 3-on-the-tree (or maybe a Powerglide automatic. It was a long time ago!).

You listen to whatever you like while building. For me, it's the local "Classic Rock" station (102.9 WMGK, Philadelphia). I just included Country because it's as popular as it is nowadays and I didn't want to exclude anybody. There are even a couple of entries based on "RAP", and at least a couple of novelty songs too - Ever hear of one called "Horny In A Hearse"? I'm equal opportunity. Now as for your "Hot Rod Lincoln", sorry, but it doesn't qualify. The lyrics clearly state that "It's Model A body makes it look like a pup". Depending on which version of the song you build your model to, it would be a Model A hot rod with either Lincoln V-8 or V-12 power. Now if you took the engine from that Lindberg Lincoln and stiffed it into a model A, hey, you'd be good to go... except that, as you had assumed, I think that song is spoken for already...


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## Schwinnster

Always interesting info from you Jim 


> Now as for your "Hot Rod Lincoln", sorry, but it doesn't qualify. The lyrics clearly state that "It's Model A body makes it look like a pup".


  I'll have to listen more closely to the lyrics of some of those favorite songs! Well, maybe_ not_ the "Horny in a hearse" one....

My very first car was a 4 door '57 Chevy, with that 235 straight 6 and three on the tree. Probably the same as your parents Biscayne, but mine had the oil filter canister mounted on the firewall. As my first car I was always tinkering/learning on it. One day, (after discovering EZ-outs at the AMOCO station I worked at) I was going over the 235, checking bolts, nuts, etc for tightness. I tightened the brass fitting where the oil return line from the oil filter cannister entered into the side of the block........ and snapped it off!  Like I said, I had just found out about EZ-outs, and there was an Allied Auto Parts store within walking distance, so......  Lot of living and learning. I wouldn't mind at all, being able to have an old Chevy with that fine straight six in it again.

Thanks for the info, and the memories Jim-- always appreciated


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## 71 Charger 500

Schwinnster said:


> You sayin' I have to listen to _*country music*_ to build a model for your CBP? _Ewwwww_


_

Hey now !!!_


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## CorvairJim

Schwinnster said:


> My very first car was a 4 door '57 Chevy, with that 235 straight 6 and three on the tree.


Not long after leaving the Women's Army Corps Band, my mom bought a bare-bones '57 Chevy 150 4-door sedan with her mother. 235 stragh-6, 3-on-the-tree... sound familiar? It was the third least expensive car Chevy made that year, about $100 more than the 150 business coupe and $43 more than the 150 2-door sedan that they would have bought if my mom's grandmother weren't living with them at the time. Since the three of them would go places together fairly often (church on Sunday, for instance), my great-grandmother sprang for the back doors. When my folks got married in early 1960, my dad had that "Big ol' '58" you mentioned, a Bel Air Sport Sedan (4-door hardtop) with the 348 Power-Pak/Turboglide automatic drivetrain. Mom left the '57 with her mother, and my folks used dad's '58... except that mom couldn't handle the power of that brute of a car! She wasn't used to an automatic transmission, so between that and roughly 3 times the h.p. she was used to, she couldn't start out from a stop without leaving dual streaks of about 30' of rubber! The Bel Air was gone three months later, replaced by a Corvair 500 Club Coupe with the base engine and a Powerglide automatic. This IS NOT where I got my love of Corvairs - they never liked their first Corvair and traded it about two years later when they were expecting their second baby... Me. Yeah, they worked fast back then! The car they traded the Corvair on was the black '62 Biscayne 2-door sedan I mentioned a couple of posts back


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> Now as for your "Hot Rod Lincoln", sorry, but it doesn't qualify. The lyrics clearly state that "It's Model A body makes it look like a pup". Depending on which version of the song you build your model to, it would be a Model A hot rod with either Lincoln V-8 or V-12 power. Now if you took the engine from that Lindberg Lincoln and stiffed it into a model A, hey, you'd be good to go... except that, as you had assumed, I think that song is spoken for already...


 I was thinking of this very song while reading this post! It doesn't apply since it's a Lincoln. Very cool story though. I have plenty of car stories to share, but I don't know if I can include stealing car parts as one of them (I did this a lot in my day).  

~ Chris​


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## Schwinnster

Very cool about your Mom, Jim, in her Bel Air  I found out why I crash a lot on my bicycle-- when my Mom was a teenager, she rode past her house, showing off for her Mom-- took both hands off the bars, and both feet off the pedals, and.....:freak:. LOL! Yep, that's me! 

I don't know if my '57 was a 150, but it may have been. Mom & Dad paid $75 for it back in 1967 for my 15th birthday. Learned myself how to drive that stick in the long driveway. It was the kind of turquoise blue/green color, but there was olive drab underneath that blue/green, and stencilled lettering on the dashboard warning "DO NOT EXCEED 50MPH". Also found a lot of papers down between the back seat cushion/back rest that seemed to come from a monastary. So.........although we never found out, we think it might've come out of the factory, right into the military, then to a monastary, maybe your Mom & Dad had it for a while?  I still fondly remember driving it in the rain, and those wonderful vacuum driven windshield wipers....


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## CorvairJim

No, she and her mom bought that car new. Your car's history sounds pretty cool. With it's history it was probably well maintained before you got it, although it's drivers probably thrashed it while it was an Army car, at least when the boss wasn't in the car - what did those young kids care, it was a new or nearly new car that wasn't theirs! Being a military car, I'd almost guarantee that it was a completely stripped 150.


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## CorvairJim

Home from work sick again today... Sick sucks! The only positive side of it was that I managed to make some serious progress on the "Little Old Lady" Dodge. Scott commented the other day about the good feeling when a project lands on it's wheels for the first time ands he is SO right! I this case, she's rolling on rough-cast mags in front (backed up by bright red brake drums), and steelies out back. I have the engine all wired up and installed in the chassis (I know that blue ignition wiring isn't really correct for a period 1960's build but it's what I had on hand). Lindberg's wheel attachment system is kinda fiddly but it does make for all four wheels sitting flat and true on the table and rolling relatively freely, with just enough friction that it won't roll away! I haven't given up on the possibility of changing over to the old Jo-Han '64 Polara body I have from an old parts kit - the same one that gave up it's front bench seat. I figured that since she's a grandmother, she'd be sensible enough to want the bench instead of buckets, and the upholstery pattern from the Jo-Han Polara matched the Lindberg 330! The Model Car Garage photoetch grille looks great in the kit's grille surround and was stone simple to install. I just had to curve it gently to the right convex contour. Now I need to polish up all the other badging, etc. on the photoetch fret and get it on the car, and then on to Scott's favorite task: BMF! (Oh joy... ) I culdn't resist mounting up the computer-generated 1964 California "Black Plates" that I'd been holding back for this build for a while now. I just had to see what they looked like on the car - I wasn't disappointed!


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## scottnkat

Wow! looks great and I love the grill! This is a cool grandma! Wish mine was like this, but no - my grandma loved her AMC Hornet.


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## Schwinnster

Ditto on the grille Jim! Nice find-- the photo etch certainly made for things just like that. The *"LOL Dodge"*  is going to look great once you get the dreaded BMF on it  That red really looks good against the chrome. Nice red brake drums too :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Hope your feeling better soon.


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## 71 Charger 500

As the resident Mopar Maniac, I'm personally loving Grandma's ride. Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny Go!


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## CorvairJim

Thanks guys. I couldn't find any new BMF today, so I'm going to have to try a couple of other hobby shops come Monday. Then I have to get myself one of the Jimmy Flintstone "Little Old Lady" figures to go with it, and maybe build a rickety old garage diorama with a pretty little flower bed of white gardenias beside it...


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## scottnkat

oh, nice imagery - I can picture it now!


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## Dyonisis

How about Reynolds' wrap with 3M spray adhesive? This is how I did my Terminator figure. I didn't have any ready made BMF by microscale.


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> How about Reynolds' wrap with 3M spray adhesive? This is how I did my Terminator figure. I didn't have any ready made BMF by microscale.


I'd heard of that technique, but I haven't tried it yet. I'd want to experiment on a parts box body before I committed to doing it on one that is "For Keeps". Is there any particular spray adhesive you'd recommend? I've worked with their contact cement in the past but that would be too lumpy for something like this. I'd think it would have to be something relatively low-tack so that the excess could be peeled off easily, but sticky enough that the trim that's supposed to stay on the car actually STAYS on the car!


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## scottnkat

The makers of Micro-Sol make a glue for this exact thing - I've used it a little before I bought actual BMF. It works pretty well, but don't buy good aluminum foil if you go this route - in this case, the cheap stuff is better as the foil is much thinner and easier to work with.


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## CorvairJim

I'll have to check the LHS for the Micro-Sol adhesive then. Or maybe look them up online? One smallish roll of "El Cheapo" foil ought to last roughly until I'm DEAD! :thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

Actually, the Reynolds' wrap did the trick. I thought the same thing Scott did - that the cheap stuff would work better/differently. I was skeptical at first, but it work relatively well! I just glued it very carefully with the 3M spray glue. I brushed this lightly with mineral spirits (white spirit in England), and applied only the foil where I needed it. I then rubbed it with a cotton swab to smooth it. Afterwards, I very carefully cut with an X-acto knife around the areas, then removed it a little at a time. Worked perfectly. The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that the sculpt was rough - not perfectly smooth since this was all done from a lump of clay, and not in layers. This is how you can tell. The jacket, boots, gloves, and belt were smooth, but that's because it's easier to get a tool on broad surfaces, and not into small recessed areas. You won't have that problem with a car. 

I've never tried Micro scale glue, but I have read their label. You have to brush this on very lightly, then let it tack up for 15 minutes before applying. 3M glue is right away. I also tried Elmers' glue as well. It's basically what the Micro scale brand, and Micro sol brands are. I just don't have the patience to wait for it to set up enough to work with! :freak:


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## CorvairJim

Thanks, guys. I may just wind up trying both techniques to see which one I like better. I'm about fed up with the Bare Metal Foil brand; the last three sheets I've bought haven't had adequate adhesive on them. None of the other brands are available locally and I don't want to pay shipping on it if I can avoid it. I have several auto part stores within a couple of miles of where I live, as well as a couple of "Big Box" home centers that should have the 3-M adhesive. The Microscale website has their product at $3.50 per (small) bottle, but they have a minimum $20 order and I don't see anything else on there that I particularly want or need at the moment. If I can find their adhesive at the LHS, I might get it there.


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## CorvairJim

I didn't manage to look for that adhesive for the foil for the Dodge today, but I did get started on yet ANOTHER project. It seems I managed to look in on another Community Build over on the Model Cars Magazine website a while back and thought it sunded interesting if I could come up with an inspiration for it. The theme of this one is a "Parts Box" build: The model is built as nearly as possible from bits and pieces left over from other models. While looking through the parts for my kitbashed 1960 Plymouth wagon project, I had one of my "Lightbulb" moments... What can I do with the leftover chassis and running gear from the Jo-Han Plymouth and the body and interior from the AMT 1957 Chrysler 300C? How 'bout a Chrysler "Ute" (that's Aussie for car-based pickup like an El Camino). Out came the razor saw and off came most of the 300's roof, tulip panel, and trunk lid. 

I don't know if I'll even bother with the Plymouth's engine. I might just make a curbside out of it. The old Jo-Han engine is, well, basic. Not only that, but there's a big ol' hole running right straight through it from side to side for the front axle to pass through it. NOT pretty. If I decide to put an enginein it, I'll dredge a decent one up from the parts box. Oddly fitting, don'tcha think?  Anyhow, here's where tha one sits as of now:










You can see along what will become the top of the bed side where the quarter panel was cut, the body looks wavy. This will be corrected before too long by building up the low areas and taking the highs down. I'll even everything up with the inner pickup bed. It will have a smooth, gradual curve down from the back window to the tailgate. I'll also have to build up and grind down the roof some to restore a smooth curvature to it.

And for those of you who might not have been here when I last posted anything on my Cannonball 1960 Plymouth Fury Sport Suburban wagon, here's where that one sits at the moment:


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## scottnkat

it's coming along...

that pickup-looking Dodge should be interesting - we'll be watching


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Thanks guys. I couldn't find any new BMF today, so I'm going to have to try a couple of other hobby shops come Monday. Then I have to get myself one of the Jimmy Flintstone "Little Old Lady" figures to go with it, and maybe build a rickety old garage diorama with a pretty little flower bed of white gardenias beside it...


Don't forget the white picket fence!


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## 71 Charger 500

I love this wagon! I am SO gonna steal, un, I mean, derive inspiration from, your build of this Fury Wagon! HeHeHe! Great job on it!


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> I love this wagon! I am SO gonna steal, un, I mean, derive inspiration from, your build of this Fury Wagon! HeHeHe! Great job on it!


Thanks for the props, buddy! they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so you're welcome to, er, "Steal" any of my ideas you want to... As long as you give me credit!


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## CorvairJim

After I shut down the computer last night, I went up to the workroom and put in a couple of hours on my current projects. First of all, thanks guys for the suggestion of using regular foil for the trim on the Dodge. I tried it using Micro-Sol's "Micro Gloss". I figured that if it does such a good job for me attaching windows, it might just work for chrome trim too. I masked off the spear on the driver's side, brushed on a heavy coat of Micro Gloss, then pulled up the mask. Then I laid a rectangle of foil a little larger than the entire area of the trim over the wet paint and patted it down to set it to the paint. Then I ran a fingernail along the edges of the trim to make them easily visible and set it aside for about 5 minutes to allow the paint to set up a little more. Then I just treated it like I would regular BMF, trimming it down with a sharp X-Acto blade. After pulling off the excess, I took a dame rag and wiped up the Micro Gloss that had oozed out from behind the foil. I think it came out pretty well. I didn't manage to shoot any pictures last night (and since I'm out to lunch at a local Chick-Fil-A at the moment it wouldn't make any difference if I had), I can't show you how it came out yet. I'll try to post some shots tonight.

I also did some more on the Chrysler Ute. The rear cab bulkhead is in place (that actually went in on Tuesday night, but I had to take it out and reposition it last night - it wasn't in straight), as is the package shelf/rear window base. I also started the template for the bed floor. At the moment, I'm considering a real wood bed floor - It IS a Chrysler after all, so it ought to have a fance-schmancy bed floor, right? I'm thinking popsicle sticks with chromed plastic strips covering the seams between them. I found a parts box chassis plate that's going to donate it's rear wheelhouses for use in the bed, and started the process of cleaning them up, smoothing their outer surfaces since they were pretty rough as they were - they would have been out of sight inside the trunk of the donor model so their surface didn't matter to the company that molded them. Finally, I've also begun the process of contouring the roof panel and reshaping the B-pillars to make entry and exit easier, not to mention visibility fro the driver. "Safety First"!


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## scottnkat

sounds good, Jim - can't wait to see some pics


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## walsing

That looks like a really interesting project! I'm a big fan of Australian Utes too.


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## Dyonisis

I'm glad that worked for you, Jim. I can't wait to see the progress on this since then. It's great being able to help people with their projects as they progress so that they can get the best possible results. 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

The good news: I got a ton more done on the Chrysler last night. The bed is completely roughed in, the wooden bed floor is laid up and ready to install after the cutouts for the wheelhouses are, well, cut out, I 'varnish' it, and the chrome rub strips are laid down. Those wheelhouses have been cut off of what I think is a parts box AMT '64 Impala chassis plate, smoothed down and sanded to fit the bed. I've pretty much decided to reattach the tail gate and just glue it in place closed. that will save a ton of headaches down the line as I try to hinge a tail gate with a horizontally curved bottom! I may even have it sealed up seamlessly, since there will be people who notice that there really ISN'T a way to hinge such a tail gate that it'll open. It's not a terribly deep bed. It's less than 2 scale feet deep in front, losing about 3" in back.

The bad news: I didn't take the time to post the photos before I left home this afternoon and this s-l-o-w public computer that' I'm working on at the moment doesn't support Photobucket!

So does anyone have any ideas for a model name for a ficticious Chrysler Ute? I can't very well leave it as a 300 - too sporty - but I have to say it's something believable. So far, I like "Westerner" (Sort of a play on "New Yorker"), but I'd like to hear some more suggestions if you have any for me.


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## Dyonisis

How about the WAGONEER?


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> How about the WAGONEER?


"Wagoneer" sounds like it would work for a western-themed station wagon, but for a pickup/Ute, not so much, at least in my opinion. I don't have any issues with names that have been used on other cars or trucks starting after 1957, since MY car/truck would have had it first!  Jeep also could offer up "Wrangler" and "Laredo" in the same theme, and there's Hyundai's "Santa Fe" and "Tucson" which would be possibilities. But the more I think about it, the more I like "Westerner". I've even been thinking about a longhorn emblem for it to go over the grille and on the tail gate area.

Which brings me to the photos. The first is the Chrysler. I'm thrilled with how well this project is coming together so far, since it is basically all parts box leftovers and some Evergreen sheet and popsicle sticks. Like I said earlier, the wood floor is just laid in the bed for the photo, and the wheelwells are sitting loose on top of it to show what it will look like. Eventually I want to add a chrome trim strip around the top of the bed that will line up with the rear window trim, giving it more of a "connected" look.










And finally my "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" Dodge 330 with it's tinfoil chrome. The driver's side "Spear" is all I've done on it so far; I think I want to try to get some of that 3M spray adhesive that Chris mentioned. I think it would have more tack right off the bat instead of having to wait for it to get tacky. There shouldbe less "ooze" out from behind the chrome too. Whatever the case, I'm making progress on it. It's coming together...


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## Rondo

Lovin' the Chrysler Ute. It looks like it was meant to be. It will be fun coming up with a name. Have you thought about a color yet?


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## CorvairJim

Rondo said:


> Lovin' the Chrysler Ute. It looks like it was meant to be. It will be fun coming up with a name. Have you thought about a color yet?


I've decided to stick with the name "Westerner" for it. As for the color, I have a few thoughts: Beige with a Buckskin interior and Bronze with a Fawn interior top the list at the moment. I want something that will play well with the wooden bed floor. I was thinking about either a dark red or dark blue metallic with the Fawn interior, but that would seem to go against the "western" theme. Plus, anything too dark would tend to show flaws in the bodywork more - we can't have that, now can we?

Anyhow, I put some more time in on it today. The openings for the rear wheel houses are cut out in the bed. The top is mostly smooth and ready for a skim coat of putty (after a spot-primer job). I have the tailgate roughed out. Finally, I've removed the drip rails, so that I can run new ones full-length. I'll be cutting the roof away from the windshield posts and vent windows, since the drip rails run all the way to the windshield. I can then just use a strip of Evergreen styrene for the new ones and reattach the roof once that's done.


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## 71 Charger 500

The Westerner needs a two tone paint scheme. Light brown on the bottom, dark brown on just the top with a saddle tan interior would be about right. Maybe some dark brown inserts on the seats and a dark brown dash pad.


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## pejota

Nice looking "Westerner" 

Are you going to paint the wooden bed, or stain it?


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## Dyonisis

How about the "WESTERN-EER"?!  Or you could call it the desert-er. :tongue: :lol: If you're using actual wood a stain would be great! If not, a red-ish wash over a creme would be enough to simulate real wood. Or you could use shelf/drawer liner type paper. A friend of mine used this to replicate a real wood look on a few projects around the house. As long as the grain is small enough you could get away with it in this scale. I used a piece of balsa for a dashboard in my dads' 427 Cobra that I built for him. This worked great, and it gave it that much needed classy showroom car look. 

~ Chris​


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## thundercat

CorvairJim said:


> Thanks guys. I couldn't find any new BMF today, so I'm going to have to try a couple of other hobby shops come Monday. Then I have to get myself one of the Jimmy Flintstone "Little Old Lady" figures to go with it, and maybe build a rickety old garage diorama with a pretty little flower bed of white gardenias beside it...


I have the stuff for that flower bed if you need it. I got it for the train village. Problem is that it,s red and pink.


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## CorvairJim

I spent some time this evening building the Chrysler Hemi fr the Jo-Han Plymouth Fury wagon. Then I sprayed it red, the color Plymouth engines were in 1960 instead of the gold that Chrysler used at the time fot a little "Gotcha" factor. Pop that bad boy's hood and you think you're looking at a Plymouth mill, than you realize something'snot quite right... Plymouth never had a Hemi in the late 50's/early 60's! They were reserved for Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial divisions! The tailgate for the "Westerner" had a bunch of work done on it to make for a better fit in it's opening and to square off it's top front edge so that the portion that faces the bed will be flat. 

I've considered the two-tone idea and think it's probably the way to go (light bronze over sand beige?). I want to check out how Chrysler did the interiors in their cars in the late 50's (not just in the '57 300 this build is based on) to see how they would have done it. I plan to use clear paint tinted with just a little brown and copper on the wood, after sanding it with some 80 grit paper to raise the grain a little so that the pigment in the paint will highlight the grain some. I'm just feeling this out as I go; I've never worked with wood in a model project before! Of course, after the wood looks right to me, I'll be adding chromed strips between the slats - it IS a Chrysler, after all!

It's just going to have the rudimentary Jo-Han Plymouth engine in it (painted Chrysler gold) to have something that looks like an engine from beneath. Being a "Parts Box" build, I don't want to get into scrounging a really decent engine for it, especially since the underhood sheetmetal will all be rough as a cob anyway - mostly what I cut out of the '60 Plymouth wagon that the 300 was a donor car for in the first place.

John, I'll take a look at your model train flower stuff when we come over next Saturday. It's amazing how a little white paint can make pink flowers turn white as if by magic! :thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

What kind of wood are you using? If this is maple it should stain real well. I've used all kinds of weird wood for projects, but maple seems to work the best. It's tight grained, and durable with water based colours, so it would look great between those slats. I've used popcicle sticks before, so those would work well as long as they're machined straight with no knots. I have access to all kinds of wood - poplar, maple, curly maple, alder, ash, purpleheart, wenge, bubinga, zebrawood, basswood, chromyte, rosewood, mahogany, padauk, sugar maple, silver maple, koa, quilted maple, sycamore, dogwood, etc. The list is too long to mention all the things I can get at the local supplier.

I have a project that a guitar manufacturer left in a bin with about 100 other guitar body/neck through blanks made from purpleheart, and maple sandwiched together. This was leftover stock from when they went out of business. This is something that I plan to finish. Most of the members of the woodworkers' club I belong to cut it into strips for making bowls, chairs, and walking sticks. I get some of my wood from them. Right now I have a friend that wants me to make an electric guitar for him - a Gibson Les Paul custom. This is the flagship model of their solid body guitars other than the Les Paul supreme. It'll take a lot of time, and money to build this for him, but it'll save him a couple thousand dollars in the long run. I'm a luthier (instrument maker) in my sideline work, so this will be easy enough. I just need to get to the shop to do the planing, sanding, and cutting needed before I route it out. I would post pics, but this is a modeling forum, not a guitar forum. I don't think most of the people here would care anyway since only a handful are musicians. 

I'll be watching this thread in anticipation of whatever finishing medium you decide on. I love woodfinishing. I used to repair, and restore furniture before becoming a luthier over twenty years ago. My love for wood still hasn't changed. 

~ Chris​


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## scottnkat

Chris, I've made a few guitars myself. Here's a pic of the first Les Paul copy I made - I did it as a surprise for my son for Christmas - he picked out the graphics with his mom thinking that he was picking out graphics for my guitar. It's not great, but it was only the second guitar I had built so I was happy with it. 










This was my fourth guitar (based on the Charvel Star) - I was getting better, but still not great at it:










I appreciate a good luthier - it takes alot of work to make an instrument really shine!

PS - sorry Jim for hijacking your thread


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## CorvairJim

Hjack away, Scott! I have a deep and abiding appreciation for anybody that can start off with an ordinary piece of wood and make it sing. Music is one of my passions too, although I've never found an instrument that I can play very well. I'm thankful that God blessed me with a competent voice with a broader-than-average range (3+ octaves, from the lower reaches of the Bass range upto the top of Tenor and maybe even a bit higher.) I used to sing in my church choir and have done some solo work, but my current work schedule makes it so that I can't make it to rehearsals on Thursday nighs. I even had a singing part in a local community theater musical (1776) about 8 years ago but my younger brother had THE song in the show; man, he was GREAT! Some day I hope to learn to play the guitar - I actually have 2 acoustics lying around unused and gathering dust. I took lessons for about a year as a teen but never really applied myself to them... Practice? What is that?

Chris, your second guess is correct: Popsicle sticks! I treat myself to one on my first break at work every afternoon and keep the sticks. The plan originally was to use them fo the clapboard siding on the garage I plan to build for my "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" '64 Dodge. For that use it doesn't really matter much what they look like, but for the bed floor I lined them all up and picked out the ones that seemed to match the best as far as color and grain go. I don't have ANY stains or varnishes on hand, so if you could suggest something that I could use with the paint supplies I have on hand, I'd appreciate it. I don't want to go to the expense of buying any just for about 5 square inches of wood. So far, the best idea I could come up with is the tinted clear sort of thing I mentioned in my last post. Do you think that would work?


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## CorvairJim

Wow! Nearly 2 weeks since my last update! I've been concentrating on getting the '64 Dodge finished so, with no further ado, may I present... "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena"! 



 Yep, folks, I finally got another one finished. Onward to he happy snaps. Pay attention to the chrome trim. That's not Bare Metal Foil - it's kitchen foil applied with Micro-Mark's "Micro-Gloss". I've had no end of trouble recently getting a sheet of BMF with adhesive that actually sticks to a model:










The photoetched grille was a lot more fragile than I expected. I wound up breaking one grille bar out of it completely and breaking a couple more of them loose at the bottom. A lot of guys love to use photoetched details, but they take a lot of work to get them to look right. I got frustrated with the fiddly little letters for thehood and deck lid, so I went with the kit supplied decals for those emblems instead.










In back, you can see that the photoetched Dodge "Fratzog" went on OK, as did the Dodge naeplates on the quarter panels. I blacked those out with a Sharpie before polishing them with a polishing cloth while still on the fret. It highlighted the raisedlettering and surround whileleaving the recessed areas that are black on the 1:1 car black. The license plates are computer generated replica 1964 California tags with the exact colors and typeface. I found the guy who makes them on eBay - a set of 5 pairs cost $2, adI got him to make me some personalized plates for other builds at $1 per pair. How cool is that?










I don't wire too many engines, but I had to do this one. I got this kit in a package deal over a decade ago and it had the pre-wired distributor and the photoetch fret in the box. I built the model for a Community Build Project that I started on the Model Cars Magazine website so I wanted to go al the way on this one.










The interior was done as closely to the standard color scheme as I could do it with the research I could do on it. The photoetch set had a full instrument panel for the dashboard, complete with gauge surrund and printed gauge faces. The shift lever is one of my homemade straight pin jobs, ad the turn signal lever is a piece of polished piano wire with a paint blob knob on the end.


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## tolenmar

That's a great looking machine! I like how you did the chrome. I'm going to have to try that sometime.


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## scottnkat

Jim, that's really fantastic. I love it. You've done a fantastic job!!


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## Dyonisis

Sorry for not replying sooner! I forgot what thead this was in until I got another email from the site. I read part of this one day last week, but I deleted the message before I could come back with an answer to your question. You can water down your paint to any color you wish. Just add it to a little bit of clearcoat to make it a little more durable when applying. This way you won't have to fight to keep the colour consistent. Mix the colour you want, then thin it down to a stain like viscosity. Adding a little clearcoat will make this more durable without being to thin, and having the colour run off the wood itself. Once you add as many coats as you like to get the colour hue desired, spray it with whatever base clearcoat you use to seal it. It doesn't have to be showroom glossy, just sealed, and reflective. Several clearcoats should do the trick. Just wait for a week for it to cure long enough that you can polish it with some turtle wax polishing compound. This will give it that reflectance needed to look like varnish from the days of old. :wave:

I love the guitars, Scott! That bottom one is the Kramer Voyager body style. You can go to www.vintagekramer.com to see the different ones throughout the years. I have a pacer from '85. This was when they were still made in the U.S. A friend of mine that no longer does luthery gave it to me to build on. I have some of the parts, I just need to get a tremolo and bridge pickup for it along with a new pickguard and controls. I have everything else. At the moment I'm making a Gibson Les Paul custom for a friend. This will have all the bells and whistles. Most people don't know this, but the Les Paul standard that Slash played on "Appitite for destruction" and in the "Sweet child 'o mine video was made by a guy in L.A. - Max Beranet. You can buy logos for these all day long on evilbay now. Anyone can make their own Gibson for a few hundred dollars these days. Back when I started out in '88 you couldn't get half the stuff available now without making it yourself, or being a licensed dealer! I have several instruments that I've made myself - three of these are taking most of my time while I go to the shop. This also takes all of my free time to do along with modeling. Thanks for sharing this. There's a guitar thread on www.scalemodeladdict.com that discusses this. You can post over there without getting into trouble, or derailing threads. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.  

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Thanks, guys, for the compliments on the Dodge. The chrome work was a new experience for me, but in the end it worked out pretty well. The two main things to keep in mind are to mask out the sides of the trim precisely (and remove the masking right after the clear paint 'adhesive' is applied and still wet), and put the foil down when the adhesive is tacky, not still wet OR too dry.

Chris, thank you very much for the pointers on finishing the Chrysler's bed floor. What you wrote makes good sense, and you explained it in such a way that it's easily understood. :thumbsup:


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## Dyonisis

Any time! I'm glad that I could help. Sometimes my words don't come out the way I intend - too much in a hurry!  I'm working on that. I used to be a furniture repairer, and restorer. I started making guitars when I was a kid. I still do it, but it's more of a sideline job now. Finishing is my forte - I used to paint portraits, and landscapes, but music, and woodworking just fascinated me, and modeling is something I love. I'm glad that I got the two to come together somehow! 

P.S. If you don't wait for your clearcoat to cure (harden up) the polish will just burn right through it like a knife through hot butter! Trust me - I've been doing this (finishing) almost twentyseven years now.

~ Chris​


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## s.moe

Hey, Jim.....You sure did a Great job on your '64 Dodge....The Foil work turned out looking Great...Heck, you don't need any Stinkin' BMF.....LOL 
I've never worked with any of the photoetched pieces...But, I'm sure You did have a time with that Grill, It sure look's Fragile.....But, It add's to the Realism of the Build.....:thumbsup:

MOE


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> If you don't wait for your clearcoat to cure (harden up) the polish will just burn right through it like a knife through hot butter! Trust me - I've been doing this (finishing) almost twentyseven years now.


I worked for many years at car dealers not only doing delivery prep, but detailing used cars and putting a shine on cars that had been through the body and paint shop as well. Frankly, that was the most enjoyable work experience I ever had, since it was easy to see the results when the job was done. I know my way around compounds, polishes, and waxes. The job I've had for the past 26 years working for the U.S.P.S. is just the same thing every day. I get finished what I do one day and the next it's the same thing all over again. When I was detailing for a Chevy/Olds dealership, it might have been a Cutlass and a Malibu one day, a Caprice and a Toronado the next, and a Corvette or Camaro or maybe a Chevette or Ciera the day after that. It's the same thing with car models, only now I get to pick what it is I work on!


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## Dyonisis

Well automotive finishes are hardened lacquer and don't rub right through because they're only a few days old. Acrylic, and enamel finishes are soft, and being only a few days old they can burn right through without trying! I did this recently with lacquer, but it was on wood and not very thick. It was a knitting needle that I made for my mom. It was no ordinary needle - this is over a foot long. Maybe eighteen inches? I turned it at the shop, and finished it in one day. I made this for her as she got one in a bag with lots of goodies that her brother paid for from a friend of his. This used to be her mothers' sewing stuff. Mom paid him for it all. There was an unusual crochet hook that I copied from walnut. That needs to be finish sanded, then clearcoated. 

I don't get in a hurry doing finishes, but that one I just wanted to get done and out of my hair forever! I've been pushing things back because of so many people wanting me to make things out of wood now that they know that I can make it myself at the shop. This kind of pisses me off as I already have the four foot X-wing project that I need to catch up on, and two guitars that need to be finished! Either way, I didn't know what your experience with paint has been, but I hope that you find some of what I share helpful. :wave:

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

I'm sure it will be. Again, thanks for the help and advice. I'm never too proud to accept advice from an expert!


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## s.moe

Hey,,,, JIM.....Just wanted to give ya a Shout Out and let you Know, I'm still Lurking around.....LOL

MOE


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## CorvairJim

Lurk away, buddy! Any comments or advice about my current crop of Mopar builds are more than welcome.


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## s.moe

LOL....No Advice needed from me, Jim......But, I will compliment on them.....The '64 Dodge two door, Look's Great... Love the Grill and other Photoetched pieces you installed on it, and the custom plates add to it as well......

The building of your Chrysler "Ute" Scratchbuild, Is the one that I'm waiting to see more of the WIP of though.....What I've seen of it so far is Impressive,, and has the making's of a very cool build.....You have done far more Scratch work on it than any Model that I've ever attempted to change......Is it too early to ask about Paint color(s) for it ????

Till Later.....

MOE


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## Dyonisis

That photoetched grill is excellent! Even with the damage to it - that makes it even more realistic than it would if it were perfect. Most guys don't think of going to the "Nth degree" with stuff like this, but I appreciate it. It's also why I love modeling so much, because you can make it any way you want to without worrying about accuracy unlike movie models where you need to compare your build to reference photos the entire time! 

~ Chris​


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## Rondo

Yes, the Dodge looks great. I'd bet the original grill was fragile too. I recall seeing an early Nova grill that was tweaked similarly. Even had an old lady driver (Little old lady from....). But if you could tame the one unruly piece in the middle, the damage would be hard to see.


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## CorvairJim

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I might give straightening that grille bar on the Dodge one more try, but it seems so flimsy that it might break off entirely - which might not be such a bad thing, now that I think about it. It might be less noticible that way. I'll probably be doing more on the Ute and the Plymouth wagon soon. I'm switching off among several builds at the moment so none of them gets stale and I don't get burned out on any one of them. In fact, I even started on yet ANOTHER one this afternoon, for yet ANOTHER Community Build on the MCM website. The pictures below show today's work on a '66 Corvair coupe that will eventually have a Corvette ZR-1 engine mounted amidships. This is for the "Gumball Rally" CBP, named after the popular film from the mid-70's that spoofed the Cannonball race. Yeah, I'm in two similar builds simultaneously: The Plymouth wagon is for the Cannonball build, based on the supposition that it is for a very early edition of the race: 1962 (The actual Cannonball didn't get started until about 8 years later). Meanwhile, the "Gumball" CBP is fow whatever car you want to enter in the race - Build what you think would have the best chance of winning. I figure a 3,000 lb car with 600 h.p. should do pretty well. I really went after the bodywork tis afternoon: The air outlet in the front trunk lid is for the radiator which is mounted where the trunk used to be. There will eventually be an air inlet cut into the front air dam I made for it. Beyond those two mods, the rest of my time was spent widening the fenders. They're now 4 scale inches wider in back and 2 1/2 inches wider in front. So here are the pics, in chronological order. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Starting with a body from the "Prestige" release of the AMT 1969 Corvair Monza coupe kit, I removed the Monza emblems to clean it up a little and the side marker lights to backdate the body to a 1966 model. I used masking tape to show me where to scribe the cuts for the radiator air outlet, using the back of an X-Acto blade (I used this 20 year old edition of the kit because it's molded in the harder white plastic, not the newer gray stuff AMT has been using over the past decade or so. I find the earlier plastic easier to work with when doing major body work):









Now that the outlet is cut in and bent down, I've taped out the cutline for scribing the horizontal cut for widening the fenders. I warped the plastic in the outlet by using too much heat when bending it down, but it isn't so bad that I can't putty it back into shape. Once that's done, I'll install the sides of the outlet:









I scribed the horizontal line with the back of an X-Acto blade, then cut vertically from the center of the wheel arches to meet the horizontal cut with a razor saw. Then I carefully bent the plastic out to the new shape I wanted. First I bent it outward from the ends, then back in at the wheel arches. That left a small gap in the middle, but that will be easy to patch up later on:









Here I show the filler pieces that go at the top of the horizontal cuts. These are basically just to give the fenders form; they won't be visible in the final build:









Here the filler pieces are installed and sanded down to conform to the new shape I want for the sides of the car:









More filler pieces. These will go between the fillers that I put on in the last step and the tops of the fenders. they are curved top and bottom and chamfered from behind to be mounted at the correct aglke to blend in with the body:









This makes what I was describing above a little more clear. I didn't want a flared fender look for this one; I thought a widened fender look would fit the lines of the Corvair body better:









And finally, I cut off the front pan to mount a custom spoiler, made from a section of the custom nosepiece from the kit. It will eventually have an air intake in the center and covered driving lights beneath the stock headlight location. Those headlights will have flush covers too. Finally, the spoiler will have a aero splitter at the bottom to keep as much air as possible from going under the car and direct it through the radiator. Also, the car will have a full belly pan, and I'm even thinking about building in a ground effect tunnel in back!


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## 71 Charger 500

That Vair is wicked looking! Great tutorial on the fender widening.


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## scottnkat

Wow! This is gonna be nice! Can't wait to see this come together


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## CorvairJim

This build has been in the planning stages in my head for a couple of years now. I've even had some of the parts set aside in a box for the project. Currently the engine I have for it is a 1990 Corvette ZR-1 Twin Cam, but I'm thinking of finding a current Corvette 427, which accounts for my 600 h.p. statement in the description. It's going to have ther front suspension from the Corvette too, although it will use the Corvair independant rear so as to make using the Corvair transaxle easier. That transaxle in the 1:1 car is basically a Borg-Warner T-10 in a different case; easily up to handling the Corvette mill's output. If I can get the body work smooth enough, I'd like to paint it bright shiny BLACK with semi-gloss black SS-style stripes: Pure stealth! On the other hand, I'm thinking about going with a red Chevy Bowtie on the front of the hood ahead of the air outlet a la NASCAR too. A mostly bright red interior will brighten things up a bit. I have a pair of modern bucket seats set aside for it, and it will be getting a few extra gauges, a CB radio, a GPS, and a radar detector as well. Somewhere I have a used set of 16" Trans Am GTA wheels from the Monogram 1:24 kit. That would scale out to more like a 17" wheel and fill out the fenders nicely. Those are the most beautiful wheels ever to roll out of an American car factory, in my opinion. It will have a roughly 40 gallon fuel cell in the former engine bay out back with dual filler caps so that it can be refueled from two pumps simultaneously. After all, we're trying to break the record here, not just win the race. I figure if the team can maintain an average speed of 140 mph, we should be able to do the run in a day flat. :wave:


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## s.moe

Jim......I love the WIP Pic's....It's lookin' Sweet.....

MOE


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> I used masking tape to show me where to scribe the cuts for the radiator air outlet, using the back of an X-Acto blade (I used this 20 year old edition of the kit because it's molded in the harder white plastic, not the newer gray stuff AMT has been using over the past decade or so. I find the earlier plastic easier to work with when doing major body work):


More like the last twentythree years! This is what the Return of the Jedi reissues were made from. MPC used it as early as 1983, but they were bought out in 1988. This is when they became MPC/Ertl. Then it was AMT/Ertl. Now it's just AMT - split off from Ertl as far as model making is concerned now the AMT is its' own parent company. I don't find it too hard to work with. I guess maybe they've changed their formula since I bought one of these kits? The last one I bought was labeled AMT/Ertl on the box. This has been a looooong time ago. I don't know what year this was released, but if it was before 2000 then what I have is older than what you've been using.


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## Vegar

Nice work Jim :thumbsup:
I saw a Corvair last weekend at a swapmeet, they had a car show there too. 
Didnt get a very good look at it, as it was about to leave when i got there, but it looked like it was in good condition. Silver paint and American Racing 200S wheels.


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## Rondo

Wow, the way you flared the fenders is great. I've wanted to do a few road race cars but was put off by the flares. I'll have to file your method away. :thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

Rondo said:


> Wow, the way you flared the fenders is great. I've wanted to do a few road race cars but was put off by the flares. I'll have to file your method away. :thumbsup:


Funny thing about the way I did it: I never saw a tutorial on it, I just thought about coming up with a way I thougt would work. I was the same with the modification on the front trunk lid. Since I have so many of these Corvair kits, it didn't bother me to experiment on one. If it didn't work, I wouldn't be out much. Happily, It turned out the way I hoped it would. I did rush it a bit so some of the plastic I added got kinda gouged off when I was shaping it with my Dremel, but I can handle fixing it. I just got excited about it coming out as well as it did as quickly as it did and wanted to see the end result too fast. In the future, I need to keep in mind that Evergreen styrene is softer than kit plastic, so the Dremel will take it down faster.


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## s.moe

CorvairJim said:


> I just got excited about it coming out as well as it did as quickly as it did and wanted to see the end result too fast.


Been there,,, Done that.......And will probably do it, Again and Again...

Build's looking great, Jim......:thumbsup:

MOE


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## 71 Charger 500

Any more on the Plymouth Wagon or the Chrysler Ute?


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## CorvairJim

:thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Any more on the Plymouth Wagon or the Chrysler Ute?


Just a little here and there. Not enough to bother with photos. I don't have much time to work on them except on weekends, and I didn't have much spare time at all this past weekend. The interior of the wagon is getting close to paint and I've done some more smoothing on the Ute's roof.


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## RTBoost

Awesome builds, Jim!! You certainly put a lot of effort into your work & it shows!!

BTW: do you use plastic tree sprues for your spark plug wiring? If so, that's a great idea 'cause it's usually a pain getting some thicker thread to firmly adhere to the coil packs or distributor & spark plug ends.


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## CorvairJim

RTBoost said:


> BTW: do you use plastic tree sprues for your spark plug wiring?


The wiring on the Dodge's engine is from a pre-wired distributor that came with a massive bulk model purchace I got from a guy who was leaving the hobby back around 2000 or so. He obviously had plans for this kit since he had the distributor and photoetch fret in the box. I just put it all together the way Jan & Dean described it. I've used jewelry wire in the past for spark plug wires, but I've heard that there is a type of electronics wiring available at places like Radio Shack that does a better job. I'd think that stretched sprue would be a real bear to work with for wiring.


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## RTBoost

CorvairJim said:


> The wiring on the Dodge's engine is from a pre-wired distributor that came with a massive bulk model purchace I got from a guy who was leaving the hobby back around 2000 or so. He obviously had plans for this kit since he had the distributor and photoetch fret in the box. I just put it all together the way Jan & Dean described it. I've used jewelry wire in the past for spark plug wires, but I've heard that there is a type of electronics wiring available at places like Radio Shack that does a better job. I'd think that stretched sprue would be a real bear to work with for wiring.


I see, I was going to say that's some serious skill if you were using heated sprue trees to get those results! I've only really done that for simple, straight pieces like the antenna masts.


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## CorvairJim

It's been my experience that nothing looks more like wire than real wire! By the same token, that's why I'm doing the bed floor of my Chrysler Ute in real wood. There are so many different products available specifically to make our models more realistic looking, and a ton more of them from other sources. You just have to use your imagination. 

By the way, slightly larger wire is great for battery cables, and fatter wire makes great looking heater hoses! Piano wire, available in any hobby shop, is great for antennae, turn signal levers, and column shifters, while larger ball-headed straight pins are perfect for floor shifters.


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## CorvairJim

I haven't been able to do too much on my models over the past couple of weeks due to life in general, and this coming week will be no different... in a different sort of way. We'll be going on vacation starting out early tomorrow morning on a driving trip to Florida to visit our older daughter and her three kids (roughly 1,150 miles each way). We haven't seen them in nearly 5 years, and she now has a 19 month old son we've never met! We'll be seeing the U.S.A. in my wife's Chevrolet! We'll have her laptop along so I don't expect to be totally incommunicado, but I probably won't be on every night either. 

Hold down the fort, I'll be back. :wave:


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## Dyonisis

It's alright. I've been unable to get myself back to normal routines lately, so don't sweat it! I just got done moulding the parts I've been waiting THREE MONTHS for two days ago. There are things that you can't control, so as long as you keep plugging along the forum will still be here. Take it easy, and enjoy your trip. Bon Voyage! 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

We arrived safe and sound around 3 PM on Sunday afternoon. My daughter Becky had her younger daughter Olivia and her son Rory at her boyfriend's farm, so I got to meet both him AND my grandson at the same time. Rory, my grandson, is an absolutely AWESOME little guy. He took to me and his grandma right off. Some kids tend to shy away from strange adults, but I was holding this kid in my arms within a minute of first laying eyes on him. Kary, my daughter's boyfriend, would be a real catch for her as well. He's a very motivated young man with a couple of small businesses and some real estate holdings. His farm is roughly 50 acres just outside of Sarasota, FL., where he has several dozen head of cattle, about 10 acres of arable land for crops, and lots of untouched land for hunting. As pets he has his three hunting dogs, a very independant cat, and a 4 month old goat! 

We came down to Becky's place in North Port on Tuesday afternoon and got together with our older granddaughter Ameilia, who had spent the weekend with her best friend in Orlando, after she was done school for the day (Livvie didn't go to school on Tuesday because it's the last week of classes and, well, you know how that is in elementary school - it was just coloring and games anyhow... ) My wife and I spent today day sunning ourselves on the beach and splashing in the Gulf of Mexico at Siesta Key in Sarasota. This is just about the most beautiful beach you can imagine, with crystal-clear water, gentle waves, and sand as fine as powdered sugar. Saturday will be on us way too quickly, and we'll have to head home. I wish this trip could stretch out for another month at least!


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## scottnkat

sounds nice - glad you're having a fun time


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## RLCarlos

I remember my Dad having those same hubcaps on his 1963 Impala. I do recall him cussing when popping them off around October to put his snow tires on. He always liked the look but hated the weight of them. Great looking Corvair.:thumbsup:


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## DOM-19

Corvair, i live in sarasota,tell becky too go on price blvd. & she will see my model homes "windemere homes inc " me & my two sons build homes ,also use too live on siesta key ,moved to fl. 31 years ago from n.y.---dom


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## CorvairJim

DOM-19 said:


> Corvair, i live in sarasota,tell becky too go on price blvd. & she will see my model homes "windemere homes inc " me & my two sons build homes ,also use too live on siesta key ,moved to fl. 31 years ago from n.y.---dom


Small world, isn't it? She's only a couple of blocks off of Sumter, about a mile down from Price Blvd. She might also be in the market for a house in a few months, once her lease is up. Her boyfriend is a landscaping and irrigation expert in the Sarasota area, in case you're looking for someone in that field. I've seen some of his work - he put in the complete irrigation system in Becky's garden plot up at his farm in just an hour or two... Becky tells me he was taking his time so as not to totally ignore my wife and me. She says he can usually do a couple of entire properties in an afternoon!


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## DOM-19

Sure is a small world,tell becky when she is ready we have a large amount of city water lots, tele. # is 941-423-2055 ask for hayley,her boy friend can install landscapeing & irrigation system, talk to you on model car thread, pretty guiet lately ---dom


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## roadskare63

hey jim,
all i have to say is...*what a really neat AND informative thread ya have here!*
i pop into the model forums from time to time, (as for now most of my hobby time is spent on 1:64 diecast) i still have a ton of boxed and built cars and trucks from back in the day, and get ideas fom plastic modelers to apply to my diecast items.

i was reading through miniature sun's routmaster thread and kept seein ya pop up so i looked and found this thread...thanx for sharing your skills and ideas:thumbsup:
cheers,
carl


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## CorvairJim

Awww... Yer makin' me blush!  I just pick up pointers from various places and try to apply them to my own stuff as best I can. I think the only real thing I've come up with is my method for widening fenders. I've done something similar to raise the tops of the quarter panels on a station wagon conversion I'm doing on another Corvair build, and and an El Camino type Corvair pickup as well. The way I look at it, keeping the tops of the quarters at the regular coupe/sedan/convertible height on vehicles like those really throws the proportions. Look at a late 1960's GM wagon and you'll notice that the tops of the quarters are ignificantly higher than those of the "regular" cars. In that instance, I slice the quarters from the rear above the central belt line and insert narrow wedges of plastic to raise the back end of the top section of the panel about 3 scale inches in back, tapering down to nothing about a foot behind the door. Then it's just sanding and filling to restore the proper contours. The base of the new quarter windows is then a little above the height of the new quarters. I'll seeif I can take a few shots of those "works in progress" to better illustrate what I'm talking about.


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## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Awww... Yer makin' me blush!  I just pick up pointers from various places and try to apply them to my own stuff as best I can. I think the only real thing I've come up with is my method for widening fenders. I've done something similar to raise the tops of the quarter panels on a station wagon conversion I'm doing on another Corvair build, and and an El Camino type Corvair pickup as well. The way I look at it, keeping the tops of the quarters at the regular coupe/sedan/convertible height on vehicles like those really throws the proportions. Look at a late 1960's GM wagon and you'll notice that the tops of the quarters are ignificantly higher than those of the "regular" cars. In that instance, I slice the quarters from the rear above the central belt line and insert narrow wedges of plastic to raise the back end of the top section of the panel about 3 scale inches in back, tapering down to nothing about a foot behind the door. Then it's just sanding and filling to restore the proper contours. The base of the new quarter windows is then a little above the height of the new quarters. I'll seeif I can take a few shots of those "works in progress" to better illustrate what I'm talking about.


I'd like to see how you do that on the quarters of the wagons there, Jim.


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## Dyonisis

This is an old deboers trick. Most of the sterns are made this way. You start thin, then get wider as you progress. This is done in thin planks that graduate as they spread further apart from the middle. You can do this the same way from the side of the body of a car. It's easy once you know how to measure the distance to ensure evenness over the two sides. I'm glad that you're a member here, Jim! :wave: It's good to see some old school know-how here. 

~ Chris​


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## Rondo

I'd like to see that too Jim. Hope you have some pics.

Too bad there aren't more wagons available. I'd love a late 60 Olds Vista Cruiser and a 70 Chevelle wagon among others.


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## CorvairJim

Rondo said:


> I'd like to see that too Jim. Hope you have some pics.
> 
> Too bad there aren't more wagons available. I'd love a late 60 Olds Vista Cruiser and a 70 Chevelle wagon among others.


I hear you! My folks' best friends had a dark green '69 Vista Cruiser that they'd bought new. I always thought it was a really stylish car, and looked right at home parked next to my family's '69 Chevy Kingswood Estate. Meanwhile, I had a 1970 Chevy Greenbrier (mid-line Chevelle) wagon for about three years. It was that pretty medium blue color with a silver blue interior, and a 307/Powerglide drivetrain. One of the first things I did when I got it was to replace the factory 14" steelies and wheel covers with a set of 15x8" Corvette Rally wheels. I sold it to my brother-in-law for cheap because he needed a big car for his photography business... His Plymouth Neon just didn't cut it. We didn't need a fourth car at the time, one that was basically a project that I didn't have the time for anyhow. I did have definite plans for it, making it into an SS clone, but the money just wasn't there.

So yeah, I'd like to see a lot more longroof models come to market, and those two would be great ones to start off with. Monogram could even save on tooling expense by using their '66 Chevelle wagon/El Camino chassis tooling for both versions since they're all GM A-bodies, and I think the chassis' are basically identical for both the 1964-67 and 1968-72 production runs, although I could be wrong on this. Or how about them doing a wagon version of their superb '66 Impala? They did the same basic thing retooling their '56 Nomad to offer a Del Ray 2-door sedan. Or maybe a '64 Impala wagon? AMT has 1960 Ford and 1962 Pontiac tooling that could be used as the basis for wagons too.


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## Rondo

Aah, the cars we have let get away. As you say, they demanded time and money. But now they are a lot harder to find. 

As you say, the best direct drop in chassis for a 70 wagon is probably the Revell 66 wagon/ Elky.
Next might be the AMT 68 El Camino. It has a separate frame and floor but I don't have one to check for other details. The AMT 70 Monte would be a good start but the rear section would have to be "wagonized". I believe the wheelbase on these would be within 1 scale inch of correct as is or could be easily brought to the exact length.

Wheelbase on the Olds Vista was 121", very long, so would mandate some new work.

Of course anyone could start from scratch on a wagon, but since there are at least 2 companies who have already developed a nice A body chassis, it would make more business sense for them.

Unfortunately, the Monogram 70 Chevelle has a pretty crappy body. The whole kit really needs a re-do. The AMT body looks better as does the Revell snapper. The 70 chassis are all mediocre at best. Regardless, almost none of the body would carry over to a wagon. I think the hood would be it. Not sure, maybe more of the Olds would carry over to a wagon.


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## CorvairJim

I had completely forgotten about that AMT '68 Elky! One of my favorite kits. Since the El Camino was based directly on the A-body wagon platform, that chassis would be a direcdt plug-in. And I just got a recent Revell Cutlass convertible too - another recent A-body tool.

I'm not a Ford guy by any means, but if someone decided to tool up a Country Squire of ANY vintage, I'm sure they could sell a ton of them. Even though Chevy wagons outsold their Blue Oval counterparts year after year, it always seemed like the Country Squire was seen as the typical suburbanite station wagon. Having said that, I'd STILL rather find a kit of the old '69 Kingswood Estate I grew up in! :thumbsup:


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## roadskare63

CorvairJim said:


> I had completely forgotten about that AMT '68 Elky! One of my favorite kits. Since the El Camino was based directly on the A-body wagon platform, that chassis would be a direcdt plug-in. And I just got a recent Revell Cutlass convertible too - another recent A-body tool.
> 
> I'm not a Ford guy by any means, but if someone decided to tool up a Country Squire of ANY vintage, I'm sure they could sell a ton of them. Even though Chevy wagons outsold their Blue Oval counterparts year after year, it always seemed like the Country Squire was seen as the typical suburbanite station wagon. Having said that, I'd STILL rather find a kit of the old '69 Kingswood Estate I grew up in! :thumbsup:



lol!!! back in high school, my buddy's dad gave him their 75 squire..."the old family jalopy"...more bondo than metal from dad's rough driving (and jersey weather)...anyway, one day on our way home from school, we heard a loud thump!!!!!!!

looked around back....the friggin tailgate had fallen off in the middle of the blvd!!!!! OMG! we freaked...luckily no one struck that 400 pound chunk!!!


but yeah i'd buy a few to customize too! 
i'd like to see a 71 version personally:thumbsup:


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## CorvairJim

roadskare63 said:


> lol!!! back in high school, my buddy's dad gave him their 75 squire..."the old family jalopy"...more bondo than metal from dad's rough driving (and jersey weather)...anyway, one day on our way home from school, we heard a loud thump!!!!!!!
> 
> looked around back....the friggin tailgate had fallen off in the middle of the blvd!!!!! OMG! we freaked...luckily no one struck that 400 pound chunk!!!
> 
> 
> but yeah i'd buy a few to customize too!
> i'd like to see a 71 version personally:thumbsup:


After all the other meanings FORD seems to have picked up over the years, I guess you now have to watch out for those other "F.O.R.D."s:

F alling
O ff
R otten
D oors!

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:


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## roadskare63

:lol:!!!


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## scottnkat

Cute, Jim!


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## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> After all the other meanings FORD seems to have picked up over the years, I guess you now have to watch out for those other "F.O.R.D."s:
> 
> F alling
> O ff
> R otten
> D oors!
> 
> 
> :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:


F ixed
O r 
R epaired 
D aily 

F ound 
O n
R oad 
D ead​ 

​


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## Rondo

Or a Coldwar variation, *Found On Russian Dump*.

My Dad was a diehard Ford man. Had some really nice ones too. I think the gold 72 Gran Torino wagon finished him though. Underpowered, parts breaking on a daily basis. It really wasn't a good time for design or build quality in the industry as a whole, to be fair. 

That wagon almost went to my older brother. My Dad pictured it with mags and airshocks. For some reason, though, he traded it on a new 76 Honda wagon.


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## CorvairJim

Here are a couple more of my personal favorites: 
*F*irst 
*O*ut 
*R*ace 
*D*ay...

And:
*F*requently 
*O*n 
*R*ollback 
*D*eck...


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## Dyonisis

I've heard the Russian dump version many a year ago. I decided to leave that one for another member to pick up. 

There's one more that I can't say here, but we all know what it is.....
I'll leave that one to the imagination - it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.


~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

I hate this blasted HEAT WAVE!!! I still haven't been able to replace the air conditioner in my attic workroom so temperatures up there don't even dip below the mid-90's at night. I haven't been able to do anything up there in a couple of weeks, ever since the exhaust fan I put in up there as a stopgap measure ALSO crapped out on me! (I got a new one of those on my way home from the doctor's this morning.) I need to get up there and find some parts I've promised to a couple of guys from another website too, but my stuff is so disorganized that I don't know just where to look for the specific parts. The longer it takes me to find them, the longer their projects are on hold. OK, they're free parts, but I gave them my word that I'd get the parts to them and I haven't come through so far - that bothers me. 

To top it all off I've been home from work sick the past couple of days so I might have been able to get some more done than usual... that is, if I could have tolerated the 110+ degree heat! Help me, guys, I'm going through modeling withdrawl!


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## scottnkat

Jim, you're welcome to come over to our house to build if you wanna...


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## CorvairJim

I'd love to, but I don't want to risk getting your kids sick. 

(Besides, I don't think you're within commuting distance... )


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## tolenmar

That's one of the reasons I haven't gotten much done. turns out this dry heat does something funny to my spray paint between the nozzle and the car. It's taking a lot more work to get a good even and smooth coat of paint, so I've just kind of hung up my toolbelt as it were. The heat won't last forever, and then we'll all finish our current projects in between rainstorms.


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## Dyonisis

I can't cast anything because of the heat! It already kicks as soon as I mix it together. This is because it's formulated for lower temperatures. It's also too fast for me to mix, pour, and get any parts without voids, or airbubbles in it.  It's also the reason why I haven't been able to get any other work done - it's too hot to breathe! I can't concentrate on my work. And now my SD card won't read on the piece of poop computer I'm using at the moment. DON'T BUY DELL!! :freak: This was my mothers' computer last year - now I know why she smashed it. Either way, I hope that the temperatures that are going down will follow gas prices - only not go back up for the weekend. 

~ Chris​


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## dge467

Nice builds! Some cool stuff!


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## CorvairJim

dge467 said:


> Nice builds! Some cool stuff!


Well, thank you, my friend (the check is in the mail... )
Seriously, I build what I like and always try to make the end result as close to my vision for the project as I can. I'm glad you like what I envisioned! 

Good news! The temperatures around here have finally dropped to a reasonable level. I'm going to try to get some model work done this evening (I'm still home from work sick with this summertime cold that knocked me for a loop most of last week - sometimes I'm afraid I'm about to hack up a lung!).I'll just turn around the box fan that I recently got to replace the one that blew out a couple of weeks ago so that it's blwing IN instead of OUT and see if it'll cool the room down enough that I won't be dripping sweat all over the place. Wish me luck!


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## CorvairJim

Glory, Hallelujah! 

I managed to spend about 3 hours up in my workroom this evening! I'm making strides on my mid-engined, ZR1-powered Corvair. I already had the chassis cut and had the front subframe from the 'Vette spliced into the 'Vair's pan, and had installed a crossmember for the front of the engine. I had to remove the custom crossmember that I had in place for the transaxle mount (too far forward) and fabricate another one. This required doing the basic assembly of the engine and attaching the Corvair's T10-based 4-speed transaxle. After cutting the rear springs one coil and tacking the rear trailing arms in place, I was able to slip the rear axle through the arms and the transaxle to get a read on where the rear transaxle crossmember had to go. I took some measurements and fabbed it up from Evergreen tube stock and some wire-core plastic rod for stiffness and bendability. I know what I want to do as far as hanging the mount from the crossmember goes, based on the original one that I had to remove. While I was at it, I reworked the interior bucket, removing the back seat and most of the package shelf area, just leaving the part that goes around te back - the hinges for the engine lid are attached there, and that section will also conceal the base of the rear window. Hopefully I'll think to shoot a few pictures of my progress tomorrow.


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## scottnkat

that all sounds fun, Jim - looking forward to seeing some pics


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## CorvairJim

I put another hour or so into the V-8 Corvair this evening, mostly looking for parts and finalizing the rear transaxle mount. Here are some shots of where it stands at the moment. The first shot compares the V-8 chassis in the foreground to a nearly stock one (This one has been shortened about 9" scale for my FlyingTigers Tribute Corvair, but it was the only Corvair chassis I had handy when I took the pix):










The same two chassis from below:










And finally a quickie mock-up with the body and a couple of tires and wheels in the wheelwells to show what it SHOULD look like later on. The splitter for the front air dam is sitting beneath the air m in the photo - It won't be attached until the body is on the chassis for good:










(The wheels in the photo above are from the Corvette ZR-1 donor kit, but they will most likely be replaced by some BBS-style lace spoke wheels on the finished model.)


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## Schwinnster

Hey Jim...... Glad to hear you made it thru the heat wave, and can spend time in your workroom again. It was almost as hot here on the west coast of Pa  and I wound up with heat exhaustion. This old dog refuses to learn anything the easy way.... Hope you're feeling much better now  

Love the look of your V-8 Corvair. The way it's sitting, looks like if you put tinted windows on it, it could be a real sleeper  Hope to see your Flying Tigers Tribute Corvair soon too.


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## CorvairJim

Hey, good to hear from you. John! :wave: I haven't forgotten about the "Tiger". That's why it's chassis was so easy to grab for that photo - everything for that build is still on my work table! I hope to get back to it as soon as I get some of those Model Car Magazine website Community Builds - including the V-8 Corvair - accomplished. The stance you're looking at is just the body/chassis sitting directly on top of the tires. It will be a little taller when I'm done with it, because it has to be able to actually MOVE! If I were to build the actual car in 1:1 scale, the windowswould have a meduim tint, but since I want to show off the work that went into the yet-to-be-finished interior, they'll stay clear on the model.


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## s.moe

Jim... The build's looking Great, Man....You sure have done some serious Scratchbuilding to that frame.......Love the Stance of it as well.....

MOE


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## Dyonisis

I love that Corvair! That really looks great with the gray primer on it. It makes it look almost real like a street machine ready for paint. I can't wait to see what colour you'll use. 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> I love that Corvair! That really looks great with the gray primer on it. It makes it look almost real like a street machine ready for paint. I can't wait to see what colour you'll use.
> 
> ~ Chris​


Since it's supposedly for the modern-day recreation of the old "Cannonball" race, I want it to be as stealthy as possible. I need to make sure the bodywork is absolutely perfect because I'm planning on shiny BLACK with "ghost" stripes in semi-gloss black. I got the wheels I'm going to use on it in a swap last week: the factory wheels from the Monogram 1:24 1987 Trans Am GTA. I have the areas between the spokes painted in flat black already, but I still need to drybrush the spokes in gloss black. The interior doesn't need to be as stealthy as the exterior, so it'll be bright red!


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## s.moe

Now that sound's like a Great Looking paint scheme......I really can't wait to see it,, Jim.....


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## CorvairJim

I mentioned recently on another thread on here that I had swapped a 1966 Nova SS kit for a rebuildable 1962 AMT Corvair Monza coupe annual. Since there's been some interest in that model, I thought I'd show you what I've gotten myself into:










I sure hope that speaker on the back seat trim panel and the extra gages on the face of the radio come off cleanly. I can probably repair the side panel, but I'll either have to replace the dashboard or cut the radio pod off of it if it's too messed up.










Two good tires and one good(ish) stock wheel cover... "Hello, Modelhaus"?










It came wth a rechromable rear bumper (I'm not set up for Alclad - no airbrush) and the optional custom front end. I'll be saving that for a possible future build if I come across a glue bomb that's beyond salvage in stock form.


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## s.moe

Yeap...It's in pretty good shape for it's age, Jim....And from what I can tell from the pick's,, You should be able to Revive it....Plus, like you said, being able to find those replaceable Resin part's will Definitely help....I still say it was a Great Trade, my friend.....


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## Dyonisis

Where did you get that car from, and what did you trade for it again? Forgive my ignorance if I missed that in an earlier post. I hope for your sake that it _was _worth it. 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> Where did you get that car from, and what did you trade for it again? Forgive my ignorance if I missed that in an earlier post. I hope for your sake that it _was _worth it.
> 
> ~ Chris​


No problem, Chris. Here's the story:

I got it in a trade from a friend of mine on Motortopia.com, a general-interest car guy website where I formed a car model group a few years ago. He was going through some boxes of old models he'd had seemingly forever and came across the Corvair. He tells me that he' forgotten that he had it until he found it a few weeks ago. Well, he said that he knew that it didn't interest him and that he would most likely never do anything with it, and he also knew that, 1) I am really into Corvairs and 2) I enjoy rebuilding old built-ups and glue bombs. He got in touch with me to ask if I wanted it and if I had something unbuilt that he could stick an already built-up Chevy big block in, preferably from the 1960's through the early 1970's. I sent him a list of a few possibilities and he chose an AMT '66 Nova SS Pro Street, the original version of the kit that was recently reissued. I haven't even begun to disassemble what's left of the Corvair to be disassembled and he has his Nova almost finished already!


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## Dyonisis

OK. That explains it. Thanks, Jim. I thought that maybe you got a model for a model, and that it was something that you may have wanted to keep. 

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

FINALLY! I managed to get a few hours this evening where I could go up to my workroom and really get something accomplished. I spent most of the time getting the body of the widebody mid-engine V-8 Corvair squared away. As I had left it, I had the first coat of primer on it, but I wasn't close to satisfied with the putty job so far. Then there were the issues of it's Yenko Stinger-style sail panel fillers not having been installed yet and the front spoiler being way too shallow - The splitter would have ridden well above the bottoms of the rocker panels, not level with them! Not only that, but one side of the spoiler was higher than the other! I got all of that taken care of tonight, at least to a certain extent. I sanded down the rough puttied areas and hit it with a second coat. The sail panel fillers are in place, and the front spoiler is now down where I want it and level side to side. I also filled in the slots where the rear bumper would have gone if I had wanted to drag around all that extra weight. I didn't want to, so it won't be on the car. I also filled the air intake grilles at the base of the rear window. Since there won't be an air-cooled engine out back anymore, there's no need for cooling air to get to it. I figured smoothing out that area would make for better aerodynamics, even though they are in a low-pressure area of the body. Finally, I did a little more work on the chassis, building up the area around the front of the new engine bay to help close everything off cleanly. I'm sorry tht I didn't bother taking any pictures of tonight's progress, but there isn't really all that much to show that's readily apparent. Maybe once I get he next shot of putty on the body and get that in primer I'll bring the photos up to date.


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## Schwinnster

:thumbsup:Sounds like you had a good session Jim. I've had some a little similar to yours-- I would finally get some time to get back to one, with plans of doing this and painting that:woohoo:......... 
but _then_ I see....... aw, I better fix that first.... and _*"What?-- oh boy, guess I gotta fix that up too"*_ 

I learned a long time ago tho...... any time at the bench is a good time--*any time* Glad you got you some


----------



## CorvairJim

I was thinking earlier today while I was at work that I need to come up with some sort of way to get lots of air into the egine's intake. I narrowed it down to four possibilities:

1) A scoop on the roof like on the Hot Wheels "Vairy-8". I'd split the ducting from the scoop to run down the B-pillars so as not to obstruct vision out the back of the car. Another variation on this would be two smaller scoops at the rear corners of the roof,

2) Scoops inset behind the Yenko Stinger-style sail panel inserts, using quarter windows that are angled in at the back,

3) NACA ducts in front of the rear wheelwells,

4) Ducting set into the radiator intake in the air dam (the easiest by far to do).

Properly ducted, any of these would provide a great "Ram Air" effect at high speeds. The way I see it, #1 is the flashiest, #2 is the most "Stealthy", #3 is the most dramatic looking, and #4 is the easiest to do. I'm kind of tending toward #3 at the moment. Thoughts?


----------



## Schwinnster

CorvairJim said:


> I was thinking earlier today while I was at work that I need to come up with some sort of way to get lots of air into the egine's intake....


Oh, so _that's_ why the mail gets so messed up, huh? :lol:Kidding Jim-- I used to do the very same thing when I worked midnights, drawing sketches & writing notes so I wouldn't forget.

I agree with you on variations 2-4, in keeping with the stealthy look. Door #3, those NACA ducts would have to be a 'just right' shape, or they would be distracting IMHO. 

Personally, my favorite would be #2 (altho I'm not sure what/where the sail panel inserts are) so that you could see the ductwork thru the glass. 

I would like to see the ductwork, as a point of interest in the model, and if that could be accomplished via #4, then that's what I'd do, but I do think #2 would be the most 'stealthy' look by far-- unless someone points out that you got your vent windows in backwards!


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## 71 Charger 500

Web site for ya, Jim. http://www.corvaircorsa.com/index.html


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## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> Web site for ya, Jim. http://www.corvaircorsa.com/index.html


Thanks for thinking of me, but that one is already bookmarked and referred to frequently when I need info or pictures RIGHT NOW! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for Corvair reference, either for a model project or just curiousity.


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## 71 Charger 500

Here's your next project, Jim! http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,483954,484031


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## CorvairJim

Ah, yes: The Corvair Futura Sport Wagon. It's unclear whether or not the car is an actual Chevrolet styling exercise, but the concensus among knowledgable Corvair people is that it's something that a Corvair enthusiast built on his own, probably some time in the mid to late 1960's. For instance, the stacked headlights and their trim look suspiciously like they were taken directly from a full-size '65 Pontiac.

That said, I've played with the idea of building my own little Futura. It would be a curbside, using some bits and pieces from a very rough 1962 Corvair annual and an even worse 1960 promo in my collection. The Futura uses several identifyable production pieces, like the doors from a coupe, windshield, dashboard, backlight rear portion of the roof from a sedan, and the rear bumper. It's hard to tell for sure, but the steering wheel looks to be from a Corvair too.


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## 71 Charger 500

The two Corvairs that I mentioned that were at the auction my wife went to did not sell, reserve not met I reckon. All my wife could tell me was that they were two doors.


----------



## CorvairJim

71 Charger 500 said:


> The two Corvairs that I mentioned that were at the auction my wife went to did not sell, reserve not met I reckon. All my wife could tell me was that they were two doors.


Isn't that just like a woman? If you asked her to be more specific, she would have said, "Well, one was blue and the other one was maroon. Does that tell your friend anything about them"? (That's probably what MY wife would have said, and she's been around my passion for Corvairs for over 2 decades now! )


----------



## 71 Charger 500

CorvairJim said:


> Isn't that just like a woman? If you asked her to be more specific, she would have said, "Well, one was blue and the other one was maroon. Does that tell your friend anything about them"? (That's probably what MY wife would have said, and she's been around my passion for Corvairs for over 2 decades now! )


I know what you mean! My wife is always saying: "I saw the prettiest Charger today", to which I will reply, "Charger or Challenger" and she will come back with, "whatever kind of car your friend Steve has" which will bring forth the reply of "that would be a Challenger then" and like your wife and your love of Corvairs, my wife has been around my love of Mopars for 35 years. I have to give her credit though, she does know a 67 GTX when she sees one because she was REALLY ticked when I traded mine off many years ago. Whenever we see one of those I always get to hear........."we used to have one of those!" :lol:


----------



## scottnkat

My wife does that whenever we see a '67 Thunderbird, '68 Fairlane Cobra, or '69 Talladega


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## CorvairJim

scottnkat said:


> My wife does that whenever we see a '67 Thunderbird, '68 Fairlane Cobra, or '69 Talladega


She can tell the difference between the years of the 1967-69 T-Birds? Pretty impressive - I know I sure can't! I'm also impressed she can tell a '68 Fairlane Cobra and a '69 Talledega on sight. I know the Talledega, but the Cobra would throw me if I didn't notice the badge.

My wife comments on several cars other than Corvairs: '64 Chevys (her 1st car was a '64 Bel Air 4-door sedan - She called it "The Tank"), Dodge Darts ("I hated my Dart!" - sorry all you Mopar guys, but that's the way it is... Hey, I'm a CHEVY guy and I nearly bought a '71 Swinger with a 340 back in '85!), Chevy Berettas (The car I owned when we were first married: "I wish you had never traded that car, Jim"), and red Mazda Miatas - her dream car!


----------



## scottnkat

Yep, she can tell each of those cars by the differences in the grills on the Cobras and the tallights on the Thunderbirds. She helped me work on each of those cars and restore them to varying degrees, so she was familiar with them.


----------



## Dyonisis

CorvairJim said:


> My wife comments on several cars other than Corvairs: '64 Chevys (her 1st car was a '64 Bel Air 4-door sedan - She called it "The Tank"), Dodge Darts ("I hated my Dart!" - sorry all you Mopar guys, but that's the way it is... Hey, I'm a CHEVY guy and I nearly bought a '71 Swinger with a 340 back in '85!), Chevy Berettas (The car I owned when we were first married: "I wish you had never traded that car, Jim")


 Don't apologize - I hate Mopar too! My friend down the street LOVES them, why is still a mystery to me to this very day. I'm a Chevy man (somewhat) of mostly the older cars before computer brains were put into them. 



CorvairJim said:


> and red Mazda Miatas - her dream car!


Ugh!!! :drunk: Those damn things are a death trap!! Miata = meaning Me oughta buy a REAL car!! :tongue:

~ Chris​


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## CorvairJim

Dyonisis said:


> Don't apologize - I hate Mopar too! My friend down the street LOVES them, why is still a mystery to me to this very day. I'm a Chevy man (somewhat) of mostly the older cars before computer brains were put into them.
> 
> 
> Ugh!!! :drunk: Those damn things are a death trap!! Miata = meaning Me oughta buy a REAL car!! :tongue:
> 
> ~ Chris​


Well, neither of us really HATES Mopars, it's just that her Slant-6, automatic-equipped Swinger was underpowered, drafty, slow, rattly, in rough condition, and did I mention not all that fast? Personally I don't have any real feelings one way or the other about Chrysler products except that I like them lots better than Fords! In fact, I came very close to buying a triple-green '72 340 Swinger myself back in 1985. If it had a 4-speed instead of a TorqueFlite, I probably WOULD have bought it! Serta claimed to have sold the "Perfect Sleeper", but nobody would have given this little Dart, with it's approximation of olive drab metallic paint and matching vinyl top, light green vinyl interior, whitewalls and dog dish hubcaps a second look... until the light went green! I was working for the used car lot that had it at the time and the owner let me take it home overnight to show it to my first wife. I laid down 50' of rubber leaving the lot!

As for Miatas, she wants a first-generation model. At 6'3" with a 34" inseam and well over 250 lbs (and I'm not saying how much "well over" is... ), I just don't fit in them! 1) I can't take my foot off the clutch without my leg jamming between the steeering wheel and the door. A car like a Miata with an automatic makes absolutely no sense at all! 2) On the passenger side, my legs are hard into the glove box door with the seat all the way back. 3) With the top up, my head is jammed against the top and I can't see out the sides anyway because the top blocks my vision out the windows. 

I'd much rather go with either a Pontiac Solstice or a Saturn Sky. Front engine/rear drive, more horsepower and torque, made in America, and a readily available kit (from Lingenfelter, as I recall) to transplant a Corvette LS-6 into them if the mood strikes!


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## s.moe

Here's one for you, Jim.....I ran across it this morning, and knew I had to Post it for you.....:lol:

GOT ANY MUD ??

Have a great 1, Buddy......Catch you Later....
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/intentionally-unsafe-speed-flickr-photo-day-231736330.html


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## CorvairJim

Thanks, Moe! That Monster 'Vair looks pretty cool. I just hope the car it was based on was too far gone to be worthwhile restoring, but as an "Early Model" 4-door sedan, it wouldn't take it being too bad to make restoration unfeasable economically.


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