# Tjet el Camino Restoration



## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

Just finished this one for a friend. It had the rear wheel arches cut along with the front screw post. Otherwise it was dirty but in pretty good shape. The surfboards are original and never removed. The pictures look like it's been over polished but the body is untouched except where the plastic was added.


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## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

The other side.


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## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

The finished product. It had 440 rear wheels and TuffOnes rears on the front.


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## Tuxedo (Dec 14, 2011)

Nice save on that one for sure. I have a Mako Shark that has A/FX rear wheels on the back and tuff ones rear wheels on the front. Rubber fits nicely all around and it handles great.
Great job :thumbsup:


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

I have a Thunderbird that had a 440 chassis under it. The doors were cut to accomodate, the rear wheel wells were cut and it was missing a window pillar. Not really sure why I picked it for a rescue. Probably because it is red.

How did you get such nice clean flares in the wheel openings?


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## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

Tuxedo said:


> Nice save on that one for sure. I have a Mako Shark that has A/FX rear wheels on the back and tuff ones rear wheels on the front. Rubber fits nicely all around and it handles great.
> Great job :thumbsup:


Thanks! The later mako sharks were retooled to fit the large wheels they were using on the SpeedLine push cars. I think those actually look better with larger wheels.


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## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

old blue said:


> How did you get such nice clean flares in the wheel openings?


I always have an unmolested body in front of me for reference. I constantly refer back to it to make sure I am not just following what I think it should look like. The first thing I do is rough in the shape of the wheel arch. I use a piece of sheet styrene to trace around the good cars fenders then use that to shape it. After that I will liquefy some plastic and apply a bead around the arch. As it is setting up I will rough shape it with dental picks and clay sculpting tools. At this point you want it to be slightly oversized. It's easier to remove material than to add it. By the way always use tjet plastic from a junk body. Styrene from other cars,even AFX bodies, will not bond properly. Tjet for Tjet, AFX for AFX, Tyco for Tyco etc. you would think styrene is styrene but apparently not. Anyhow once the plastic for the lip is applied let it sit for a couple days to thoroughly cure. Usually the first thing I do is to shape the contour with the tip of a SHARP #11 Xacto blade. Work slowly, constantly check your work against the uncut body, and take care not to cut into the body. When the basic shape is there I do the finer shaping with mostly a needle file and small half round file. I got a really nice set of micro files at a train show and they have been invaluable. Micromark has some nice sets if you can't get them locally. Finally after filing the shape I do the finish work with Detail Master polishing cloths. The set goes from. 3200 down to 12000 grit. At this point you really have to take your time and be careful not to remove any detail from the surrounding area. Often mold lines run close to the wheel openings and may get erased or were cut out all together. I will usually scribe them back in with the Xacto blade. Take your time and check your work and you should get good results.


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## XracerHO (Feb 6, 2008)

Nice Save! :thumbsup: ..RL


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## Tuxedo (Dec 14, 2011)

CKR said:


> Thanks! The later mako sharks were retooled to fit the large wheels they were using on the SpeedLine push cars. I think those actually look better with larger wheels.


I'll post a pic of it. It's tan ( not my Favorite ) but it looked cool and I thought it was a nice period piece that someone took the time to modify at some point. 
Do you have any pics of others you have saved?


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## CKR (Mar 21, 2013)

Tuxedo said:


> Do you have any pics of others you have saved?


I have quite a few pictures of past restoration projects but they are trapped on my old failing PC. When I can retrieve them I'll post more. I've pulled off some pretty miraculous saves over the years. But here are a few I'm working on right now. The gray corvette had both front and rear wheel wells cut. Someone also carved out the driver and left a gouged up mess. All that's left to do to it is repaint the interior and silver accents. The owner will be reaponsible for replacing the windshield. The charger had cut rears. It's almost done. Just have to do the finish work and repaint the roof and tail stripes.


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## Tuxedo (Dec 14, 2011)

Wow, those look fantastic, I can only imagine what they looked like to begin with. Nice work !:thumbsup:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Very nice. I have a blue El Camino with the rear wells snipped that I hope to give that treatment someday...

--rick


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