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The Straight Six community build


Chuck Most

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Thanks guys, I wasn't sure about the dash pad at first, but I really like the looks of it now. I've got a small update tonight. First up, I re-did my rear brake lines to be more accurate. The brake lines now go over the axle like normal brake lines, I'll add a bit of black insulation from some 22 gauge wire when they are glued in place to represent the flexible parts.

50ChevyPU200-vi.jpg

50ChevyPU201-vi.jpg

Now onto a bit of work on the bed. I looked at the reference pics I have of the chains for the tailgate, and found there's really no way to attach the chains in the same way on the model version, so I came up with a way to do it. I bent up some small pieces of 26 gauge wire, trimmed them into tiny "u" shapes, drilled a pair of holes in the bed sides, cut some pieces of chain, and carefully glued the u-shapes into place. As soon as the Clear cures on the tailgate, I'll find a way to attach the chain to it and get the bed completed!

Measure? Nah, I'll just eyeball the holes and hope I get lucky as usual!
50ChevyPU202-vi.jpg

One of the 26 gauge u-shapes undergoing a test-fitting, it actually worked!
50ChevyPU203-vi.jpg

Here's the chain I'm going to be using, it's from the model Railroad section of Hayes Hobby House, along with two pieces of heat-shrink tubing, I'm still not sure which one I'll be using to cover the chain.
50ChevyPU205-vi.jpg

Here's the chain and u-shape next to an X-Acto blade just to show you how small these pieces actually are!
50ChevyPU206-vi.jpg

And the chain in place on the sides of the bed, it looks pretty good for not being 100% accurate!
50ChevyPU207-vi.jpg

Edited by Custom Mike
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Not much of an update, but I did get a little bit done on the bed today. I polished up the tailgate and mocked the bed up, and I need to see why I have such a large gap around the bottom of the tailgate and the front end of the bed. Once I figure that bit of trouble out, I'll figure out where to attach the chains to the tailgate and get the bed finished off!

50ChevyPU209-vi.jpg

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Guys; I've decided that since I'm posting this build over in the Truck side too, I'll just keep posting it over there, and post the engine stuff here and a completed pic or two when it's done. If you want to follow it over there, click on the link below, and keep building!

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62677&st=0

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Go Chuck go! Any progress on getting that finned valve cover cast, I know a couple of people who would sure love one!

OK, I forgot about this one, so slap me around a bit. I got the engine done for the '50 Chevy, so I'll post the results finally. The rest isn't done yet, but hopefully soon it'll get it's rims and be finished off!

I painted the engine with some Valspar Bright Gold, got out my distributor from Scale Repro's Plus, and hacked up a four barrel intake so I could use it on this one (I couldn't get the Paxton blower that Sean Stacy made for me to work, the pully setup was killing me!).

50ChevyPU238-vi.jpg

Valve cover was de-chromed and painted with some Metalizer Aluminum, plug wires and boots in place, fuel line ran, and a wire from the starter that will go to a quasi-voltage regulator on the firewall, along with the positive battery cable.

50ChevyPU255-vi.jpg

Fuel line up to the carb, carb was painted with Metalizer Brass, oil filter was installed along with the fan/pulley assembly

50ChevyPU276-vi.jpg

I still need to paint a section of the fuel line from the frame Black to simulate a piece of rubber line, I always forget that part!

50ChevyPU277-vi.jpg

And a completed shot with the radiator in place. The radiator hoses are made from 18 gauge wire, and the olil filter was re-glued to straighten it out, it had a bit of a sag in this picture.

50ChevyPU278-vi.jpg

That's it for my first Straight Six, I love the way it came out so much I want to build another one of these kits soon!

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Nice one, Mike!

As for availability of the finned Hudson head, that's still a work in progress. I still need to get a workable master. It's a fun yet tedious project- I think I'm on my fifth attempt at the moment. :lol:

Chuck, I'd take one of them as they are now, I could add the bolt-head detail myself, they look great! The Flathead Six looks like a great casting, I've never seen one of those in a real car, but I've led a sheltered life...I was only allowed to look at V-8's as a child! LOL

Edited by Custom Mike
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I finally collected (almost) all the 14" tires I need to go with the 14" steel wheels from the Revell '64 T-Bolt kit...just need to find one more tire, but I may go the mismatched/spare route for #4.

I'm using Scenes Unlimited drum brake backing plates with some unknown kit-sourced wheel backs which are very brake drum like, and some resin inner wheel rings:

wnt.jpg

These are easily my favorite kit-sourced 14" steel wheels, and because the circumference is beveled, they really snug down into just about any tire, like so:

dartwnt.jpg

When is the completion deadline again? -_-

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If this build goes long enough (I'm a really slow builder) I would like to add a 1941 Dodge Panel (Resin Motor Replicas) with a Canadian flathead six cylinder. The engine I'm using is called a Kew six (Partsbox of Australia) as originally some Canadian engines were sent to England for Dodges built overseas. They then made their way to Australia.

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If this build goes long enough (I'm a really slow builder) I would like to add a 1941 Dodge Panel (Resin Motor Replicas) with a Canadian flathead six cylinder. The engine I'm using is called a Kew six (Partsbox of Australia) as originally some Canadian engines were sent to England for Dodges built overseas. They then made their way to Australia.

There's no end, so feel free to jump in any time. B)

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Okay so................I picked up a 1/24 Monogram '39 Chevy coupe here recently in a trade. The engine is missing but the rest is there. So the 235 I-6 from the Revell 1/24 '53 Bel Aire will finish it up, which put me in a great position to join you folks in this CBP. It will be a gasser. Pics soon.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I found a fourth, matching tire, so tonight I sanded and scrubbed (Barkeeper's Friend) all four, the front two showing the car's front end needs re-aligning:

Darttires1_zps76e96c24.jpg

Yes, I bored out one rear wheel hub hole too much, so it'll become a wheel back hoop. -_- I don't know which kit these Firestone 500 tires came from, but I recall they were included with the Lesney-era AMT '68 Camaro Z/28 kit, and they are perfect for a narrow, late '60s "common" car tire. Even better are the front 14" steel wheels from the Revell '64 Ford T-bolt, which have a nice taper, allowing the wheels to drop down inside the tire bead. I used these wheels back-to-back, narrowing the back wheel piece by sanding away the wheel center, leaving only a ring. With the final hourglass shape of both wheels joined, the tire is held in tension and can't move. Here's a close-up shot of the two wheel pieces joined:

Dartwheels1_zps0f15165f.jpg

One little hiccup is the slightly mismatched mold have the tires were molded with, so one side of the tread area is slightly lower. This isn't a problem if you are planning to sand the tread area anyway, but on one of these tires I really needed to sand the tread to get both sides even, and you can see in the image below there's a little more to do. Maybe I'll just make that the contact patch:

Darttires2_zpscb18ee28.jpg

I also decided to glue the K-member to the framerails, as keeping it aligned with mini bolts wasn't very effective, and I needed to get the brake drum and wheel/tire positions set. The torsion bars were cut to fit, and new holes were drilled in the trans crossmember so the t-bars could slip inside, then forward a little bit into the lower control arm sockets, so they are secured at both ends. I won't permanently install them until final assembly, and I need to add some anchors/detail on the backside of the trans crossmember, but it's progress:

tbarsin_zps5dd6d034.jpg

I also managed to re-break one of the leaf springs, which is just as well since I sanded the rear axle tubes a bit too much and they ended up looking a bit too skinny. Not sure if I'll use another 8-3/4" rear from the '68 Dart kit or try to make an 8-1/4" rear from, well, something that's a close starting point. :blink: An 8-3/4" rear just doesn't "feel" right in a /6 car to me.

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I decided the Lindberg '64 Belvedere's four-speed trans wasn't gonna cut it disguised as a three-speed, so I got out my AMT '71 Duster 340 parts kit and took another look at the trans, decided it would be acceptable, and go to work. I already prepped the bellhousing from the Lindy '64, so I test fit the inspection cover then glued it in place, glued the bellhousing to the block, then after more test fitting and fine tuning the trans was joined to the bellhousing. I don't have a final shot of it all together, but here are the parts beforehand:

newtrans.jpg

I was hoping/planning to go with a column shifter 3-speed manual, but the 4-speed linkage is cleaner and less complicated, and will only require a new floor hump.

The 8-3/4" rear is getting a makeover of sorts. I wasn't happy with the kit's rearend, so I sliced off the out-of-round axle tubes, substituted some 1/8" styrene rod, and will need to get busy sanding and shaping:

re.jpg

I finally test fit the narrower, more Slant Six-appropriate radiator (I think it came from the Lindy LRW A-100 pickup kit) to the core support, and it was a great fit in all directions. I added some styrene strip to the bottom, then roughed it into shape. I will drill for the pass. side upper and lower radiator hose inlet locations once I get the engine position dialed in:

radiator.jpg

A test fit of the engine and trans revlealed the oil pan's position isn't quite ideal, and the trans mount doesn't line up with the crossmember, so I need to fix that before adding the engine mounts to the K-frame:

engtf17133.jpg

Bellhousing to firewall clearance looks good:

engtestfit17132.jpg

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