Steve_L Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 These are pictures of the 14th project in my build theme of "Models of Cars I Have Owned or Driven." In February of 1974, my wife and I went to look at a 1972 Kingswood Station Wagon. It had all of the space we could ever need and was air conditioned. Despite my misgivings about low performance and low gas mileage, we bought it. After a few weeks of driving, the gas mileage and performance were ridiculous. During a tune-up by a country mechanic, I was blown away by two things he said. 1. GM used a Transmission Spark Control emissions device in the vacuum line between the carburetor and distributor to limit ignition advance to only when the car had been in high gear for more than 20 seconds. He recommended a simple bypass of that device to allow the car to run cooler and provide better performance and gas mileage. I reluctantly agreed and said I would test it for a while. 2. He also said that my car had probably been affected by the GM dual layer exhaust system (one pipe inside of the other). After a few thousand miles the inner pipe often rusted and exhaust gasses would get between the two layers and the inner pipe would implode. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened to our 1972 Chevy. He replaced the whole GM exhaust system with a heavy duty single layer Napa system. On the way home, I thought I was driving a different car. Both the gas mileage and performance were noticeably better. I ended up "testing" the Transmission Spark Control bypass for the next five years we had the car. The model project got started when I saw the Modelhaus complete resin kit for a 1973 Caprice Station Wagon. I thought, "Maybe I could make that over into a 1972 Kingswood." While I was waiting to receive that kit, I noticed a 1971 Impala resin kit on EBay. I said to myself, "Maybe I could graft the front clip of the '71 onto the Modelhaus '73 and save a ton of work." That is just how the project progressed. I removed all the '73 Caprice trip and slightly modified the '71 front clip to fit a Modelhaus '72 Chevy front bumper. I added side trim with .040 half round styrene and also used it for the roof rack runners. I used parts box items for the rest of the roof rack. I shot the custom-mixed Aegean Brown Metallic paint through my air brush and covered that with Duplicolor clear. I used Krylon Satin Brown Boots paint and matte clear for the interior and added some detail to the steering column plus detail painting. After marathon polishing and BMF sessions, I was good to go. The build was one of my more ambitious (and expensive) projects, but it was high on the fun meter! Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 beautiful job; well done! it's a shame that we lost station wagons to the SUV machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Love long roof cars! The colours you have really go well together. Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 bad55 stan Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 That is sweet,I just love wagons and yours looks great,i have owned a 65 impala wagon for a few years now,i'm building a replica of it,any ways great work on a very cool model... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 VERY NICE....! I am a huge wagon fan myself....very cool...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffs396 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Love it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxicoop Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 what an awesome lookin' station wagon !!!! very nice build !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Looks great ! We need more wagons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Wow, nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Now that is a labor of love. Looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Wow! Very nice job. I love those old clam shell tailgate GM wagons. Will never forget the first one I saw. The futuristic car features they promised us in the 50's and 60's were coming true! I know there were problems with them. But, I still think they're cool. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helix Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Awesome work Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Super nice build.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefropas Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) Nice build, as a kid, I never minded sitting in the back with that view....glass everywhere! Jeff Edited August 4, 2014 by jefropas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peekay Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I love wagons too and this is an exceptional build. Wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominik Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I love wagons too and this is an exceptional build. Wonderful! x2 - beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khier Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Very nice. You could reduce the project costs by ordering a '72 grill and bumper from the Modelhaus directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCat Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 very nice build. my uncle had one of these and the same color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S. Svendsen Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris White Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 awesome job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robberbaron Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Gorgeous! Brings back memories from when I was a kid. These full sized Chevy wagons used to be EVERYWHERE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Beautiful station wagon and a great job on the conversion ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Outstanding!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w451973 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Thats very nice. Reminds me of when I was a kid. Now if someone would just make an Olds Custom Cruiser that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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