[What Do You Think?]

3 minutes ago, espo said:

Maybe use a 4 bbl manifold and reshape the carburetor mounting pad to look like a 2 bbl manifold. The two-barrel carb could come from a Tri-Power setup that uses Carter carbs. I think that would be the most common carb that GM used in that era. 

That's the route that I've decided to take.

Thanks David!

 

 

 

Steve

[What Do You Think?]

7 hours ago, espo said:

Since the 2 bbl carburetor on a basic 326 cu in Pontiac engine would be hidden by the stock air cleaner there wouldn't be any need to change the intake manifold or remove the 4 bbl carburetor.  The exterior dimensions of the Pontiac V8 are pretty much the same it wouldn't matter so much which kit you robed the engine from, just look for the best-looking engine you can find. 

That would be the "normal" circumstance, but I haven't built an engine without a removable air cleaner, (except for the tri-power 389 in my '64 Grand Prix) in several years and probably my last 5 or 6 builds.

The engine I'll be using is the same Revell '66 GTO engine that I used in my '64 Bonneville project, but as has become my custom, the air cleaner will be removable, making whatever intake configuration I choose, visible.

To be honest, I'm beginning to get excited about figuring out a presentable 2 bbl intake!

I think it'll be a lot of fun!

 

 

 

Steve

[Revell 1968 Firebird Intake Manifold]

47 minutes ago, Exotics_Builder said:

Not to complicate things.  I did find the Revell Manifold.
 

 

I also pulled out the Prestige version 65 Bonneville and 64 Tempest I have.  They both have a single carb manifold (appear to be exactly the same).  It gets down to what engine are you using.  I did a quick match of the Revell manifold to the engine in my 64 Tempest and it is a bit wider, needing some added surgery for fit. 

 

 

Let me know which would work better for your build.

I appreciate you going through the work of looking through your stash to compare the parts Gerry, but if you can spare it, the intake from the '68 Firebird is exactly what I'm looking for.

I also have some of the old annual kit's single carb intakes, but I find them to be pretty "Blob-ular" and devoid of any detail.

 

The '68's intake is exactly what I used on my '64 Bonneville, and it fit very well with minimal trimming on the engine from the Revell '66 GTO kit, which is the same basic engine that I will use for this project.

It has been explained to me that the 326 and 389 were basically identical externally, so I prefer to use a more detailed engine instead of the more rudimentary annual kit engines.

 

The other part of my reasoning is that the Pontiac engine's intake manifold should be "open" to the valley pan, which will be much easier to accomplish with the Firebird's intake.

I know this because I did it with the '64 Bonneville's engine.

 

The only real modifications that would be required aside from opening it up would be a slight modification of the deck to accommodate a 2 barrel rather than a 4.

 

Here are a few photos of what I'm talking about as far as the modifications to the '68's manifold for my Bonneville. 

 

 

 

So, if you can spare the '68 manifold, I would be eternally grateful to you Gerry!

I think that would be my best starting point.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[What the heck? Paint issues.]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

So that sealer says “seals primed surfaces”. Does that mean it is not a primer and you have to use a primer first under it?

No.

I sometimes use it all by itself.

 

 

 

Steve

[What the heck? Paint issues.]

2 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

And which primers are those Steven? Pics didn’t show up.

Thanks, Greg.

Sandable automotive primer, and Primer Sealer.

 

 

 

Steve

[What the heck? Paint issues.]

3 hours ago, Andrew McD said:

Steve,
Do you decant the Dupli-Color primer and airbrush it or shoot straight from the can?

Thanks,

Andrew

Straight from the can.

 

 

Steve

[Questions About Flocking and Embossing Powder]

43 minutes ago, Beans said:

The only issue I have with embossing powder is that it tends to have a glossy and sometimes metallic appearance.  Maybe putting some dull coat on top might change that...hmmm something to try.

Embossing powder only has a metallic finish if you use metallic powder. 
 

 

 

Steve

[Revell 1968 Firebird Intake Manifold]

5 hours ago, Exotics_Builder said:

I should have one lying around as I did this with my 68 Firebird.  Will have to go through the Parts stash though.  

 

Thanks Gerry!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Revell 1968 Firebird Intake Manifold]

Looking for an intake manifold from said kit to possibly convert into a 2 bbl for a '64 Pontiac project.

Anyone?

 

 

 

Steve

[What Do You Think?]

I've been trying to make a decision for the engine that I'm going to put in my '64 Pontiac Lemans convertible project, and I would like to pick all of your brains on the matter.

 

The Lemans was available in '64 with either a 215 6 cylinder, a 326 4-bbl V-8, or a 326 2-bbl V-8.

All were available with a 4 speed manual transmission, which is what I'm going to go with.

 

My question is that in any circumstance, I'm going to have to do some parts swapping and/or modifications, and I wanted to do something a little different, so my first thought was to work towards a 326 2-bbl.

That of course is going to require finding a suitable 2-bbl intake, or modifying something to represent one.

The other option is a 6 cylinder, but as far as I'm aware, there are no Pontiac 6 cylinders available, except for the overhead cam version contained in the MPC '69 Firbird kit which was apparently not available until 1966.

 

So, the question is, should I go for an accurate 2-bbl V-8, or an inaccurate 6 cylinder?

The 6 Cylinder in the '69 kit is pretty cool and would look pretty boss in the Lemans.

The conundrum being that I do want to keep this in the factory stock realm.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Questions About Flocking and Embossing Powder]

58 minutes ago, Steve H said:

Hi Noah, Steven G above is the authority in this department. His interiors are about as good as you will see in scale. Steven maybe you could share a couple of examples of what can be done with embossing powder.  My 2 cents are the blatantly obvious things, paint a base colour similar to that of the embossing powder you will use. Then, as you have already discovered, paint a thin coat of white glue and sprinkle on the powder. Do small sections at a time. I will lightly press the powder into the glue using an appropriate instrument. I agree with Steven, that embossing powder is more correct looking than flocking, but that’s just me, and I never had much success getting flocking to look right. Maybe do a practice run on an old interior piece first.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your results!

Cheers, Steve

Thanks Steve.

 

This is probably one of my better examples.

Now, you may not like the look of the metallic embossing powder, but I feel like it helps add a little more visual texture than solid powder, although they both work equally as well in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

This floor was done with embossing powder and painted over.

Possibly looks more accurate than the metallic powder, but also not as pronounced in it's appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Questions About Flocking and Embossing Powder]

My suggestion would be to use embossing powder instead of flocking.

just my opinion, but I believe that embossing powder provides a closer to correct short cut pile look than the more fibrous look of flocking.

You can find embossing powder in a rainbow of colors in some craft stores as well as online.

Embossing powder lends itself well to being painted over.

Flocking, not so much.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[6 Years of Pontiac......Just For Fun.]

41 minutes ago, thatz4u said:

Steven, 6 Beautiful Pontiacs....extremely welll done...Al

There's actually 7, but 2 of them are '64s.

 

 

 

Steve

[6 Years of Pontiac......Just For Fun.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Vinyl interior method.]

28 minutes ago, Shardik said:

I use a somewhat more "organic" approach:  After spraying with a flat paint, I rub my finger along the side of my nose, then rub over the vinyl areas.  The skin oils give it the right sheen, and as an added bonus, the cracks and crevasses remain flat, giving the look of dust and debris accumulation.

Same method that I often suggest for vinyl tops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Duplicolor Clear Still Soft After 2 Months]

4 hours ago, Lunajammer said:

Well, I guess that's not all bad. I'll hold off further polishing, maybe for the summer, to avoid adding a drying barrier. At $18 a can it's freakin' disappointing, especially since that usual hard as nails finish makes such a nice gloss.

Yeah, it's gotten expensive, but then again, what hasn't?

 

And in the end, I've had issues with bad paint with every brand of paint that I've ever used at some point.

Just the luck of the draw.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Duplicolor Clear Still Soft After 2 Months]

On rare occasions I have had this happen with this clear, although maybe not to this extent.

I’ve just chalked it up to a bad can of clear and moved on.

In every case, the clear eventually hardened, but I know it’s not an optimal situation.

I’ve probably bought 30 or more cans of this clear over the past 10 years, and I’ve had these issues with only a couple of them.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[IPMS Show in Fairmont Minnesota.]

1 hour ago, slusher said:

I thought you lived in Minnesota?

Well, technically yes.

just outside of Fargo North Dakota, so it’s pretty much like living in No-Dak.

For tax purposes, I wish that I did live in ND!!!!!! 😖

 

 

 

Steve

[Scribing body lines AFTER a few coats of paint]

2 hours ago, bobss396 said:

I try to get my scribing done up front,

There's the ticket.

These things need to be addressed in advance.

 

 

 

Steve

[Scribing body lines AFTER a few coats of paint]

Not only are you in danger of chipping the paint, but once you begin, where do you stop?

A scribed door is going to have a different appearance than an un-scribed one, so it’s not just a matter of scribing an inch or two on one panel.

You’re probably going to have to scribe all of the panel lines so that they all match.

 

 

 

Steve

[Round-2......One of These?]

26 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

https://i.imgur.com/LFK6cgX.jpg?1

Sure would be nice to find some of these, especially the 58 Ford Convertible and the 58(?) Pontiac.

Of course, but I could possibly see either of those popping up at some point, as they were both offered in kit form at one point.

The ‘57 Buick never was.

 

 

 

Steve

[Round-2......One of These?]

With Round-2 doing all of these resurrections of old kits long missing for decades, do you suppose that there's a possibility of some of these old acetate promos ever seeing the light of day in styrene?

I'd buy a bunch of these!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Chrome "Vacuum Metalizing" Possibilty?]

13 hours ago, swatters53 said:

Steve, I researched these guys last year and they appear a little sketch.  First, their business address is a box at a UPS store in a strip mall.  Leading me to believe he’s just a middle man collecting items/parts to be sent to plater.  (Which can be ok since chrome tech and LMG did the same thing). Second, IIRC, I think they have few google or Facebook reviews that aren’t the best.  If you do use them we’re definitely interested to hear how it went. 

 

35 minutes ago, maxwell48098 said:

Has anyone else noticed that the date on the M&M is 2009?

 

A.J.

 

 

This is why I was asking.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Pics from IPMS Show in Fairmont MN]

A few pics from a very small local IPMS show in south central Minnesota.

 

I won a couple of category golds, but I'm a little bit disappointed in the judging criteria, (as I remember being the case the last time I was at this show possibly 5 years ago) 

So that, coupled with some other reasons, means that I won't be likely to be returning to this show.

 

But, that aside, here are a few pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Molotow Liquid Chrome feed problem]

54 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

The holy grail of chrome finishes..........If only someone could make one that stays brilliant and goes off rock hard !

That's what I'm waiting for.

And I'll never be convinced that a chrome substitute will be a viable alternative for real chrome until that happens.

 

 

 

 

Steve