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Toney's Tribute Truck - Revell 1965 Pickup/Hemi Hydro combo


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A little background on this one is in order before we start. A dear friend of mine and fellow member of Scale Avenue lost his battle with cancer on July 14th, 2014. Toney was a great guy and a close friend, and a great builder too. When I got the news of his passing, I felt the need to do something to show our love for him and all he had done while a member of the Avenue. So our final Forum Project of the year (And the first Forum project this year) were tribute builds for Toney. We all selected one of his builds, and set out replicating it in our own ways. I had the '65 Chevy Pickup, and another member sent me the Hemi Hydro kit so I could replicate one of his last builds. Here's a picture of Toney's build, let the tribute begin!

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Edited by Custom Mike
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I started on the 4-piece hood. I know it had to be done this way due to the shape of the hood, but it would have been easier just to make it two pieces, that way it'll line up better! I got it lined up pretty well, but I've got a nice seam to remove. The lower side pieces and lower front didn't line up perfectly, but at least the hood fits right on the cab.

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And the great set of custom rims and tires that come with the kit, they look great, and it's a set of big & littles to boot!

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Next up was cleaning up the mold lines on the cab. There are some bad ones at the front edge (Below the hood), in front of the doors, and all across the bottom of the cab. I also have a gouge on the lower front edge of the area where the bumper goes, I'll do a test-fit to see if the bumper will cover it, if not, a bit of filler will be applied!

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Now the bed is gonna take some work. I don't know what happened with it, but the top rails on the bed are a total mess! I'm probably just gonna cut 'em off and replace 'em with some fresh strip styrene glued together to match the thickness. And I am considering making a wood bed for it like my AMT '50 Chevy has, we'll see how much of a fight these top rails are first!

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Next up was cleaning up the frame, lots of little problems existed on this part, but all were easily handled with some sanding stick work.

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It's hard to see in this pic, but there is a very large piece of excess plastic along the inside edge of the frame rail...again, the same on both sides
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More weird excess plastic for no apparent reason...
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This was probably the hardest part to clean up, the diagonal line on the inside of the frame rails. Again, both sides, and it really doesn't serve any purpose that I can think of!
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The area around the A-frames was fun, lots of time was spent on this area to get it flattened back out. I really hope it's just my kit that's this bad, or maybe I just can't stand it not being right...who knows!
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Out at the back end of the frame, another messy area. It wasn't nearly as hard as the front end to clean up though.
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The left side is how it comes out of the box, the right side is all cleaned up and ready to go. Big difference once it's all cleaned up!
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]This time the left side is all cleaned up, and the right side is waiting it's turn...
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Whether or not what I'm doing is 100% accurate to the 1:1 doesn't matter to me, I just can't stand seeing all that garbage on a chassis, so I make it look the way I want it to!

The front end all cleaned up, I'm much happier with this now!
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Center section all cleaned up....
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And the back end, all ready for some primer!
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I tried using a file to remove the bulges molded into the top side rails of the bed...slight problem, I had no files or sanding sticks thin enough to do the job without taking plastic off the tops of the rear fenders. So the top rail will be removed, and while I'm fixing it, I'll make it look more like the real truck, might as well, right? The first step was cutting the top rail off of one side using my Trumpeter panel scriber, then gluing two styrene strips together to get something the same thickness as the sides of the bed. Once that is glued down, I'll add a another strip to the top of the new rail, and add a piece of copper tubing underneath the outside edge, making it look more like the 1:1 bed! The last pic is a quick and dirty mock-up to check the stance, I used the "lowered" front end instead of the stock one...combine that with the Big & Little rim/tire combo, and it looks just right to me!

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Next, I drilled out the spare tire rim's lug holes. I'm still trying to find a better tire to use that the one that comes with the kit, I don't think a skinny whitewall would look good as my spare tire!

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And here's the cool part, Sam (Sam I Am here on MCM) shipped this Hemi Hydro kit out on to me, and it arrived here two days later via standard mail! Two days from Wyoming to North Carolina, the USPS is starting to impress me! I cracked a part of the filler Sam had done test-fitting the interior piece, so it's looking like I'm gonna have to strip some filler off of it and replace it with some Acrylic Filler...but maybe not, I may go in an entirely different direction for the top of the hull, who knows...

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And the last update for now, I got the engine assembled and seams removed, next step for this will be some primer, along with the chassis!

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And after cracking the filler Sam had put on the boat, I made a decision. Since I was going to have to re-work it, I might as well go all out. So I threw the boat in the freezer for a few hours, and broke it down...

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I'm seriously considering making the top out of Basswood, just because I love the look of the old Chris Craft boats...we'll see if I go that far later!

Edited by Custom Mike
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Thanks Carl, I'm following Toney's build, but adding my touches here and there, I'm sure Toney would approve of it! I dropped the the boat in some Super Clean to loosen/remove the filler, Then I decided to get to work on the trailer frame. It's not too bad, but needs some sanding to get rid of some nasty looking spots. After an hour or so of sanding stick work, we have a nice looking trailer to work with!

This pics shows what the rails looked like when I started. like I said, not bad, but it needs to be flat and smooth!
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These pics are after smoothing the rails out, much better!
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Even the fender got smoothed out, even though it's only issues were on the rolled sections at the edges.
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I'm sure you noticed the clamps in the last few pics, there's a good reason for them. There is a hole in the top of the trailer frame for a part, but it's located right at the edge of the rail. Since it was so close to the outside edge, it of course left a void in the rail. So I hacked a piece of the rail out and glued a bit of strip styrene in there to fill the hole. I'll re-drill the hole once everything has cured completely.

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The filled in area, you can see there is an extra piece of styrene on the inside of the rail, it's so when I re-drill the hole, I've got something to drill into without weakening the rail like it was originally.
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I clamped the trailer to a sanding stick to keep it all straight, since it wanted to bend upward at the rear. You can see the added strip on the inside plainly here.
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The patch has been trimmed to shape and rough sanded, once the glue fully cures, I'll smooth it all out nice and pretty!
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Edited by Custom Mike
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OK, I took a good look at the 392 HEMI that comes with the boat, and thought, man, that's gonna take some work to make look good! So I dug out the 392 HEMI from Revell's '32 Ford 5-Window that I didn't use, and started hacking!

I started by gluing the '32's 392 block together, and gathered all the parts that I thought I would need to swap the old 392 for the new 392...the first step was making the old timing cover fit the new engine.
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Next, I took a good look at both sets of valve covers, first up are the new 392's parts...nice, smooth and shiny!
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These are the original 392's valve covers, they have the script I want, but they're rippled, so I'm going with the new ones!
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The big change to the new 392 is removing the transmission, and transferring the rear section of the old 392 to the new one. This will allow the new engine to mount to the existing rear mount (Hopefully) easily.
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I sliced off the entire back part on the old engine, but the only part I really need is the circle that represents the crankshaft, the little semi-circle piece will be pitched.
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First step to getting the new 392 all set up for the existing mounts was to make a filler for the hole in the back end of the block...
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The filler in place, smoothed out and squared up so the new engine will sit straight on the old mount.
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I removed the oil filter mounting boss from the new block, since it mounts up high (Ease of maintenance?) on the old engine.
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Not perfect, but this part of the engine will be invisible, so I'm not gonna sweat it!
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Here's where it starts getting serious. I gathered all the parts that are specific to the old 392, and started getting them prepped for the new 392. Since it's a boat, there are some specific parts that have to be used on the new engine, so I have to make them all fit. I found at this point that the new 392 is about 1/16th of an inch longer than the original 392...here's where it's gonna be a challenge!

I'm hoping I can shift the mounts just enough in the boat to make it work, we'll see what happens when I get to that point....t's gonna fit, one way or another!

Here's all the parts (Minus the headers) that have to be made to play nice with the new engine.
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I have no clue what this part is, but it takes the place of the fan out front, so it's gotta be made all nice and pretty. I plan to strip all the old chrome and go with some Metalizer Stainless Steel...a bit more accurate for something that is used around the water!
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There was a very nasty seam between the cooling fins on this thing, lots of fun to get it looking like it does now! This may be sprayed with Aluminum, we'll see!
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And of course, since the block is slightly longer on the new 392, the old oil pan needs to get a bit bigger, so I grabbed a piece of plastic that made the oil pan just the right size, and glued it in place.
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The newly extended oil pan was test-fit on the new 392, and it fits perfectly!
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Next step was cleaning up the extended section to make it look like it belongs there...
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Nice and pretty, Mikey likes it! :P:
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The last bit of work I did last night was to attach the mount for the rear engine mount to the oil pan. I mocked it up on the new engine and rear mount to insure it was in the proper location, then glued it to the oil pan.
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Next, we have the boat engine in primer and paint, the same Chevy Engine Orange was used, because I can't find my Hemi Orange anywhere! I used Dupli-Color Primer -Sealer on the boat's engine to darken the color a few shades and make it look a bit more like Hemi Orange,

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Edited by Custom Mike
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I gathered all the parts for the original engine, threw 'em in some Super Clean, and here's how they looked....

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The timing cover, wearing a lovely shade of metalizer Aluminum Plate....

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The whatever this thing is, wearing the same paint as the timing cover....

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And the mounts, all painted Metalizer Stainless Steel.

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I buffed the Metalizer on all the old parts, I think they look much better now than they did in chrome...

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Timing cover buffed out and installed on the new 392...

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And the trailer frame, all primed and ready for some paint!

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Next, the kit headers. These are not the best looking pieces, but they're gonna have to do, so a lot of clean-up will be needed, along with a quick dip in the Super Clean pond to get rid of the chrome.

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Finally, the horns for the ends of the headers. These were horribly bad, it took nearly 45 minutes to clean the first one up! The corrected one is on the left, the one on the right is how it looks coming off the parts tree...

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I started the clean-up by flattening out the end of the horn, and carefully sanded on it until it took the shape it was supposed to have. We'll see how they look once some primer hits 'em, I may have more work to do!

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Thanks guys, and Carl, I just want it to look better than what it would look like if you just built it straight out of the box...this boat is a real dog in some areas! OK, here's some pics to show I've actually done something...the trailer in GM Ultra Silver....

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And the repaired spot, one tiny pinhole appeared somehow, but I'll live with it!
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I did all the clean-up needed on the rollers and support brackets for the trailer, these babies were a pain to get looking good...tons of flash!

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And the leaf springs painted Tamiya Aircraft Aluminum...I may go back and paint the brackets with some Metalizer Stainless Steel later.
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Next up was the fuel tank, glued together and sanded to death to get the seam out of it, it will probably be painted with some Aluminum Plate, I can't have enough of that paint!

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The truck's engine was drilled for plug wires....

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The boat's 392 had it's heads installed....

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And the two engines with their matching Fatkidd distributors!

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The boat, all filler is now gone, and it's ready to be re-assembled!

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The two rails were glued into the boat, and the 392 was mocked up, it actually fits perfectly! I thought I was gonna have to fight with it since the '32's 392 is bigger than the original 392, but it slid right into place with ease!

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A shot of the 392 with it's newly de-chromed intake and carbs...

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The intake painted with some Metalizer Aluminum....

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And glued in place between the heads!

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The valve covers are now in place. All that's left on this engine other than the wiring is the old 392's oil filter, a starter, and a fuel pump and line back to the tank. I may add a battery too, we'll see if I can fit it in the back.

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And I may have stumbled across a good look for the carbs. I tried painting them with some Metalizer Brass first, but it wouldn't cover the plastic's oddball color completely. So I re-painted them with some Metalizer Steel, then Brass...I think they look just right!

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The putty being applied to the seams on the boat hull....

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And sanded smooth...

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The top of the boat glued back in place...

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And finally, the putty applied to the seam on top. I let this cure for a few days to be safe, since it's got a few thick spots in it.

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Before I glued the top of the boat hull back in place, I made a small modification to the dash area. The molded-in 3 gauge cluster looked crappy, so I sanded it smooth, broke out my photo-etched street rod gauge sets, and got the Dremel out. Since the last one of these I used came out good, but not good enough (The '50 Chevy's dash), I went a different route. Watch and see the insanity at work!

I laid the photo-etched gauge bezel in the recess, and covered it in putty....

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I sanded carefully, removing the putty covering the bezel slowly...
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Until the bezel popped free, leaving me with a perfect (Hopefully) "surround" for the bezel!

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Completing the new gauge assembly, I added some Testors Clear Parts Cement to the gauges, laid the bezel over the gauges, and mocked it up in the dash...pretty slick!

I'll add a bit more of the Clear parts Cement later to give each gauge a nice "lens", but for now it's setting off to the side to insure the gauges stay attached to the bezel! And yes, I know the gauges are slightly off, but trust me, you can't tell without an extreme close-up with the camera...besides, I can't move 'em now, the glue has dried!

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I realized I forgot to install the tongue on the trailer, so I glued it in place, hit it with some Primer/Sealer. and re-shot the entire trailer with some more GM Ultra Silver...it looks much better this time around!

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Next up were the rollers for the trailer. I sprayed the roller parts with some Dupli-Color Black primer, and the brackets with some Metalizer Stainless Steel, then put them all on the trailer.
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Looking pretty good, and they all roll too!
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Next up was the seats. there was one small sink mark on the top between the seats, and a small hole on the top at the side of the passenger seat, both were taken care of with a dab of putty and a little sanding....

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Finally, the jump seat on the back side was assembled and installed. It's not too smooth of a fit once it's closed, but it does work, so I'm happy. I'll just display it in the open position!

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