Revell '57 Ford Gasser

[TarheelRick]

The AMT '55 Nomad has had gasser parts including a suicide-spring front end for 50 years and no one has ever questioned whether that was gas-legal or not. And I'm pretty sure I've seen photos of both '55 and '56 Nomad gassers. Non-issue AFAIC.

I have a picture somewhere that I made at the Gulfport, MS dragstrip back around '71-72 of a '57 Chevy sedan-delivery with a tilt fiberglass front-end, blown SBC, and radiused rear wheel wells that ran in Gas Class.  So yeah, long roofs have been in Gas Class for many years; it was called "The Weed-Whacker".  My pet peeve is calling AWB's gassers, on early gassers the wheelbase had to remain the same. 

[Snake45]

"A nightmare of epic proportions"? Probably not. I don't know if you're a fabricator by trade...but I am. Anyone competent to measure, drill, cut and weld steel ought to be able to do it. I've seen a multitude of bodies swapped on to frames they weren't designed for over 40-odd years in the business. Some were hack-jobs, some were very clean.

Whether it was ever really done is moot. It could have been done, and here's why it MIGHT have been done.

Suppose you have a fairly nice '57 body shell bolted to a frame that's been lozenged or has a badly bent front rail. Entirely possible. Again, I've seen this kind of damage frequently.

And also suppose you don't have access to a frame machine or tie-down pots and a dozer capable of straightening the '57 frame, but the junkyard DOES have a straight '56 frame, maybe under a burn, cheap.

There's your reason to do a backyard swap. So...agreed, it's probably not the best way to go about building a drag car, but it's entirely within the realm of feasibility.  

 

Great post--except I want to go the other way--56 body on 57 frame.

Anyway, just got the kit and took a QUICK peek inside. Here's some impressions:

1. Not getting a lot of play, but it looks like all the stock engine, chassis, and interior parts are still here if you want to do a stocker and use the gassy stuff on something else. If you haven't yet bought a wagon, buy this one instead of the original stocker.

2. The wheels are definitely two different sizes. Haven't measured them yet but I THINK the fronts are normal 14" and the rears are bigger, like maybe 16" or even bigger, for the slicks.

3. Decals are nice! Several very cool vintage speed logos, and other good stuff.

4. Doesn't seem to be any special ride height mounting stuff for the rear axle, but that should be easy enough to fabricate. Or even just bend a little more arch into the springs, that'll jack the assend up a couple inches right there. There is a set of traction bars, though. I think their front mounts are a bit too long, but that's easy to fix.

5. Front end is a straight tube axle suspended UNDER a pair of leaf springs. Should be easy enough to get a little of the "nosebleed" out of the front just by hanging the axle on top of the springs instead of underneath. That's what I'm gonna do.

As I said, that's a QUICK look and I could be wrong about any or all of it.

Think I'm gonna see how easy the gasser front end setup will fit on the AMT '56 frame. If it does, I'll just do that and maybe put a bigger rear end under the '56, and use the Revell '57 traction bars. If it's not an almost-direct bolt-on, though, I have no qualms about putting this frame under the AMT '56, right or wrong. It's only plastic, and it's MY plastic! Should be able to use the rest of the '57 wagon kit for some kind of cool curbside street cruiser, anyway--even if it has to sit on the '56 frame!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great post--except I want to go the other way--56 body on 57 frame.

Duh. I knew that.

I've had an attack of the stupids the past couple days.  

Anyway, same remarks hold true no matter which way the swap would be done in 1:1. 

When you stop to consider what a huge amount of metalwork was...and still is...done to channel and section older bodies, the body / chassis swap is really easy by comparison.

[High octane]

I saw the new LAWMAN kit at my local Hobby Lobby today and it was priced at $39.99. Yikes! Even though I had a $25 gift card and a 40% off coupon I took a "pass" on buying that kit as I'm still tryin' to "thin the herd" here at home.

[Brett Barrow]

I saw the new LAWMAN kit at my local Hobby Lobby today and it was priced at $39.99. Yikes! Even though I had a $25 gift card and a 40% off coupon I took a "pass" on buying that kit as I'm still tryin' to "thin the herd" here at home.

MSRP is only $31.95 (still high, I know).  I guess that's how they offset those 40% coupons.

[Snake45]

Okay, have played with the wheels and tires a bit now.

The front wheels are fairly good representations of Torq-Thrust D's, and very narrow, too. Usually when these are kitted, they're much deeper. They measure 15.25", so call 'em 15s. I tried and they'd fit in "old standard" solid vinyl Firestone Supremes, so they should fit a LOT of 1/25 tires. Shame Revell didn't give us four of these, they could have been used on the "stock" version of the wagon.

The rear wheels are 17" so they will NOT work on any "standard" slicks. The kit slicks aren't quite as tall as most 1/25 kit slicks, and aren't that wide. They'd be about the right size for street slicks for a first-gen Camaro, Firebird, or Mustang, if you could live with the 17" wheels. They have no sidewall detail at all.

The front/stock tires have no sidewall detail at all, either. They are a little taller and a little narrower than the AMT Firestone Supremes. I think they'll look PERFECT as front tires for '60s Stockers, Super Stocks, MPs, and gassers. I'll definitely be using all four of these as the front tires for drag builds. They SHOULD fit most 1/25 wheels no problem.

[Snake45]

I'll just be happy to call my build "gasser style" and not worry if it's class legal or not. I'm going to take the "gasser" parts from the wagon and add them to a sedan kit along with a Ford 427 (probably from a T-Bolt kit} to come up with something like this. I always liked this car.

 

 

 

 

You'll want to pick up the latest (Jan 17) issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines. A guy has pretty much recreated this car today. Lots of great pics.

[FordRodnKustom]

You'll want to pick up the latest (Jan 17) issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines. A guy has pretty much recreated this car today. Lots of great pics.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll keep an eye out for it. Should be hitting the mailbox soon.

[Snake45]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll keep an eye out for it. Should be hitting the mailbox soon.

Just got mine yesterday.

I thought you might enjoy it.

[Ron Hamilton]

Just got mine yesterday.

I thought you might enjoy it.

I was not going to buy the gasser kit, but after seeing the car in Hemmings, I will have to reconsider. That is one great car.

[Roncla]

On 12/5/2016 at 3:13 PM, Ron Hamilton said:

I was not going to buy the gasser kit, but after seeing the car in Hemmings, I will have to reconsider. That is one great car.

I was swayed by the Al Jensen car in Hemmings too. it ticks all the boxes for me.

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by Roncla

[Ace-Garageguy]

I was swayed by the Al Jensen car in Hemmings too. it ticks all the boxes for me.

Yup...me too. Even though the crank centerline appears to be higher than the 24" gasser-class-legal max way back when, the car looks so freakin' good I really don't care.  

[gtx6970]

Am I reading this right ?

the bumpers on this Gasser version no longer have those ugly bumper guards on them.?  Front or rear ?

If so I'll buy one just for the bumpers

[Snake45]

Am I reading this right ?

the bumpers on this Gasser version no longer have those ugly bumper guards on them.?  Front or rear ?

If so I'll buy one just for the bumpers

I just looked at the kit. No bumper guards on the front, but seems to have them on the rear.

Don't buy the kit just for the bumpers. I'll swap them to you for that '64 Buick tonneau. Well, I need to end up with some kind of rear bumper, guards or not, but I can't imagine any use for the front one.

[gtx6970]

I just looked at the kit. No bumper guards on the front, but seems to have them on the rear.

Don't buy the kit just for the bumpers. I'll swap them to you for that '64 Buick tonneau. Well, I need to end up with some kind of rear bumper, guards or not, but I can't imagine any use for the front one.

Snake, I need bumpers , front and rear with no guards front or rear. I want to build something VERY similar to this . I don't normally have an interest in hot rods / street rods,,,but this car just pops my buttons .

 

Edit, I just ckd the kit I have ( green and white one on the box ) . It has bumper guards on the front,,,,but not on the rear. so all I need is the front without bumper guards.

 

Edited December 8, 2016 by gtx6970

[espo]

Snake, I need bumpers , front and rear with no guards front or rear. I want to build something VERY similar to this . I don't normally have an interest in hot rods / street rods,,,but this car just pops my buttons

I like the no bumper guard look. I have owned two '57s in the past and that was about the first thing that I would do on the 1:1. You can remove the guards on the kit bumpers if you reinforce the bumper area under the guards first. A lot of sanding and be real carful with the mounting pin hole for the bumper. Also Replicas & Miniatures offers bumpers already done. The usual chrome painting will be needed  which ever way you go.

[Robberbaron]

I just looked at the kit. No bumper guards on the front, but seems to have them on the rear.

Don't buy the kit just for the bumpers. I'll swap them to you for that '64 Buick tonneau. Well, I need to end up with some kind of rear bumper, guards or not, but I can't imagine any use for the front one.

Sure it's not the other way?  First issue of the wagon (police/stock) had the guards on the front, none on the rear.  Box art for the gasser seems to show the blue/white stock version still with front guards.

When Revell was originally showing test shots of the wagon, they were using the original sedan version of the rear bumper, with the taller guards.  It was pointed out that 1:1 wagons had shorty bumper guards to prevent damage to the tailgate.

Revell listened (kinda): their version of a fix was to just get rid of the rear guards altogether.  Some people prefer that look, but it's not factory.  I compared the trees from my sedan and wagon kits, and it looked like they just smoothed out the rear bumper from the sedan instead of tooling a separate wagon bumper.

If the rear bumper in the gasser wagon does have guards, are they the correct short style?  I'm also curious if the next reissue of the sedan will have any rear guards.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Robberbaron

[Snake45]

I'll double-check.

[Snake45]

Sure it's not the other way?  First issue of the wagon (police/stock) had the guards on the front, none on the rear.  Box art for the gasser seems to show the blue/white stock version still with front guards.

When Revell was originally showing test shots of the wagon, they were using the original sedan version of the rear bumper, with the taller guards.  It was pointed out that 1:1 wagons had shorty bumper guards to prevent damage to the tailgate.

Revell listened (kinda): their version of a fix was to just get rid of the rear guards altogether.  Some people prefer that look, but it's not factory.  I compared the trees from my sedan and wagon kits, and it looked like they just smoothed out the rear bumper from the sedan instead of tooling a separate wagon bumper.

If the rear bumper in the gasser wagon does have guards, are they the correct short style?  I'm also curious if the next reissue of the sedan will have any rear guards.

I checked again and you're right. That was the front bumper that had the guards on it, not the rear, and vice versa. Sorry to get your hopes up, GTX; I apologize.

[gtx6970]

I checked again and you're right. That was the front bumper that had the guards on it, not the rear, and vice versa. Sorry to get your hopes up, GTX; I apologize.

No problem. I may try to make my own.

 

Or anyone tried to use one from the  AMT 57 Ford yet . ?

[Snake45]

No problem. I may try to make my own.

 

Or anyone tried to use one from the  AMT 57 Ford yet . ?

I found and checked my ('90s reissue) AMT '57. Its front bumper has the same ugly nubbies on it that the Revell does. Sorry. Can't speak for earlier issues, so there might still be SOME hope....

[Robberbaron]

I'll chime in while being no help at all, and remind everyone about the old multi-piece body Revell '57 Ranchero, which...also has the front guards.

Although, if you do want a rear bumper with the correct short guards for the wagon, the Ranchero does have those.  So if you have one of those buried in your stash, there's finally something you can use out of it...

[junkyardjeff]

For the one wanting to do a AMT 56 as a gasser I am building one using the chassis from the MPC 57 Chevy gasser and it fits good and can post some pics.

[Metaldrumm]

Gonna make  a great gasser ,for any skill level the true builders know what i mean,plus we all have parts bins to do whatever we want. 

[Mike Chernecki]

Does this kit build as gasser only? Are the stock wagon parts included?