1968 Shelby Green Hornet-----Update! 8/4/18

[MrObsessive]

Bob, I go back to the eye doctor again next month on the 9th. Last time I went to see him (a few weeks ago) I mentioned about the eye pain I had from time to time. He said it was due to some sort of inflammation, but he wasn't sure of the cause. I can tell you that one of the things that can trigger it (particularly light sensitivity) is excess sugar in a short period of time. 

Case in point:

A few Saturdays ago on one of my cheat days, I decided to "indulge" with the following------ a couple glazed donuts (glazed sour cream and a glazed chocolate one), a pint of Haggen Dazs (sp) chocolate ice cream, and a small bag of BBQ chips. I ate all of this in a period of about four hours. Later in the day when I was trying to work on something, I could feel the pain start in not one but both eyes but more severely in the one that was operated on. I was able to look in the mirror and see that my pupil wasn't dilated, yet my eyes were quite bloodshot. The light sensitivity while not super severe, was bad enough that I needed to be in a dark room for the remainder of the day. 

The only thing I could zero in on to the cause of this was the large amount of sugar I had, and it must have sent my blood sugar through the roof which translated into the bad light sensitivity/eye pain. Since then, I've dialed way back on those "indulgences" and the severe pain hasn't come back, but whenever I need to look at something for an extended period of time up close, I get difficulties. I was told by someone at work that they had the same thing done and that it took them longer than a year for their sight to get back to normal------even after that they have troubles at times.

At least the good thing is that I haven't had the encroaching blindness get worse in the right eye...........that I'd definitely notice!

Just the same, I did manage to get the driver's door hinged and got the Shelby rear end caps grafted on. I got the trunk cut out, and now it's a matter of grafting on the Shelby spoiler on the deck lid, make the inner trunk stamping, and get hinges for that made. As I mentioned before, I'm going to leave other working features I planned off of this one.......Otherwise, I'd still be working on this for the next few years!

Since I'm off work till Monday, I'll try to compose a halfway reasonable update later on, and have pics up. Progress will be slow, but at least there's progress!

Edited November 24, 2016 by MrObsessive

[slusher]

Remarkable work your doing on this build Bill.  Maybe some mild sunglasses might help to rest your eyes after some bench time. I really hope your eye continues to improve friend..

[Custom Hearse]

I've never fallen in love with a Mustang as much as this one Bill, it is just too cool for words. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of this build, but do take care of yourself my friend. The Mustang build is sweet, and I know you will do the 1:1 justice.

[MrObsessive]

Carl, that's an interesting idea about the sunglasses..........one day at work a few weeks ago, I had an episode where I could feel eye pain coming on. I happen to have a set of those "temporary" shades that the eye doctor gives you when you go to get your pupils dilated, and I sure as heck put those on! Someone had mentioned if my eyes were bothering me, and I said yes as the lighting is taking its toll today. We have those fluorescent bulbs everywhere hanging up and that day they were getting on my nerves.

I have a fluorescent lamp at my work table here at home (along with an incandescent one), but at least I can turn those down if need be! 

OK! I have a bit of an update on what's been going on with the model............as I mentioned before, I'm going to leave some of the working features I had planned out of the mix, and focus more on getting the bodywork as close to the 1:1 as possible so this doesn't drag on for years instead of months.

As you can see here, I got the trunk lid cut out and as you'll see in later pics, the '66 taillight panel will be cut out later on, replaced by a cross brace.

I need to graft the '68 Shelby end caps on to the rear fenders, and then graft the spoiler on to the deck lid.

I was putting it off for a while trying to get the windows to work, but I went ahead and built up the driver's door and got that hinged. I've got the shut lines around the perimeter of the door pretty much where I want them allowing for paint.

Later on, I'll tackle making the vent window structure out of brass like I did for the passenger side.

Here's the built up door jamb for the door. I've since moved the trailing portion of the jamb back a bit as I originally glued it in a bit short compared to the other side.

As you saw previously with the passenger door, I got the hinges working and in place for the driver's side.

So far there's no binding/scraping of the door when it's opening/closing.

OK, moving back to the trunk lid, I want to now graft in the spoiler. I taped in the rear deck on to the body, and with a pencil roughly drew in a line where I want to score the Exacto blade. 

I want the spoiler to line up pretty much with the ends caps so that the radii on both ends will match up.

Using a lot of liquid glue and some scrap plastic, I got the spoiler put on and now test fitting it on the body to see how things line up.

So far so good.............

I went ahead and cut out the '66 rear panel and put in this cross brace which will help with mounting of the Shelby taillight panel (resin), and add to the trunk detail when the lid is raised.

Some sanding and filing is in order to line things up that much better, and then it's on to making the underside trunk structure, and soldering hinges for it.

Now I'll focus on cleaning up the back end/rear deck up more, getting it hinged along with the inner trunk structure, and then it's on to the front end. The grille opening is not quite right for a '68, and the front bumper hangs down too low due to the incorrect grille shell. I'll see about fixing that, and then it's just some small details to get together before I move on to building the engine.

Thanks for tuning in fellas!

Edited November 25, 2016 by MrObsessive

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great update. This mustang is going to be a beuaty. You are going to have to do a build book. Once you get paint on it will difficult too know how much you've done.

Hope the eye issue goes away or you find a way to work around. Keep up the great work.

[MrObsessive]

Sorry for the long pauses between updates folks. Between work, holidays, and some days just flat out lack of ambition, there are times when this'll happen!

Ok, here's where I am at the moment................

I couldn't put it off any longer, so I knew it was time to make the inner trunk structure. I didn't try to reproduce every angle and bend in the structure, just enough to make a reasonable representation of this when the trunk is open. 

No latching mechanism here, it'll just open and close on its own.

Here's the complete structure epoxied in on the underside of the deck lid. Gooseneck hinges were made with a separate structure put in for the hinges to hang on. 

Not enough real estate was there on the tulip panel to hang the hinges on, not to mention I wanted the hinges to tuck in a bit more under the rear shelf area, so this was made.

Everything seems to swing open and close without any binding so far.

The hinges are somewhat generic, I'm going for sturdiness this time around, and don't want to deal with the fragility of the type of hinges I did for the '59 Chevy's trunk.

Some more test fitting of the taillight panel is being done here. It looks like it tucks into the body a scooch too much. 

OK, did some more tweaking, and it sits a bit more flush with the trailing edge of the deck lid as I'd like. One thing I may change but my better sense tells me to leave it alone, is the angle of the deck spoiler itself. It seems a bit too upright compared to pics I have, but on the other hand, I really hate to lose the "Shelby" lettering on the spoiler.

No one makes a PE set unfortunately (yet) so I'm gonna have to leave this as is. I may make the spoiler and end caps just a smidge taller.

Now it's time to replace the vent window on the driver's door. Like the passenger side, this was made out of bent H-Channel brass (Special Shapes), and formed to my liking. 

I then superglued the frame to the door, and epoxied .010 x .020 styrene strip to replicate the chrome trim on the frame, and to also make the fit a bit more flush against the shoulder of the door.

I thought while it was on my mind, to double check the fit of the chassis while I'm doing the bodywork. Stance will be important to me on this one as I'll have to practically scratchbuild the entire rear end due to the IRS it has. This chassis is out of the '67 Shelby kit.........

Profile is looking good so far...........note the added rocker trim------will have to tackle the fender well trim at some point.

Here's the vent window complete and sitting on the door...........

The driver's door is still opening and closing without binding. This'll be important as I don't want any surprises when it comes time to paint and final assembly. 

BTW, I NEVER paint anything on the body till everything (chassis, interior, glass) fits the way it should without any drama.

That's it for now everyone.......I don't go back to work till next Tuesday, so I can at least get some more done hopefully. Next major hurdle to tackle is fixing that front end.........yikes! Some surgery is definitely needed! 

Thanks for tuning in!

Edited December 30, 2016 by MrObsessive

[Dann Tier]

One word  -OUTSTANDING!!

[RestoModGuy]

Wow.... Fantastic craftmanship... I've done plenty of doors opening in my time but what I'm learning from you just takes it to another level beyond anything I've done.... I'm grateful for the level of detail and your explanation, thank you!

[MrObsessive]

Slowly but surely still plugging away at the bodywork on this one. My focus for the last couple weeks or so has been mainly on the front end. While not totally terrible for someone just wanting to build it, to my view it needs some tweaks to make it more accurate to my eyes.

Here's a head on shot of the front-------the grille to my view is too tall and "blocky", and the bumper sits too far down below the headlights.

Looking at 1:1 pics of the car, the bumper should sit just below the headlights without all the real estate as seen here.

To make things easier for me to modify this, I figured it's better for me to entirely cut away the front end, and reattach it later on. 

You can see here the whole front end sawed away.............in my haste, I should have made more of an angular cut along the leading edges of the front fenders.

In later pics, I did add some plastic back to those areas for a more accurate appearance.

Here's the front clip------I took a flat file and got rid of the excess below the headlights.

It seemed to me that the angle of the grille wasn't quite right either from the side view, so some plastic was added here.

Originally I thought I would need to change the radius of the leading edge of the hood opening in the clip..........later on looking at my reference pics from other angles, this step here wasn't really necessary, and in fact, I ended up grinding away a bit more than what was originally on the clip.

I wanted to take a break from bodywork for a spell, and take a look at the wheels.

The wheels I'm going to use are the 10 spokes that were once available separately in 1/24 from GMP. While they are not 100% accurate (spoke shape a little off and too bright IMO), they look MUCH better than the kit wheels in the AMT '68 Shelby kit! 

You can see why those wheels were difficult to get on and off. I didn't want to take the chance and cut off the excess on the wheel----these wheels are pretty much unobtainium, and a GOOD set of these are high on my wanted aftermarket items! 

If you see these turn up on eBay and you're interested, get set for a bidding war as these are very much wanted until someone casts as good a set.

OK! Just a preliminary mockup of how this'll sit with the wheels. Of course, this is not the final stance--------I just want an idea right now how I want the track to sit and how the tires appear in relation to the body.

Back to the front end, I got the headlight doors and outer grille shape pretty much the way I want it, and as you can see, defined the Shelby headlight "eyebrows" a bit more-------another '68 Shelby signature. I cut away the middle part of the header, and reattached it later for a better fit.

Well! Aside from some small details to clean up, this is pretty much it! To me, much better than the kit body originally had, and I had to do some wrestling with the hood as it was a bit warped out of the box.

To cure that, I put the hood in the dehydrator at 140 degrees for about 15 mins. Bent it to shape while it was toasty and so far it's keeping its shape as I type this. 

I'll have to remember NOT to wash the hood in hot water for final cleanup before painting as its memory will come back and it's warped again. Same for drying the paint-------no dehydrator for this one for the same reason.

While I had the ambition, I did reshape the spoiler and end caps to a different angle. The appearance to me previously was a bit too upright, so I changed it to have bit more slant.

Before.................

After.............

That's as far as I've gotten..........now to go back and tweak the grille trim so that when it comes time for BMF, there won't be any major gaffes. Also, try to get the wheel well trim on. There's still the vinyl roof seams to get on, and then hopefully by the beginning of next month, I'll get started on the engine. 

Long ways to go just the same, but so far, I'm happy with how this is turning out.

Thanks to all that are tuning in!

Edited January 23, 2017 by MrObsessive

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great update.Very cool project. Thanks for the great step by step notes on the changes.

[Ron Hamilton]

Wow!

[D. Battista]

Been watching this from the start Bill. You do awesome work and help a great deal with your explanations ...and very good pics on how to... It is very much appreciated..! 

This mustang is looking cool..!

[Modelcarjedi]

amazing build ! i always enjoy your work

[grayghost]

Little bump back up.I hope every thing is ok.

[MrObsessive]

Little bump back up.I hope every thing is ok.

Yeah everything's just fine!

Sorry it's been so long since my last update! Everyday events (work along with tiredness) often get in the way, and I can say that I did get the bodywork done.......for the most part. I've since started on the engine and I have taken pics. I just haven't gotten around to editing them, and then try to compose something legible for you guys to read.

This weekend since the weather won't be so great, I'll focus on doing just that and update you all. Thanks for asking Tim!

[Mike Chernecki]

Good to hear things are progressing, can't wait for the update.

FYI, Plamoz has the Shelby wheel in the works if your interested.

 

[MrObsessive]

Mike, thanks for the BIG heads up!

I just dropped him a line as I'm definitely interested! He says they're 1/25, and I'm hoping that they'll fit the AMT Parts Pack Goodyear Polyglas GT F60-15 RWL's I want to use. 

Looking at that 3D image, it looks to have the CORRECT offset, as well as the correct inner hub diameter. GMP's wheels are a bit lacking in this area, but until I saw these they were the best that could be had. 

[grayghost]

Yeah everything's just fine!

Sorry it's been so long since my last update! Everyday events (work along with tiredness) often get in the way, and I can say that I did get the bodywork done.......for the most part. I've since started on the engine and I have taken pics. I just haven't gotten around to editing them, and then try to compose something legible for you guys to read.

This weekend since the weather won't be so great, I'll focus on doing just that and update you all. Thanks for asking Tim!

I'm very glad to hear you are ok.And you know we love your builds so hang in there.

[Codi]

I love watching your builds Bill and the way you document the changes and progress.  Beautiful looking car made all the better with your changes.  btw, if you're interested, I think I have Shelby script in PE.  If you let me know the height of the letters on the trunk, I'll double check & get back to you.  cheers, tim

[MrObsessive]

I love watching your builds Bill and the way you document the changes and progress.  Beautiful looking car made all the better with your changes.  btw, if you're interested, I think I have Shelby script in PE.  If you let me know the height of the letters on the trunk, I'll double check & get back to you.  cheers, tim

Why thanks Tim! Just now I checked the height of the letters, and they're approximately 3/64" x 3/64". Stay tuned everyone as I just put new pics on Fotki a bit ago, and then went back and added text. I'll try to get 'em posted here within the next half hour or so. 

[Codi]

I sent you a PM Bill.  Hope I can be of some help.  tim

[MrObsessive]

Before I forget and get too far along, I want to put in more correct inner fenders and such. The ones in the original '68 Shelby kit are woefully inaccurate, so a donor kit '67 Shelby gave up its inner fenders, chassis, and i firewall.

I just used the back of an Exacto Blade to cut things out.

I had to shim the inner fenders somewhat as there was a bit of a gap trying to get things to fit. I won't add the firewall till later as I want to get some other things done, but it will be put in before the body gets totally painted, which won't be till near the end.

Another item needing attention is the wheelwell trim. I just used .010 x .020 plastic strip which was bent slightly to suit the contours of the wheelwells, and liquid glued in.

Well, I'm done pretty much done with the body work for now, so it's high time to move on to the engine. The Green Hornet used a electronic fuel injected 428 backed by what looks to be a C6 automatic.

I used the 428 out of a junker '69 Shelby kit, and the automatic came out of the AMT '67 Mercury Cyclone kit which gives you the choice of either the 4 spd, or the C6. If I ever decide to build the Cyclone, I'll be using the 4 spd anyway, so this works out well.

One chore was to cut away the four speed that was molded into the engine block.

Then line up the trans with the block and minimize any gaps with plastic and epoxy.

The fuel injection unit used what looks to be a "tuned port setup" which was cutting edge for 1968. What I'm making here that you see on my fingertip I believe is the air intake which'll sit on the top of the manifold. 

At first I thought this was a throttle body, but pics I have show injectors for each of the intake runners, with "fuel logs" running parallel with the valve covers.

Just some pics here showing the bodywork that's now done------about 98%.

I ruined the original hood trying to open up the vents------wrong move! While I was successful getting the vents open, the bottom edges of the vents ended up looking jagged and a bit raggedy to my eyes, and I couldn't get them symmetrical enough for my tastes, so eBay to the rescue!

I happen to do a search for AMT '68 Shelby hoods, and there was a seller that had just the hood among other things, and I snapped it up. I don't mind the odd color------everything will have a barrier coat and primer in the end, so it's no big deal. Also take note of the roof seams for the vinyl roof. Some .010" x .020" Evergreen strip was used once again for this. I did knock down the height of the seams somewhat to blunt them, and also the insides of the seams were blended in a bit to represent where the fabric overlaps per the 1:1

Here's the engine with the air intake mocked up for now. I had to change the intake manifold to the one out of the '68 Shelby kit as the one in the '69 made the engine much too tall, and the hood wasn't closing properly. 

This intake has a more accurate shape per the 1:1, so it's just as well.

Yes, those are tiny brass tubes angle filed and placed inside the neck of the body. Also, take note of the PE linkages pinned in with tiny brass bolts for the throttle later on.

The 1:1's intake manifold..................

Well, that's it for the time being. I'm not sure how long it'll be till the next update, and I may switch up things and do a quick builder (maybe a 1/43) as a bit of a breather. The bodywork alone has proven to be tougher than the '59 Chevy as there's just so much more involved with trying to make this right.

Thanks for tuning in, and thanks for all the compliments!

[Rider]

Really impressive work Bill.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bill, you're certainly earning your handle on this one.  Fantastic amount of effort, and fascinating to follow along. Something very special happening here.

[Mark IV]

Nice......don't forget to scribe in the fender to cowl seams that AMT left off.