Superbird McMonte Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 The major mods to the 69 Hurst Olds convertible body are complete! I’m liking the way it looks so far! I’m using the ‘72 Indianapolis Olds convertible as a donor kit. I worked from the front of the car to the back. Reason being, the windshield dictates were the up-top will live. The underside of the cowl has mounting pins for the windshield. Next I narrowed the rear seat. For now the interior is mocked up with the ‘72 side panels. Windsield temporarily mounted. With the up-top in place, I could get a feel for where the tulip panel would live. The tulip panel all trimmed up. Here are a bunch of mock-up pictures. Hope you all like it! All questions and comments always welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) VERY good start Dominick! Great conversion on the rear half of the car. They are VERY different between the hardtops and convertibles. I have something similar in mind for a '68 GTO convertible project that's rolling around in my head. Changing the angle of the trunk and rear fenders will be the toughest thing as like this Cutlass, they are different. Edited February 27, 2019 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I did this to a 69 GTO several years ago and decided I had to take a pie shaped section out of the rear quarter panel to get it right. I then scratch build the dog legs and narrowed the rear seat. A real pain in the patootie! I did a seminar on how I did it and this was a photo I took to illustrate the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 22 minutes ago, MrObsessive said: VERY good start Dominick! Great conversion on the rear half of the car. They are VERY different between the hardtops and convertibles. I have something similar in mind for a '68 GTO convertible project that's rolling around in my head. Changing the angle of the trunk and rear fenders will be the toughest thing as like this Cutlass, they are different. Thanks Bill! On the Cutlass, I sliced the quarter almost to the tail light. I bent the trunk down along it’s existing bend to bring the back down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Pete, thanks much for showing how you did this. I'm definitely saving this pic for future reference. I have all the bits and pieces now to make a '68 GTO from Monogram's '68 hardtop. It's just a matter of squeezing in the time and ambition to get around to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 Work is progressing on my Hurst Olds convertible conversion. Interior modifications would appear to be nearly complete. I had to scrap the idea of using the 1972 Oldsmobile convertible as a donor for the floor and chassis. The interior modifications just did not lend themselves well to the 1969 body. Since I had already used the 1968 Chevelle as a donor for the 1968 Oldsmobile and everything worked, I decided to use another Chevelle kit. I was able to grab three of them from Hobby Lobby at 40% off! The interior modifications aren’t perfect, but I will be gluing the up top on the car which will mean most of the interior flaws will be hard to see. ?♂️ Creating the new belt line molding prove to be a little bit of a challenge and a blessing. It helped me with the corners of the quarter panels. It helped take a little bit of the the waviness out of the edge. I used .010 x .020 Evergreen strip to continue the belt molding. Primer tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 Primer is on! And looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Wow, that is some solid work. Looking good. Only issue I can see is when you put it on a contest table and people don't know what they are looking at. Great documentation so far. Make sure you keep it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Minarick Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Very nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 22 hours ago, Pete J. said: Wow, that is some solid work. Looking good. Only issue I can see is when you put it on a contest table and people don't know what they are looking at. Great documentation so far. Make sure you keep it! This one will definitely go on a contest table with pictures to back it up! ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinger Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 one thing that is different from olds convertibles to coupes is that the convertible trunklid is kind of a custom piece. The corners are rounded. On Chevelles the trunk is the same 68 to 72 and shared with 70 to 72 skylarks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 1 hour ago, goldfinger said: one thing that is different from olds convertibles to coupes is that the convertible trunklid is kind of a custom piece. The corners are rounded. On Chevelles the trunk is the same 68 to 72 and shared with 70 to 72 skylarks. Looking back at my pictures, you are correct. But it is too late with this one. The model is in paint and I am masking the stripes tonight. ?♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 The paint is Dupli-Color GM Pure white. I masked off for getting gold paint tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 Gold went on nicely this morning! I removed all the masking during my coffee break. I really like the Tamiya tape! Nice clean lines, very little bleeding under! What little bleeding there was I cleaned off with Novus 2. I protected the gold stripes with tape very lightly applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codi Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 That's popping Dominick. I really like everything you've done on this build. Congrats on a job well done! cheers, tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelson Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 I'm really enjoying the work you have put into this!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 (edited) I added the black pin stripe along the edge of the gold. I laid out a piece of tape on my model mat along one of the guide lines. Cut one edge off to make it perfectly straight. I just eyeball the width. If it doesn’t look right on the car, I cut another. I did did this on both Hurst Olds and only used one 10 inch piece for each. $4.99 for 40 feet should last a while! Edited March 9, 2019 by Superbird McMonte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 Wheels on! Well actually the chassis and interior have met the body. The engine is in place also. I’ll post some pictures of that too. But it’s official, I’m entering the final stretch. With about two weeks left, the end of my trifecta is in sight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Oooh! Nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 Wheels on! Well actually the chassis and interior have met the body. The engine is in place also. I’ll post some pictures of that too. But it’s official, I’m entering the final stretch. With about two weeks left, the end of my trifecta is in sight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 Here is a mock up of the platform for the giant Hurst shifter. It does not attach to the bumper the same way the original did. But I made it so it’s removable. Below is a picture of my artwork in Photoshop. I did the original drawings were done in a different program and then imported. I printed out the templates for the shifter, cut them out and glue them to a sheet of plastic. Below, the paper patterns are on the left and the plastic on the right. The shifter stands up on its own! But in the picture after this you can see the brass tube for mounting it on the platform. I got a bag of wooden balls approximately the right size from Hobby Lobby. The base of the shifter turned out to be too big. So I peeled off the back side and trimmed the sides down. Then I glued the peeled up piece back. It might be a little taller than the prototype, but it doesn’t look too bad in person. The last group of pictures below or of the model just about done. I will post the completed pictures in the under glass section. Questions and comments welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Great work on the shifter and platform. Is it removable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelson Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Fantastic work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbird McMonte Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 9 hours ago, afx said: Great work on the shifter and platform. Is it removable? Yes. It slides into tubes under the bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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