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Grumpy's Toy IX 1972 Vega rebuild


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53 minutes ago, dragcarz said:

Thank you.....very cool builds!  I’m currently working on the California Flash and Grumpys Toy Vega.  Great inspiration. 

Thanks. Love them original Pro Stocks. I'm working on Grumpy's '74 Vega, Bob Glidden's '75 Mustang II and Grumpy's '76 Monza, had to source some Lenco trans and shifters to continue. 

Edited by magicmustang
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Great collection! You have some I want to do, including the Motown Missile Cuda as soon as I can figger out how to fix the MPC headlight buckets to something that looks more like a real Cuda's. I have a restorable glue bomb Fast Eddie Maverick and the Slixx decals to do it. It's missing the A-pillar on the left side but shouldn't be too hard to scratch up. I want to do several of the 1970 Pro Stocks, as well as some of their predecessors, the match racers of '68 and '69. 

I think I just added two Grumpy Vegas to my build list. 

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2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Great collection!  I want to do several of the 1970 Pro Stocks, as well as some of their predecessors, the match racers of '68 and '69. 

I think I just added two Grumpy Vegas to my build list. 

Thanks Snake. I also have a '68 Grumpy's Camaro mountain motored match racer on my shelf of doom.

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On 11/12/2019 at 5:02 PM, magicmustang said:

Thanks Snake. I also have a '68 Grumpy's Camaro mountain motored match racer on my shelf of doom.

That's an interesting car. Started as a legal 396/375 SS/C in '68, then was run as a match racer and A/MP and even as a B/G, and then became one of the first true Pro Stocks, winning the first two big NHRA meets in 1970, the Winternationals and the Gatornationals. I have a "distressed" diecast of this car that needs a few pieces and some touchup. Maybe I'll get to that this winter. Would love to see yours! B)

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48 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

 Would love to see yours! B)

Here ya go.

Have done all the body mods you suggested for the AMT '68 Camaro. Cut out the rear seat and scratch built the interior. Scratch built a "Grump Lump". Corrected a "Mountain Motor". Got my Cady decals. Still need a hidden lights RS grill. May enter it in your next "Bring out your Dead" challenge, or the next after that.

Grumpy's Toy '68 Camaro.JPG

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17 minutes ago, magicmustang said:

Here ya go.

Have done all the body mods you suggested for the AMT '68 Camaro. Cut out the rear seat and scratch built the interior. Scratch built a "Grump Lump". Corrected a "Mountain Motor". Got my Cady decals. Still need a hidden lights RS grill. May enter it in your next "Bring out your Dead" challenge, or the next after that.

Grumpy's Toy '68 Camaro.JPG

Great start! Paint that engine block black, as Grump always did. Also, that Cady sheet won't work for you. The Grumpy's Toy logos are sized only for GTV, the '68 Nova, and are much too big for any of the others. Spend the money and get the Slixx sheet, which has them the right size. 

I just came into possession of a resin grille that's repopped from the MPC '68 Camaro SS/RS. I doubt I'll ever use it, as I prefer the one from the AMT '67 annual. I'll check and see if it fits this MPC body. If it does, are you interested in it? 

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1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

 Paint that engine block black, as Grump always did.Spend the money and get the Slixx sheet, which has them the right size. 

I just came into possession of a resin grille that's repopped from the MPC '68 Camaro SS/RS. I doubt I'll ever use it, as I prefer the one from the AMT '67 annual. I'll check and see if it fits this MPC body. If it does, are you interested in it? 

My photo (see below) of Grumpy's '68 motor shows the block is red? I have the Slixx sheet also, thanks for the heads up. Yes, I would be interested in the RS grill if it fits. Let me know and maybe we can work out a trade.

Now that I think about it, this pic might be from the restored Jenkins '68 Camaro. They may have taken liberties with the engine color. However here is another pic of Grump loading the motor into his '67 Camaro.

grumpy's toy IV 1968 Camaro engine.jpg

1967 Camaro-grumpy.jpg

Edited by magicmustang
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That 1972 Vega P/S is such a significant piece of history , as it exhibited a radical-shift toward :

* Small Block engines ( esp. non-stock-displacements )

* Rack & Pinion steering 
* Lenco transmission ( correct me if my info is wrong )

* Custom-fabricated chassis 

Grumpy was such the innovator ( "Slick-Shift" gearbox ) , and this car was a highwater marque !

Keep up the great work !

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18 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

That 1972 Vega P/S is such a significant piece of history , as it exhibited a radical-shift toward :

 

* Lenco transmission ( correct me if my info is wrong )

 

Grumpy was such the innovator ( "Slick-Shift" gearbox ) , and this car was a highwater marque !

Keep up the great work !

He changed to a Lenco trans in the '73 Vega (after the Winternationals), the '72 Vega was a T-10 four speed.

Edited by magicmustang
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On 11/13/2019 at 7:14 PM, Snake45 said:

I just came into possession of a resin grille that's repopped from the MPC '68 Camaro SS/RS. I doubt I'll ever use it, as I prefer the one from the AMT '67 annual. I'll check and see if it fits this MPC body. If it does, are you interested in it? 

Hey Snake, tried to PM you but it said your inbox is full. This is the only way I know how to contact you as I lost your email address. Did you get a chance to see if the MPC RS grill will fit the AMT '68 Camaro body. Let me know as I am still interested.

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20 minutes ago, magicmustang said:

Hey Snake, tried to PM you but it said your inbox is full. This is the only way I know how to contact you as I lost your email address. Did you get a chance to see if the MPC RS grill will fit the AMT '68 Camaro body. Let me know as I am still interested.

Thanks for reminding me. I'll try to look at that tonight. My email is SnakeACP45 at aol dot com. 

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On 11/21/2019 at 10:20 AM, magicmustang said:

Did you get a chance to see if the MPC RS grill will fit the AMT '68 Camaro body. Let me know as I am still interested.

Finally got around to this. Here's the deal: 

The MPC grille (the resin copy in question) is a hair wider than the AMT body opening. It could easily be made to fit with some tweaking. BUT it is much more "V-ed" than the AMT body, and the center of it will hang out of the AMT body about 1/8" or so. This could be fixed by cutting it in half in the middle, then filing a little out of each side until both halves until they met properly in the middle. 

The MPC grille has another problem. The passenger's side is correctly shaped, but the driver's side has a more squared-off shape, like the Revell '67, which just looks awful to me. This doesn't bother some people, or they just don't see it. 

I also tried the RS grille from the Revell '67 Nickey kit. It's also a bit wide, but again the body could be tweaked to fit, and the V angle is almost exactly the same as the AMT body. That's the good news. The bad news is, the ends of this grille have that awful squared-off shape (same top to bottom) which offends my eye.  Again, that might not bother you. 

The resin grille is yours if you want it. Email me your address.

If you want a really good looking model, what you want is a resin repop of the grille from the original AMT '67 annual or Pace Car. Modelhaus made them, and I have a couple, but no spares. But I think somebody's selling them on eBay. But others are selling the MPC grille. I can spot the difference in a heartbeat. 

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On 11/23/2019 at 11:06 AM, Snake45 said:

Finally got around to this. Here's the deal: 

The MPC grille (the resin copy in question) is a hair wider than the AMT body opening. It could easily be made to fit with some tweaking. BUT it is much more "V-ed" than the AMT body, and the center of it will hang out of the AMT body about 1/8" or so. This could be fixed by cutting it in half in the middle, then filing a little out of each side until both halves until they met properly in the middle. 

The MPC grille has another problem. The passenger's side is correctly shaped, but the driver's side has a more squared-off shape, like the Revell '67, which just looks awful to me. This doesn't bother some people, or they just don't see it. 

I also tried the RS grille from the Revell '67 Nickey kit. It's also a bit wide, but again the body could be tweaked to fit, and the V angle is almost exactly the same as the AMT body. That's the good news. The bad news is, the ends of this grille have that awful squared-off shape (same top to bottom) which offends my eye.  Again, that might not bother you. 

The resin grille is yours if you want it. Email me your address.

If you want a really good looking model, what you want is a resin repop of the grille from the original AMT '67 annual or Pace Car. Modelhaus made them, and I have a couple, but no spares. But I think somebody's selling them on eBay. But others are selling the MPC grille. I can spot the difference in a heartbeat. 

Email sent.

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4 minutes ago, John Pol said:

also Grump had a white gas tank

Yah. Another of his trademarks. 

At one time he painted the whole underside of his cars white, but I don't know when he started or stopped this. I do know it was done to Strickler's '63 Impala. 

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