Monogram '29 Ford Roadster PU

[Roadrunner]

I'm going to go ahead and park this here, though I fear it will be soon be dragged down to the netherworld, but here goes anyway. This old Monogram kit has been a favorite of mine for many years, so since I recently shelved a Chevelle that I'd been working on, decided it was time to drag this one out and get busy. Box is a bit tattered, but kit itself is in great shape. I'll certainly be losing those funky farm tractor tires and replacing with some nice AMT versions, or similar.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Roadrunner

[Ctmodeler]

Let's see the work brother !

[Roadrunner]

12 hours ago, Ctmodeler said:

Let's see the work brother !

Trust me, you will. I built this same kit a few  years back, and what a cluster boo-boo that turned out to be, though it did eventually turn out pretty decent. This time will be much different, I can assure you.

[Roadrunner]

Anybody have any idea what type of engine this is supposed to be? I don't really need to know, but just curious.

 

[larman]

It's supposed to be an Oldsmobile. The kits origin was the old Blue Beetle from the 60's and that had a Cadillac with a 6x2  intake. The blocks are the same. The heads and intake were changed in the Boss A Bone version, to look like an Olds and were carried into the Early Iron version you have. The recent Blue Bandito version brought back the Cadillac style motor, but it doesn't have the Cadillac script  valve covers that were in the original.

Edited March 13, 2020 by larman

[Tom Geiger]

These were both built from that kit! I really like that old Monogram series of Model As, fairly simple kits that build easily with pleasing results. Have fun!

[Roadrunner]

43 minutes ago, larman said:

It's supposed to be an Oldsmobile. The kits origin was the old Blue Beetle from the 60's and that had a Cadillac with a 6x2  intake. The blocks are the same. The heads and intake were changed in the Boss A Bone version, to look like an Olds and were carried into the Old Iron version you have. The recent Blue Bandito version brought back the Cadillac style motor, but it doesn't have the Cadillac script  valve covers that were in the original.

Thanks a  bunch. I had the old Blue Beetle way back when, and I clearly remember a surfboard, scuba tanks and some other cool stuff in the kit, as well as the three carb setup.

10 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

These were both built from that kit! I really like that old Monogram series of Model As, fairly simple kits that build easily with pleasing results. Have fun!

I think the kit, while very basic in certain aspects, has marvelous potential. I hope to make mine look the way I'd want a real one to look, were I to ever own a real one.

[Tom Geiger]

The latest version called the Blue Bandito has the scuba gear and surfboard. It also has other bits from the original Blue Beetle like the wheels and wide whites. All of this is new tooling and differs a bit from the early 1960s original. And yes the Cadillac valve covers are missing. 

Over the years the tooling was modified. The axles were narrowed to accept those wider tires and other “modernization” of the kit probably in the 1980s. I found that all out by accident trying to build kits from parts from different eras. 

[Snake45]

19 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

I'm going to go ahead and park this here, though I fear it will be soon be dragged down to the netherworld, but here goes anyway.

Didn't you tell me a while back you weren't going to put the pickup bed on it, just a big fuel tank back there? If it doesn't have a pickup bed, it can't be a truck, it's just a common ordinary auto rod. 

You can always change your mind later, toward the end of the build (or even after), and use the bed. Meanwhile, you can show off all your work right here. 

[Roadrunner]

1 minute ago, Snake45 said:

Didn't you tell me a while back you weren't going to put the pickup bed on it, just a big fuel tank back there? If it doesn't have a pickup bed, it can't be a truck, it's just a common ordinary auto rod. 

You can always change your mind later, toward the end of the build (or even after), and use the bed. Meanwhile, you can show off all your work right here. 

By golly, I think you may be right. It won't really be a truck at all.

[Roadrunner]

What annoys me the most about this model, is there's no option at all for a top down configuration, and absolutely no framework for the up top.

[Snake45]

Couple months ago in an eBay "junkyard" deal that had some other stuff I needed, there were a bunch of parts to one of these included. I started setting them together and darned if the whole thing wasn't there! 

I'm planning to just squirt the body, hood, and bed with Testor Root Beer One Coat and nail it back together. Thanks for reminding me about it--it would make a great "quickie rescue" project. 

[Roadrunner]

The Testors Root Beer is a great color for this. I used some on a GTX I was working on, and it looks totally killer.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

The Testors Root Beer is a great color for this. I used some on a GTX I was working on, and it looks totally killer.

Thanks! 

Forgot to mention, I'm leaving the fenders black (I don't remember if they're painted or not, but they're WAY shiny, and I'm not messing with them) and painting the interior and top black. Now, what color should I paint the engine? 

[Roadrunner]

1 minute ago, Snake45 said:

Thanks! 

Forgot to mention, I'm leaving the fenders black (I don't remember if they're painted or not, but they're WAY shiny, and I'm not messing with them) and painting the interior and top black. Now, what color should I paint the engine? 

I have no idea, really. Mine will probably be blue or orange. Wasn't there a car model some time back that had a huge beer keg where a truck bed might have been located?

[Roadrunner]

Body prep work is now well underway. It appears I may have to grind some material off of the bottom of the bed portion to get it to mate properly with the frame, but that should be a snap.

 

[Roadrunner]

Interior is molded in a color that I highly approve, and I'll try to match that color as close as I can when I paint it. No door knobs or restraining straps, which is odd, but I may just proceed without those, I'm not sure yet.

 

[Roadrunner]

Engine is assembled as far as I want to take it right now, while I consider an intake setup and new alternator from somewhere. All ready to strip the lame chrome with some oven cleaner now. Thoughts or ideas?

[Roadrunner]

I'm almost sure now that the overall color on this baby will be Tamiya TS-43 "Racing Green". This color, in combination with the brown interior and beige top, should look pretty classy, which is exactly what I want.

[OldNYJim]

I don’t think that kit chrome looks too bad - what don’t you like about it?

[Roadrunner]

When I received the kit (got it in a trade), all of the chrome looked like these examples. I don't know if it left the factory that way, someone sprayed something on it, or what. From some angles it can't really be seen, like the valve covers above, but almost every piece looks like this, just horrible.

 

 

[Roadrunner]

And yet another oddity; no lower radiator hose in the kit, none at all. I may or may not just go ahead and add one, who knows.

[Roadrunner]

And the anomalies just keep piling up; no engine cooling fan, no brake cylinder, no coil or other ignition device, no steering column,...

[Roadrunner]

OK, first tree of bad chrome is now completely stripped. Excellent results with a buck a can oven cleaner.

[Roadrunner]

Engine chrome now also stripped. Since I build the overwhelming majority of my kits as curbside type, I at least have some decent engine parts to choose from, thank goodness.