1987 Winston Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt Wrangler Monte Carlo

[jjsipes]

Was never really much of an Earnhardt fan but sure do miss the man. Racing to me, hasn't been the same since his death. Always thought about building as many of the championship car as I can so, naturally had to add this one. Glad I did. Really pleased with of this one turned out.

Started the Revell "Pass in the Grass" kit and ordered up a set of Powerslide decals. Went looking and researching what colors best matched the decals and found Rustoleum Sun Yellow and Brilliant Blue matched the best. Never used Rustoleum on a model before so I was alittle worried as to how it would turn out. Prepped the body sprayed the inside first Blue, then taped the inside up and sprayed the Yellow and then taped that and sprayed the Blue on the outside. A little polishing and pleased with it. Applied the decals and got excited to finish it up. Not perfect but very pleased with it. Now to see what else is in my stash that I can build fairly quickly during the "stay at home" order due to the virus. Trying to get what work done, help home school and some down time for myself, not easy. 

[DoctorLarry]

Wow. It really pops.  How long did it take for the paint to dry before you could do the second color? In my experience Rust Oleum takes an eternity to dry.

[jjsipes]

2 hours ago, DoctorLarry said:

Wow. It really pops.  How long did it take for the paint to dry before you could do the second color? In my experience Rust Oleum takes an eternity to dry.

Just a few days if I remember correctly. I had painted this back before winter and didn't get around to building it until now.

[Scalper]

nice build. looks great.. like how you sanded the wheels. turned out looking hot and sticky 

[Dragonhawk1066]

Great job! Those old NASCAR Monte Carlo kits are nice, fun builds..

[PappyD340]

Looks great, I have the double Wrangler kit, I need to build them!

[gpal]

Great job, I have a couple Race cars to do and  not sure about all the decals , So you applied the decals over polished enamel and did you seal the decals with a clear coat or wax?    

[Jim N]

Great work.  Really looks nice!

[jjsipes]

Thank you all for the comments

[slusher]

A real beauty!!

[MarkJ]

Excellent paint job with the rustoleum. Is this the rustoleum for plastic or another kind. When i used the rustoleum for plastic on a 2 tone paint job, the second color crazed badly when i shot it over the first. Yours looks spectacular.

[DoctorLarry]

Based on what Jason said, this is what I picked up for my Earhhardt Buick project:

[MarkJ]

26 minutes ago, DoctorLarry said:

Based on what Jason said, this is what I picked up for my Earhhardt Buick project:

Yes, thats what I used on my last build a 57 ford and I had to end up stripping the model and repainting with tamiya. If I had masked where the second color was going first I probably would have had a good result. You can put tamiya over tamiya and it will not craze but it crazed badly for me with the rustoleum.

[DoctorLarry]

I will try a sprayout on a scrap body first.

 

[jjsipes]

That is what I used. When I sprayed the yellow I pay much attention to the separation line and just fogged the yellow back where the blue went. Taped and sprayed the blue. Now I will say, that I went back and tried to repeat the chassis after sanding some scratches out where injector pins were and the 2nd coat did wrinkle up the 1st coat some. Maybe I was just lucky on the body I don't since this was the first time using this paint

[MarkJ]

23 minutes ago, jjsipes said:

That is what I used. When I sprayed the yellow I pay much attention to the separation line and just fogged the yellow back where the blue went. Taped and sprayed the blue. Now I will say, that I went back and tried to repeat the chassis after sanding some scratches out where injector pins were and the 2nd coat did wrinkle up the 1st coat some. Maybe I was just lucky on the body I don't since this was the first time using this paint

Probably the fogging is what saved you.  Its good paint you just have to be careful with 2 tone paint jobs and mask twice so you dont spray one color over the other one. I saw somewhere that the clear will also craze the color coat. A guy complained on the website where they sold the paint. I think it might have been wallmart ,that he had ruined his out side plastic chair putting the clear over the paint. Rustoleums reply was that you have to clear basically right after the color coat is dry to the touch or it will , as they said, not give you as good a result. In other words craze the paint like crazy. 

[DoctorLarry]

That might be an approach- "wet clear" it after the color coat has tacked but not dried. I might pick up some clear and give that a shot.

[jjsipes]

Thsnk you all for the comments 

[Vietnam Vet67]

Some history from an acquaintance on the car:

• On May 16, 2020, at 6:00 PM, Gary Grimm <ggrimm728@gmail.com> wrote:

   

   

   

  Greetings everyone!

   

  The 1986/87 Wrangler Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo Aerocoupe 3 car that Bruce Canepa has is legit. He said it was chassis number 2 from Richard Childress racing and I believe that to be the case.

   

  Why? Because I, with a lot of help from Steve Atwell and others, restored Chassis #4 of the original 4 cars that Richard Childress turned into Wrangler Aerocoupes. 

   

  Getting verification that my car was indeed chassis #4 came from Bobby Ray Moody, who at one time was the best body shop man Richard Childress Racing employed.

  Bobby later became Sherwin Williams Director of Motorsports, and it was in this capacity that he helped me get authentication that my car was Chassis #4.

   

  I took photos of specific areas that Bobby Ray knew as being unique to the four Richard Childress Racing Wrangler cars and I believe the "starburst pattern" on the rear 

  sheetmetal that forms the rear wall of the interior of the car was one of the key areas.

   

  Long story short, once that verification was done, Bobby Ray also helped me get approval from Richard Childress Racing and Teresa Earnhardt to be able to order

  the specific Wrangler decals and well as the number “3” and the  "Dale Earnhardt “ signature above the driver door roof. These approvals alone took 4 months.

   

  The last thing Bobby Ray did was give me the specific Sherwin Williams paint codes for the special yellow and blue Wrangler colors. 

   

  After I had already finished my car I actually got a call from Bobby Moody from Bruce Canepa’s shop. He said that Bruce was restoring Chassis #2 and asked if

  I still had the color codes for the Wrangler colors. I looked them up and called him back with the codes.

  Bobby would only be helping Bruce Canepa if the car was indeed Chassis #2.

   

  As a side note, I wound up selling my Earnhardt Wrangler car to Bruce Canepa several years later. He was in a hurry to get my car as he wanted to get it in a March/April 2012 issue of Vintage Motorsports magazine. I have attached a copy of the cover of that magazine with my car being the feature 7 page spread in the magazine.

  Of course there was no mention of myself restoring the actual car.

   

  He later sold it to someone that did NASCAR Vintage Racing in Washington or Oregon. 

  Had Bruce's car not been a real Chassis #2 car, he would have sold that gentleman his car.

   

  One word of caution regarding Bruce Canepa….take his first offer if he gives you one!!!! 

  He does not negotiate at all!!!

   

  He took 4 months of me trying to improve the offer and by then actually lowered his offer by $10,000.

  NICE GUY!!!!

   

  Not my favorite person but he sure has a fantastic collection of race cars!

   

  Gary Grimm

[DRIPTROIT 71]

That looks like one tough customer! Great looking build!