1964 Ned Jarrett Ford

[MarkJ]

3 hours ago, Bill J said:

Mark, super nice work on the 64 Galaxie. Best rear end fix I have seen also. 

As for the exhaust, the rule changed some time after the Fireball Roberts crash at Charlotte. NASCAR determined that the exhaust through the frame contributed to the damages to Fireball's Ford. Some other rule changes that came from that wreck were fuel cells and elimination of the asbestos mats on the floorboards. I think they decided the ruptured gas tank which allowed the gasoline to go eveywhere, much ended up soaked into the asbestos matting, acting as a giant wick. The fuel cells were mandated by 1965. I am not sure when the exhaust rule took effect but it was after Charlotte in 64.

Thanks Bill. That sure helps clear things up a lot. Let me see if the 600 was after the Dixie 400.

[MarkJ]

Bill, the Dixie 400 was just 2 weeks after the 600 so they probably had not come to their findings about the exhaust through the frame contributing to Fireball's injuries from the crash. I'm thinking that was not enough time to change the rule yet. So that explains why Ned's Dixie 400 car still had the exhaust through the frame and the body. I don't think the picture above is from the Firecracker 400 because where Daytona is written, the track is banked and the car in that photo is on a flat straightaway, like Atlanta had at that time. So that blue car above is probably from the Dixie 400. The caption on the photo said it was when I found it.

[ea0863]

I am learning so much following your build! Thank you for the posts, and keep 'em coming  

[MarkJ]

12 minutes ago, ea0863 said:

I am learning so much following your build! Thank you for the posts, and keep 'em coming  

Thanks, Emre. I appreciate your interest in the build. I'm learning a lot too. I always thought the Dixie 400 was in the fall.

[Pierre Rivard]

Mark, looks you are set to go thanks to Bill's advice. In the end you are following what you see on your ref pictures. I have a pic of Junior's car taken at Darlington 2 weeks prior to Charlotte and the exhaust is fully clear of the rocker panel. Go figure.

[MarkJ]

3 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Mark, looks you are set to go thanks to Bill's advice. In the end you are following what you see on your ref pictures. I have a pic of Junior's car taken at Darlington 2 weeks prior to Charlotte and the exhaust is fully clear of the rocker panel. Go figure.

Yes, go figure. I'm thinking teams were already getting away from the exhaust through frame deal even before Nascar mandated it. I guess Ned's team decided to wait till they were forced to. My main deal now is finding that mystery decal second from the front on the front fender on the finish line black and white photo. I keep enhancing the photo and right now it looks like a rectangular decal longer then tall with white lettering like maybe a firestone decal, but I can't find any cars from the 64 season with a firestone decal on their front fender.  I haven't given up yet. If you'd like to take a stab at it, feel free to see what you can come up with. 

 

[MarkJ]

Mystery solved. I decided to look at my other models and saw the Foyt 64 firecracker winner and noticed the grey rock decal had white lettering and it was rectangular and not big and round like it had been earlier in the season. I studied the photo I made and sure enough that was it. Apparently, sometime in the summer they changed the logo to what you see. I will clean up my earlier decal and print a supplement sheet of them and just not use the Solder Seal decal.

[MarkJ]

Starting on the wheel openings and where the exhaust came through the body. Used a 1/25 scale photo to locate it. you can see the door edges line up with the model. However, the model is a little too short front and rear.  nothing I can do about that. Looks like I might have to do a, do over, on the rear wheel openings. They look a little too low. Lucky to have found this profile picture of the car. Too bad I don't know how to make driver figures. I have Ned there from the shoulders up in scale.

[MarkJ]

More work on the fender flares and added putty to them. Most of the putty will be sanded off. They are small lips created to get the tires in place easier. Also sanded down the front fender ornaments. I used them as filler instead of putty. Also finished where the exhaust protrudes through the body. Getting close to primer time and then making a paint recipe for the body. I'm thinking a dark blue metallic, but not a strong metallic just not an opaque dark blue.

[MarkJ]

Pierre, I might need some of your expertise with that recipe. I had a pretty good one for the Corvette Grand Sport interior I did. Just needs to be darker.

[Pierre Rivard]

14 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Pierre, I might need some of your expertise with that recipe. I had a pretty good one for the Corvette Grand Sport interior I did. Just needs to be darker.

I'll be glad to help. Let me work on ideas today and I'll send you results, either post here or send as a pm at your preference.

Thinking medium-dark blue with some pearl in it?

[Bill J]

Pretty sure the real car was Ford Guardsman Blue. The same color most racing Cobras were painted.

[MarkJ]

 

Thanks Pierre and Bill. I'll see if I can google a real car painted in that color and see what it looks like. As usual, every color ref picture I find of Ned's 64 ford looks different depending on the conditions around the car when it was being photographed.

[MarkJ]

If I could just get close to this color, I would be happy. They say its Guardsman Blue. The chip is probably more accurate then the photo of the car. Wherever light hits it, it will change dramatically.

Edited July 27, 2022 by MarkJ

[Pierre Rivard]

Mark, hope you are ok if I post directly here a suggestion for formulating your color. I made pics of a test hood I did today.

2 drops of 70.899 Dark Prussian Blue

1 drop of 70.930 Dark Blue

3 drops of 70.521 Metal Medium

9 drops of 70.524 Thinner Medium

3 thin coats over a gray primer.

 

[MarkJ]

I believe you nailed it, Pierre. I have all of those ingredients for the recipe. Now all I have to do is get it on the model correctly. I'm going to really concentrate on getting the primer very smooth like you did with your Corvette. It seems like any flaw in the primer will show through to the paint. Thank you for helping me out with this. I'm sure mine would not have come out near as close as this does.

[Pierre Rivard]

4 minutes ago, MarkJ said:

I believe you nailed it, Pierre. I have all of those ingredients for the recipe. Now all I have to do is get it on the model correctly. I'm going to really concentrate on getting the primer very smooth like you did with your Corvette. It seems like any flaw in the primer will show through to the paint. Thank you for helping me out with this. I'm sure mine would not have come out near as close as this does.

Glad to be of assistance. The lighting was not very good for pics. The slight purple hue you see on the test hood is not really there.

FYI I also thin my primer, with 10-15% water, then 2-3 thin coats, then after 24 hours cure time 6000-8000-12000 polish before the color coat.

[MarkJ]

30 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Glad to be of assistance. The lighting was not very good for pics. The slight purple hue you see on the test hood is not really there.

FYI I also thin my primer, with 10-15% water, then 2-3 thin coats, then after 24 hours cure time 6000-8000-12000 polish before the color coat.

I figured you did. You could almost see yourself in that primer and I think it contributed to the fabulous paint job you achieved.

[Bill J]

Mark and Pierre, that blue looks as close as I could imagine. I wanted to let you know I stumbled onto an inexpensive product that is ideal for that textured aluminum they all used for interior panels in that era. I was walking around Hobby Lobby with  my girlfriend, she makes things, and I noticed this material on the end of an isle. It is a party streamer material, come on a 100 foot roll, about 2 inches wide and costs $2 per roll. It is shiney and textured metalish material. You have to glue it in place, it's like a tape without any sticky. Then you have to coat it with a semi-gloss clear to tone it down. It is called Streamer snf can be found with the party supplies at Hobby Lobby.

I'll try to get a pic up for you of the material.

https://www.hobbylobby.com/search/?text=silver+streamer&quickview=80789929

Edited July 27, 2022 by Bill J

[MarkJ]

1 hour ago, Bill J said:

Mark and Pierre, that blue looks as close as I could imagine. I wanted to let you know I stumbled onto an inexpensive product that is ideal for that textured aluminum they all used for interior panels in that era. I was walking around Hobby Lobby with  my girlfriend, she makes things, and I noticed this material on the end of an isle. It is a party streamer material, come on a 100 foot roll, about 2 inches wide and costs $2 per roll. It is shiney and textured metalish material. You have to glue it in place, it's like a tape without any sticky. Then you have to coat it with a semi-gloss clear to tone it down. It is called Streamer snf can be found with the party supplies at Hobby Lobby.

I'll try to get a pic up for you of the material.

https://www.hobbylobby.com/search/?text=silver+streamer&quickview=80789929

Thanks, Bill. I have yet to find a good interior shot of Ned's 64 Ford. But I will definitely look into that material. Looks like it would have worked good for Juniors 63 chevy and probably a lot of other cars of that time frame.

[MarkJ]

The fender flares are finished so I can begin sanding the body. I believe I will do the brush painters sanding trilogy and apply 6000,8000 and 12000 grits before priming. I've already removed all the mold lines and other stuff. I might need to hit it with something rougher first. I shall see.

[Pierre Rivard]

That body looks mighty good. There's something about the 64 Ford, perhaps my all time favorite NASCAR.

Close your eyes... can you see it? Red Line 7000!

[jjsipes]

18 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Close your eyes... can you see it? Red Line 7000!

I loved that movie. I remember growing up watching it with my family even though the movie was what 12 years old when I was born. I need to dig my copy out and watch, haven't watched it for a while.

[MarkJ]

6 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

That body looks mighty good. There's something about the 64 Ford, perhaps my all time favorite NASCAR.

Close your eyes... can you see it? Red Line 7000!

Loved the movie but the story line and the acting other than James Caan was pretty weak. Caan played Mike Marsh who was in Lorenzen's #28, and some unknown actor played Ned Arp who was in Juniors #27.  Mr. Zulu from Star Trek was a crew guy for Mike Marsh. I bet you could get a lot of good reference photos from screen captures from that movie. They had a race car with a camera made into the Left front fender for a camera car at the Daytona 500. Got some real good shots of real Nascar racing with that car. A movie way ahead of its time on the technical side of things. I guess no money was left over to pay for good actors. Even Caan wasn't very well known when the movie was made. The crew chief for Mike Marsh was a well-known character actor from that time but I don't know his name.

[MarkJ]

Got the primer on. Thinned it 20 percent with distilled water. Seemed to go on much smoother. I think I messed up on the hood and I think I will need putty after all, where the fender ornaments go. Will see how the sanding with 6000,8000, and 12000 goes Tomorrow.  And see what needs to be corrected. Will definitely have to put at least one more coat on. Hoping for better results with less overall paint so I don't get rid of detail like the door, hood, and trunk opening grooves.