Why didn't they make this a Fury?

[customline]

5 hours ago, espo said:

Consider looking at some of the Moebius kits for parts. Older AMT Chrysler 300 kits would give you a good Hemi to work with and an upgraded interior as well. 

Unfortunately, Dave, I have built both of the Chrysler kits that I had and I'm not keen about breaking one up but I think I can come up with a hemi or some dress up for the kit engine. I guess I could look at that tonight. I've got a "vanishing point" Challenger w/440 six pack I might consider breaking up ?.  There's a Revell Daytona I got on clearance at Hobby Town I could pilfer. Hmmm.....good idea!  I've got the Revell Dart kit too...I already stole that hemi.....I'm going to build the kit engine and see what's what and check my stash for an alternative motor. Maybe the custom seats from the AMT '57 Fairlane (I hate 60/40 benches.)

[customline]

17 hours ago, Smitty said:

Despite the problems with the body, I’m a big fan of this kit. I’ll be watching your progress on this one. It’s looking great so far!

The trim issue isn't so bad that it absolutely must be corrected. You can still build this kit into a really nice model.  I just wanted to "simplify" the look with retro-grade trim. If I was building "Christine" I would just ignore the trim issue and concentrate on the two-tone paint job (which I hate dealing with).  I haven't decided yet on the roof trim. A Savoy doesn't have it but it looks good and if I leave it and foil it, the car becomes a Belvedere with customized side trim and since my side spears are a bit short ( intentionally) this might become obvious. Thanks for your interest, Smitty.

[Street Rod]

Looking really good so far! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[customline]

16 hours ago, slusher said:

The ones you and Steve posted look pretty good. Many was utility cars but I am glad you help me learn something..

Carl, if you have learned anything from me I am pleased; especially if it's what not to do ?

[customline]

7 minutes ago, Street Rod said:

Looking really good so far! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Thanks, Doyle.  You have, by now, seen what I do with it. After this it's just normal stuff. It could get boring, I don't have a solid plan beyond what's here now but I appreciate your interest!  Actually, I'm looking forward to see what I do ! ?

[redscampi]

This looks great to this point! Thanks for your enabling review...now I have to have one.

[customline]

45 minutes ago, redscampi said:

This looks great to this point! Thanks for your enabling review...now I have to have one.

I'm so sorry. I didn't realize this was going to cause a problem.?    Thanks, Gary. ?

[customline]

Maybe a little weathering.....☺️

Edited July 20, 2023 by customline

[Can-Con]

grinding all that trim off is a pain. I know. I used a barrel sander on my Dremel to remove the trim from the one I built.

I didn't put any back on though. ?

[please let me know if posting the pics of mine are out of line and I'll delete them.]

[customline]

3 hours ago, Can-Con said:

grinding all that trim off is a pain. I know. I used a barrel sander on my Dremel to remove the trim from the one I built.

I didn't put any back on though. ?

[please let me know if posting the pics of mine are out of line and I'll delete them.]

Oh heck yeah, Steve, that's a beautiful rendition! I need to try a fog job. That is excellent. Without side trim, it looks like a 300C with a better greenhouse

The Micro was plan B but my perseverance was fully charged.  I was tempted but I didn't want to gouge it all up . This was a job for a belt sander. I wonder why they didn't just do that with a decal. Not all Belvederes had that fancy anodized trim. Thanks for those luscious photos!

Edited July 20, 2023 by customline

[espo]

19 hours ago, customline said:

The trim issue isn't so bad that it absolutely must be corrected. You can still build this kit into a really nice model.  I just wanted to "simplify" the look with retro-grade trim. If I was building "Christine" I would just ignore the trim issue and concentrate on the two-tone paint job (which I hate dealing with).  I haven't decided yet on the roof trim. A Savoy doesn't have it but it looks good and if I leave it and foil it, the car becomes a Belvedere with customized side trim and since my side spears are a bit short ( intentionally) this might become obvious. Thanks for your interest, Smitty.

A thought on the roof chrome trim. You mention weather or not to add chrome trim above the roof drip chrome moldings. While the lower line cars didn't have chrome in that area, just the drip molding, the raised area portion of the roof where the chrome trim would have been attached is still there. Going with the lower line idea try and find some pictures of a stock car and look for the difference. I think if you lightly sanded the rib design that is just above the drip molding making it flat but still a distinct ridge above the drip molding it would look just like a lower trim level car with that area painted to match the roof color if that's the way you want to go. 

[customline]

6 hours ago, espo said:

A thought on the roof chrome trim. You mention weather or not to add chrome trim above the roof drip chrome moldings. While the lower line cars didn't have chrome in that area, just the drip molding, the raised area portion of the roof where the chrome trim would have been attached is still there. Going with the lower line idea try and find some pictures of a stock car and look for the difference. I think if you lightly sanded the rib design that is just above the drip molding making it flat but still a distinct ridge above the drip molding it would look just like a lower trim level car with that area painted to match the roof color if that's the way you want to go. 

Yeah, Dave, I'm still undecided on that trim but I'm leaning toward foiling the roof trim and eliminating the fin-top trim.  I eliminated the front fender ornaments and I'm thinking about shaving the hood, like that awesome custom above.

In other endeavors....I put the engine together and I have come to a dead end. It's time to drill the heads for wires. What engine is this? It's not a "Golden Commando" because the distributor is in the wrong place. It's not a 318 because the heads are wrong. What is it?  And why does it seem that it has a right head and a left head; the exhaust ports are not the same on both heads according to the exhaust manifolds. I haven't yet found anything that looks like this kit engine. I'm baffled. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by customline

[Can-Con]

14 minutes ago, customline said:

Yeah, Dave, I'm still undecided on that trim but I'm leaning toward foiling the roof trim and eliminating the fin-top trim.  I eliminated the front fender ornaments and I'm thinking about shaving the hood, like that awesome custom above.

In other endeavors....I put the engine together and I have come to a dead end. It's time to drill the heads for wires. What engine is this? It's not a "Golden Commando" because the distributor is in the wrong place. It's not a 318 because the heads are wrong. What is it?  And why does it seem that it has a right head and a left head; the exhaust ports are not the same on both heads according to the exhaust manifolds. I haven't yet found anything that looks like this kit engine. I'm baffled. 

Looks to me like a 350 wedge with the 318 poly intake for some reason. Note that the intake AND the water pump both have upper rad hose fittings.

The valve covers are definitely 350, not 318 though.

If I do another one, I'm just gonna get a nice wedge intake manifold and call it good.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Can-Con

[customline]

7 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Looks to me like a 350 wedge with the 318 poly intake for some reason. Note that the intake AND the water pump both have upper rad hose fittings.

The valve covers are definitely 350, not 318 though.

If I do another one, I'm just gonna get a nice wedge intake manifold and call it good.

So I'm not craz

Where do I drill my holes? ?

[Can-Con]

The 361 is pretty well the same engine just with a slightly larger displacement.

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Can-Con

[customline]

4 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Looks to me like a 350 wedge with the 318 poly intake for some reason. Note that the intake AND the water pump both have upper rad hose fittings.

The valve covers are definitely 350, not 318 though.

If I do another one, I'm just gonna get a nice wedge intake manifold and call it good.

So I'm not crazy

Where do I drill my holes? ?

[customline]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

The 361 is pretty well the same engine just with a slightly larger displacement.

 

 My distributor is at the rear. I think maybe somebody goofed. 

[Can-Con]

10 hours ago, customline said:

 My distributor is at the rear. I think maybe somebody goofed. 

 

Definitely. That's a poly intake on a wedge engine. Note that you have a rad hose on both the intake manifold and the water pump. The poly engines had the distributor on the back

That has to be a wedge engine with a poly intake. 

[customline]

11 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Definitely. That's a poly intake on a wedge engine. Note that you have a rad hose on both the intake manifold and the water pump. The poly engines had the distributor on the back

That has to be a wedge engine with a poly intake. 

So which radiator hose connection should I delete?  ?  

[Can-Con]

18 minutes ago, customline said:

So which radiator hose connection should I delete?  ?  

If it was me, I'd get an intake from a newer 383 or 440. That would get rid of the extra hose fitting. Put the distributor in the normal 440 placement and the rad hose on the water pump and that should give you a reasonably correct engine. 

I'm no expert on those early Mopar engines but going by the pics I can find on-line it should be about right. 

Someone more versed on those cars could tell you better but I'm pretty sure that's correct.

[customline]

3 hours ago, Can-Con said:

If it was me, I'd get an intake from a newer 383 or 440. That would get rid of the extra hose fitting. Put the distributor in the normal 440 placement and the rad hose on the water pump and that should give you a reasonably correct engine. 

I'm no expert on those early Mopar engines but going by the pics I can find on-line it should be about right. 

Someone more versed on those cars could tell you better but I'm pretty sure that's correct.

I appreciate your input on this, Steve.  I think I may have some 440 intakes. Thanks for the intel !  Mopar engines in the '50s is a murky affair. If this was a Ford or Chevy, I could (maybe) figure it out. ?

[customline]

THIS JUST IN.....

I WENT TO OLLIE'S TODAY AND THIS IS WHAT I FOUND ?

[my66s55]

It's not the intake manifold that's wrong. The one in the kit isn't an A block manifold. Take off the water pump housing. Whats wrong is the water pump housing/ timing chain cover. The A block is one piece, the B block is 2. A timing chain cover and a water pump housing. I and 18+ members on this forum own a correct A block engine of my creation. I need to create a 383 B block engine for my 59 DeSoto build. I've done my research and that's how I know the difference. 

[Can-Con]

3 hours ago, my66s55 said:

It's not the intake manifold that's wrong. The one in the kit isn't an A block manifold. Take off the water pump housing. Whats wrong is the water pump housing/ timing chain cover. The A block is one piece, the B block is 2. A timing chain cover and a water pump housing. I and 18+ members on this forum own a correct A block engine of my creation. I need to create a 383 B block engine for my 59 DeSoto build. I've done my research and that's how I know the difference. 

Like I said, Doug, I'm not that much up on those engines. Just saying what I would do to make it look right to me. 

This is what the engine looks like with the valve covers on. They look like B-block covers to me, definitely not A-block covers or heads with their distinctive saw-tooth lower side.

 

I know the thing is neither fish, not fowl but, any ideas what else to do with it besides completely replacing it to make it look presentable?

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Can-Con

[customline]

Guys, I'm sorry about all this nonsense. I'm going to pretend I never noticed the engine issue. This is on the R&D Department at AMT/ERTL/RC/XYZ. Clearly, they were confused and the executive in charge was not very concerned about authenticity. The engine looks good and is nicely detailed, even though it's a complete fiction. The instructions say I should paint it silver so, since I know that they are full of $H1T, I'm going to paint it some nice bright color and pretend it's a rare optional experimental engine. Problem solved.