Building a replica of my gf's '79 El Camino for an Xmas gift...

[brodie_83]

Today I picked up a few things from Hobbytown to make my stand for the model bodies in the dehydrator, some brushable cement in a glass bottle, and a misc. size styrene sheet pack. Tomorrow I'm going to start on the interior and run to Advance Auto for some Duplicolor Chrome paint (I don't like how the valve covers came out). Then I can install the distributor and plug wires, start on the engine accessories and such. Should be a productive day!

[brodie_83]

Alright...my productive day turned into hanging out with my parents and girlfriend for half the day, then hanging out with my roommate for the other half of the day. I got home a few hours ago and got to work on the project. I painted the valve covers and am very happy with them (not going to touch them till tomorrow morning), then installed the wired distributor after painting the wires yellow to match her Accel wires on her car. I painted the dash with some SEM vinyl dye that I picked up from a local paint shop, but it was too dark of a red, so back to square one on that one (probably going to find some cheap-ass paint at Walmart and use that with a flat clear). Last but not least, I finished cutting the mesh off of the tray rings on the dehydrator so it's ready to cure some fresh paint...when the time comes. I did, however, run into a snag in the build...the frame for the El Camino has a molded-in exhaust system, and it's TOTALLY incorrect to how her car has it. Hers has dual exhaust that exits out the sides before the rear tires. The kit exhaust is single and exits out the side AFTER the tire. I've never fabbed stuff on a frame and I really don't want to experiment on this, since I want it to be super nice and not botched. I hope I can figure something out. Anyways, until tomorrow...here's tonight's pics:

[brodie_83]

Alright, I couldn't wait till tomorrow to see the valve covers on the engine...plus, I found an air cleaner that will work. It's from a Revell '70 Chevelle SS "Heavy Chevy" kit. It's the wrong air cleaner for the 454 anyway, so I'm going to use it for the El Camino. It is currently sitting in a little cup of CSC to strip the chrome off so I can paint it with the Duplicolor Chrome paint to match the valve covers. For $6 for a big-ass can, you can't beat the Duplicolor stuff! Looks more like polished aluminum than actual chrome, but it looks good!

[brodie_83]

Today I'm going out to my girlfriend's place to hang out with her for a bit...she's upset that her '92 Caprice wagon keeps having stuff go wrong with it (now it needs a rear brake line)...so she's putting it up for sale. I'm trying to get the ignition wires installed in the heads (might not be the correct firing order, but it'll be close...I already screwed up a little, so I think they're just gonna go where they fit) and finish up the air cleaner (had to strip it cuz I got a fingerprint in it from touching it before dried) before I leave to go out there. I took a few pics of the frame with the stupid molded-in exhaust (still don't know what I'm going to do about it) and the air cleaner before I got a fingerprint in it.

I don't plan on staying out there long because I have to clean around the house, so I hope to get more done tonight.

[brodie_83]

Ok, got back from breakfast and finished up the ignition wires (correct firing order) and the air cleaner is drying as we speak. I'm going to go out to the gf's for a bit and when I get back, maybe the air cleaner will be good enough to handle. I might put it in the dehydrator for that time so I know it will be dry. Finally my point-n-shoot camera is all charged up, so no more crappy cell pics. Here's the pics of the finished ignition wires (they look messy, but if you look at the picture of her engine bay, the wires are extremely long and all over the place...I actually cleaned them up and shortened them a bit from where they were. LoL)

Edited November 13, 2011 by brodie_83

[Beavis]

i love the way the distributor looks!! looks so real, everything is lookin good my dude. and you should try to cut out the stock exhaust and fill in and make your own, you surely have the skill to do so

[Sam Cates]

1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, looks like you got it! great progress so far! BTW My friend and I painted his sled with a couple cans of that Bahama Blue, looks to me like it'll be REALLY close.

[Monty]

I love what I'm seeing here - an HEI ignition and a Q-Jet carb! The plug wires even have that owner-installed look which matches up nicely with the 1:1 pictures.

As to your exhaust dilemma, Google Micro-Mark and see if they have some kind of scraper that would allow you to remove the molded in piece while leaving the rest of the chassis undisturbed.

I look forward to seeing more progress on this kit.

[brodie_83]

Haven't got much done since Sunday...installed the air cleaner, and screwed it up yesterday, but not enough to want to redo it a 4th time. I got a very light fingerprint in it while installing it, so I took a little bit of polish to it. I didn't think polish would dull out the "chrome" look, but it did. Now it looks like a metallic gray or something. Whatever...it looks fine I guess. Something that won't be that noticeable. Pics are pre-buffed.

[brodie_83]

I also went to the local vinyl decal maker and was working with him to do the decals for the car, since the decal kit I bought is junk. He scanned the original water-slide decal included in the kit and made a few adjustments in the colors. We couldn't get it perfectly correct, and it's a lot less detailed than the original decal, but it actually looks pretty good! He did a test print-out on white paper that he gave me, and we just have to get the "Royal Knight" logos right and then we'll print them on clear vinyl.

And I found the tires I'm going to use. They are Good Year Radials that are newly issued and have no raised lettering, so I'll just get some decals from somewhere that say "BF Goodrich Radial T/A". They are the correct sidewall size and with a little bit of sanding/weathering, they'll look like BF's (no, I will not be using the Monte Carlo SS wheels).

Edited November 18, 2011 by brodie_83

[Greg Pugh]

Where'd you get that HEI?

[David G.]

Nice project! Keep up the good work.

David G.

[brodie_83]

Thanks! The HEI came with the '86 Monte Carlo. I thought it was a very cool piece myself!

[brodie_83]

Today I went to the Twin Cities with my girlfriend just to get the heck out of Duluth, so I stopped at a Hub Hobby store and picked up a few things like black fuzzy dice, dark red flocking, a 1/24 display case and a few Tamiya paints (white, flat black and flat base). I actually got alot done tonight. I painted/installed the belts/accessories (except for the rad. fan) on the engine, painted the dash, re-worked the interior door panels (took them from an '87 Buick GN kit), and painted the fuzzy dice with flames.

Ken's Kustom Dice

Detail Master dark red flocking

Molded-in door panel with absolutely NO detail

Door panel insert from an '87 Buick GN kit

[brodie_83]

Test-fit the '79 Camaro rally wheels with the correct-size tires

Painted dash with Rustoleum Gloss Regal Red

Cleared with Krylon Crystal Clear Flat Clear

Painted on flames on dice (not very easy at all)

[brodie_83]

Sanded down door accents and applied filler

Sanded filler down and ready for primer

Belt and accessories painted and installed

[brodie_83]

Alright, today I got up a little late because of Black Friday shopping (spent wayyyyy too much money on myself), but I ran up to the Hobbytown to get some half-round styrene rods to make the chrome accents on the door panels and got home to start working on it again. I got the glove box decals glued on. In the following pictures, they don't look that good, but from farther away and inside the car, they look great! All I did was print them out on regular white paper and put shipping tape on the front and back of the decals, so they glued up nice. I figured out that her gauge cluster in the 1:1 car is a sweeping gauge and not a multi-gauge unit, so I went back to my old GN kit and stole the gauge pod from the dash and looks very close to the El Camino's sweeping cluster. I also got the AMT '70.5 Camaro rally wheels in the mail today (thanks sstacey47!) and mocked them up in the chosen tires and they fit pretty decent. They're a tad bit small, but I'll glue them in good. So today hopefully I'll get the other door piece cut out and finish mocking up the doors and dash in the interior bucket and start painting/flocking it. I also have to get the engine/trans mounted in the V6 frame. The model will be permanently placed in a display case I bought, so I'm not going to worry about anything on the underside of the car (exhaust, engine/trans fitment, etc). Today's current progress pics:

Decals on dash

GN gauge cluster vs. El Camino cluster

Edited November 25, 2011 by brodie_83

[brodie_83]

Shaved, sanded and primed doors awaiting detail scribes/trim

Mock-up door in interior bucket

AMT Rally wheel in Revell tire

[Hattley]

Dude, where are you at, looking for updates!?