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Mar Martin's 1997 Valvoline Thunderbird (Highly Detailed)


David Thibodeau

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The late 90's was my fav era of Cup racing.... and I was a huge fan of the final draft T-bird before they went to the guppy taurus.....

One of my favorite schemes and driver was good old Mark Martin. How can you not like a consistent, clean driver like Mark? Let alone that awesome valvoline bird...

SO..................

I decided to start another extremer of his car.... you just cant have one, or two of these started!! :)

Here is body pics! I slabbed the sides, cut the front grills, and opened the trunk and flaps. I also hinged it, and added under trunk and hood detail.... you know the usual stuff... It still needs some fine sanding and such. Dont worry about the side grills. I will tape them up!

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Complete and in paint!!

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And!!!!!!! Ta da!!!!!!! Body in paint and partial decals... Let me give you a little detail here... Body was based in white, masked off and Valvoline blue from the old uncle stash was used. Then the car was cleared, polished, and slixx decals applied so far!!! I am enjoying this one so far.... its not too old, not too new.... just right. :)

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Thats 3 6's on there!!

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I decided to get more done on this project and bring it back up. Its really cool doing a late 90's Cup Car and a Ford to boot.

The engine is just about complete with the usual detail treatment. The pulleys were made on the lathe. Pro tech line and fittings along with DM fittngs were used.

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Test fit of the engine in the bay.

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More decals were applied to the body. I also made the roof flaps out of brass.

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Thanks!

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Man, David! That is some superior craftsmanship so far! I always enjoy seeing your builds. I may need to slate the ACME NNL in the schedule again this year so I can get down there and see this one in person. I really appreciate you sharing with us!

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Another fan of the nineties here brother! This is a great build subject. Mark is just a lovable racer I think. I've never heard a bad word about him. I also don't believe I've seen a Ford get this sort of treatment either. Great stuff! Keep us posted!!

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Thanks guys....More done!!!

Dash and seat are done but need final detailing. The kit seat was modified and treated with embossing powder. The dash is the kit piece but the kit

gauges were sanded down and decals applied with rings of metal tubing that were polished and parted off the lathe for eveness.

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With the body on. The gauges look cool peeking out of the window!

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More engine detailing also! Especially the oiling system and oil cooler. I have seen many cooler with mesh covering the cooler itself. I thought it would be cool to add that detail. Much more to do here!!

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And with the body added

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More real soon!

DaveT

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