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1959 Imperial drag car. COMPLETED 5-26-13


am73grand

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Now that I am back from NNL East I can get back to this project. I started it while I was wrapping up my '58 Plymouth.

The Imperial body is HUGE, as a result the first thing I had to do was stretch the frame and floor pan from the pro-sportsman kits.

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The fit between my floor and body is pretty sloppy so I decided I would use the dash as a locator. The cage may not be 100% accurate but doing it this way made a positive mount for the dash

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Here is the frame. I really wanted a top fuel style wing on this big car so I added the back of a T/F dragster chassis. You can see the Imperial body on the left. Behind it is the next drag car in waiting.

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Here's the frame with the body work in place.

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Started on the wheelie bars

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Hopefully this week I can start painting components. This will be a full on race car so no door panels or carpet. Just go fast goodies.

Thanks for looking!!!

Edited by am73grand
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Thanks everyone. I have always loved full sized cars. I love seeing them go down the 1320 even better.

Here are some updates:

I got the basic engine assembled and painted. Now it's time to start throwing detail parts at it:

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Here is the bug catcher. I added some height to it so that it would be taller than the roof of the car. I'm going more for WOW factor than accuracy:

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Here is the chassis and floor pan all painted. You can see I REALLY had to stretch this thing:

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Here is the completed dash that's a piece of aluminum with some Slixx gage decals:

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Here are my completed wheelie bars:

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Here it is mocked up. I'm thinking ALL black, including the wheels:

Picture015-vi.jpg

Thanks for looking guys!!!

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Nice build! I've never seen '59 or actually any other year Imperial built as a Drag Car, so this one is very interesting. It does have that Wow Factor for sure, excellent work with the engine. I'd go without that rear spoiler, but on the other hand, that makes it look even wilder, so it might be good idea to use it.

The All Black-Theme works very well, as I did on my '69 Camaro I finished maybe a Month ago. Even though it's not done in this picture, Mirrors and small details are missing, but you'll get the idea.

DSCN1603_zps83fe2c98.jpg

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After going back and forth between maroon, black and yellow, I have decided on the color. It will be black, I will add aluminum BMF to the front of the roof. All the chrome trim will be foiled. I think I'll do black wheels from the "Carpenter '55". White letter tires.

Not sure if I'm going to have the body lift off or not. The cutout in the hood is going to be huge. Even the distributors are gonna poke out of the hood.

Got a little more done today but not much to show for it. Bodywork is all done. Distributors are made. bug catcher is painted, pedals and shifters are painted, I've started on the fire bottles and batteries.

I need to pick up some detail parts so I can start wiring this thing. Should have an update by the weekend.

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