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1951 CHEVROLET FLEETLINE CUSTOM - FINISHED - CLASS OF '51 - ENTRY #1


Ramfins59

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Well, at long last and after having this car bust my shoes and my cojones several times, and then letting it sit back in its box since last April, I FINALLY got it together as best as I could without throwing it against a brick wall in my basement. I just could not get the firewall and inner fenders to seat properly up into the body after everything was glued together on the chassis. I took it apart TWICE and adjusted things here and there and was able to get it together. It's not perfect, as none of my models ever are, but it's as good as it's gonna get.

The car is painted Duplicolor Royal Blue, with white pinstripes and white pinstripe flames, clearcoated and polished. I installed a custom front rolled pan / grille surround from an AMT '50 Ford convertible kit and then used a custom DeSoto grille from the Revell chopped Merc kit. The frenched headlight bezels are aluminum pieces I got some time ago from Bob Dudek. Front turn signals are amber MV lenses. Front hubcaps are Modelhaus '59 Dodge Royal Lancers which I detailed in a checkerboard pattern in white & blue. The Lake Pipes are also from Bob Dudek.

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The rear rolled pan is a kit piece. I carved out teardrop shaped openings in the rear fenders to fit the aluminum taillight bezels that are another Bob Dudek item and I filled them with multiple coats of Tamiya clear red paint. Exhaust tips are pieces of aluminum tubing. I drilled 2 small holes in the passenger side rear fender for sunken guitar string antenna's.

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The engine has an M.A.D. prewired distributor, an aluminum finned valve cover (yet another Bob Dudek item) and oil filler cap and a diode fuel filer and line. There are also aluminum pulleys, an alternator and battery cables. I added an aluminum Beehive oil filter on the firewall along with a resin master cylinder and booster (ReplMinCoMD) with brake lines and pinhead caps.

There are also heater hoses, a wired horn, a washer fluid container and line, a radiator overflow line and a PE radiator cap. The rubber radiator hose has PE clamps. It's a pretty full engine room.

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The chassis pan is splatter painted and the rails are semi-gloss black. A piece of guitar string run from the fuel tank into the chassis rails, and wire brake lines run from the calipers into the chassis rails. The mufflers are aluminum "Cherry Bomb" glasspacks.

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I am thrilled to have finally gotten this model put together. I thank you for looking in on this. As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.

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Don't be mad at me Richard, loved the cherry bombs, but the lack of bumpers makes the car to look odd. Of course that's my personal opinion. When I saw the pictures I was like: "Where are the bumpers!?"

Other things I like are the tires and wheel covers, and the treatment you gave to the floor pan and engine bay. Great craftsmanship, as I usually expect from you.

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It looks really good! Great work as always. I like the color on it and paint job looks smooth too. Nicely detailed engine is always nice to see as well. Where did you get the Cherry Bomb mufflers? I need a set of those for my '60 Impala project.

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Thank you very much Tulio and Niko.

Tulio, some customs just don't have bumpers...... what can I say. I would never be mad at anything that you or anyone else might say about my models.

Niko, I believe I got those aluminum Cherry Bomb glasspack mufflers from Detail Master.

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Great looking custom Rich , your extra effort to finish this really did pay off big time !

Lots of extra detailing too , I don't think I've ever seen you detail an engine compartmentt like this before . . . and a six banger too !

Excellent work ! :D

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I thank you all very much for your very kind and encouraging comments.

Bob, I decided at the beginning of this project to "go the extra mile" in adding details, and I tried to be as "realistic" as I could in doing so. I hadn't built a six-banger in a very long time and used a lot of reference pictures for detailing. This paint job, while not perfect, is one of the best that I've ever done.

John, I have plans ahead for building at least one more of these cars, but not the Fleetline. I'm hoping that I'll be better prepared for the kit's foibles based on the troubles I had with this one.

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Here are some pictures of the interior before the car was assembled.

The dash was painted body color and detailed with white pinstripes, BMF with a blackwash, chrome silver paint, and gauge faces from Best Model Car Parts which were covered with clear epoxy for lenses. The steering wheel is white with a Chevy bowtie decal in the center also covered with clear epoxy. The shift lever is a laminated plastic item mounted on a shirt pin that was a gift from a Forum member. A round head pin painted Blue was used for a necker-knob. Carpet is flocked Gray.

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The seats were given a white tuck & roll pattern using half round stock. Blue flocking is on the seats and door panels with Blue

wire piping on the seats. The door panels have BMF and PE pieces for trim.

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Thanks again for looking in on this. P.S. - I got rid of that fingerprint on the dash before I assembled the car. :)

Edited by Ramfins59
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That'll never happen Bruce, and thanks. I have plenty of stock 50's cars yet to build. I was just in the mood to do a full-on Custom since it has been awhile since I built one.

One of these months I'll be working on a Street Rod too. That is something I haven't built in a couple of years.

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Nice job Richard! Loads and loads of detail. Love the engine bay. I was thinking, "A true '50s custom", then I saw the 4 wheel disc brakes and decided it was a more modern version. I remember vehicles similar to this parked on the streets when I was delivering papers as a young boy. Always wanted one until styles changed with the muscle car era.

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