customline

What I'm doing here is creating an illusion of a Stovebolt 6 powered gasser. I am using what I have available for raw materials. The '37 engine looks like the '51 engine but in order to make an engine you might see in a gasser it needed the Fisher conversion to be credible. So.....I had to marry them to get what I needed. The transmission was missing from the '51, apparently cut off for some other project that I can't recall. Enter the '37 which had a transmission intact. I'm not an expert on this stuff but in the realm of hot-rodding you might say "anything goes". Did a 1:1 like this ever exist? I dunno. Could it have? ?

Not the same block? The 216.5 is an OHV and was increased later to 235, no?

That's the top portion of the un-chopped option from the AMT '36 kit. It's flatter than the section I removed from the '39. I think the reason for the odd shape may have been to accommodate the jump seat rider. I decided to lower the engine and it will clear as is. The plan is to create a flip nose and that way the whole engine can be exposed and eliminating the running boards and fabbing sides for the hood will give it a dedicated gasser look. I don't have a clever name yet but it will probably be self-deprecating ? owing to the engine choice. Thanks for your interest, David. I'm always open to suggestions and this build is the product of that.

Bad news....the stove bolt won't work for me unless I remove part of the left front fender to allow the injector stacks to be used at full length. I wanted to use the Fisher head conversion with injection setup for a gasser build but I just don't think I can make it look good unless I go totally shade tree. I considered chopping it but thought a re-shape of that odd roofline would be time better spent. Besides, a high-sprung, nose-in-the-clouds gasser with a chopped top makes no sense to me (yet they exist. ) Anyway, I started on the roof. Maybe I can figure out the engine thing.yes, that's the roof from the AMT '36 Ford kit. Bondo to follow.

Philosophically speaking, Greg and Bob, once you've left the instructions behind you have total freedom. You can't screw it up! You just turn it into a Rat Rod! ?

Greg, your work, in my humble opinion, is meticulous and well thought out. It's going great. This is where the fun is ? You are a styrene junkie!

Rodney, your floorboard work is so good it is now my standard. I've done this stuff quite a few times now and thought they were pretty good but now I'm going to try to do it the way you've laid out here. This is super work!!? It's my New Year's resolution.

Sorry, I'm just a bit crabby ?

What about tudors?

Yeah, OK but a '29 on deuce rails? That spells F L A T H E A D ! It should be in the kit instead of the ubiquitous SBC. I'm happy that they put the Nailhead in the coupe kit thank you very much. Maybe the next re-issue? I've got a bunch of kits missing their engines already. ? my AMT '53 pickup kit has NO engines. I'll have to stick a Y-block in it?

Thanks, Bob, that's Boyd's orange pearl and I may have that last 2 bottles in existence and will probably need them to fix this little paint mistake. The thought of repainting the whole car is giving me nightmares.

Yeah, Bill, that looks right. Thanks, it makes sense. Finish it!

Thanks, guys, I'm glad you approve ?. Now the hard part.....smoothing it out with Mr. Surfacer and much primer. And much tedium ?.

And in the AMT kit, you get a nice DeSoto hemi ?

I believe you will find a tv in the AMT '50 Ford convertible kit.

Before I make a big mess, has anyone done this chop o m the Monogram '39 Chevy coupe? Anything you can tell me (or show me) will help. Mainly where to make the cuts. It looks as though leaning the back of the roof forward won't work because of the way the roof meets the deck. What say you?

This was the inspiration for it (below)...i love the old full customs/leadsleds....those old magazines and "rod and custom" shows back in the early 60s hooked me for life. The "purple people eater" is just the '50 vert using the kit parts.....well mostly. I wanted to do the '49 coupe but wouldn't pay the price due to the fact that I'm a cheapskate. I had 2 of the '50 kits....close enough! But I got carried away and added a roof cobbled together from various junk items. Oh, and I sectioned it ?The AMT '50 convertible is a really great kit for the spare parts alone. You can go a lot of different ways. The mods in the front of the '53 is from those parts (sort of.)

If he decides to use the inner fenders and "chin", the grill will be set correctly. Personally, I never liked the look of the '33/ '34 with the inner panels on board but that creates a mounting problem. I have struggled with this. Maybe you know a good way?

Thanks, Rusty, I should have done this from the start. I was already weeks into this build and had I had those corvette bumpers then, I could have saved a ton of work. I got the "Skips" '60 'Vette kit off ebay for cheap (it was started) but not with this in mind. I actually didn't make the connection till the other day when you pointed out my poor design. It just goes to show that sometimes you need another perspective to get it right. I wish I had your help on this one ( see below ); you could have talked me out of adding that roof and it would still be a convertible. ?

Up till 3 am on this. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. This will look much better than what I had and is a lot closer to my inspirational subject. the bumpers will be pinned on the ends as shown here. Over-riders will be glued to the plate mount. Still a ways to go to get it smoothed out. Thanks for looking

Mike, if this roadster turns out like that blue coupe you built, it's going to be awesome! These kits are not without some issues but if you have both of them, you have all kinds of mix & match possibilities. Throw in the '32 3 & 5 window kits and the sky's the limit. I just wish they'd give us a nice flathead with one of these kits.

it's a shame Revell gave us stupid decals instead of pad printed or insert tires ! And while I'm at it, why not a standard tranny? The gave us an automatic but a shifter that could only be for a manual transmission! Sorry, just venting.? Beautiful build, Mike. I love the idea of leaving the roof removable to show off that nice interior. Got mine yesterday, can't wait to get into it ?

Tips on sectioning? A picture is worth a thousand words.....

You'd still need to stretch it, the pillars are slanted. I suppose you could lean the A post's back like a lake car, a formidable task.?

That's how I do mine too but Greg has the advantage of not having to screw with the reveals, something that kills me on a 5W.