customline

I'm running into some things that always turn up downstream of the kind of mods I have made. Almost there though. I figured I would down-shift and play with something else to keep me having fun. Starting a new project is always "happy time" for me.? Thanks for hangin', Tom. I'll wrap this one up in a week or so.

How about a mock-up? the ride height has been lowered but not because it was AMT's idea. Earlier in this thread I asserted the ride height was adjustable. Nope. Not true. But it is easily done by drilling a few holes. I think it makes the tires look too big. White walls would help. Gotta look in my stash.

Nah, it's cool. But ain't it a laugh that they sell you a kit that was tooled in the fifties and tell you that you hold in your unworthy hands a piece of history! What an honor! There is incomplete casting of the engine mount cross member. And this one is from '03, I think. Is this kit still being sold new? I hope not. I will have my way with it though. ?

All right, then.....I got in to it today and put the engine together enough for paint. Then I used it to explore how it goes into the frame. The front portion of the frame is poorly molded and it appears I need to make improvements here. 8 that little ....nipple....didn't seem like it would do the job so I removed it and replaced it with something more positive. I also found the engine would not sit correctly in the frame due to the exhaust pipes on the frame. I removed them. Worry about that later. The front engine mount needed some attention too. I had to consult a photo of a frame in order to replace the less-than-useful mount cross member. I closed up the frame and replaced the engine mount cross member with one a tad better. .080 styrene rod bent cold. took a few tries. Faked in the lower A frame tie-ins. Good enough! I'm tempted to cut out the molded drive shaft and put in a real one but I didn't want to get too deep on this one. Just some minor upgrades. Yeah. QUESTION: How come every picture on the box shows the 'Bird wearing white walls but there is no trace of white walls in the box? I don't get it

I haven't found it yet. Still looking ?. There's a big trophy-looking thing. I'm saving all those stupid diorama goodies. It's a collectible by itself. I'll put them on ebay and make a fortune ?

The second photo. they said it...not me. Read it. It's funny how they made it sound like a good thing ?.....excuses, excuses......

Yup. I've seen a few of 'em. I will never build an engine that's all chrome. I remember from my early days that they just don't look good. Well, in those days the glue was all over the chrome. I was pretty carefree about such things ?. I have some bleach and the next time this comes up I shall try it. Thanks, David.

Found this on Ebay last week and whattayaknow? It's an old promo! In fact...well.... I'm going to give it a quick show-n-tell before I start this adorable replica... first thing I was befuddled about was the all chrome engine. I'm not too keen on having to strip the engine before I can start but later on I did. I think Easy-Off has a short shelf life. Anyway, the tires seem nice but the wheels are a bit odd. The stock inners are plated and are molded as steelies. You use the stock wheel covers or make them deep dish chromies...but the outers for the chrome reversed rims are not plated ( ? !). Instruction sheet is road-map style and not very helpful. Just rudimentary illustrations and the usual goofs; you know the routine. Luckily, it ain't complicated. I can probably figure it out ? There is an adjustable ride height feature and the interior tub is a simple two piece affair. The kit furnishes a hardtop (without porthole ?) and a custom fast-back roof. There is a nice optional Connie kit and the radiator support is not ruined by the screw bosses. They will be hidden completely. ? if you enjoy detail painting as much as I do, you will be a happy camper as this kit provides an abundance of possibilities. ⁿ For the windshield, it looks like the glass fits into a slot and then you add the plated frame to it. thats how I plan to play it anyway. Maybe it will become clearer when I get there. ? It looks like a nice easy build and, of course, there is opportunity for improvements. I will be building it pretty much OOB and I will start with the 312. Thanks for looking. If you have experience with this kit, your sharing will be appreciated and your comments and praise are always welcome.

This is my first Galaxie, Tom. I'm immortalizing my tribulations. And I figured I would give a heads-up to those brave souls who might dare to follow. Nothing I did with modifications was a problem while I was doing it. But something definitely went wrong during final assembly and I suspect it had to do with how I determined how to shorten the '60 chassis/pan I must have done it with no firewall in place...a sequence misstep. I've been over the whole thread and it's not there. I must have done the shortening too soon. I figure a heads up to the next guy. Edit: I just read the first few posts on page 1 again and my suspicion is validated. I shortened the chassis before the firewall was in place. that's a NO NO! The firewall determines where the floor goes and so on....

I'm at the point in final assembly where bad things happen. As much as I try, there's always some things that I forget (or discover that I already forgot.) And that will inevitably happen after I kick the CA. There's the usual windshield / dash issue, no different here but the kit bashing on this one provides some extra elements to deal with. The firewall placement is critical because it must meet the floor pan cleanly. I wish I had had a heads-up on that - it may be the root of my problems. It's interesting how everything looks great in a mock-up but after the glue is applied....SURPRISE! ?. SO IF ANYONE IS GOING TO DO THIS, MAKE CERTAIN YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FIREWALL AND THE FLOOR PAN AND HOW YOU SHORTEN THE PAN AND THE FRAME. I MAY HAVE GOOFED HERE AND IM SURE IM NOT THE FIRST ? The '60 firewall is not a nice, easy swap. It must be altered to fit the '63 and be in such position to consider engine room space. Very important. It's tight! Spend a lot of time playing with how you are going to make everything work. I am no engineer. I am a gaffer. The way I have done this was experimental at best. Just be aware of how all of these alterations must make the wheels end up centered in the wheel openings. Here's what you could encounter on final assembly (below) ? WHAT HAPPENED? I have a good idea what went wrong here but ( I cut it three times and it's still too short) I had to add some material back to the shortened '60 floor pan to compensate; I'm not willing to make a proper fix at this point so....hopefully, it won't be too obvious.....our little secret ?. I found there was an NHRA rule about seat belts for Stock classes so I made mine from, you guessed it....masking tape! I learned that trick on this very forum! ? Neither kit furnished me with a tachometer so a piece of appropriately sized plated sprue provided the raw material. The face came from an unknown source (it may not be a tach face but who can tell?) The shifter is a stand-in. I gotta hunt for a proper looking unit. In my research photos, it looks like the shifter is intended for a bench seat. It seems too long and has a weird bend. Got more to do here. I should get back to work ?.

Yup. You're welcome. ?

I just love his attitude, folks ?

That's a great idea, Ken, it could be a very lucrative enterprise. Let us know when you have the first run ready to ship ?. I figure about 40 bucks per kit.....right?

Oooo yeah, I like it! The green is such a nice shade....I have a can in my "inventory" and can't wait to paint something with it ?. I think maybe the Futura was designed with thin people in mind. Not much hip room ?.

Consider yourself fortunate on your first car. Mine was a '61 Rambler American wagon. Not cool. A flathead six that burned oil. After that, it was a '60 American inverted bathtub. When the clutch went south, this $90 wonder was replaced by a fairly decent $25 '56 Ford custom sedan with a snappy 272 with automatic transmission. It too had an oil loss issue that ended its life on I-95 in Providence one fine day. Following that one was a nice dark blue '62 Ford Sunliner. 352 auto. There was also a '62 Ford long-roof for a short time.... I could go on.....it doesn't get better, though. There was one car that would be somewhat desirable today; a '66 Comet, stick-six 2 door post coupe. Burgundy with a black roof. Of course I screwed that one up. ?

Still have a bit to go. I'm running into final assembly issues, the usual sort; dash/windshield interference. Was nearly there and had to tear it apart to fix it. And then there's the bumpers ?.

Yes, of course...who can argue with that? ?

Why do we never see that? ? probably because back in the golden era of hot-rodding nobody wanted a Chevy. The Ford V8 was king and Fords were just plain cool. Why bother with a Chevy? ? ( I'm gonna get some flack on this, I just know it ?)

I'm sorry for your loss, Tom ?. I need to see if any decals are available for the Norwood Motors cars. My Fords need some Chevys to beat ?

Thats some NICE-A55 Fawrds ya gut dere, Boss. I've been looking for a '62 but they ain't cheap. My guess is your '62 has a '60 on the bottom? It gets pretty 'spensive ?. I'm gonna do the T-bolt and one of Tasca's A/FX cars, a Mustang. That's it for me on this subject. I can't do this to another Starliner kit ? (but I've gotta get another one; it's a great kit ?). By the way, Tom, the BAM SAM decal looks easy if you have an ap that can manipulate graphics. Nice big letters, print it on clear paper, piece of cake. The other one, not so much but maybe a close font; the letters are kinda small, too.

I use an old CD label program that still runs on my ancient Windows XP machine to make decals when necessary. This one turned out well enough ? Yup. My Dad knew what it meant. He was fluent, my grandparents were French Candian. We got a laugh out of it. I believe the intent was a message to the driver in the other lane. ?

Last September I attended a small contest/swap meet in Norfolk and I believe it's an annual event. Watch for the announcement here, starting in August.

There's a video of one of these Gals under power. Awesome. Too bad mines made out of plastic ?. I got the last decal on a few minutes ago. I can't find a photo of the actual slogan on this particular car but it satisfies my need to immortalize my memory of it. It appears on more than one of Tasca's cars. It may not have looked exactly like what I have here but it serves well enough. I'm sure it was the subject of more than a few conversations in the pits.

I've got my kit sitting on the floor next to my recliner. You have inspired me to start it. Time to look it over again.......and go over your thread.....thanks, Steve!

Thank ya, DW. Still some issues to clean up but just boring stuff. Not totally happy with decals. The maker goofed on the C-pillar decals with spelling and didn't print the lower cowl lettering. I would not expect the deck lid words due to the limited photos of this car. If I had not seen them with my own two eyes, I wouldn't know either. Those I will make myself.