customline

Not sure if I should put this one up yet but I'm a bit excited. I reeeeeealy like Gassers. ? . I got the bug a few weeks back when I picked up the AMT '63 Nova long-roof at Ollie's for 13 bucks. The chassis is worthless, there's no engine above the oil pan, and the front seat is part of the interior tub. It's perfect for a gasser. ( ? nothing to lose ) But what about the chassis? Long story short; The Vanishing Point Challenger is the victim. It will provide the chassis, a unibody affair- like the NOVA. Also the rear axle/springs assy. and the drive shaft's u-joints. That's it. Everything else is whatever I can find around here ?. BTW, don't grieve for the Challenger, it ain't that great and I stole the wheels for the '58 Plymouth. I got it on clearance for a sawbuck. This is just a diversion from the others I'm trying to deal with so thanks for your interest, it's gonna be fun.....I hope... I'm going for this sort of thing....but in chrome yellow. Of course. ?

Almost home, JR. ...."she's real fine......"

Some great work being done here, kids! Pay attention!

Nice detailing on the old stump puller, JR. It's a great kit, ain't it? Still looking for wheels? You could use the stock full covers; basically, its a stock Impala so those nice, detail-able stock wheels (with spinners?) might just look pretty good. I plan to build mine showroom stock. It's a beauty just the way it came in '62. ?

Maybe some wear on the pedals might be in order depending on the mileage that is undoubtedly showing on the odometer ?

Some really good info here; info you can't get from just photos on the web. Joe, you're setting the bar for this kit. Keep it coming ?. Very instructive material.

It looks like a pretty nice gasser, James. I wonder if this kit will show up at Ollie's.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!?. Absolutely beautiful.

Don't sweat the decal thing, John, the interior looks fine....Great, in fact. This color combo is classic, in my humble opinion. Go find some Keystones! And skinny white-walls! ?

OK, what's up with this? Did I miss something?

Jeez, Dennis, you sound like my wife....?

Thanks, LM, at this point encouraging words help. I'm bogged down in details,fumbling with tiny parts like shocks and batteries and such. Dropping the same tiny thing on the floor 3 or 4 times.....oh......sorry ?....

This is body work school! That is some very cool work, Rico. Can't wait to see where we goin'.

Tricky. So tricky, in fact, I had to abandon the kit and go my own way on the exhaust system. Well, specifically the exhaust pipes; the rest of it is OK but if you follow the sequence of assembly laid out in the instructions, it's kinda awkward and you have only one anchor point on each run and that's the exhaust manifolds. From that point back, there is nothing to anchor the system because the anchor points are on the floor pan, not the frame. I could not get the right side exhaust pipe to work no matter what I tried. The space between the bell housing and the torsion bar and the way the pipe was formed....I dunno, maybe I did something wrong. I used solder and routed it below the cross member. The left side would fit but for the sake of uniformity, I used solder for that side too.. ?

Oh boy, this looks like great fun. I want to see the way you handle the windshield dog-leg jamb area. I need some insight on this. Definitely following, Jim.

Quick update. Got it up on all fours. Looks to me like I'm OK with the lowering; I'm happy with it (?). I'm thinking "Plum Crazy" now ?

But it's a good slick paint job, John, so that counts for a lot. Maybe "pewter" the next time you get an appetite for something in that range. The red interior is going to bring it home for ya, guaranteed. Have you found some wheels yet?

Happy to help, Roger huh....It surprises me that it's not done by everyone already. When I started drilling and pinning it was just for handles and mirrors and I used beading wire and #80 bits but would break the bits regularly. I couldn't keep bits that small from breaking so now I'm using, I think, #76 with .020 brass. I will sand the wire with 320 grit to give maximum tooth for the CA, which seems to love brass anyway ( delusion? Perhaps...) but, with handles and mirrors, the hole will be pretty shallow so maximize adhesion by sanding the brass. Others use different materials as pins but I like brass. I find it ideal for this application but you may find other things too. Getting good bits is tricky. Save every little piece of rod. Sometimes I will leave the rod long after inserting in the handle and, if possible, glue with CA on the inside of the body leaving no trace outside. After inserting the rod in the handle or mirror, be sure to remove the excess CA that squeezes out with a pointed swab. The drilling operation on something as small as a door handle isn't for everyone but if I can do it with my 70+ arthritic hands, you probably can too. I have found pinning a good method for all sorts of problem solving where just gluing may not be adequate.

Load your I-tunes up with Beach Boys and Del Shannon, maybe some Elvis.....oh.....how about the Cruisin' series with the old radio commercials and DJ chatter.....it could work! ?...I'd try it myself but I'm way too lazy.

Not much today. I did some black-washing on the engine and wheels. Maybe a mock-up later. I coated the tie rod's brass center link with thick CA to make it more in line with the rest of the tie rod. It should be explained why I did what I did. The spindles wouldn't line up straight across so I had to lengthen the tie rod. I was limited on the size of the replacement link and I made it so I could adjust the spindles by sliding the brass rod in the holes drilled in the rod "ends". Now I'm working on cleaning up the tie rod with various fillers and then sanding until it looks decent. Hey, Thanks for tagging along.

I wonder if anyone has hidden a Bluetooth ear bud in the trunk so the "radio" would play. Steven? This would be cool at a show, huh?

That looks really nice with the red accent, JR. I can't always use the wheels that are my first choice (gray center Americans ?) but this is just my "old-man-thinking" that the wheels say a lot and convey a certain attitude. By that I mean the wheels/tires tell part of the "story" about the car - who it belongs to and how they use it. I hope this isn't too philosophical but I've got like 6 car bodies to paint and I'm running out of detail jobs and the humidity is keeping me here commenting instead of progressing.....anyway I'm glad you are, all the Impalas looks terrific!

Right now he's trying to figure out how to get a working clock small enough......

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Ya know, Steve, the dash is super but there's one thing you missed. ?...............you didn't set the clock to the right time! ?