Muncie

sorry, toothpaste is for teeth. Different brands have different abrasives - some are coarser than others and will absolutely destroy model car kit clear plastic. A lesson from the school of bad experiences. In another case of misusing a product for an unintended purpose, I've had good luck polishing model car kit clear plastic with Meguiar's cleaner wax. The finest abrasive that I think I've ever used for anything. It was an old bottle so I'm not sure if they changed the formula since then or if they still make it. Always use a clean spot on a good microfiber cloth. Careful, too much pressure on the polishing cloth will leave micro cracks in clear plastic. Test and practice with whatever you choose.

Excellent! So many well done, cool details - needs just a touch of salt on the tires and an SCTA crew sticker on the windshield because we all know where this one is going!

Try Slixx Decals, they carry competition resins

so, did you build the giant pair of tweezers? I'm looking at that and can't tell the difference between the truck and the model... I keep having to do a brain check to figure out which is which.

experiment and test - whatever you decide to use, try it out on a piece of chrome that you don't care about. The abrasives in toothpaste (and some auto polishes) vary quite a bit from brand to brand. I've tried toothpastes that that turned out to be much more abrasive than a good auto polish. I kinda gave up on toothpaste so it stays in the medicine cabinet.

Sorry, nothing much to contribute, but I'll just drop this line from the Saturday night drag racing screamer radio ads, "UNDER LIGHTS WE HAVE 240 GORDIE BONIN (pause, followed by extra emphasis) AND YOU KNOW WHY WE CALL HIM TWO FORTY!!! When he came to the line, I always headed for the lights. Looking forward to watching your project. 1976 gatornationals from the petersen archive, search 1976 NHRA Petersen Digital Archive the second search for "1976 NHRA" yielded 55 pages, 240 images per page, some work turned up something that may be worthwhile... I gave up about page 12, but there are more there. 

couple thoughts... Magnetic sheets work great. Sign supply stores have the magnetic sheet on rolls, some will cut the rolls and sell what you need. Long ago, auto parts stores around here would keep a few decals behind the counter or near the register just to hand out. Some may still do it. Not always... and probably less often now because most companies started charging for decals.

The Lindberg 1/16 scale Serpent kit probably has the same chassis, and it has a few extras. It may be easier to find and a better price.

I'm surprised the Auto Cutter from Auto World hasn't been mentioned yet. Basically, it's a pencil type soldering iron with an Xacto blade tip. Kind of evil but with a little learning and practice (let it get real hot and just use the tip of the blade) it could make a good cut for customizing work. It looks like there are a couple of threads around here about it.

Well done, it's got the look.

Vacuum operated power ashtray - A GM dealer installed accessory in the mid-fifties, A square funnel under the dash sucked up the ashes and deposited them in a jar under the hood. There were even aftermarket kits that fit anything with a little work. photo from ebay -

Just another thought, Your hammer and dolly surfaces need to be smooth, smoother the better. An as cast surface is too rough. Any marks, cuts or divots will transfer to the part that you are working on. The marks aren't so easy to work out of the part once they are there. The Wingrove books are worth the money - not just for learning the tools but the how-to information on shaping metal is a real head start on learning how-to.

So Cool!, brilliant concept, excellent execution

Appreciate the pic, good to know - aaarrrrghhh - just what I was afraid of.... The too wide slicks that came later, after this car raced. Fortunately, Competiton Resin makes the "correct" narrower tire, Also available at Slixx Decals, part number CRT-510. Just a simple chop out of the back of the wheel for fit and then good to go.

There is a lot going on there... and the more I look, the more there is! Neat idea and well executed. Thank you for posting.

I've been thinking that very thing for the last couple of years. There was a brand new Oldsmobile dealer close to the grade school that I went to. They were good to some of the kids and gave them dealer stickers to patch holes in the seat of their Stingray bikes. That dealer only lasted a couple of years. The AMT Willys chassis is close to the right wheelbase. In a quick tryout, it looks like the interior tub only needs a couple of simple modifications to fit the Willys frame.

me too...

You have some good research on what is available. One of the reasons for different track widths in the hot rod world is to fit the different size tires and wheel offsets properly under the fenders. It's about the look and function.

I also remember reading a couple of the Henry Gregor Felson books during study hall in high school. Your tribute is well done and way cool!

I may go at this a little backward... it's kind of the crudest level of eyeball engineering. I try to leave a gap before paint that is bigger than I will need. Then fill with paint. Usually easier for me to add paint than to take it away. I probably start with a gap that is a about one thickness of manila file folder (depending on the paint) for each coat of paint plus a bit more than that for the final space between parts. One file folder for primer on the body, one for primer on the part, one for color on the body, one for color on the body - same for clear (I don't use 2K). Plus allow for the final gap between painted parts. Add a bit to the unpainted gap for any base coats, candy base, etc. I don't really measure it, it's just eyeball, I'm not leaving huge gaps because I try to get the job done with paint that doesn't need heavy coats and spray it thin - just thick enough to get good coverage so I don't bury crisp lines or obscure detail.

Long ago, I had a bad experience polishing Testors Model Master enamel with a very fine mild polish. The paint ended up on the polishing cloth. I fixed the damage to the paint and polished it with a cleaner wax. It was much less aggressive and polished the enamel with good results.

3 hoods! - makes it work for so many things

for really old food archives, check out a chest type freezer. Had to deal with a couple of those. Top layer was fairly recent, but the bottom layer was 25 to 30 years old... found some packages with my birth year on them. - or the jars of home canned fruit at the back of the shelf in the garage...

I'd say AMT got the mounts a little wrong. With the rear engine mount on the engine under the mount on the frame as you've got it, that appears to give the correct engine centerline angle. For this wheelbase, that's about 3 degrees and down at the rear.

not good... the problem may be in the decanting or spraying thru an airbrush. thinner? try spraying from the can and see if it does the same thing.