Muncie

I'm still having trouble getting the pictures of the model mixed up with the reference pictures of the real car... Excellent work Randy, It's good to have you back.

3M Plastic Emblem and Trim Adhesive. It's a tube glue, no mixing. I've seen it available at some auto parts stores, (maybe even Walmart?) but an auto body supply shop would definitely have it. It's like a high-performance contact cement. Buy the smallest size that you can get - It will stick the cap to the tube rendering the remaining glue in the tube hard to get. Reasonable price in the smaller tubes. It takes a couple of days to dry to full strength but seems to stick to anything. Strong enough for any abuse that I could give it.

Hey Alan, what's the deal? have you gone roque on us... Monogram 1932 Fords instead of AMT? Next thing we know, you'll be building with the steering wheel on the LH side. Ok, well OK, these are really great - taking things back to their origins with cool and appropriate changes. The straight front axle on Son of Ford is a good improvement and really makes it look like it should. I like them! Good to see you back, Steve

That's really cool, great color and your painted trim gives it a cool look, love it!

Are we talking about things like electronic ignition? GM went to HEI in 1973 (a good thing in my book) I'm not sure parts stores even stock ignition points anymore...

If they have good memories, hang 'em up in tne garage and keep them.

A few more bits of the history,,, The Revell kit represents the 1972 Duster which is one of the early dragster style funny car chassis - it was just after the Logghe style chassis in funny car history. The chassis in this car and the Revell kit is a bit wider (tires were smaller) and the chassis/wheelbase were shorter that what came later. The car was featured on the cover and four pages in the March 1972 Car Craft Magazine. I think Revell spent quite a bit of time with the real thing to develop the kit and in my mind it is very accurate for the 1972 car. Revell used that chassis for a long time on other funny cars - long after the real thing became obsolete (longer wheelbase and the chassis became narrower for larger rear slicks). The "English Leather" car is featured on three pages in the June 1975 Hot Rod Magazine. The chassis is longer with a 117" wheelbase, is narrower than the earlier car, and the engine location is farther out from the rear axle. The body was extensively modified by Northwest Racecars who also built the car. (NW Race Cars also did work for Twig Ziegler's Satellite - to my eyes, this car and Ziegler's Satellite are very similar.) There used to be a couple of resin bodies for this car. One had the correct wheelbase (which is too long to for the original Revell chassis) and the other was even longer to fit the later Monogram funny car chassis. Decals available that fit the body that came in the older Revell kit. You can get there, but it takes some work.

Thank you for posting, I was remembering this one a couple of days ago. Awesome work!

just the standard hobby shop jeweler saw. It's straight and long enough that it can smoothly follow the cut. Sometimes it works out with one cut. I've also used Trevor's method. Also works great on aluminum tubing. extra fingers out of the way. it cuts flesh easier than plastic.

Love '34 Ford coupes with Chevy sixes. The slicker and more attitude, the better. Thank you for continuing the build and the posts - this thing is pretty darn cool!

Interesting what you can find on the web... There are a lot of messed up and twisted colors on the internet. The paint chip chart looks off on several colors. The lighting and photography play lots of games. Metallics also shift many colors in different light. Hope this helps Pretty sure this is a Rally Nova in Fathom green. Rallye green is much brighter and smaller (or no) metallic.

Very clean and well built. Love it! Right colors, right wheels - over the last several decades, there have been a couple of 1956 210 Chevrolets on the street around here with that combination. Brings back memories of seeing them on the road. Way too cool.

maybe rectangular tanks... rectangular tanks will give you more fuel capacity in short rail space. maybe remove the cab step and use a fuel tank with a step under the cab... will give you more rail space to work with and better weight distribution for a truck tractor. . Try to maintain maximum ground clearance. it gets critical at the center of the wheelbase going into steep parking lot driveways.

great subject, the model is spot on, (and yes, we sure did!)

We kind of tell them we want fewer colors in other ways by what we spend. More colors make every car cost more. This is much too simplified... Handling more colors mean more complications for production in the paint shop. More space, more people, more paint equipment, and some way to efficiently sequence cars with different colors thru the paint shop. it all costs money. It is simpler and less cost to manufacture more vehicles with fewer colors. While it is probably not going to create a price reduction to the customer to have fewer colors, lower cost can lessen the next price increase out the door and onto the dealer's lot. In the end, simplifying things with fewer colors keeps a manufacturer more price competitive. As I understand it, the paint shop is one of the larger expenses in producing vehicles. Beyond that, we know price is one of the factors that customers look at to choose a car. We still see some very low production colors on some models, but they are available at a very premium price.

Under the lights, Saturday night at P I R. The Pacific NW had several of the national hitters - you know the names. Ed the Ace McCulloch, Twig Ziegler Pizza haven, Jim Green the Green Elephant, Kenney Goodell... but there was plenty of funny cars that just ran locally as well in those days. The screamer ads on the radio didn't hurt the show. Wish I could dig some of those out of the memory banks and replay them as well. and you know why they call him 240 Gordy!

so many parts! lots of potential. thank you for a very thorough review - nice to get a look at what's in the box.

This is looking good. Very interesting to see the details of this car and it's been enjoyable to follow your progress.

My learning experience with fogging and polishing came a long, very long time ago. Painting outside late in the fall, in the evening. Not what the paint manufacturer recommended, and I knew better. Looked great until things cooled down, the humidity came in and the paint on the top surfaces fogged as it dried. The attempts that I made to polish it had no effect. However, it was one color again, so I drove it that way. Your mileage may vary and It may be different for other paints, but I have avoided painting in damp conditions when paint may fog or blush since then.

you may be able to find dimensioned or scalable drawings with a google search for "Peterbilt 353 body builder manual" or "Peterbilt 353 body builder drawing". it looks like there are some things out there, it's just a matter of sorting thru to find what's relevant. Truck manufacturers provide these to body builders to complete the truck.

Difficult to see in the pictures on this end, are you talking about a kind of "foggy" appearance? If so, that would probably be moisture in the air, (high humidity) when the paint is drying. My experience is that does not polish out.

I agree with these. Definitely too thin. May also need to shake the can a bit longer to get the paint and thinner well mixed. Basic rule is give it a minute after the agitator ball starts making noise. Seems like a long time, but that is usually what it takes. Spraying too close may also cause the same effect.

showing my age... FM wasn't really that big in the 60's. Radios were available but even big markets didn't have many stations broadcasting in FM. Those stations were usually reserved for classical music and the reception wasn't always that good in a car. FM kind of turned around when the "underground" rock stations started showing up with better programing format and better music. Until then, no need for FM radios in cars with nothing to listen to.

Yeah, it was a different time. A lot of drivers felt front brakes were unsafe because front brakes could lock up and the front axle would lose steering control. Just one reason... I lost my old desk ornament, but it looks like the Budd wheel nuts are 1-1/2" across the flats.

No front brakes. (I should probably say probably no front brakes because some trucks had them.) They would not be required until about 1971 when Federal stopping distance requirements for new trucks went into effect. Trucks just had a hub to attach the front wheel. "Service" brakes are the stopping brakes as distinguished from the "parking" brakes.