Harold

Packard-Darrins (I saw a cusomized one on "My Classic Car" that made me want to reach through the TV and smack the guy who committed said sacrilege), any other Packard, Mark I and II Continentals, Cords, Deusenbergs, any other true classic (pre-48, low production, original lofty price) and Ferraris.

Golly gosh darn- I'm gonna be 53 next month, so you might want to see this old geezer's work: Afterwards, maybe we can have a spelling bee. Ciao.

I'm with the majority on this one- you gotta take Lindberg kits on a case by case basis. Their new tools from the mid-90's can actually give AMT and Revell a run for their money. I have the '67 Olds under construction right now, and though it was initially panned for a too- shallow interior, it builds up quite nicely with one caveat- the rear sway bar is molded to the rear axle, so I replaced it with the rear axle from the Revell '66 GTO. The '97 F-150 4X4 is a very enjoyable build, as are the '53 Ford and the Chrysler Atlantic.

That's one nice l'il Chrysler you got there- looks like it's ready to haul some lumber from the Home Despot.

Another conversion I thought of but probably won't do would be to graft the '71 front end from the door line forward onto the '69 body, block in the quarter windows and do a '71 Town Landau. The '69 body would also be the starting point for a 4- door conversion, as it has the proper rear deck and window shape.

Thanks for the comps, guys. I still am not satisfied with the fit of the front pan, and I need to touch up the foil on the left quarter. I'll address these issues this week before the contest at Rider's here in Flint (the entry deadline is Saturday). I hardly enter contests because I can never seem to finish anything on a deadline, but I made it this time.

I got her done yesterday while the mayhem was going on in Martinsville. This is a major kitbash using parts from the Allison Thunderland (body), '71 T-bird (chassis and interior), '65 Ford (front and rear suspensions and interior floor), '67 Comet (C6 trans and pedals) and the '71 Torino (engine, radiator, core support and dome light). The color is Dupli-Color Import Cars Red Mica and Dupli-Color clear.

Here we are nearing final assembly. As you can see, I need to swap the sun visors around for the corrrect orientation. I carved in headliner details and painted everything Polly S Reefer (no, not that kind) white. Here's how the interior came to be. I removed the floor from the 'Bird, added the floor from the '65 Ford and was able to lower the interior floor (it was too shallow). Well, she's finally done. Finished pics are in 'Under Glass'. Ciao.

It's almost done- yesterday I made a hood hinge with ID/OD brass and got that installed. I put a crimp in the tubing so the hood will stay up on it's own when it's opened. I finished the interior (there were a few things that weren't quite right) and cut the front and rear windows away from the runners. I lowered the suspension a bit, and when I went to mock it up to check the stance (a lot better) that's when I noticed AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! there was a couple little blobs of epoxy on the left quarter. After the initial panic, I worked very carefully sanding and polishing them away. There's two hours of work that was not anticipated, but it's none the worse for wear. Hopefully, she'll be done tonight. See you soon.

Part 2 The interior was easy to modify to '69 specs- I converted the seats to low backs with headrests, lowered the floor with the floor from the '65 and whipped up a console using the faint image on the '71's floor. After slathering everything that needed it with BMF matte aluminum, some armrests made from some custom bumperettes and paint, I now have an interior. The chassis required some work- I filled the screw holes in the trunk floor, made new ribbing with evergreen and used the rear suspension from the Ford. The trailing links are from the T-Bird- they're longer and allow the wheels to be square in their openings. The exhaust was cut away from the 'Bird rear axle and the gaps wer bridged with corresponding bits from the Ford. Here's the mockup so far- I'll have her done this weekend. Ciao for now!

Well, I hope everybody is doing OK- I've been hunkered down the last few months dealing with my college career and working on a few projects. I had actually started working on the MK '71 'Bird, but I bought the Allison Thunderland kit and found out that aside from the lack of stock tail lights, this is very workable. That, and I prefer the '67-'69 T-Birds to the '70-'71 cars. Not liking the engine or underpinnings on the '71, I started with the 429 from the Revell '71 Torino and the C6 from the '67 Comet. I shortened the chassis from the AMT '65 Galaxie, and though it fit, I wasn't quite satisfied. So I took the front suspension from the Ford and grafted it to the T-Bird frame- now we're cooking. Right about then is when the '69 body came into the picture. Hmmmmm....now I like this.........

Now that is going to be one cool Kaiser- gotta love the orphans. Dutch Darrin would be proud.

The Falcons from '66-69 were heavily based on the Fairlane. Shortening the '66 Fairlane/ '67 Comet chassis at the rear frame rails (behind the front seats) will do the trick. You'll then be able to use the Fairlane/Comet engine compartment. Good luck.

I've been no angel myself over the years, and I have probably too much empathy for people. My thing was booze (20 yrs sober) and when I drove cab, I got to see the devastaion caused by crack first hand, so I understand addiction. I can only hope things get better for her- I don't want the next time we meet for her to be in a coffin.

A dear friend of mine, who I've known for several years swiped my digital camera (my guess is she's back on the stem). Arrrrgh! Guess who won't darken my door again? That's why I haven't been posting for awhile...I won't have a camera 'til my next disbursment, and I've been bummed to the point of just going through the motions at the bench. I have, however, been able to graft the front frame crossmember from AMT's '65 Galaxie to the MK '71 T-Bird. I'm slowly getting my groove back, but I'm still ticked.

Sometimes I'll have the TV on- if I know the characters, I can figure out what's going on without actually staring at the box the whole time. As for music, I'll get going on some tangent regarding certain artists- lately it's been Joe Ely, The Yardbirds and the Guess Who.

Well, after five years of sporadic work, this one is finally finished (could this be one of the signs of the apocalypse?). This is the '02 reissue of the venerable old Monogram kit (the one that returned all the custom pieces back to the box). Hmmm, where to start.....this is an old tool that could use some TLC back at the Revell tool shop. I was disappointed that the first weekend of work on this thing involved rescribing all the panel lines (trunk, boot cover, fender caps, skirts and headlight bezels), not to mention the sink marks in the doors and the front fenders immediately behind the wheel openings. After that, it was actually smooth sailing (for the most part). The color is Dupli-Color Dark Green Mica, topped with several coats of Dupli-Color clear (wet-sanded between coats). The interior is box stock (except for flocking) and is painted Tamiya Light Sand spray with accents a custom mixed dark green applied with a brush. I used several reference sources to do the two toning in a stock pattern, but with non-stock colors. The clutch was removed and the shift lever was bent upward to get it in park, since I swapped trannies. The engine is the stock block with the three carb intake from the kit. The valve covers and air cleaner were pirated from AMT's '62 'Bird. Since it's not stock, I decided to go with Ford Blue (Dupli-Color again) for the engine. The exhaust manifolds are from AMT's '69 Galaxie, and the trans is the automatic from the Revell T-Bolt. The front suspensin was assembled as per the instructions, and after drilling out the molded in pivot points on the upper and lower A-arms with a #61 bit, I cut out the spindles and made new ones from t-shaped sections of sprue which were then drilled out top and bottom and attached with pieces of straight pins. Although there's no tie rod, having poseable steering makes for more interesting pics. Finally, I reamed out the headlight locations with a #11 blade, inserted four headlight lenses in a convex orientation, foiled them and added four clear lenses. I now have headlights with some depth to them. The tonneau is modified with the headrests removed, drilled out and reinstalled with brass rod and aluminum sleeves. Okay, so I wasn't working on it constantly (this is the third engine thats been under the hood-I had considered an SOHC 427, but nixed it as too over the top for this car, four or five wheel and tire combos, well, you get the idea). The wheels and tires are from the Motor City issue of the Revell '69 Shelby Mustang.

Wow- the level of detail you put into this puppy is killer- I especially am impressed with the dashboard and the trunk details. Killer stuff.

Well, I finally got a new computer (flat screen and all) to replace the old steam-powered relic that died back in June ("hey Maw, fire up the boiler- I gotta get some photos done"). All summer I've been dragging out some of my stalled projects and finishing (!) them...what a concept. This is one I started two years ago. It's the AMT Stude done up as a custom (I love the custom bits for this car- they almost look as though they could have come out of Loewy's South Bend studio as restyling ideas). After molding in the front pan and lower grill divider, I molded in the stock headlight bezels and nosed, decked and shaved the body. That's it. The color is Dupli-Color FM320 Crystal Blue with about five coats of clear. I made a hood hinge from brass. The engine is the Stude with the intake, carbs and air cleaner from the '56 Ford, and the wiring is Radio Shack white wire wrapping dyed with RIT dye. The wheels are the fronts from two Phantom Vicks, and the tires are Monogram Eagles. The interior sports the custom front and rear seats from the AMT '57 Ford (90's reissue) and a scratchbuilt console. The exhaust is from a Revell '69 Dart with exhaust manifolds from the AMT '69 Cuda, Finally, the pipes are aluminum tubing with a 45 degree cut.

She's lookin' good- nice to see the kit has a separate rear axle/ exhaust a 'la the '66 Ford. Those wheels are tres cool

That's a great save on a very rare Ford- I believe they made the Uniside for only '61 and '62. Sure wish I had a time machine so I could go back and rescue that one from my misspent youth (as opposed to my misspent adulthood). Love the color, and the wheels set it off.

Wow- talk about a last ride- let's hope the procession can keep up with you on the way to the cemetary.

Absolutely stunningly drop dead gorgeous.

Absolutely beeyootiful job there, Bill. I've enjoyed following this thread, and the payoff is just ^%&*#$% killer! ( I've also picked up a few tricks from the thread itself). Congratulations on a job well done.

That is a really nice 300 you've got going there. What color is that?