ChrisBcritter

Yep - and it's a real blast to drive!

Been looking for a while for '60 Buick valve covers, as I believed the '60 was the only source for an accurate set. Was digging through my '40 Ford parts stash for taillights, and to my surprise, there were the exact same covers on a first (or early) issue '40 coupe chrome tree! (Newer issues were changed to finned custom covers.) Nice surprise to already have them - after I dechrome and add flanges, I'll be casting them up. Got a '62 Electra and '63 Rivi that need sets.

A couple examples. It's a bit larger than the El Camino unit and the pleats run sideways: (From eBay completed listings. That blue one was a jaw-dropper - it was a complete, clean builtup in the original box with the rest of the parts AND the go-kart - and it sold for exactly $8.60! )

Went down to Reynolds Advanced Materials in Broadview and picked up some clear casting rubber Monday afternoon; then started gathering up mostly obscure taillight lenses to copy in clear red. Top row - Hubley '61 Ford, Premier English Ford. Bottom: Jo-Han '62 Chrysler, Lindberg Ford Granada, Aurora Alfa Romeo. I'll add Hubley Renault Dauphine taillights to those. Below that, I got some assembly done on the Newport engines, made a quick cast of a Jo-Han firewall to get the correct details on the heater box and power brake setup, and ground off the incorrect details from the Revell firewalls (after adding a brace behind each). Then the other big job. This is how the tan car came, with warped/twisted torsion bars: So I cut off the ends of the stub axles and got the wheels off, then sawed through the glue on the torsion bar pockets and got the bars out. Cut the middle out of them and very very carefully drilled and reamed holes in the ends to fit a couple cut-down steel axles to get them down to the proper thickness, more or less. The file is just there to check alignment, and the lower crossmember was repaired and braced after engine removal broke it.

From another eBay parts seller, ordered a '65 Chevelle wagon interior bucket so I can put the bench seat and no-console floor into one of my '65 El Caminos, plus a set of open steelie wheels from the '65 GTO.

Liver and onions

Look again: Rotated my image. The two things in the middle are the hood gunsights on another tree lying atop the other one.

a comedy tonight!

My deepest condolences, James, to you and your family. Just over a year now since master modeler Tom Piagari took that road out. His widow and family and friends still miss him greatly, as do I. The last evening we were together, I asked him if he had looked into MDMA as treatment for depression (I'd mentioned it before), and he sighed and said it was still experimental and would have cost $3000 a treatment. I wish he could have tried it - maybe it would have helped, maybe not, but now we'll never know.

Picked up another batch of useful goodies from eBay. Custom wheels from the original '67 Impala: Underhood stuff from the '68 Toronado, including a really good power brake unit with single pot master cylinder: And all the custom/drag rolling stock (but no compact tires) from the '70 Opel GT, which now gives me four of those sharp only-one-issue 13" five-lug chrome reverses, plus these odd 6-lug 6-spoke mags. They don't apply to an Opel, but maybe would work for some import pickup?

Looks like they're the dog dish caps from the Revell '57 Chevy Black Widow. (Image via ModelJunkyard.com)

I read a lot when I was a kid, whatever we had in the house - according to my folks, I taught myself to read when I was four. I have an early memory of picking up one of my mom's magazines (maybe Woman's Day or Family Circle) and reading a short story about a lady taking her little daughter out for a drive in the family's '57 Chevy and getting into a tragic accident with a dump truck; the daughter is killed and she's in the hospital with her husband consoling her. We also had the ubiquitous Reader's Digest Condensed Books, where I first read Flight of the Phoenix long before I saw the movie - or read the complete book. There was also The Third Day, which had an illustration of a '62 Dodge four-door hardtop smashing through a stone fence, headed over a cliff. Got Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a Christmas present (1966 IIRC); later it was my first example of "the book is better than the movie". Later got into Henry Gregor Felsen's novels (Hot Rod, Street Rod, Rag Top, etc, all pretty dark... and Crash Club, which to me was very dark and twisted) and some other more enjoyable car-related novels like The Red Car and Road Racer.

chips and dip

Those are already red, though? Watched a set recently but it jumped out of my price range. '65s I got, in a first-issue Gear Hauler builtup; may do them if I can remove the lenses/bezels intact. The only bezel mold I have right now is for the '61/'62 Tempest. I'm going to try and pick up some clear rubber this week.

Made something cool a little while ago: '62 Jo-Han Plymouth tail and backup lights. A couple years ago, Tom Piagari and I made a mold for a batch of different items in clear casting rubber, and I suggested a bunch of different taillights that were never molded in clear red before. I poured the red first, hit it with the UV light to fix it, then poured the clear for the backups. Gave it another minute with the UV - and good to go, with no sticky spots. Yes, there's a little flaw in the right backup . Had some more red resin mixed, so I banged out a few more goodies: '59 Ford, Moebius Satellite and Belvedere, and '65 Nova tail and backup on the left, and Lincoln Futura on the right (those weren't as good; got a couple bubbles). The trick here is to use clear rubber so the UV rays completely surround and penetrate the resin. I also tried to do a '62 Chrysler light in regular opaque resin and just couldn't get a good result. So besides these, I can make '41 Plymouth, '52 Chevy, and Revell '40 Ford lights. Anyone have suggestions for other chrome lights that should be clear and/or red? Hey, how about '64 Chevelle backup lights with the little red reflectors? Hmmm...

Bravo Snake! Also have a mold for the Jo-Han Chrysler's firewall, as the heater box and vacuum booster/master cylinder are more accurate than the Revell unit - which has what looks like a Treadle-Vac canister and no master. Also made a mold for the Jo-Han taillights and "new improved" wheelcover, so I can turn out a few more sets. ETA: Figured it out. This is a '62 Chrysler: And this is a '61, which Revell apparently copied. Maybe they didn't have access to the underhood info - which would also explain the wrong air cleaner and valve covers:

^^^Different item. This is the Go Chrome; $53.42 USD for a 400ml spray can: https://www.stardustcolors.co.uk/chrome-paint/1229-brush-on-chrome-chrome-paint-using-brush.html#/201-packaging-spraycan_400ml Also $16.79 for a 30ml "liner" - looks like the Molotow refill; same size - but Molotow costs $28.98 on Amazon.

You, me and a bunch of others! I couldn't put two Legos together without turning it into a project.

What did I accomplish today? Well, after an evening's work, I GOT THAT GRILLE OUT!!! I'll have to rebuild the radiator wall but at least there was no damage to the grille or the opening. Thank goodness for battery operated mini-grinders and photoetch saw blades!

Sorry to hear this, Carl. I hope you can still get some respite from your troubles by visiting here.

Very clean, sharp and aggressive-looking machine! Nice job especially on the taillights and front parking lights.

Magnificent! THIS is the kind of stuff I come here for!

Good luck with it! Has anyone here tried to convert one of these to a Spitfire? Very clean '59 Merc, too; thank goodness the OB didn't glue fender skirts to those finely ribbed rear quarters. I've also got a '59 Park Lane convertible; built it from a Craftsman kit many years ago. Painted it Lime Gold over black primer, did the side spears in ivory, and left the interior in gray primer. Did all the chrome in silver paint. It's one of those models I really should redo, but it's not awful enough to push to the head of the line.