jwrass

Andy, The pictures on the site are awesome! Thanks for sharing Michael, You are spot on!!!! That is indeed Metalflake and not Metallic. They made many sizes and colors of flake in that era. Flake is coming back in a big way(it's not just lowriders anymore) in the custom scene and I for one am happy about that. Flake was typically mixed into clear and shot over the base color coat, some painters did tint their flake clear mix with Kandies and Pearls. The pictures look like it's a medium flake not the big boat flake. From my point view the highlight blue areas are Kandie blue, which was a common practice in that era. You can get a very convincing flake job using craft glitter mixed into clear however you need a large fluid nozzle and needle to get the flake to flow though your airbrush or paint gun. That had to be so kool to get to help push that iconic car back on the truck!

Chris, Looking great!!!!! Very nice detail work, super finish on the brass. All ready for some of that new primer I like your jig set up. Where did you got those L shaped blocks? jimmy 'Rass"

Lawrence, I find this topic very interesting I watched Chris Chapmens Video (thanks for the tip) he mentioned someone by the name classicplastic101 ( I have no idea who he is but he is a fine builder) and I watched a few of his videos. I think this is a great option for certain things. I have used Createx Autoair with success but have not tried any of the acrylics. I'll be curious to know how they work for you. Skip, Have you tried that mixer on any One Shot! I hate mixing that stuff by hand

I think Jason is spot on with the colors. Their were fluorescents on race cars but not on production cars. The fluorescents are not lightfast and fade easily.That would be one heck of a recall

Ron, I know nothing about the Testors products. I know much about the products and processes of which Bill speaks of, he is absolutely 100% correct

YIKES, Jason that is a great picture, I think you are spot on with the colors!!!!

Michael, I have done many full on 1:1 Kandies (I like Hoks nomemclature for Candy) and some models when I was kid with rattles. If you go with rattles that's up to you!!! I'm sure many get good results with them but I wouldn't go down that road if you want jaw dropping results. I guess the first question I would have to you is do you own a airbrush or small touch up type spray gun? One of the first things you need to know about Kandies is that it's formula is clear and toner (color) nothing more nothing less. My approach on a model would be the same as 1:1 Lay down your base coat, Silver, Gold, Pearl Black, Pearl White and this is one that I rarely share Copper!!! Any color can be used as a base the most traditional are Silver and Gold. Larry Watson and Dean Jefferies ( west coast painters) were known for their deep rich Kadie Apple Red paint work, No one could figure out how they were doing it, their secret was in the copper base coat, it gives kandies a warmth and depth like no other base coat especially red. I know this will sound like arduous task but this is what I would do to get a show winner. 1) Lay down your base to get full and even coverage 2 to 3 coats should do it. Adhere to recommended flash times between coats. Tack between coats 2) Lay down 2 wet coats of intercoat clear, again adhere to flash times and let that dry for a few days. Tack between coats 3) Wet sand ( with Ivory dish soap classic scent in the water, this is pretty much the standard soap used by custom painters as the scent is organic and not a perfume, perfumes contain oils, oils equal fisheyes) the intercoat clear with 800-1000 grit paper. dry the surface and follow with a grey scuff pad dry to make sure the surface is dull. CAUTION is a must in this step as you don't want to sand into the base coat, you can fix it but it's a hassle, just take your time it's not a race 4) Clean the surface with a pre paint prep product. 5) Lay down 3 to 4 medium coats of Kandie paying attention to gun control and overlap, overlap should be 50 to 75 percent. Adhere to flash times 6) Now cut your mixed Kandie 50% with a reduced compatible clear and lay down one medium wet coat. Adhere to flash times. 7) Now cut your mixed Kandie 75% again with the reduced clear and lay down one medium wet coat and let that flash. 8) Lay down two wet coats of Clear over the Kandie. Adhere to flash times. I use a two part clear but that's not necessary for a model. 9) Wait a few days wet sand with 1500,2000,or finer and buff. don't forget to add the soap to the water There are many more steps in the finishing process of 1:1 and I will share that if you are curious, but this should be good for a killer Kandie on a model You can get different shades and tones with Kandies with various techniques however, Kandies have what's called a ceil level, meaning that once you get to a certain level there will be no change in color. I have never seen or heard of a kandie going to a solid color in my 30+ years of applying this product. I hope this helps!!!! jwrass

I remember that Moulin Rouge, that was one funky color. I agree with Gene I think the top car has that color. It certainly isn't red or orange

Jeff, That's a loaded question! I use brushes on a regular basis being a signwriter and pinstriper and I would say with enamels the softer the bristles the better. The size of the brush is a matter of personal preference but let common sense be your guide. Larger part larger brush....... You will get your best results with a properly loaded brush and to have a properly loaded brush you need to palette the paint into the brush, meaning, on a index card or paper ( your palette) dip your brush into the paint and swipe it back and forth on the palette (paletting) dip into the paint and palette as many times as you need to properly load the brush for what you want to paint, viscosity of the paint in the brush plays a roll as well, do you want it thicker or thinner, if you want your paint thinner dip your brush into paint thinner and work that into the mix on the palette. I feel that if you practice this technique your brush work will be much improved. jwrass

Ken, Everyone here gave you great information! NHRA rule books can be had all day long for any year which is a good place to start. I am always on the prowl for old car magazines (many of which I had and now reside in a landfill site) I try to buy lots of the era, it's like buying a box of chocolates, but I always find something interesting. If I'm trying to narrow down a particular car, I google that car say Sox & Martin and you will get images and obviously you will see pictures for the car. What I look for there is images of magazine covers with that car, with that information I look to see if I can find that magazine for sale. Typically great reference material. Having Raced in that era. Most SS cars ran a roll hoop and I never saw or heard (sound) anyone run through the exhaust.

Stan, Interesting color choice!!!! I'm diggin it!!!! Off the charts man. Great build!!!!

Dale, Been there more times than I care to count. But you can make some BIG ponies on those nice cool fall days

You guys are good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was the owner and shoe of the car. I'm a decent wrench but a far cry from a engine builder, I can put one together and make it live but I didn't have the machine shop to balance and blue print the motors so for me I used to have the short blocks built by a speed shop however we did all of the top end assembly and routine maintenance. One thing I did enjoy was working with the fuel systems, I think it was because I liked all the variables of either getting it right and the risk of getting it wrong $$$$$$$$. Bill, The first version of the car we ran a 421 Pontiac NASCAR motor which was very popular in the drag scene back then. Hilborn made a direct bolt on manifold for that combination with recommended head, valve train components and mag specs. We worked outside the box a bit and opened up the intake and exhaust passages and put The biggest valves in that would fit. We really didn't have to calculate for the effects of fuel cooling as we lit the fire did the burnouts and made the pass. The engine didn't see much run time vs other forms of racing so we ran hot plugs, lots of spark and as lean as we could without killing it. We did however fill the cooling passages with water and would run and time the motor about 15 minuets before we ran as to bring the engine temp close to what we needed to make a pass. Between rounds we drained and refilled the block and did the same procedure as listed. Hilborn was great to work with back then, they helped us though the whole build process and I would call them on a regular basis as I worked on the fuel systems on the car and had many questions and much to learn. I do remember that Hilborn would make sub manifolds that mated injectors for non direct bolt on's. I'm far from a physics major but yes there was some math involved in the tune ups. Being the fuel guy and ram tuner I do remember one equation and I don't know why because it's really useless information to me now it's L=TV over S. L= intake passage length, T= time in crank degrees, S= rpm at horsepower peak, V=1100 fpm. or something to that effect. The only thing that was a question mark for us was the S as their were not many Dynos out there back then but we had a pretty good idea of what kind of horse power we were making so we swaged it, we ran well and never broke a bottom end. Jim, Impressive resume, I crewed on a 360/410 car about five years ago and am familiar with those fuel systems and they really aren't much different than what we ran years ago. My weather station was a glass hour shaped barometer with a red dyed solution that came in a velvet lined hard wood box, and a thermometer. Your tune ups are much more complicated than ours were with the drag car. You have to deal with long term engine longevity, very high torque loads and making it happy and fast all night long. I agree with your tuning assessment a little black magic and common sense. Almost a art form in my opinion with mechanical injection, I wish I had access to a dyno back in the day. My hats off to you!!! go get em great insight gentlemen on a most interesting topic, jwrass

Michael, Jim is pretty spot on! It seems like you are curious about injection so throw I'll give you my 2 cents worth. I ran a injected Altered in the 70's. Ours was a Hilborn mechanical drive set up ( no electronics back then) their are many slang terms used in racing and the nomenclature can be a bit confusing. Velocity Tubes (stacks,tubes, ram tubes yada yada) played a very important roll in the tune up, the diameters were fixed based on the manifold you had but you could fine tune the injection with tube length a term called ram tuning, the flare or horn at the top of the tube played a factor as well. Contrary to what some people think the mixture (air/fuel) was not rammed buy momentum as it traveled down the tube, the theory of the tubes was to get the air to flow into the manifold in a wave form vs linear. The flares or horns were thought to bring in the air into the manifold in a smoother fashion much like water swirling down a drain ( you don't have to run stacks to make injection work and many didn't) Part of the tune up equation was the fuel metering orifice or pill in the fuel line. The scientific equipment we had to help in the tuning process were a barometer, thermometer, a nifty Hiborn card stock slide tool to match air temp and atmospheric pressure, reading the spark plugs, cloud cover and a wet finger in the wind. I found it fun and challenging to get a good tune up back then. We didn't have laptops or electronics to measure how the engine performed on a pass, it was by feel, educated guess and the SWAG factor. those were truly some great times. I know this was a bit off topic but it seemed like you had a interest so I shared, jwrass

Did you see her name Buttercup2010, That has to be some spoiled butter. I was in the same boat as David. After my ex kicked me to the curb seems her boyfriend thought he had dibs on certain things in my tool boxes. She still has many of my childhood photos, trophies, etc and it's been 20 years. I'm still holding my breath. The only one who wins in a divorce is the Attorneys

To All: It's coming, It's coming!!!!! I got busy with some sign work for a Forth Float and a couple of other projects that pay the bills $$$$$ plus a annual forth party. I'm up to my butt in alligators and trying to drain the swamp. ( plus I spend way to much time on this site) process and pictures are done. I need to work on the text and it will be done.To be truthful I under estimated the time it was going to take to do it right!! In hindsight I should have done the work and then posted it. Lesson learned, However I think you will find it interesting. Respectfully jwrass.

Skip, Your journey is much like mine. I know all the people you mentioned (and many more) except Gary but I know of his work. I met John in 2001 at a Pinstriping, Lettering, Airbrush class that he had at his shop with Mike Lavalle. I have been to three Getaways over the last 10 years, I hope to go to Glenns in the fall as I used to follow most everything he did when he was at Circus Paint with Mr J. Many of the people you mentioned come to The Milwaukee World of Wheels Car Show to participate in our Pinstriping Legends Charity as we were one of the first if not the first to have a event like that in the country. We have a huge Paint Pit and much fun is had by all! John one of the nicest man I have ever met! When I went to his class is was a intro on Friday night for all who could attend and classes were Sat & Sun wrapping up Sunday afternoon. On Sat we stayed at the shop until like 2 am we had a blast!!!! I couldn't get a flight back to Wisconsin until Monday evening which turned out to be a stroke of luck for me as John told me to stop by the shop on Monday and hang out which I did, that's when he turned me on to the wonda size. He was doing a late model pick up with graphics and part of the graphics was engine turned silver leaf. It is different to work with for sure but you can put it on, gild and spin really fast without any holidays. If you want to do some bench painting P.M. Me and I will give you my email address. It's always nice to hear from a old school guy! "Keep it Wet" Jimmy 'Rass"

Paul Good luck with the decals!!!!! If you decide to try to paint them the offer stands! just pm me.jwrass

John, I Absolutely love it! I know the phrase Back In The Day is used on a regular basis! But I miss the "Run What Ya Brung" days!!! Nick Names, Wild Paint Work, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG Smokey Burn Outs! I am so blessed to have had a Father who took me the races on a regular basis. Thanks for the Memories!!! jwrass

Phil, I saw this on the workbench!!!! Awesome finished build, Parnelli is a hoot!!!! You will have a great time and he will appreciate the build. He, Foyt, Ward, Mario, JR etc came up in a era that a driver or drivers lost their lives at tracks all over the county on a weekly basis. In my book these guys are lucky to be alive and all had their share of injuries. They did it for the love of the sport not the $$$$$$$$$ The last of the Gladiators and Racing Hero's

Lee, I have seen the gel, I have no experience with it but the trade rags tout it. If that's Weller you got for $36 do you sleep at night I have a 260 watt Weller and that thing gets pretty hot, I have a small Weller butane (still in the package that's all I can tell you about it) I would try the resisthhhhjh first. I am very curious about this subject, seems like each time I go to the hobby shop I grab some brass or copper of some description. I have sweat (brazed) many a refrigeration fitting and plumbing pipe too. I have not played with any of the materials I have. I have had good results with Harris Stay-Silv flux and Oatey paste (red) not so much with the self tinning stuff. keep us posted (me anyhow) as I am very interested. jwrass

On the Road Runner, If you look at the sheen where the sail panel and rear side glass meet, It looks like a silver white or white pearl was top coated over the blue, I can see hints of this elsewhere on the blue. Based on the era that most likely was painted at a Custom Shop, The lettering speaks volumes of that, Engine Turned Gold Leaf, Black outline, heavy drop shadow at the bottom with white airbrushed highlights, free style script. No stickers or wraps there! Raw talent in skilled hands ( except the contingencies )

I knew it!!!! I guess I'm headed for rehab

Chris, Thank you! Looking forward to the update. I know I will go !!!!!!!!!!! jimmy "RASS" I mentioned this quote ( in the primer thread) that I got from one of my mentors years ago with regards to solvent trapping when I was trying to run and not walk. "When In Doubt Wait It Out" I have tried to adhere to these words when ever I can. When I don't more often than not I have a problem. With that I look to the sky and say Tommy Tommy why didn't you give me a sign! I know the answer!!!! He did years ago! RIP Tommy Langenfeld

Jermaine,Jackie,Tito,Marlon,Michael Great photo's!!! The blue appears to have metallic in it, Many of those cars had Pearl top coats and would enhance some colors more than others. I would look at color chips and go with your eyes and gut. If it's not 100% correct I don't feel it's a big deal! The car would be a Awesome build regardless!