StevenGuthmiller

Thanks guys! Still working on a few items under the hood, basically filling in the gaps. I added some extensions to the bottom of the firewall because anyone who knows these old kits knows the the firewall only goes half way down to the frame. I'm also going to fill some holes between the front of the fender wells & the radiator brace, as well as a new top for the radiator brace. I think I'm going to try something new & add the "torsion bar" hood springs to the hood hinges as well. I think after that, I'll call it good. You know how these things go. If you don't set some limits for yourself, you could go on forever. Yeah Charlie, they don't grow these '65-'68 Fury's on trees, that's for sure! Steve

Thanks guys. I'm not all that tech savvy, & I'm no photographer, so chances are, I won't be changing much about how I post photos. At least in the near term. Just wire Gary. I believe I picked up a roll of "radiator hose" wire from "Preston's Car Parts" many years ago & I still have a bunch of it left. At one point, it was left out too close to my painting area & wound up getting primer all over it. Since then, every time i use some, I clean off the primer with a little mineral spirits. That could be why it looks a little more realistic. The mineral spirits are taking away a little of the shine & making it look not quite so "black". Steve

I've got a bunch too. Problem is, whenever I pick one up, the first thing I do is "un-survive" them! I tear them down to get them ready to be rebuilt. The most recent ones I have are a '63 Bonneville & a '65 Merc. The Pontiac doesn't look like this anymore, but the Mercury is still sporting the dirt paint job. Steve

My main question is, how did these hideous monsters make it into a magazine? How hard up were these mags for material? Or were the magazines owned by Barnum & Bailey? Steve

I've always really liked the combo on my '59 Dodge. Steve

I used a Micro Mesh polishing kit & Novus polishes on this '61 Plymouth. This is bare plastic. Steve

True. I'm not sure who built this one, but I found it online somewhere. Shows a really strange yellow, coral & white combo. But it was a factory color option. Dare to be different! Steve

Depends on how involved you want to get. If there are mold lines you want to remove, you can sand them & then use a polishing kit to get everything smooth & shiny as possible, & then a polish like Ray recommended. I also use the Novus polishes & occasionally an automotive polish such as Turtle Wax. Nice thing about polishing bare plastic is, there's no danger of grinding through the paint anywhere during the polishing process, so you can really go all out on it. Bad thing is, if it's a light color, the plastic may be somewhat transparent so light will show through in some areas making it look like........plastic! Steve

Looks a little more like a horrific nightmare to me! Steve

If you're planning on ordering paint anyway, you might want to make it really unique & go with one of the more "far out" color combos that Edsel offered in '58. They really pushed the envelope a little with some of the combinations. Some of the strangest were "Jonquil Yellow" with either "Sunset Coral" or "Charcoal Brown". Or the Brown & coral. The yellow & brown combo is a classic IMO, but to be really different, you need to go with the coral. Couldn't find a photo of an Edsel in either combo, but they were available on the Ford in '57 also. Here's one of each just to give you the idea. Steve

Couldn't really have looked a lot worse in hot pink. Well............... Steve

The dark blue will be going on a '66 Bonneville for me. Already got the paint for that one too! The color is called "Blue Charcoal". Really more of a gray blue. Steve

I think I agree a lot with Harry on this one. Which is why I don't build "custom" kits. It's a lot easier to screw them up, & exceedingly more difficult to actually make them look better than how they came from the factory. I hate to say it, but I've seen some really dumb looking custom built kits that someone spent countless hours on & think that it looks really nice. Sorry, but not everyone can be a automobile designer, as evidenced by the short, fat Chevelle in question. Steve

This is one of those kits with the narrow inner fender wells. I usually don't do a lot of major re-vamping under the hood, but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts! One is screw posts. The others are huge gaps between the fender wells & fenders. In light of that, some scratch building was necessary. I removed most of the screw posts, got rid of all of the hood support "tabs" & replaced them with strips running the length of the fenders, & started making some inner fender detail. It will eliminate those unsightly gaps & add a little visual "oomph" under the hood. Steve

OOF!! That would take a whole bunch of beer!! Steve

Agreed. A lot of later cars already had a bit of a chopped look. Chopping them any further just makes them look like a cartoon to me. There are exceptions of course, as long as the chop is not too dramatic. Steve

Steve

There's this, And then there's this, Beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder! Steve

If there's not too much of it, you could always use a little mildly abrasive polish to remove it. Something along the lines of Novus "fine scratch remover" should take it right off. Either that, or if it's just a color coat waiting for clear, a little light sanding will take care of it. Steve

Even a 4 door does not deserve that sort of treatment! Steve

That's just heinous! I wish I had not just eaten! Steve

I say leave the chopped tops to the '30s-60s cars. There's no reason or excuse to chop the top on a muscle car IMO. They already look low & lean enough. I mean, if he wanted it to look lower, why jack up the suspension? Looks absolutely stupid! Steve

I agree! My all time favorite Chevelle was the '68. You're right Harry, the '70-'72 always looked a little "bloated" to me. Steve

Yes, it's been out for a couple of weeks. The guy must have been a little eccentric. But then again, aren't we all? Steve

Yes please. This topic has been gone over a million times in a million ways. Follow Bills advice. You'll find all of the information you'll ever need. Steve