Tarkmucker

I was absolutely bamboozled when I grabbed one of the blue 57s recently. I unknowingly lied to another guy at hobby lobby. He was looking for a first kit for his kid and I pointed out the Revell snap 57 and he was going on about how much he loved the 57. I told him about all the great custom parts in it and everything, the spare engine, bumpers/grill, interior, all of it. He was all excited about it. I grab one a few days later…..LAAAAMMMMEEEE. Thanks, Carl. More to come soon.

I like this. I started doing similar things to one about 15 years ago. Unfortunately it’s been in and out of rotation to be completed so many times. Looking forward to seeing more

Are you chopping the roof or making a convertible? Either way it looks good so far. Keep it coming

Would love to see more of this. Definitely bring it back. and yes, I was about to say the scoop on the cowl looks like the ala kart body for sure. I’ve always passed on these kits when they’ve come up but now that I see some of what’s in one I might have to get one…or five.

Thanks, that’s exactly where I originally was drawing inspiration. Between Fred Carillo’s ‘27 and Ray Brown’s ‘27, a bunch of sixties drag stuff, and Roth’s builds. Thank you. I have maybe three sets of those gauges and had no idea where they came from. One is globbed up with paint but I was thinking about making some in resin so I can use them on more projects. I’ll keep you in mind when I make some. As far as color, I’m back and forth between a few pinks, CheZoom teal, purple-licious, or Spanish Moss with a gloss coat. Still not sure though. I took a break from moving motorcycles around to make room for two more and came down to tinker with this for a bit. Got the trunk opened up and the frame filled where all the notches were for attaching various parts. If anyone was wondering, the louvered deck lid from the ‘32 five window fits perfectly on the Model A without trimming or reshaping. Back to moving motorcycles.

Thank you guys. I appreciate that. I made more progress tonight. Looks more like a fresh start than anything after going back and forth about what parts I wanted to actually use and some stuff just not looking the part. I’m using RMCM Firestone dirt track tires for the rear with some wheels that I robbed from a stalled project. Trying to decide on a final seat between the two in the picture. (If anyone knows what the seat on the right is from let me know. Tia.) Started making a very minimal cage for the cockpit, I didn’t get more than the main hoop done tonight. The blue engine was just for mock up and the actual engine is sitting behind the car. I made a flat firewall that the radiator will be mounted behind. I’ll add scoops or something underneath to divert air up from the ground to flow through the radiator. Solid mounted the Dana 60 above the rails and the existing crossmember in front of the axle will act as the new transmission crossmember. The Model A kit transmission crossmember was modified to be used as a motor mount. (still needs some shaping and trimming) The ‘37 hood sides were trimmed and filed to fit. Still needs some fine tuning to fit properly. I found a gauge panel that I like that also fits between the hood sides. Found a smaller battery, a gas pedal, two tanks, two steering wheels, and decided to use a tube axle from a ‘32 Ford instead of the one from the ‘56. I think I like the smaller steering wheel better. As far as the gas tanks go, I might skip either of those all together and make something to fit in a tight space on the car somewhere. Tomorrow’s another day. Also, does anyone have any info on the fuel pump and water pump on these engines? It’s from the AMT 53 Studebaker. It has a cam driven attachment with the fuel pump on one side and the water pump on the other side.

Made very minimal progress last night. Got a few things glued together, cut some stuff apart, found more parts, changed a few ideas. 1% progress is better than no progress though. Pics to follow later

Just two weeks ago I was in there and the 29 Model A was $29.99. Beginning of this week they were at $39.99. That paint looks great, makes me want to strip the teal off my ‘70 Coronet.

Thanks to @CabDriver I have another build started on my bench. My chopper beetle got back burnered a while back and I’ve started 6 other projects since then. Here’s another one. The body and chassis are left over after I robbed everything else from the kit for a few other builds. The blue engine is from a 53 Stude that I got about 20 years ago (using for mock-up) the other engine is the same thing but not globbed with paint and glue. Hood and sides are from a 37 Ford truck. The grill shell is a vacuum formed piece I made as a sample piece at work. Rearend is from a 70 Coronet. Front axle is from a 56 Ford. Can’t remember what everything else is from. I didn't plan on doing anything like this so I had no idea where to start. Figured I’d try to loosen up a bit on this one, I knew I had at least one model a body and a slew of parts so here we are. All I need now is to find two matching blowers for the engine that I’ll actually use. And yes, my workbench is a disaster right now. I know. ??

Looking good, Jim. I was hoping to get some pics of my stuff tonight but I just kicked over a plastic organizer filled with all sorts of small parts and decided to call it a night. Back at it tomorrow

Man, this is gonna be cool!

This is amazing, I love all the detail and machine work that you’re doing

I just googled a ‘31 Austin Bantam and man are those cars doofy looking!

Now I have two of these kits in my cart on eBay

That’s exactly what it is! Thanks guys! Only took me 20 years to figure this one out and all I had to do was ask lol

Does anyone have any info on this body? I’ve been searching for long and can’t find anything I’ve had this for about 20 years and have never seen another one

Definitely getting chopped, I’m debating if I should go with my original plan at about 3 scale inches or if I should go another inch or so. I like where it sits in the mock up photos so I think I’ll take off that extra little bit

Made a bit more progress last night. I like the mock up of the roof right now but I haven’t cut that much out yet. I can still dial it back a smidge. Gonna think about it while I’m at work.

Thanks guys! No substantial progress has been made tonight. I turned some aluminum on the lathe to make blanks for the wheels centers on the front wheels, started making the intake, and section about 2 scale inches out of the bottom of the body. I think I’m going to start the roof chop tomorrow. Never chopped a beetle before, this should be fun.

Been away from the forum for a few years and in that time I’ve started a few projects and quickly lost interest as life got in the way but I’m back and yet again….started another project. I got a smashed box Revell ‘68 Beetle from HL for a great price. A couple small parts were bent but nothing major. I don’t need most of the stock parts anyway. So far I’ve sliced the fenders off, trimmed a bit of the floor pan off in the rear, sliced the front suspension section off, scrounged up a few parts from the parts piles and started to build a version of the KDF mangler originally built by Drew Strunk. I’m using the dropped axle from a 32 Ford, AMT parts pack corvair engine mated to the kit transmission, and still trying to source better wheels and tires. I’ve been obsessed with that car since the first time I saw it years ago and I’ve been obsessed with volksrods since I was in high school. Anyway, here’s some progress photos.

I’ve been away for a few years and haven’t been keeping up on this. Finally got back into my account and I’m very excited to see the progress that’s been made! Hope to see more soon.

the pictures aren't showing up I really want to see

I back the black wheels. No baby moons or anything like that, just black steelies.

By far one of my favorite builds. Been keeping an eye on this for a couple years now. I bought a Gee Bee because of this. I didn't know there was a kit of it until I saw this. Can't wait to see more

4 banger for sure