426-Hemi

Gator, You know I thought about something since my reply to you on the CA and baking soda filler....... Speed..... I totally spaced mentioning that in my reply to you on the filler.... The Tenax 7R and sprue plastic, OR the M.E.K. and sprue plastic, is going to take a bit to cure solid for sanding/filing, when used as a filler.... The CA (super glue) and baking soda is almost instantly dry and cure and can be filed sanded immediately after application!!!! -Which is why I like it, makes me able to work things faster..... And really, I don't mind that its "harder" or more dense then the plastic, if your filling a joint, it adds strength in that area! I will tho give it a try with my next almost empty bottle of Tenax 7R..... (That glue is getting hard to get in my area!) SO I use it sparingly!)

Ace, Buddy, in warehouses in HEAT the box doesn't have to be "crushed" just skewed enough to distort the parts inside..... Then once moved from the heat source, it "stays"... early removal from the molding process would cause what plastic thats injected to "stretch", as its NOT "elastic"..... From the pics of the OP, the plastic did not look "stretched" just merely skewed..... Skewing is from the storage in a hot warehouse NOT properly stored, where the whole row of shipment boxes got skewed, NOT those boxes (the ones the model kit boxes are put into for shipment to the warehouse probably took most if not all the damages!!!! This is why the warehouse shipped them, no signs of damage to the kit box! THAT IS if they were even checked at that point.... most times this is the stuff that goes unnoticed! Let me paint you a picture..... You have a "row" of 4 foot pallets, OK? IN that row, your to have say 6 pallets lined up............ OK? The LAST pallet to go in that "row" in the hot warehouse, is slightly off, the last pallet doesn't fit as it should because the linement of all the rest is of just enough..... To not allow that last one to fit right. These pallets, are wrapped with shrink wrap, TIGHTLY.... SO, having this the guy driving the fork truck merely "SHOVES" the pallet in place anyway, and continues on about his job (whether he's good at his job ain't in question) That pallet is squeezed, or skewed just enough to fit, which skews the boxes holding say 6 kits at a time.... OK? In that hot warehouse, those kits sit, in a skewed pallet, NOW I know these pallets couldn't hold a second on top of it, BUT, being they're shrink wrapped to be then loaded into a truck or broken down to be shipped by mail, is the next step.... BUT if those kits on THAT pallet, is shipped as-is, that shrink wrap will hold them as it was till the pressure of it is released..... OK? Then you get the models to the shelves from THAT pallet, and because the pallet was initially jammed in-place, skewed, in heat, and shrink wrapped, then taken out of that said heat..... The shrink wrap if still in-place on THAT pallet remains to hold that skewed position, this all puts pressure on the kits and parts inside! Then the consumers get them, and think its a manufacturing company..... Lets face it, did you LOOK at the parts box the kit comes in? WHERE are they MADE? I bet its NOT in the USA! They're SHIPPED HERE in planes, on a boat, but they're shipped, in BULK form, on pallets, that I can tell you, went through H E L L getting here, to the shelve we as the consumer take them from! Now to give you a good one, my last job? I worked for the Liquor Commission that I reside in, and they have a local "warehouse" NOT in the heat the whole thing is almost refrigerated, is cool in there, I've seen THOUSANDS of bottles of say Jack Daniels, on 4 foot by 4 foot pallets where the cases of liquor is stacked interlocked boxes, OK? shrink wrapped to keep the cases from toppling off the pallet when lifted, if the pallet gets skewed at ALL ALL those cases of liquor boxes shift, and the pallet then looks like a leaning tower, I've seen the top corner of one pallet being so skewed it was over a FOOT past the edge of the pallet is sat on! WHEN it was loaded, on the truck to make the delivery, they cut the shrink wrap, and 3 cases of Jack Daniels hit the trailers floor, (yes what a smell that was!) BUT the boxes these bottles were in? showed NO damage! On those that were shipped, Now we know glass bottles do no "warp", BUT, styrene plastic does! I've also drove truck, 18 wheeler, loaded trailers MYSELF in certain loads, but seen how things get done when others load YOUR truck, I've seen trailers split in half cause the loading guy from the warehouse wound up putting ALL the pallets in a 53 foot box trailer all on one side! I've seen pallets that should have NEVER left the warehouse for store delivery leave the warehouse for store delivery, that should have been put on a truck BACK to the place of origin due to damages, BUT instead, stuck in the delivery truck and shipped, because that "order" would have not been filled otherwise! Honestly? This is where these companies should have ON SITE Quality Control personnel at the warehouses looking over their product! As I BET this type thing wouldn't happen! BUT when your shipment of product (in this case) is coming from China, its difficult to "ship it back" to its origin, and made right.

I don't think its Hobby Looby or Revell at all......... the warehouses are terrible! I used to work at one and SEEN pallets of things going one place or another that were tipped off a forktruck, dropped from a loading dock, and all even ones SAT against a wall that were "wedged" where one side of the pallet was on the ground and the other side acoss from it UP THE WALL........ So, your not tellin' me anything at all on this! I bet its the storage of the pallet that Revell shipped to the warehouse and then what was done from there is where the damage happened PLUS remember everyone these warehouses..............ARE NOT Air Conditioned! They get blistering hot in the spring & summer, you can FORM styrene plastic with a HAIR DRYER, much less a 115 degree warehouse with a jam packed pallet, improperly stored, or so tightly wound with shrink wrap its not funny.... So I'm not not 100% sure who is to blame, BUT you can bet, Revell did not PULL thousands of bodies out of the mold still hot..... This isn't done by hand guys, not the big companies! its done by machine..... Its all timed to the set time of cool OR the machine itself, has a gauge to tell the temp of the plastic part to then know when to "de-mold" the part.... Its not done by hand, or by an actual "person"..... To big a company to have that to do.... Automated. Been there and done that too! -I used to OWN a plastic mold injection machine.... Which also had METAL mold injection parts to it.... VERY dangerous to own privately, they put out some serious fumes, (I had it for 5 years till health issues from it cropped up on me) And today those health issues are gone, but, not forgotten! Molding (molten) plastic is a killer in the air with a mask and an oxygen bottle to the mask it still gets to your lungs! Believe me I have no part in Revell, but I do know, how these parts are made and what it takes, and for what happened to that Ramcharger body, isn't from pre-cure mold "de-molding". if that were the case, you'd see stretch marks and un-uniformity in the plastic...... What did this was poor storage, or poor handling possibly both.

So with all going well, I got right to adding all the parts to the interior after being painted and coated with Semi-Gloss Clear. The dash is looking really good! I like how all of this so far has come out! Dash looks great, steering wheel came out nicely painted, lets just say I'm surprised at myself! I never claimed to be "good" at interiors, and well, this one shows that I'm my own worst judge.... Nicely done! Even the back looks GREAT! From back to front... Looks really good! That console looks great as I did it. Showing the back seat detail on the sides, that all looks great! Some extra's.... The only part left to add to this interior is the fuel pedal and the brake pedal as well as the emergency brake pedal, and this interior will be completed! Then its off to working on finishing up the frame! (I have a little yet to do to it), adding the engine and some more detail to the engine before it goes in so I'm a little ways off yet, but the end is coming! Thanks for looking, and following along, comments welcome, ENJOY!

So then, onto the dash I go.... On Dads truck, The dash had some different coloring going on, why? I don't know! I am not sure if he got it that way, or if it was a repair or what, I just know the center portion of the dash was a bit weird with it being black! BUT because it was, I went with it! Also the gauge area wasn't chrome like mine was, his was black. The top portion of the dash was the same base interior color being tan! So to reflect the colors, I did what it needed and got right to detail painting the gauges and all. A little better view of what I have done. I have yet to paint the radio in, and the steering column is being made (its different as well from my truck!) I have to add the automatic gear shift, as well as the indicator for it, and a key "bung". It already has a turn signal lever so thats good! PLUS, the stock steering wheel I got for it as well.... A bit yet to go, but looking food so far! Coming right along! Once the interior to this truck is done, I'll be able to get to doing body work to both these trucks!!!! Thats it for now, as always comments welcome, ENJOY!

Well as you all have seen I been going right on with some of the interiors of current cars I'm building due to the nature of the builds, the cars & trucks (in this case) are using the SAME colors and interior carpeting, so. Thought I'd get a bunch done on a few builds as I go.... Dad's truck, needed a LOT of interior changes, outside of what I did to mine! The whole interior of Dad;s truck was in fact different, in some cases, I could change this, in other cases (the door panels) I couldn't change.... SO, I had to go with what I had and Yes, I did set out looking for interiors of other trucks that would look closer to what Dad's truck had but there is nothing! And I was not about to try to scratch build them either! Just the details on the doors inside are slightly wrong BUT the base color is right, and the parts I painted other then the base color are right, its just the trim and all is wrong. So, with that said, I just have to live with the difference that I can not change! So, on with the interior.... I got the Window winder knobs in-place, and painted, as well as the door latch, and the door pull strap. (That strap, is NOT paint!!) I also pulled out a gear shift for the 4 wheel drive gear shift, and cut off the lever and knob to it, to make my own, but use the "boot" so that I could get the carpeting down! 4 wheel drive Gear shift is made from a piece of polished stainless wire, with a black necklace bead on it for a knob! I then glued it into position, with CA and painted the knob Semi-Gloss Black to match the other semi gloss black highlights in the cab! Carpeting looks really good! I left the fuel pedal unpainted and un covered with carpeting as I plan to use the cast-on part as a base, for one I will make and add as I do the pedals in the truck! Not to bad over all. I mean there are details I know are wrong, BUT for what it is, looks GREAT! I also got the bench seat in-place as well! Bench seat in-place looks really good! I'm pleased with how it looks! The seat looks GREAT! So the interior of this build, is almost done! I have to get working on the dash! Stay tuned more to follow! Comments welcome ENJOY!

Gator, Thanks man! Yeah I'm having fun, specially with "Family Builds" I go all outs on those ones!!!! As for the other way of filler, I'll give it a try, but it will be a bit till I do! There is however another trick too, that I plan to try as well! I can get REAL M.E.K. (I'm trained to use it properly, as an ex Industrial Spray Painter) So, I want to see if it works as well.... I have used it before to glue plexiglass together so.... I will give it a try as well as a softener to make "putty" from kit sprue! I'll make a posting on both when I do! Thanks tho for the recommendation tho much appreciated!

Your welcome!

I'd LOVE a single cab, W500..... OMG Whats just the cab going for, with hood and grille?

Thanks Jose! Much appreciated.... as for the 727 yes I do, this kit you see here has one of those I molded..... If interested PM me with what your lookin for, I have all sorts of Mopar engines and transmissions! And a few other parts as well.....

Well I'll add mine in here, in THIS order too! 1. Marion Morrison 2. Dean Martin 3. Walter Brennan 4. Ricky Nelson 5. Bruce Lee 6. Chuck Norris 7. Patrick Swayze 8. Mel Gibson 9. Danny Glover 10. Catherine Bach 11. James Best 12. The 13. 3 14. Stooges 15. Walter Matthau 16. Jack Nicholson 17. Bruce Willis 18. Demi Moore 19. Kelly Lynch 20.Jean-Claude VanDame

NICE Work! Itys been awhile since I've been here due to computer issues and stuff so... thought I'd have a look around to some of my old followings, and see whats been done! You going for the Big Block look or the Small Block look for the engine? -I ask as the kits engine depicts both! LOL

That sir looks GREAT! NICE job! (The Coronet makes it all come together nicely!)

As for '58, Plymouth had a choice of the "A" block 318 making it a "Poly" head, which like its big brother, the Hemi was a single shaft valve gear.... Where the Hemi had a dual shaft valve gear. The other engine option for the '58 Plymouth was in fact the "B" block 350 (Big Block) and it did come with dual 4 barrels! These engines were called the "Golden Commando". The "A" block, 318 was the start of the Bendix fuel injection when irt was recalled the owner was offered choice of single 4 barrel, or twin 4 barrels. These engines were called "V-800".

-Mine is pretty easy! Look at the "Elephant", on top of its head sits the engine, "426 Hemi" and well that engine is my favorite, the avatar pic was something a friend of mine, drew up in photoshop on the 50th anniversary of the engine! The real engine, by Chrysler was fondly called "The Elephant".....

I too have one of these kits mine however is brand new in the box! I for what its worth will be using "Tenax 7R" liquid plastic welder on mine, then once dry, I plan to either paint, OR use BMF on the corners to the seam they molded into the kit..... Leaving all else clear! A question that I've wondered about on this kit, is, will it fit standard size models? Say, having it hitched to a Dodge truck, and have a '41 Plymouth inside of it for instance? In one of my builds, my Father & Son Dodge Truck build, my Dad owned a REAL '39 Chevy in real life (that I own today) would that model fit inside the clear car carrier trailer?

NICE makin' the Dodge a muddin' truck? BTW its NOT a "Power Wagon" thats a "Ramcharger".....

Tom, NICE Work! Yeah, I'm a stickler for detailks and with my Pap's, well you know me and how I get into things on the builds..... OHHHHH I get ya now on the under-side of it. the interior tub, merely just sits on the frame leaving all that space, side to side show up under to the insides of tub all the way to the bottoms of the windows! You made sheet plastic plating to "fill in"..... NICE man! That upside down shot shows what ya got invested in the build!

Tom, Hey! As for your question, I'm NOT sure where in the model your referring too..... In the back? See, I'm just getting started on this one, and its sitting aside right now as I got a TON of others sort of "in the works" so..... BUT I seen I had typed out my normal "MS Notepad" way on my builds and didn't post it...... I make all my builds typed out first in Notepad, and put in the image code with the URL to the image! So all I have to do then is copy & paste.... BUT anyway, let me know what your referring too specifically, maybe its something that I'll catch along the way on this build! (As you know my detailing ways) so, I probably will wind up seeing just what your talking about and doing much the same as you did when I'm at that point in the build! Granted, this one has got a LOT to have done custom to it! I need to add a class 3 or 4 hitch to the frame scratch built, and then I need to add a snow plow (That I still need to find!) And all the goodies for that, and then a roof rack I'll need to build as well.... This one here will have A LOT going on when I get to it..... NICE job on the one you pictured upside down! NICE "used" look too! Whats that one look like right side up?

SO it really has been a L-O-N-G time since I've worked on this build! I sat it aside for a time as there were some details I wanted for in this Dad's truck that well........ I wasn't going any further till I located either the part I was looking for, or something "close" to what the real truck had! SO, I have found some of what I needed (especially for the interior) so, having that in-hand, and working on another model thats using just about the exact same colors and materials in its interior that this one gets, I thought, I'd kill 2 birds with one stone, and get some progress on the interior of this one! So Dad's truck in real life, had a basic interior, nothing special nothing real "high end" or even close to luxury in it, was a work truck, that was his everyday driver to and from work, as well as used for towing trailers, you name it, and it was 4x4 for winter travels. So it was just a touch, "plain" meaning, there wasn't a lot of extras inside! I THINK he may have added his own radio tho as I'm not sure it even had one in it when he bought it! So as I go, on the interior of this truck it will get only the basic things done inside to reflect that of what the real truck had! Also because I used a "Little Red Express" truck to build this model, I had to completely remove the bucket seats and console from the interior! Dad's truck had a bench seat in it. Which was the other part, I had to find, a decent looking bench seat, if not like the one Dad had in his truck, or one as similar as I can get! (I had to settle on something remotely "close"), as the seat Dad's truck had had the pleating running up and down, not side to side, but thats the best I could find, to fit this truck without setting out and literally scratchbuilding an entire seat! -I wanna get these done some time this century LOL BASIC as I said, I have to go through and highlight some things like the winow winders and add the knobs to them on each side (these knobs will be in fact semi-gloss black, unlike other builds that I've left them chrome looking....) SO, the door pull strap was black, door latch will be chrome, and it will have chrome door locks too! Other then that, thats all the detail this interior will be getting above and beyond whats seen here.... Got the seat from a trade that looks the part, is close, but not 100% accurate, BUT well, at this point it is, what it is, and I thought a good "Roadrunner back seat" would do it justice! Granted, that seat is only posed in-place! Its not glued in as of yet, I got a little detailing to do as I mentioned! Plus, the other thing I have to do is put in the carpeting, which on another build, is the same embossing powder too. the colors only vary between the base color tan, and the carpeting being a beige color too, which is very close to what Dad's truck had! Which will be the last detail I add, is the carpeting, before the Dash goes into place! Then you got the dash.... Now thats going to be a FUN one! It doesn't have the same look to the dash as the one did in my truck, there was a lot of little things in Dad's truck that was different then what I had in my real truck! I also will NOT be "modeling" the "rip" that was in Dad's trucks dash pad either LOL (I can remember talking to him, that was thee only thing he wished he had replaced the whole time he owned the truck before the flood took it from him!) I will however have to think about how I plan to change this dash to look as the one Dad's truck had as some of the details were different as well as some of the coloring from one section to another because I had a lot of "chrome" in my trucks dash, Dad's truck didn't have all that chrome, his was black, (I'm gonna use semi-gloss black) for those parts, BUT what Dad's truck did have was chrome gauges which I thought was interesting! (I bet at one point he either bought the truck with them that way, or changed them out himself!) I'm not sure which! -I did know my Dad well enough to know he LOVED his chrome, (As do I) so..... I would not be surprised if he did the chrome gauges in the dash himself, and the only 2 people I know that would know this to be true or not, are both gone, Dad & my uncle! (The uncle) I was talking to with all these family builds I lost this past April! I'm GLAD I got as much info on these 2 trucks as I did...... As you can see, there is no "steering wheel" present, I got the box-stock one, but isn't right, at all! SO, I had searched out one that was 100% correct for this truck, and its waiting to be painted. The steering wheel is pretty much the same one that came in the '79-'80 Dodge Ramcharger kit by Revell.... Stay tuned, more to come as things start to begin all over again on this build! Comments welcome, ENJOY!

A short & sweet update on this build, as you all have read, I been working on the under-side of 2 hoods, and well, got one done for the under-side of it, and it got clear coated, and is drying. The other one, needed the same, clear coat, BUT because of its nature and what detail the under-side entails, it need some more paint work to show details. The stock "Power Bulge" hood that is, it needed the hood insulation painted in those areas.... I chose a dark color gray insulation this time.... It looks like BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH right now..... As thats the first coating of the color, it will get a 2nd coat, and then allowed to dry good, and then taped off, and just that color will be dullcoated to unify its appearance. -Then it be off to the top-side of the hood and get some nice Dark Green Metallic on it! I then took the firewall down and had a look at the detail it had on it, cast-in, and what needed painted to show up a tad better, and then seen the nice bright chrome wiper motor, got it dullcoated to look like aluminum, and painted the electric motor to it semi-gloss black. I also painted the heater blower motor flat black, and touched a little silver to the electrical contacts under the wiper motor.... Doesn't look to bad! I WILL be however adding some more to it, then whats seen here, I have yet to add the brakes Master Cylinder, and possibly a booster, (We'll see) as well as other things that you'll see in all my builds.... Thats all for now! More to come as more is done or being done! Comments always welcome! ENJOY

So I got the transmission painted, as well as the pan on both it and the transfer case, and then sat it all aside to dry, and picked up the frame to this truck to see what else it needed. As you all know, I'm removing 95% of the cast on exhaust.... The 5% I left is the cat (in-place) as well as the sole Muffler, hat will be used and be a good "start" in either direction of the pipe I'll have to make fit this trucks frame! I WILL be using the stock muffler, BUT not "attached" by factory to the frame, I'll make it fit however the pipe when bent to fit turns out. SO then from the last pics and update I left you all with, the "Y" pipe was thee only part left of the factory exhaust system.... SO, I got to thinkin' The "Y" pipe making them from my aluminum floral wire, is difficult, its never an easy task, (I've done it several ways, several times!) SO this will be no exception, I was almost afraid to cut the factory one, off, BUT if I'm gonna do it, I may as well go bull bore into it.... SO, off that "Y" pipe came! THEN the cross-member right there was trimmed from what it was (molded into the pipe) Dremel to cut it out and make it uniform to the rest of the cross-member! As you see, A LOT has been done to the frame too! I trimmed out that LARGE "skid-plate" to show some of the detail of the transfer case and transmission, BUT still look the part! (Protecting the area that is meant too!) I also removed the transmission mount bulge in the skid-plate too, I'm gonna slightly relocate it..... MORE into the mount cross-member, NOT in the skid plate! When I removed the sections of the skid-plate, I went back cleaned up those cuts and files the edge on an angle so I could put the "lip" back on the skid-plate! ALL the areas I cut off too, different size lips at that, I plan to drill them as well. For water drainage. So to flip the frame over to see the up-side of it: I took this pic to show the cat and the way I cut the hole in it for fit the pipe when the time comes! However this picture also shows the lips added to the skid-plate that I made too! The frame is getting CLOSE to being ready for paint!!!! YAY! A bit more of the frame, right side up.... Better shot of the end of the cat and the hole I made for the pipe when its ready for exhaust to go in! As with all my builds, the frame will be painted flat black, for the "undercoating" look, My grandfather did in fact have some local company undercoat it, when he got it home that year before winter.... This would have been sometime in the fall of 1979 from what my cousin told me on the phone, SO, I'll have to make this look the part as well (MOST if not ALL of my family has their vehicles undercoated for winter protection and to keep the underside as rust free as possible) He mentioned this as he hated being under it, to check things out, and all and when he did the power steering fitting the undercoating got pretty close to that too, as he told me it was hard to be under there, bump a small hose (brake line in the front drivers side) and get the undercoating to fall off the hose and in his eye..... LOL I laughed and was like, yep that sucks! Anyway, I'll be doing this to this truck too when the frame is ready for paint..... I'm a little ways away from that tho! BUT it is coming! Anyway, thats it for this build for a little till more progress is made! Thanks for looking, comments welcome, ENJOY!

Well back to this one a bit. As I'm sure you guys can see, I'm jumping back & forth between 2 models here! Daisy Dukes Jeep and this one! WELL Daisy's Jeep has to sit a bit for things to dry, and all without being "handled" in any way, SO, I thought, I'd hop right back to working on this one! So, with my last "short" installment of updates on this, I literally just had the oil filter in-place, not painted or anything! (Yeah thats a short update!) SO, then, I got the oil filter painted, in orange to represent a "Fram" oil filter. I then sat out to see if I had ANY "Fram" decals to fit it. Which I did, once paint was dry, the filter label went right on! I sat it so that it wasn't turned straight up and down (to perfect of a placement!) BUT slightly off to the drivers side just a hair.... I don't do this often but, this looks pretty good! I then let the decal set for a bit and then worked on the transmission paint as it had to be painted in-order to then put the newly painted starter on for detail of the engine! Here is what the transmission looks like now: I painted not only the transmission, but also the transfer case, as well as the Transmission mount. Seen here is just the transmission painted in my custom mix of "Cast-Iron" color.... Mount on the transmission was left bare as it will be painted to match the frame! I also left the transmission pan, as well as the transfer case pan bare as they will be painted "steel" silver.... Testors Flat Steel #1180, as you see in a bit! Starter in place, and the transmission painted as well as the transmission mount and the pans are both painted! Thats as far as I got on the engine for now. More will follow, BUT I have some frame work that I've done coming up in just a few.... Stay Tuned! Comments welcome, ENJOY!!!!

So as all knows, I was workin'/concentrating on Daisy Dukes Jeep Resurrection a bit intensely, BUT in between times of the decals drying, I had to keep myself occupied with other small not so intense things.... SO, with working on the CB set up in her Jeep, and allowing things there to dry, I looked at the 400 engine and all going into this build (it was in front of me during all this!) so.. I seen the oil filter, was just, fulla "fill" spots from the molding process, and with me, I turn my own filters from scarps of styrene I have laying around, so, I cut off the glue bomb part (original to the engine I used here) and left the mount but got rid of the round filter part, and simply replaced it with this: Not to bad! It will be painted Testors standard Orange to look like a Fram filter..... from what my cousin told me thats all Pap used on this truck was Fram so... Fram it is! (May even get a Fram decal added to it too!) While that was on there, I looked to see what I had for starters, too, this engine IF I recall right never had a starter on it, so HAD to find something to fit the engine and the build, and with that, its a Revell 440, that I made into a 400, SO this says that the starter from past Revell builds closely resembling this, the starter they include in their kits is sort of hollow. from looking up from underneath the car, it would show the "hole".... I took that into consideration while digging through my parts bin area of starters to get something close to the same..... I did find one, and it was hollow so I went with it. I haven't got any pics of this, but it was "filled" in with CA and baking soda, to close up that hole from underneath, and filed to the contour of the starter itself. I also had to add a bit of thickness to the end of the starter were it will mount to the transmission bell housing as the transmission is NOT stock to this engine! SO, I had to make up the difference there as well! I will try to get pics of this as it is difficult to get pics that are clear when the part is bright white! -SO, I didn't get good pics of this! While waiting for things to dry, I also got a good second coat of my mixed "cast iron" steel color on the exhaust manifolds for this engine too! Pics as soon as I can! Thanks for lookin'! Comments welcome!

OK guys, this frame has been looked over while I was building the new engine mounts.... Sadly, there is a few things, I'm simply NOT fond of, (A LOT of model cars companies mold things all "together" and thats one thing thats a pet-peeve of mine) BUT, I bet you all could have guessed that by now! Anyway, while looking over the frame, while the engine mounts were drying, I noticed one GREAT thing! The frame on this one isn't twisted in any way! NICE to have this once in awhile! LOL BUT the thing I noticed that well gets to me (just as much as the engine mount with the oil pan that I corrected, is the molded on, "Exhaust".... I can handle some parts of the exhaust molded onto the frame, such as muffler, or catalytic converter for strength of holding on the added on pipes and such. BUT molded on pipe, leaves SERIOUS parting lines on the pipes, and trimming it just doesn't give the pipe a look of "pipe".... SO, I normally use kit supplied parts, and bend my own pipe from Aluminum Floral Wire. PERFECT diameter for exhaust pipe! So, heres what it started out like "box-Stock".... As I put into the picture, this is "stock" right from the box (except for the NEW engine mounts!) See the cast in exhaust? I can't handle the muffler and how its done! They molded it into the frame, BUT left out the cross-member under it! (thats the type stuff that drives me crazy!) -And thats a short drive too! So because of that cross-member not being "whole" thats the first place I started! The muffler was removed, first the pipe was cut, leaving some "extra" on the cat, and then the other end, cut closest to the frame, and then while the pipe were loose, I had to cut the muffler loose from the cross-member. This shows that "open" part of the cross-member that wasn't to my own liking! At first, I was going to try and fill-in that missing part, and then I was like why? Thats A LOT of work for something like this, so I literally cut the whole cross-member out, and plan to replace it with something similar, and whole and only needing glued on each end, with no true fill, sanding or filing.... A lot LESS work! Cut out the whole thing! THEN left the tail end on the frame, yet, and cleaned up the area off the cat so it looked half decent. The new cross-member being made to replace the kit-part I removed! Will look GREAT once in place!!!! In place! Looks GREAT as the original part that I removed, I rebuilt the new cross-member from plastic that was VERY CLOSE to what the stock part was! (Just "whole" from one frame rail to the other!! All cleaned up, cross-member in place, and the tail pipe removed!!!! I'll be making my own exhaust pipe from the cat back myself with that said Aluminum Floral Wire.... And my own hangers for it as well.... THEN from the cat forward, I'll be making that too to form a custom made "Y" pipe as Pap's Ramcharger had single exit exhaust.... Just like the stock one! A little work YES BUT well worth it to me, as when its all done, will look GREAT so..... Thats what I like to see is what I fore-see during the build in the end result, and its coming along! Stay tuned, there will be more to come! Thanks for looking!