426-Hemi

Well I spy with my eye, -another, with the Testors paint rack set up! (Aren't those nice!? -For those of us with enough paint to fill it!) I have 5 of the Testors paint racks! One full, the other 4 wait to have a place to be put right now! (My shops a wreck)..... Amazing how all of us have the same elements in our work areas!

-This was "real"????? I've not ever seen nor heard of it....... the Charger was a WELL KNOWN car, especially in the Mopar world. I (looking at the pics) see it seems the rear truck was shortened, yes/no? AND the added hood scoop is a more Plymouth scoop then Dodge, the twin side scoops are a nice touch tho! Then, the lower cowl in the front under the grille is a bit "different"..... Paint however is typical '70's graphics..... Interesting to say the least!

Merry Christmas Bob! (NIICE user-name BTW!)

I'll take a set if they're still available! (I'm building a race team so, I'm on the lookout for "sponsor" decals!!!!!)

No kits here either. I did however get a NICE gift card to use over at BnL resins for their Resin Cast Super Swamper TSL Bogger Tires 1/24 1/25 scale tires! (THESE babies will be used on my '78 Dodge "Dream Truck" build)..... and some BLACK plug wire from BnL as well. BUT, the big item I did get is a Dremel Moto Saw....... The OLD Dremel Table Saw!!!!! My step-daughter got it after my Wife & I found it, and the wife mentioned it to her a few weeks ago! -I now own the entire "Dremel Mini Woodshop"!!!!! In working order and will be used in my shop! The Dremel Moto-Lathe I've had for awhile, BUT the table saw seems to be one of the more difficult items to locate complete, with all parts and working! NOW to set out to get me some blade assortments for it! 4 inch diameter, with 1/2 inch arbor.....

Always something Joe, isn't it?

THAT sir turned out GREAT tell your mother she did WELL, this coming from a lathe owner/user, both metal and wood ..... The polish glaze turned out GREAT on the wooden parts!

-on USPS to deliver a box I'm expecting and don't seem to care to update its travels on where its at. just tells me "On its way to destination" GRRRRRRR

NICE! See my PM reply.....

I have to say, I buy something I want or need tool wise at times, and say "A gift by me, for me" but....I don't wrap it, I merely just say it and thats that! I have a mile long list for everyone else, (UNLESS they want the low down on a tool list, my step-son is a good one for the tool list he knows enough what hes lookin' at) so. I taught him well! The boy has a garage fulla Snap-On tools RIGHT now and hes only 21! Anyway, thats what I do. I do a bit of trading parts and stuff around Christmas, those all I got out of the trade are gifts for me for Christmas..... -I don't wrap them tho!

-Didn't the early '69's have the SAME hood as the '68's did? Wasn't till mid year the working "Air Grabber" came to use on the Plymouth Roadrunners..... SO this could very well be a true 1969 GTX model, As being an early year (Pre, June) 1969..... As the grille is right for a '69 GTX!

I'd be careful test on old stuff for sure.. BUT keep in mind, the decal setting solution is in fact "clear" meaning you'd be using regular vinegar, NOT Apple cider vinegar... (same but not the same) if that makes sense. I used to use NOTHING BUT "Champion Decals" for YEARS 2 decades worth, have A LOT still and used their setting solution and let me tell you guys, that stuff, you apply DO NOT touch that decal you applied it too, its stuck where you touched it. and I tell you, NO TIME at all to adjust it, you best feel the decal is where you want it, right then and there! I WISHED, the auto decals were the same as this, I'm really good at it, but, the auto decals we all use on our cars don't soften to the point, of becoming part of the painted surface as the Champion decals did!

NICE re-furbishing old kits, isn't it fun!? Your definitely doing this justice! It sure is gonna be different seeing a straight 6 in it tho (I recall my old kit, with the 304 (I THINK it was a 304) So, I'm kinda re-living building mine watching you, rebuild yours!

Even so..... The engine being included being seen from the bottom, the underside of it is nothing close to a Mopar engine. Its all switched side for side one, 2, the oil pan in the kit is nothing like that pictured here. The kits has a mid-ship edge not seen on the real one. Which really, if you want the full truth, this engine is more GM then Mopar! BY a LONG shot! I can say only the exhaust manifolds look correctly shaped for a Mopar LA block! In reality I THINK the oil pan this ought to have gotten was the same one I spoke about flipped end for end... So even IF this was true, its still a Chevy oil pan! Now as far as being a curbside kit, maybe, BUT it has the means to be otherwise, the hood itself needs to open but how many of us cut the hoods open on OTHER models, and this one get nothing different from them? This one however, has more to offer being other then a curbside model. I myself am cutting the hood open on a '77 Plymouth Volare PROMO to make a model of a car my grandfather had, the frame to this particular model is got NO detail what-so-ever on it, I got to cut open the lower half under the engine bay, and add in a LOT. This one on the other hand is made to have an engine, so really, where is this skill level 2, any different? If it were going to be me, (I speak only for myself here) make it right, the first time, and enjoy hacking and cutting or in this case replacing, with correct parts, after all if your going to make the Van to be a representation of a REAL van out there, then do it right the first time. I can't believe, they at Round 2 would release this van with the Chevy engine it has (UNLESS by "custom" thats what it had put in it) when they have the means to put a CORRECT "LA" engine in this from Mopar from the AMT '71 Plymouth Duster 340..... That one motor could be used in our hobby as any of the 3 Mopar "LA" engine types, the 318, 340 and the 360! Mopar dedicated the term "LA" to the engine tpe for those who don't know. "LA" engines NOT being built in "L.A." mind you was a code. Those engines were as follows: 273, 318, 340, and the 360. The 273, was thee first of the series of engine types, BUT, the "LA" designation means the engine prior to these were known as the "A" engines, they were HEAVY blocked engine, weighed as much if not more then a big block in some cases. The "LA" designation meant "L"ight "A" block..... Hence "LA". Still for a purist like me, this found issues with the kit wouldn't stop me from buying one, I'll simply swap out the non true Mopar engine for one that is, and hack open that hood to reveal it all as it should be!

Yeah I thought I had read that you were going for the straight 6 in it so.....

Magnets? This I got to see.. been tryin to figure out to get the hood to stay open on a few of my own models, but dang how ya gonna fit a magnet IN THE thickness of the hood?

NICE man! The effort your putting into this one is showing VERY well! it was blue, then it was the old Monogram kit, was a nice one, I built that same kit something like 20 years ago myself (MINE however wound up going and getting a scratchbuilt snow plow on it), and about 6 years ago lost it to a house fire a long with about 500 other models I had then! Lookin' good tho! Can't wait to see what ya do on the engine!

I see a few things wrong with the kit (NOT that those seen things will stop me from buying one maybe 2) BUT, the engine isn't right. Starter is on the passenger side by the looks of the instructions as well as the oil filter, (its like they swapped sides) And the valve covers, are a bit interesting, as they don't look like Mopar small block valve covers (thats what they were trying to make the engine look like with the placement of the oil filter) Mopar small blocks, 273, 318, 340, & the 360 have the oil filter on the passenger side as its shown here on the drivers side, and the starter is on the drivers side, NOT the passenger side, as its shown here. The valve covers well, they to me look like a hybrid, between Mopar, and Chevy.... The intake has the distributor on the wrong side of the BACK side of the engine too! AND then the oil pan needs flipped with the sump up front, not behind! -ONE of the nicer details I spotted for the engine is the exhaust manifolds! They'd be PERFECT for ANY of the stock small blocks Mopar. (They would NOT be right if put on a 340 however) as the 340 was considered a high performance small block. The chrome wheels would be correct for a "stock" kit with hubcaps, NOT dog dish caps! The base model as a "fleet" van would need steelies instead, but its to be a "custom" van anyway. Which I see they included a set of Hurricane rims to be painted as the builder see's fit. (NICE addition!) Even tho, I see all this thats not right, I'll be buying one when I see it! The only part, I'm not happy with is the fact that the short little hood doesn't open. I got a knife to remedy that issue!

LOL how many ya want Greg? -I can machine those in about 2 minutes flat!

Thanks Ken! Hope you enjoy!

Thanks Dale! Yeah, there is a little more to go in there believe it or not, wiring, horn (wires to it) and some other small stuff, ALL the big stuff is in place so. its just little things now! -I even got the decals on the fender wells inside too! THEN, its off to the fun part, the interior. what fun thats gonna be!!!!! -A LOT requires change!

NICE! Thats a great little detailed Slant 6 too! (I' have a few of them) so..... I plan to do something sort of the same with a slanty, and use it in a Coronet! NIICE choice, that will look good!

I used to listen to Howard when he was DJing for the radio station "DC 101"... How long ago was that!? -Sure enough OVER a decade ago! I lived in PA then! -I relocated in 2004..... Haven't listened to Howard since.....

Well this would all depend, you looking for ideas, OR? I ask as it is a "Rat Rod" right? when a rat rod is being made, its made with whatever that person building it has on hand at that time and place so really, theres no right or wrong to where the fuel line is or might be........ Just a thought!

The "craft" paints to me are nothing more then a headache! I myself, go Acrylic enamel or REAL enamel, or Lacquer (Larquer being my utmost favorite to use!) Craft paint, to me has a use, and thats weathering IF ANY is needed as it can be sealed with a good enamel clear or Lacquer clear cote. Testors is my #1 brand of paint, ANY one of their lines, as they have a few different ones including Acrylic enamels! But Franks right, you'd be better off brushing it on by hand and not spraying. That "thinned" stuff, toss right in the trash! DO NOT thin the stuff your going to hand brush! It will ruin the remaining paint! As if hand brushed on, thinned acrylics almost do the same thing as it did being sprayed! (Most times, NEVER covers well at all after being thinned)